Chapter 17

Xie Chaoyun laughed and spoke truthfully: “You’re easier to handle.” Although Jiang Yiguang also carried a trace of Dao Rhythm, it was clear at a glance that she was a complete novice, unlike the young ones from the Xuanzhen Dao Court. Perhaps it was also a case of “a newborn calf doesn’t fear the tiger,” daring to secretly come to South Mountain? The Dao Court’s list of people investigating South Mountain certainly didn’t include her.

Jiang Yiguang took a step back, raising her sword warily as she looked at Xie Chaoyun. “If I refuse, you’ll use unconventional methods, is that right?” And to think she’d found the ghost lady kind and cute! Now she knew, all the demons, devils, ghosts, and monsters under heaven were the same.

“I won’t,” Xie Chaoyun’s gentle voice sounded again. She asked in return, “Don’t you want to find Head Hill Cave?” She had heard that nowadays, the Xuanzhen Dao Court and the noble clans were in constant competition, fighting openly and secretly. As a scion of a noble clan, Jiang Yiguang was here to outdo the Xuanzhen Dao Court, wasn’t she?

Jiang Yiguang nodded. “I do.” She desperately needed that item to reduce her Compatibility Value with the world. She didn’t want to lose control when she saw Fu Juan. She wanted to be herself.

Xie Chaoyun said slowly and softly, “You don’t need to remove any talismans. Just gently place the Peach Blossom Pastry at the cave entrance.”

Jiang Yiguang tried to struggle. “Why must it be Peach Blossom Pastry?”

Xie Chaoyun smiled, her brows relaxed. “Because she wants it.”

A thousand years ago, it was just such a fine spring day. That person reclined bonelessly on a couch, eating pastries, her jade-like fingertips dusted with crumbs. The allure in her glances was more vibrant than the spring scenery itself. She had mentioned, “I want to try a pastry made by your own hands, sister,” but that wait lasted many years. What finally came was no longer the past’s carefree tenderness, but a gut-wrenching, lethal poison. After betraying each other twice over, saying one had no choice was utterly pointless.

Tushan Yi wanted to relive that period of pure, joyful time past, a thousand years later. She couldn’t refuse, nor did she want to.

Jiang Yiguang: “…”

Xie Chaoyun laughed lightly. “I’ll take you to Head Hill Cave.”

The biting, whip-like malevolent wind vanished around the ghost lady. Jiang Yiguang trailed behind her with heavy steps, as if marching to the execution ground. She vaguely regretted her choice. Was it still time to turn back and find Fu Juan? Why was this damned system completely useless at critical moments? Couldn’t it even guarantee the Host’s personal safety?

The system, having been cursed at by Jiang Yiguang a thousand times over, finally stopped playing dead. Its mechanical voice held a bit more human-like helplessness.

【Host, please don’t make unreasonable accusations and arbitrarily shift blame. Before completely breaking free from the system’s bindings, the Host only has one way to die, and that is falling into the Myriad Ghost Grotto and having your flesh and blood gnawed away by countless ghosts.】

The ending of Myriad Ghosts Devouring Heart made Jiang Yiguang’s expression unpleasant. But very quickly, she grasped the key point in the system’s words. This meant that until that plot point was reached, she could act recklessly without dying, couldn’t she?

Xie Chaoyun glanced back at Jiang Yiguang. “You suddenly seem much more relaxed.” She had keenly sensed the change in Jiang Yiguang’s mood.

She could even see this? Jiang Yiguang grumbled inwardly. She plastered on a proper smile and replied, “At this point, going with the flow at least lets me be a bit happier.”

Xie Chaoyun laughed, “So young, yet so enlightened.”

Jiang Yiguang didn’t respond. Wasn’t “enlightenment” always forced out by circumstances?

Head Hill Cave was on the other side of the mountain. Compared to the stretches of peach blossom forest, the mountain’s back side could be considered barren. Clumps of thorns sprouted from the sandy soil, grotesquely shaped, naturally carrying an unyielding, baleful energy. There was no footpath here; climbers had to rely on their own feet to feel the loose, sliding sand. Would Fu Juan find her way here? How would she travel? Would she have to be carried by Wang Xuanming? The mere thought made Jiang Yiguang frown deeply, almost unable to control the surging emotions, wanting to turn back immediately.

Xie Chaoyun’s perception of emotions was sharp. She looked back at Jiang Yiguang, a hint of inquiry in her eyes.

Whether it was fate’s manipulation or her own true thoughts, Jiang Yiguang could not let her emotions spiral out of control. Silently reciting the scriptures she had been studying recently, she took a deep breath and tried to become calm and composed. The winding mountain path wasn’t easy to walk. Perhaps the intensive studying had some effect; Jiang Yiguang sensed a change in “Qi.” But it was as faint as a breeze blowing, a leaf falling.

“She’s waking up. You might encounter some vermin on the road,” Xie Chaoyun’s tone was very gentle. “Carry your Seven Star Sword, Pace the Dipper, and you should be able to handle it.”

Jiang Yiguang was deeply ashamed.

The Seven Star Sword’s only use in her hands was to embolden her.

Xie Chaoyun detected a hint of inauspiciousness in Jiang Yiguang’s silence. “I heard your mother is the head of the Jiang family.” The Mystic Sect’s lineage had declined in the present day. A thousand years ago, noble clans and Daoist temples and lineages still vied for supremacy. Now, only four families could still be called noble clans. The Xuanzhen Dao Court sounded interesting, but no one knew where it would ultimately go.

Jiang Yiguang argued without changing her expression. “People’s temperaments differ. If everyone resembled their parents, wouldn’t the First Emperor’s empire have lasted for ten thousand generations?” If she hadn’t gradually struggled free from the fate line, she probably wouldn’t even have the strength to lift the Seven Star Sword now.

Xie Chaoyun couldn’t help but laugh dryly. She shook her head and said nothing more.

After walking the mountain path for over ten minutes, the fog thickened significantly. It was no longer the clear, hazy mountain mist, but more like surging black dust, howling as it carried sand and soil, like the roar of wild beasts. When Jiang Yiguang slowed her pace slightly, Xie Chaoyun’s figure instantly vanished from her sight. Her heart clenched, and countless thoughts flashed through her mind. Only when Xie Chaoyun’s form reappeared did she let out a sigh of relief.

Xie Chaoyun said with a grim face, “There’s the smell of weapons and strife ahead.” The Baleful Energy was intensifying. The mountain’s demonic creatures were very likely being driven by Tushan Yi. If she had human blood on her hands, how much reason could she possibly retain?

“Is it Fu Juan and the others?” Jiang Yiguang asked urgently. Ignoring the loose, sliding sand on the path, she rushed after Xie Chaoyun in two or three strides, asking nervously. According to the system’s description, this was a key plot point in the story; she would definitely run into Fu Juan. When that happened, would she continue to deviate, or would she be forcibly pulled back onto the “proper track” by so-called fate?

Not far away.

Wang Xuanming was executing a Dipper Step, using his Ritual Sword to cleave a long snake in two. A Talisman drifted down, instantly transforming into a blazing fire that burned the snake’s corpse to ash. He wiped the sweat from his forehead and turned to Fu Juan, who was surrounded by three Little Paper Dolls. Solemnly, he said, “It’s nearby.”