“Nothing major.” Nan Feng saw that Yuan Wo seemed genuinely unaware, and he reined in his emotions. “Someone saw demonic cultivators near where you passed by, so I came to ask about it.”
“Immortal Nan Feng, Yuan Wo has always regarded Immortal Venerable Bu as a role model on his path of cultivation. If he had discovered traces of a demonic cultivator, how could he have concealed it?” Sect Master Pao was afraid of arousing the Jiutian Sect’s dissatisfaction with the Shenji School, so he quickly explained, “If Immortal is really worried, I will have Yuan Wo accompany you to retrace his steps. What do you think?”
His face was full of flattery, but his heart was somewhat resentful. What demon cultivator’s appearance? It was clear that the Jiutian Sect still suspected that they were the ones who had caused trouble in the beginning, but they were just making excuses to make things difficult for them because they didn’t have any evidence.
Over the years, the Shenji School had used these methods to bully smaller sects. They never expected that they would also be the ones facing such difficulties.
Seeing that Nan Feng didn’t say anything, Sect Master Pao knew that the other party didn’t object to his suggestion. He turned his head and gave his disciple a look, “What are you sitting there for? Why don’t you hurry up and take someone to run back the same way?”
“Fellow Daoist Nan Feng, please.” Yuan Wo stood up and cupped his hands towards Nan Feng, then he summoned his flying sword and jumped on it. Nan Feng and his two core disciples followed suit.
The four of them traveled quickly and soon left the city protected by the Shenji School. After that, all they could see were snow-covered mountains and frozen rivers.
Nan Feng silently calculated the speed of Yuan Wo’s sword flight. Before coming, he had checked the time when Yuan Wo left the sect and arrived at Wenxing School. The current flight speed was just right, indicating that Yuan Wo had not delayed on the way.
Passing by Fuguang Palace, Nan Feng bowed from afar and asked, “Which sects are adjacent to Wenxing School?”
“Wanhuo Sect and Wangshu Pavilion.” A core disciple replied, “Wangshu Pavilion is only six hundred li away from Wenxing School.”
“These three sects should be guarding the Zhenhe Cauldron…” Hearing the name Wangshu Pavilion, Nan Feng felt a little uneasy. He only had himself to blame for being so certain in his words back then.
“Although the Wangshu Pavilion is weak, with the Wanhuo Sect and the Wenxing School guarding this place, the Zhenhe Cauldron must be very safe.”
Nan Feng’s eyebrows twitched. He couldn’t stand the word “safe”. His face would always feel uncomfortable whenever he heard it.
Passing by a city, red lanterns hung on both sides of the main road of the city, and laughter could be heard from time to time. Nan Feng couldn’t help but stop his flying sword and took a few more glances: “This city is quite lively.”
Normally, he paid little attention to how the mortal citizens of the city lived, but this time, needing to observe the surroundings with his sword, he discovered many things he had not noticed before.
Cities varied in size, some were prosperous while others were dilapidated. Even cities under the protection of immortal cultivation sects were different from each other.
“Taolin City.” He flew over the city gate and saw the characters carved on the city gate.
He recalled that in the records about Wangshu Pavilion, there was a city protected by the sect called Taolin City.
So this was Taolin City, blessed by Wangshu Pavilion.
Nan Feng looked back at Taolin City a few more times, his mood somewhat complicated. Although the city was not large, the lives of mortals were no worse than those in the cities protected by the Jiutian Sect.
“Ahead is the Wenxing School” Yuan Wo stopped at the tip of his sword: “Fellow Taoist Nan Feng, should we go to there to visit?” The visit was possible, but he didn’t have the money to prepare a meeting gift.
“No need.” Nan Feng shook his head slowly. “Thank you, Fellow Daoist Yuan Wo. The matter has been investigated, and we should return to the sect to report.”
“I will escort you, fellow Daoist.” Yuan Wo spoke up when he saw this. “If you have any other questions, I will answer them all.”
“Fellow Daoist, please stay. As for the matters your sect has committed over the years, my sect’s Law Enforcement Hall disciples will come to negotiate with your Sect Master.” Mentioning the old matters committed by the Shenji School, Nan Feng’s expression was indifferent. “Cultivation is not easy. I hope your sect will adhere to its original intentions in the future and never again rely on your power to bully others.”
Yuan Wo cupped his hands in salute, and when he raised his head, the three people from the Jiutian Sect had already flown away on their swords.
He frowned, why did Jiutian Sect care so much about whom he had met on the way to Wenxing School? He lowered his head and glanced at the ring between his fingers. He turned his sword and was about to run to Wangshu Pavilion to remind Jiu Hui, then it should be regarded as the unpaid interest on the money he owed.
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He watched the three people from the Jiutian Sect leave, stretched lazily on his sword, and pretended to complain in a low voice, “This is really inexplicable. Isn’t this just messing around?”
In the clouds, Nan Feng watched Yuan Wo cursing as he turned back to the Shenji School. He said to his core disciples, “You two follow him secretly and see if he informs anyone.”
“Yes.”
With no one else around, Nan Feng was possessed by a whim and flew his sword to Taolin City. He landed outside the city and entered as an ordinary person.
As he entered the city gate, he saw a tea stall and a noodle stall on the left and right, respectively. The tea stall had no business due to the cold weather, and the tea stall owner had already run to help out at the noodle stall. The only customer at the tea stall chatted and laughed with the noodle stall separated across the street, and then finally squeezed over to the noodle stall with his tea bowl.
“Sir, would you like some noodles?” The stall owner greeted Nan Feng enthusiastically when he saw him standing on the street, “It’s cold outside. Have a bowl of hot noodles and you won’t be afraid of the cold while shopping.”
“No, thank you.” Nan Feng glanced at the old, blackened table and chairs and stepped aside.
Seeing that he didn’t want the noodles, the stall owner wasn’t annoyed and continued to greet the next customer.
“Young master, be careful.” An old man driving a donkey cart loaded with charcoal cupped his hands towards Nan Feng. “The charcoal is dirty, please move aside, young master, so as not to soil your fine clothes.”
Nan Feng looked down at the brocade robe he was wearing. Compared to the commoners on the street, his attire was indeed too luxurious.
He stepped aside to let the donkey cart pass, and walked slowly down the street. He didn’t know which young master and young lady were getting married, but the sound of music and drums filled the air. Children hopped and skipped, picking up wedding candies and shouting innocently, “May you live a hundred years together, and may you have great fortune.”
“Young man, you can’t block the path of the bride and groom,” a kind-hearted auntie said. She saw that Nan Feng was standing in a spot that would block the path of the bride and groom, so she reached out and pulled him to the side of the road. “When newlyweds get married, their ancestors and immortal spirits will see them off. If you block the middle of the road, won’t you be blocking the path of the ancestors?”
Nan Feng raised his eyebrows and looked at the front of the wedding procession. There was nothing in front of the bride and groom. If there was really a ghost cultivator there, how could he not notice it?
“Young man, you don’t know the rules. Don’t break the taboo.” The old woman pointed to the scarves on her stall. “Do you want a red scarf? If you wear a red scarf, you’ll have a prosperous and auspicious new year. Would you like to try it, young man?”
“No need.” Nan Feng squinted at a young girl who was squeezing through the crowd to grab wedding candies. The more he looked at her, the more he felt that her figure somewhat resembled Jiu Hui’s.
But he couldn’t believe that Jiu Hui, the core disciple of the Pavilion Master of Wangshu Pavilion, would be in the crowd, fighting over wedding candies with mortals.
“Fellow Daoist Nan Feng?” Jiu Hui squeezed out of the crowd with a pocket full of candies and met Nan Feng’s gaze. She wrapped the wedding candies in lotus leaves and asked, “Why are you here?”
Nan Feng also wanted to ask, why were you here snatching wedding candies?
“May you have a hundred years of happiness together!” The wedding procession walked away, but Jiu Hui still waved at the bridal sedan chair. Nan Feng even suspected that if he hadn’t appeared suddenly, Jiu Hui might have followed the wedding procession for a while to grab some more wedding candies.
“I just passed by this place and saw a city here, so I came down to take a look.” Before Nan Feng could finish speaking, he saw Zhi You walk out of the crowd with two large footprints clearly visible on the top of his shoes.
Zhi You walked up to Jiu Hui and opened his palm, revealing two copper coins wrapped in red paper. “I gave the candies to the crying child, so I only have these left.”
“You were actually able to snatch the wedding money, Zhi You, your luck is really good.” Jiu Hui took one and poured half of the candies from her purse into Zhi You’s palm: “Half for each of us.”
She looked back at Nan Feng and took out a piece of candy from her purse. “Fellow Daoist Nan Feng, want some?”
“No, thank you.” Nan Feng put his hands behind his back.
Jiu Hui didn’t stand on ceremony with him either, putting the candy back in her purse: “Fellow Daoist Nan Feng, are you planning to buy something in the city?”
“I’m just looking around. I wonder why there are so many red lanterns hanging in the city?” Nan Feng looked at the red lanterns swaying in the cold wind. The lanterns were crudely made, but the streets were full of them, adding a bit of a festive atmosphere.
“The New Year’s Eve is in a few days. Some lanterns were hung by the City Lord’s Mansion, and some were made and hung by the people on the street.” Jiu Hui patted the dust off her skirt. “It’s fate that we met. Zhi You and I will accompany fellow Daoist around the city.”
“How can I trouble you?” Nan Feng was a little dazed. Was the new year approaching? Cultivators were not bound by time, and sects did not celebrate mortal festivals. He had almost forgotten how important New Year’s Eve was to mortals.
“It’s no trouble at all. We came out to have fun anyway,” Jiu Hui said enthusiastically. “It’s almost the New Year, so the streets are more lively than usual. If Fellow Daoist Nan Feng has anything he wants to buy for the sect, it’s better to have someone lead the way.”
“Hey, kid.” Jiu Hui beckoned to a child. “Go give a message to Boss Song, the soup dumpling vendor up ahead. Tell her that I’ll be bringing an immortal cultivator from a sect to try her soup dumplings. Ask her to prepare them early so the immortal cultivator won’t have to wait too long.”
“There’s no need to be like this……”
“Those glutinous rice dumplings are especially delicious. There have been many customers these past two days. If we don’t call ahead, we will have to wait in line.” Jiu Hui grabbed two candies and gave them to the child, smiling and saying, “You must tell Boss Song clearly that the esteemed immortal from a major sect is coming. She can’t be careless when making the dumplings, understand?”
The child looked at Nan Feng with admiration several times before pinching the candy and running off to spread the word.
“Miss Jiu Hui, are you here to buy New Year’s goods again?” A stall owner recognized Jiu Hui. They didn’t know that Jiu Hui was a cultivator, and thought that she had skipped class to play again. “You didn’t go to school again today. Be careful, or your master will punish you to copy characters.”
“It’s getting cold, and my Master also needs to rest.” Jiu Hui bought three pieces of glutinous rice cake from the boss’s stall: “We are just out to play openly.”
The glutinous rice cakes that had just come out of the pot were a little hot, and Jiu Fen exhaled while eating one. Nan Su was embarrassed to hold the glutinous rice cakes wrapped in leaves. He couldn’t eat them or throw them away, so he could only hold them in his hand helplessly.
Along the way, Jiu Hui kept introducing the features of each stall to him. When the three of them arrived at the place selling glutinous rice dumplings, it was empty and there was no one there.
“It seems that Boss Song didn’t come out to set up a stall today. It’s a pity.” Jiu Hui sighed: “Next time if there is a chance, I will invite Fellow Daoist to taste them.”
Nan Feng frowned slightly and looked around, feeling that someone was staring at him.
“Fellow Daoist, stop looking. Someone must be watching you right now.” Jiu Hui finished the glutinous rice cakes in her hand and wiped her hands with a handkerchief. “It’s so cold, and everyone is wearing thick winter clothes. Only you are wearing thin and fancy clothes. Who wouldn’t look at you twice when they pass by?”
Nan Feng then noticed that Jiu Hui and Zhi You were both wearing winter clothes, even their collars were trimmed with fur.
“If Zhi You and I hadn’t been with you, the City Lord’s guards would have found you by now.” Jiu Hui pointed to the snow that had yet to melt on the roof. “It’s freezing cold, and only immortals or demons could move around so freely in such thin clothes.”
“The Second Young Master is here!”
“Hurry, hurry, hurry, put the things away, don’t let him break them.”
“Don’t panic, the Elder Young Master is here too!”
The stall owners who had been busy packing up their things put them back out as if nothing had happened and continued to chat and laugh.
“Immortal Jiu Hui, Immortal Zhi You!” Tao Xiangyi heard from his subordinates that the Immortal from a major sect had entered the city, so he rushed over. When he saw that Jiu Hui and Zhi You were also there, he was relieved. “I am Tao Xiangyi, the eldest son of the City Lord of Taolin City. I pay my respects to Immortal Nan Feng.”
Nan Feng returned the greeting. He had met this person at his sect uncle’s Body Integration ceremony: “Young Master, you are too kind.”
“Greetings, Immortal Nan Feng.” Tao Er followed and cupped his hands in salute. After the salute, he approached Jiu Hui and said, “Immortal Jiu Hui, you came into the city to play with Immortal Zhi You, why didn’t you call me?”
“Gongshou, don’t be rude in front of Immortal Nan Feng!” Tao Xiangyi glared at Tao Er.
“Yes.” Tao Er put away the smile on his face and stood obediently behind Tao Xiangyi.
Seeing that his annoying younger brother was not causing any trouble, Tao Xiangyi was in a very good mood. He enthusiastically invited Nan Feng to his residence for lunch. Nan Feng declined repeatedly, and finally used the excuse that his sect had matters to attend to before he was able to get away.
“Young masters, please stay. Zhi You and I will see off fellow cultivator Nan Feng.” Jiu Hui followed behind Nan Feng. “Fellow cultivator Nan Feng rarely visits our Wangshu Pavilion territory. As core disciples of the sect, how could we let a fellow cultivator leave alone?”
Nan Feng wanted to refuse, but then he thought of the prophecy related to Yuan Wo, so he nodded and said, “Thank you, fellow Daoists.”
“The city’s inhabitants rarely interact with immortal cultivators, so if we were to fly on swords here, we would likely arouse their curiosity and fear.” Jiu Hui glanced at the sky. “It’s still early. Why don’t we ride horses out of the city?”
Tao Xiangyi asked the city guards to bring three horses over.
“No need.” Nan Feng shook his head. “The city’s scenery is rare. Let’s walk out slowly.”
“Thank you for your understanding, fellow Daoist.” Jiu Hui chuckled softly. “Fellow Daoist, please.”
The streets were bustling with life, a panorama of humanity that Nan Feng hadn’t seen in a long time. He looked down at the cold glutinous rice cake in his hand, now cold and hard. He had forgotten to eat it. Putting them into his storage ring, Nan Feng said, “Your sect has done a good job protecting Taolin City.”
“It’s not our sect’s credit, it’s the common people who have made their own lives better.” Jiu Hui smiled. “Even without us, as long as the demons and monsters don’t come to make trouble, they can still live a good life.”
“Indeed, if the world were at peace, the people’s lives would be much better.” Nan Feng sighed. “Unfortunately, demons and monsters are constantly causing trouble. Fellow Daoist, have you encountered any suspicious individuals lately?”
Jiu Hui shook her head. “Since Zhi You and I joined the sect, the farthest we’ve been is the Jiutian Sect. The rest of the time, we’ve been cultivating in the sect. Fellow Daoist, why do you ask?”
“Recently, there have been traces of demonic cultivators appearing in many places. You two fellow Daoists should be extra careful when you go out.” Nan Feng did not mention the prophecy, because even he himself had begun to doubt the prophecy of Zhenxing Tower.
Was it still a prophecy if it could be changed so easily?
“Even after escorting you a thousand li, we must eventually part ways.” After seeing Nan Feng off at the city gates, Jiu Hui stopped in her tracks. “Fellow Daoist Nan Feng, please take care.”
“Many thanks to both fellow Daoists.” Nan Feng cupped his hands in salute. “Farewell.”
Watching Nan Feng’s figure disappear into the sky, Jiu Hui sighed deeply. “Let’s go, we should head back too.”
Zhi You summoned his flying sword and had just stepped onto it when his expression suddenly changed. He looked towards the direction of the Zhenhe Cauldron.
“There’s the aura of a demonic cultivator.” Jiu Hui leaped onto her sword. “Let’s go and check it out!”
The Zhenhe Cauldron was one of the Ten Great Immortal Cauldrons, and it was responsible for suppressing the luck of rivers and lakes. Lanyue Lake was the largest lake within a thousand-li radius, and it was connected to major rivers both upstream and downstream. So the Zhenhe Cauldron was placed there.
Beneath the layers of barriers, the light emitted from the Zhenhe Cauldron almost blended with the frozen lake. It was originally a rare and beautiful sight in the world, but now a foul-smelling black smoke was emanating from Lanyue Lake, and the fish and shrimp under the ice scattered in all directions. The flowers, plants, and trees by the lake also began to wither.
“Someone has poisoned the lake.” Jiu Hui took out a hairpin and turned it into a sword, swinging it at the person by the lake. The person by the lake seemed to be prepared. He threw the jade bottle in his hand into the lake and turned to flee, but was stopped by the flying sword.
“Go.” Jiu Hui threw out her silk scarf, and at the moment when the jade bottle was about to fall into the lake, she rolled the jade bottle back.
“Who dares to ruin my plans?!” The black-robed man’s face was full of hostility. His eyes were blood-red, and his palms transformed into sharp claws as he lunged at Jiu Hui.
Zhi You moved. He waved his sleeve robe, blocking the black-robed man’s attack, and said to Jiu Hui, “Be careful, I’ll handle this person.”
Jiu Hui nodded. She glanced at the lake water where black mist was surging and covered her mouth and nose, saying, “This is Qi of Extreme Evil refined from a mountain of corpses and a sea of blood. Zhi You, don’t touch it.”
The surrounding vegetation was rapidly withering and the trend was spreading.
“Hahahahaha, it’s too late.” The black-robed man laughed to the sky: “This lake connects to the four seas. In less than three days, the Qi of Extreme Evil will spread throughout the entire land. No one will be able to escape.”
“I think you’ve gone mad. Once the Qi of Extreme Evil spreads, your demon clan won’t be able to escape either!” Nan Feng, who had sensed something wrong, had already rushed over. Seeing this scene, he immediately summoned his natal sword and stabbed it into the ground.
Countless spiritual energy and sword energy spread out in all directions along the blade, enveloping the scattered Qi of Extreme Evil under his sword energy, slowing down the speed at which the evil energy spread.
“Bu Ting of the Jiutian Sect killed my brother, and I will make everyone in the world pay for it.” The man in black didn’t care about the life and death of the demon clan. He looked at Nan Feng smugly and said, “How long can your sword energy last?”
This bottle of Qi of Extreme Evil was a treasure of the demon clan, and only a tiny bottle of it had been refined in the past ten thousand years. Bu Ting killed his elder brother, and those useless demons in the Demon Realm were afraid of Bu Ting’s cultivation, and each of them was hiding like a turtle, not daring to avenge his elder brother. Then let him do it.
“Your elder brother was the First Prince of the Demon Cult?” Nan Feng’s face was pale, and the rapid consumption of spiritual energy made it difficult for him to speak. “Do you know the consequences of the destruction of the Ten Great Immortal Cauldrons?”
“So what?” The black-robed man’s eyes were so red they looked like they were about to drip blood. He roared, “Since my brother is dead, then no one else should live either. Not a single one of you!”
Jiu Hui suddenly understood that Tao Er’s behavior was not madness, but this was true madness, dragging all living beings in the world to play together.
“Give me your sect disciple token!” Jiu Hui stretched out her hand in front of Nan Feng, who didn’t think twice before taking it off and handing it to Jiu Hui.
“Jiutian Supreme, the Sect Master’s Disciple Token summons, urgent!” Jiu Hui pinched a hand seal and tapped the disciple token on Nan Feng’s forehead. Countless beams of light flew out of the disciple token and scattered in all directions.
Since they couldn’t handle it for the time being, then all the stewards of the major sects needed to be called over. No one was allowed to be idle.
“How did you know the urgent summoning mantra of the Jiutian Sect’s head disciple?” Nan Feng looked at the disciple token that was almost shattered, and said with a pale face, “I won’t be able to hold on for much longer. If anything happens to me… please tell my master that I was incompetent and disappointed him.”
“You’re willing to risk your life to stop the spread of the Qi of Extreme Evil, yet your master is still disappointed in you?” Jiu Hui looked at the jade bottle wrapped in silk that was still emitting black mist, then turned to ask him, “Is there a magic weapon that can seal this thing? The sect’s head disciple urgent summon incantation, it’s not some secret that can’t be passed on. What’s so unusual about me knowing it?”
Her master’s magic technique book clearly recorded the incantations of the major sects.
Nan Feng shook his head with a wry smile.
“Stop your delusions, nothing can…” The crazy demon cultivator mocked without saying anything, and was slapped by Jiu Hui from afar.
“Can you shut up?” Jiu Hui was annoyed by this madman. “Zhi You, gag him!”
Who would want to listen to his harsh words at a time like this?
Nan Feng wanted to say that with their cultivation, they were probably not a match for a Prince of the Demon Cult. But before he could finish his kind reminder, he saw Zhi You slap the crazed demonic cultivator away through the air. After slapping him away, Zhi You used his spiritual power to drag the man back, then slapped him again, sending him flying like a madly spinning top.
After repeating this several times, the crazed demonic cultivator made no more sound, and it was unknown whether he was dead or alive.
After using magic techniques to hang the demon cultivator, who had finally calmed down, on a tree, Zhi You turned his head to look at Jiu Hui, his eyes shining brightly.
Nan Feng: “…”
He had been presumptuous.
“Well done!” Jiu Hui searched through her storage ring for a long time and found a jade box engraved with protective runes. She put the bottle containing the Qi of Extreme Evil into it.
Then she squatted down with Zhi You and pasted Purification and Spirit-Drawing talismans one after another. As she pasted them, she asked Nan Feng with concern, “Fellow Daoist Nan Feng, can you still hold on?”
“No problem.” As soon as the words left his mouth, Nan Feng spat out a mouthful of blood. He wiped the corner of his mouth. “It’s nothing. Fellow Daoist, don’t worry. I can still hold on for a while.”
Jiu Hui: “…”
What a tough mouth, what a tough sword cultivator!
She had originally intended to tell Nan Feng that the rivers nearby had been freezing over the past few days, and the water flow in Lanyue Lake had slowed down, so it wouldn’t flow out so quickly for the time being. However, seeing the other party’s expression so tragic, she silently turned around and threw a Water-Condensing Bead into the lake, confining the lake water to Lanyue Lake and preventing it from flowing downstream. Zhi You followed suit and took out a gourd from his storage ring. The gourd flew into the air and sucked all the black mist into it.
Neither of them looked back, but continued to silently apply talisman paper to the jade box.
As long as they didn’t speak, the atmosphere wouldn’t be too awkward.
Author’s Note:
Zhi You: I don’t talk because I’m not a talkative person by nature.
Little Garlic Chive: I don’t talk because I’m kind by nature and don’t want to embarrass people.
Nan Feng: My silence was deafening.
Question: What did you learn when you were with Jiu Hui?
Zhi You: How to turn a person into a freely rotating small spinning top.