After the competition that day, Ding Lanlan and the others gathered in Mu Xue's cave. Among the girls, no one could compare to Mu Xue in terms of spaciousness and comfort, because Xiaoyao Peak was too vast and sparsely populated. There were only a few people living on such a large mountain. Everyone on the mountain had an independent and quiet courtyard.
When Mu Xue grew up, her master Su Xingting chose a place with beautiful scenery and abundant spiritual energy for her, and turned it into a cave. It had a roof, a ground, and a courtyard, and was decorated comfortably.
On their way back, they met Fu Yun, who gave them a bunch of fruits and vegetables as gifts that he had received at the competition.
Every time he appears in sect activities, this brother always receives a large number of gifts forced upon him by his admirers.
Ding Lanlan and a few others were in Mu Xue's yard, eating fruit while looking through the list of people who had entered the finals.
"Senior Brother Yun looks aloof, but he is actually quite approachable." Ding Lanlan felt embarrassed to say that Fu Yun was cold and difficult to get along with.
"Senior Brother is a very gentle person." Mu Xue was sharing lotus root powder cake with Yuanzi. Her mouth was stuffy and her words were slurred.
Xia Tong sorted out the information of all the finalists and spread them on the table for Mu Xue and Ding Lanlan to see. In this competition, Mu Xue and Ding Lanlan both entered the finals.
"From the preliminaries, it seems that there are several brothers with strong attack capabilities at Tiezhu Peak. In particular, they practiced the Vajra Indestructible Technique, which makes them immune to water and fire, and fearless of blades. It's very troublesome." Xia Tong handed the information of the brothers from Tiezhu Peak to Mu Xue.
Perhaps it was due to the environment she grew up in, Xia Tong had been particularly fond of gossip and collecting all kinds of information since the first day she entered the mountain gate. This character became a major characteristic of her as she grew older.
"And there is this senior sister from Yuding Peak, who is very skilled in the art of Qimen Dunjia." Xia Tong handed a piece of paper to Ding Lanlan, on which were recorded the weapons, skills and various magic moves used by the senior sister.
Ding Lanlan looked at him and fell into deep thought, wondering how she should deal with it if she met this opponent in the finals.
"But I think the strongest opponent is still Senior Brother Xiao from our peak. Although Xiaoxue defeated him once, it was by using a surprising move. There is no guarantee that in the final, he will have figured out a way to counter your move, so you still have to be careful." Xia Tong said.
Mu Xue nodded and took Xiao Changge's information to look at it.
"There is another person," Xia Tong hesitated for a moment and took out a piece of silk paper, "Zhuo Yu from Qingjing Peak. He is the one with 'fire flowing everywhere'. This person's magic is extremely domineering. You must be careful."
Yuanzi leaned over and saw the portrait on the paper. "I have seen this Zhuo Yu. I heard that he practices very hard. He gets up early and goes to bed late every day, regardless of rain or shine, and practices hard. One time, I went to Qingjing Peak to deliver something for my master late at night, and I saw him practicing magic in the snow."
They were discussing the finalists here, but they didn't know that not far away from them, Xiaoyao Peak Master Su Xingting also mentioned this person to the visiting headmaster Dan Yangzi.
"Is it the disciple named 'Fire Flowing Everywhere' who was judged as a rebellious disciple?" Su Xingting poured a cup of tea for the headmaster. "I remember that no one wanted to accept this disciple as a disciple at that time. They wanted to keep him in the outer sect. But it was you, headmaster, who took pity on his excellent talent and finally accepted him into your Qingjing Peak."
Dan Yangzi twisted his long beard and sighed, "I know that everyone rejects Zhuo Yu because of that incident in the past. But I always think that we should not characterize such a talented child based on preconceived impressions."
Su Xingting raised his teacup and took a sip. "You can't be blamed for this. It is said that Senior Brother Xu Kun was also in a similar Flowing Fire Realm when he entered the sect. Later, he defected to the Demonic Spirit Realm, causing the deaths of many of his fellow disciples. Although I was still young at the time, I still remember it vividly. I'm afraid that the group of brothers who entered the Demonic Spirit Realm will find it even more unforgettable."
"Actually, I have some concerns in my heart." Dan Yangzi sighed, "But Zhuo Yu is a strong-willed kid. He has been practicing diligently since he became my disciple. It's because he has heard too many rumors over the years and is afraid that others will accuse me of being old and blind and accepting the wrong disciple. He is determined to prove himself. If I deliberately screen him out from the selection this time, not allowing him to participate in the competition, and depriving him of the qualification to go to the Demon Spirit Realm, I am afraid it will hurt this kid's heart."
Su Xingting smiled, "The master has a broad mind and can tolerate everything. I admire him. But others laugh at me for being the best at protecting people in Xiaoyao Peak. It seems that I am not as good as the master."
Danyangzi narrowed his eyes under his white eyebrows, "Who is kidding you? I'm here to ask you to tell my fortune so that I can calm my mind."
Su Xingting put down the teacup, turned out the egg-born world, turned it over several times, and watched the three small coins in the world slowly fall to the ground.
"I think what Senior Brother said is very right. We should not judge the nature of future generations based on the minds of previous generations, and we should not convict others of crimes based on things they have not done."
Mu Xue saw Ding Lanlan, Xia Tong and Yuanzi off, and walked into the house along the corridor of the courtyard.
The wild peach blossoms in the mountains were in full bloom. When blown by the wind, they flew into the courtyard like heavy snow and landed on the wooden floor of the corridor.
Looking at the fluttering petals, Mu Xue couldn't help but recall the courtyard where snowflakes were always falling.
Ten years had passed since they last met. She hadn't heard any news about Xiao Shan from the Demon Spirit World.
The strange thing is that time has not diluted the concern in my heart. Instead, it is like fine wine, becoming more fragrant as time goes by.
The little bit of longing in my heart ferments with time, lingers more and more in my heart and cannot be shaken off.
I don't know how that person has been doing these years. Is he still lonely, hurting himself, and not able to take care of himself
Mu Xue knew that Xiao Shan had a magical tool that could summon souls. She had thought about it for a long time, wondering if she should leave her soul and go to the appointment if the bell rang again. But for some reason, ten years had passed, and the sound of the chime that she had been expecting never came.
The Demonic Realm, the former site of Fuwang City.
The snowy courtyard door was pushed open, and a dusty man wearing a cloak walked in.
The little puppet Qianji heard the noise, raised his thin arms, and ran quickly across the snowy yard to welcome his master back.
"Master is back. Thank you for your hard work. Did you gain anything from this trip? Did you find a way to get to the fairy world?"
Cen Qianshan didn't respond to it. He bent down and stretched out his hand, letting it jump onto his palm and climb up his arm to his shoulder.
"How's your home? Has anyone... come over?" he asked.
"No one came. Xiaoji takes good care of the family." Qianji replied.
Qianji always felt that his master was a little strange. Every time he went out, he no longer took him with him like before, but asked him to look after the house and wait for anyone to visit.
What kind of visitors could come
I have been in this house for hundreds of years. When has anyone ever come to visit? Even those who paid the owner to help would only dare to drop their visiting cards into the mailbox outside the door from a distance.
Qianji felt that the reason why the master behaved like this was not because he wanted to look after the house by himself, but because he had the human emotion of "getting tired of the old and liking the new".
It searched through the information about human habits stored in its mind and found that when humans met those new "sluts", they would leave aside the "friends who had been with them for many years".
Ever since the master went to the ruins of Dongyue Temple ten years ago and brought back a new tin man who was all show and no substance, he has transferred most of his love for himself to that guy.
He often stared at the tin man in a daze, carefully repaired and modified its body, took it with him wherever he went, and even put it at the head of his bed when he slept. He also personally gave it a very nice name, Xiaoya.
This fellow named Xiaoya, except for his good looks, is completely useless. Although his master carefully installed a simple drive system in his body without damaging its external structure, it can only execute some simple commands dully. It is neither as powerful as himself, nor as smart and sharp as himself.
I really don't know what the owner likes about it.
After Cen Qianshan returned to the house, he immediately went into the shower room. Not long after, the sound of a bath was heard from the shower room.
The puppet girl held a clean towel and change of clothes in her hands, and stood obediently on the steps outside the door waiting.
Qianji looked left and right, and quietly moved behind it. Its retractable slender legs suddenly lengthened, tripping the stunned little girl, and watched it roll all the way down the stairs.
It quickly picked up its owner's clothes and proudly took the place that Xiao Ya had just taken.
When Cen Qianshan came out of the bathroom, he saw Qianji running away with his arms raised high, holding his clothes on his shoulders, and the stupid Xiaoya was chasing after him. Xiaoya raised her little hands in confusion, trying to take back the task assigned to her by her master.
"Come back, come back, give it back to me."
"No, no, no, I won't give it to you."
Cen Qianshan ignored them and just took the white towel from Qianji's hand. He sat on the wooden floor of the corridor with his upper body naked, wiping his slightly long hair.
After drying his hair and body, he took out medicine from his Qiankun bag and began to treat the wounds on his body caused by the battle outside.
Qianji stopped and his clothes were finally snatched away by Xiaoya.
The owner has really changed a lot in these ten years.
The master was not like this before. Every time he came back from outside, he would either stare at the snow in a daze or practice hard. No matter how badly he was injured, he was too lazy to take care of himself.
Now, he would eat well, take a good bath, and take good care of his wounds. He always kept himself neat and tidy.
The host was handsome to begin with, and when he dressed up like this and went to a busy place, women would occasionally come up to him and chat with him, and many would even throw their handkerchiefs and sachets into his arms with a giggle.
Humans are very superficial creatures. Just because of their appearance, they seem to be able to forget their master's former cruel reputation.
Cen Qianshan bandaged his wound, put on a coat, put his wet hair behind his head, took out the small purple-gold dragon-patterned chime, and rubbed it slowly in his hand.
Over the past ten years, he had taken out this small pair of bells countless times. He took them out and put them away, put them away and took them out again. He could not help wanting to strike them several times, but he gritted his teeth and held back.
"We finally got the complete Dongyue Divine Chime, why don't you strike it?" Qianji turned to his master and asked puzzledly, "Strike it once? Please come home and see us, Mr. Mu."
Look, I am the only one who can talk to the master attentively. That useless guy just sits there with his clothes on.
Cen Qianshan's thumb repeatedly stroked the hammer and wooden handle of the bell, and finally shook his head and said softly, "The soul leaving the body is harmful and useless."
Qianji said, "If the master hadn't met Mu Dajia, after so many years, maybe Mu Dajia would have fallen in love with some 'slutty bitch' and forgotten about you, the master."
Cen Qianshan's pale fingers clenched tightly.
Xiaoya stretched out her slender arm and poked Qianji, "You said the wrong thing."
Qianji: "How is that possible? I know humans best. I will definitely not say the wrong thing."
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This article was first published in Jinjiang