Zheng—
On Turtle Mountain, Qin Shou sat cross-legged under a peach tree, dressed in white robes as white as snow. His five fingers flew across the strings, and a lingering melody flowed from his fingertips.
"There is a beautiful woman, whom I cannot forget once I have seen her."
I miss you terribly if I don't see you for a day.
The phoenix soars high, seeking its mate across the four seas.
Alas, the beauty is not here on the east wall.
......
A tender ancient melody flowed from Qin Shou's voice, spreading through the air on the mountaintop, and drifting down with the pink petals behind him.
Da Mei lay on the table, her two little hands supporting her chin, her big eyes wide open, watching Qin Shou play the zither with a serious expression, her little head shaking from time to time.
Clang!
When the song ended, Da Mei clapped her little hands happily.
"Master, you sing so beautifully!"
What song is this?
Da Mei tilted her head and asked.
"Hehe." Qin Shou chuckled and replied, "This is 'Phoenix Prisoner,' which tells the story of a talented scholar named Sima Xiangru who, at a banquet in ancient times, played this piece and captured the heart of a beautiful woman named Zhuo Wenjun..."
"Master, this story is wonderful!"
Da Mei listened, her big eyes sparkling with bright light.
"Master, could you teach me this piece?"
"certainly. "
Qin Shou handed the guqin to Da Mei and patiently taught her the melody and lyrics.
Da Mei is so smart now; she can learn many sheet music after just a glance.
Oh no, Da Mei has always been smart, except when she first came up the mountain and was still a fish. It seems like she and Xiao Pang share the same intelligence system.
Little Fatty is still happily spinning around in the same spot, while Big Beauty is already "hissing" upwards.
Clang!
Before long, the sound of the zither rose from the mountaintop again. However, compared to the previous time, the playing technique was noticeably less refined. But Da Mei's voice was ethereal and beautiful, like a clear spring flowing through a mountain stream, or like the hooves of a cuckoo calling in a secluded valley. Listening to it made one feel as if they were in a gentle breeze and under the bright moon, and their mood was soothed.
".......
Let me use the zither to express my feelings.
When will I be granted permission to meet you, to soothe my anxieties?
I wish to be worthy of your virtue, and walk hand in hand with you.
Unable to fly, I am doomed.
......”
This is a poem about love. The beauty of love has not yet reached the mortal world, and it cannot fully express the joy and affection between men and women. The feelings are sincere and heartfelt, but there is a sense of innocence and purity in it.
Qin Shou sat sideways at the table, one hand propping up his head on the table. He looked at the small figure on the mountaintop, earnestly playing the zither again and again, and then at the falling petals behind him. He felt a sense of peace and tranquility.
He only hoped that these little guys on the hilltop could stay this innocent forever.
Thinking of this, Qin Shou couldn't help but smile.
That smile was exceptionally warm in the sunlight.
But soon, his brows furrowed again.
"Um? "
A sense of bewilderment first appeared in his mind, followed by a hint of doubt, but soon he seemed to have thought of something, his brows relaxed, and he revealed a look of sudden realization.
"Da Mei, I have to go out for a bit. Keep an eye on those little guys on the hilltop, make sure nothing happens to Xiao Yuanbao."
Qin Shou stood up. Earlier, when he was on the mountaintop, under the illumination of his divine sense, even if Yi Cheng and the others made a ruckus, Xiao Yuanbao would at most suffer a little in his childhood, but nothing serious would happen to him. Now, however, he had to go out, so he still had to ask Da Mei to keep an eye on Xiao Yuanbao.
"Yes, Master. I'll go down the mountain to check on Yuanbao right away."
Da Mei was very clever. She knew that her master must have something to do, so she stopped playing the zither and ran down the mountain with cheerful little steps.
"hehe. "
Qin Shou smiled as he watched Da Mei's figure disappear from the spot, heading west.
......
There is a wasteland on the land of Yunzhou.
At this moment, two figures were speeding across the wasteland, with dozens of people chasing after them.
One of the pursued individuals was a beautiful woman holding a little girl of about six or seven years old in her arms. Her body was covered in blood, her hair was disheveled, and she was on the verge of death, but she was still struggling to hold on. Her eyes were fixed on the front, her vision was already blurred, but she kept running desperately.
"Hehehe, the Holy Maiden of the Luoshui Sect, you certainly have a tough bone to burn. I'd like to see how long you can run away!"
"Haha, Luo Xin'er, hand over the spiritual treasure, and then obediently become my furnace. As long as you serve me well, I might consider sparing your life."
"Hehehe, fellow Daoists, I may not need that spiritual treasure she possesses, but I have already reserved the body of the Holy Maiden of the Luoshui Sect. Anyone who tries to take it from me will face my wrath."
"Hmph, you old poisoner, what do you mean by 'pre-ordering'? Whoever grabs it first gets it, hahahahaha..."
On the desolate plain, the chilling wind howled wildly like a steel knife scraping bone, yet the unrestrained filth and vulgarities sounded even colder to Luo Xin'er than the wind itself.
She can die, but her daughter absolutely cannot.
Luo Xin'er gritted her teeth and transformed into a streak of blood-red light, soaring across the boundless wasteland.
But... she really isn't going to make it.
Her soul was about to burn out, and she sensed her end.
Unwilling! Angry!
She looked at the little girl in her arms, her eyes filled with tears.
My child is so young, my child is so young...
"Mother..... "
The little girl in his arms was burning hot, like a branding iron, with black mist swirling between her brows, clearly indicating that she had been poisoned or injured.
"I feel terrible..."
She murmured something, as if telling a story, but the wind howled in her ears, and her voice was buried in the cold wind as soon as it came out.
Boom!
At that moment, a beam of light descended from the sky and struck Luo Xin'er on the back.
With a bang, her body immediately fell and crashed into a huge rock. Then, with another "bang," the rock shattered, and Luo Xin'er's body slammed into the ground, bounced a few times, and rolled a long distance away.
"Pfft!"
She struggled to get up, but she had no strength left. Blood completely submerged her body and soaked the clothes of the little girl in her arms.
Its pupils stared at the gray sky with resentment and bitterness.
"Nangong Zheng, I...I really want to kill you."
Luo Xin'er murmured weakly, her mind racing, as if recalling everything from the past.
Swish! Swish! Swish!
At this moment, dozens of figures suddenly arrived and surrounded Luo Xin'er.
"Heh heh heh, it's truly surprising that a mere Golden Core cultivator could withstand such a long attack from us Nascent Soul cultivators."
"Hehehe, Holy Maiden of the Luoshui Sect, this old man has arrived."
"You old poisoner, your body is already decayed and unworthy of the Holy Maiden of the Luoshui Sect. Let me enjoy you instead."
"Heh, she's just a married woman, is she really worth all this fighting over?"
"Heh heh, you who cultivate the Path of Heartlessness wouldn't understand. The more a woman is married, the more I like her."
"Hmph, I don't care what kind of women you want, but I want that magical treasure she possesses."
"Bah! Spiritual treasures belong to whoever has the ability. Whoever has the ability gets them. Why should you reserve them just because you say so?"
"Hmph, do you want to fight me, the sect leader?"
"Tch~, others may fear your Heavenly Slaughter Technique, but I'm not. Let's fight then."
Come on!
"Come on..."
The dozens of people standing in the void chattered amongst themselves, wanting to divide up the spoils of victory below without any restraint. In their eyes, the Luoshui Sect had already been destroyed, and the person below had burned out his soul and was long since exhausted. Even if a great immortal came, he would be unable to save him now.
He's only managing to stay alive by clinging to that magical treasure.
"Am I really... going to die?"
Luo Xin'er lay helplessly on the cold wasteland, her soul about to dissipate, her body gradually growing cold.
Tick-tock!
A raindrop falls.
Tick-tock! Tick-tock!
Soon, more rain began to fall.
A light rain began to fall on the cold, desolate plain.
The drizzle was unusually cold, and the drops felt like they seeped into Luo Xin'er's bones, making her soul tremble.
At this moment, she was still holding a jade slip in her hand, which was left to her by that very handsome person more than a hundred years ago.
She crushed it, but received no response.
She stiffly tilted her head, looking at the little one in her arms, feeling an overwhelming sense of guilt and resentment.
She hated herself for having chosen the wrong person in her life, harming her master, the Luoshui Sect, her own sect, Tongze, and even her own child.
"Master, Xin'er is leaving..."
"Yan'er, your mother may not be able to watch you grow up anymore..."
The girl's eyes gradually lowered, and the gray sky grew even darker.
"Luo Xin'er! Don't die!"
Suddenly, a loud bang rang out in the sky, followed by a thunderous roar. Luo Xin'er's pupils, which were about to close, snapped open.
Within her sight, a domineering figure descended from the sky.
He was over eight feet tall, with bulging muscles and a rugged face. He held a large sword in his hand, and his body was surrounded by a crimson aura. He was like a blazing sun, and all the cold rain that fell within a hundred meters of him was instantly evaporated and the chill was dispelled, bringing a touch of warmth to Luo Xin'er's soul, which was almost completely frozen.
"Yang Wei, what brings you here!"
Luo Xin'er managed a weak smile, a hint of surprise in her eyes.
But she was more worried. She didn't know why this holy son of the Nine Yang Holy Sect dared to defy the world to help her, but she knew that although Yang Wei was stronger than her, he was definitely no match for those people.
Therefore, his move was undoubtedly like throwing an egg against a rock.
"Hmph, you stupid woman, what the hell was wrong with your eyes? You married that seemingly respectable piece of trash, and now you're suffering the consequences!"
Yang Wei turned around and roared, but when he saw Luo Xin'er's miserable appearance, his rough eyebrows furrowed tightly, and his eyes showed pity, tenderness, and pain.
"What, are you regretting not agreeing to come back to the clan with me and have a baby?"
Yang Wei crossed his arms, but spoke coldly.
"Hey, what are you doing here? You can't save me anyway!"
Luo Xin'er spoke with a helpless and strained voice.
Because of the severity of his injuries, he only managed to utter one sentence before coughing violently as if he had exhausted all his strength.
But she still didn't understand why he had come to save her.
The two could only be considered acquainted, since the Nine Yang Holy Sect and the Luoshui Sect were neighbors and they inevitably had some dealings with each other.
I still remember the first time she met him, he rushed up to her and said, "This woman is really hot, come back to the clan with me and have a baby." She replied, "Ugly people are always up to no good." Then he picked up a 40-meter-long sword and chased her for 300 miles before being saved by Sister Wen.
"Hmph, who said I, the Holy Son, came to save you? I just don't like those guys."
Yang Wei roared, raised his knife to the sky, and cursed:
"Who the hell was the idiot who injured her like this? Step forward, I'll chop him up if I don't want to live!"
Cold rain pounded on the barren plain, and Yang Wei's strong and imposing figure stood in front of Luo Xin'er, seemingly giving her a sense of security.
"Could...could you please save my daughter?"
Luo Xin'er knew she wouldn't survive, but she still clung to a sliver of hope that her child could live.
"Shut the hell up! If I were to save anyone, it would be you. What the hell does that trash's offspring have to do with me?"
Yang Wei turned around and shouted angrily.
"Hehehe, so you're a high-ranking disciple of the Nine Yang Holy Sect. What, does your Nine Yang Holy Sect intend to collude with the Luo Shui Sect and become our enemy?"
"Hehehe, little fellow, I heard you recently entered the Nascent Soul Realm, truly surpassing your predecessors. Unfortunately, you're still only a novice in the Nascent Soul Realm. Even with your high talent, you're still far behind us. Besides, there are so many of us here today. If you insist on colluding with this demoness, don't blame us for showing no mercy."
"Heh heh, just a brat from the Nine Yang Holy Sect. Even if the Nine Yang Sect Master were here, what could he do?"
"Alright, enough talk. A mere Nascent Soul cultivator dares to challenge us? Let's just kill them."
The figures standing in the void exuded powerful energy, showing no regard for Yang Wei.
Now that the Luoshui Sect has been destroyed, even the sect leader who had reached the Nascent Soul Realm has been annihilated. The glorious Luoshui Sect, which had lasted for a hundred years, has come to an end. Therefore, the rest of us are nothing more than "remnants of the sect." The victors of black and white are the ones who write the story.
"Pah, you little brat, you witch, you bastard! You are the real evil sects, doing such dirty things for some profit, annihilating other sects, and now you are bullying orphans and widows here. You are shameless."
"Damn it, you don't think that just because you have a human shape and wear human clothes, you're not animals, do you?"
Yang Wei's angry shouts immediately enraged a few people who lacked composure.
"Hmph, what a sharp-tongued little beast! I'll be the one to kill you."
An ugly old man wearing a centipede-patterned robe and with a shiny, bald head stepped forward. With a flick of his sleeve, he unleashed a blood-red centipede.
The centipede grew a hundred legs and suddenly swelled up to a height of several hundred feet. Its scales gleamed, and it was shrouded in a bloody mist, which also carried a foul stench. As it crawled with a rumbling sound, the entire wasteland trembled.
"Hmph, I'd like to see what the Nine Yang Sect Master can do to me after I kill you."
"Little centipede, go, swallow him!"
At the figure's command, the demon that had already entered the Nascent Soul Realm roared, its body shrouded in bloody light and swirling with demonic winds, as it violently attacked Yang Wei with its massive demonic body.
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