Chapter 41 After Two Years of Seclusion
Qi Qing kept his word and started packing his luggage at dawn the next day, with no intention of staying any longer.
Yue Ji was sent back to the next room by him. As soon as the door was closed, the obedient expression on his face disappeared.
He looked slowly at the drifting black fog in the corner and said in a cold voice, "What are you doing here again?"
"I didn't want to bother you, but the master insisted that I bring you a message." The shadow's voice was as hazy as if wrapped in a layer of gauze, and it was vague and unclear: "You are not here to play - I used extra blood poison, and this month's medicine is gone."
Yue Ji didn't even raise his eyelids, and said calmly: "Just for saying this nonsense?"
The shadow laughed rustlingly: "It may sound like nonsense to you, but as an ear that transmits sound, I still have to remind you that it doesn't matter if you can withstand the backlash yourself. Those useless mirages in the Soul Abyss...are counting on you."
The young man paused while sorting his clothes, his eyes sharpened, "He'd better not try to attack the Mirage Clan, otherwise, I will make sure both of them lose."
The shadow laughed: "You are really young and energetic."
"You have no right to say that to me." Yue Ji glanced at him coldly.
"It's unfair. I'm on your side."
The shadow raised his voice, with a hint of sarcasm in his voice: "After all, on the day of the alchemy conference, I risked my entire cultivation..."
"You want to take credit?" Yue Ji sneered.
The shadow's tone weakened: "How dare I?"
His figure faded and seemed to be disappearing. Yue Ji called him and said, "Wait, hand this thing over to Hun Yuan."
The shadowy hand held it up and asked suspiciously, "What is this...?"
"snowflake."
Yue Ji's voice suddenly became gentler, looking at the small ice crystals that were as white as salt: "...They have never seen real snow, right? I have sealed it with magic, you must bring it to them."
The shadow was a little disdainful: "Is this kind of thing worth a special trip?"
Even so, the black gas rolled up the snowflakes and disappeared into the shadows in the blink of an eye.
Yue Ji continued to pack, and soon he heard Qi Qing knocking on the door: "Have you packed? Get ready to leave."
The young man pushed open the door. Qi Qing was already prepared. All his luggage was put into the storage ring. He only had an ice sword on his back, and he looked ready to go.
"Let's go." Qi Qing looked around his room, made sure nothing was missed, then turned around and went downstairs.
The people in the town were still immersed in the excitement of yesterday's first snow. The master and the disciple did not want to show off, so they quietly left the town on their swords.
Because of Yue Ji's shocking words last night, Qi Qing was preoccupied with things and didn't dare to take the carriage to leisurely travel around. He just wanted to quickly return to the sect to meditate and reverse the plot.
Driven by some strange atmosphere, the two returned not much slower than the cranes when they came.
More than half a month later, the gate of Tiandu Sect finally appeared before their eyes.
As soon as Qi Qing landed, he headed straight for the main peak, Lingxiao Mountain, and went straight to report to the head master.
He first opened the topic with his trip to Xiwuzhou, and then changed the subject: "My disciple has gained a lot from what he has seen and heard this time. I'm afraid I need to go into seclusion, but there is no one to take care of Yue Ji..."
——Yes, he has thought about it!
First, he would seclude himself for ten or eight years, turning himself into an untidy uncle, then he would wear the same dull outfit as the dean of studies, train himself to have the most sarcastic expression, take a thermos cup as a companion prop, and preach to everyone he met.
Such a combination of punches will surely make Yue Ji give up and cut off all ties and love.
Unexpectedly, the old master of the sect only heard the first half of his words, then looked him up and down, and asked suspiciously, "Enlightenment? How come I don't see any spiritual light around you?"
Qi Qing lied with his eyes open, rubbing his hands and laughing, "Yes, there is, but it's not very obvious. Only smart people can see it... Haha, I don't mean to say that you are not smart! Master, you have always been highly respected and well-read. Your knowledge and cultivation are better than your disciple. Otherwise... I will send Yue Ji to Lingxiao Mountain to be influenced by him?"
I really want to let this old man have a taste of what it's like to take care of a child.
No one knows a disciple better than his teacher. The old head of the sect certainly knows how restless this disciple is. Before he was forced to accept him as a disciple, this guy either ran around the sect all day or disappeared in the mountains. How could he be the kind of person who could meditate and retreat?
He stroked his beard and didn't respond to Qi Qing's words at all: "Your senior brother is free anyway, so just ask him to help take care of it for you."
Qi Qing thought that his senior brother knew Yue Ji's personality and was a reliable person, so he could rest assured in entrusting Yue Ji to him.
So he put aside his desire for revenge for the time being, and went down Lingxiao Mountain to look for the second unlucky guy.
The senior brother was maintaining his sword in the back yard. After hearing his purpose, he felt it was not a difficult task and agreed immediately.
"These spiritual stones should be enough for his daily expenses. If you are free during the New Year holidays, you can go to Guanshan Town to pick up the new clothes I ordered for this child."
Qi Qing took out the brocade bag from the storage ring and continued to explain: "He is diligent in practicing martial arts. I have prepared some Yuanying period exercises for him. However, he has a high level of comprehension. When the time comes, I will have to ask my senior brother to go to the library to help him borrow some more profound books..."
"Okay, why do you act like I'm entrusting you with something?"
The senior brother raised his eyebrows and stopped listening. Instead, he pulled his shoulders and turned him around to take a look. "Hmm... not darker, not thinner. It seems that the trip to Xiwuzhou was smooth?"
Qi Qing smiled bitterly and said, "It's OK, but there are some surprises."
Since there was nothing else to do, he briefly recounted his experience in Xiwuzhou.
The senior brother sometimes frowned and sometimes was surprised when he heard this: "How can this city lord keep his position when his cultivation is so low? But I have heard a little about the alchemy genius of the Wen family..."
The two of them were so excited in their discussion that they talked until sunset. It was not until Yue Ji came that Qi Qing reluctantly said goodbye: "I'm going back first. Brother, you must remember what I just said."
"Go ahead." The senior brother waved his hand and said nonchalantly, "When you come out of seclusion, we'll have another drink together!"
On the way back, Yue Ji suddenly stopped and asked: "Master, are you going to retreat?"
Qi Qing walked forward with his head down, and said vaguely: "My master's cultivation seems to have made a breakthrough. I will be in seclusion for a while. If you have any questions, go find Uncle Master."
Yue Ji quickly followed and asked, "Master, is it really okay for you to retreat alone with your spiritual roots?"
Every breakthrough of the mutated spiritual roots is a gamble with life, and he was not willing to let Qi Qing take this gamble.
Qi Qing said: "Of course, when Master's realm is stable, he will naturally come out of retreat. You must practice well during this period, understand?"
His tone was so steady that there was no flaw in it. Yue Ji opened his mouth, but in the end he didn't ask any more questions. He just whispered, "Okay."
Qi Qing then turned around and touched the top of his head as a reward: "Be good, Master always hopes for your well-being."
As dusk fell, the two returned to the courtyard.
Qi Qing pushed open the gate and looked at the yard he had been away from for a long time. He actually felt a sense of familiarity as if he were a wanderer returning home.
Over the past three years, he has also spent a lot of time and effort on the yard. The flowers in the yard have just withered, and now only some green flowers are swaying. Ivy hangs by the wall, and the window frames and door lintels were repaired just a few days before he left, and the tung oil has not yet dried. Everything is warm and familiar.
Considering that Yue Ji would be staying with his senior brother for many years, Qi Qing specially went into the kitchen that night and prepared a very sumptuous dinner.
But he regretted it as soon as he was done. This meal was so sumptuous that it seemed a bit deliberate, like a last meal before execution. Even if Yue Ji was slow-witted, he should have noticed that something was wrong.
But he thought again, if a disciple is in charge of everything, how can he really control his master's retreat?
Yue Ji was so smart that he could tell something was wrong. He wanted to ask several questions but was interrupted by Qi Qing. He ate the whole meal in deep thought and his eyes were hesitant when he looked at Qi Qing.
Qi Qing knew what he was thinking, but there was no time to coax him. After dinner, the young man separated the two beds next to each other in the room and moved one of them into the next room.
"You sleep here from now on." Qi Qing deliberately avoided the boy's gaze and gestured to him.
Yue Ji frowned, realizing that his master really wanted to sleep in a separate bed from him.
"No."
"No what do you mean by no?" Qi Qing was about to scold, but changed his mind and decided to give the man a taste of his own medicine.
He frowned and lowered his eyes, his tone lowered: "Yue Ji, you didn't even want to listen to the last words of Master before he went into seclusion?"
The young man sighed softly and said fragilely, "Well, you have your own ideas now, and you don't think highly of Master's words."
The boy pursed his lips and looked at him aggrievedly.
Qi Qing only maintained this for a few seconds, and soon he couldn't help laughing, his tone much more relaxed: "Okay, okay, do you still want to change your spiritual roots? Now that you have the spiritual herbs, if you want to change them, you have to go to the spiritual medicine garden early tomorrow to order a furnace."
“…I won’t change it.” Yue Ji lowered his head and said softly, “After leaving the sect this time, I realized that there is nothing wrong with mixed spiritual roots.”
Qi Qing looked at him for a while, then reached out to rub his head, raised his fingers and put them down again, and said softly, "It's good that you have figured it out. Go and have a rest."
It was late at night, Yue Ji didn't move, and he didn't rush him.
They knew very well that this was a temporary separation that would last for an unknown period of time, but for some unknown reason, Qi Qing hesitated at this moment.
The two of them stopped at the same time, fell silent, and said goodbye tacitly in silence.
The night wind blew by, and the ivy under the eaves rustled.
Finally, it was Qi Qing who broke the silence: "Go ahead. Master will start his retreat tomorrow. If you encounter any difficulties, feel free to go find Uncle Master and the headmaster. They will not ignore you."
Yue Ji said nothing, lowered his head, turned around and walked out.
Qi Qing sighed as he looked at his back, and then advised: "A person must learn to take care of himself. You don't have to practice too hard. You can go down the mountain to play when you have time. The spirit stones that Master left for you are always enough."
The boy stepped out of the door without stopping.
Qi Qing unconsciously took a half step forward and said, "Don't be afraid if you get into a conflict with someone, your uncle will help you. But his cooking skills are not good, so if you want to eat anything, don't go to him, you can go to the restaurant at the foot of the mountain..."
"Master."
Yue Ji suddenly interrupted him.
The young man turned his head and looked at him deeply in the faint moonlight. After a while, he slowly said, "I'll wait for you."
After saying that, he walked into the night without looking back.
…
Qi Qing is in seclusion.
After only three days of confinement, all previous ambitions disappeared in the empty stone walls and stone bed.
The young man couldn't stand the boredom anymore, so he paced back and forth in the cave and said in dismay, "This is just like being in jail!"
[I really miss it. Before I ascended to heaven, I was also imprisoned in the cave for eight hundred years.]
[Eight hundred years? What kind of Taoism are you practicing?]
[I can't find the Wuqing Dao version of Renwu. 】
[Are there still people who practice the ruthless way these days? Are you really not chasing after your fellow Taoists to kill them? ]
[That’s why I say this is a no-connection version… I never found a Taoist partner, I just worked my way up through experience.]
Oh, there is one thing that is better than the cell, there is no barrage in the cell.
Qi Qing originally planned to stay for ten to eight years, become a rough principal and then leave, but life is unpredictable.
After a month of seclusion, Qi Qing's eyes became numb.
After a year of seclusion, Qi Qing felt completely hopeless.
Going to jail... No, in the second year of seclusion, his patience has reached its limit.
——If all else fails, jailbreak!
He thought desperately.
Anyway, there are so many caves in the Tiandu Sect, and not every one of them is occupied. He can find a chance to sneak out without anyone noticing, go down the mountain to play for a while, and then come back. No one will find him.
Qi Qing tried to hold back, but finally couldn't resist the temptation.
The two-year period is up and the caveman sees the light of day again!
He tidied himself up with great ritual, burned incense and changed his clothes, then he chose a dark and windy night and sneaked out.
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