Uncanny Immortal 118

Chapter 118

In the news of Tanluan’s death, she had picked up a glimmer of hope, the hope of transferring the evil curse for her master. Then, learning that Tanluan was not dead, she couldn’t help but be surprised, but the glimmer of hope she had just picked up was also ruthlessly extinguished by the person behind her.

Xie Qingzheng didn’t know what expression to make.

In an instant, she had lost even the strength to think.

The snow-white clouds kept retreating, and the yellow sand of the great desert grew further and further away. The direction of her sword flight had not changed. She took her master and flew all the way to the Xuanji Sect in silence.

She had never flown so fast. The spiritual energy in her dantian was abundant and surging, as if it were inexhaustible. The journey that had taken two or three days on the way there was completed in half a day on the way back.

After landing, the sky had already darkened. All around, the moonlight was like frost. Xie Qingzheng swept a glance at the familiar cold pool and green bamboo, and then turned to look at Mo Jiangxue beside her.

Mo Jiangxue’s gaze was locked on her, but there was a trace of worry in her eyes.

The corners of her eyes were red, and her eyes were filled with blood. She stared at Mo Jiangxue, her lips moving silently. She tried her best to hold it in for a while, but in the end, she said nothing and formed a seal to set up a barrier around the cold pool.

Mo Jiangxue’s whole body suddenly warmed.

Her cultivation was far inferior to before, and Ethereal Peak had always been cold. The person before her had set up a barrier, wanting to make her feel a little warmer.

The two of them stood by the side of the cold pool. The wind rustled the bamboo leaves, and after a long silence, Xie Qingzheng pretended to be relaxed and chatted about Tanluan, “Master, what’s the deal with Tanluan?”

Mo Jiangxue’s tone was as usual. “It’s just that.”

It turned out that after Xie Youke had captured Tanluan, she had originally hesitated whether to kill her. As a result, Xie Qingzheng had gone to visit Tanluan, and Tanluan had transferred ten years of her skill to Xie Qingzheng. For the sake of this favor, Xie Youke had spared Tanluan’s life, had had her take a feigned death pill, and had had another prisoner from the Ten Directions Domain disguise himself as her and be executed in public. Then she had secretly sent people to send her back to the Miao region.

After hearing the story, Xie Qingzheng thought of Sect Master Xie’s stern expression and said, “I just went to question Sect Master Xie if she had killed Tanluan, and she actually said to me coldly, ‘Yes, so what if I killed her?’”

Mo Jiangxue said, “She did indeed kill Tanluan.”

From now on, “Tanluan” was indeed dead. The one who had survived was Tan Yuan.

Xie Qingzheng said, “What Sect Master Xie said to me was really harsh.”

Something about having her bones scattered…

That person, sometimes she would clearly do a good deed, but she would always be misunderstood—

She had originally been the designated successor by Gu Hongying, but she had been misunderstood as having snatched the position of sect master from Xie Fuyun. She had used strong-arm tactics and wanted to form an alliance with the major sects to surround and annihilate the demonic cult, but she had been misunderstood as being ambitious and wanting to annex the major sects.

Mo Jiangxue said, “Sect Master Xie is not very good at speaking softly. If you ask her properly, she may explain a few sentences. If you speak to her in a questioning tone, she will be unhappy.”

Xie Qingzheng thought for a moment and said, “That person has also spoken softly before.”

In front of her senior sister, she had once lowered her proud head.

Mo Jiangxue wanted to say more, but a furry ball suddenly circled around her feet. She looked down and saw that it was the spirit fox that Xie Qingzheng had raised. Hearing their return, it had run down the mountain and was rubbing against their legs fawningly.

Xie Qingzheng picked up the spirit fox and asked it, “When I was not at home, did you cultivate well?”

The spirit fox blinked and let out a few howls to the sky.

A smile appeared on Xie Qingzheng’s lips. “So good.”

This was the first smile she had shown since she had returned.

Mo Jiangxue stared at her without blinking.

Xie Qingzheng put down the spirit fox and bent down to pat its head gently. “Go and play elsewhere. I still have things to do.”

The moment the spirit fox left, the faint smile on Xie Qingzheng’s face also disappeared. She straightened up and looked at a bamboo branch by the side of the pool, a little lost in thought.

Once upon a time, someone had stood on that bamboo branch with a calm and composed air, raising a hand to wipe the blood from the corner of their lips.

She then looked at the few odes carved on the stone by the side of the pool and saw the sentence, “Speaking of the qin, some call it Qingzheng.”

The name she had given herself. When she was a child, she had seen Mo Jiangxue with a qin and a xiao, so she had wanted to choose a name related to music.

She had longed to be connected to this person since she was a child…

Xie Qingzheng turned to look at Mo Jiangxue, first at the Flowing Frost Xiao hanging from her waist, then at the red patterns on her white robe, and finally at that clear and beautiful, pale face.

The face in her memory, a clear and otherworldly beauty that the moon and the frost could not hide, was now so pale it was almost sickly.

Xie Qingzheng stared at the pale face and said with a trembling voice, “Teach me.”

Mo Jiangxue asked, “Teach you what?”

Xie Qingzheng said hoarsely, “Teach me the method to transfer the curse.”

It had finally come to this topic…

Mo Jiangxue’s thin lips moved. “I said, it’s useless. I lied to you.”

Xie Qingzheng’s gaze was fervent, and she insisted, “Teach me.”

Mo Jiangxue sighed. “It really can’t be transferred.”

Xie Qingzheng’s eyes were red. She looked at Mo Jiangxue without dodging and said, one word at a time, “I want to try it myself. Teach me!”

A very rude tone, almost aggressive, yet her expression was one of pleading and begging, and her eyes were filled with a hazy mist.

After a long gaze, Mo Jiangxue couldn’t help but reach out and gently wipe the tears from Xie Qingzheng’s eyes with the pad of her finger. She pretended to be calm and said, “The cursed person needs to take off their clothes and soak in the cold pool. Do you still want to learn?”

Xie Qingzheng’s heart trembled, but her face was unchanged. She turned her palm over and took out a white cloth from her storage pouch, covered her eyes, and covered her teary eyes, swearing, “I will not look at you. If I see what I should not see, you can kill me with one sword strike.”

Mo Jiangxue said, “You can summon your spiritual sense to peek.”

Xie Qingzheng said calmly, “Master, you know very well that I would not do that.”

She knew very well that she would not do that, yet she had to say it, just to dissuade her.

Mo Jiangxue asked, “Do you have to try it yourself?”

Xie Qingzheng was still firm. “I must. Teach me.”

What could not be transferred? Maybe her master was lying to her again.

She could no longer tell if her master’s words were true or false, and she did not want to distinguish them anymore. She only wanted to try it herself.

Mo Jiangxue: “Alright, I’ll teach you.”

She leaned in close to Xie Qingzheng’s ear and taught her the incantation. Then she took a step back and stood gracefully under the moonlight, looking at Xie Qingzheng, and calmly took off her own clothes, her outer robe, her middle robe… one by one, they fell to the ground.

The moonlight and frost shone on her skin, reflecting a jade-like whiteness. Her clear and otherworldly face was still calm, but her ears and neck slowly turned a light red.

Although her eyes were covered with a white cloth, Xie Qingzheng still turned away, her back to Mo Jiangxue, without a trace of an enchanting thought, and silently recited the incantation.

She heard the rustling of clothes being taken off, and the sound of splashing water from the cold pool. Then, a calm voice, “Come here.”

Xie Qingzheng turned back, tapped her toes, and following the voice, she leaped into the cold pool lightly and carefully, fearing that she would splash a single drop of water on her master.

The water supported her body. She swam behind her master, reached out, and wrapped her arms around her, focusing her mind and silently circulating the heart method and the incantation.

Mo Jiangxue closed her eyes and pressed tightly against Xie Qingzheng’s embrace.

The body behind her was soft and warm. She could feel the other’s chest pounding, thump, thump, thump, one after another, hitting her back.

After a long time, the person behind her did not make a sound.

Mo Jiangxue dispersed the yin poison in her body, pushed Xie Qingzheng away, went ashore, put on her clothes, and asked, “How about it? Do you believe me now?”

Xie Qingzheng was still soaking in the cold pool. She tore off the white cloth from her eyes.

Mo Jiangxue stood by the side of the pool, looking at her.

The bright moon hung in the sky, and the surface of the pool was as smooth as a mirror. Her face was gloomy, and she looked down at her master’s reflection in the green pool, silent.

The reflection in the water was ethereal, just like the moon in the water, a flower in a mirror, which would disperse at a touch.

She raised her hand and slapped the water, scattering the reflection.

Mo Jiangxue knew that she was in a bad mood and said no more, letting her vent her anger on her own reflection.

The water splashed, and ripples spread. The reflection in the water was hazy and dispersed. After a while, the surface of the pool returned to calm, and the graceful figure dispersed and then gathered again, clearly reflected in the water, as graceful as a crane. Seeing this, Mo Jiangxue’s heart was moved, as if she had had an epiphany.

Xie Qingzheng came out of the pool and, seeing her master’s wet clothes clinging to her skin, she quickly circulated her spiritual energy and, with a blank expression, sent a stream of warm air over.

The moisture on her clothes slowly evaporated.

This scene was familiar. It had once been her master who had treated her like this, like a cycle.

Mo Jiangxue focused her gaze on her. She withdrew her hand, and her features were still filled with an indescribable disappointment. She said tiredly, “Master, let’s go back to the wildlands.”

For now, the only path was to seek the Soul-Gathering Lamp.

Mo Jiangxue said frankly, “Your face is very ugly. Are you angry with me?”

Xie Qingzheng’s eyes were red. She turned her face away and said softly, “Disciple would not dare.”

Mo Jiangxue’s gaze lingered on her face. After a long while, she finally said seriously, “You are clearly crying from anger at me.”

Xie Qingzheng said nothing, her throat was choked, and her nasal cavity and eyes were very sore. She turned her back, unwilling to let Mo Jiangxue see her in such a weak state.

She was unwilling to say resentful words to her master, so she could only endure it silently.

Mo Jiangxue suddenly said, “Do you want to have a fight with me?”

Xie Qingzheng shook her head and refused, “I don’t.”

Mo Jiangxue asked, “Is it that you don’t want to, or that you don’t dare?”

Both.

Xie Qingzheng said, “I won’t fight. We’ll go to the wildlands.”

Mo Jiangxue said, “Perhaps you can only beat me now. When I’m better, you will never be able to beat me again.”

As her words fell, Mo Jiangxue drew her sword, her left hand holding the scabbard, her right hand holding the sword, and she stabbed straight at Xie Qingzheng’s brow.

Xie Qingzheng subconsciously dodged. Provoked by Mo Jiangxue, she casually broke off a bamboo branch to block. Mo Jiangxue mercilessly cut it in two with one sword strike and then stabbed again, ordering her, “Draw your sword.”

The Shenshang Sword was unsheathed at the sound, and she swung her sword to block.

The two swords clashed, and with a clang, a long hum.

Her arm was numb from the shock, and she took half a step back. She glanced at her master’s pale face and said, “I can’t beat you.”

“How do you know you can’t beat me if you haven’t fought?” Mo Jiangxue was merciless, and she attacked with lightning speed. “Don’t worry about me. You and I will not use spiritual energy, only spar with sword techniques.”

Xie Qingzheng parried her attacks one by one. “My sword techniques were all taught by you!”

Mo Jiangxue’s longsword struck diagonally, and with a series of hisses, she stabbed three times. This was the Xuanji Sect’s sword technique, the Three Rings Around the Moon. Xie Qingzheng fumbled to create a sword flower to protect herself and block, and Mo Jiangxue said coldly, “To have learned it like this, do you have the face to say that I taught you?”

Being said this by her, Xie Qingzheng bit her lower lip and quickly returned the move.

The sword light flashed in the bamboo forest. Mo Jiangxue stepped on a bamboo branch, passed through the bamboo forest, and her white robe seemed to turn into a white shadow, leading Xie Qingzheng through the bamboo forest, exchanging blows.

As they fought, the emotions in Xie Qingzheng’s heart grew stronger and stronger.

This one night, there had been a tight string in her heart. She had acted as if nothing had happened, had endured and suppressed it all night. At this moment, she finally broke out through the spar.

Her moves became faster and faster, and her attacks became heavier and heavier.

Mo Jiangxue dealt with it with ease. She moved in front, and suddenly, she turned around, as if to face Xie Qingzheng’s blade directly. Xie Qingzheng was so scared she was about to sheathe her sword, but Mo Jiangxue raised the scabbard in her left hand, pointed the mouth of the scabbard at the tip of the Shenshang Sword, and the Shenshang Sword stabbed straight into the scabbard. Mo Jiangxue turned her wrist, and Xie Qingzheng’s tiger’s mouth trembled. The longsword immediately left her hand.

“Let me teach you another move, to snatch a sword with a scabbard.” Mo Jiangxue smiled faintly, flicked her sleeve, and retreated. But the person a step away rushed over and pounced on her, throwing her to the ground.

Xie Qingzheng’s eyes were red with fighting. Resentment, anger, pain, fear, disappointment—the negative emotions that had been accumulating for days had now completely erupted.

She pounced on Mo Jiangxue and said through gritted teeth, “You all treat me like a fool and tease me! Xiao Wangqing deceived me, Xie Youke deceived me, and Tanluan deceived me. It’s one thing for them to deceive me! Master, I trust you the most. Why did you deceive me in this matter! How many more things have you hidden from me? You liar! I will never believe your words again!”

Mo Jiangxue had never been treated like this, and no one had ever dared to treat her like this. She was taken aback for a moment, looked at the person before her, and heard the words “I will never believe you again.” Her heart felt as if it had been pricked by a fine needle, and a dense pain spread.

She said in a hoarse voice, “But you said that I am the person you trust the most in this life.”

Xie Qingzheng shook her head and said with a trembling voice, “I won’t anymore. I will never believe any of you again!”

When she was a child, the people of Wen Family Village had been very good to her. After she had grown up, she had also tried very hard to be good to others. But the human heart was separated by a belly. To be sincere was always to be deceived. To trust with all one’s heart was always to be let down.

Her eyes were no longer clear and bright, and her eyeballs were covered in blood. As if she had suddenly remembered something, she questioned the person under her, “Master, you remembered what happened in the illusion long ago, right? You guessed long ago that I had feelings for you, right?”

Mo Jiangxue said nothing.

The moment the Yaoguang Bell had been re-forged and had changed masters, the memory that had been taken by the Yaoguang Bell had naturally been restored. This was also one of the reasons why Tanluan could guess that she had feelings.

***

Author’s Note:

Wait, in the future, I’ll have Little Xie be blindfolded and be taught a good lesson by her master~~~