Uncanny Immortal 100

Chapter 100

All the female cultivators finally looked at Xie Qingzheng and called out affectionately, “Little Junior Sister, your concentration is the best.”

Xie Qingzheng: “…”

I don’t really need this kind of praise.

Mo Jiangxue also looked at Xie Qingzheng and, through her white gauze, smiled faintly.

Xie Qingzheng sensed Mo Jiangxue’s gaze and looked back with a pleading expression, her eyes bright, with the words “save me” written in them.

Because of the experience of being bitten by a wild dog in her childhood, she especially disliked being in contact with small dogs.

The master and disciple looked at each other for a moment. Mo Jiangxue averted her gaze and said, “She lost too much blood healing me yesterday. Her yuan qi is insufficient, so it is not suitable for her to be possessed.”

Elder Mo had spoken. All the senior sisters tactfully averted their gazes and continued to look at each other.

“Sixth Junior Sister, you go.”

“Senior Sister, you come.”

“Eighth Junior Sister, you like small dogs the most. Your spiritual pets are all small dogs.”

“Liking small dogs doesn’t mean I want to be a dog. What if it likes to eat hot things, and I possess it, and our senses are connected? Then, then… what do I do?”

“That’s right. A dog can’t change its ways.”

“I say, junior sisters, those are all small matters. What if we can find the exit of this ghost city through it? Then we can get out. This is a matter of life and death!”

“Then you go, Senior Sister!”

Min He fixed her gaze on a senior sister and called her out. “Stop hesitating. Little, your cultivation is not bad. It’s you. Come out and give it a try.”

“Ah? Yes…” The senior sister came out with a long face. In front of the two elders, they still had to observe seniority. She did not dare to disobey her senior sister’s command.

Only then did Mo Jiangxue say, “It doesn’t have to be possession.”

All the senior and junior sisters: “Hm?”

Mo Jiangxue: “You can also invite it to possess you.”

Possession only required a cultivator to attach a wisp of their spiritual sense, just like attaching it to a paper figure, and their senses would be connected. Possession, on the other hand, was to directly invite the soul into one’s own body. The latter was relatively riskier. If it were an evil spirit, and if the body could not fight off the evil spirit, it was possible to be possessed. Ordinary people did not dare to try it lightly.

All the senior and junior sisters hesitated. The senior sister stammered, “Elder, my cultivation is not good. This dog can even kill vengeful ghosts. I’m afraid I can’t beat it and will be possessed by it instead…”

Mo Jiangxue reached out her hand. “Give me a cinnabar brush and yellow paper.”

When Xuanmen cultivators went out to exorcise evil spirits, a cinnabar brush and yellow paper were always carried with them. Someone immediately offered them up.

Mo Jiangxue took the brush and drew a talisman. In a few strokes, she was done and handed it to the senior sister. “A soul-guarding talisman. Stick it on your body. With this talisman, your soul will be safe.”

The higher the cultivation, the stronger the spiritual energy of the talisman drawn. The senior sister quickly said thank you, took the soul-guarding talisman, slapped it on her body, sat down cross-legged, and said with a righteous air, “Senior Sister Min He, I’m ready. Please have it possess me. The rest of the junior sisters, please protect me!”

Except for those in charge of guarding, the other female cultivators all sat around her cross-legged. In the crowd, it was unknown which junior sister said, “Senior Sister, you’re going to become a little dog.”

Hearing this, the senior sister let out a “woof” at that junior sister. All the senior and junior sisters’ shoulders trembled, and they held back their laughter.

Xie Qingzheng held back her laughter and also wanted to go forward to protect the senior sister, but Mo Jiangxue said to her, “Let’s go. Let’s go out and take another look.” With that, she walked out on her own.

Xie Qingzheng greeted Min He and quickly followed. She looked at her master’s back and thought to herself: When Master brought the dog back, she must have thought of drawing a soul-guarding talisman and having the dog possess someone to gather intelligence. But she waited for everyone to go around in a circle before she said it…

Her master looked serious and stern, but sometimes, she was not serious at all.

After leaving the Guanyin temple, the sides of the road were filled with weeds and ruined walls. There was no sunlight here. Looking up, there were patches of swirling cloud arrays in the sky. Those were not real clouds and mist, but miasma formed from resentment.

Mo Jiangxue put away her qin and wore the Flowing Frost Xiao and the Tianxuan Sword at her waist.

Xie Qingzheng had the Yanyu Xiao and the Shenshang Sword at her waist. She placed her hand on the hilt of her sword, looked left and right warily, and then looked at Mo Jiangxue, who was walking in front of her, with a gentle gaze.

Walking one after the other, she could size up her master’s back with abandon.

But Mo Jiangxue suddenly stopped. “You walk in front of me.”

Xie Qingzheng hesitated for a moment and then obediently went forward to clear the way.

Alright, she couldn’t look now…

She vaguely remembered that the first time she had gone down the mountain for training, she had also walked in front to clear the way for her master. Time really flew.

Mo Jiangxue looked at Xie Qingzheng’s back and asked, “Do you want to learn the qin?”

Xie Qingzheng’s steps paused. She turned her head and said, “I do. I want to learn everything you know.”

Mo Jiangxue said, “In the library of Ethereal Peak, there is a qin score that I personally wrote. I’ll give it to you.”

Xie Qingzheng’s heart warmed. “Alright. After this great battle between the righteous and demonic paths is over, and we have gotten the Yuheng Cauldron, I will learn the qin with you.”

A faint joy spread in her heart, but then she thought again: Why did she say she would give me a qin score, and not that she would personally teach me? Could it be that she really wants to expel me from the sect in the future?

Thinking of this, her heart ached, and a dejected look appeared in her eyes.

Mo Jiangxue said coolly, “What are you in a daze for? Keep walking.”

Xie Qingzheng: “Oh…”

She lowered her head, quickened her steps, and walked forward, leaving her master far behind. After walking for some distance, she turned her head and saw that her master was still standing where she was, looking at her, as if a little bewildered.

Her heart suddenly contracted. She quickly stopped, walked back, and came before her master, apologizing in a low voice, “Master, I’m sorry. Your body has not yet recovered. I shouldn’t have walked so fast.”

To walk so fast, it was as if she were trying to leave her behind.

Mo Jiangxue shook her head. “You don’t have to always say ‘I’m sorry’ to me.”

Between them, master and disciple, there was you in me, and me in you. No one owed anyone anything.

Xie Qingzheng nodded, looked behind Mo Jiangxue, and suddenly drew the personal sword from her waist, took a step forward, and protected Mo Jiangxue behind her.

A disheveled, blood-covered woman suddenly appeared in the middle of the road. She slowly raised her head and looked at the master and disciple.

“Is this a female ghost?” Xie Qingzheng pointed her sword at her and asked Mo Jiangxue behind her, “Why do I feel malevolent qi?”

As her words fell, the female ghost’s body suddenly broke in two at the waist. Blood splattered, and the lower half of her body gushed blood. The upper half of her body was still crawling on the ground, muttering something.

Although Xie Qingzheng saw the blood, she could not smell it.

Mo Jiangxue said, “It’s not a ghost. It’s the residual image of a ghost.”

The residual image of a ghost would appear at a certain time and would constantly repeat a certain scene from its past life, usually the moment of death.

If an ordinary mortal were to accidentally enter this ghost city and see these residual images, they would inevitably be so scared that they would cry their eyes out, and then they would attract the pursuit of vengeful ghosts.

Xie Qingzheng said, “There are probably many such residual images in the city…”

Mo Jiangxue said, “There are also many ghosts in the city.”

As expected, walking in the city, Xie Qingzheng saw many ghosts who mistakenly thought they were still alive, repeating the things they had done in their past lives. Some were moving goods, some were eating, and some were even a family of three or four, shopping…

Xie Qingzheng thought of the whimpering female ghost behind the sand dune before and said, “This city must have an exit. Even the ghosts here can get out. I just don’t know where it is.”

The two of them walked from the south of the city to the north. After passing through the north city gate, they were still on the roads of the city, like a circular maze.

They walked to the mass grave from yesterday and saw the blood and the white bones.

Senior Sister Min He had said that the two people who had died after they had entered the city were bandits from the desert who had been swept into this city by a sandstorm at some point. When they had seen them appear, one had wailed, and the other had thrown his head back and laughed. As a result, they had attracted a group of vengeful ghosts to fight. They had run east and west and had finally found a dilapidated Guanyin temple, where they had hidden for a night before they dared to come out.

The mass grave was still filled with resentful qi, and countless vengeful ghosts were constantly ramming against the seal.

Xie Qingzheng stood by the pit, looking at the dark hole, and a chill climbed up her body from her line of sight.

She asked her master, “How long can this seal hold them?”

Mo Jiangxue: “Three days.”

If it were four years ago, in her prime, she could have sealed them for ten or eight years without a problem. But times were different now. In three days, vengeful ghosts would still break through the restraint.

Xie Qingzheng realized, “I cried last night, and Senior Sister Min He said there was nothing unusual outside. That is to say, for these three days that the seal has been reinforced, we can cry and laugh…”

Mo Jiangxue hummed in acknowledgment.

“Ah, Master, you actually didn’t tell us…”

Her master cultivated the Way of Transcending Emotion and could control her emotions of joy, anger, sorrow, and happiness very well. But these senior and junior sisters were used to laughing and playing together. To have to keep a straight face was too uncomfortable.

Mo Jiangxue said, “What’s there to say? It’s only for three days anyway.”

After three days, they still couldn’t violate the taboo of crying and laughing. It was better to maintain this habit.

Xie Qingzheng said, “Master, look at me.”

Mo Jiangxue looked up. “Hm?”

Xie Qingzheng’s lips curved, and her eyes curved into crescents, her smile brilliant.

Mo Jiangxue was puzzled and asked, “What’s so funny?”

Xie Qingzheng’s smile was too brilliant, and she couldn’t stop it. Her words were also tinged with a smile. “Nothing. It’s just that I’m so happy to be with you. When I’m happy, I want to laugh.”

Mo Jiangxue: “Are you happy even in a ghost city?”

Xie Qingzheng: “With you by my side, I am happy wherever I am.”

Hearing this, Mo Jiangxue smiled faintly and said nothing.

She wore a veiled hat, and Xie Qingzheng couldn’t see her smile. She said to herself, “And I have a feeling that we will definitely be able to get out.”

Mo Jiangxue said, “You haven’t even learned divination yet.”

Xie Qingzheng: “I don’t need to divine. I just rely on my intuition.” After a pause, she added, “Master, after we get out, will you promise me one thing?”

Mo Jiangxue glanced at her. “Have your wings hardened?”

She was actually making a request of her again.

“Oh, don’t be fierce to me. Just say yes or no.”

“What is it first?”

“After we get back to the Xuanji Sect, you will stay on Ethereal Peak or in the Xuanji Sect until Sect Master Xie and I have retrieved the Yuheng Cauldron, combined the Soul-Gathering Lamp, and broken the curse on you. Alright?”

Mo Jiangxue was silent for a moment and said, “No.”

Xie Qingzheng frowned. “Why?”

Mo Jiangxue asked her, “And you? Where will you go?”

Her tone was gentle. Xie Qingzheng’s heart was moved, and her brow relaxed. She said gently, “Once the righteous and demonic paths are at war, how can I stay out of it? But don’t you worry. I run fast. I definitely won’t die on the battlefield. If I meet someone I can’t beat, I will definitely run far away.”

Mo Jiangxue said nothing. Xie Qingzheng didn’t know what she was thinking and continued, “My life was saved by you, Master. Even if I die, I will only die at your hands.”

Mo Jiangxue sighed. “Stop talking about death. Let’s walk around the vicinity again. If we can’t find it, then let’s go back and see how their intelligence gathering is going.”

“Alright!”

After walking around the street, besides the lone souls and wild ghosts wandering the streets, and the bloody residual images of ghosts, they found nothing. The master and disciple returned to the Guanyin temple.

The moment they entered the temple, Min He came up to them and reported to Mo Jiangxue, “Elder, the dog seems to have a master. No matter who possesses it, the information we get is minimal.”

A few of the senior sisters were playing with the dog. Seeing Elder Mo and the little junior sister return, they quickly stood up and said, one after another:

“Elder, that dog doesn’t eat hot things, but it fights everywhere. In its past life, it was a bully in the dog world!”

“The moment I possessed it, all I saw were memories of it biting all sorts of dogs.”

“It also bites people, and as a result, it was beaten. I felt as if I had been beaten hard!”

“But it is indeed the spiritual pet of a Xuanmen cultivator, and its master’s cultivation is not low.”

Mo Jiangxue asked, “Did you see who its master was?”

The female cultivator thought for a moment and said, “It seems to be… a cultivator of the Tianshu Sect. Her sword technique is very powerful, and she is covered in gold. She looks very rich.”

When the people of the cultivation world mentioned the Tianshu Sect, their first impression was always that they were very strong, and secondly, that they were rich.

The moment the dog saw Xie Qingzheng return, its eyes shone with a bright light. It stuck out its tongue at Xie Qingzheng and wagged its tail frantically from side to side. If it weren’t a dog’s soul, Xie Qingzheng would have been worried that its tail would break.

Seeing this, Min He was even more certain of her guess. “This dog is not ordinary towards the little junior sister.”

The other female cultivators said, “The little junior sister has always been liked by small animals.”

Xie Qingzheng sighed. “Alright, I understand.” She still couldn’t escape the fate of being possessed by a dog.

She walked to the center of the hall and sat down cross-legged. “Come on. Please have it possess me. Senior sisters, please protect me.”

Min He said, “Alright. Close your eyes. I’m casting the spell.”

“Ding-ling—”

The crisp sound of the bell rang. The dog’s soul wagged its tail and crashed into Xie Qingzheng’s body.

Xie Qingzheng suddenly felt the cinnabar mark between her brows faintly burning. She thought to herself: I wonder what memories this dog will share with me when it possesses me. I hope it’s not about fighting with other dogs and getting bitten, and then a dog-eat-dog, a mouthful of fur.

After a moment, she opened her eyes and found that she was in the water. Her eyes were covered by a mist, and her vision was blurry.

A pair of soft hands stroked the dog’s back. Xie Qingzheng’s heart jolted, and a cool voice came from beside her, “You’ve picked up these messy beasts again. Master doesn’t like these.”

The owner of the hands chuckled. “As long as I like them, why should I care about others? Junior Sister, this dog is very cute. I’ll raise it in secret. If you don’t say anything, Master won’t know. And look, it’s still so small, probably only two or three months old. Its fur is all matted, and it’s covered in burrs, and there are a few blood-sucking ticks on it. Oh, it looks so pitiful…”

“It stinks, it’s so dirty! If you raise it, I won’t play with you anymore!” The young girl beside her was still disgusted.

The owner of the hands smiled brightly. “Junior Sister, how can you threaten your senior sister like that? I remember when you entered the Tianshu Sect, you were only six years old. Your empress mother sent a bunch of palace maids with you to the Tianshu Sect to take care of your daily needs, but they were sent back by Master. At that time, you were used to being served and didn’t even know how to bathe. You fell into a mud pit, and your whole body was covered in mud. It was I who picked you up and washed you. Have you forgotten?”

The young girl beside her stomped her foot, like a cat whose tail had been stepped on, and said anxiously, “It’s been so long. Why are you still talking about those things?”

The little black dog in the bathtub blinked hard and finally saw the young girl beside her.

A light-colored brocade robe, with gold thread orchid patterns, a gold ring tying up her hair, and gold ornaments…

It was Xie Youke.