"Go away." The sect leader suddenly said.
Luo Jinxiao didn't react for a moment. She raised her head and stared at the sect leader in a daze.
"I asked you to stay to help me take care of Zhaozhao. Now that she is gone, there is no point in you staying." The sect leader shook his head and slowly stood up.
Luo Jinxiao realized that what she said was true, and his heart suddenly felt ecstatic, but after the ecstasy, guilt followed.
The sect leader seemed to see through her thoughts at a glance and said softly, "Don't think too much."
Luo Jinxiao hesitated for a moment and said, "Since Zhaozhao has left, why don't you come down the mountain with me and leave here?"
"It doesn't make much difference to me where I stay. Being lonely here every day is like atonement, and it will make me feel better." said the sect leader.
Atonement? Luo Jinxiao had never heard her mention it before, and was speechless for a moment.
"Atone your sins to Zhao Zhao. If I hadn't been compassionate and concerned about the lives of the people in the world, Zhao Zhao wouldn't have died." The sect leader blurted out the words without any reason, his eyes filled with sadness again.
Seeing that Luo Jinxiao's expression was as sad as hers, the Sect Master suddenly smiled again: "These are all old things, no need to mention them again. It just so happens that you can walk around after coming down the mountain, so help me get something."
"What object?" Luo Jinxiao straightened up.
"Don't be nervous. It's an old thing that I have been thinking about for a long time." The sect leader took out a piece of yellowed silk cloth from his sleeve and put it into Luo Jinxiao's hand.
"Don't let anyone know that I asked you to find it. There is a clue on this silk cloth. The barrier has been broken. You should pack up and go out at noon."
After the sect leader finished speaking, he closed his amber eyes, not giving Luo Jinxiao a chance to speak again.
Luo Jinxiao held the silk cloth. No matter what she was looking for, she would have the chance to meet Qu Weiyin. This thought made her so happy that she couldn't control herself. She had never been so happy in the five years on Nandou Peak.
But the sect leader also made her worried. Luo Jinxiao looked at the sect leader again, stopped arguing with her, and turned away.
Behind her, a tear shed from the sect leader's eyes. She opened her eyes again and looked in the direction Luo Jinxiao went.
"Zhao Zhao, I still can't do anything about it."
Luo Jinxiao took nothing with him except a full Qiongqi. He wandered in the snow and came to the edge of the barrier.
She looked at the road down the mountain. It was deserted, but it made her heart swell with excitement.
She heard footsteps behind her and turned around to see the sect leader wearing a snow-white cloak and standing alone in the snow. The wind blew her silver hair, and the clear sunlight made it almost transparent, like a fairy or a dream.
"Master!" Luo Jinxiao turned around and called her. After all, they had been together for five years, and she was still a little reluctant to leave.
"Be careful on the road, and don't ask me to save you again."
"Miss Luo, don't forget to come back and visit." The old woman said tremblingly.
Luo Jinxiao's nose felt sore. She looked at the narrow path in front of her, then turned back to look at the sect master, feeling mixed emotions. After a while, she suddenly stretched out her hand and tentatively offered it to the sect master.
The sect leader had no idea what she meant and looked surprised.
"Master, although I don't know what atonement you are talking about, I am really worried about you living in this mountain anymore." Luo Jinxiao said.
Although the sect leader's cultivation was so high that she could hardly imagine it, her health was visibly deteriorating, not to mention the old woman who was like a candle in the wind. Luo Jinxiao was very afraid that when she came back, there would be no one on the Nan Dou Peak.
The sect leader was about to shake his head when he was interrupted by Luo Jinxiao.
"You just said you wanted to atone for your sins, but has Zhao Zhao ever blamed you?"
The sect leader lowered his eyes and nodded slightly.
"When she died, did she ever blame you?" Luo Jinxiao asked again.
The Sect Master was stunned for a moment, the pale joints of her fingers bulged. She thought for a moment and said, "No."
Atonement and the like is nothing but self-torture caused by excessive sadness, Luo Jinxiao thought.
Luo Jinxiao stretched his hand forward again, his eyes sparkling.
The sect leader knew very well that she meant something, but he was struggling in his heart and found it hard to accept it. For the first time, timidity appeared in her eyes, which had always been indifferent.
The mountain was covered with snow, gleaming in the sun. The two of them stood in the snow, and no one spoke.
Finally, after an unknown amount of time, the sect leader finally stretched out his pale hand, and the two of them held hands and slowly moved forward out of the barrier.
"If I had known this would happen, I would never have helped you that day." The sect leader sighed and shook his head.
———
Three days later, Luyang Island.
Luyangzhou is located in the remote border of Donghu and covers a vast area. It is also the official road into Donghu. Therefore, people come and go at the entrance of the state, making it crowded and lively.
The people living here include merchants, commoners and nobles. The houses are lined up one after another, the streets are wide, and the goods are numerous. It is a place often visited by people who practice Taoism.
The largest and most prosperous area in Luyang Island is Liuguang Street, where there is a barter corridor specially set up for cultivators, and it is the most bustling place.
The teahouse beside Liuguang Street was crowded with people. Near the window, sat a group of men and women in green clothes. It was obvious at first glance that they were cultivators, and they were looking around curiously.
In the corner behind them, there sat a woman silently. She had rosy lips, a small jade nose, and slightly drooping eyes. She was dressed in a red dress with a graceful figure. She was beautiful in a way that was both righteous and evil, and everyone in the teahouse turned around to look at her.
But she exuded a cold and murderous aura, and no one dared to approach her.
A young man who looked like a scholar sitting by the window would glance at her from time to time, then lower his voice and say to his fellow disciples sitting around a table, "Look, Junior Master Qu is sitting there alone again. She has brought us out for a few days and has not said a word to us. She is just as the rumors among the fellow disciples say, very cold."
"Baili Xiao, keep your voice down." A young girl next to him was so scared that she quickly covered his mouth.
"You can't stand this. I think she is just old and has a weird temper, so she is always ferocious. Yesterday I almost soiled her purse, and she used her power to intimidate me without saying a word. It was really scary." Another strong, square-faced young man complained, shaking his head as he spoke.
"Hey, let's not talk about this." The square-faced boy waved his hand and poured a bowl of tea in front of him. "What do you think we can find in the treasure hunt later?"
"What else can we find? Since we are not allowed to enter the heavenly realm, it has been extremely difficult for us to find good spiritual weapons. I just hope that we can find one or two that are handy this time." Baili Xiao sighed.
The Treasure Hunting Competition is a new thing that has emerged in recent years. Some talented people have found or forged spiritual weapons and sold them to the Treasure Hunting Competition, which then collects them and exhibits them once a year for disciples from various sects to buy. However, some good treasures cannot be bought with money and must be won through martial arts.
A man in white walked in from outside. It was Chang Siyu. He still looked clear and bright, with no major changes. Seeing this, several disciples hurriedly stood up and called him Brother Siyu.
Chang Siyu nodded and walked towards Qu Weiyin, but he only dared to sit half a meter away from her. He smiled and asked, "Master Qu, we may have to wait for this meeting. You just came from the Exiled Sea, why don't you go and rest first?"
"No need." Qu Weiyin said lightly, pinching the teacup with her white fingertips, with an indifferent expression.
Chang Siyu's eyes involuntarily stayed on her five white fingers. He swallowed and his mind moved slightly.
Over the years, he relied on being the eldest brother who taught new disciples and was able to talk to her a few words.
It made him very satisfied.
I believe that slowly melting her heart is just around the corner.
Qu Weiyin felt irritated and uneasy listening to the noise in the teahouse, but once she returned to her room, she was filled with endless longing. It would be better for her to be irritated here.
I don’t know what Elder Liu’s intention is. Why did he insist on calling her back from the Exiled Sea and bringing her to Luyang Island with this group of chattering new disciples.
She also wanted to go back to Wuhui Mountain and climb Nandou Peak to take a look.
Gongs and drums sounded from somewhere. Chang Siyu's ears moved and he stood up: "Master Qu, let's go out. The treasure hunt has begun."
At the same time, at a meat stall across the street, Luo Jinxiao was gripping his chopsticks tightly, his eyes fixed on the girl who was wolfing down her food.
After she came out of the mountain, she did not alarm anyone and went to look for Qu Weiyin first, but she could not find her anywhere. By chance, she secretly heard someone talking about the fact that Junior Master Qu would be accompanying them in this treasure hunt, and they should be able to find some good spiritual weapons.
She followed all the way to Luyangzhou, but Luyangzhou was too big, and finding Qu Weiyin was like looking for a needle in a haystack, so she could only try her luck on the spot.
Coincidentally, this place was in the same place as the map drawn on the silk cloth given to her by the sect master. Maybe, she could not only meet her junior uncle, but also find what the sect master wanted.
When she thought that she and Qu Weiyin were in the same area, her heart began to pound wildly, and she wished she could rush to the treasure hunt right away.
So, now she looked at Qiongqi and held the chopsticks even tighter.
Qiongqi burped for a long time, and then with his face covered in oil, he said, "One bowl."
The chopsticks in Luo Jinxiao's hand broke into two pieces with a snap.
Apart from gaining weight, Qiongqi has gained something else over the years. With her stupid brain, she has finally learned to speak human language, but her words are a little fragmented, and she can only utter one word at a time.
If you say them all at once, it will be irrelevant.
The rest of the people sitting at the meat stall were chewing, but their eyes kept glancing at them, and they all sighed that someone could eat so much, especially a young girl. One person ate at least ten bowls of beef noodles, twenty pieces of roast beef, and twenty bowls of beef soup.
Fortunately, Luo Jinxiao was wearing a black outfit and a veil, otherwise her face would have been disgraced by Qiongqi.
Luo Jinxiao gritted his teeth, nodded, waved to the waiter, and said, "Another bowl of beef noodles."
Don't ask her why she didn't give Qiongqi beef to eat. It was because she was short of money. She only brought some silver with her, but Qiongqi ate all the silver along the way. There was little left, and they were in a hurry on the road, so they had no time to let her hunt on her own.
People on the street suddenly started running to one side. Luo Jinxiao looked up and stopped a big man at the next table to ask him.
"The treasure hunt has begun. We, the immortal cultivators, are just waiting to get some good treasures." The big man said cheerfully.
"Thank you." Luo Jinxiao smiled, but her eyes were calm. She reached out and patted Qiongqi's head, slightly threateningly, "Don't eat anymore. Wait until you find Junior Master, and you won't starve."
There was a sudden noise on the street. Luo Jinxiao looked up and saw that two groups of immortal cultivators had collided with each other. He didn't know what they were arguing about. Judging from their clothes, one was black and the other was white, one should be from the Life and Death Sect and the other one was from the White Moon Sect.
Luo Jinxiao has always had a bad impression of the Gate of Life and Death and was too lazy to join in the fun, so he planned to take Qiongqi and leave from the other side.
Unexpectedly, as soon as he stood up, a fight broke out over there. The strong wind and light and shadows were dancing wildly, and even the shed above Luo Jinxiao's head was blown away. The waiter seemed to be accustomed to this kind of scene. He slowly picked up the valuables in his arms and no one knew where he hid.
Then with a bang, a man in black fell in front of her and rolled several times on the ground.
He cursed angrily, climbed up, pushed Luo Jinxiao away, and cursed: "Get out of the way, don't block my way!"
Luo Jinxiao took two steps back, frowned slightly, and patted the place where he was touched. Before he could say anything, the man retreated back without any eyes and put the knife across Luo Jinxiao's neck.
"Follow, come out with me!" he stuttered.