The sun rises in the morning, the moon rises at night.
Halfway there, Zhu Xun stroked the red-tailed snake bone at his waist, his eyes deep and unfathomable. He transmitted his voice to Zhao Hua behind him: "I'll be right back."
Chaoyun Mountain was in complete chaos. Si Chuitang had only been there a short while when the Demon-Slaying Bell on the mountaintop began to ring.
"Senior brother!"
You Youju carried Chaolan to the bed. When the Demon-Expelling Bell rang, although there was no danger yet, he almost instinctively protected Chaolan in his arms.
"What a coincidence!" You Youju said.
A signal flare lit up the night sky; a disciple had perished!
Si Chuitang couldn't hide her anxiety. She first looked at Chao Lan, who was unconscious but had calmed down, and then at You Youju, whose face was solemn.
"Senior brother..."
“I’ll take responsibility for whatever happens. There’s no point in waking him up now.”
Si Chuitang dared not say she had ever seen You Youju like this before. She pursed her lips and said, "Senior brother, I'll go outside and check the situation."
You Youju got up and strengthened the barrier. Chao Lan, who was unconscious, murmured incoherent words. You Youju put her ear closer to listen, but Chao Lan shut her mouth. Her face was filled with anxiety. She was tormented by her inner demons and dared not wake up.
You Youju held his hand.
"Chaolan, Master is here."
In his dream, Chao Lan sat amidst a sea of white, a time of great sorrow and universal mourning. Chao Lan did not understand why they wept. He walked to the imperial mausoleum, where his father's and mother's coffins lay side by side. He opened the coffins, wanting to see them one last time.
He first pushed open his mother's coffin; it was very heavy, and he used a great deal of force. His mother lay quietly inside, still as beautiful and young as she had been in his childhood.
He reached out his hand tremblingly and called out, "Mother."
His calls were like a spell, and his mother slowly opened her eyes, her face rosy. Chao Lan was startled. He watched as his mother sat up from the coffin, her back to him: "Come, Lan'er, come to your mother."
Overjoyed, Chao Lan wept. He rushed forward, holding the coffin and looking at his mother. The Empress beckoned and opened her arms. Without a word, Chao Lan climbed into the coffin and threw himself into his mother's embrace.
"Chao Lan has been on the mountain for over ten years. Why hasn't Mother come to see me? Chao Lan misses Mother so much!"
"Achoo!" The Queen sneezed. Rubbing her nose, she asked, "Lan'er, what's that on your head?! Achoo!"
Chaolan, who had been supporting her hair in a bun, was actually a magnolia flower.
"It's the magnolia flower that Mother Empress loved the most!"
The Empress kept sneezing. Chao Lan wanted to pick a magnolia flower, but suddenly found that her hands and body had become very small, like... her childhood self.
At this moment, intense knocking sounds came from the coffin beside them, each knocking becoming faster and more urgent.
Fear surged through him like a tidal wave. Chaolan pressed himself against the coffin, clutching his mother: "Mother! Mother! Save me!"
The empress stood up and then remained motionless, just like a corpse.
The edge of the coffin lid had become loose, and violent thuds kept pounding inside his head, causing him a splitting headache.
"Boom!"
The coffin lid popped open, and the emperor, his face deathly pale, rose from inside, his golden dragon robe stained with blood. Then, he spat out mouthfuls of blood, stepped over the coffin, and reached out to seize Chaolan.
Chaolan kept shaking her mother's arm, pleading, "Mother! Mother, please go!"
The Queen's spine seemed to be suddenly pulled out, her head drooped abruptly, losing its ability to support itself, and she met the gaze of Chao Lan, who was holding her legs.
"Ah! Mother!" came a childish exclamation.
"You moved out of the palace long ago and obediently went on your path to immortality. We have no father-son relationship anymore. My allowing you into the palace was already a favor. How dare you interfere in politics! You have the audacity to commit patricide!"
The emperor was no longer the man he once was; with disheveled hair, he walked toward Chaolan.
A drop of water fell on Chaolan's forehead. Chaolan looked up and a drop of his mother's bloody tear fell into his eye.
"Quickly apologize to your father, you unfilial son!"
The mother is crying.
"I may have made a mistake, but have the people of the world made a mistake?" Chao Lan looked up at his father, who was rushing towards him, and gave up resisting. Tears streamed down his face as he gazed at his former monarch.
"Chaolan, come to Master."
With a ethereal sound, Chao Lan turned around and saw his master running towards him from a distance.
In the blink of an eye, without the slightest hesitation, Chao Lan turned around and jumped out of the coffin. The emperor tore his sleeve, but he ignored it and ran towards You Youju with all his might.
"Master!"
He saw You Youju's figure getting closer and closer. He ran, his gaze rising from low to high. He no longer needed his master to bow his head; he wanted to grab his master.
"Master!"
You Youju caught him, and he rushed into his master's arms, resting his head on You Youju's shoulder.
At the same time, You Youju pulled out his magnolia hairpin, and his long hair cascaded down.
The hairpin, held in You Youju's hand, instantly transformed into a sharp blade, wielded towards the former king, who was now beyond recognition and was being pursued.
"Chaolan, Master is here."
Chuang Chaolan resolutely turned around, and in You Youju's arms, they gripped the sword together: "I am Cen Chaolan! Disciple of Elder Guichen of Yundi Peak! My mission is to eliminate evil and uphold justice! My life is for the sake of all living beings!"
With a swift turn of the blade, the dream was shattered. Amidst the fragments, Chaolan seemed to see a familiar, small, black figure, gazing resentfully at everything that was happening.
Chao Lan slowly woke up, and You Youju was standing by his bedside with a solemn expression.
Seeing that he was alright, You Ju breathed a sigh of relief, but she did not intend to let him go: "Where did your inner demons come from? No matter how powerful you are, as long as you have inner demons, everything is meaningless."
Seeing his master's serious demeanor, Chao Lan smiled. He propped himself up and buried himself in You Youju's embrace: "Master, you're here."
Why did You Youju feel both annoyed and inexplicably relieved?
"Take a break. Starting tomorrow, practice your basic skills behind closed doors for a month."
"Yes, Master," Chao Lan replied obediently.
You Youju was concerned about the situation down the mountain, so she gave him a few more instructions and wanted to go down the mountain to provide assistance.
"Thud." The sound of something hitting the barrier and landing in the courtyard.
You Youju became more alert and slipped away, but there was no one there.
The opponent's Taoist magic was so powerful that they actually broke through my barrier.
They actually came all the way to Yundi Peak to show off, how arrogant!
After surveying the surroundings and confirming that there was no danger, he sent a voice transmission talisman to Si Chuitang: "Junior Sister, are you alright?"
"Yes, we are all fine, but Senior Brother Guichen, the Sect Leader wants you to come to the Elder Hall for a meeting."
The meeting... I guess I'll get a scolding soon enough.
"You Youju! Look what you've done!"
Sure enough, the moment he stepped into the hall, a barrage of reprimands rained down upon him.
Why is it my fault again?
Because she was chanting so quickly, Si Chuitang didn't hear clearly. She tried to keep her presence to herself and asked Chi Yu, who was sitting next to her, "What was that incantation for, Sect Leader?"
Chi Yu was both amused and exasperated, and replied in a low voice, "That was the name given to me by the immortal Guixu, who is also the sect leader's master. Only the sect leader dares to call me that normally. After all, he is the oldest."
"Look at you! If it weren't for you, would Chaolan have been unaware that two demonic cultivators had infiltrated our sect as disciples?!"
You Youju was extremely sensitive to people from the demonic path: "What?! What exactly did they do?"
Cangzhou Shuijian finally became serious and was about to lose his temper. He narrowed his eyes slightly and was so angry that the breath he exhaled from his nostrils made his two beards flutter.
"Do you still have Chaoyun Mountain in your heart?!"
You Youju was baffled: "Can you please get to the point?"
You Youju stopped dealing with him and turned to ask Si Chuitang. Chi Yu quickly grabbed Cang Zhoushui.
Si Chuitang said, "This is also my fault for not teaching properly. My disciple Zhaohua is a spy of the demonic path, and the other is a member of the demonic path who disguises himself as Chaolan and has green eyes. We have already investigated and found that he is Axun from the Beast Taming Sect."
"Ah Xun? How could it be him?"
Cang Zhou Shui continued his outburst: "Look at you two good elders, one spoiling the spy so much that he's arrogant and domineering, and the other calling the spy to Yundi Peak to tutor him. You two are afraid you won't be able to give him a chance, aren't you?!"
Si Chuitang weakly retorted, "That child wasn't unruly; it was my fault for spoiling him." Then she turned to You Youju and said, "I don't know how they found out, but they actually found your Life Stone. However, before they could take it away, Chu Fei stumbled upon it."
"you!"
"Is Chu Fei injured? How is he?"
Si Chuitang shook his head: "Chu Fei only suffered some superficial injuries. Neither of them intended to hurt anyone."
Cangzhou Shui brandished her fingers and approached You Youju: "They're after you!"
The orange petals are white; could it be that Zhu Xun sent someone to look for the Purple Emperor Sword?
You Youju felt a growing sense of crisis. It seemed that he could no longer run away; he had to go see Zhu Xun.
"You'd better do everything you can to restore the Chaolan Kung Fu to its original state, otherwise what will happen if the world descends into chaos!" Cangzhou Shui warned.
You Youju, unwilling to listen to Cangzhou Shui's incessant chatter any longer, turned and left.
Cangzhou Shui knows he's nagging and strict. But isn't You Youju also someone who's carefree?
The metallic taste spreading between his lips and teeth pulled You Youju back to his senses; he had been so focused that he had bitten his lip.
Zhu Xun returned to Yundi Peak and suddenly kicked something.
Upon closer inspection, he realized it was the bone of a red-tailed snake!
Fine beads of sweat appeared on his forehead; it was hard to tell whether it was from nervousness, guilt, or both.
The night sky twinkled, and looking at the red-tailed snake bones on the ground, he hesitated to pick them up for a long time.
Finally, he made up his mind, rallied his forces, and proclaimed its name: "Crimson Flame."
Crimson flames rose in response, wrapping around his waist like a white bone belt, tight and close-fitting.
Zhu Xun gripped the sword-orchid-carved whip handle, fighting with the Crimson Flame, as if it were just yesterday.
More than half a year had passed since he was allowed to descend the mountain at will. Yet, he still lacked the courage to step out of the mountain gate.
You Youju thought about going back, but she didn't know how to leave or what identity to have.
That childish roar seems like it happened just yesterday. Those scalding red tears still leave an indelible scar on his chest.
That courtyard has always been in my memory; in the dead of night, I would sit under the osmanthus tree and close my eyes for a short rest.
A century has passed in the blink of an eye. Memories may fade, feelings may diminish, but that place remains, silent, without cries or calls, quietly reminding him that there is a courtyard, a person, who has always been waiting for him.
He thought he was afraid and felt guilty.
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