Shen Feng Xue's Fanjiang Residence was nestled beside a towering Bodhi tree.
The courtyard was elegant and secluded, with a waterfall cascading down like a ribbon from the high mountain behind the house.
Night fell, and lanterns hung in the mist.
Shen Gurong, draped in a flowing blue robe, pushed open the door and entered Fanjiang Residence.
The plaque above the courtyard gate bore the two characters "Fanjiang" in a flamboyant, calligraphic style, illuminated by two lanterns, faintly revealing intricate runes that served as a barrier against prying eyes.
Once no one else was around, Shen Gurong revealed his true colors, becoming utterly lazy.
He loosened his blue outer robe, casually glanced at the sparsely furnished Fanjiang Residence, and tossed the robe onto the bamboo couch.
"I really want to go home."
Shen Gurong muttered softly, listlessly sprawling on the small couch. He rolled around several times like a lazy cat, the icy mask on his eyes loosening slightly.
He went over the people and events of the day in his mind, finally letting out a soft sigh, fully accepting the fact that he wouldn't be returning home easily.
Shen Gurong stared at the bamboo flute hanging by the window, thinking with a bittersweet smile, "This book is quite fun."
Although Shen Feng Xue had thoroughly offended the protagonist, it wasn't a certain death. With a little cunning and a bit of maneuvering, there was still room for maneuver.
His mind had been tense all day, and as soon as he relaxed, he fell asleep almost immediately.
The courtyard was filled with evening primroses. A plump bird spread its wings and landed on the window frame, tilting its head and staring at Shen Gurong.
Dawn broke on the horizon; the eastern sun rose.
A bird on the window frame spread its wings and flew out of Fanjiang Residence.
The morning lessons at Liren Peak began at Chenshi (7-9 AM). Disciples, in groups of three or five, playfully crossed the suspension bridge connecting the three peaks to attend their lessons at Zhibai Hall on Changying Mountain.
The black mist, slowly climbing the mountain steps, had been ascending all night, finally reaching the halfway point of Liren Peak and Changying Mountain before dawn.
It struggled for a long time before finally managing to materialize into a phantom human form, a black thread at its fingertips seemingly blown forward by the wind.
The Plague Demon, chased all the way from Youzhou to Liren Peak by the group of demon hunters, was severely injured by magical artifacts along the way. It could no longer maintain its spiritual power yesterday, but fortunately, it escaped in time, disoriented, fleeing into the deep mountains.
It weakly staggered forward, following the black thread.
As long as it possessed…
Even if it were a mortal, it could surely recuperate and rebuild its spiritual body.
Clinging to a last glimmer of hope, it trudged for half a day, finally managing to push aside the thickets of trees before its spiritual energy dissipated.
On the bluestone ground in front of the Zhibai Hall on Changying Mountain, a group of disciples dressed in brightly colored robes sat cross-legged with their eyes closed, each with a phantom talisman floating between their brows, seemingly cultivating.
The Plague Demon was stunned. Wasn't this mountain devoid of any spiritual energy? How could there be disciples cultivating?
It froze on the spot. If it were an ordinary mortal, it could easily possess them, but against anyone with spiritual energy, it feared its soul would be shattered by the spiritual energy before it could even seize their body.
The Plague Demon: "..."
A whole night of climbing for nothing.
Before it could think any further, the leading disciple suddenly and silently opened his eyes, staring directly in the Plague Demon's direction.
The Plague Demon: "..."
The Plague Demon suddenly broke out in a cold sweat, turned into a palm-sized black mist, and curled up in the grass, too afraid to move.
Because Li Suo opened his eyes midway through the lesson, the calming talisman between his brows suddenly shattered and dissipated.
Without alerting anyone else, Li Suo leaped three steps away from the black mist.
Yu Xinghe, who was practicing calligraphy by the window of Zhibai Hall, glanced at Li Suo, nudged Mu Zhe, and whispered, "Senior Brother Li Suo's calming talisman exploded again. Is he going to get scolded by the sect leader again this lesson?"
Mu Zhe, his eyes fixed on copying the Calming Sutra, said gently, "Practice your calligraphy."
Yu Xinghe, with a candied fruit in his mouth, mumbled, "But look, he's such a grown man, and he's still poking at ants."
Mu Zhe looked up and, sure enough, saw Li Suo in his yellow robes squatting there, holding a small twig, gently poking at a small black mass on the ground.
A gust of wind blew by, and Mu Zhe caught a wisp of ash on the Tranquility Sutra. He raised his small hand to wipe it away, but inadvertently noticed a faint black line floating on his little finger.
He paused, staring intently, but the black line vanished instantly.
He raised his hand again, and the ash was gone.
He was slightly taken aback, turning his palm over and over, examining it for a long time, but couldn't find a single speck of dust.
Yu Xinghe, biting his pen, asked, "What's wrong?"
Mu Zhe shook his head, about to speak, when a deafening roar came from not far away.
Everyone shuddered. The disciples practicing the Tranquility Sutra were thrown into disarray by the sound, their talismans exploding one after another.
"What happened? What happened?"
"An earthquake?!"
"..."
Li Suo squatted not far away, in front of him a hollowed-out hole, from which black smoke was now eerily rising.
He turned and smiled at his panicked junior brothers, "Don't panic."
The junior brothers gathered around, asking curiously, "Senior brother, what was that?"
Li Su fanned himself with his fan, squinting, and said, "Nothing much, just found the plague demons that the Exorcists were chasing yesterday, and eliminated them while I was at it."
The words "plague demons" startled the younger disciples, who quickly stepped back.
The library on Liren Peak once recorded events from a hundred years ago: the secluded city of Fengdu, inhabited by thousands, was slaughtered by a possessed ghost cultivator, shocking the Three Realms.
Since then, ghost cultivators have been universally hated.
Li Suo stretched and gently reassured his junior brother, "I told you not to be afraid, it's already vanished. Besides, Li Ren Peak has a boundary spirit tablet; ordinary ghost cultivators and demon cultivators won't easily enter."
Just then, Xi Guxing arrived in black robes, sword in hand, and coldly said, "Are you rebelling?!"
Everyone jumped in fright, quickly lowering their heads like timid quails.
"Good morning, Sect Leader."
Xi Guxing looked at the culprit: "Li Suo, what nonsense have you been causing with them again?"
Li Suo hurriedly said, "Master is wise, we weren't slacking off. Just now, a plague demon trespassed on Liren Peak. Since we didn't have time to invite you, we rashly subdued it. We hope Master will investigate!"
Xi Guxing didn't quite believe his disciple's smooth-talking words. He coldly examined the surroundings and, finding the lingering aura of the plague demon, his expression softened.
He had initially thought it was just a powerful ghost cultivator, but it turned out they couldn't even get into the Spirit Stone Tablet of Liren Peak.
Seeing Xi Guxing's expression soften slightly, Li Suo silently breathed a sigh of relief.
However, he didn't expect Xi Guxing to give him a cold glance and say, "Let me see the Tranquility Talisman."
Li Suo was startled, then timidly extended his palm, revealing a broken, illusory talisman.
Xi Guxing sneered, "How many times has this been?"
Li Suo stammered, "Six...six times."
After he finished speaking, feeling the cold displeasure emanating from his master, he immediately knelt down, and the disciples behind him followed suit.
Xi Guxing's eyes were filled with coldness: "Since you think I'm too gentle, next time I'll have Shen Feng Xue teach you this Tranquility lesson."
The moment the name "Shen Feng Xue" was uttered, all the disciples, including Li Suo, turned pale.
Li Suo's sickly face grew even paler: "Master, your disciple knows his mistake..."
Seeing that Shen Feng Xue could intimidate them, Xi Guxing ignored their utterly devastated expressions and turned away.
Li Suo stammered, "Senior brother... Senior brother wants to betray the sect, is there anyone who will come with me?"
The disciples: "..."
It's over, Senior Brother is scared out of his wits.
***
Perhaps because Shen Gurong had reviewed Shen Feng Xue's memories too many times, the Shen Feng Xue with his eyes covered in ice silk entered Shen Gurong's dream.
Shen Feng Xue stood in a vast expanse of snow, the ice silk covering his eyes slowly overflowing with traces of red, like two streams of bloody tears.
He stood in the wind and snow, dressed in a thin blue robe, slowly reaching out his hand to Shen Gurong.
Shen Gurong looked at him blankly, instinctively wanting to grasp his hand.
Shen Feng Xue's voice seemed to dissipate with a gust of wind and snow.
"You must save him..."
"Shen Gurong...save him."
"Feng Xue..."
Shen Gurong stumbled towards him, when suddenly a gust of wind blew in, carrying snow.
When the wind subsided, Shen Feng Xue's figure had disappeared into the snowstorm.
Shen Gurong abruptly opened his eyes, stunned for a long time before coming to his senses.
He got up, exhausted, only then realizing his face was covered in tears.
Shen Gurong casually wiped his face with his sleeve, muttering, "Save him, save him, why are you crying?"
He had been wondering why he had come here, but this dream made it clear—to stop Yu Xinghe from falling into demonic possession, and he could go home.
The sun shone warmly. Shen Gurong wiped away his tears, only then realizing that the ice-white eyelashes on his eyes were nowhere to be found.
Shen Gurong groped around on his body like a blind man for a long time, trying out his hairband and sash over his eyes one by one, before finally finding the ball of ice silk near the window frame.
The ice silk was unusually thin, looking like a layer of mist.
He untied the crumpled ice silk and tied it over his eyes. Once his vision returned, he slightly raised his head and glanced through the window frame, seeing two strange-looking figures standing in the courtyard.
Shen Gurong: "???"
Yu Xinghe and Mu Zhe had been standing there for an unknown amount of time, and it was unclear how much they had seen.
Mu Zhe, on the other hand, remained quite calm, showing no sign of surprise.
Yu Xinghe, naive and innocent, couldn't hide the astonishment and shock on his face. His little face seemed to say, 'Is Master blind, or am I blind? Is what I'm seeing real?'
Shen Gurong: "..."
Mu Zhe remained expressionless, his lips slightly pursed.
Tch.
Shen Gurong: "..."
How dare you!
The little protagonist laughed again, didn't he?!
Don't think I didn't notice you were mocking your master just because you're pretending to be expressionless!
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