Chapter 127 I Decide I’m Not Qualified
Chang Xile and Anping had another argument.
The cause was what the old Taoist said:
"The girl's courage is commendable, and her character is admirable, but saving the world doesn't come from sheer bravery; it requires a principle."
Chang Xile asked him, "You tell me."
The old Taoist counted on his fingers and told them, "On the evening of the 23rd, a red moon will appear in the sky above the mountain city. At that time, the treacherous fox will definitely appear on the mountaintop."
"How can we be sure that it will appear?" Yang Guisi asked.
The old Taoist glanced at her and said, "Have you heard the story of the fox worshiping the moon?"
Yang Guisi blinked. She had only heard the name of this allusion but did not know the details.
"The moon is yin, and every full moon day, foxes can absorb its energy to enhance their cultivation. The red moon only appears once every fifty years. Kneeling and worshiping the red moon can greatly enhance one's cultivation. You said the fox's body was destroyed and could only be reborn through a borrowed body. How could it miss such a perfect opportunity?"
"Then how do you know it will appear on the top of Changle Mountain?" Shunian raised his hand.
"Mount Changle is the highest mountain in the city, and therefore closest to the moon," the old Taoist said, then shook his head. "But the night of the 23rd is too close to the final day you mentioned. If we fail, I'm afraid none of you will be able to escape."
"Forget it. I advise you to just leave. As for those who are still guarding the mountain city and are unwilling to leave, that is fate." The old Taoist sighed, said no more to them, and walked out of the Taoist temple on his own.
Chang Xile has already discussed with Yang Guisi how to subdue the villain.
"If we can force him out then, we can..."
She was halfway through her words when Anping grabbed her hand and pulled her up.
"I'll come and tell you later." Chang Xile walked in the direction Anping went, not knowing why, and the two of them walked into another deserted yard.
"You can't stay until that night," Anping said. "You promised me you would leave the city before the 23rd."
"But Anping, didn't you hear what the old Taoist said? If this works, the entire mountain city can be saved from disaster." Chang Xile's eyes were still filled with excitement. "We can save everyone!"
"I can do whatever you want to do for you, but you have to go." Anping was unmoved and still insisted.
Chang Xile felt like she had been poured a bucket of cold water after hearing what he said. Her excitement suddenly cooled down. She asked softly, "Are you serious?"
Anping nodded.
"Are you worried that I'll be in danger when the earthquake comes?" Chang Xile was still trying to convince him, "But as long as we succeed on the day of the Red Moon, nothing will happen. I can accept this little risk..."
"You're so naive!" An Ping frowned. Chang Xile had never seen such a gloomy expression on his face. His eyes, once as beautiful and deep as a lake, were now filled with sorrow, as if he were enduring some kind of pain. "What do you think this is? Betting 99% of your chips on a 1% chance of winning isn't bravery, it's gambling."
An Ping exhaled, realizing he had spoken too hastily. He reached out to embrace Chang Xile, then slowed his tone to reason with her, "Even if there's only a 1% chance of death, it's still a 100% chance for you and those who love you. Do you understand?"
"So you don't need to take any of these risks. I'm here for you." An Ping thought of something else, hoping to reassure Chang Xile, "Anyway, I still have two options..."
Chang Xile was originally listening to him very seriously, but when he heard the last sentence, he suddenly got angry.
She waved his hand away and asked, "How could I abandon you and become a deserter?"
"Anping, for so many years, every time you encountered danger, you would pull me away and leave yourself alone. When you were injured, you left alone. We haven't seen each other for more than ten years. Are you going to repeat it again this time?"
As Chang Xile spoke, tears welled up in her eyes. She raised her sleeve to wipe away her tears and asked, "What do you mean by assuming the risk is enough? Is our relationship really so superficial that we can only share the good times but not the bad times?"
There was another part that Anping hadn't finished, and she didn't want to continue.
She probably understood what Anping said before he finished speaking - it was enough for him to face all the dangers alone. After all, he still had two lives and could die again.
Chang Xile cried more and more heartbroken. Who was the gambler? Who didn't take their own life seriously? Could life be squandered like this? Had she worked so hard to save the people of the entire city, only to find that in the end, she couldn't even protect Anping's share?
An Ping was a little dazed after hearing this. He quickly held her hand again and whispered, "No...that's not what I meant."
He thought about it for a long, long time, as if in great difficulty. Finally, he seemed to have made up his mind: "Okay, no matter where you go, I will go with you."
Chang Xile let herself cry for a while, then finally nodded. They had always been together, and it would always be like this.
But at that time she didn't understand the meaning behind Anping's words.
Always together, regardless of life or death.
When Chang Xile returned to continue the discussion with Yang Guisi and the others, Yang Guisi tilted his head and pursed his lips at An Ping, who was standing at the temple entrance, and asked, "Did you two have a fight?"
The two of them were talking quite loudly just now, and it was hard not to hear them.
Chang Xile nodded and sighed, "Forget it, it's just because of concern that you get confused, right?"
Tang You walked over slowly and listened to them discuss strategy.
Chang Xile looked up at her and asked, "Aunt, why don't you take them back home? I won't report you to the underworld."
Tang You raised her hand and hit her on the head.
"Wow..." Chang Xile covered his forehead in pain and said aggrievedly, "Why did you hit me?"
"Oh, are you crying?" Tang You saw her eyes reddened, and thought to herself that she hadn't put in much effort. "I'm your mother's guardian in Shancheng. If you don't leave, I won't leave either."
"But..." Chang Xile heard her say this and thought of Ms. Tang and Mr. Chang, who kept complaining about their sweet little girl coming home. She felt a little sad - should she tell them? But she was afraid that they would worry about her for no reason.
Tang You patted her head, revealing a rare gentle expression: "It's okay... You're still a child... Of course you can go home if you want."
Chang Xile shook his head: "I want to stay."
After Yang Guisi saw the two of them finish speaking, he immediately expressed his stance: "I have no home to return to. I want to be with you."
Several of them were well aware of the other's determination to stay. Although they still had many worries and were reluctant to let go, they finally stopped trying to persuade them. This was also a respect for each other.
That night, Yang Guisi couldn't sleep. She knocked on Chang Xile's door with a pillow in her arms and started to act coquettishly: "Xile - I don't dare to sleep alone, can I sleep with you..."
The second half of the sentence came to an abrupt end when she saw the white cat behind Chang Xile.
"Sure, I'll clean up the room." Chang Xile turned around and said to Anping, "You, get out."
The white cat lay on the recliner, glancing lazily in their direction, without moving at all.
"No, no, no, that's not necessary." Yang Guisi stopped Chang Xile, who was about to go and pick up Anping himself. He took a moment to organize his words before saying, "I remembered I haven't cooked my homework yet, haven't made dinner yet, no... I haven't washed Junyi yet. I'm going back now. You can pretend I didn't come."
Without waiting for Chang Xile to say anything, Yang Guisi left like a flash.
Chang Xile closed the door and looked back at Anping. He had turned back into human form and was sitting on a recliner, unpacking a ball of wool that was originally placed in the room.
"So why are you still here?" Chang Xile smiled.
"I said, wherever you go, I'll go." Anping looked up at her.
"Inseparable" shouldn't include eating, sleeping, and other daily necessities, right? She asked! This guy was so eager to follow her even to the shower that when Chang Xile came out of the bathroom that night, she saw Anping leaning against her door, and her heart skipped a beat.
If he really was just a cat, that would be fine! It's nothing more than a cute pet acting cute to strengthen its relationship with its owner.
However, Chang Xile glanced at Anping from head to toe - the man in front of her was tall and slender, with handsome features, and a pair of blue eyes looking at her with a half-smile.
She sighed: But he is not!
"Then can you turn into a cat? I can't sleep with you looking at me like this." Chang Xile negotiated with him.
Anping thought about it and readily turned back into the harmless lion cat. However, he went a step further and leaped from the recliner to the end of Chang Xile's bed, then curled himself up and lay down.
Chang Xile was silent for a while, and inexplicably felt that this scene was very familiar.
However, this did indeed make her more accepting, so Chang Xile lifted the quilt, said good night to Anping, and went to sleep.
There will be a tough battle in the next few days, so she needs to conserve her energy.
After the girl's breathing gradually calmed down, the lion cat at the end of her bed opened its eyes. It looked out the window, where the shadows of the trees were reflected by the moonlight. It was late at night.
It transformed back into human form and blew a breath onto the bed. After the young man left the room, a spirited lion cat was still lying at the end of the girl's bed.
"Why did you say those things to her today?" Outside the courtyard wall, Anping looked at the person in front of him. Although his words were ordinary, there was a hint of dissatisfaction in his tone.
"You are becoming more and more disrespectful. You don't even call me Master." The man walked out from the shade of the tree. It was the old Taoist who visited Chang Leguan during the day.
Anping paused before adding, "Master."
"Hey." The old Taoist was very pleased. He took out a fan from somewhere, opened it and waved it, then asked him, "It seems that you really hope she will just leave here?"
"Yes." Anping did not hesitate.
"Even if after she leaves, more than half of the entire mountain city might be killed or injured?"
"She shouldn't be responsible for the lives and deaths of those people, and it has nothing to do with her." An Ping said calmly.
"Then her life or death is not your business. As you said, everyone has their own destiny." The old Taoist smiled.
An Ping was choked and speechless for the first time. He endured it for a moment before finally saying the reason he hadn't said that day: "If her life is threatened by the earthquake like the people in the mountain city, then it's nothing. Although I may not have boundless magical powers, it's more than enough to protect her."
"But I saw her name in the Book of Life and Death," said Anping.
The date of death was written in black and white behind the name - it was a different date from the people on the list that Chang Xile had seen, exactly one day earlier.
She didn't die from the earthquake, but from any natural disaster, accident, or man-made calamity that might have occurred. No matter how powerful Anping was, it would have been difficult for him to take care of her in every possible way.
That day, Anping simply wanted to cross Chang Xile's name out of the Book of Life and Death, so he had a big fight with Xie Wuya.
"Are you crazy? Do you think it's a good thing to have your name crossed out from the Book of Life and Death? If you really did such a thing, I promise you that she would hate you." Xie Wuya protected the booklet and refused to let An Ping touch it even at death.
An Ping figured out the pros and cons in a moment. He no longer insisted on snatching the Book of Life and Death, but continued to have a good fight with Xie Wuya.
"She is very important to the entire mountain city." At the end of the discussion, Xie Wuya suddenly said this without any context.
Before An Ping left, Xie Wuya reminded him: "I advise you not to tell her about this, and don't think about forcing her to leave Shancheng."
Anping stopped, didn't look back, and didn't ask the reason.
Xie Wuya, for once, put aside his duties and sat on the ground amidst the chaos, pouring himself a glass of wine. He raised his glass to the sky, intending to toast the bright moon, but the underworld sky was filled with dark clouds, so he simply tilted his head back and drank.
“I cannot see the true face of Mount Lu because I am already in it…”
An Ping didn't tell Chang Xile about this. However, since her name appeared in Xie Wuya's book of life and death, it meant that after her death, she would be under the jurisdiction of the underworld in that area. That was why he made her promise to leave the mountain city before the 23rd—if she wasn't in the mountain city, she wouldn't die there.
"Then why did you agree to let her stay?" The old Taoist smiled and said teasingly, as if he saw the younger generation he had brought up all the way finally grow up.
Anping was silent for a moment before saying, "She is free. How can I make the decision for her?"
Just as Xie Wuya reminded her, if Anping crossed out Chang Xile's name from the Book of Life and Death, she would be free from the cycle of reincarnation and become immortal in a sense.
Is this a blessing or a curse? How can Anping make a decision for Chang Xile to save her life?
An Ping lowered his head and smiled, laughing at himself for not being able to break through his master after spending so many years with him. In the end, he just said, "I said, wherever she goes, I will go. The worst that can happen is that I will go to the underworld to snatch someone else."
It’s not the first time anyway.
The old Taoist smiled and sighed, his expression showing no surprise. His disciple, while seemingly the most obedient on the outside, was actually quite unruly and opinionated on the inside.
Anping was out for only a short while before going back. Before leaving, he glanced at the old Taoist priest and asked him, "Your figure is becoming increasingly blurred. Shall I find time to repair your Taoist temple?" And at the same time, offer sacrifices to the goddess that his master devotedly recommended every day.
"It's all because the moonlight is too dim." The old Taoist shook his head, waved his hand and said to him, "Mind your own business. When you have time, come and make a golden statue for the Goddess of Laughter. I'll be praying for you."
Before entering, Anping hesitated for a moment, then asked, "Isn't Amitabha a Buddhist term? Master, isn't your practice a bit mixed?"
He was answered by a fan slamming against the door frame.
Anping smiled, walked back to the room and closed the door quietly.
The girl on the bed was still sleeping soundly. He looked at her cheek with indescribable tenderness in his eyes.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
