Chapter 43
But as Xie Wen continued to follow, he realized something was amiss.
I always felt like there was a gaze looming over me from behind.
Every time Xie Wen turned around abruptly, he found nothing behind him.
Yun Yan and Chu Xianyue had already put some distance between Xie Wen and Chu Xianyue. Regardless, Xie Wen had no choice but to put aside her doubts and catch up with Chu Xianyue first. She didn't want to be alone in a place like this again.
Yun Yan had already caught up with the disheveled strange man, but Chu Xianyue told Yun Yan not to catch him for the time being, but to let him run for a while and see where he was going.
So the three of them followed the strange man to a dilapidated house. As soon as they got close, a strong, fishy stench hit them, and they frowned, covered their noses, and stepped inside.
With just one glance, Xie Wen couldn't help but gag and back out. What was that strange man eating? He was holding a pile of rotting human flesh and eating it raw!
Chu Xianyue frowned as well. Yun Yan stepped forward and used his sword to lift the strange man by the collar, suspending him in mid-air. "What kind of people do you eat? Did you kill them?"
The strange man just grinned at Yun Yan with his maggot-infested mouth.
Yun Yan frowned deeply, barely managing to suppress the nausea in his heart so as not to cut the strange man in half with a single stroke. Just then, from the depths of the main room, an evil spirit flashed by and pounced straight at Yun Yan in broad daylight.
However, this evil spirit was only a low-level evil spirit. As it pounced on Yun Yan, Chu Xianyue took the opportunity to flick the five mountain spirit coins on his arm. The five copper coins covered the evil spirit, pinning it in mid-air and making it unable to move at all.
The bronze light shimmered, enveloping the evil spirit. Chu Xianyue did not intend to destroy it so easily. Since this evil spirit was a person of this ghost town, it must have known something in its previous life.
The bronze could reveal the past lives of low-level evil spirits. Chu Xianyue stepped forward, his figure slowly disappearing into the bronze.
At that very moment, Xie Wen felt that gaze reappear behind him.
Xie Wen turned around sharply but saw nothing. Yun Yan asked in surprise, "Senior Sister, why are you acting so strangely? What's wrong?"
Xie Wen did not answer Yun Yan. She ran out of the house and looked around. There was nothing there. Xie Wen spun around and flew into the air. She magnified the fan in her hand several times. With a flick of her wrist, a strong gust of wind swept through like a typhoon. The old roof and thatched roof were swirled into the air. Everything was inescapable in front of Xie Wen.
Xie Wen: "Where do you think you're hiding now!"
Suddenly, he transformed Yao Fang into the shape of a sword. With the sword in front of her, Xie Wen shouted, "Sword Without Shadow!"
In an instant, the Yao Fang Sword transformed into countless shadows. Hundreds upon hundreds of Yao Fang Swords appeared before Xie Wen, waiting for her command to turn this ghost town into a hedgehog!
Yun Yan stared dumbfounded at Xie Wen's actions! Sword Without Shadow!
This was a sword technique that he had practiced for so long but still hadn't been able to master! Yet Xie Wen used it with ease!
Just as the myriad swords were about to strike down from the sky, someone suddenly appeared from some obscure corner, covering their head with their hands and begging for mercy, "Awen, it's me!"
Xie Wen heard a familiar voice and looked over.
Shen Lizhi, a tiny girl, squatted below, looking up at Xie Wen with bright, childlike eyes.
The myriad swords transformed into a single, swaying blade. Xie Wen tucked the sword behind his waist and leaped down, calling out, "Ali? What are you doing here?"
With Xie Wen's help, Shen Lizhi stood up and stammered, "I... Zuixianglou has collapsed, and I have nowhere to go."
Xie Wen frowned. "Haven't you made some money over the years? You're free now. You can go wherever you want."
Shen Lizhi still stared intently at Xie Wen, her two bright eyes glistening with moisture.
Xie Wen swallowed back the words she was about to say; she couldn't bring herself to hurt a woman.
Xie Wen sighed softly and said, "So you've been following me all this way?"
Shen Li nodded.
Xie Wen: "But you'll be in danger if you stay with me. I might not be able to protect you, so you should leave."
Shen Lizhi only took a few steps back, but still showed no intention of leaving.
Xie Wen: ...Forget it, they're in this godforsaken place now, it's not good to let her leave alone, what if she encounters danger? So Xie Wen said: "You should stay with me, then don't wander off."
Upon hearing Xie Wen's words, Shen Lizhi revealed a childlike, innocent, and radiant smile.
Yun Yan asked, "Senior Sister, are you really going to take her with you?" Yun Yan's gaze towards Shen Lizhi was clearly filled with disdain, obviously regarding Shen Lizhi as a burden.
However, Shen Lizhi wasn't very friendly to Yun Yan either. One second she was smiling at Xie Wen, the next second her eyes turned cold when she met Yun Yan's gaze, and she even rolled her eyes.
Yun Yan: Tsk! He was actually rejected by a courtesan!
Xie Wen stepped between the two in time, separating them, and said, "It's already chaotic enough. You two better behave yourselves and stop causing trouble."
Yun Yan turned her face away, and Shen Lizhi also stopped looking at Yun Yan.
Chu Xianyue had been inside the bronze array for a quarter of an hour. The three outside were getting bored. Xie Wen and Shen Lizhi were squatting on the threshold, while Yun Yan stood motionless outside the bronze array, holding his sword and staring intently at it. The strange man, since Shen Lizhi arrived, had kept his distance from them and was huddled in a corner by himself.
Xie Wen said to Yun Yan, "Junior brother, we can't see anything inside the light array from the outside. What are you looking at?"
Yun Yan: "I need to wait for Master to come out."
Xie Wen: "...Whatever you want."
Chu Xianyue emerged, and as the azure figure faded, the sharpness of the light array behind him dissipated. A muffled thud echoed from within the bronze vessel, and the low-level evil spirit seemed to have been utterly annihilated. Five copper coins flew back to Chu Xianyue's wrist, clinging tightly to his skin.
Chu Xianyue looked on with a serious expression. Xie Wen stepped forward and asked, "Master, what did you see?"
Chu Xianyue glanced at the strange man in the corner and said, "The low-level evil spirit is this strange man's father. He used to beg in this Qingshui Town with his son. After he died, he turned into an evil spirit and harmed people every day. His corpse was brought here to support his son."
That's the strange man. No wonder the evil spirit appeared when Yun Yan lifted the strange man with his sword.
But is that all?
Chu Xian only said these things, but that doesn't mean that's all he saw. Xie Wen glanced at Chu Xian a few more times. Although his expression was as indifferent as usual, he seemed to have become a bit gloomy.
After some investigation, they discovered that this ghost town was a den of evil spirits. The large number of dead people and the heavy resentment made it an ideal place for evil spirits to accumulate their vital energy. Therefore, not only did the evil spirits who died in the ghost town linger there, but other evil spirits also appeared there.
The four left the ghost town. The evil energy in this place had accumulated and settled for more than ten years, and there were many evil spirits. It was by no means easy to completely eradicate it overnight.
Chu Xianyue had no choice but to set up an array above the ghost town to temporarily seal it off and prevent the evil spirits from coming out to harm people again.
After doing all this, Chu Xianyue glanced indifferently at Shen Lizhi, who had been following them like a little tail.
But Shen Lizhi just kept following Xie Wen and wouldn't leave.
Xie Wen had no choice but to ask Chu Xianyue awkwardly, "Master, A-Li has nowhere to go. Is our Sword Sect short of menial workers lately? Why don't we let her try? Anyway, having one more disciple to do menial work will make things easier for the others in the Sword Sect."
Xie Wen had already explained all the benefits, and she was still using such a humble tone; how could Chu Xianyue possibly refuse? The Sword Sect recruits disciples based entirely on their personal status and background; all disciples enter the Sword Sect according to their own abilities. There would be no prejudice against Shen Lizhi simply because she was previously a courtesan.
Chu Xianyue said, "As long as she is qualified, of course she can get in."
Shen Lizhi's eyes lit up, which meant she could continue following Awen! "That's great, Awen!"
Xie Wen looked at Shen Lizhi and smiled.
Chu Xianyue said, "Stop laughing. We have to go back now."
Xie Wen's smile hadn't even faded before Chu Xianyue lifted him into the air.
Countless scenes blurred into shadows as Xie Wen asked, "So soon? Do we really have to rush back?"
Chu Xianyue nodded, hummed in agreement, and then said, "I thought you were too slow, so I brought you along."
Xie Wen: I know without you explaining.
Looking back, Yun Yan was accompanied by another woman, Shen Lizhi, who also looked disgusted. The two were far apart and clearly disliked each other. Even so, they didn't "crash." Yun Yan remained composed.
As dusk fell, the four figures gracefully returned to the Heavenly Evolution Sword Sect.
After settling Shen Lizhi in, Chu Xianyue went to Xiaojing Lake alone without saying a word.
As dusk fell, Little Mirror Lake reflected the distant Cangshan Mountains and the last rays of sunset that had just disappeared beneath them. The Ten Directions Cauldron hung above Little Mirror Lake, continuously absorbing its spiritual energy, with strands of spiritual light flowing towards it.
Chu Xianyue came alone this time.
If we fail to break the formation upon entering this illusion, not only will Little Mirror Lake be destroyed, but those who entered will also be seriously injured, or even face death.
He activated the formation with one hand, and a black hole appeared in the center of the formation. Chu Xianyue flew away, and suddenly another figure followed him into the black hole. Xie Wen grabbed the hem of Chu Xianyue's clothes, and his figure also disappeared into the black hole. Xie Wen said, "Don't even think about going in alone."
"What exactly do you know?"
After leaving Ghost Town, he hurriedly returned to his sect. As soon as he got back to Sword Sect, he immediately went to Little Mirror Lake alone.
Chu Xianyue is not one to act rashly; he only does things when he is certain of success.
A flash of white light appeared before their eyes, and the world pieced itself back together. When they returned to the Ghost Palace of the Green Lamp, it was just as it had been the last time they had come, with broken walls and dark ruins everywhere.
Chu Xianyue looked at Xie Wen, who had come in with him, with a hint of helplessness. Xie Wen simply looked into Chu Xianyue's eyes and asked again, "Master, what exactly do you know?"
Chu Xianyue seemed to sigh softly. He wanted to tell Xie Wen so badly, but he felt that Xie Wen would find out sooner or later. Before the Ghost Palace illusion arrived, Chu Xianyue waved his hand, displaying everything he had seen in the bronze light array to Xie Wen.
As Xie Wen opened and closed his eyes, it seemed as if he had returned to Qingshui Town.
At that time, Qingshui Town was thriving and bustling, and even beggars could earn quite a few copper coins every day. The older beggar and the younger beggar lived together in Qingshui Town.
Among them was a particularly kind-hearted old man who was very generous; he would give copper coins to the two beggars every time he saw them.
The big beggar and the little beggar hoped that they could run into this kind-hearted old man every day.
This gentleman also apparently runs an academy in Qingshui Town, providing free education for the town's children. He himself often goes to the academy to teach the children to read and write.
Later, the master came more often, and even the beggar became familiar with him. Seeing the beggar's pitiful state, the master hired him to do his work.
Whenever the master went into the academy to teach, the beggars would huddle outside and wait.
Afterwards, the beggar would often receive several copper coins! Overjoyed, he would dance with delight and take the little beggar to buy food.
Finally, Xie Wen realized that this gentleman was none other than Master Mei.
But was his decision to open the academy and personally teach there truly solely for the purpose of teaching? Why did he have beggars waiting outside while he taught? And why were there so many girls in the academy?
Xie Wen heard the continuous, incessant weeping of a little girl coming from inside the academy.
And among those cries, was Ying Yue's voice also partly heard?
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