Nan Feng hurried back to the sect. Jiu Hui and Zhi You followed behind the Second Elder, meeting the gazes of the Jiutian Sect Elders.
The courtyard where Bu Ting lived had been cleaned up before Jiu Hui and the others arrived, but there was still a faint smell of blood in the air.
The Second Elder shook his head slightly at the other Elders, his gaze sweeping over the crowd as he asked in a low voice, “How is the Sect Master’s injury? Where is the Fourth Elder?”
“The Sect Master was injured, but his life is not in danger. As for the Fourth Elder…” Third Elder’s expression was awkward. With outsiders present, he couldn’t bring himself to speak about such a shameful matter, so he simply said vaguely, “It’s nothing serious.”
The two of them were silent for a while. Jiu Hui guessed that they were using sound transmission to talk, so she pretended not to know anything. She just looked into the house with curiosity and concern.
[The sect master was attacked, and the most suspicious ones are these two. When you and Nan Feng arrived at the inn, had they gone out?]
[When Nan Feng and I arrived, they were indeed at the inn.]
[The disciple said that when they left the sect master’s courtyard this morning, the sect master was still fine. They couldn’t have made it back to the inn and back in such a short time. What’s more, with their cultivation level, it would have been impossible to get past so many disciples guarding the courtyard and sneak into the courtyard to harm the sect master.]
Although the sect master was injured, it was undoubtedly wishful thinking for these two juniors to injure him.
The intruder was able to injure the Sect Master, but instead of taking his life, they used humiliating tactics, dressing the Sect Master as a woman so that others could see him in such a pathetic state.
Such methods reminded them of the people who had caused trouble at the Jiutian Sect a year ago.
[The person who dressed the sect master as a woman drew on the sect master’s forehead…]
[What? A woman?!]
The Second Elder thought that something was wrong with the Third Elder’s sound transmission technique and looked up at him abruptly. “What did you say?”
Seeing Jiu Hui looking at them, the Third Elder glared at the Second Elder.
Jiu Hui smiled slightly at the Third Elder and obediently looked away.
The feeling of being tolerated by the younger generation made Third Elder’s old face blush. He coughed lightly and continued to communicate with Second Elder using the sound transmission technique.
[The person drew a flower mark on the sect master’s forehead. When I first saw it, I felt a sense of familiarity. Just now, I suddenly remembered that the shape of the flower mark was exactly the same as the leaf of the Immortal Tree.]
[Immortal Tree…]
The Second Elder was suddenly enlightened. After so many years, the sudden appearance of the Immortal Tree’s figure, was it a sign of something?
[Could it be that the yaos came to avenge Mu Qi?]
[If the yaos wanted revenge, why did they wait until today? Was it to give the sect master five hundred more years to become even more powerful?]
Yes, if the yaos wanted revenge, why wait so long?
Five hundred years ago, the old sect masters of the ten major sects all died of exhaustion. At that time, the cultivation world was in turmoil, and it was the best time to take revenge.
It was not like the yaos were born with good hearts, and they would only seek revenge after the other party had achieved fame and fortune?
[Is it possible that they’re from the Demon Clan? The Demon Clan lost two Dharma Protectors, but that doesn’t mean that only two of them came. There are rumors outside that the Sect Master cuckolded the old Demon King, so it’s possible that…]
Second Elder glanced at Third Elder. He didn’t care about the rumors outside, but it was inappropriate for his own family to bring up this matter again.
“The Sect Master has awakened.“carpreads.pages.dev
A joyful cheer came from the house, and the Elders rushed into the house. Only Jiu Hui and Zhi You were left standing in the spacious courtyard.
“Let’s go and take a look too.” Jiu Hui excitedly tugged on Zhi You’s sleeve. Who wouldn’t love to watch the excitement of someone they hated?
Forgiving and tolerating enemies was something that righteous people should do, but she was just a small garlic chive, so of course she chose to secretly watch the enemy’s exciting scene in her heart.
Bu Ting opened his eyes again, and what he saw was the familiar bed curtains.
A headache that felt like his skull was splitting open gradually brought him back to his senses from the endless nightmare. He didn’t know how long he had been dreaming, only that he had been walking along a dark path the entire time, the branches and leaves of the Gan tree growing so densely along the sides that they seemed to want to swallow him whole.
He walked for a long time, so long that he saw the end of the path.
At the end of the path, the Ten Great Immortal Cauldrons gushed out fresh red blood, the mountains collapsed and the earth cracked, and the heavenly fire descended. All things in the world looked at him with eyes of hatred.
“You killed us!”
“You’ve ruined us!”
“Master.”
Nan Feng’s cautious voice reached his ears. His gaze bypassed Nan Feng and swept past the Elders. Behind the crowd, he saw Jiu Hui standing on tiptoe and craning her neck to look around.
Everyone noticed Bu Ting’s gaze and turned sideways to make way, revealing Jiu Hui and Zhi You at the back.
Jiu Hui, who was watching the excitement, was not embarrassed. Instead, she took two steps forward and asked with concern, “Immortal Venerable Bu, are you alright?”
She glanced at the wound on Bu Ting’s forehead. The efficacy of the Jiutian Sect’s spiritual medicine was truly remarkable. Such a large bloody hole had already healed by more than half, and it no longer looked so horrifying.
“I was very rude to you yesterday. I’m very ashamed of myself.” Bu Ting sat up and leaned against the headboard. “You came to visit me today despite what happened yesterday, which makes my behavior yesterday seem even more despicable.”
Jiu Hui smiled. “Immortal Venerable, you’re being too polite. As the saying goes, ‘The injured party is the most important.’”
The Elders of the Jiutian Sect were speechless…
How dare you speak like that? There is no “the injured party is the most important”? Are you cursing someone to die?
“Please forgive me, Immortal Venerable. I misspoke just now.” Jiu Hui explained sincerely, “I didn’t mean to say that I wanted you to die.”
The Elders were helpless. They knew that the little girl had a grudge against the Sect Master, and that they were in the wrong. So, they pretended not to hear her.
“Immortal Venerable, your cultivation is profound, how did you end up so… weak?” Jiu Hui whispered, “Normally, you test juniors like me, but don’t test everyone. Look, you’ve gotten yourself into trouble, haven’t you?”
The Elders of the Jiutian Sect suspected that Jiu Hui had not come to visit the sick, but to annoy the Sect Master.
However, the other party’s attitude also made it clear that this matter really had nothing to do with her. If she had done it, it would have been impossible for her to still be complaining at this time.
Jiu Hui wanted to mock him a little more, but when she saw Nan Feng looking at her with pleading eyes, she sighed silently and said nothing more.
“Miss, I can understand if you have a grudge against Bu_-mou._ It was my fault after all.” Bu Ting coughed a few times and took a sip of the medicine that the boy brought over. “It’s my fault for not making it clear. Miss, have you heard of the soul-capturing magic treasure of the Demon Clan? It can capture the souls of cultivators, seize their bodies, and infiltrate the sect?”
“Just like Zhu Yan, the disciple of the Wanhuo Sect last year?” Jiu Hui asked cooperatively.
“Zhu Yan’s case was just a demon soul occupying his sea of consciousness, which could be detected with a magic weapon. But this method of soul capture and body snatching is very difficult to detect.” Bu Ting patiently explained, “You’ve spent a few days with the demons, so I had to take precautions and test you with this strategy.”
This explanation was very good. If she hadn’t secretly visited the Demon Clan’s treasury, she would have almost believed it.
“Zhi You and I have both been to the Demon Clan, but Immortal Venerable chose to test me.” Jiu Hui was beautiful, and her voice was clear and pleasant. When she lowered her voice to speak, she sounded a bit pitiful and cute. “Is Immortal Venerable deliberately bullying girls?”
This question was something that no one had expected.
Bullying… bullying girls?
The Elders were led by Jiu Hui’s words, and they vaguely felt that it made some sense. Even if the Sect Master wanted to test them, why didn’t he choose Zhi You? Why did he have to choose Jiu Hui?
“Immortal Venerable Bu, this junior has thick skin. If something like this happens again in the future, pick me to do it.” Zhi You said with a straight face, “Little Senior Sister is still young. If she gets hurt, everyone will be heartbroken.”
Everyone thought, that’s true, Miss Jiu Hui is only eighteen or nineteen years old, at this age in the cultivation world, she’s still just a child.
Jiu Hui looked down at Bu Ting, who was leaning against the head of the bed. “You always have to choose between being malicious and bullying little girls.”
“It’s Bu-mou’s fault.” Bu Ting spread out his palm, and a carved wooden box appeared in his palm. “This is my apology gift. Please accept it.”
“A small misunderstanding, just talk it out, why be so polite?” Jiu Hui put the gift box in her sleeve: “Immortal Venerable, you are too polite.”
“The Immortal Venerable has just awoken, and as outsiders, we shouldn’t stay here for too long.” Jiu Hui said, “The Elders and Nan Feng are all very worried about the Immortal Venerable, so my Junior Brother and I will wait outside.”
With the benefits in hand, Jiu Hui was impatient to watch the excitement here.
Although Bu Ting had some charm, he was not as pleasing to the eye as Zhi You.
Jiu Hui pulled Zhi You out of the room. Zhi You swept the snow off the table and chairs in the yard, and thoughtfully took out the food he had bought in the morning: “Eat something first.”
What did it matter to them if Bu Ting was badly injured? They were going to eat regardless.
After the Second Elder came out, he saw Zhi You and Jiu Hui sitting there leisurely eating snacks, and his mood was rather complicated. He walked up to the two of them and said, “My two young friends, the snow and wind are heavy today. Why don’t you two rest in my humble sect for two days?”
“Thank you for your kindness, Elder. However, your sect is busy, and I don’t want to bother you any longer.” Jiu Hui wiped the corner of her mouth with a handkerchief. “Since Immortal Venerable Bu is fine, we should take our leave.”
“Yesterday’s matter…”
“Rest assured, Elder, we will not spread yesterday’s matter to others.” Jiu Hui stood up and bowed to the Second Elder. “Is there anything else you need us to do, Elder?”
“That’s not what I meant.” The Second Elder said, “The person who injured the Sect Master is elusive. I’m worried about the safety of the two young friends. If the young friends don’t mind, I’m willing to escort you for a while.”
“Would it be too much trouble for you, Elder?” Hearing that the murderer’s whereabouts were mysterious, Jiu Hui’s face showed fear.
“Since the two young friends have come to our Jiutian Sect, this old man will naturally protect you with all his might.” The Second Elder tossed out a golden flying boat: “Young friends, please.”
“Many thanks, Elder.” Jiu Hui thought to herself, “As expected of the Jiutian Sect, even a random Elder’s flying boat is so grand.”
The snowstorm intensified. Jiu Hui sat on the flying boat, barely able to see the ground. All she could see was a vast expanse of white.
The Second Elder was not a talkative person. After saying a few words of concern, he did not know what else to say. Later, Jiu Hui took out a chessboard and asked the Second Elder and Zhi You to play chess, which eased the awkward atmosphere.
Snowflakes hit the flying boat’s barrier, instantly turning into water vapor and disappearing. Jiu Hui watched as these snowflakes hit the barrier one after another, only to turn into smoke and clouds. She suddenly thought that perhaps in the eyes of fate, these creatures on the ground were like these snowflakes, all the same and all powerless.
She stretched her hand out of the barrier and caught a few snowflakes, but when her hand retracted into the barrier, the snowflakes disappeared.
This barrier blocked the snowflakes and also stopped the people inside the barrier who were trying to control the snowflakes.
Jiu Hui looked up at the sky. If the gods truly wanted to destroy the world, why didn’t they just do it directly? Why did they let fate intertwine, giving all living beings a chance to struggle and survive?
The flying boat was like a swift light, shuttling through the wind and snow. From afar, it seemed like there was a sound coming from somewhere. She hurriedly said, “Second Elder, please stop the flying boat.”
After speaking, she leaped out of the barrier and flew towards the direction from which the sound came.
“Help!”
“Who will come to our rescue?”
In the snow, two men dressed as farmers desperately dug at the thick snowdrifts with their hands, their hands frozen red.
The younger one had already burst into tears. As he dug, he shouted towards the snowdrift, “Father, wait for me to save you. Wait for me!”
He was in a desolate wilderness with no one to help him. He was terrified and helpless.
Suddenly, an invisible divine power struck, and their powerless snowdrift was moved away, revealing the person buried in the snow.
Immortals, so they really do exist!
The young man wiped away the tears on his face and looked up at the sky.
“Don’t go and pull him, he’s frostbitten.” A large, warm blanket was draped over the three of them.
The young man stared blankly at the woman flying in from the snowstorm. Was this what an immortal looked like?
“The person is fine.” Jiu Hui checked the pulse of the buried person and said to the two who were still conscious, “The snow is so heavy, why are you still out?”
“I… I…” The young man looked at the immortal who was so close to him, stammering and not knowing what to say.
“Thank you, Immortal, for saving our lives! Thank you, Immortal, for saving our lives!” The other middle-aged man finally came to his senses and knelt before Jiu Hui, kowtowing to her desperately.
“Stop kowtowing.” Jiu Hui watched his eyebrows covered in frost, and she waved her sleeve to stuff the kowtowing middle-aged man back into the blanket.
The middle-aged man found that his body was out of control, and he became even more respectful and fearful of Jiu Hui. He dared not deceive her, and he said with a trembling voice, “This winter is very cold, and we wanted to come out to hunt some skins to make blankets for the newborn children in the village. We left last night, but we didn’t expect the snow to be so heavy.”
For cultivators, cold and heat made no difference, but for ordinary people, an excessively cold winter could claim their lives.
“This winter is unusually cold. The village elders all say that in their seventy-plus years of life, they’ve never experienced a winter as cold as this one.” The middle-aged man carefully touched the blanket on his body. He wondered what material the scout had used to make it, for it was so warm.
“Extraordinarily cold?” Jiu Hui glanced at the thick snow beneath her feet and frowned. “With such heavy snow, will the village houses be able to withstand it?”
“A few days ago, the City Lord’s mansion sent people to help each village reinforce their houses, and they also distributed food to each village.” The middle-aged man gradually regained his usual manner of speaking when he saw Jiu Hui’s amiable attitude. “It’s just that everyone didn’t expect this snow to suddenly become so heavy.”
Jiu Hui saw that they were carrying only a few wild rabbits. The snow was so heavy that even the animals were hiding.
“The snow is so heavy, let me take you back.” As soon as Jiu Hui finished speaking, the villagers saw a golden flying boat landing and dared not speak.
Zhi You flew to Jiu Hui’s side and opened an umbrella to shield her from the snow. “The snow is too heavy.”
“It’s nothing. These three people are villagers from nearby. Let’s send them back first.” Jiu Hui stepped on the snow on the ground, and it actually sank past her knees.
The Second Elder knew what was going on with just a glance. They sent the three villagers back to the village and left amidst the villagers’ repeated kneeling and bowing.
“I wonder how much longer this snow will last.” Jiu Hui looked at the gloomy sky. “The villagers also said that this year seems to be colder than previous years.”
“Go to the City Lord’s mansion and check the records from recent years.” The Second Elder’s expression turned serious. “My young friends, I’m afraid we’ll have to delay you for a while.”
“It doesn’t matter, the important thing is to get things done.” Jiu Hui said: “Let’s go straight into the city.”
This time, they did not hide their identities as cultivators. The flying boat landed directly outside the City Lord’s mansion, and the City Lord, wearing a thick coat, came out to greet them.
“Greetings, Immortals.” The City Lord was a tall, spirited, middle-aged woman. After hearing the intentions of Jiu Hui and the other two, she showed a joyful expression and quickly welcomed the three of them into the City Lord’s mansion, bringing out the climate records of the past fifty years to them.
The immortals were willing to ask, which meant that they were determined to take care of it. For ordinary people, this was a great thing.
“I remember that your Zhucheng is under the jurisdiction of the Wenxing School?” Jiu Hui flipped through the records and said to the City Lord, “From the records, it seems that not only is this winter unusually cold, but this summer’s rainfall is also the least in decades.”
“Although there was little rain, fortunately, an immortal used magic techniques to help us draw water for irrigation, so the crops were not affected too much.” The City Lord said, “Thank you for your inquiry, Immortal. Our Zhucheng is indeed under the protection of the Wenxing School.”
Rainwater could be drawn using magic techniques, but cultivators could not warm the entire world or stop the snow from falling.
As they were speaking, a guard outside the door reported that an envoy from the Wenxing School had arrived.
“Jiu Hui?” Yu Luan brought two outer sect disciples into the City Lord’s mansion and was surprised to see Jiu Hui there. She then said happily, “Why are you here?”
“Yu Luan?” Jiu Hui did not expect that the envoy from the Wenxing School would be Yu Luan. She told Yu Luan what had happened and then asked, “I wonder if your sect has made any decisions?”
“The Sect Master calculated that this snowstorm would be unusually large, so he sent all of us disciples out,” Yu Luan said with a worried expression. “My cultivation is not high enough to calculate anything useful, so I can only go around and check. If there are any people in trouble, I will save them.”
They all knew that if this was just a heavy snowfall, it wouldn’t be a terrible thing.
What was terrifying was that this was not just a snowfall.
“Immortals, you don’t have to be so troubled.” The City Lord spoke when she saw the grave expressions on the Immortals’ faces. “The City Lord’s mansion has had ancestral instructions for generations: store food when it’s cold, and store medicine when it’s hot. Although ordinary citizens don’t have the ability to move mountains and drain water, we have also accumulated some experience in disaster relief over the years.”
There were tens of millions of ordinary people in the world, but how many cultivators were there?
If all hope was placed on cultivators, then that was seeking one’s own death.
“This morning, the City Lord’s mansion and the village chiefs have already begun to take action to resist the snow and cold. The neighboring cities are all helping each other out, so we can barely hold on.” The City Lord said, “It’s just that the wind and snow are so strong now that many medicinal herbs and food cannot be transported in time. If you immortals are willing to help, that would be great.”
Although the City Lord’s mansion had a flying boat, it was not enough. If there were cultivators to help, it would be the icing on the cake.
“Do all the major cities communicate with each other?” The Second Elder caught a key word.
“Yes.” The City Lord nodded. “The immortals have helped us a lot, but we can’t always trouble them with everything.”
The great catastrophe that occurred five hundred years ago was clearly recorded in the city chronicles of every City Lord’s mansion. The terror of that event permeated the bones of every person. Even after five hundred years, when their descendants opened the city chronicles and read the tragedies recorded above, they were still shocked.
Fear drives people to find ways to avoid the same suffering, so generation after generation of City Lords have accumulated more and more disaster relief methods. Even the prescriptions for treating plagues, if all the major City Lords’ mansions were put together, could probably pile up into a mountain.
“Heaven doesn’t help those who don’t help themselves.” A smile appeared on Jiu Hui’s face. “This is good.”
The City Lord smiled apologetically. “Everyone has to find a way to survive.”
“What does the City Lord need to transport?” Jiu Hui looked at the City Lord with sparkling eyes. “We can help deliver it.”
“Thank you for your hard work!” The City Lord didn’t stand on ceremony with Jiu Hui, and pulled her towards the warehouse.
Seeing this, Zhi You hurriedly followed.
Yu Luan and the two outer sect disciples of the Wenxing School were a little confused. Fellow Daoist Jiu Hui was so enthusiastic, should they do something too?
After the Second Elder sent the news back to the Jiutian Sect, he stood up and said, “Let’s go, young friends. Let’s all go help.”
Zhucheng was not the only place that needed supplies, especially the small cities without the protection of a sect. Their days were probably the hardest.
Tens of thousands of miles away, near Nushen Mountain, outside a small city without the protection of cultivators, a sika deer was pulling a wooden cart full of supplies. It quickly crossed the snow and transformed into a burly man at the entrance of the village. He shouted towards the village, “The food distributed by the City Lord’s mansion has arrived. Everyone, come and get it!”
Author’s Note
Ordinary people: If asking the gods is useless, then ask yourself.
Little Garlic Chive: I really do like ordinary humans~