Chapter 1 First Encounter with Hibiscus Town
"Chu Jianshan! If you don't pay me back, I'll smash up this lousy house!!"
The shouts from Aunt Chen next door were incredibly penetrating, and along with the sound came the water ladle in her hand.
Fortunately, Chu Jianshan reacted quickly and narrowly dodged the attack, narrowly avoiding getting his head smashed open.
"It's only ten coins, is it really necessary..." Chu Jianshan muttered softly, but Chen Da Niang, who had sharp ears, still heard him.
"Ten coins are nothing! You're as weak as a chick, don't get sick and die before you pay me back!"
Chu Jianshan pursed his lips and remained silent, thinking to himself that this woman's words were truly unpleasant.
However, she did remind herself that there was still an old hen at home, which could be sold to pay off the debt, and since he didn't plan to stay in Furong Town any longer anyway.
Chu Jianshan picked up the water ladle and threw it back to Aunt Chen, then sighed.
Back in the day, he was a young man who rose to fame at a young age and was considered the best in the world. Everyone on Changjin Mountain respectfully called him the Immortal Venerable Nanxu. How did he end up like this?
“Things have changed, people have changed…” Chu Jianshan looked up and chuckled.
"She's gone mad again!" Granny Chen cursed, then shouted, "Is she going to start calling herself some kind of immortal sage again? Let me tell you, if you don't pay back your money, no amount of immortal sagehood matters! You..."
Aunt Chen's cursing continued, but Chu Jianshan pretended not to hear it. After catching the chicken, he put on his green gauze hat and walked to the street corner.
Although he was used to the life of ordinary people, Chu Jianshan still couldn't bring himself to shout out his chickens on the street. As a result, he didn't sell a single chicken all afternoon, and the old hen just stayed in the cage, looking at him with longing.
Chu Jianshan patted his bottom, ready to take the chicken home. At worst, he would get scolded by Aunt Chen again. But as he stood up, his gaze was drawn to the figures of two people on the street.
The leader was dressed in black, tall and slender, with his high ponytail swaying lightly with his movements. He was not only full of heroic spirit, but also had the air of a dashing knight. His eyes were like deep, cold pools, and his thin lips were tightly pursed beneath his high nose. Not only his facial features, but even every part of his eyebrows and eyes felt incredibly familiar to him.
The man held an exquisitely crafted longsword with a moon-white tassel hanging from it. Even from a distance, Chu Jianshan recognized it at a glance—the Liuyin Sword, the sword he had personally chosen for his disciple.
His heart suddenly started racing. He wanted to get closer to see who this person was, but his feet wouldn't move an inch.
As the person drew closer, Chu Jianshan's gaze moved upwards along the sword sheath, and the person's face became clearer and clearer, making his answer even more certain.
It really is Cheng Yuan.
Upon seeing him again after seven years, Chu Jianshan's first reaction was not excitement or joy, but rather he hurriedly grabbed the veil on the ground and frantically covered his face, his hands trembling slightly, his breathing heavy as if he couldn't catch his breath.
He felt a mix of emotions: surprise, longing, guilt, but mostly a sense of bewilderment about how to face him.
As Cheng Yuan passed by him, Chu Jianshan secretly glanced at him twice. He had changed, changed a lot. His brow bone was higher, and his eyes were deeper. But thinking about it, it made sense. Seven years ago, when he left, Cheng Yuan was only sixteen years old, and now he was taller than him.
A gentle breeze swept by, and Chu Jianshan met his disciple, whom he hadn't seen for seven years, once again through the thin veil. All the regret, longing, apology, and guilt were separated by this thin layer of veil, and no ripples were stirred.
Cheng Yuan didn't recognize him and walked straight past him. As if by some strange twist of fate, Chu Jianshan followed him, leaving the old hen in the cage clucking in place.
Following Cheng Yuan and the others, Chu Jianshan entered a teahouse, adjusted his veil and sat down at the table next to them. Just as he sat down, he heard a loud bang as the storyteller slammed his gavel on the table and began to speak in a dramatic, rhythmic voice.
"As mentioned last time, Xie Yin, the Immortal Lord of Changjin Mountain, committed suicide by cutting his own throat to save the common people below the mountain."
Upon hearing the name Xie Yin, Chu Jianshan stiffened abruptly, his grip on the cup tightened slightly, and his thoughts drifted away.
Xie Yin was Chu Jianshan's senior brother, and he disappeared from Changjin Mountain for seven years under the guise of his own death in order to investigate the true cause of his senior brother's death.
Seven years ago, the Linyi Sect, the number one sect in the world, spread rumors that the barrier separating the human and demon realms was about to break. After gathering everyone to discuss the matter, they came up with a heinous method—to find someone to sacrifice.
The person chosen to be sacrificed was Xie Yin.
At that time, Chu Qingyuan's cultivation level was already considered outstanding. Being famous at a young age, he was prone to arrogance and conceit. Naturally, he did not believe in such nonsense. Besides, even if there were any so-called demons, he could kill them himself. Why should his senior brother have to sacrifice himself?
But he couldn't stop it all; Xie Yin died right before his eyes, his blood staining the entire sacrificial altar.
After Xie Yin's death, someone anonymously gave him a letter explaining the whole story: it was all a scheme orchestrated by Linyi Gate, and Xie Yin had died unjustly.
He was furious upon hearing this and, ignoring everyone's advice, stormed into Linyi Gate like a madman, thinking he could avenge his senior brother. But he was just being overly arrogant.
He narrowly escaped death, but when he woke up, everything had changed.
His once-proud spiritual power was gone, news of his death spread throughout the land, his master had passed away, his senior brother Jiang Yan had succeeded him as sect leader, and his sister was nearly driven mad by his death. Now, seeing the disciple he had personally abandoned, he simply did not have the courage to acknowledge all of this.
Chu Qingyuan is nothing but a scoundrel; his death would be better for everyone.
With a snap, the storyteller's gavel brought Chu Jianshan back to reality. He couldn't quite make out what the storyteller was saying, but he knew without guessing that it was the story of the great battle between Linyimen and the demon race five hundred years ago, and Zhao Yi's sacrifice to protect all living beings. He had heard it countless times.
Clearly, the audience had grown tired of it, and a burly man with a rough voice shouted at the man on stage while holding a wine jug:
"It's always the same thing, talking as if you've actually seen demons!"
"That's right!" the audience echoed.
"You actually believe myths?"
The old man was so angry that his beard bristled. Holding a folding fan, he pointed at the burly man and said, "You... how can you say I made it up?! Don't you love going to that Drunken Spring Pavilion? Those people who died there a few days ago were the work of remnants of the demon race!"
A murder in a brothel? This piqued Chu Jianshan's interest. He glanced in Cheng Yuan's direction twice. Knowing Cheng Yuan as he did, he knew he would definitely get involved in this matter.
Sure enough, a conversation soon came from the next table.
"Ah Yuan, are you really going?"
Chu Jianshan recognized the person who spoke; it was Ji Shi, Jiang Yan's eldest disciple.
Cheng Yuan nodded and said, "Although I came down the mountain to find my master, since it concerns the Demon Clan, I still want to investigate."
Chu Jianshan raised an eyebrow, thinking to himself that, as expected, this disciple was just as nosy as he was.
So he stood up, made sure the veil was on properly, and walked straight to Cheng Yuan's table.
Without any preamble, Chu Jianshan went straight to the point and asked, "Little Immortal Lord, do you want to investigate the case of Zuichunlou?"
Cheng Yuan looked up at him, but could only see a blurry face behind the veil, so he asked in return, "Were you eavesdropping on our conversation?"
“You’re right!” Chu Jianshan said with a rising tone and a sincere expression, “We’re just living a little too close.”
Cheng Yuan nodded slightly and stood up, moving closer to Chu Jianshan's face, the light veil fluttering gently between them.
"But what does our investigation into the Drunken Spring Pavilion case have to do with you, sir?"
Seeing Cheng Yuan's wariness, Chu Jianshan felt inexplicably gratified. His disciple had become much more mature and less naive as he had been.
He patiently explained, "I just wanted to investigate the case with Little Immortal Lord to broaden my horizons. What, Little Immortal Lord, you don't even want that?"
Chu Jianshan was prepared to have a long argument with his apprentice. After all, no one would easily believe that someone would suddenly want to go on a case with them.
Seeing that Cheng Yuan remained silent, Chu Jianshan was about to start crafting his next line, but to everyone's surprise, Cheng Yuan said decisively the next second:
"OK."
Huh? He agreed just like that? What about all the excuses he prepared?
This time, Chu Jianshan was stunned. Before he could react, he heard Cheng Yuan say, "Let's go. Didn't you want to come along? You can go now."
Before Chu Jianshan could even process what was happening, his legs followed Cheng Yuan. They walked all the way to the teahouse entrance, but after taking less than five steps, Cheng Yuan suddenly turned around and struck him with a palm.
This palm strike was quite powerful. Although Chu Jianshan reacted quickly and raised his hand to block, he had no spiritual power left and naturally could not withstand it. He was directly knocked back three steps by Cheng Yuan's palm strike, and the veil on his head was also lifted by the powerful spiritual power, falling to the ground and being blown away by the wind.
The atmosphere between the two suddenly changed. Cheng Yuan looked at his face without speaking, and the silence between them lasted for a long time before he finally spoke: "You have no scars on your face, so why are you wearing a veil?"
Chu Jianshan slowly exhaled a breath that had been in his throat. Fortunately, he had made preparations in advance and had put on the human skin mask that Fang Zhuxin had specially made for him before looking for Cheng Yuan. It seemed that he had not been discovered.
Chu Jianshan walked over, picked up his veil, dusted it off, and put it back on. He knew that Cheng Yuan's slap wasn't just to see his face, but also to test his strength. Fortunately, he had lost his spiritual power, which made Cheng Yuan trust him more.
Chu Jianshan pretended to be troubled and shrugged, saying, "There's nothing I can do. I'm as handsome as Pan An, so it's easy for girls to pursue me."
Before Cheng Yuan could speak, Ji Shi next to him burst out laughing, then seemed to realize something and immediately put on a serious expression.
Chu Jianshan patted the dust off his veiled hat, thinking to himself, "Are all children this rude these days?"
"You've tested me too. So, will you let me join you?" Chu Jianshan asked again.
After listening, Cheng Yuan smiled enigmatically and leaned closer to him, saying, "You have no spiritual power, so aren't you even more useless?"
Then he turned and strode away, leaving Chu Jianshan standing there, bewildered in the wind.
Was his apprentice like this before? What happened to his cute and affectionate apprentice? He had such a precious apprentice!
Why is this happening?!
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