Chapter 64
Xiao Xiao saw Wei Jie staring at her, so she could only brazenly mumble, “Yeah, if nothing happens, I’ll naturally return. As I told you, your great-grandmaster’s memorial day is coming up, so I should go back to make offerings… Uh, Wei Jie, we’ll wait for you at Demon Rock Cliff…no, I mean at Lingshan!”
What she said was half-truth, half-falsehood. Her master Tang Youshu’s memorial day was indeed approaching, and although separated by two hundred years, she wanted to set out offering fruits and pour a jar of wine on that day to commemorate her benevolent master’s soul in heaven.
Of course, the premise was that Master Tang Youshu was not actually beside her. Otherwise, accompanying the master to make offerings to himself might just invite a heavenly thunderbolt strike.
But for now, she wanted to quickly persuade Wei Jie to leave, to put his mind at ease about going to Aged Lord Peak.
As long as Wei Jie was gone, she would have shaken off her most clingy leech, and the remaining matters would be easier to handle.
Wei Jie looked at Xiao Xiao with a lingering gaze, thinking for a moment before saying, “Alright, but when I’m not around, be extra careful with those two blockheads Tang Youshu and Yu Ling’er.”
Seeing that he did not grow suspicious, Xiao Xiao let out a silent sigh of relief and smiled in response, “I’m not completely helpless, and I don’t like stirring up conflicts either. I probably won’t cause any trouble along the way. Rest assured, we’ll head straight back to that… Lingshan and wait for you there!”
Wei Jie did not say anything further. Only when Tang Youshu turned to give Yu Ling’er some mountain apricots did he lower his gaze, fixing those alluring purple eyes that could drown the world on Xiao Xiao, and asked in a low voice, “…Are you very eager for me to leave?”
Enveloped by his piercing gaze, Xiao Xiao felt a twinge of guilt, her eyes darting between his brow and tall nose, unable to settle.
Finally, she could only blink her bright eyes, swallow silently, and force a laugh, “Why would you think that? When you leave, I’ll miss you just like your disciple…”
Hearing this, Wei Jie suddenly revealed a gleaming fang in a somewhat ominous smile, “Tang Youshu doesn’t always stare at me, so for you to miss me, it’ll have to be different from how he misses me!”
Xiao Xiao’s lips parted slightly, but she ultimately lacked the courage to ask how exactly she should miss him.
A dog’s mouth can never spit out ivory. At this moment, Xiao Xiao’s face was so close to Wei Jie’s that she had been backed against a nearby tree trunk.
She feared that if she asked, it might provide a foothold for her unruly disciple to commit the transgression of defying his master…
However, after provoking her, Wei Jie only smiled, straightened Xiao Xiao’s slightly disheveled hair by her temples, and then turned to leave…
Xiao Xiao who had been backed against the tree trunk had even unconsciously closed her eyes when Wei Jie fixed her hair.
But to her utter surprise, when she opened her eyes, that person had already strode off.
Watching his tall retreating figure, the Sect Leader Cui was momentarily dazed, her heart a mix of vexation and profound disappointment…
For a moment, she was so annoyed that she wanted to drag that provocative bastard Wei Jie back, firmly pin him to the ground, then grab his handsome chin and forcefully…
Ah! Xiao Xiao suddenly shuddered in fright, shocked at the jumbled thoughts running through her mind!
The ancients said it well, “Close association breeds similarity.” It seemed there was truth to that, for after spending all her days with that licentious embryo, her mind was filled with nothing but lewd thoughts!
Alarmed, Xiao Xiao hurriedly sat down cross-legged and began murmuring a mind-calming mantra.
After regaining her composure, she heard Tang Youshu poke his head into the carriage curtain, somewhat hesitantly saying, “Master, some of those disciples following us have not had any food. When mealtimes come around, they keep asking us for food. These past few times, Ling’er hasn’t been able to eat her fill and has to go catch sparrows in the woods with her tribesmen.”
Xiao Xiao had originally planned to use an invisibility talisman, intending to secretly slip away under the cover of night.
But upon seeing her benevolent master’s youthful and slender face, Xiao Xiao felt she could not simply abandon him to suffer alone.
Otherwise, leaving behind the kind-hearted Tang Youshu, who was inept at refusing others, would he not end up being devoured by that string of freeloading disciples trailing behind their carriage?
So when night fell, Xiao Xiao distributed invisibility talismans to Tang Youshu, Yu Ling’er, and the others.
Under the dark, moonless night, the Talisman Sect members and fox tribe acted like thieves, applying the talismans to conceal themselves. They even abandoned the expensive carriage and slipped away from that group of crazed would-be disciples, unnoticed.
Riding on the fox mounts, they rushed off at full speed, covering a great distance in one go.
Finally, exhausted to the point where they could no longer maintain the invisibility talismans, their forms gradually became visible again under the first light of dawn.
Delighted at no longer having to share their meager rations, Yu Ling’er excitedly hugged Xiao Xiao’s arm, half whining and half complaining, “Xiao Xiao, you should have thought of this sooner. Then we wouldn’t have been plagued by those people for so long. You know, these past few days I’ve only had sparrows to fill my belly. Just hearing birds chirping made me want to vomit…”
Xiao Xiao thought to herself: This method of mine was originally intended to escape you all. I just don’t know if using the same old trick again will still work?
However, Tang Youshu caught sight of a boundary marker down the mountain and exclaimed joyfully, “Master Ancestor, we’ve arrived at Demon Rock Cliff… no, I mean Lingshan!”
Xiao Xiao went over to take a look at the moss-covered stone tablet, which indeed had the three words “Demon Rock Cliff” carved into it.
The old male fox guide proudly declared from the side, “I often roam far and wide, I won’t get lost even without a map. How’s that? Have we arrived?”
At this, Xiao Xiao felt rather awkward. She had occasionally mentioned some past details about Lingshan to Tang Youshu and Yu Ling’er before.
Such as how there was a pool of white lotuses outside the window of their residence, breathtakingly beautiful. Or how the Buddha’s palm-shaped pavilion atop the mountain peak was perfect for stargazing and attaining an extraordinary sense of serenity when lying within it amidst the mundane daily routines.
Originally, Xiao Xiao thought it didn’t matter since she would never actually come to Lingshan.
But never did she expect that by some twist of fate, she had actually led the Talisman Sect members to this place she had randomly claimed to be “Lingshan”. If they climbed the mountain only to find a desolate wilderness, would Tang Youshu not discover and be disappointed that his Master Ancestor was a bald-faced liar?
At that moment, Xiao Xiao was also urged forward by Yu Ling’er and found herself stepping onto the dilapidated stone steps leading up Demon Rock Cliff.
As she trod upon the crumbling steps, Xiao Xiao raised her head towards the gurgling stream beside the mountain path.
The flowing waters here accompanied their journey, rather similar to Lingshan!
Xiao Xiao took a few more steps forward and noticed a huge boulder by the side of the path, its round shape resembling a Buddha statue.
Yu Ling’er had also grown tired from the rush and plopped down on the round boulder to rest. Tang Youshu handed her a water flask while saying, “This boulder looks like a Buddha statue. Who knows if it has gained spiritual nature, so you probably shouldn’t sit on it.”
Hearing this, Yu Ling’er hopped off and examined the boulder, finding it did indeed resemble a Buddha the more she looked at it. A mischievous idea struck her, and she used her sword to carve an exaggerated curved line resembling a mouth on the smooth surface.
“Haha, Young Master Tang, look, doesn’t it look like I drew a mouth on it?”
Tang Youshu had only intended to advise her about the spiritual nature of the mountain’s rocks and trees, never expecting her to actually carve a mouth on the boulder statue. He could only shake his head helplessly.
Not satisfied, Yu Ling’er called Xiao Xiao over to look. But just as she called out, she saw Xiao Xiao staring at the boulder with the carved mouth, as if she had seen a ghost…
Xiao Xiao clearly remembered that atop Lingshan two hundred years in the future, there was also such a round boulder statue with an exaggerated curved line drawn on its smooth surface to resemble a mouth.
When she had first ascended the mountain back then, she had asked her master about it. But her benevolent master had only replied with a wistful expression, “It was done by an old friend.”
After saying that, her usually kind master had fallen silent and refused to elaborate further.
But now, here at Demon Rock Cliff two hundred years in the past, Xiao Xiao was seeing the exact same smiling boulder statue as the one from Lingshan.
At this moment, cold sweat trickled down Xiao Xiao’s spine – could this Demon Rock Cliff really be Lingshan?
After Wei Jie’s demonic sect was destroyed in her previous life, Demon Rock Cliff had been abandoned, its ominous name deterring anyone from going to such an ill-fated place.
However, given Master Tang Youshu’s reverence for his own master, he would not have avoided Demon Rock Cliff out of superstition.
So did this mean that after Master Wei Jie’s death decades later, Master Tang Youshu returned to Demon Rock Cliff, renamed it Lingshan, and established the Talisman Sect here?
Why didn’t the master’s secret manuals mention this?
Thinking this, Xiao Xiao no longer hesitated and hurried to the front of the group, rushing towards the mountain peak.
This mountain was somewhat different from her memories of Lingshan, as the trees and paths held an air of unfamiliarity after two hundred years of transformation.
Yet Xiao Xiao felt an increasing sense of familiarity the further she went, especially upon seeing the residences in the distance, her steps faltered.
Up ahead, workers were in the process of constructing houses and mansions that clearly resembled the Talisman Sect’s residences on Lingshan.
Although the buildings at that time were far more dilapidated compared to her memories, the architectural style was identical.
Seeing some workers transporting wood and stones, Tang Youshu curiously asked, “What are you doing here? Did you know the master of Lingshan is returning, so you’re repairing the houses?”
The worker sized them up and nodded, “Yeah, that’s why we’re rushing to complete the work. If you’ve got no business here, don’t block the way. It’ll be hard for us to move things around.”
Yu Ling’er excitedly told Xiao Xiao, “Hey, the Talisman Sect disciples must have known you, their Sect Leader, are returning and brought us along, so they’re hurrying to renovate the houses. Those residences look so beautiful, can I go choose a room later?”
Xiao Xiao quickly covered Yu Ling’er’s chattering mouth.
She was hardly the master of Lingshan… no, she meant Demon Rock Cliff right now. The Lingshan Talisman Sect shouldn’t even exist yet at this point in time.
Regarding Demon Rock Cliff, Master Tang Youshu’s records were sparse. They only mentioned that when Wei Jie led his followers here, it coincided with the Prince Can constructing a summer palace residence in the mountain valley.
At that time, Wei Jie and the Prince Can still had a decent relationship, as the Prince Can had befriended Wei Jie in Luoyi City and secretly helped him against the four major sects.
Hearing that Wei Jie and his followers had nowhere to settle, the Prince Can generously gifted this newly constructed summer residence on Demon Rock Cliff to Wei Jie.
From then on, Wei Jie established his foundation here at Demon Rock Cliff, becoming the demonic leader with an increasingly formidable force under his command.
It seemed that in the original timeline, the Prince Can had effortlessly instigated the rift between Wei Jie and the four major sects by exploiting the death of the fox demoness Si Ling. At the same time, he had used this to curry favor with Wei Jie.
In any case, in the predetermined past life, the Prince Can, with the protection of the lost page from the Book of Life and Death to rectify any flaws in his destiny, was able to perfectly manipulate all the connections at his disposal, truly optimizing his fortunes.
However, due to Xiao Xiao’s appearance, the perfect destiny the Prince Can had designed for himself had now deviated greatly.
Now, in name at least, he had been slain by the cultivators of the four major sects. So why was his summer residence still under construction here, with word of the master’s imminent return?
Could it be that the “ill news” of the Prince Can had not reached here yet, and the workers were unaware? Or was the Prince Can, lurking in the shadows, ordering the continued renovation of this summer residence?
Before Xiao Xiao could figure it out, several silk-robed guards came to shoo them away.
“Who are you people? How dare you trespass on this private land?”
Yu Ling’er was baffled as she retorted, “You two, you don’t even recognize your own Sect Leader? The Sect Leader of the Lingshan Talisman Sect has returned. Shouldn’t you hurry and sweep the place clean to welcome her?”
The guards’ eyes widened. This young lady’s tender baby face and coquettish blinking eyes didn’t make her seem like a fool.
One of the guards couldn’t help but speak up, “This mountain originally belonged to the Prince Can of Luoyi City, but he gifted this residence to his niece, Princess Yongning, as a birthday present long ago… What Lingshan Talisman Sect? We’ve never even heard of it! Go, go, if your minds aren’t clear, hurry down the mountain and take some medicine. Don’t loiter around here causing trouble!”
Upon hearing this, Yu Ling’er was indignant!
This place clearly belonged to Cui Xiao Xiao, so how could that damn Prince Can have given it away to someone else while she was gone for a short while?
Before she could protest, Xiao Xiao swiftly covered her mouth, apologized to the guards with a sheepish smile, and then led Yu Ling’er, Tang Youshu, and the others back down the mountain.
Yu Ling’er complained in frustration, “Xiao Xiao, what’s wrong with you? Why are you so meek and submissive? Didn’t you teach Wei Jie that the thing below your nose is called a mouth? When you’re wronged, you have to speak up. Didn’t you say the Talisman Sect disciples will eat anything except being bullied?”
Xiao Xiao plopped down on the round boulder and kneaded her temples.
She did say those words, but the key point was that Lingshan would only become the Talisman Sect’s base of heritage two hundred years in the future. Right now, this place still belonged to the Xia imperial clan!
If she caused a ruckus here with her disciples and fox tribe, they would probably end up on the list for the “Purge of Cultivation” very smoothly.
Seeing the fuming Yu Ling’er, Xiao Xiao could only solemnly say, “Different times call for different circumstances. Since we can’t stay here after it’s been occupied by others, it’s only natural. We can’t just squat and not move! Since distinguished guests are renovating this place, we of the Talisman Sect will find another location to cultivate. As long as we have the Dao in our hearts
“As long as we have the Dao in our hearts, everywhere can be Lingshan…”
“What a fine sentiment, ‘everywhere can be Lingshan’!”
Just as Xiao Xiao finished speaking, a clear girlish voice suddenly came from the mountain path beside them.
Xiao Xiao followed the sound and saw an aristocratic young lady dressed in hunting attire, surrounded by a group of maidservants and guards, walking up the mountain path.
This noble young lady stopped beside the stone tablet inscribed with “Demon Rock Cliff” and swung the riding crop in her hand as she said, “The summer residence my imperial uncle gifted me is nice, but the name of this mountain is too unrefined! Demon Rock Cliff, how dreadful! Everywhere can be Lingshan… You there, go fetch the workers from the mountain and have them change the inscription on this tablet. I, the Princess, bestow this mountain with the new name ‘Lingshan’!”
Yu Ling’er muttered under her breath, “For her to bestow a name? But this has always been Lingshan!”
Xiao Xiao gave her a silencing look, then studied the young lady, thinking: Based on her noble bearing, she must be the new owner of Demon Rock Cliff – the Prince Can’s niece, Princess Yongning.
By this time, the young princess had already approached Xiao Xiao and tilted her head, sizing her up and down before saying, “Just now I overheard your words. Are you the Sect Leader of the Lingshan Talisman Sect who previously cultivated on this mountain? I’ve never heard of such a cultivating sect on this mountain.”
Xiao Xiao was also quite curious about this young princess’s relationship with the Prince Can. That Prince Can was an impersonator, so under the pretense of ill health, he had always avoided contact with other imperial clansmen.
Moreover, why had he gifted this Demon Rock Cliff, which held deep connections to Wei Jie, to his own niece? The more she pondered it, the more potential pitfalls she uncovered!
However, since the young princess had asked a question, Xiao Xiao had to respond.
Even as the former chief con-artist on the streets, she found it difficult to continue weaving this tattered lie.
She could hardly tell the truth and say that this mountain would only become the Talisman Sect’s domain two hundred years in the future!
But if she denied that this was the Talisman Sect’s Lingshan, the young master Tang Youshu would surely think she had been lying to him all along.
With her master’s memorial day approaching, she did not want to sadden the youthful Master Tang.
So she found herself backed into a corner and could only force a few laughs before thinking quickly, “Well… we of the Talisman Sect are actually reclusive cultivators who have been practicing in seclusion amidst the dense forests of the rear mountain ranges!”
The rear mountain ranges of Lingshan were filled with layered peaks, uninhabited by mortals, and would surely be even more desolate two hundred years in the past, so this excuse should work flawlessly.
Upon hearing this, the young princess’s eyes lit up with barely contained curiosity as she asked, “It is said that a phoenix dwells on the rear mountains of Demon Rock Cliff, forbidden to the living, so my imperial uncle constructed an Observing Phoenix Pavilion here. But you have actually been residing on those rear mountains, does that not mean you live in close proximity to the legendary phoenix?”
Xiao Xiao let out a hearty laugh and said with feigned nonchalance, “Not at all, not at all, we simply cultivate separately, like well water not mixing with the river… Hahaha…”
After a few more laughs, Xiao Xiao swiftly moved to the side of the old male fox guide who had led them here and asked in a low voice, “Is what she said true? Are there really phoenixes dwelling on the rear mountains of Demon Rock Cliff?”
