Chapter 72. Do you know why I brought you with me?

Changming?!

Hè Xiyun was both astounded and glad. Before she shouted his name, it had crossed her mind countless times.

Hé Qingmo was a lot more composed. Although he was also happy to see Changming, overall he seemed calm.

Changming signaled them to keep quiet. They understood him immediately and followed him.

Wherever they went, the ghosts’ hands receded, making way for them. But, when Hé Qingmo or Hè Xiyun walked too far behind, the walking corpses came at them in swarms, so the two of them had to stick close to Changming—it was only in this way they could get through unharmed.

At first, Hé Qingmo thought that Changming was using a seal technique that was keeping the ghosts away, but then he realized that it was the lantern in Changming’s hands that drove them away.

It was a small ordinary-looking lantern. Its gloomy white light was wavering slightly.

A fierce gale sprang up. The cold was piercing them to the bones.

It didn’t resemble the fresh wind of an autumn night, but was more like harsh winds blowing through a cemetery. Hè Xiyun shivered, and the lantern in Changming’s hand suddenly flinched, and it seemed like the light inside it could go out at any moment.

A hand reached out for the lantern, and its nails, sharp and tough as knives, almost pierced through the surface of the lantern!

Hé Qingmo raised his arm to slash the hand. However, before the tip of his sword touched the ghost, the scenery in front of them changed abruptly. He stumbled and fell forwards, but was promptly stopped by Changming.

“This place?”

He heard Hè Xiyun’s amazed voice.

Crowds of people were passing by, lit by bright lanterns.

They were standing in a dim and silent remote corner that was hard to find on a noisy street. But the famous West Market of the You Capital was just a couple of steps away.

If this place was the West Market, where had they been just now?

Hè Xiyun was perplexed.

“Were we pulled into an illusion?”

“Worse than an illusion, it’s a trap possessed by demons. You’ve eaten what you shouldn’t have. Had you two been common people, your immortal souls would have already scattered. That’s how these people were caught there.”

Changming shook the lantern in his hand, which fell to the ground, and turned into a rabbit that squeezed into the crowd swiftly, like a wisp of smoke, and disappeared.

“The fifteenth of the seventh month is just around the corner. Don’t walk around recklessly.”

Just as he said this, Hè Xiyun remembered that bowl of tasteless noodles and the sweet cake that had turned into a maggot. Vomit came up to her mouth. She couldn’t endure it and bent over near a wall corner to throw up.

But, even after a long time, she only vomited up a little bile—her stomach was completely empty.

“Stop throwing up. What we ate was not food, but ghost qi,” Hé Qingmo said. His expression was also bad.

It wasn’t surprising that common people were tricked, but they were cultivators, yet they still had been bewitched by ghosts. If this news spread, their fellow disciples would die laughing.

Hé Qingmo had also come to his senses after being bewildered for a while. Common people often retold stories about someone stumbling upon a gorgeous house with beautiful maidens at night in the mountains, and receiving a warm greeting there. But the next day they would find all the carved beams and painted rafters of the building to be made of decaying wood and rotten soil, while the mountain and sea delicacies they had eaten there last night had turned into withered tree branches, decomposing leaves, rats and insects. Moreover, some people ate the ashes of ritual money, and fell ill upon returning, eventually losing their lives. Hé Qingmo would never have guessed that one day they would be like one of those enchanted people.

Hè Xiyun was puzzled: “Doesn’t the You Capital belong to buddhists? With the Wanlian Buddhist Temple in sight, how would the evil spirits dare to wreak havoc?”

“Ghosts are not deceived by appearances, but humans are. The Wanlian Buddhist Temple can’t protect the entire the You Capital. It’s not the first time you’ve left your homes, why were you so unsuspecting?”

Changming’s taunting left them both speechless.

Fortunately, they were cultivators, and after they had come to their senses, the ghost qi they had swallowed would be gradually dissolved by their spiritual powers, so they wouldn’t have a serious onset of illness like a common person would.

And what it was that had turned into the noodles they’ve eaten didn’t really matter now. What made Hè Xiyun feel uncomfortable were her memories and her gustatory sense.

“Thank you very much for your help, Senior.”

Hé Qingmo cupped his hands before his chest earnestly.

Hè Xiyun froze. Why would he suddenly promote ‘dayou’ by a rank?

Hé Qingmo had been through a lot with Changming in the Nine Layers of the Abyss. They didn’t face any extreme challenges, but they did work together. Before leaving, Changming had revealed his real identity, and asked Hé Qingmo to say hello to his shizun. After Hé Qingmo returned and discussed it with his shizun, his admiration for Changming only became greater.

“Shizun praised Senior highly. He regrets the accident that took place on the Sacred Mountain Wan that year, however, the Celestial Abode Chenxiao never deemed what happened to be Senior’s fault. When we asked around, everyone said that the situation was too complex, so it was actually hard to say what had happened, but shizun couldn’t control what the others were saying. He asked me to pass on the word to the Senior that stones are always revealed when the water recedes, and the moon is seen when the clouds disperse. One day, the world will learn what had happened back then.”

Stones are always revealed when the water recedes: the truth comes to light

The moon is seen when the clouds disperse: justice provided by the revealed truth

Changming didn’t care whether the world would learn the truth or not, and wasn’t really concerned about his image in the eyes of the Celestial Abode Shenxiao’s owner, Fu Dongyuan. There was no doubt that this old fox didn’t throw stones in Changming’s well back then, but neither did he offer Changming fuel in snowy weather. Fu Dongyuan was handling matters steadily and smoothly. Although this allowed the Celestial Abode Shexiao to stand unyieldingly for many years, they also lost many chances to advance and get their hands on the head of the sea monster, and their leading position was taken away by the Wanjian Immortal Clan, who nibbled away at their influence little by little, becoming the sect that was reluctant to admit their secondary position. It could be called both Fu Dongyuan’s success and Fu Dongyuan’s failure.

Throw stones in a well: hit a person when they’re down

Offer fuel in snowy weather: provide timely assistance

Get their hands on the head of the sea monster: be the champion

Changming: “You’ve come to the You Capital to see the puja of the fifteenth day of the seventh month?”

Hé Qingmo frowned, his expression a bit more heavy: “For Shijie Meng Li.”

This disciple of the Celestial Abode Shenxiao, Meng Li, had left the mountains to travel one day, but had subsequently gone missing. Although her soul lantern didn’t die out, not a trace of her could be found, up until the day Changming discovered that she had become the exclusive property of Fu Xiaoshan, the owner of the Weak Waters of the Nine Layers of the Abyss. After Meng Li’s death, Yun Hai found the Fenshui Pearl in her, and shattered the barrier of the Weak Waters.

Changming had already informed Hé Qingmo about this when they were leaving the Nine Layers of the Abyss.

“But afterwards, I realized that the sword I’m wearing at waist would frequently contact me. At first, I thought it to be a demon, but after I returned to my sect and asked shizun to check it, it was discovered that it was shijie Meng Li’s fleeting soul.”

Changming’s expression changed slightly.

Hé Qingmo continued: “Her fleeting soul responded to the breath of her fellow disciple in the Nine Layers of the Abyss. But the breath was too weak at that moment, so she couldn’t communicate with me, and only managed to hide inside my sword temporarily. Only after I had returned to my sect and shizun attached her soul to the soul lantern did she manage to appear in the flesh for a short period of time. Shijie Meng Li said that the reason she was wandering through the Nine Layers of the Abyss back then was not because she had entered by mistake or out of curiosity, but because she had overheard a secret accidentally, and was chased by those people. In the end, she had no choice but to hide in the Nine Layers of the Abyss. The ones chasing her were people from the Wanlian Buddhist Temple.”

Changming: “What was the secret?”

Hé Qingmo uttered slowly: “Longxiang Fozuo Shengjue of the Wanlian Buddhist Temple is a half-demon.”

Shengjue was the strongest cultivator of the Wanlian Buddhist Temple, his cultivation unfathomably profound. Some people said that he had reached the level of a grandmaster; others claimed that he had already transcended this level. There were very few grandmasters in the world, and the Wanlian Buddhist Temple had as many masters as there were clouds in the sky, so Shengjue had few chances to fight with others. The last time he had challenged someone to a fight was his battle with Yun Weisi. Being a fozun of the second greatest Buddhist sect, he was as well-respected as the successor of the temple master. If his being a half-demon was revealed to the world, his status would definitely take a tumble, and even his whole sect could be dragged down.

There were more than enough demons living in the human world incognito, and many of them had integrated with mankind. Of course, there were cultivators with demon blood, but they encountered disapproving sidelong glances almost wherever they went, so they had to cultivate at places that were removed from the secular world, like the Yellow Springs or the Nine Layers of the Abyss. For example, at the Seven Star Rivers of the First Layer of the Abyss, Changming had witnessed the battle between Bei Shu, who had rebelled against the Qingyun School, and Tai Luo, who was a half-demon.

Hè Xiyun felt that what she had just heard was a dreadful secret, but it was too awkward for her to simply turn away and leave, so she could only continue listening, embarrassed.

Hé Qingmo said: “Shijie Meng said that while she was being chased, she accidentally dropped her sword to be picked up by her enemies, so she asked me to find a chance to retrieve it. I bid farewell to my shizun and went travelling. Two days ago, I heard that the Wanlian Buddhist Temple is hosting a puja on the fifteenth day of the seventh month, so I decided to come take a look in passing.”

Changming asked: “Who was chasing Meng Li?”

Hé Qingmo: “Shijie Meng didn’t recognise them, but she noted that they had buddhist beads and a cane. It was probably someone from the Wanlian Buddhist Temple, otherwise, they wouldn’t have started chasing her immediately just because Shijie Meng had learnt Shengjue’s secret.”

Changming: “I also came here to take a look at the buzz around the puja. This being the case, why don’t you travel with me?”

Hé Qingmo said: “With Senior by my side, naturally, I’ll feel safe. But wasn’t Senior travelling with daoyou Yun, where is he?”

Changming: “On Mount Zhehe, not far away from this place. Rumors have it that a few days ago a miraculous stone shower happened there, turning it into Boiling Earth and Concealing Sky. He said he wanted to see it himself.”

Hé Qingmo: “I’ve heard about it as well. Mysterious lights flash there from time to time, and a spiritual curing treasure has appeared. Who knows, maybe daoyou Yun will get lucky, and manage to obtain this legendary tool.”

Had he not been investigating Meng Li’s death, he would have probably been at the Zhehe Mountain now as well.

Hè Xiyun remained silent, but the others noticed that her expression was getting more and more odd.

“Daoyou Hè, are you alright?” Hé Qingmo said.

“I… think I’ve heard daoyou Zhang’s voice,” Hè Xiyun frowned.

Save me.

Save me…

It sounded neither far away nor close, impatient and terrified, so she could only imagine what his situation was like.

At first, Hè Xiyun thought it to be an illusion. She looked around, but didn’t find a shadow of Zhang Jie.

But the voice sounded even more urgent, even a bit desperate.

Although Zhang Jie’s cultivation couldn’t be called high, he could definitely go through the Jianghu alone. What kind of peril could force him to cry out?

“Daoyou Zhang? Where are you!”

Hè Xiyun couldn’t help shouting.

But Zhang Jie’s sobs suddenly died down.

…

Xu Jingxian was gasping for breath.

She wanted to take the thin silk off her waist and fly directly to the top of the mountain in front of her.

But she couldn’t do it.

Because that would be beating the grass to scare the snake, so Yun Weisi had forbidden it.

She could only go after him obediently.

Three days ago, a mysterious light had taken form on the Zhehe Mountain, and a purple dawn covered the sky. In half a day, the common people started gossiping that an immortal had descended to the earth there, bringing a treasure with them.

However, cultivators knew that it wasn’t an immortal descending to the earth, but stars raining from the heavens, and miraculous stones falling to the ground, forming a phenomenon called “Boiling Earth and Concealing Sky”. The inconspicuous Zhehe Mountain turned into a place concealing treasures, and cultivators from everywhere came seeking the treasures of the Boiling Earth and Concealing Sky to get their share of the profits.

Whether it was a divinie tool or a spiritual herb—if they could get anything, they would make a spurt of progress, and advance to a whole new level.

Xu Jingxian clearly knew about the benefits.

If it wasn’t for the Yangzhen Grass, Yun Weisi probably wouldn’t even have given her a look.

“Do you know why I brought you with me?”

Xu Jingxian heard Yun Weisi’s question.