note
Outside, the bright moon hung high in the night sky, and no stars were visible, but inside the sect leader's hall, it was incredibly lively.
Mu Qing and Wen Zheng stood aside, while Elder Jianfeng rushed over, the sect leader looking furious.
In the center of the hall stood a leopard, bound hand and foot. He had now transformed into human form, his face full of arrogance and defiance, his beastly pupils glaring at everyone present.
"How dare a mere demon clan cause trouble at the Immortal Pursuit Sect? They must have ulterior motives," Elder Jianfeng said.
The relationship between the demon race and the immortal sects is generally poor, with little interaction, and there has been no news of any demons coming to the immortal sects.
The sect leader looked at Mu Qing, signaling him to speak.
Mu Qing snorted and kicked the leopard. "It's best to kill it to avoid leaving any future trouble."
He rarely spoke so decisively and without reservation. The sect leader coughed lightly, reminding him to be careful.
Mu Qing turned her head away and stopped talking. Her gaze met that of the dazed Wen Zheng, and her eyes darkened.
It seems that Wen Zheng also played a part in the burning of his house.
Distracted, Wen Zheng felt a chill run down her spine. She met Mu Qing's unfriendly gaze and guiltily looked away.
Inside the main hall, the sect leader was still discussing with Elder Jianfeng how to deal with this demon. The two discussed several methods, but none of them seemed quite right.
"In my opinion, we should just lock him up on the Cliff of Repentance and let him die of old age."
It's definitely not possible to release it now.
The sect leader retorted, "It would be best to find out his purpose in coming to the Immortal Pursuit Sect before taking further action."
The appearance of demons without reason must be suspicious.
Elder Jianfeng thought for a moment, agreed with the sect leader's idea, and began to press Leopard for answers: "What is your purpose in coming to the Immortal Pursuit Sect?"
The leopard turned its head away disdainfully, ignoring him completely.
This was the first time Elder Jianfeng had ever been humiliated in all his years as the peak master. He was so angry that he rolled up his sleeves and wanted to beat the leopard to death, but was stopped by the sect leader.
"Calm down, don't kill him," the sect leader advised. "Watch me."
He walked up to the leopard and asked in a gentler tone, "If your purpose in coming to the Immortal Pursuit Sect is not to harm people, we will consider letting you go."
The leopard tilted its head to one side and let out a disdainful snort.
The sect leader's fist hardened, and Elder Jianfeng couldn't suppress the smile on his face. But when he noticed the sect leader glaring at him, he quickly suppressed his smile.
The leopard refused to speak no matter what, despite repeated questioning and even threats from the sect leader.
He sighed helplessly, "Fine, I was going to let you off the hook, but now I have no choice but to send you to the Discipline Hall and let them question you."
"Hmph, it's just one life anyway, I'm not afraid," the leopard shouted.
Seeing that he was unyielding, the sect leader was also at a loss. When he looked up, his eyes fell on Wen Zheng, who was staring at the leopard, and he suddenly asked, "Do you have any good ideas?"
If he could find out, he could plead with Mu Qing on Wen Zheng's behalf.
All eyes in the hall fell on Wen Zheng.
Wen Zheng: "?"
Why is everyone looking at me?
Everyone present was more capable than her, yet she was asked to come up with a solution.
Wen Zheng inwardly scoffed, but her expression remained unchanged as she stepped forward and said, "How about we shave his hair?"
He looked very angry when she burned the leopard's fur with the fiery explosive talisman she threw earlier, so he must have cherished his fur.
Sect Leader: "Is this method feasible?"
Wen Zheng: "It should be possible. Or should I do it?"
This is a good opportunity to get revenge.
After thinking for a while, the sect leader nodded in agreement and took out a razor. "This was given to me by the monks of Puhui Temple. It's very sharp. Be careful not to cut your hand."
Wen Zheng took it and walked towards the leopard with a kind expression.
Leopard: "!!!"
Seeing the razor about to fall on him, the leopard hurriedly spoke up to stop it: "Wait! We can talk this over."
His softened attitude brightened their eyes. Elder Jianfeng took the razor from Wen Zheng and squatted down in front of the leopard. "What's your name? What brings you to the Zhuxian Sect? If you don't answer well, I'll personally shave your head."
He brandished the razor in his hand, his expression surprisingly threatening.
Leopard tilted its head back and answered quickly, "Hua Rong, my name is Hua Rong. I came to the Zhuxian Sect to search for treasure after finding a treasure map."
His words made the group pause. The sect leader, the Sword Peak Elder, and Mu Qing frowned, but Wen Zheng's eyes lit up.
Is there treasure?!
The sect leader asked, "Where did the Immortal Pursuit Sect get its treasure?"
Hua Rong shifted his body, and a piece of paper fell out. He gestured with his lips, "Here, take a look for yourselves."
Elder Jianfeng picked up the paper, carefully examined its contents, his expression changed drastically, and he handed the paper to the sect leader: "Look at this."
The sect leader glanced down at the paper, his face grim, and handed it to Mu Qing. The latter took it, looking completely bewildered. After reading it, she summoned the Taiqing Sword and held it to Hua Rong's neck. "Trying to fool people with a fake thing is a crime deserving of death."
Her words were cold and devoid of warmth, and Hua Rong froze in fright. She quickly explained, "It's true. I had someone check it. It can't be fake."
He spoke so truthfully that it didn't seem like he was faking it. The sect leader and Elder Jianfeng exchanged a glance and sensed something was amiss.
The three of them had very interesting expressions. Wen Zheng curiously leaned over to look at the contents of the paper. The information on it was brief:
On the snowy slopes of the Immortal Pursuit Sect lies a treasure I left behind. It can be taken by following the mark, awaiting the arrival of a destined person—Qingling Daoist.
Below that is a line of smaller print that indicates the date when a certain secret realm opened.
Wen Zheng recalled the last time this secret realm was opened; it seemed to be five years ago. But wasn't Qingling Daoist dead for a long time?
Who wrote the fake note?
Wen Zheng felt a chill run down her spine. She vaguely felt that the handwriting on the paper was familiar, and it seemed... very much like her own handwriting.
The three were still pressing Hua Rong for answers, but Wen Zheng wisely distanced herself from them and carefully examined the handwriting on the note. Many of the strokes bore her unique habits, and she was about 80% certain that the note was written by her.
But didn't she just transmigrate here?
Could she possibly go back to the past?
There were too many mysteries, and Wen Zheng's mind raced, but she dared not reveal a single detail.
Only after the sect leader and the others couldn't get any more information did Wen Zheng have the opportunity to return to Aoxue Peak with Mu Qing.
The familiar snow-covered path was now traversed by two figures, one in front of the other. The figure in front took large strides, occasionally stopping to wait for someone, while the figure behind moved swiftly to catch up.
The two walked slowly, and it wasn't until dawn that they successfully reached the top of the mountain, where they were met with a scene of charred ruins.
Wen Zheng scanned the scorched, bare ground, where snowflakes melted instantly upon landing, turning the once-good foundation into natural mud.
She carefully turned her head to peek at Mu Qing's expression, which was very unpleasant.
Mu Qing walked around the scorched earth, and after confirming that it was impossible to build a house on it in the short term, she looked at Wen Zheng and said, "I need to think of a solution."
The instigator has already been punished by the sect leader and sent to help within the sect; this accomplice absolutely cannot escape.
"Me?" Wen Zheng pointed to herself, "I'll build you a new house?"
Like her.
Mu Qing turned her head and looked at Wen Zheng's house, which was drastically different in style and could be described as ugly and simple, and said with a look of refusal: "It's too ugly. Build me one exactly the same."
Recalling Mu Qing's previously monotonous room, Wen Zheng tentatively asked, "Approximately how many spirit stones will it cost?"
She recently sold some talismans, and with what she had saved up before, it should be enough... right?
"Several thousand high-grade spirit stones should be enough to restore about five-tenths of the original value," Mu Qing said.
"I don't have that much money." Wen Zheng's entire possessions amounted to no more than a thousand high-grade spirit stones. "I have a spare room; can I spare one for you?"
Mu Qing frowned and refused, then went to a sheltered spot from the wind and snow to sit and rest.
Seeing that he was stubbornly staying outside, Wen Zheng went back to the house and took out the remaining materials to build him a makeshift shed, and put a few heating talismans on it.
"Don't say I'm being unreasonable. It's your own fault for not coming. Use these heating talismans first, and come back for more if you need more."
Wen Zheng put down the talisman, turned around and went back into the house. She hadn't slept all night and was exhausted.
Long after she left, Mu Qing opened her eyes, looked up at the wooden plank above her head, and when she lowered her eyes, she saw the heating talisman left by Wen Zheng.
He reached out and took out a card, and a warm current enveloped him, dispelling the chill. His heart seemed to stir.
Mu Qing remained silent for a while, then sent a message to the elder in charge of repairs in the sect, asking him to help build the house.
After settling things with the house, Mu Qing put away the remaining talismans, took some things from her storage bag and placed them in front of Wen Zheng's door, then continued meditating.
As the sun began to set, Wen Zheng finally woke up. Just as she was about to go out to run errands, she opened the door and saw a pile of various rare and precious herbs. She paused for a moment, then peeked out and looked around. The pristine white snow was flat and she didn't see anyone there.
After thinking it over, Wen Zheng accepted the gifts and began her secluded cultivation.
The incident with the man in black served as a wake-up call for her. If the person who wanted to kill her knew she was still alive, they would definitely send someone to silence her. If she hadn't been cautious last night and hadn't asked Mu Qing to go with her, she would have lost her life long ago.
For now, she should focus on cultivating and improving her cultivation level as soon as possible. However, she still had a question. Wen Zheng took out a crow and shook it to wake it up. "System, come out."
The crow slowly opened its eyes, moved its beak, and asked, "[Is there something you need, host?]"
"Why haven't you let me pursue any heroes lately?" The system had been urging her like a death knell when she first woke up, but now it wasn't.
[This is the program set up by the main system, I'm not entirely sure either. The target's visible affinity level disappears, so the host can use their own methods if they wish to pursue them.]
Wen Zheng twirled the wooden bracelet on her wrist, her thoughts unfocused.
I always feel that the system has too much freedom, and the tasks can change at any time. Is it really a system?
Putting aside these trivial matters, Wen Zheng began to stay at home and focus on her cultivation.
·
Outside the Immortal Pursuit Sect, Xiao Ze wandered around for several days, following the residual demonic energy along the way to the sect. He had previously come to the sect's market to buy talismans, which was located at the outer gate, while the direction of the demonic energy indicated the inner gate.
Xiao Ze hesitated for a moment, then concealed his aura and stepped into the sect's protective formation. He would definitely catch that stupid thing, Hua Rong, as quickly as possible; if he was too late, the sky would probably be torn apart.
He chased after the demonic aura, running up and down and back and forth within the inner sect of the Immortal Pursuit Sect several times, finally standing at the foot of Mount Aoxue.
The remaining demonic energy here is very fresh, probably no more than a month old.
During his time outside the Immortal Chasing Sect, Xiao Ze learned of Mu Qing's deeds and was aware of his cultivation level. Going up now would likely result in discovery. Given the generally strained relationship between the demon race and the human race, he decided to find an opportunity to sneak up.
Xiao Ze went into hiding in the Zhuxian Sect, waiting at the foot of the mountain every day for Mu Qing to leave Aoxue Peak before going up to find her.
After waiting for seven or eight days, just as Xiao Ze's patience was about to run out, Mu Qing finally left. Without further hesitation, he immediately went up the mountain.
Meanwhile, Wen Zheng, who was in seclusion, was not in good condition. Her mutated wind spirit root was cultivating very fast, progressing by leaps and bounds in a day. It was precisely because of this speed that her foundation was unstable, and her spiritual power was showing signs of agitation.
Wen Zheng suddenly opened her eyes and vomited blood.
The surge of spiritual energy did not subside because she stopped cultivating; instead, it remained hidden in her dantian, waiting for her next cultivation session.
"What bad luck," Wen Zheng sighed, wiping the blood from her mouth before heading out for some fresh air.
She didn't know how many days she had been in seclusion, but seeing that Mu Qing's house had already been built, she must have been in seclusion for a long time.
Wen Zheng glanced at the pitch-black house and decided to go for a walk alone. She had barely stepped onto the path down the mountain when she encountered Xiao Ze, who was going up.
What are you doing here?
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com