Peach Blossom Grove, inside the wooden hut…
Hua Ruoying, who had been unconscious for many days, finally woke up today.
"Cough~" After coughing a few times, Hua Ruoying slowly opened her eyes. She forced herself to sit up.
"Qingping~" Hua Ruoying called softly.
After waiting a while and still not seeing Qingping, Hua Ruoying stumbled out of bed. She barely managed to pour herself a cup of tea.
At this moment, a black shadow drifted in through the window. Hua Ruoying opened her palm and caught it. A few lines of words slowly appeared in the shadow: In three days, bring Mi Xingzhe back to Wuming Demon Mountain.
Hua Ruoying clenched the shadow message in her hand, destroyed it, then sat to the side and thought about something. Just then, Qingping happened to return from outside.
"you're finally awake." Qingping walked in, saw Hua Ruoying sitting there, and happily threw himself at her. Being hugged so tightly all of a sudden, Hua Ruoying felt like she almost couldn't breathe.
"I just came back from Young Master's place. how do you feel?" Qingping said as he put down the medicine in his hands.
"I feel much better. Did you bring me back?" Hua Ruoying asked.
"Yes. That day, when that man wasn't paying attention, I took you and ran back to the hut. Luckily, later Young Master's master came to find you. He knows medicine, so he treated you and saved you,"
"Has Mi Xingzhe come by these past two days?" Hua Ruoying asked.
"Young Master did come every day two days ago to take care of you, but today he probably can't come," Qingping replied.
"Why?"
"This morning when I went out, I fought with the Liao Yin Immortal Realm's soldiers. They even thought I was a little demon who stole something and dragged me away," Qingping said with grievance.
"Fought? Are you hurt?" Hua Ruoying asked nervously.
"Just some surface wounds, nothing serious. I already had medicine put on at Young Master's master's place. When those soldiers grabbed me, they kept asking if I was some thief who stole some kind of 'Yinlü' thing. I couldn't explain it clearly, so I said Young Master's name, and then they grabbed Young Master too," Qingping continued.
"Then what?"
"Then I don't know where Young Master got that temper from. After only a few words, he started arguing with that so-called Immortal Sovereign. That man got furious and almost threw us into the water prison. Luckily, Young Master's master arrived in time and got us out of it."
"Then what does that have to do with him not coming today?" Hua Ruoying asked.
" After that, we went back to their place, Mirror Cloud Residence. Young Master's master is really nice, and he even gave me a few packets of medicine to bring back. But he seems angry because Young Master talked back to that Immortal Sovereign, so after we got back, Young Master's master didn't even bother with him."
"Angry?"
"Ruoying,you didn't see it. Young Master argued hard with that Immortal Sovereign to protect me. He even said I'm his friend. I was pretty moved at the time," Qingping said, getting more and more excited.
[It's said the Liao Yin Immortal Realm cares a lot about seniority and rank. Mi Xingzhe actually argued with the Immortal Sovereign in the main hall for Qingping.] Hua Ruoying thought to herself.
"If I'm not wrong, Young Master is probably still kneeling on the floor right now and hasn't gotten up," Qingping said casually, biting into an apple.
"He got punished for kneeling because he saved you, and you still have the mood to eat here," Hua Ruoying said, snatching the fruit from Qingping's hand.
"How would I know? Young Master usually looks polite and gentle, but when he meets that Immortal Sovereign, he gets so hot-tempered. I was barely able to take care of myself then. How could I have the time to calm him down?" Qingping said, feeling wronged.
"You—your courage is tiny. The moment you see people from the Immortal Realm, your brain stops working," Hua Ruoying said.
Qingping caught the fruit, then put one foot on the chair and chewed thoughtfully.
"Ruoying, when can we go back?" Qingping suddenly asked.
"What, tired of staying here?" Hua Ruoying rolled her eyes and asked with a complaining tone.
"I… I'm scared." Qingping's voice trembled slightly, and the fruit in his hand suddenly didn't taste good anymore.
"Scared of what?"
"Scared… of that man,"
"Which one?"
"The one who took my dad away back then," Qingping said carefully.
At night, the rain poured down like crazy, splashing on the bluestone road. A white figure quietly slipped into the Medicine King's pill room.
Yue Ruling was on night patrol. When she passed the pill room and heard a sound, she quietly walked over to check. After searching, she didn't find anyone at all.
Just as Yue Ruling felt something was strange, she glanced sideways and saw a petal under a tree that looked a bit out of place. She walked over, checked it again and again, then held it under her nose and sniffed it. In the end, her expression turned doubtful.
In Mirror Cloud Residence, it should have been deep night, the time to sleep.
But Mi Xingzhe didn't seem to care that it was raining. His body looked a bit stiff as he walked in circles in the courtyard, and his pupils had a red tint.
The small stones under his feet made a soft rustling sound as he walked. Not long after, that sound woke Yun Qingyi. Through the half-open window, he saw Mi Xingzhe in the rain, walking round and round in the courtyard.
"Nian nian?"
After seeing clearly it was Mi Xingzhe, Yun Qingyi didn't even have time to put on a robe. He grabbed the umbrella by the door and rushed out.
"Nian nian."
Yun Qingyi patted Mi Xingzhe's shoulder from behind, but Mi Xingzhe was still like last time, with no reaction at all.
With no other choice, Yun Qingyi, out of habit, raised his hand and knocked Mi Xingzhe out, then carried him back into the room.
But what Yun Qingyi didn't notice was that, far away, under a white oil-paper umbrella, there was a satisfied smile.
Early the next morning, Mi Xingzhe got up from bed and couldn't help shivering. Then he started sneezing nonstop.
"Nian nian, you're awake."
Yun Qingyi pushed the door open and came in, holding a bowl of ginger soup.
"brother Qingyi, why did I—achoo—sleep for a night and then—achoo—" Mi Xingzhe couldn't understand. It was the middle of summer, but after one night of sleep, he felt like he had soaked in seawater all night and was really uncomfortable.
"It rained all night yesterday. You don't know when you sleepwalked and ran out again. When I found you, I don't even know how many circles you'd walked in the courtyard. You were completely soaked, so you caught a cold," Yun Qingyi said as he handed the bowl over.
"I don't remember any of that. Was it sleepwalking again?" Mi Xingzhe said, taking a sip of ginger soup.
"People who sleepwalk usually don't remember what they did. That's not strange. But you're sleepwalking so often that I'm thinking maybe I should lock you to the bed when you sleep. Next time, who knows where you'll run off to," Yun Qingyi said jokingly.
"Where can I run to? Mirror Cloud Residence is only this big, achoo—"
"Put the quilt on properly. Today you stay in your room and you're not allowed to go anywhere,"
"Even if you let me go out, I won't. My head hurts like crazy. I don't want to move at all," Mi Xingzhe said, then held his forehead and slowly lay back down.
Right after lying down, Mi Xingzhe suddenly jolted up again. Barefoot, he went over next to Yun Qingyi.
"What now?"
Yun Qingyi was just about to leave. When he saw Mi Xingzhe sit up, he knew Mi Xingzhe had something else to say.
"How is Miss Ruoying?" Mi Xingzhe asked.
"She's already awake. Master went to see her this morning. Everything's fine. In a few more days she'll be back to normal," Yun Qingyi answered. He had already guessed Mi Xingzhe would ask.
"When can I go see her?" Mi Xingzhe asked.
"You should wait until your cold gets better. Miss Ruoying just recovered. Don't accidentally pass it to her," Yun Qingyi replied.
"That makes sense. Then senior brother, help me tell Miss Ruoying that I'll go see her in a couple of days," Mi Xingzhe thought for a moment and told Yun Qingyi.
"Got it. Hurry back into bed. You're not even wearing shoes. Are you trying to make your illness worse?" Yun Qingyi nodded, then lifted his leg and lightly kicked Mi Xingzhe on the butt to chase him back to bed.
Mi Xingzhe scampered back to the bed, wrapped the quilt tight, and asked mischievously, "Brother Qingyi can I order food today?"
"I don't think so." Yun Qingyi said, pressing his lips into a small smile as he walked out.
"Brother Qingyi, I want to eat meat," Mi Xingzhe yelled after him.
Inside Lian Zhan Pavilion…
"Ruoling, go invite Immortal Master Kongming here," Qingyuan ordered inside Lian Zhan Pavilion.
After the time of one incense stick, Mu Han quickly walked into Lian Zhan Pavilion.
"I called Immortal Master Kongming here in such a hurry. Qingyuan has been rude," Qingyuan hurried forward and gave a salute.
"War God Qingyuan, there's no need for formalities. You called so urgently—did something happen?" Mu Han asked with concern.
"Not long ago, someone secretly let that demonized Tu Lou go. Our people found this at the place where it was held," Qingyuan said, and handed the item the soldier had presented to Mu Han.
"This is… a blue snowflower petal?" Mu Han couldn't help but be shocked when he saw it.
"Yes," Qingyuan replied.
"So you think it was Junior Brother Luoning's people who let the Tu Lou go?" Mu Han finally understood why Qingyuan had asked him to come.
"This still needs to be checked. But with Immortal Master Xiao Yi's character, I naturally believe he wouldn't do such a thing. I asked Immortal Master Kongming here only because I want to ask you about that little disciple of Immortal Master Xiao Yi," Qingyuan explained.
"You mean Yun Wan'nen?" Mu Han asked.
"How much do you know about him?" Qingyuan asked.
"I heard Luoning say he picked Wan'nen up in Peach Blossom Grove. I've met that child a few times. He's simple-minded, kind, and pure. His personality is a bit lively, but he's not bad at heart," Mu Han said seriously.
"Do you know where he came from before he reached Peach Blossom Grove?" Qingyuan pressed.
"He said he came from the mortal world," Mu Han thought for a moment and said.
"The mortal world? Did you check his family background?" Qingyuan continued.
"He said he was abandoned by his family when he was very young and grew up with an old beggar. Later the beggar died, and he got sold a few times. After that, he was sold to a rich household in Fanli Valley to work as a servant," Mu Han continued, recalling.
"Qingyuan has no other intent. It's just that in recent years, the Demon Sovereign of Wuming Demon Mountain seems completely different from before. He not only buys large amounts of magic treasures and weapons, he also recruits homeless people from the mortal world. Those with good talent get taken into the army, and those with average talent are kept in Fanli Valley. This behavior is really strange," Qingyuan said.
"War God, are you worried that this Mi Xingzhe was sent by Wuming Demon Mountain?" Mu Han asked back.
"In recent years the demon army has grown a lot. I've sent people many times to check Wuming Demon Mountain. Besides their original demon soldiers, there are also some puppets brought back from the mortal world. They all took a pill called Qianmo, and then ordinary mortals are controlled by demon power. In daily life they look no different from normal people, but once they hear an order from the controller, they lose their own will and become like a puppet on strings," Qingyuan explained.
"Puppet arts?" Mu Han couldn't help feeling worried.
"Probably," Qingyuan said, though he still wasn't fully sure.
"This puppet art was sealed by Master hundreds of years ago. The three realms also list puppet arts as a forbidden technique. If this Demon Sovereign is using puppet arts to build an army, then his wolfish ambition really can't be ignored," Mu Han sighed.
"For now, this is only my guess. But I have indeed heard that in recent years, Wuming Demon Mountain has had very close contact with the Flatland," Qingyuan added.
"War God Qingyuan wants to discuss response plans with me?" Mu Han asked.
"To be honest, I asked you here this time. Besides what we just discussed, there's also a personal matter I want to ask Immortal Master Kongming to help with," Qingyuan said, lowering his head and smiling a little in embarrassment.
"A personal matter?"
"I heard your sect has a technique called Jinxi Loke. It can seal part of a memory inside certain special objects. As long as the object stays intact, the memory can stay sealed," Qingyuan asked with a serious expression.
"That technique does exist. What memory does War God Qingyuan want to seal?" Mu Han asked.
"The one I want to seal…" Qingyuan looked around, stepped closer to Mu Han, and whispered in his ear.
Their conversation was passed word for word to Ou Shinan by a golden-spotted phoenix-beak butterfly that landed on the window of Lian Zhan Pavilion.
"Jinxi Loke? There's really something this interesting in the world?" Ou Shinan said with a wicked smile. He clenched the golden-spotted phoenix-beak butterfly in his hand and tossed it into a jar nearby, where black-eyed toads were being raised.
Inside Mirror Cloud Residence, Mi Xingzhe stayed in his room, bored, reading the book in his hands.
"Qingyi-ge's medicine really works. I feel like my cold isn't as bad as it was this morning," Mi Xingzhe muttered to himself as he tested his forehead temperature.
Mi Xingzhe felt too stifled staying in the room, so he secretly slipped out.
At this moment, neither Li Luoning nor Yun Qingyi was in Mirror Cloud Residence. Mi Xingzhe wandered around the courtyard for a while out of boredom, and without realizing it, he arrived at the door of Li Luoning's storeroom. Seeing the fish-bone lock hanging on the door, his urge to challenge it was stirred up.
"Does Qingyi-ge really think a tiny lock can keep me out?" Mi Xingzhe rolled up his sleeves and said with a bad grin.
He remembered there was a skylight on top of the storeroom for ventilation, and there was also a drooping willow tree on one side of the building. So he climbed up the not-so-thick willow and got onto the roof. His slim body easily squeezed through the skylight and into the room.
"Ha. Didn't I tell my senior brother before? When I used to beg, I often snuck into other people's woodsheds like this," Mi Xingzhe said proudly, patting the dust off his hands as he stood in the middle of the storeroom.
"What treasures does Master have in here that I haven't seen? Since it's today, I might as well take a good look," Mi Xingzhe said, then started rummaging around inside.
On the shelves were all kinds of boxes. Inside were gifts Li Luoning had received over the years, and also some precious medicinal herbs. Mi Xingzhe looked through them again and again and felt there wasn't anything he was especially interested in. Then, by accident, his eyes caught something in the corner.