Chapter 32 Returning Hooves Treading on Autumn Frost Master, look, I didn't say anything. ...
Heading towards autumn.
The carriage rolled along the winding mountain road, slowly heading towards the Eighteen Realms. The scenery outside the carriage changed in an instant, sometimes with talismans rustling in the wind, and sometimes with a magnificent autumn forest covered in frost.
The wind howled past, and the sound of a child crying in the night was no longer heard.
The baby Pixiu was fast asleep in the car, undisturbed by the conversations of the others.
After hearing the whole story, Wei Xiuzhu's eyes widened in disbelief. He huddled in the carriage, clutching a soft pillow and trembling. The more he thought about it, the more frightened he became. "So... the heatwave in the human realm wasn't caused by the weather, but by the night watchman's curse!"
Heng Qichun had already explained a lot, and now his face was a little pale. He leaned against the carriage and gave a faint "hmm".
"But what about that Xu Shengzi?" Wei Xiuzhu struggled to organize the information he had obtained from Heng Qichun. "He seemed determined to kill the Divine Lord and Senior Brother Lou, yet he also took revenge on Tan Chengyi. What was he after?"
Heng Qichun remained silent, gazing at the clear, bright moon hanging outside the car window. After a long while, he sighed softly, "Is it right or wrong, black or white?"
The world is a mixed bag; murderers may save the world, but those who save the world may also kill.
Wei Xiuzhu, being relatively inexperienced, didn't understand Heng Qichun's words. He simply clutched his chest, exhaled, and sighed, "Fortunately, we met the Divine Venerable and Senior Brother Lou. Otherwise, who knows how many people would have been harmed by this ill-fated relationship in Huatan Town."
Heng Qichun frowned slightly.
There's something vaguely off about what he said, but if you look closely, Wei Xiuzhu didn't actually say anything wrong.
“It’s not a tragic fate.” A groaning sound suddenly came from below. Lou Yan said with a sullen face, “It’s just that humans and demons are different, and people’s prejudices are too great.”
Wei Xiuzhu was about to say that what Senior Brother Lou said made a lot of sense! But when he looked up, he saw Heng Qichun's darkening face and felt a chill run down his spine. He clenched the soft pillow in his hand even tighter and huddled in the corner without daring to say a word.
Heng Qichun looked down—Lou Yan had been kneeling unwillingly ever since he got into the carriage, and now, after speaking, he moved his knees again with a sour face.
Heng Qichun kicked him, "Kneel up straight and be quiet."
Lou Yan awkwardly straightened his back and reluctantly shut his mouth.
It would take at least a day and a night to travel from Huatan Town to the Eighteen Realms. Lou Yan had been kneeling for most of the night, his knees aching and numb, and his lower body was almost numb. But with Heng Qichun sitting there watching, he didn't dare to use his spiritual power to resist, and could only endure it with his mortal body.
But the wolf didn't understand. Even if cultivators shouldn't arbitrarily decide a person's life or death, Tan Chengyi deserved to die.
Why should he be punished by kneeling for killing him, especially in front of Wei Xiuzhu?
Heng Qichun is really a very annoying master.
Lou Yan's calves were completely numb. He really wanted to move, and finally mustered all his strength to move his knee a little. Then he heard his annoying master suddenly speak.
Lou Yan immediately dared not move, tensed up and pricked up her ears to listen to Heng Qichun's words, feeling as if she was about to be permanently attached to this carriage.
"What's wrong with you? Where's Yusheng?" Heng Qichun asked Wei Xiuzhu, but not him.
"Hmm..." Wei Xiuzhu shrank there pitifully, and after thinking it over again and again, he finally spoke honestly, "I heard that someone discovered the traces of the ancient ferocious beast Crimson Flame Golden Lion, so my senior brother took me to the Four Symbols Mountain. We caught many monsters in the mountain for many days, but we still couldn't find the Crimson Flame Golden Lion. Later, we discovered a tomb—the imperial tomb of the Ghost Emperor Yi in his lifetime, and inside..."
As Wei Xiuzhu spoke, his face lost its color without him realizing it. He silently clenched the small pillow in his hand, and his voice lowered unconsciously. "There are many terrible things inside."
Heng Qichun's complexion was also not good. His damaged spiritual veins had only recently recovered, and he was now having to divert half of his spiritual power to secretly regulate his breathing. He was already forcing himself to talk to Wei Xiuzhu.
"What did you see?" he asked in a hoarse voice.
Wei Xiuzhu's eyes darkened, clearly trying hard to recall the scene at that time, and his expression grew increasingly grim.
After a long silence, he finally spoke, saying with a conflicted tone, "Actually, I didn't see what was inside at all. When I went in, my senior brother covered my eyes."
Heng Qichun frowned, glancing at him subtly, her eyes clearly showing a strange expression.
"Then... my senior brother and I got separated." Wei Xiuzhu said with his head down, looking somewhat guilty. "I dared not enter that imperial mausoleum again and tried to find my senior brother first. Soon I discovered a spiritual force from the Eighteen Realms at the foot of the mountain, so I followed it to Huatan Town. I thought my senior brother was there."
"When we arrived, we realized that it was the deity using a stringless zither."
What he saw must have been Heng Qichun using the stringless zither to defend against the fire at the Tan family mansion. No wonder he suddenly appeared in Huatan Town from Sixiang Mountain.
The matter was made a mess by Wei Xiuzhu's words, and Heng Qichun couldn't help but frown and think carefully. His brows furrowed more and more tightly, and before he could speak, he covered his mouth and coughed.
Wei Xiuzhu quickly put down the soft pillow and looked over, "God?"
Heng Qichun covered his lips with one hand, his throat emitting suppressed coughs. He was trying his best to hold it in, but the heaving of his chest clearly revealed his discomfort. "Yusheng is always reliable in his work, he shouldn't... he shouldn't disappear for no reason."
“Cough…cough cough…” Heng Qichun said with difficulty, “We will reach the Eighteenth Realm in one more night. This matter still needs to be told to my senior brother.
Wei Xiuzhu had never seen their deity so weak before. He wanted to take the deity's pulse again, but hesitated because Heng Qichun was awake and he was afraid of offending him. He became flustered and could only say dryly, "Yes, Your Majesty, please don't speak..."
He then remembered that he should pour a cup of water for the deity, and hurriedly reached for the teapot on the carriage, but his hand grasped nothing.
Wei Xiuzhu looked over in confusion—
The teapot was already placed beside Lou Yan's legs. He held a cup of tea that had been poured in his hands, crawled forward two steps with difficulty, and bowed to offer the teacup to Heng Qichun.
He kept a very low profile, blinked when he looked up, and pursed his lips tightly.
It's as if it's saying: Master, look, I didn't say anything.
——
The Eighteen Realms.
The endless tree's branches and leaves stretch out, remaining evergreen for ten thousand years.
At the foot of Louyan Mountain, looking at the rugged and winding mountain road in front of him, he couldn't help but groan in despair—he was probably going to be taken to Yingjie Hall soon, and might even have Heng Qichun pierce the tail of the demon wolf and throw him into the Tiantai Pond without mercy.
Then they will repeat the mistakes of their previous life.
Lou Yan thought about it more and more and felt that this was very likely to happen. He stopped in his tracks and stared intently at Heng Qichun's back.
what to do?
Now that Heng Qichun is injured, is it possible for him to defeat his master and reclaim everything that belongs to him?
Lou Yan pursed his lips tightly, and just as he was about to gather his strength, he suddenly caught a whiff of lotus fragrance on Heng Qichun's body.
He immediately withdrew his spiritual power.
Impossible. Heng Qichun is a True God of the Nine Heavens, while he is just a wolf demon who has only been in human form for a few years. Judging from his current cultivation level, he has no chance of winning at all.
So... turn around and run?
Lou Yan ground his toes, crushing a clod of earth beneath his feet into an inconspicuous speck of dust that covered the entire mountainside.
He bowed slightly, as if about to turn around.
"Lou Yan," Heng Qichun suddenly called out.
Lou Yan immediately turned his toes back, which had already twisted, and stood up unsteadily. He looked up and saw Heng Qichun turning around and gathering his sleeves to look at him.
"Huh?" He didn't dare to speak, and asked in a very soft sob.
Wolves are rarely this docile. Although Heng Qichun sensed something was amiss, he couldn't pinpoint the problem for the time being. He could only slightly raise his chin and say to Lou Yan, "Go back to Shenxiao Palace and wait."
Then he looked at Wei Xiuzhu, who was standing anxiously to the side, and said, "Xiuzhu, come with me to see our sect leader."
It was nearly evening, and Nan Yushan was lecturing to his disciples on the back mountain. Heng Qichun did not delay and, after giving instructions to Lou Yan, took Wei Xiuzhu to the back mountain.
The Pixiu cub, just waking from its dream, clung anxiously to Wei Xiuzhu's back the whole way, gripping the human who was covered in the aura of a divine beast with extreme fear.
Wei Xiuzhu quickly sensed the little beast's unease and gently stroked its head, saying, "Don't be afraid, my master isn't that scary."
The Pixiu trembled even more violently.
Wei Xiuzhu pondered for a moment, then patiently discussed with him, "How about I put you in the spirit-locking bag, and you can come out after we return to Luduan Gate? That way you won't see any living people."
As he spoke, he reached out and showed it the cloth bag hanging from his waist.
The bag was filled with a chaotic, demonic aura, clearly indicating that it contained many vicious and wicked spirits.
The Pixiu cub immediately cried out in distress, finally unable to hold back any longer and letting out a protest, "Whoosh!!"
This is a question of whether or not to have children!
I'm afraid of all of you from the Lu Duan Sect!
Who knows what kind of weird stuff you've got in that spirit-locking bag!
Unfortunately, Wei Xiuzhu, whose cultivation level was still shallow, did not have the ability to understand the language of demonic beasts.
He could only pat the baby Pixiu's head reassuringly and whisper, "Alright, alright, we'll be there soon."
The Pixiu, having given up its attack, suppressed its physical fear and curled up in Wei Xiuzhu's arms.
It still missed that silly wolf a little.
At least the wolf could understand him.
The summit is now in sight.
They did not use any spiritual power along the way. Heng Qichun dragged his sick body straight to the top of the mountain, stood outside the school for a while, and only knocked on the door and went in after confirming that Nanyushan was not giving a lecture at that time.
Wei Xiuzhu followed closely behind.
Upon entering, I first saw several familiar rogue cultivators standing under the sun reciting their lessons. Each of them looked distressed and was drenched in sweat, clearly being punished by Nanyu Mountain.
When they saw Heng Qichun, their eyes lit up, and they all stopped chanting and bowed in respect.
"The God has returned!"
"May the Divine Lord be well!"
"And Senior Brother Wei too!"
"I hope Senior Brother Wei is well too!"
Heng Qichun paused slightly, glanced at them indifferently, and did not show them the mercy they had expected by exempting them from punishment.
He simply nodded slightly and asked, "Is Senior Brother there?"
One of the disciples quickly replied, "Yes, yes, we have just taken in a few children, and our sect leader is personally teaching them to study."
Hearing the sound, Nan Yushan pushed aside the surrounding children and stood up to look at them. "You're back?"
Heng Qichun pursed his lips and stepped forward to greet him, "Senior Brother."
The two brothers had supported the Eighteen Realms together for hundreds of years and knew each other thoroughly. Nan Yushan knew that something was wrong as soon as he saw his junior brother's expression, so he quickly dismissed the disciples around him and even locked Wei Xiuzhu out of the door.
Inside the bamboo hut, Nan Yushan put down his book, squinted at Heng Qichun, and asked with unwavering certainty, "What is it?"
Heng Qichun lowered his eyes, gathered his robes, and knelt down, saying, "Qichun has come to accept his punishment."
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Author's Note: The master and apprentice are about to start copying books day and night! See you tomorrow! [Sprinkling flowers]
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