When Su Xingting passed by, he saw his young apprentice lying on the table fiddling with a bunch of complicated parts.
It was a half-made tin man, with various complicated parts neatly placed on the table. The young apprentice was concentrating on controlling the spiritual energy with his short fingers, his forehead was slightly sweaty, and his black eyes were sparkling, like a child who had got a toy, so focused and serious that he didn't notice his arrival at all.
Su Xingting bent down and asked, "Is this a puppet?"
"It's not a puppet. How can I learn to make a puppet? This is just the simplest tin man." Mu Xue looked up and saw her master. She lowered her head and carefully used her spiritual power to control the accessories in her hand and inserted them into the puppet. She said as she did so.
"Today, Master Ding called me over to take a class with Sister Lanlan and the others to learn how to do this. I wanted to try it out when I got back."
Su Xingting sat down on the floor beside her and watched the handicrafts made by his apprentice for a while.
"Xiaoxue is really talented in refining equipment. I have discussed it with Uncle Ding, and she asked you to go to Biyou Peak to take her refining class when you are free."
There seemed to be no change on Mu Xue's face, except for the slight pause of her little fingers.
"Can I go? I don't really like refining equipment that much."
"You kid, are you afraid that your master will be unhappy?" Su Xingting smiled without any grudges and handed over a thin piece of snow paper. "This is the timetable for the public lectures given by the uncles of each peak. You can go to any class you like. Whether it is the weapon refining technique of Biyou Peak, the alchemy technique of Xuandan Peak, the physical technique of Tiezhu Peak, or the beast control technique of Youyuan, the planting technique of Lingshu Peak, or the spiritual technique of Piaomiao Peak, you can learn it as long as you like. The master will pass on the Tao seeds to you, and the uncles will teach you the techniques. All the methods return to their source, and then the name of our sect will be spread."
Mu Xue screamed and twisted the thin platinum wire in her hand.
The world here is really different, so warm that it makes her, who came from the ice and snow, feel a little uneasy. She almost wants to cut off the past in exchange for her qualification to live in the present world and get a new ending.
But now she gradually realized that everything in the past was equivalent to a part of her life. If she cut it off completely, she would no longer be considered Mu Xue.
Su Xingting used his spiritual power to straighten the platinum thread as thin as an ox hair and float it next to Mu Xue's hand.
"Xiaoxue is very talented in everything she learns. She has mastered the Xingting Heart Method so quickly and can already control objects with ease."
Mu Xue felt a little embarrassed. This was not a talent, but the result of living an extra life.
She didn't dare tell Su Xingting that she had already condensed her soul, and could not only control the things in front of her, but even shake the peach tree far away by the courtyard wall. Now her soul was stable, and even if she encountered someone attracting souls again, unless she wanted to, it would be difficult to pull her away like last time.
The master and the disciple sat quietly in the courtyard where fallen leaves were floating.
There was a tiger roar in the distance, the cold wind blew up the dead leaves on the ground, and a white tiger fell from the sky and landed in the middle of the courtyard.
Fu Yun jumped off the tiger's back and saluted hastily, "Master, the boat has had an accident!"
He held a soul lamp in his hand, and with a grim expression he held the lamp in front of Su Xingting.
Su Xingting stood up instantly and looked at the soul lamp with a frown. The originally bright light inside the glass lampshade was now almost extinguished and very dim.
This is Ye Hangzhou's soul lamp.
Su Xingting pointed his sword, and a green dagger flew out from his sleeve. The dagger made a clear and pleasant sword sound and fluttered in the wind.
The elegant gentleman's aura suddenly changed at this moment, and he became as sharp and cold as a sword out of its sheath. He stepped onto the sword, and the sword and he became one, breaking through the air like a gust of wind.
"Fu Yun, follow me." His voice came from the air.
The white tiger roared in the forest, soared into the air, and followed behind.
Only a few fallen leaves were left in the courtyard, and Mu Xue was all alone.
The empty mountain was silent, the insects hid and the birds slept. Mu Xue had never felt that Xiaoyao Peak was so vast and quiet.
She sat down in the corridor, watching over the soul lamp that could go out at any time.
The sky gradually darkened, the clouds turned deep purple, and the stars became visible. The little bit of blue light struggled in the dim corridor.
The thought that Senior Brother Ye might die became clear in his mind.
It's not that Mu Xue had never seen death. On the contrary, she was always surrounded by death, the disappearance of her companions, the death of her enemies, and her own death. She had gotten used to such separations since her childhood.
The cause and effect of heaven and earth are predetermined, and no one can escape the destined fate.
But this time, her chest seemed to be blocked by a stone. She couldn't push it down, nor could she spit it out. She couldn't breathe smoothly and her heart was suffocated, which made her very uncomfortable.
When Miao Hong'er came back from hunting, she saw Mu Xue sitting alone in the yard.
After finding out the situation, she stamped her feet anxiously.
"Junior brother, that idiot, and why didn't Master send me a message? He and Senior Brother Fu flew away on swords. This is too dangerous. The sect clearly forbids Jindan-stage cultivators to go to the ruins of the temple."
The ancient god's ruins suppressed the immortals and demons. Even after cultivating the golden elixir and entering the divine way, they were suppressed by the divine power, just like the disciples who had just entered the door of cultivation. Although they might have slightly better knowledge and methods than ordinary disciples, no sect was willing to take such a risk.
Just like a general who is good at planning and strategizing would never be sent to charge into battle, it is also impossible to let the emperor in the temple personally enter the enemy camp for negotiations.
But it was too late to say this now, the master had been gone for most of the day, and even the head of the sect had come twice in a huff.
Mu Xue and Miao Honger sat facing each other for a long time. Miao Honger became irritable and went to the kitchen to get a large pot of fried rice. She gave one to Mu Xue and held the rest in her arms, overeating and eating more than ever before.
After a long night, when the sky began to turn pale, a green sword energy cut through the sky and returned to the courtyard.
Su Xingting came down from the sword, holding a person in his arms, a bloody person.
He had no time to talk, and quickly walked into the room, carefully placing the seriously injured Ye Hangzhou on the bed.
Ye Hangzhou's face was as pale as gold paper, his eyes were tightly closed, his body was incomplete, and he had lost a leg and an arm. Black smoke was lingering around the broken limbs, and it was obvious that he had been poisoned.
Xuandan Peak Master Kong Ji arrived soon.
"How could it be like this! It must be the work of the demon cultivators." Kong Ji checked the injuries and looked furious. "I have told these disciples thousands of times not to have any contact with the demon cultivators, but some people just don't take it seriously."
"He's not a demon cultivator." Su Xingting said calmly.
"If it's not a demon cultivator? Then who could it be?" Kong Ji was stunned.
Su Xingting lowered his eyes and did not answer. He pointed his finger at Ye Hangzhou's chest and used his spiritual power to protect his disciple's heart. "Please do your best, brother."
"No matter how hard you try, the stump can still be repaired, but look at the black mist on his wound and the bloody red lines on his skin. This is a 'red waist', a poisonous insect from ancient times. This insect has long been extinct in the world, and there is no cure."
Su Xingting frowned: "There must be a glimmer of hope."
Kong Ji sighed and said, "It is said that deep in the Dongyue Temple there is an endless pool of lifelessness. The purple heart grass growing beside the pool can cure red waist. Please ask the master to issue a law and order the disciples who enter the temple to look for the purple heart grass. If he can't find it, it depends on this kid's luck."
He added, "You don't have to worry. I have a method to drive away the insects and evil spirits. It can temporarily reduce the poison, but I'm afraid this kid will suffer a little."
Painful guttural sounds came from inside the house one after another.
Outside the house, Fu Yun leaned against the porch pillar, his hands crossed in front of his chest, his face grim, and he said nothing.
Miao Hong'er sat on the corridor, her elbows on her knees, gritting her teeth and saying nothing.
Fu Yun suddenly said, "You will go, right? The temple."
"I'm not going." Miao Hong'er gritted her teeth and said, "There's nothing good to eat there. Who would go to such a damn place?"
In the courtyard, a small figure was busy all the time, first tidying up the things on the corridor, then taking a mop to clean the corridor that was covered with blood, and then finding a broom to sweep the bloodstained fallen leaves in the courtyard.
Fu Yun was upset and couldn't help but find fault: "She doesn't look sad at all at such a young age. It's a waste of how much Hangzhou loved her in the past."
"What do you think Xiaoxue is doing?" Miao Hong'er was unhappy. "How sad is she? She's crying and whimpering, can you comfort her?"
The sky brightened.
Ye Hangzhou slowly opened his eyes and found that he had returned to the most reassuring place in the world.
The injuries on my body have been properly treated, but they still hurt a lot. My broken hand hurts, my broken leg hurts, and there is no part of my body that doesn't hurt.
A little head was lying on the bedside. Seeing him wake up, he sat up straight and asked in a childish voice,
"Does it hurt, brother?"
The child looked at him quietly with a pair of black pupils like ink, just like when he took her up the mountain on the first day.
That day, he followed his master's order and went to many towns to pick up many junior brothers and sisters. All of those children cried bitterly and said goodbye to their families reluctantly.
Only this junior sister stood there quietly, watching everything with her clear eyes, as if the hustle and bustle of the world before her had nothing to do with her.
This reminded him of himself back then.
Ye Hangzhou was an orphan who barely survived until the Lantern Festival of that year by begging and scavenging through garbage.
The city was very busy that day, with countless children who were loved by their parents being held and led by their families to the square in front of the city gate to meet the immortal fate. He squeezed in and out of the crowd and picked up half a fallen candied haws. Although he was kicked several times in disgust because of his dirty clothes, he didn't care.
The crowd seemed to be getting lively, talking about wanting to meet some immortal fate.
This matter had nothing to do with him. How could a beggar have any chance to become an immortal? Ye Hangzhou squeezed into an empty corner, ready to enjoy the food in his hand.
A golden butterfly flew from nowhere and landed on his finger covered with icing sugar. Before he could understand what was happening, people around him exclaimed. No one was disgusted by his dirty body and unpresentable clothes. People surrounded him enthusiastically and carried him to the front of the city wall.
Facing the doorway that led to heaven, Ye Hangzhou was at a loss. The other children were crying because they couldn't bear to leave their families. But Ye Hangzhou couldn't cry. In the vast sea of people and the world, there was no one who missed him, no home that belonged to him, and no place worth crying for. He had never felt so lonely as at that moment.
So when he saw this child, and saw that she had the same lonely look as he did back then, Ye Hangzhou couldn't help but want to take care of her. He begged his master to take her to Xiaoyao Peak and make her his junior sister.
Ye Hangzhou weakly stretched out his uninjured hand and touched the two little balls.
His voice was hoarse. "Nothing... It doesn't hurt much."
"Who hurt Brother? Was it a demon cultivator?"
"I was on guard against the demon cultivators, but not against my own people." Ye Hangzhou smiled bitterly and closed his eyes. "It was a disciple of Tianyan Sect, Lv Yihong. The funny thing is, it was just for a magical herb."
Tianyan Sect is a sect that has close ties with Guiyuan Sect. Disciples from the two sects often come and go, and their relationship is very close. People who are very close to you are the ones who are most likely to hurt you.
On the hillside of Qingjing Peak where the head of the sect resides, there is a huge protruding stone platform.
Nowadays, many disciples from the sect gather here.
Many people walked onto this stone platform, carrying their luggage and leading their companions.
There was a flying boat on the stone platform, slowly flying away into the sky.
The most exciting event in Guiyuan Sect in recent days is forming a team to explore the Dongyue Temple.
Many disciples came here and took the sect's large flying magic tools to the mysterious ancient god ruins.
The huge flying boat traveled among the clouds.
Several young female disciples were whispering on the deck.
"Is that Senior Brother Fu Yun? He's here this time too? I'm so lucky to be able to travel with Senior Brother Fu."
"Is Senior Brother angry? Who is the kid sitting opposite him? It's so rare to see Senior Brother Fu get angry."
"Mr. Qingfenglangyueyunzhong, it turns out you also have times when you lose your temper, hehe."
At this moment, Fu Yun was furious and didn't care about his image. He pointed at Miao Honger in front of him and cursed,
"Sister, if you want to go by yourself, that's fine. But if you take a little sister like this out and something goes wrong, how are you going to explain it to the master?"
Miao Hong'er helplessly spread her hands: "Why did Junior Sister scold me? I just found out about it and was thinking about how to get back at her."
"Sister, you can't push me back." The fair and clean little boy raised his little face, "The sect has announced that any disciple below the Golden Core stage can voluntarily sign up to explore the Divine Realm. Although I am younger, I am also a member of the sect."
Miao Honger laughed and put her arm around her shoulders, "Not bad, not bad, you are quite brave, you have the style of our Xiaoyao Peak."