Chapter 38 Zhou Fuling, the Guardian of the Stream: "You want to use me to kill Zou..."
He quickly realized that Kuang Yunchu actually knew about his and Zhou Fuling's encounter at Zishijian a hundred years ago.
"But surely my mother wouldn't want me to fight you? Otherwise, your scheme to have me kill Zou Li would have been for nothing. If I die by your sword, who will help you fight Zou Lanci?"
Zhou Fuling said, "You've worked so hard, and you're only one step away from the highest position in the Immortal and Mortal Realms, but you don't have a suitable weapon to pull Zou Lanci down."
"My knife finally appeared after a long time..."
"But you broke it yourself, won't you regret it later?"
All was quiet, except for the sound of the wind rustling through the secluded forest.
Kuang Yunchu raised her gentle eyes: "You're very smart, baby."
“Likewise,” Zhou Fuling laughed. “I am, after all, your daughter. Although I remember you went to great lengths to teach me to be rather stupid, how could I possibly be truly stupid?”
Her shrill laughter was carried away by the wind.
Kuang Yunchu: "Take Xu Qingning inside."
...
The eaves and hanging fish-shaped ornaments of the mountain temple are covered in dust.
Xu Qingning sat with his hands behind his back on the canopy, with a binding magic array beneath his feet.
They arrived at the temple.
Zhou Fuling and Kuang Yunchu sat on the high seats.
This hall was used by celestial beings to preach in the past. On one side, a huge sculpture and statue depict the Virgin Mary protecting her daughter during a century of snow disaster.
When Zhou Fuling and Kuang Yunchu arrived in front of the sculpture, Xu Qingning realized that they were somewhat similar in temperament and appearance.
Zhou Fuling wore a dark green cloak, and Kuang Yunchu also wore a cloak of the same color. With her curved eyebrows and eyes, she looked like the gentlest mother.
She asked, "How did it feel to kill Ning Tingyue?"
“Not good,” Zhou Fuling said. “Did you have any involvement in killing Ning Tingyue?”
"I wouldn't say."
“He wanted to find you because of your status at the time…” Kuang Yunchu said, “You were Xu Qingning’s ‘Achilles’ heel. At the time, Xu Qingning was targeting Yun Ning’s Huan Ci, and Ning Tingyue was unhappy and wanted Xu Qingning to back down.”
"I then asked Master Miaojia about your location and relayed the message."
"It's a pleasant surprise that he's dead. Thank you."
Xu Qingning raised her eyes.
The candlelight reflected in the phoenix eyes was icy cold.
Zhou Fuling: "I won't thank you. Doing this will only bring me trouble."
Kuang Yunchu chuckled lightly.
She then said, "Fuling, before we talk, I want to ask you how you discovered my identity and purpose?"
"You captured Mr. Qing, but the information he sent you isn't enough, is it?"
Xu Qingning frowned.
Mr. Qing, is he also one of Kuang Yunchu's men?
That's right... that's how it should be; only then does Zou Li's killing of Zhou Fuling make sense.
"That's enough." Zhou Fuling placed her hands on her knees, looking relaxed. "Who said it's not enough?"
"The fact that you brought Zou Li to see me and then killed me is enough to prove your identity—you know who I am."
Kuang Yunchu's gaze was cold as he stared at Zhou Fuling: "Oh?"
"You keep escalating the conflict between me and Zou Li, and even made him set up a duel to the death. May I ask, what normal high-level cultivator would sign a life-or-death duel agreement with someone of low rank?"
"You ultimately had Mr. Qing instigate Zou Li and me to have a life-or-death duel, which forced me to kill him and completely break with Zou Lanci."
"At the time, I was thinking, who are you? Why are you doing this? Later, I gradually made some guesses."
"..." Kuang Yunchu remained silent.
"By considering the situation of the immortal sects, I can vaguely guess your purpose. However, seeing you just now, I am certain."
Zhou Fuling tapped the stone table lightly, the crisp sound reaching everyone's ears. "You want to use me to kill Zou Lanci, and then slowly devour the Immortal Sect, is that it?"
Kuang Yunchu smiled faintly.
Outside the mountain temple, a cold wind howled.
They rushed towards the barrier of the sacrificial hall and also towards Xu Qingning.
Xu Qingning's phoenix eyes trembled.
Zhou Fuling leaned back in her chair, her black braid hanging down her chest, her tone gentle, almost identical to Kuang Yunchu's:
“I killed Ning Tingyue and obtained the murder warrant. Now, I have been drawn to Yun Ning by the information left by Ning Tingyue about the Devouring God Powder, and I am now qualified to participate in the Yun Ning Sect Grand Competition.”
"So, I guess... if you're a bold player, you'd want to push me to participate in the Yun Ning Grand Competition as one of your pawns to infiltrate the Immortal Sect."
Kuang Yunchu gazed at Zhou Fuling silently for a while.
"Baby, how could you guess that? We've broken up. Why do you think I can control you?"
Zhou Fuling: "Because my identity is very suitable for you. I have high martial arts skills and have a chance to defeat all the participants in the Yun Ning Grand Competition before the Devouring God Dispersion is released. The others around you probably can't do that."
Kuang Yunchu smiled.
Zhou Fuling added, "However, I am a demon hunter, and my bloodline is not pure."
"Through your scheme, I also have a blood feud with Zou Lanci, who killed my family."
“I have no roots in Yunning.”
"If you push me to the Yun Ning Grand Competition, even if I win, I'm very likely to suffer a backlash and besiege. When I need help, you can appear at the right time and form an alliance with me."
"But wait until you trick me into forming an alliance with you, and after Zou Lanci dies, you can easily remove me from the position of sect leader and replace me with someone you can completely control, but who is not as strong as me. That way, you can slowly take control of the immortal sect, right?"
The wind outside the temple suddenly became violent, blowing thousands of leaves onto the temple.
Xu Qingning stared at Zhou Fuling and Kuang Yunchu with shock in her phoenix eyes.
In a flash, something instantly dispelled the fog of confusion.
Kuang Yunchu still maintained that indifferent yet gentle demeanor.
After a moment of silence, she laughed: "Yes, it's really unpredictable. Xiao Wu, you're smarter than I thought. I need to consider whether to change the way we cooperate."
"Change?" Zhou Fuling said, "If I were too stupid, would you dare to cooperate with me?"
“Of course I dare. I dare to cooperate with everyone,” Kuang Yunchu said in a low voice.
But Zhou Fuling said, "If you want me to do something, you have to offer enough incentives. And this matter is so risky. Otherwise..."
She sneered, "I can just withdraw, and you can remain the eternal runner-up forever."
Kuang Yunchu, however, did not care at all and said softly, "Is that so? Baby, do I need to remind you of your current situation? The entire Immortal Sect is besieging you. At midnight, Snow Mountain should also be surrounded by Dragon Pool, Tianji, and Yun Ning at the same time. You can't go back. In the Tianji Sect where you used to hide... well, Xu Qingning also knows your identity."
“You have done Xu Qingning a favor, but at most he can spare your life. I believe that the two of you will inevitably go your separate ways.”
Xu Qingning clenched both hands into fists.
He didn't want to listen to what Kuang Yunchu had to say at all.
Zhou Fuling frowned.
Kuang Yunchu: "So, besides cooperating with me and listening to me, where else can you go?"
“I still have the land of death to go to.”
Zhou Fuling stared intently, raising her hands: "I have no father or mother, I don't know where I came from, I don't know where I'm going, I'll die sooner or later, it's just a matter of when I experience death and when I choose to die."
"But what about you? You're already in the game, just one step away from reaching the top. Desire is the sharp blade that will pierce you. The fact that you've come to me now clearly means that other people's force can't do what you want me to do."
"You should listen to me. Otherwise, once I'm dead, this opportunity may not come again for three hundred years."
"Listen to you?" Kuang Yunchu smiled faintly, his voice as gentle as a stream. "I've never heard of a mother having to listen to her child. That's a bit absurd, Xiao Wu."
"You clearly want to live."
"As far as I know, you have had two terrible experiences in the past century that most people would encounter, which are almost a collapse of faith, and you may be so disheartened that you want to die."
"But you came out. You were completely unaffected; you climbed out of the cliff. You chose to lie low by Xu Qingning's side. You didn't want to die."
"You are probably the person in the world who least wants to die."
The sound of the wind struck the old golden bells on the eaves, producing a dull thud.
Xu Qingning stared at Zhou Fuling in disbelief.
What exactly did she go through?
Was Kuang Yunchu also responsible for her death?
Xu Qingning wanted to ask, but now that he and Zhou Fuling had broken off their relationship, he couldn't ask rashly under the current circumstances.
Zhou Fuling was enveloped in light and shadow. The candlelight flickered, and with the wind outside the barrier, Zhou Fuling's face was indistinct, and her figure seemed to have solidified into a stone statue.
A moment of silence.
“Even so, death is better than being entangled by your cold and hypocritical ‘umbilical cord’ again,” Zhou Fuling said.
"What?" Kuang Yunchu suddenly looked up.
Zhou Fuling laughed, her eyebrows and eyes arrogant: "Then let's see who's more willing to risk it all. I'd rather die, or you'd rather postpone this opportunity by at least a hundred years, or miss it forever."
"You're about to lose it."
Silence fell over them. Zhou Fuling and Kuang Yunchu looked at each other and remained silent.
The wind gradually subsided, and snow fell on countless valleys.
After a long pause, Kuang Yunchu said, "You want the antidote for the Devouring God Powder, right?"
“But I don’t have any here. I didn’t have much power back then, and I had just married Xu Lexun when you were poisoned.”
"It was all given to you by other people."
"You still need to go deeper into Yunning."
Xu Lexun is Xu Qingning's biological father. They have almost completely severed ties.
Zhou Fuling did not respond, and it was unclear whether she believed Kuang Yunchu's words or not.
Kuang Yunchu then said:
"By the way, I've broken off relations with Young Master Xu. You sent him here because I have an old grudge against him, so you can use him as a hostage while also using him as leverage against me?"
Kuang Yunchu said, "That's enough. Let's talk privately from now on. I guarantee my men won't harm him."
Zhou Fuling walked up to Xu Qingning.
Their eyes met, and Xu Qingning's eyes held a multitude of emotions—questioning, bewilderment. It was as if, only today, he had truly grasped the real Zhou Fuling.
Zhou Fuling straightened Xu Qingning's collar.
Xu Qingning turned her head away as if in resistance.
“You really like him,” Kuang Yunchu said.
"Just playing around," Zhou Fuling said.
Xu Qingning: "..."
He lowered his head in silence.
...
What exactly happened between Zhou Fuling, Kuang Yunchu, and the others?
Furthermore, the system states that Zou Lanci is also Zhou Fuling's adoptive mother.
Her adoptive mothers were Kuang Yunchu and Zou Lanci. Did they form an alliance a century ago? Could her mother's death be related to this?
Xu Qingning sat down. Zhou Kuang and the other man had been talking for nearly two hours.
He also fell into deep thought.
He remembered a plan that the Immortal Alliance had once made.
The names are "Twelve Deadly Ravines" and "The Contract of the Ravine Keeper".
The Guardian of the Stream Project was probably initiated three thousand years ago after the great war between the human and demon races.
Back then, the human race unified the mortal and immortal realms, but the evil prince Xia Li, having failed to seize power, cleaved open the Well of Ten Thousand Demons, causing chaos in the human world.
In the beginning, the human race was no match for the monsters, suffering heavy casualties.
In order to kill demons, immortal cultivators made many desperate attempts, one of which was demon refining.
Some cultivators fused with demon blood to quickly seize demonic power. They became demon cultivators, also known as "demon tamers".
But this is referred to in historical records as the "bloody error".
Because many cultivators die after being infused with demon blood. Initially, the cultivators did so voluntarily, but later on, countless cultivators were forcibly infused with demon blood and died.
According to records, the twelve most powerful and determined demon hunters were the ones who ultimately entered the Heavenly Desolation Abyss to seal the demon land.
But after descending into the Heavenly Abyss, these people all went mad and betrayed the Immortal Alliance.
This "refinement of the demon tamer" thus became one of the heaviest blood debts in the history of the immortal sects.
The methods of demon-refining were also banned in the immortal sects. Tianjue Gorge also became a forbidden area.
But Zou Lanci initiated the Demon Tamer Plan in order to stop the great demon calamity of Tianjue Gorge... Xu Qingning simply couldn't believe it.
He stared at the candlelight, silent.
One hundred years ago, Zou Lanci had just ascended to the position of an immortal.
She was always only concerned with consolidating her power. Zou Lanci's rise to power was also illegitimate; he killed almost half of the Zou family.
Why was the "Trial for Demon Hunters" initiated?
Xu Qingning felt increasingly uneasy.
"Young Master Xu..." A voice interrupted Xu Qingning's thoughts.
He slowly raised his eyes, his gaze icy.
It was the Miao chieftain from Yu Miao Mountain who came over.
The Miao Mountain Lord and Xu Qingning were on good terms. Xu Qingning's mother had saved the Miao Mountain Lord's life, but the Miao Mountain Lord obeyed the Mountain Lord's orders, and Xu Qingning could understand her choice.
"Young Master Xu, we apologize, but we are under orders from the mountain leader and cannot release you."
The Miao Mountain Lord's gaze fell on Xu Qingning's Immortal Binding Rope.
"You're also curious about who Miss Zhou is, right? To be honest, I just found out myself."
"I was really shocked. Who knew that Miss Zhou beside you was of this kind of identity... You just said last time that you wanted her to be my personal apprentice."
"..." Xu Qingning did not want to talk about this.
He opened his parched lips.
"Could you give me some water?"
"nature."
The Miao master ordered his disciples to feed Xu Qingning water.
Afterwards, the two exchanged pleasantries, with Xu Qingning initiating the conversation:
"How is Miao Yushan doing lately?"
Seeing that Xu Qingning neither blamed him nor probed into Kuang Yunchu's affairs, Master Miao breathed a sigh of relief.
"Everything is fine. Elder Lü and Cultivator Song, who are on good terms with the young sect leader, are both safe and sound, and they are thinking of you..."
Xu Qingning said, "Yes, I missed Elder Lü the most in the past. Before I left, I asked someone to send Elder Lü the high-grade Qingling Pill that he had been needing. He should have received it. You can rest assured about the breakthrough now."
Master Miao: "Is that so? But it might be a few days later. He's not here now, he's somewhere in the northern part of the Southern Continent..."
Miao Shanzhu suddenly changed color.
He met Su Qingning's gaze.
Xu Qingning said, "Elder Lü is a garrisoned artifact cultivator who specializes in crafting demon-slaying artifacts. He is your confidant and wouldn't be easily sent to kill ordinary demons. Now that he has been sent to the chaotic Southern Continent, what does he intend to do to Zhou Fuling?"
The Miao Mountain Master turned pale and dared not utter another word.
Another mountain lord approached: "Don't be shy! Feed Xu Qingning the poison. Otherwise, you'll ruin the mountain chief's plans!"
"Hurry up! The monster can't get here in time." They also covered the barrier.
The disciples apologized and then took out poison pills to feed Xu Qingning.
However, a flash of blood appeared, and Xu Qingning simply leaned back and kicked again, the barrier and formation that appeared on his chest forced these people back violently.
Xu Qingning stared coldly at the people at the mountain gate.
The secret talisman in his hand was the very one Zhou Fuling had placed in his hand while adjusting his collar, just in case this happened.
Those people were furious:
"Young Master Xu, well done! You hypocrite, you've indeed colluded with that demonic cultivator!"
"Don't talk nonsense, Young Master Xu is just protecting himself!" said the Miao Mountain Master.
"Self-preservation? Although he was subdued, the demonic power of this talisman is still strong. I heard that the demon cultivator had been asking him to become his lover before his identity was exposed. He is that demon cultivator's lover!"
"I colluded with her? Then what is your mountain lord?" Xu Qingning said coldly.
Although he was restrained and looked like a prisoner, his expression was imposing without anger, and everyone retreated, not daring to speak.
"What a magnificent display, Young Sect Leader!"
But then Kuang Yunchu and Zhou Fuling walked in.
A streak of blood forced everyone back.
Zhou Fuling stood beside Xu Qingning.
"You're quite clever. I thought someone as proud as you wouldn't touch the talisman I left for you."
"I've broken ties with you, but that doesn't mean I've gone mad." Xu Qingning didn't want to talk to Zhou Fuling.
Miao Shanzhu seemed to want to say something more.
But then Zhou Fuling noticed a mustard seed talisman on her waist, drawn with a blue light and carved with a blue bird and a cleaver—the very emblem of Kuang Yunchu's clan. Clearly, it was made by Kuang Yunchu himself.
In addition, Zhou Fuling had an extra scroll in her hand, which was inscribed with "Life and Death Duel".
...What did they trade? Why would they give Zhou Fuling such a dangerous thing?
Kuang Yunchu said, "Until we meet again."
"Until we meet again," Zhou Fuling said with a smile.
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