Uncanny Immortal 93

Chapter 93

What, can’t she even decide if her own body is tired?

Xie Qingzheng lay on the snow, wanting to cry but having no tears.

Mo Jiangxue gently patted her cheek. “You are permitted to rest for a moment.”

She could not disobey her master’s command.

Xie Qingzheng covered her cheeks and rolled on the snow in annoyance. The spirit fox thought she was rolling happily and, imitating her, rolled excitedly in the snow.

She lay in the snow and rested for less than half a shichen before she was pulled by her master to stand in a stance under a plum tree, under the beautiful name of “enlightening the Dao and tempering the heart.”

While she was standing in a stance to enlighten the Dao, her master was not idle either. She sat in the bamboo pavilion, writing at her desk, it was unknown what she was writing.

Mo Jiangxue was almost writing day and night without sleep—the eight trigrams, yin-yang, feng shui, talismans, and arrays… as if she wanted to write down everything she knew.

When she had transferred the evil curse to herself back then, she had still thought that with her cultivation, she could at least last for ten years, and would surely be able to find a way to break the evil curse. After she had taken Xie Qingzheng as her disciple, she had also thought that there was still a long way to go, and that she could teach her slowly and let her learn slowly.

But now that her fate was set, she could only record everything she knew, just in case.

She had originally thought that her heart was without attachment and that she had long since put life and death aside. But when she really knew the outcome of certain death, there was still a trace of attachment in her heart.

Mo Jiangxue looked at Xie Qingzheng under the plum tree.

This person had suffered a lot as a child. If someone was a little good to her, she would remember it in her heart, to the point of cherishing others far more than she cherished herself.

Xie Qingzheng stood under the plum tree and, sensing Mo Jiangxue’s gaze, she turned her head and asked, “Master, what are you looking at me for?”

Mo Jiangxue said indifferently, “You are pleasing to the eye.”

“You’re teasing me again…” Xie Qingzheng turned her head back.

Her originally calm mood was rippled by this sentence. Although she knew it was a joke, her ears still quietly turned red.

Stop thinking about these things. Think about something else… Xie Qingzheng raised her hand and touched her own brow.

Back then, her master had planted a wisp of her spiritual sense between her brows, covering up Xie Fuyun’s trace. It was only after she had returned from the Miao region this time that she had realized that every time she had a killing intent, her master could sense it.

In the Sword Discussion Assembly of the past, her master must have also sensed her killing intent towards Mu Zifu…

And she had even seriously asked the other back then, “Do you believe that I didn’t have a killing intent?”

Her master had said that her fate was different from an ordinary person’s, that she had been revived by an evil art, and that like those evil cultivators, she was prone to backlash from the malevolent qi. If she frequently had a killing intent, one day, she would not be able to control herself and would become violent and bloodthirsty…

“Don’t be distracted. Calm your mind and enlighten the Dao.”

Mo Jiangxue’s words suddenly came to her ear. Xie Qingzheng said, “You are by my side—” She paused, and then continued, “With you watching by my side, I am nervous. Besides, I was a little tired from practicing the sword last night.”

What had originally blurted out was, With you by my side, I will naturally enter a meditative state more slowly—

These words were too easy to make people’s imagination run wild, so she did not say them.

Mo Jiangxue said lightly, “Oh? Then I will watch you even more, until you are no longer nervous.”

Xie Qingzheng didn’t know how to retort. After a long while, she replied faintly, “Master, you are right.”

She used three times more time than usual to enter a state of focused and calm mind.

For the next few days, Xie Qingzheng hardly left Ethereal Peak. Except for when she was sleeping, her master was also almost always by her side.

She would wake up at the hour of the Rabbit every day, stand in a stance under a plum tree for a shichen, then meditate, learn the xiao, and practice the sword. She could take a short nap in between, and she would study from day to night, only returning to her room to rest at the hour of the Pig.

At first, she was a little unaccustomed to it and would always habitually dodge, avoiding eye contact. Slowly, her mood became a little complicated. She was both afraid of being alone with her master and revealing the little thoughts in her heart, and also had a bit of an indescribable sweetness and joy.

To be with the person she loved was always a happy thing.

Although she had not been able to find the person who had cast the evil curse, there was a great hope of finding the Yuheng Cauldron and combining the Soul-Gathering Lamp. When the evil curse on her master was broken with the Soul-Gathering Lamp, her master would be able to return to a normal life.

Her master was her savior, her teaching master. She both adored and revered her. She had never thought of possessing her, nor did she dare to cross the line. She had always been “obedient” and “well-behaved” to win her master’s affection.

When her master was well, she would go out to travel alone. When she could let go of these feelings, she would come back.

On the third day, during the lunch break, Min He came to the foot of Ethereal Peak to play with her.

Min He handed over a page of a music score. “Here, didn’t you want this music score? I’ve written it out for you.”

She had composed a xiao piece herself. Although it could not defeat the enemy, it could attract the birds in the forest. This kind of flashy piece was generally not liked by the elders, so they would only play it in private for fun.

Xie Qingzheng’s face broke into a smile. She took it. “Thank you, Senior Sister!”

She immediately untied her xiao, looked at the score, and began to play. Before long, from all directions, sparrows, cuckoos, and orioles… all kinds of birds flew over, either perching on the bamboo branches or circling in the low air. There were also a few white cranes, their heads raised, calling out in harmony with her xiao, their warbling and chirping melodious.

Min He also pressed her xiao to her lips, and the two of them played in harmony.

Mo Jiangxue stood on the summit of Ethereal Peak, released her spiritual sense, and at a glance, she saw the two senior and junior sisters at the foot of Ethereal Peak, exchanging glances and smiles, having a wonderful time.

She had been pushing her a little too hard these past few days. It was rare to see her smile so happily.

A cold wind blew, and Mo Jiangxue coughed a few times, actually feeling a bit of a chill.

She withdrew her spiritual sense and was about to transmit her voice to Xie Qingzheng to let her have the afternoon off when, from afar, the sound of a sword cutting through the air came.

Xie Qingzheng flew back to the summit, found Mo Jiangxue, and asked, “Master, can I go out with Elder Jin? Senior Sister Min He said that during the Dao Discussion Conference, Elder Mu had taken the people of Green Pine Peak to Gusu to exorcise evil spirits, and there has been no news from them, and they can’t be contacted… Elder Jin Suchen plans to take some people to Gusu to take a look… We’ll go today and be back tomorrow! It won’t delay my cultivation!”

Mo Jiangxue pondered for a moment, let out an almost inaudible sigh, and nodded. “You can go.”

Now, among the younger generation, Xie Qingzheng was also considered a cultivator of outstanding strength and a little fame. When they encountered a difficult matter, her fellow disciples would think of her first.

It was also good to go and temper herself, to accumulate prestige and experience. She could not always be with her, and there would always be a day when she could not protect her…

Who would have thought that after Xie Qingzheng had gone, there was no news from her either.

The setting sun was like blood. The cranes of the Xuanji Sect circled in the sky, letting out long cries, as if in warning.

Xiao Wangqing hurried out of the main hall and ran into Mo Jiangxue, who was coming towards her.

Mo Jiangxue had put on her white veiled hat, had her long qin on her back, and a jade xiao at her waist, as if she were preparing to go out.

Seeing Xiao Wangqing, she got straight to the point, “Give me some people. I’m going to Gusu to take a look.”

She had given Xie Qingzheng a sound transmission talisman, but from morning to night, she had not received any news from Xie Qingzheng. She had taken the initiative to call her, but had not received any reply.

Xiao Wangqing hesitated to speak. “Jiangxue, your injuries have not yet healed…” Although her cultivation was profound, it was still safer for her to stay on Ethereal Peak for now.

Mo Jiangxue asked, “I’m fine. What happened? You don’t look very well.”

Xiao Wangqing said, “I just received news that of all the major sects that came to the Dao Discussion Conference, only the Tianshu Sect, led by Sect Master Xie, has returned safely. The cultivators of all the other major sects have not returned. The people of the major sects are all looking for me and Sect Master Xie to ask what’s going on.”

It had been three days and three nights. Even Yuheng Palace, which was the furthest from the Xuanji Sect, should have returned to their sect by now…

Mo Jiangxue’s first thought was that it was the work of the Ten Directions Domain. After a moment, she realized that the people of the other sects were probably suspecting Sect Master Xie.

She said, “We’ll know when we go to Gusu. You go and discuss it with Sect Master Xie, and I’ll take some people to Gusu to take a look.”

Seeing that she was determined to go, Xiao Wangqing said, “Alright. I’ll have Min He arrange for some people to go with you.”

Mu Qingdai had not returned for days, and there was no news from her. Mu Zifu was clamoring to go with them.

Mo Jiangxue had no time to care about her. She had stolen the personal sword of the second senior sister of Green Pine Peak and had gone with the group.

Mo Jiangxue led the cultivators of the various peaks of the Xuanji Sect and, in a grand procession, set out for Gusu on their swords.

On the way, they passed by a mass grave. She descended from the sky and saw a few bodies in the attire of the Kaiyang sect in the mass grave.

The people of the Xuanji Sect looked at each other, their hearts filled with dread.

When cultivators of the various sects died while exorcising evil spirits, their fellow disciples would surely bring their bodies back to their sects for a proper burial. They would never be so casually thrown into a mass grave.

Unless they had encountered people from the demonic cult and had been killed by them…

Min He’s heart pounded. She led the people of the Xuanji Sect and searched through the mass grave, finding a few bodies from Tianquan Manor, Yuheng Palace, the Myriad Beast Manor, and the Shangqing sect… there were bodies from almost every sect, just not from the Tianshu Sect and the Xuanji Sect.

They had not found the bodies of the fellow disciples who had gone out with Elder Jin this afternoon, and everyone in the Xuanji Sect secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

Mo Jiangxue examined the bodies one by one. The young juniors had external injuries and seemed to have died by the sword. The seniors with profound cultivation had no external sword wounds, but their dantians were shattered, and after all their spiritual energy was lost, they had been killed by a single palm strike.

It seemed they had all died two days ago…

Everyone was discussing, “Who did it?”

“So ruthless. It must be the people of the demonic cult!”

“But why are there no people from the Tianshu Sect?”

“They picked the soft persimmons to pinch. They don’t dare to offend Sect Master Xie…”

Mo Jiangxue instructed a portion of the people to first take these bodies back to the Xuanji Sect and to notify the people of the major orthodox Xuanmen sects to come and claim them for burial.

Then they hurried to Gusu.

On a lake outside Gusu City was the old site of the Yaoguang sect. The Xuanji Sect had built a watchtower here and had stationed cultivators to monitor the movements of the demonic cult.

Flying on their swords, they saw the misty waves and the water meeting the sky from afar. The names Tan Yuan and Mu Ning appeared in Mo Jiangxue’s mind.

But before they got close to the old site of the Yaoguang sect, she had everyone stop and not get any closer.

Min He asked, “Elder, what’s wrong? Did something happen?”

Elder Mo’s spiritual sense could probe further. She had clearly discovered that something was not right at the watchtower, which was why she had told everyone not to get any closer.

Mo Jiangxue said, “That place has already been occupied by the people of the Ten Directions Domain.”

What was hanging at the entrance was not the crane totem of the Xuanji Sect, but the karmic fire red lotus of the Ten Directions Domain.

“It really is the people of the demonic cult!”

“Have the people of the Xuanji Sect all been captured by them?”

“Are Elder Mu and Elder Jin there?”

Mo Jiangxue was silent, a faint regret in her heart for having let Xie Qingzheng go out for training today.

If even Mu Qingdai and Jin Suchen had fallen here, then the Ten Directions Domain must have sent some powerful figures.