Chapter 144 The Ceremony of Becoming a Daoist Couple (End): After performing the apprenticeship ceremony, he was now completely under Xi Huaizhen's protection. ...
After going through the apprenticeship ceremony, one becomes a disciple under Xi Huaizhen's protection.
Regarding cultivation direction, Xi Huaizhen and Xi Congshuang shared the same idea: they did not require her to learn the Flying Immortal Palace's techniques and become an array cultivator or a sound cultivator.
Time passed silently in the mountains. After emerging from seclusion, Su Wenxin accepted a sect mission and prepared to go out for training.
Normally, sect members would travel in pairs or more during training, but Su Wenxin didn't need to, because she had taken the young palace master with her.
However, according to the descriptions of the disciples who witnessed the scene, it is unclear whether it was Senior Sister Su who took away the Young Palace Master, or the Young Palace Master who took away Senior Sister Su.
The sect mission that Su Wenxin was given was not difficult, and with Xi Congshuang by his side to back him up, he completed the mission quickly.
Neither of them returned to their sect immediately. Instead, they continued their travels, stopping and starting as they went, and seeing many sights they had never seen before.
I unknowingly passed by the tea town where I had lived for three years.
Su Wenxin was very familiar with this place, while Xi Congshuang was seeing it for the first time. Since it was already dark, they hit it off and decided to stay in the tea town.
The next morning at dawn, Su Wenxin woke up from her meditation and subconsciously looked back at the spot beside her, only to find it empty. She then searched the room for her.
Without much effort, she saw a familiar figure by the window.
Xi Congshuang was standing by the window looking down when she noticed Su Wenxin's gaze. She turned around and said, "I heard from the people downstairs that today is the tea town temple fair. We never went out to see it when we lived here before. How about we go for a stroll tonight?"
Su Wenxin: "Okay."
I got up, got out of bed, and went over.
Xi Congshuang remained leaning against the window, raised her hand to pull the person into her arms, and lowered her head to place a kiss on her forehead.
Su Wenxin relaxed and nestled in her arms.
The temple fair wasn't set up during the day, and it wasn't until late afternoon that it was finally completed.
From dusk onwards, the tea town comes alive with activity, attracting visitors from all over, and the streets are bustling with activity.
The streets were packed with people, and there were always street performers on both sides, attracting people from the surrounding area to watch.
There were fire-breathing puppets, stilt walkers with plates on their heads, and shadow puppeteers performing on small stages, attracting a group of children to gather together and become friends.
Xi Congshuang and Su Wenxin walked hand in hand, passing by these places as if they were just passing through.
Suddenly, a girl among the children sitting on small stools watching the shadow puppet show looked up at the lively crowd behind her, a little puzzled.
The girl sitting next to her nudged her shoulder: "Yan Yan, what are you looking for?"
Yan Yan: "I think I saw Sister Su..."
"Who is Sister Su?"
Yan Yan opened and closed her mouth, trying to describe to her friend: "It's Sister Su who used to live next door to me. Sister Su makes lotus root starch cakes that are especially delicious. And this net was given to me by Sister Su."
There were so many Sister Sus that my friend was completely confused. She forgot about the hero who killed the demon and started counting on her fingers, asking, "How many Sister Sus are there?"
Yan Yan held up two fingers: "Two!"
Sister Su, whom Yan Yan was talking about, was in the Taoist temple when someone stuffed a red silk ribbon into her hand, with tassels hanging from it.
Xi Congshuang: "What is this?"
Su Wenxin: "I heard that wishes made here are very effective, do you want to try it too?"
She only said she'd give it a try, and then stuffed everything into Xi Congshuang's hands. Her eyes looked round and bright.
Xi Congshuang agreed and stood at the table with the others, thinking about how to begin writing.
A narrow red ribbon can only hold one wish. What wish should be written to make it the most fulfilling?
She turned to talk to Su Wenxin, but the seat next to her was empty; a girl with a peach blossom hairpin was standing there.
The girl with the flower in her hair thought the person next to her wanted to see the wish she had written, so she looked up to speak, but then she was taken aback.
I never expected to find such a beautiful woman standing next to me.
How come I didn't notice her before?
What the girl with the flower in her hair didn't know was that cultivators had many ways to walk among people and not be noticed by others. If she hadn't faced Xi Congshuang directly, she might not have been able to remember her appearance.
He would just glance at her and then forget about her, just like everyone else.
"elder sister!"
After a clear shout, someone snuggled into her arms. Xi Congshuang skillfully raised her hand to hold her lower back, preventing the person next to her from crowding into her arms.
The girl standing close to her held two blank sheets of paper in her hand, with a little ink smeared on the back of her hand.
Xi Congshuang: "Where did you go? Did you finish writing your wishes?"
Su Wenxin: "It's already written, and I threw it up the tree. I hit the highest point."
Xi Congshuang: "You didn't throw it with spiritual power, did you?"
Su Wenxin blinked: "Is it not allowed?"
Xi Congshuang chuckled: "If you throw the red silk with the help of external forces, it will be seen as a lack of sincerity."
"..." There's also this saying.
Su Wenxin was tempted: "Then I'll rewrite it and throw it away again."
She tried to leave, but the person holding her waist wouldn't let her go, and pressed themselves against her again.
Xi Congshuang said, "Tell me what your wish is, and I might be able to grant it for you faster than a god."
Su Wenxin's ears turned red: "That won't do. If I say my wish out loud, it won't come true. Let the ancient tree convey my wish to me instead."
Xi Congshuang: "Okay."
Now that she's grown up, she has her own thoughts and ideas, and I try to outsmart her.
Seeing the blank sheet of paper in her hand, Xi Congshuang asked, "What do you want me to write this time?"
Su Wenxin seemed a little embarrassed, so she tiptoed and whispered something in Xi Congshuang's ear. Xi Congshuang couldn't help but laugh and said, "Okay, give it to me."
She took the paper, and on a sudden impulse, wrote down a line.
That was her birthday.
Whether it's a coincidence or not, she has the same birthday in every lifetime.
After drying it, she handed it to Su Wenxin, who took it and left, not forgetting to tell Xi Congshuang, "Write your message on the red silk first, then come back. I'll stay here and won't wander off."
Xi Congshuang replied, "Okay."
She agreed verbally, her pen flying across the paper as she quickly finished writing, blew the red silk dry, and tossed it away.
The light red ribbon floated past another red ribbon that was constantly being tossed up and down, drawing a perfect arc in mid-air. Her movements were casual, yet the red ribbon landed steadily on the treetop.
The girl with the flower in her hair: "..." So she's that amazing.
I should have asked her to throw it away for me too.
"...You are destined for greatness. You suffered from illness in your youth, but you are strong-willed and have an extraordinary will. You are truly a prodigy. If you can overcome this, you will enjoy a long and blessed life. Your marriage is predestined!"
The fortune teller launched into a string of flattering words, making the people queuing around him quite envious and eagerly anticipating their own results.
This Taoist temple is the most effective for seeking marriage; everyone who comes here is looking for a partner.
Su Wenxin was quite surprised, not expecting the other party to be so accurate, even mentioning something about a predestined marriage.
She was prepared to leave some money as an offering before departing.
The Taoist priest also said, "Does the believer wish to arrange a wedding date? I have calculated that your wedding is approaching, so I... what about the believer?"
"..."
The gazes from the sidelines grew even more intense; it was rare to hear such a good result tonight, and they wanted to share in the joy.
Su Wenxin finally couldn't bear it any longer, so she threw down the incense money and ran away, refusing to listen any longer.
She had barely turned around when she bumped into a warm, fragrant embrace, and Su Wenxin's ears turned bright red, almost as if they were about to bleed.
In this situation, asking any more questions might really annoy people.
Xi Congshuang led the person away, and when they reached a less crowded area, Su Wenxin's voice came from behind: "You, you don't listen to that Taoist's nonsense, this is really... really too much."
It's one thing to be destined for each other, but to say that the wedding date is approaching, and people overhear that.
This is truly... utterly shameful.
Xi Congshuang: "Why?"
Su Wenxin: "I was just doing a quick calculation, I didn't mean to rush you..."
Xi Congshuang seemed dejected: "Can't I listen?"
She was quite happy with the result.
Thinking about it, it's true that we should prepare for the wedding. Before, I had to consider other things, but now that I have no worries, I should tell my mother about becoming her Daoist partner.
Su Wenxin: "Then I'll listen to a little bit."
Xi Congshuang seemed a little happier: "Just a little bit?"
Su Wenxin lowered her bottom line again and again: "Then I'll listen to everything."
Xi Congshuang leaned down, turned her head to look at her, her deep black eyes focused: "Then do you also agree to hold the Dao Couple Ceremony?"
At this moment, the moon was high in the sky, and people on earth were preparing to light fireworks. People holding torches lit the fuses, and when the flames shot out, they quickly covered their ears and ran away.
As fireworks light up the human world, the fireworks in her heart also burst forth at that moment.
She responded with a very soft "Mmm".
*
That night, after attending the temple fair, Xi Congshuang led her people back to Feixian Palace.
She woke up her two mothers early in the morning to express her intentions.
Xi Huaizhen felt alright and remained calm.
Li Xiangyue was very excited. She had never attended anyone's wedding before. After getting together with Xi Huaizhen, considering her status as the palace master, she only pulled her to a private wedding ceremony.
Perhaps in a few years, she will be able to do what she suggested to Xi Huaizhen back then: arrange a marriage between immortals and demons.
The Palace Master Xi personally contacted her, but she was rejected that year. Xi Huaizhen had to leave in a hurry, which Li Xiangyue interpreted as her unwillingness. The next time they met, they had an argument.
Now that it can be done openly and legitimately, it must be done on a grand scale; her years of planning have finally found a place to be put to use.
The task of arranging the wedding was thus taken over by Li Xiangyue.
The entire Feixian Palace was already used to the guest elder who always clung to the Palace Master and obeyed her orders.
Having been a demon lord for many years, he was more than capable of arranging a marriage, and things proceeded in an orderly manner.
The two brides, who should have been worrying, had nothing to do.
The Taoist priest was right; the wedding was indeed imminent.
On the day of the Daoist Couple Ceremony, Feixian Palace invited countless guests. The Qingfeng Sect Leader, who was always busy, finally decided to leave her Qingfeng Sect.
However, she came to urge Xi Huaizhen to come and help her repair the Siguo Cliff formation. Back then, Xi Congshuang destroyed the formation so thoroughly that it would be very difficult to restore it to its former state except for Xi Huaizhen herself.
The leader of the Qingfeng Sect was someone who always used old things, and he was never satisfied with the new formation no matter how he looked at it, so he set off to urge them on in person.
Xi Huaizhen agreed.
Li Xiangyue stayed at Feixian Palace as a guest elder and participated in the Dao Couple Ceremony. After listening to the words of the Qingfeng Sect Leader, she couldn't help but regret wasting too much time in the secret realm.
If I had left the secret realm a few hundred years earlier, I might have run into Xi Huaizhen when she was still a young girl, and then the story would have been completely different.
But now, the more important thing is to see the two on the high platform become Daoist partners.
Throughout the day, Su Wenxin couldn't remember exactly how many congratulatory messages she heard; she only remembered her joyful mood.
In the cultivation world, forming a Daoist couple is very different from getting married in the mortal world. After bowing to heaven and earth, one swears an oath to the heavens to form a Daoist couple with the person beside them.
The newlyweds only wear wedding attire and do not need to wear veils. One of them waits in the bridal chamber to receive congratulations from everyone.
At night, only the cave where cranes pass by can be heard from the low sobbing.
The crane that came begging for food heard the familiar voice. Just as it was about to approach and opened its mouth to call out a few times to attract attention, the sobbing inside suddenly rose in pitch, like a bowstring stretched to its limit.
After a moment of silence, the much quieter sobbing resumed, fading into the soft sound of water.
The crane that had been begging for food was frightened away by the oppressive aura emanating from the rising sobs, flapping its wings and disappearing without a trace.
Her fingertips were red, and her hands, marked with red marks on the back, resisted the approaching shoulder. The skin beneath her palms was delicate and warm, but she had no interest in admiring it.
Su Wenxin said, "Wait, didn't you say it was the last time?"
“The one you were just cultivating with was a spiritual cultivator, and now it’s a demon.” A red mark appeared between Xi Congshuang’s eyebrows, and her long hair on her chest and back turned snow-white, half-hidden and half-revealed, making it difficult to see clearly.
Her emerald eyes were captivating as she slowly approached, her breath sweet as orchids: "The demon race has only just begun..."
Su Wenxin was stunned by the bite marks on her shoulder. By the time she tried to struggle, it was too late. She blinked her tear-streaked eyelashes and endured it.
"Slow down..."
Xi Congshuang leaned down and kissed her, saying okay, but her hand movements had nothing to do with the word "slow".
"Ugh!" Su Wenxin frowned as her legs, which had been drawn together, were pushed apart by a hand.
If I had known this would happen, I wouldn't have gone to that temple to have my marriage arranged.
Getting married too early is really not a good thing; it gives her an excuse to act recklessly.
*
Every year after they got married, Xi Congshuang would accompany Su Wenxin to sweep a grave.
That was the grave that Su Wenxin erected for her adoptive mother.
She died too quickly, leaving no body behind, so Su Wenxin could only erect a cenotaph for her.
In fact, the only time Su Wenxin saw her mother's original form was before her death.
It was a large bird with reddish-gold feathers, resembling a phoenix, but without the phoenix's dazzling colorful tail feathers.
Its tail feathers are also relatively short, so they don't drag on the ground when it stands up.
She used to avoid revealing her true form, partly because she was afraid of scaring children, and partly because it was difficult to explain to them why she couldn't turn into a bird.
The bird demon was also puzzled as to why humans weren't born from eggs, since not having wings would be so inconvenient.
The event happened so suddenly that the bird demon couldn't say much to her child, only managing to pluck a feather and fly it towards her.
The crimson-gold feathers are still hidden in her hair. She is much more powerful than before, and can completely conceal the demonic aura on the feathers.
Su Wenxin poured wine in front of the grave; it was plum wine, the bird demon's favorite drink in life, and she rambled on and on.
He stood by Xi Congshuang's side, silently handing her things.
The tomb stands in a beautiful place with clear waters and lush mountains, and above it is a golden fruit tree, whose fruit is the favorite food of the Crimson Gold Bird Demon.
The fruit has a golden-yellow skin, pale white flesh inside, is juicy, and tastes as sweet as honey.
In order to bring her, a human, along and for her safety, her adoptive mother had to stay away from the demon territory.
When they settled in the human world, they often clamored to eat golden fruits, but a single golden fruit that flowed into the human world was worth a thousand gold pieces, or could be exchanged for a mid-grade spirit stone.
Neither the former nor the latter was something the impoverished bird demon could afford.
Su Wenxin knelt before the grave, enveloped in the shade of the trees, looking up at the golden fruit tree bearing small fruits.
My foster mother used to say that she couldn't afford the golden fruit, so she transplanted an entire tree for her and covered it with a barrier. The ripe golden fruit would only fall in front of her grave and wouldn't be allowed to be stolen by other birds.
As Su Wenxin looked at the thumb-sized, still-growing golden fruit, scenes from when she was little flashed through her mind.
The demon who had been longing to eat the golden fruit served a large bowl of rice to the child returning from school, as if comforting himself: "Millet isn't bad to eat either, you should eat more too."
Little Wenxin followed the bird demon and sat on a small stool, picking up the rice bowl on the wooden table and eating heartily.
There were only two simple dishes on the table: one was stir-fried pumpkin vines, and the other was boiled pumpkin vines.
Fortunately, the child is easy to raise, not picky about food, and will eat whatever is given to him, otherwise the bird demon would be really worried.
The bird demon patted the child's head: "Let's make pumpkin soup tomorrow."
The child, who had almost buried his face in his rice bowl, nodded and said the pumpkin was sweet and delicious.
"Let's go back," Su Wenxin said.
Xi Congshuang reached out to her and pulled Su Wenxin to her feet.
With mountains high and waters far, and distant mountains like a painting, Su Wenxin descended the mountain along the path she had come from, led by Xi Congshuang.
A gentle breeze blew behind me, swirling fallen leaves past and revealing the inscription on the tombstone.
The position of the late mother, Jinniang.
"Next, we'll go check out the Su family's place; those two places are quite far apart..."
The sounds on the way down the mountain faded into the distance as the two discussed their way down, relaxed and carefree.
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This volume is finished. Tomorrow I'll post a side story about the mothers, and then it'll be back to the real world! [rainbow emoji]
Let's reveal the true face of this orange (not really).
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