Chapter 54
Zhou Xuanzhi helped the little beggar up and wiped his face with his sleeve.
The little beggar looked at the master and apprentice warily. "Who are you?" The little beggar took a few steps back, keeping a certain distance from Zhou Xuanzhi.
Zhou Xuanzhi paid no attention to the little beggar's actions. He gestured in Shi Wanqing's direction and said, "This is Master Wanqing of Tianyu Mountain. I am her disciple."
"Tianyu Mountain?" The little beggar didn't believe it.
"Yes, we are from Tianyu Mountain. Would you like to come up the mountain with us?"
...
Shi Wanqing had never dealt with children before, but Zhou Xuanzhi was an exception. This child didn't need her to do anything, and he wouldn't have any bad thoughts about it. But this little boy in front of her was a different story.
Not knowing why she had gotten herself into this trouble, Shi Wanqing stepped forward and pulled Zhou Xuanzhi behind her, saying, "Come up the mountain with me, and we'll eat our fill, dress warmly, and learn kung fu."
"Learn kung fu?"
Sure enough, this method was very useful. "I can teach you swordsmanship, talismans, and formations."
The little beggar looked Shi Wanqing up and down; she was quite different from the legendary cultivators.
The wary and uneasy look in Zhou Xuan's eyes made Shi Wanqing uncomfortable. She remembered that when Zhou Xuan went up to Gangshan, his eyes were filled with hatred. This little beggar was not easy to fool either.
“They say that cultivators who can take on disciples are hundreds or thousands of years old, you are very young.”
Do you know what the art of preserving youth is?
"have no idea."
Shi Wanqing paused and said, "It's what you often call immortality."
Zhou Xuanzhi listened to the increasingly absurd conversation and felt somewhat helpless.
"I don't want to live forever."
Shi Wanqing thought for a moment and summoned a long, elegant, blue sword. She handed the sword to the little beggar: "Do you want this?"
The sword appeared out of thin air; it seemed the person before him hadn't lied. The little beggar unconsciously touched the sword; it was cool, not wooden.
"Are you really going to take me up the mountain?"
"Not only will I take you up the mountain, but I will also take you as my disciple."
The little beggar looked at Shi Wanqing's clothes and the simple hair accessories. Even if she was a swindler, these things were still valuable. She probably wouldn't kill him. Even if she was a human trafficker, being sold into slavery to a wealthy family would at least provide him with enough to eat and wear, and if he was lucky, he might even be able to go to school and learn to read.
"Alright, I'll take you as my master."
"It's settled," Shi Wanqing nodded, taking his hand and heading towards the inn. Zhou Xuanzhi was very happy to see this little beggar become his junior brother, but for some reason, he felt a little uncomfortable seeing his master holding his hand.
She had already sheathed her sword, and with her free hand, she took Zhou Xuanzhi's hand. "Let's go back and rest for a bit, and then we'll go home tomorrow."
"I am Shi Wanqing, and this is your senior brother Zhou Xuanzhi. What is your name?"
"No." How could a child who had been cared for by a beggar since he could remember have a name? The little beggar's tone was very unfriendly.
Shi Wanqing wasn't angry. "Since you don't have a name, I'll give you one!"
Zhou Xuanzhi felt a little nervous thinking about his master's worrying level of education. He licked his lips and mustered his courage to say, "How about we go back and have our sect leader get it?"
"Why should I name my apprentice?" She looked at the little beggar on the other side and said, "My surname is Shi, so you will take my surname Shi! Since we met on the streets of Yunzhou, you will be called Yunzhou, Shi Yunzhou."
The one I encountered in Yunzhou was named Yunzhou, indeed simple. I wonder if my junior brother likes it.
"Okay, I'll call myself Shi Yunzhou."
...I hope my junior brother won't regret it after he learns to read and write.
After arriving at the inn, Zhou Xuanzhi helped Shi Yunzhou wash up. After Shi Yunzhou came out dressed, Shi Wanqing thought that regardless of how much her disciple would achieve in the future, just looking at his face alone was very pleasing to the eye.
Back on the mountain, the sect leader looked at Shi Yunzhou, whom Shi Wanqing had brought back, without saying anything, but the worry on his face made everyone present feel uneasy.
Seeing her senior brother's hesitant expression, Shi Wanqing asked Zhou Xuanzhi to take him out to familiarize him with the surroundings.
“The disciple you brought back has a very strong demonic aura,” Cheng Yaojun said.
Shi Wanqing nodded to the sect leader and Cheng Yaojun: "That's why I brought him back. You all know about the tragic relationship I unintentionally got into before. Seeing this child reminds me of the demon invasion."
"The demon invasion has nothing to do with you." Cheng Yaojun was angry when he heard his junior sister say this.
“I know, but that demon only went to the Boundless Realm after meeting me. I know his demonic possession has nothing to do with me. But the people he killed were all innocent. It was only because they met me that they…” Shi Wanqing’s face was full of pain as she recalled something. “The demonic energy on this child can be removed. Although I don’t know how he got infected with demonic energy at such a young age, I can save him now.”
"Is this how you make up for past regrets?" Cheng Yaojun looked at his junior sister with some confusion.
"I suppose so! If I had paid more attention to him back then, he wouldn't have fallen into demonic possession. Even if he had, the demonic energy could have been removed. Why did it have to come to this..."
Cheng Yaojun walked down and patted Shi Wanqing on the shoulder, "Since that's what you think, then your senior brother will help you."
"Thank you," Shi Wanqing looked at the sect leader, her face full of guilt: "Sect Leader, I have heard about this child Lin Jichen. In the end, I am not destined to be her disciple. I would be grateful if you could find her a master."
"She has excellent qualifications and works very hard; many people are vying to take her on as a student," Han Wenqing said irritably.
"That's good."
One disciple harbors hatred, and even now, some resentment remains in his heart; the other suffered endless humiliation from childhood, so his hatred must be considerable as well, and he even possesses demonic energy—one wrong step and he'll be doomed. Sect Leader Han Wenqing still feels sorry for his junior sister for taking on such two disciples.
It's all a karmic entanglement!
The little beggar—or rather, Shi Yunzhou—had his first lesson at Tianyu Mountain focused on recognizing and writing characters. It must be said that his junior brother, Zhou Xuanzhi, was quite responsible.
Sometimes, Shi Wanqing would look out the window at the two people studying inside. Zhou Xuanzhi was learning his own martial arts while teaching Yunzhou to read. She didn't know where he had gotten two wooden swords, but he used them to teach Yunzhou basic swordsmanship.
These two fellow disciples would sometimes fight and even bicker.
Seeing everything about the two brothers, Shi Wanqing felt fear for the first time. She didn't want to die because the two brothers didn't want to die either.
The junior brother, who had only been a disciple for a few days, was taken into seclusion by the master, who said it was to remove the demonic energy from him. Zhou Xuanzhi was somewhat confused by what the sect leader, his senior uncle, said.
"Does the sect leader mean that junior brother is a demon?"
"You misunderstood. It's your junior brother who has demonic energy on him," Han Wenqing continued to explain. "You can think of it as your junior brother accidentally encountering a demon and being corrupted by its demonic energy."
"Caught in demonic energy? I learned that before, isn't that extremely dangerous?" Zhou Xuanzhi hurriedly asked, "Then..." He'll be fine after the demonic energy is removed, but, "What about Master?"
“Your master has the world in her heart. Since you are her disciple, you should learn more from your master.” Han Wenqing’s voice grew softer and softer, sounding more like guilt than guilt.
"You can come to my place whenever you have free time, so your master can rest more!" Shi Wanqing was very stubborn; once she made up her mind about something, she wouldn't turn back until she hit a brick wall.
Zhou Xuanzhi really wanted to ask why it had to be his master who removed the demonic energy. Her health wasn't good, so someone else could help. But seeing the sect leader's unpleasant expression, he swallowed his words.
Shi Wanqing led Shi Yunzhou into seclusion for seven days, while Zhou Xuanzhi studied under the sect leader for seven days, also worrying for seven days. When the two emerged from seclusion, Shi Wanqing was otherwise in good condition, except for a slightly pale complexion. Shi Yunzhou's fierce aura had also vanished, and he appeared much gentler.
However, in their subsequent interactions, Zhou Xuanzhi discovered that Shi Yunzhou's sharp tongue was either due to demonic energy or simply because of his own bad personality.
The seven-year-old Celestial Master Yunzhou hadn't rested enough, and when he emerged from seclusion, he collapsed heavily to the ground. Zhou Xuanzhi stepped forward and helped him up.
"Take him to rest, the child has been exhausted these past few days," Han Wenqing said to Zhou Xuanzhi.
After seeing his master emerge, Zhou Xuanzhi didn't move an inch, though it was impossible to tell what was going on. It must have taken quite a bit of effort! Only after being repeatedly urged by the sect leader did he leave with Shi Yunzhou.
After seeing Zhou Xuanzhi lead Shi Yunzhou away, Shi Wanqing could no longer hold on. She vomited a mouthful of blood and was about to collapse when Han Wenqing caught her.
"You..." All the words she wanted to say finally turned into a sigh. Anyone could have done this, removing the demonic energy; she was so stubborn, insisting on doing it herself.
As Shi Wanqing's apprentice watched the disappearing figure, her voice choked with emotion: "I've been on the mountain in Yunzhou for three months now. Watching him and Xuanzhi play around these past few months, I've suddenly become a little scared. I'm scared that if I die, the two of them won't have grown up yet."
"Then you shouldn't have taken him into seclusion alone!" He said this while continuously channeling spiritual energy into Shi Wanqing's spiritual palace. The incoming spiritual energy nourished Shi Wanqing's spiritual palace, and he could feel that two more cracks had appeared in Shi Wanqing's spiritual palace. The cracks in the entire spiritual palace were already an eyesore.
When Shi Wanqing returned to her residence, Shi Jueming was already waiting at the door. His expression turned grim when he saw that Shi Wanqing had been helped back.
When Shi Wanqing was lying on the bed, his expression turned even more grim after taking her pulse: "There's no hope. Just wait to die! I told you not to use your spiritual power lightly, but you wouldn't listen. You only had a few cracks to begin with, so you could have lived for another two years. Now you really don't have many years left to live."
Sure enough, no matter how good-tempered a doctor is, he turns into a powder keg whenever he encounters a disobedient patient.
Shi Wanqing smiled and said ingratiatingly, "I'm sorry, I was wrong. There won't be a next time."
"You should really have your sword confiscated and locked up in this back mountain."
"Speak, why did you attack?"
“A monster has appeared, and many of the younger generation have died. I can’t just watch them die like this.”
"Where is that child? I don't believe you didn't notice."
Shi Wanqing lowered her eyes. "I could tell, but you also know what happened in the capital before, so I was thinking..."
"What the hell are you thinking about?" Shi Jueming really didn't understand. So many years had passed, what was there to think about?
Han Wenqing saw his junior sister lower her head as she was being scolded, and thought that she was a celebrity and had taken on disciples, so it wasn't good for her to be scolded like this. So he tried to smooth things over, "Alright, alright, if this were you, could you say you wouldn't feel guilty? Don't you want to make amends? Junior sister is just trying to make herself feel better."
"Just protect her, keep protecting her. Write a letter to Yaoshengu, I have no other choice."
"What do you mean by 'no way'?" Han Wenqing asked.
"She can live for another fifty years, but if she uses spiritual power during that time, that lifespan will be shortened by more than half."
Han Wenqing looked at Shi Wanqing's bewildered expression and asked, "Isn't there any other way?"
Shi Jueming didn't speak this time, but shook his head and said, "It also took spiritual power to remove the demonic energy over these seven days." He didn't know why she insisted on doing it herself; so many senior brothers were there, who couldn't help!
If he had known it would turn out like this, he should have taken matters into his own hands. Now… Shi Jueming sighed, looking at his junior sister with pity, unable to say a word.
"It's alright, I can accept this result," Shi Wanqing said. Her expression had returned to normal, and there was no sign of anything unusual.
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