Uncanny Immortal 51

Chapter 51

Spring arrived late in the north. Flowers bloomed on the paths, a riot of purple and red.

Mo Jiangxue, wearing a veiled hat with the white gauze down, and carrying a qin and a xiao on her back, walked slowly along the path. Her poison had acted up yesterday, and her body was still a little weak, so it was not suitable for her to fly on a sword.

Xie Qingzheng, using the Myriad Manifestations Steps, flickered left and right, forward and back. One moment she would run out of sight, and the next she would run back, following behind Mo Jiangxue, and said excitedly, “Master, I’ve found that this technique is not only for escaping, but it can also assist in cultivating internal energy.”

Mo Jiangxue hummed in acknowledgment, saying no more.

Xie Qingzheng asked, “Master, did you know that already?”

Mo Jiangxue still just hummed.

The cultivation methods of the major sects were mostly seated meditation to refine qi. The Myriad Manifestations Steps of the Tianshu Sect did not require one to be fixed in a seated position to refine qi. When running, one could circulate the internal breath in their dantian, and the internal breath would naturally circulate through the limbs and bones. Over time, one’s cultivation would also improve.

Xie Qingzheng: “No wonder you reminded me back then that after using the Myriad Manifestations Steps, I should regulate my breath before sitting down.”

In the matter of circulating qi to guide one’s energy, a single misstep could, at best, lead to poor circulation of qi and blood and damaged meridians. At worst, it could lead to a confused mind and a qi deviation.

Xie Qingzheng walked back and forth a few times and then said to Mo Jiangxue, “Master, Master, how about I teach you this footwork too?”

Mo Jiangxue’s tone was cool. “What would I learn this for?”

Xie Qingzheng said, “Don’t you think it’s fun? You can cultivate even when you run.”

Mo Jiangxue: “I don’t like to play. You go and play.”

Xie Qingzheng: “Then when you can’t beat someone, you can run away.”

Mo Jiangxue: “I never run away.”

Xie Qingzheng thought for a moment and nodded. “That’s true. There’s almost no one you can’t beat.”

Mo Jiangxue smiled. “Not necessarily.”

Or rather, it used to be, but not anymore.

Xie Qingzheng thought of the Soul Severing curse on her, and her cheerful mood was cast in a shadow. Her expression became dejected.

That curse was like a shackle, binding her, restricting her…

Seeing that Xie Qingzheng had been silent for a while, Mo Jiangxue turned her head and glanced at her, taking the initiative to break the silence. She pointed into the distance and said, “Look, there’s a donkey over there.”

She liked all kinds of animals: the cows in the fields, the rabbits in their burrows, the chickens and ducks on the ground…

Hearing this, she did indeed raise her head, then used the Myriad Manifestations Steps, flashed over, stroked the donkey’s ears, and said a few words to the farmer’s wife at the side. The farmer’s wife chuckled and took the loose silver she handed over, giving her the donkey.

She led the donkey to Mo Jiangxue’s side and said with a smile, “Master, I’ve found you a mount. Please—”

At this time of year, the horses were all on the battlefield, and the cows were plowing the fields. Only the donkeys were left to ride.

A trace of disgust appeared in Mo Jiangxue’s eyes. Just as she was about to say something to her, she suddenly turned around and shouted in a cold voice, “Come out!”

Xie Qingzheng, leading the green donkey, What come out? Is someone following them? Who sent them?

All around was silent. The green donkey did bray twice.

Just as Xie Qingzheng was about to ask, she saw the airflow around them stir slightly. In the air, two black-robed, masked figures gradually appeared and gave a long bow to Mo Jiangxue.

Mo Jiangxue said in a cold voice, “Shadow guards of the Tianshu Sect? Go back and tell Sect Master Xie not to follow us.”

The two masked men looked at each other and replied, “Yes!”

Xie Qingzheng was a little taken aback. “We’ve already agreed to cooperate. Why does she still have people following us? So dishonest.”

Mo Jiangxue turned back, looked at the donkey, and her coldness lessened a little. She said, “Perhaps she is worried about your safety.”

Xie Qingzheng said, “Then I don’t want this protection! To be secretly followed, to have everything I say and do be heard by them, and they will surely report everything to Sect Master Xie. There’s no privacy at all. How can that be good?!”

Mo Jiangxue hummed in acknowledgment.

She also disliked having others around.

In a teahouse by the road, a group of cultivators in black and white Daoist robes sat at a table, chatting and drinking tea.

From afar came two female cultivators. One, in a white robe and veiled hat, was riding a green donkey, calm and composed. The other, in a black and white Daoist robe, was leading the donkey by the reins, smiling and talking, walking slowly along the mountain path.

Min He, in the teahouse, suddenly let out a chuckle. “How did Little Junior Sister convince Elder Mo to ride a donkey?”

Hearing this, the other junior sisters put down their teacups, walked to the side of the road, waved their arms, and greeted them, all trying to suppress their laughter.

Seeing the senior sisters, Xie Qingzheng was first taken aback, then overjoyed. She quickly led the donkey and trotted over.

When she reached the teahouse, she found that it was full of people from the Xuanji Sect. The Sect Master was at her own table, and the Mu sisters were not there. They must have returned to the Xuanji Sect first. The other junior sisters were scattered at several tables.

Mo Jiangxue got off the green donkey, still maintaining an air of immortal grace. Everyone saluted her. She nodded and took a seat, sitting with Xiao Wangqing.

Xie Qingzheng tied the donkey’s reins to a nearby tree, paid her respects to Xiao Wangqing, and then squeezed in at a table with Senior Sister Min He.

She asked Min He, “Senior Sister, what are you all doing here?”

Min He poured her a cup of tea and said, “The Sect Master said she had something important she forgot to tell Elder Mo and was specifically waiting for you here, and also to take us for some tea.”

Xie Qingzheng looked at her master’s table and only saw the Sect Master’s lips moving. She couldn’t hear their conversation.

She figured they had set up a sound-proof barrier so that the juniors couldn’t hear.

Min He asked where the master and disciple were going to travel next.

Xie Qingzheng said, “The Xiangxi Miao region.”

Min He untied a brocade pouch and stuffed it into Xie Qingzheng’s hand, saying, “The Miao region has many gu worms, especially the people of the Immortal Cult. They have the most gu cultivators and are skilled in using poison and gu. I have some pills in this pouch that you should find useful. Take them.”

Xie Qingzheng smiled and accepted it, saying, “This sect doesn’t seem to have much to do with the righteous path.”

Min He: “Mm, although their actions are strange and bizarre, they are not considered members of the demonic cult. We have nothing to do with each other. Don’t offend them, and stay away from them.”

Xie Qingzheng nodded.

Min He instructed, “I heard from Master that the ‘Garuda’ division of the Ten Directions Domain is also active in the Xiangxi Miao region. You must be careful.”

The Ten Directions Domain had eight divisions in total: one Heaven, two Dragon, three Yaksha, four Gandharva, five Asura, six Garuda, seven Kinnara, and eight Mahoraga.

The last time they had attacked the Xuanji Sect, it was the Heaven division led by Yan Ling. This time, the master and disciple were looking for the leader of the Garuda division.

Xie Qingzheng nodded again and got a lot of pills and talismans from the other senior sisters, just in case.

She took a sip of tea and prepared to do some homework, asking the knowledgeable Min He, “What is the name of the leader of the Garuda division?”

Min He said, “His name is ‘Tanluan,’ and his title is ‘Garuda.’” At this point, she secretly glanced at Xiao Wangqing. Seeing that Xiao Wangqing was not paying attention to them, she whispered to the other junior sisters, “Let me tell you, she has seven wives.”

Xie Qingzheng’s eyes widened, and she muttered, “Seven… that’s too many… can she love them all…”

The other female cultivators chattered, “That can be called romantic.”

“What romantic? That’s just lustful!”

“Senior Sister, you are so knowledgeable. You even know this!”

“A demon, indeed! Fickle, heartless, promiscuous, and lustful!”

Min He waved her hand, indicating that it was nothing, and then made a “shh” gesture, signaling them to rein in their gossipy expressions, lest their master see them and say they were not behaving properly.

The sound-proof barrier that Xiao Wangqing had cast also blocked out their voices.

A female cultivator who had entered the sect a little later and was not very familiar with the Ten Directions Domain said with contempt, “She is a bit lustful, but most men in the world are fickle. They are all like this.”

Min He said, “No, no, she is a woman, and she also likes women! What’s even more absurd is that her seven wives were all once her disciples!”

The faces of the senior sisters were a sight to behold. Their eyes were as wide as saucers, and they were dumbfounded. They all cursed, “So immoral and perverse!”

“How could she do that!”

“There’s a knife on the head of the character for lust!”

“It’s one thing to be lustful, but to have an affair with a disciple!”

A smile had originally been on Xie Qingzheng’s lips, but hearing the words “affair with a disciple,” it was like a blow to the head, and it instantly dispelled her desire to chat and laugh with the senior sisters. The smile also froze on her lips.

A bitterness spread in her heart. She pressed her lips together, silently took a sip of tea, and looked at her master.

Her master was still talking with the Sect Master and did not look at them.

Suddenly, a group of cultivators in brocade clothes and jade belts flew past on their swords. The woman in the lead was surrounded by stars and the moon, with a large entourage.

Min He said, “Oh, it’s Sect Master Xie. Is she also going back to the Tianshu Sect?”

All the senior and junior sisters looked up at the same time, their attention diverted, and sighed with envy, “So golden, she looks so rich.”

“In any case, she’s definitely richer than our Xuanji Sect.”

“That’s right. Their sect only accepts disciples from noble families. They’re not short of money.”

“I heard that Sect Master Xie is a golden branch and jade leaf from the imperial family. She became a disciple of Senior Gu Hongying of the Tianshu Sect since she was a child.”

“No wonder she’s always so high and mighty. She’s been a superior person since she was a child.”

Xie Qingzheng suddenly asked, “What kind of person was Senior Gu Hongying?”

Min He shook her head. “I’m not sure. She passed away many years ago. I’ve heard Master and the Vice Sect Master talk about her a few times. Hiss, it sounds like she’s the same type of person as Elder Suchen.”

Xie Qingzheng shrank her neck.

She was most afraid of that kind of person, stern and serious, with a spark of fire in their eyes. If anyone’s words or actions were a little out of line, a little against the rules, that spark would immediately flare into a blaze of anger, as if to burn them to ashes.

She preferred gentle people, like the Sect Master.

She found that her master also seemed to prefer gentle people. Whether it was Yun Yi or Sect Master Xiao, those who were close to her master were all gentle and easygoing, but not without a sharp edge. Such people were stern on the outside but restrained on the inside, directing their sharpness at their enemies and saving their gentleness and tolerance for their own people.

She also wanted to be such a person.

Her master’s temperament was aloof and seemed to have nothing to do with gentleness, but if you got close, you could sense her subtle thoughtfulness and gentleness.

She liked such a person.

No, she only liked her master, and her master just happened to be such a person…

Her thoughts turned a thousand times, and in the end, they were still entangled with Mo Jiangxue. Xie Qingzheng turned to look at her again, her eyes as soft as water.

She stood up, took a letter from Xiao Wangqing, cupped her hands, and seemed to be saying goodbye.

Xiao Wangqing also stood up to see her off.

The barrier dispersed, and Xie Qingzheng heard the Sect Master say, “Take care. When you return, Shuxue and I will go to Ethereal Peak to find you to admire the plum blossoms, brew tea, and discuss the Dao.”

Mo Jiangxue replied, “Alright.”

“Go, go, don’t come over! Don’t disturb my distinguished guest from drinking tea!” A shout suddenly came from outside the teahouse.

Everyone looked and saw an old woman who had fled from the famine, her clothes tattered, her body dirty and smelly, her lips chapped and bleeding. She pleaded, “Shopkeeper, please… give me some water to drink. I haven’t eaten in two days…”

The female cultivators of the Xuanji Sect spoke up to stop him, “Hey, shopkeeper, just give her some water. Why are you being so fierce?”

Xiao Wangqing said nothing, picked up the teapot, took a cup, walked over, and personally poured tea for the old woman to drink. She then said gently to the shopkeeper, “Give her something to eat. Consider it that we’re buying it from you.”

The shopkeeper quickly smiled and agreed, and then said to the old woman, “You’re lucky! You’ve met a kind-hearted immortal!”

Seeing Xiao Wangqing’s appearance, the old woman really thought she was an immortal who had descended to the mortal world. She knelt on the ground with a thud and was about to kowtow.

Xiao Wangqing quickly reached out and helped her to a chair to sit down.

Xie Qingzheng’s heart was moved. Mo Jiangxue walked over and said to her, “Let’s go.”

She said her goodbyes to the Sect Master and the other senior sisters, took the green donkey, and asked her master to sit.

Mo Jiangxue glanced at the donkey and was unwilling to ride it in front of all the people of the Xuanji Sect. She walked ahead silently, her back as graceful as a crane.

Xie Qingzheng led the green donkey and followed. After they had gone some distance, she muttered under her breath, “Master, you were having so much fun riding it just now. You must have thought it was fun too… haha, but an immortal like you should be riding a crane, not a donkey. It’s bad for your image. How about I go back to the Xuanji Sect and catch a crane for you… but it doesn’t seem like a big deal, eh. Zhang Guolao of the Eight Immortals also rode a donkey, and he rode it backward…”

With Mo Jiangxue’s cultivation, no matter how low her voice was, she could still hear it.

She stopped. Xie Qingzheng thought she couldn’t stand her chattering and was about to scold her, so she quickly closed her mouth.

Mo Jiangxue turned around, walked around the green donkey, and sat sideways on the donkey’s back. Then she looked at Xie Qingzheng and said coolly, “Stop dawdling. Let’s go.”

Xie Qingzheng smiled brightly, took the reins, and walked forward.

She asked the person on the donkey’s back, “Master, what did the Sect Master say to you just now?”

Mo Jiangxue said, “She said that the heat and cold poison in my body cannot be cured in the Central Plains, but I can go to the Immortal Cult in the Xiangxi Miao region to see if I can use gu to detoxify it, or at least temporarily suppress it.”

The Xuanmen cultivators of the Central Plains and the gu cultivators of the Miao region rarely interacted. Xiao Wangqing had even specifically written a letter of introduction for her.

A glimmer of hope rose in Xie Qingzheng’s heart. “Then we can go and pay a visit to the Immortal Cult on the way.” She then asked, “And what else? It feels like you two talked a lot.”

Xiao Wangqing’s words, “If it acts up every three months or every month, I’m afraid you won’t last for three years,” appeared in Mo Jiangxue’s mind. She shook her head and said to Xie Qingzheng, “It wasn’t anything too important.”

Xie Qingzheng said, “I see… Master, I heard some gossip from the senior sisters. Do you want to hear it?”

Mo Jiangxue: “Let’s hear it.”

Xie Qingzheng: “That Garuda we’re looking for, she’s a woman, and she likes women.”

Mo Jiangxue was completely unfazed. “All things in heaven and earth, birds and beasts, also have same-sex intimacy. It’s the same for people. It’s nothing strange.”

Xie Qingzheng: “No, no, she has seven wives! How can one person like so many people at the same time! Can her heart be divided into seven pieces? Does she really like them? Or is she just playing with their feelings?”

Mo Jiangxue said no more.

She seemed to recall for a moment before she leaned down and said seriously in Xie Qingzheng’s ear, “Mm, I remember now. She has a habit of taking young and beautiful women like you as her disciples, teaching them how to cultivate first, and then marrying them. You should be careful not to be captured by her.”

Xie Qingzheng: “…”

She had heard of this too?! Master really did know more than her in every aspect…