Chapter 117 Hidden in the Soul
The sound of horse hooves could be heard along the bamboo forest path.
The carriage was not moving very fast on the bumpy path.
It was raining. The woman driving the cart was wearing a straw raincoat and a rain hat. She raised her face slightly, revealing a pair of eyes brighter than autumn water. Her face was flushed with fatigue due to the hurried journey.
The carriage came to a path leading to the waterway.
A child's clear voice rang out from the car, "Mother, how long do we have to travel?"
When he couldn't get an answer, he started to make a fuss and even wanted to jump out of the carriage.
The woman had no choice but to rein in the horse.
The carriage stopped, and she lifted up her bamboo hat, revealing a face as rosy as a peach, with clear and bright eyes, a gaze as sharp as lightning, and she seemed to be very determined.
They wore special clothes that were impervious to water and fire. The rain did not wet their clothes at all, and their clothes had no stitching.
The woman looked up and saw a jasper flute stuck vertically into the trunk of a large tree at the intersection. When she saw the flute, her expression changed and she immediately pushed the child into the car. "The rain is going to get heavier, Heng'er, we have to hurry."
But the child was disobedient and very strong. With a "snap", he took down the door of the carriage and kicked it away.
He jumped out of the car, dressed in white like his mother, but compared to the woman's aloofness, there was a hint of mischief in his eyes.
As soon as he got out of the car, he started to grumble, "Why don't you ask Dad to go out and play with us? Didn't you say that the human world is so much fun?"
Then the child also saw the flute and pointed, "Why is Daddy's flute nailed to the tree?"
The woman's expression darkened. When she became serious, all her fragility vanished, revealing a bit of majesty. She cursed in a low voice, "Beast!"
The child's eyes widened. He had never heard his mother curse anyone before, and he looked surprised. "Beast... Where is the beast here?"
The child asked innocently while trying to take the jade flute off the tree trunk. The woman quickly shouted, "Come back! Ah Heng!"
Kuang Heng disobeyed, so his mother flipped over and spun in mid-air, flying over the child's head and landing in front of him, blocking his way.
Kuang Heng didn't understand why she was like this, "I just want to take it back and give it back to my father, don't be angry!"
Seeing her angry, the child's face was aggrieved and pitiful, and she softened her heart again and sighed, "Mother is not angry with you, we need to leave here as soon as possible."
But Kuang Heng still didn't know why the jade flute appeared here.
The two walked towards the carriage. The child looked at the flute embedded in the tree trunk again. The woman wanted to carry him to the carriage, but the child turned around and said, "Mother, I understand. Is Father chasing us?"
Looking at the child's innocent eyes, she looked straight at him. She thought he was young and ignorant, but she didn't expect him to be so smart. The woman was speechless for a long time.
But the child was waiting for her answer, and the woman admitted, "I'm dealing with your father. Originally, it has nothing to do with you, but if I leave here, I'm afraid I'll never come back. I'm also worried that they will treat you badly, so I want to take you with me."
At her urging, the child stepped into the carriage. The woman whipped the horse-drawn carriage again, and it immediately sped forward.
The strange thing was that no matter how long they walked, they seemed to be wandering around in circles in the forest and could not get out.
After the rain, the sky became darker. A cold wind blew and no light could be seen in the forest.
The bamboos looked like graves. The woman looked up at the bamboos, tightened the reins in her hands, and stopped the carriage.
Cold sweat dripped from her forehead and slid down her cheeks inch by inch.
The flute embedded in the tree trunk made a crackling sound, as if it was drilling deeper into the trunk, trying to crush the fragile trunk.
Finally, the flute crackled and pierced through the tree trunk, sending wood chips scattering down.
The woman took out a tinder from her bosom, leaned forward, and saw that the jade flute was already in someone's hand.
He put his hands on his waist and walked towards the carriage.
The wind was blowing hard, but he just walked against the wind.
Even the wind did not dare to stop him.
She slowly tightened her grip on the reins and waited for him with bated breath.
Kuang Heng remembered that day, there was a loud thunder and heavy rain poured down on them.
The two of them clashed, and in the fierce battle, every blow was fatal.
The fierceness on A Niang's face was something he had never seen before.
The rain was pouring down, and the horse was almost dead.
The elders did not catch up with us, only my father came, but he alone was enough to defeat all of them.
A'niang was slightly better and took him out of the carriage. As she blew the whistle in her hand, the horse with huge wings let out a long neigh, but could not stand up.
A Niang blew the whistle again, and a black dragon swooped down from the thick clouds.
They rode on the dragon's back for half an hour and finally flew over the fish-dragon wonderland, speeding on the water. The dragon's belly was close to the water surface, drawing a beautiful ripple.
Kuang Heng heard A Niang talking to Long, "Thank you very much, but I don't know what the punishment will be for doing this."
They passed through the curtain of water, as if emerging from a huge waterfall.
Next is a green forest with no end in sight.
The black dragon stopped here. A'niang carried him off the dragon's back and bowed to thank the black dragon.
"Go back and don't help me anymore. This should be the last time we meet."
The black dragon raised its head and roared, then transformed into a woman in black clothes and a red hairband, holding an oil-paper umbrella. "You are the one who opened my spiritual wisdom, and you are my chosen master."
She shook her head. "You are not an object. I cannot dispose of you at will. Take you away. Besides, the human world cannot accommodate a true dragon. Those monster hunters will not let you go. Go back to the Wonderland. There is abundant spiritual energy there, which will help you ascend."
Even though A'niang said this, the black dragon still followed them to an area close to the human world. They could have swam out through the dragon pool, but A'niang said that the undercurrent under the water was as sharp as a knife. If no one led the way correctly, they might be crushed to pieces.
So they can't take shortcuts.
When they arrived at this area, where humans, demons, fairies and elves gathered together, the smell was mixed. Kuang Heng's head hurt from the smell, and he wanted to go back.
There were quite a few guests in the inn, and the person standing behind the counter was actually a raccoon cat demon.
There are about ten square tables in the store.
They sat down at a square table, and the black dragon turned into a weapon in A Niang's hand.
They sat down and were served a pot of tea.
Neither he nor his mother drank it. He felt very uncomfortable thinking that he would only be able to drink such coarse tea in the human world.
After waiting for about an incense stick of time, several people came to the outside of the inn, with knives hanging from their waists.
Kuang Heng felt that they had the aura of mortals, but they were different from ordinary mortals. They had a spiritual aura.
"Miss Bai Yue, we are late. Is this the young master?"
One of them pinched Kuang Heng's cheek as he spoke.
He saw that these people wanted to protect his mother and him and help them escape to the human world.
They said they were still far away from the human world, and the next people to pick them up would be divided into three groups, who would do their best to help them stay away from the wonderland of fish and dragons.
If the people inside find them, they will definitely try to eradicate them completely.
A'niang refused to say anything more, but just took him and walked until they returned to the human world.
But no one told him what life would be like in the human world. Would there be flowers that never faded? Would there be friends like Hu Zi and Ah Xiu? Would he still be able to catch unicorns with them? He didn't know the answers to these questions.
But he didn't want to think about it anymore, as long as he was with his mother.
Ah Niang rubbed his head and said, "Hurry up and eat something. We will be on our way soon."
Kuang Heng's expression was very stubborn, "Then we will never see Father again?"
A Niang's tone was very firm, as if there was no room for maneuver.
"We won't be coming back."
The person who met them left a stone on the table and left.
Later, Kuang Heng realized that it was silver. Sometimes mortals regard gold and silver as more important than their lives, because without silver they cannot fill their stomachs, and hunger is really a very painful thing. The outside world is not like the wonderland. There has never been gold and silver in the wonderland. All the people in the tribal villages are self-sufficient and have no need for silver. They don’t know what silver is. They probably don’t know what it feels like to be starving to death.
Looking at the woman lying on the white jade bed in front of him, Jiao Ran couldn't help but ask, "So you successfully escaped to the human world?"
Phoenix Chick looked at the woman's pure and flawless face, her heart aching. "We were just one step away, almost escaping. But the elders of Wonderland caught up with us and killed the people who came to pick us up. My mother refused to go back with them."
The woman's chest was no longer rising or falling, and it was obvious that she had stopped breathing. The place was dead and lifeless, with no sign of life. She must have been dead for a long, long time.
"Did your father kill her?"
"No! She's not dead, she's just asleep."
Jiaoran lowered her eyes. She did hate the phoenix chick, but at this moment, the feeling of missing her mother was something that all children who had lost their mothers could understand.
No wonder he had to escape from the Fish and Dragon Wonderland a hundred years ago. When he was a child, the people in the wonderland killed his mother in front of him. How could he not hate her? These are things Zhu Su did not tell her.
"You said you still needed me, was it because of her?"
"You and I have both mastered the Takayama Shou technique. I alone cannot reverse life and death. You must help me conceal this from the Heavenly Dao."
Jiaoran was silent for a while. First of all, she didn't know where he got the confidence that she would help the murderer of his mother to save his own mother. Secondly, life and death cannot be reversed. When a person dies, it is like a light goes out. If there is a miracle doctor in the world who can save a patient when the patient is dying, it is because the patient still has a breath. For someone like this, who has been dead for almost a thousand years, to want to bring the dead back to life is simply a pipe dream.
Seeing Jiaoran's concerns, he said, "In exchange, I can let the Holy Witch remove the Golden Worship from Mu Jin and me. I know that one day we will draw our swords and fight to the death. If you kill me, you will also kill Mu Jin, which is definitely not the result you want. Although, you may not be able to kill me."
Jiao Ran said, "You are so cunning. How can I know whether what you are saying now is true or false?"
"Indeed, most of what I say is lies, and most of it is true. I've deceived you many times, but this time, I sincerely want to cooperate with you."
Jiao Ran said, "You are not sincere either."
"How do you say that?"
"Since you asked me for help first, you should behave like one who asks for help," Jiao Ran said. "I want you to answer all the questions I want to know."
He said, "If you want to ask me why I killed your mother, I can tell you now."
"Tell me, I also want to know why. She is obviously your descendant, but you killed her so cruelly."
"When I gave birth to my first mortal woman, I discovered that the child inherited a portion of my power, and I was aging rapidly."
"So you'll kill every one of your children?"
"Not entirely. After I discovered this punishment from heaven, I began searching for the 'High Mountain Longevity' that I lost when I first entered the mortal world. I mastered the 'Eternal Life Secret', but the injuries I suffered a hundred years ago when I escaped the Fish and Dragon Wonderland were too severe. The 'Eternal Life Secret' can only alleviate my pain; those wounds will never heal. The water from the Caesar Pond can alleviate my pain. I continued to search for the 'High Mountain Longevity', but the black dragon betrayed me. I didn't expect it was him who guided the mortals to steal my secret book."
Jiao Ran thought for a moment, "Could you be talking about the black dragon in the Governor's Mansion?"
He said, "As revenge, I told those Taoist priests who were hunting demons how to bind her so that she would never be free."
"Why would she betray you?"
Phoenix Chick said, "There's no need for a reason to betray, because people's hearts never change."
"I couldn't find the 'Gao Shan Shou'. I was certain the secret manual was in the Governor's Mansion, but no matter how hard I looked, I couldn't find it. My body quickly aged, and I was so old I couldn't even walk. In this situation, I could only kill my children with mortals to restore my spiritual power. But my children had children again, and each generation weakened my power. I searched the world for them, but I couldn't kill them all. Compared to the speed at which I aged, my killing rate was much slower. Until one day, I discovered another way to stop aging."
"What is that?"
"Possession. I only need to find a suitable body among my descendants for me to possess. My memories will remain unchanged, and my body will remain forever young."
"Isn't your current body your own?"
"I've already changed bodies once, but after the divine weapon severely injured me, the injury became ingrained in my soul. No matter how many times I change bodies, I can't completely eliminate the pain. I can only maintain my youth by having a younger body and absorbing the essence of mortals."
"What does that have to do with you having to kill my mother?"
Phoenix Chick smiled. "To be precise, it doesn't make much difference to me whether she's dead or alive. I originally thought I could use her body, but after some work, I realized I couldn't. Then I decided I needed a good dog to do my work, so this dog's owner couldn't live."
Jiaoran didn't understand. "Good dog?"
"Killing Jiaoyue was Zhou Zhi's token of allegiance. She wanted revenge for the Qingfeng Sect. Even if one practices ordinary martial arts for fifty or a hundred years, they would still be mediocre. Wanting to kill all the famous masters in the martial arts world is a pipe dream."
"You forced... forced Zhou Zhi to kill my mother?"
He said, "No, no, she wanted to kill her. I just suggested it. Jiaoyue's life does deplete my spiritual energy, and the more outstanding my descendants are, the more spiritual energy they take away. If she dies, I will feel more at ease, but if she lives, it won't affect anything. If you want to blame someone, blame Zhou Zhi. She wanted to be loyal to me too much."
"Do you think I will believe what you say? Your tongue is also the most powerful weapon. I never dare to get too close to it."
Phoenix Chick nodded, "You don't have to believe it, of course you don't have to. This is just my opinion, but if you want to verify it, you have to call your deceased mother and Zhou Zhi together for a confrontation, and see if Zhou Zhi admits it."
Jiaoran didn't believe the reason could be so simple, "How could it be like this..."
"Sometimes the harder the mystery, the simpler the answer. Why was the Qingfeng Sect wiped out?"
Jiao Ran said, "Someone slandered them, saying that Gao Shan Shou was in the hands of the Qing Feng Sect."
"Isn't this simple? A secret manual that can dominate the martial arts world and allow Zhou Zhi, whose family was wiped out overnight, to avenge her family. Tell me, does she want to get this "Gao Shan Shou"?"
Jiaoran also figured one thing out, "It's you, right?"
"What is me?" The phoenix chick asked knowingly.
"You spread the news, stirring up the Central Plains martial arts world, and that's why the Qingfeng Sect was wiped out, isn't it?"
Phoenix Chick sneered, "Jiao Ran, you can't just talk nonsense. I won't accept such a charge."
Jiao Ran said, "This is the result you want. If you infer the previous events based on your result, it will be easy to understand."
"But have you ever thought about this? If I was really the mastermind behind the Qingfeng Sect's annihilation, wouldn't Zhou Zhi understand? How could she obediently allow myself to be controlled by her?"
Jiaoran thought to himself, could it be that he has become senile and would believe everything the phoenix young said?
"Let's take a step back and say, what does the annihilation of the entire Qingfeng Sect have to do with me? I've never even set foot in the Qingfeng Sect, never spoken a word to anyone there, and never let a drop of their blood flow on my hands. So you see, I'm absolutely innocent, and I'm not a bad person."
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