The rest camp was tidied up again and a superficial tranquility was restored.
But almost everyone's heart was tense because of the stranger who joined.
The nights here are really cold, cold and silent. Even the smell of blood left over from the tragic battlefield is frozen by the cold and cannot reach the camp.
The elves in the land quietly poked their heads out again, just like the young disciples who wanted to explore but were a little uneasy at the moment.
The dark figure sitting at the edge of the camp was a character that only belonged to legend. Powerful, handsome, tragic, living in a mysterious and distant world. A mysterious character that was not quite real. But he suddenly came down from the sky like this, helped them, and planned to stay in the camp and spend the night with them.
"Why is he still here? I don't even dare to sleep." A disciple of Guiyuan Sect hid in a blanket and spoke in a very low voice in his companion's ear.
"I don't know." Her companion replied in a whisper, "Who knows why such a big guy would stay with us. I don't dare to sleep either."
But there were also some people who were not afraid of the demon cultivator who stayed in their camp.
Cheng Yan was so absorbed in reading the book "Monster Records" that he occasionally waved his injured arm around his neck and made some inexplicable sighing sounds.
In the cold weather, Xiao Changge grew delicate branches and vines, and built a dense and soft bird's nest on a low wall for the night-shining girl to rest in.
The girl stretched out her only arm from the shack, grabbed Xiao Changge's sleeve, and asked him to stay and talk to her.
Ding Lanlan was trying to repair her puppet that was flattened by the bull demon. It was a huge project. Mu Xue squatted beside her to help.
"Xiaoxue, Xiaoxue?" Ding Lanlan pushed Mu Xue to wake her up from her daze. "Is the sensor array on the puppet's hand ready?"
Mu Xue came to her senses, took a look at the crooked array talisman she had drawn, and said embarrassedly, "Ah, I'll make another one right away."
"What's wrong with you? You've been in a daze since just now?" Ding Lanlan took the array talisman made by Mu Xue and carefully inserted it into the puppet's arm, saying, "When you were a child, didn't you also meet Mr. Cen? Why don't you go and say hello? Isn't that impolite?"
If she had not been so focused on repairing the puppet, she would have noticed that something was wrong with her junior sister.
"Say hello? Um, yes, that's right... I should go say hello." Mu Xue swallowed and felt that even her heartbeat had inexplicably sped up.
She almost slapped herself for being so inexplicably shy. After being in the fairy world for so long, her fists were a little rusty. Could it be that her personality was also not smooth
What on earth is there to be nervous about? Mu Xue asked herself.
That was Xiaoshan, Cen Qianshan, his own disciple.
Even though he looks like a 5-6-year-old now, he can scare off a group of hooligans just by standing there. When he was young, he even got his butt spanked by himself.
Cen Qianshan sat alone at the end of the campfire, and everyone subconsciously chose to rest away from him, leaving a large empty space next to him, which made him feel lonely.
The firelight reflected on his black boots, showing the delicate leather and exquisite workmanship. Above him were his straight long legs, wrapped in exquisitely cut fabric to create charming lines. His elbows were supported on his legs, his slender white fingers were interlaced on his lips, and he was staring at the fire in a daze.
When Mu Xue walked over, a small mechanical puppet jumped down from Cen Qianshan's shoulder.
The little puppet was so happy that it danced around Cen Qianshan. It accidentally tripped and fell, but after getting up, it still waved its thin arms happily and ran away, leaving Cen Qianshan and Mu Xue alone.
"Cen, Brother Cen, do you still remember me?" Mu Xue stood by the campfire, bent over and asked the man sitting by the fire, "I am Xiaoxue, when I was in Shinto..."
Amid the crackling sound of the bonfire, Mu Xue watched the man raise his eyelashes and look at her. For some reason, that look seemed to carry a silent condemnation.
Mu Xue smiled, she knew that this person still remembered her.
"What a coincidence, we meet here. I was thinking about how to find an opportunity to go to Fuwang City to meet you." Mu Xue sat cross-legged beside him, "I didn't expect to meet you as soon as I came to the Demon Spirit Realm."
Cen Qianshan slowly turned to look at her.
We haven't seen each other for ten years. A single word disturbed your eyes. I have so many thoughts to express but cannot. I cannot bear to say thousands of words.
Xiao Qianji was strolling around and happened to pass by Ding Lanlan. Seeing her repairing the puppet, he jumped onto her workbench out of curiosity.
"Hey, the puppets in your fairy world are similar to ours." Qianji extended his arm and handed Ding Lanlan a pair of pointed tweezers. "Do you need help?"
"Oh, OK, can you help?" Ding Lanlan was very curious. She had never seen such a puppet, so self-aware and flexible, almost like a real person.
The little puppet stretched out its arm and accurately clamped a tiny accessory and handed it to Ding Lanlan. Its palm changed into a cone shape and emitted a thin stream of spiritual power, helping Ding Lanlan to inlay and assemble the tiny accessory.
"Wow, you're so awesome." Ding Lanlan praised him without reservation.
"That's amazing." Qianji straightened his small chest, and a sense of pride was revealed in his voice without any pitch. "I don't know how many things I have helped the master assemble that are a hundred times more sophisticated than this."
The enthusiastic Ding Lanlan quickly became familiar with this lively little puppet.
"Your master is very famous in our place. We have all seen your images in the academy." Ding Lanlan lowered her head and whispered to Qianji, "Your scripts have spread to the fairy world."
"Really?" Qianji said, "We have a lot of storybooks there, and I like reading them very much. I study human behavior patterns by reading a lot of storybooks."
"Read, read the original text to study?" Ding Lanlan stuttered.
"Yes," Qianji said seriously, "This way we can better understand the master's mind and provide high-quality service to the master."
Ding Lanlan looked at the puppet she was repairing in embarrassment, and seriously wondered whether it would be necessary to read romance novels to them in the future.
"But Mr. Cen looks much better than I've ever seen him before," said Ding Lanlan.
"What's better?" Qianji's arm turned into a screwdriver, spinning rapidly to tighten a nut.
"That's right... He seems a little world-weary and aloof. But he doesn't look as decadent as the Mirage. I always feel that he seems more humane, even a little shy." Ding Lanlan quietly looked at the figure sitting by the campfire with Zhang Xiaoxue. "He has good taste in clothes, too. He looks smart and cool. Anyway, he is more handsome than I imagined."
Of course, Qianji thought to himself, I don't know how many times he took a bath and changed his clothes before coming here. He also left us alone and muttered to himself in front of the bronze mirror for a long time.
He had been practicing for so long, why did he become mute again when he got here? Mu had spoken so many words on his own initiative. He hadn't spoken yet.
Qianji looked at the two people sitting by the fire, feeling anxious and complaining wildly. His master was capable of everything, but became stupid in front of Mr. Mu, which was really frustrating.
Mu Xue took out a pack of snacks from her storage bag and handed it to Cen Qianshan, "This is called Donkey Rolling, it's not available in the Demon Spirit Realm. Do you want to try it? I specifically asked my senior sister to make it before I came here."
Cen Qianshan's fingers curled up slightly, then stretched out again.
When he took the bag from Mu Xue, his fingertips lightly hooked on her fingers, intentionally or unintentionally. The temperature of his fingertips was scorching and hot, leaving a lingering touch on her skin.
Mu Xue raised her head to look at him, but Cen Qianshan had already turned back.
He picked out a dessert with his fingers and ate it slowly.
The thin lips were stained with a little soybean powder, which made this aloof and cold man suddenly have the air of fireworks and no longer so intimidating.
There was a sense of familiarity as when he used to lean on me and eat.
Mu Xue felt relaxed. She sat next to Cen Qianshan and took out a can of red fruit, a plate of sesame sauce and sugar cakes, and a box of cheese rolls from her storage bag...
"I bought them at the foot of the mountain before I came here," she said as she displayed the items. "I saved them in my storage bag and wanted to bring them to you to try."
She overlooked the slight omission in her own sentence, and Cen Qianshan did not say anything.
He ate every piece of dessert carefully and seriously, without stopping for a moment. It was as if he had been hungry for a long time and had not tasted anything sweet. Once he had eaten a little, he was unwilling to stop.
Mu Xue sat beside him and ate slowly with him.
This kind of atmosphere makes everyone in the camp relax.
Some people immediately became interested and wanted to take advantage of this rare opportunity to consult the rare demon cultivator on some academic questions.
"Master Cen, I have something to ask you." Cheng Yan came over with the copy of "Monster Records" borrowed from Mu Xue, flipping through the book for Cen Qianshan to read. "This is the "Monster Records" that we compiled. I don't know if there are any mistakes or omissions. For example, it says here that the wife of the Shilong tribe will eat her husband on her wedding night. I think that's unlikely."
The thick book was filled with annotations in an elegant and freehand handwriting. At first glance, it looked completely different from before. But if you looked closely, the strokes were all like the notes of the person who had written the document back then.
Cen Qianshan took it with one hand and read page after page. After reading for a long time, he suddenly closed the book and put it into his storage pendant as a matter of course. "Yes, there are indeed many omissions. I suggest you read "Monster Beast General Examination" instead."
He took out a thick new book and handed it to Cheng Yan.
It is brand new, thick, and beautifully decorated, and it is obvious at first glance that it is worth a lot of money.
That means that Mu Xue doesn't want to return her copy of "Monster Records" and wants to exchange it for this one.
Cheng Yan took a quick look and saw that the book was beautifully printed and recorded in detail the habits of various monsters in the Demonic World. He was so happy that his eyes lit up when he got the authentic "Comprehensive Study of Monsters" from the Demonic World, and he no longer had to worry about having nowhere to look up information when he encountered a monster he was interested in.
After being excited for a moment, he suddenly remembered that his copy of "Monster Records" was not his at all, and he should not have given it directly to Cen Qianshan as an exchange.
He scratched his head sheepishly and said to Cen Qianshan: "I'm sorry, Mr. Cen, the copy of "Monster Records" just now is not mine. It was lent to me by Junior Sister Xiaoxue. I need to ask Junior Sister..."
Inexplicably, the gaze of Mr. Cen towards him instantly became sharp and cold. The invisible pressure made Cheng Yan almost subconsciously activate the Vajra Indestructible Technique to protect himself.
It was not until Mr. Cen had suppressed his strange resentment for a long time that Cheng Yan took a deep breath and felt a little better. He didn't even understand what he had said wrong.
Cen Qianshan took out an ancient book with old pages and handed it to Mu Xue who was sitting next to him.
"I'll trade this one with you." His slender fingers stroked the old cover, as if he was reluctant to part with it. "Is that okay?"
It was a book called "Monsters" published a hundred years ago. It looked very old after being read over and over by its owner. Mu Xue opened the book and found that it was also filled with notes. The handwriting was a little immature at first, but gradually matured.
This book seems to be the book that Xiaoshan gave himself when he was a child
Mu Xue finally remembered that when she accepted Xiao Shan as her apprentice, the first book she taught him to read was "Monster Records". At that time, she took the book from the bookshelf and handed it to him, teaching him to read it carefully and take notes.
What a coincidence that I actually lent a book like this to Cheng Yan.
Although I don’t know why Xiaoshan wanted to exchange his book with her.
But Mu Xue didn't mind and agreed readily.
I even started flipping through old books by the firelight because of this memory.
She didn't notice that the man sitting by the campfire was becoming a little embarrassed.
The empty spaces on the pages in his hand were filled with words in various colors of ink, and even some doodles. Some of the places made Mu Xue laugh.
"On a certain day of a certain month of a certain year, a white fox was captured in Qingqiu and presented to the master. The fox transformed and bewitched me, and the master did not like it. He chased me away." There was a picture of an ugly little fox on the side, and a big cross was made on it.
Did Xiaoshan write it wrong? Mu Xue still remembered that the little fox turned into a little boy with fox ears and tail, and she liked it very much. But for some reason, the fox disappeared the next day. Xiaoshan said that it ran away by itself.
"On a certain day of a certain month of a certain year, I killed a red dragon and offered its bones and blood to my master. Because I was seriously injured, I concealed it and did not report it. My master was angry and said that he would punish me by slapping him ten times. But he took pity on my weak body and did not punish me. I still owe him money."
"On the last day of a certain month of a certain year..."
Mu Xue sat by the campfire, slowly turning the pages of the book, and the bright moon in the night sky was moving among the colorful jade.
On the other side of the campfire, the night-light girl poked her head out from the edge of the bird's nest and talked to the boy sitting cross-legged nearby, her soft long hair gently draped over the boy's shoulders.
Xiao Changge said something, causing the girl to laugh softly.
The girl stretched out her feathery white arms from the tender green leaves, held his face in her hands, and gently kissed him on the cheek.
"Thank you, I like you, human boy."
Having been practicing self-cultivation since childhood and taught by a strict teacher, the old-fashioned and immature boy had never seen such a straightforward and passionate way of expression from the demon race.
His face instantly turned completely red, and he stood up suddenly, not knowing where to put his hands and feet.
The people around who saw this scene burst into laughter.
"The demons are different from us. They are very pure. They treat any emotion with passion and directness, and never hide it." Mu Xue smiled and shook her head, lowering her head to continue reading.
A dried peach blossom fell from the pages of the book.
"On a certain day of a certain month of a certain year, I got a cup of firefly peach blossom wine and drank it with my master under the moon. My master was drunk, his face was like a peach blossom, and he promised to stay with me for the rest of my life."