章 79: The Run-down Li Family House
Hearing that name from O Shinan's mouth,
SiTu Fanzhi was shocked. He couldn't believe that O Shinan, a mere celestial scholar, knew his true name.
In the entire Three Realms today, only his senior brother and Xuanming Star Lord should know that name. How did O Shinan find out?
"Immortal Lord, there's no need to be so surprised. In Xuanming Star Lord's palace, you can find anything." O Shinan nonchalantly spread his hands, drawing a few runes in the air with his other hand. The ancient immortal curse of SiTu Fanzhi was revealed.
"I was curious that day. How could you, who controls every immortal friend in The Liao Yin Immortal Realm, be so indifferent to a mysterious intruder? So, I investigated him and unexpectedly discovered that our esteemed Immortal Lord's highly revered position in the Three Realms was actually picked up from someone else~" O Shinan slowly unfurled the immortal curse in his hand, revealing detailed records of SiTu Frost and Jia Guqing.
"If a mere Ne Bai Frost Flower could elevate someone to the position of Immortal Lord, then my flower, stained with the blood of divine beasts, should be able to rule the Three Realms," O Shinan said, spreading his arms and laughing wildly at the sky.
SiTu Fanzhi never imagined that beneath O Shinan's elegant scholar exterior lurked such ambitious and audacious desires.
"But..." O Shinan suddenly stopped, his tone shifting. He turned abruptly towards SiTu Fanzhi and smiled mischievously, "Your Yang energy is still insufficient to counter the Moon Shadow Pill that absorbed the old demon lord's power."
O Shinan stepped closer to SiTu Fanzhi, who seemed to understand his intention, his eyes full of resistance, but his body remained immobilized.
"I will have to trouble the Immortal Lord to go to the human world and collect more Yang energy for me," O Shinan whispered softly into SiTu Fanzhi's ear, reciting an incantation and tapping his shoulders.
Mi Xingzhe returned to the cave, hopping cheerfully with two jugs of wine.
"Elder Jia, Elder Jia." He searched inside and out but couldn't find Jia Guqing.
"Master, where has Elder Jia gone?" Mi Xingzhe asked, feeling a bit disappointed. He had grown fond of the lively old man over the past few days.
"Elder Jia is always carefree and accustomed to a life of freedom," Li Luoning replied, not too concerned.
"How could he leave without saying goodbye?" Mi Xingzhe muttered, feeling a bit hurt. "With Elder Jia gone, life on this mountain will be even more boring."
"Disciple, are you feeling bored?" Li Luoning asked, hearing Mi Xingzhe's words.
"No, no, I know you like peace and quiet. This place is fine," Mi Xingzhe quickly explained, waving his hands.
Li Luoning didn't continue the conversation, lowering his head in thought as if pondering something.
The following days were indeed as Mi Xingzhe had expected—filled with practicing spells, reciting heart techniques, and picking herbs, all mundane and uneventful.
Under a silent night sky with flowing clouds, the crescent moon occasionally covered, Jiuling was shrouded in a dull hue.
"I don't know how long we'll stay in this deserted place. We can't go back to Mirror Cloud Residence, and The Flatland is out of the question. Peach Blossom Forest is also impossible. Are we going to stay in this godforsaken place forever?" Mi Xingzhe muttered to himself, sitting alone on a rock by the cliff, unaware of Li Luoning behind him.
Watching Mi Xingzhe's back, Li Luoning's expression was complicated. After a moment of contemplation, he turned and walked away.
At dawn the next day, Li Luoning gently woke Mi Xingzhe.
"Disciple, wake up," Li Luoning softly called, lightly tapping his shoulder.
Sleepy-eyed, Mi Xingzhe groggily sat up,
"Master, isn't it too early for hunting?" he asked, still half-asleep.
"It's time," Li Luoning said softly.
"Time for what?" Mi Xingzhe asked, still not fully awake.
"Time to leave here," Li Luoning murmured with a slight smile.
"Really? We're really leaving this barren mountain? That's great!" Hearing they were leaving, Mi Xingzhe instantly woke up, jumping up in excitement.
Seeing his disciple so happy, Li Luoning was a bit surprised, holding back a smile as he watched Mi Xingzhe's jubilant dance.
Noticing his master's gaze, Mi Xingzhe quickly composed himself,
"I mean, wherever we go, as long as you're with me, it's fine," he said, stuttering awkwardly.
"Then let's go," Li Luoning said, getting up and heading outside.
"Master, where are we going?"
"The human world."
At Wuming Demon Mountain, in the Demon Lord's hall,
"What do you mean by 'missing'?" Shentu Zhajia angrily questioned the demon soldier who brought the news.
"Commander Hua was indeed at The Flatland, but after staying at Lord Nan Zhe's mansion for less than the time of an incense stick, he hurriedly left for Peach Blossom Forest. The barrier of Peach Blossom Forest, our soldiers' cultivation isn't enough to enter, so... we lost him," the demon soldier reported with a trembling voice.
"Are you sure he entered Peach Blossom Forest and never came out?" Shentu Zhajia asked again, unwilling to believe it.
"Yes, confirmed."
In The Liao Yin Immortal Realm, Peach Blossom Forest...
"Why the sudden interest in visiting my Liao Yin Immortal Realm to admire the flowers, Lord Shentu?" O Shinan, with a group of celestial soldiers, stood before Shentu Zhajia, gently shaking his folding fan and pretending to ask innocently.
"Who do you think you are, to speak to me? Bring out SiTu Fanzhi!" Shentu Zhajia's voice was filled with anger, thinking Hua Qiuyuan must have been detained somewhere in The Liao Yin Immortal Realm by SiTu Fanzhi. His tone was nothing but hostile.
"The Immortal Lord is currently in seclusion. If Lord Shentu has any matters, I can relay them," O Shinan said with a polite nod and a slight smile.
"Even a lowly flower demon can act as a messenger now. Your celestial sect really does take in all kinds of rabble!" Shentu Zhajia's powerful voice carried a tone of disdain.
O Shinan's slender fingers tightened around his fan, lowering his eyes briefly to hide the flash of anger. He despised being called a flower demon. Ever since he was imbued with the blood of divine beasts, he had tried to shed that label. Despite his efforts, he couldn't stop the whispers, always being the dangerous adopted son in the eyes of the Medicine King.
After a moment of contemplation, O Shinan looked up again, eyes smiling,
"Then it seems Lord Shentu has no urgent business. I won't keep you any longer. Please wait until the Immortal Lord comes out of seclusion." He turned to leave as he spoke.
"Halt!"
"What more instructions do you have, Lord Shentu?" Ou Shinan turned around slowly, a smile still on his face.
"Did you apprehend Hua Qiuyuan?" Shentu Zhajia asked bluntly, his tone forceful.
"Commander Hua? He did come by a few days ago," Ou Shinan pretended to ponder thoughtfully, "but he only took a medicine box from the peach blossom forest and left." Ou Shinan lied without changing his expression.
"He left? Where did he go?"
"This immortal has no idea, but I did hear him muttering about going to avenge Hua Ruoying or something, I didn't listen very clearly though." Ou Shinan smiled faintly.
"Avenge? Who is he seeking revenge from?" Shentu Zhajia asked again.
"How would this immortal know? After all, I'm just... a flower demon." Ou Shinan's tone was laced with sarcasm, and without waiting for Shentu Zhajia to ask again, he turned and left with a group of immortal soldiers.
"Qiuyuan has always been prudent in his actions. Even if he were to seek revenge on someone, there's no way he wouldn't send back any news. There must be something fishy going on." Shentu Zhajia knew Hua Qiuyuan very well, and there was no way Hua Qiuyuan would deliberately disappear without a trace.
Mi Xingzhe looked at the dilapidated houses scattered in the overgrown weeds in front of him and asked,
"Master, what place is this?"
"Li Manor." Li Luoning replied softly, and walked towards one of the ruined houses that had not been completely burned down.
"Li Manor.... Then this isn't..." Mi Xingzhe murmured to himself, and then realized it, quickly following behind.
This surviving dilapidated house was once the East Courtyard of Li Manor, the place where Li Luoning's mother lived.
The wooden door of the house was long gone, and through the missing tiles on the gray-black roof, one could see the vast expanse of sky outside. Most of the walls of the house had been burned beyond recognition by the fire that year, and the furniture inside had long been搬空. From the only surviving window frame in the room, one could see a sea of blooming blue snowdrops behind.
"This place isn't even as good as the ruined temple where I used to live with Grandpa Mi." Mi Xingzhe looked around and couldn't help but complain.
Li Luoning gently stroked the marks on the wall next to the window frame, her thoughts drifting back to the past,
"Mother, has Ning'er grown taller again?" Little Li Luoning asked, looking at the marks on the window.
"Our Ning'er has grown so much taller! As long as Ning'er can live a healthy and safe life, Mother will be content."
"Mother, Ning'er wants to be like Father in the future, a person who knows medicine and can heal people."
"Alright, alright, as long as Ning'er likes it, you can do anything you want. Just be safe and sound."
On the day of the Li Manor fire, the moment Li Luoning was pushed out of the room, a burning beam fell, trapping Lady Li under it.
"Mother, save my mother, let me go, I want to save my mother!" Hearing the loud noise, Li Luoning didn't have time to react before she was carried out by the servants who rushed in.
The young Li Luoning could only watch as Lady Li was slowly engulfed by the fire, hearing only Lady Li's last words of advice, "Ning'er, live well."
"Master~ Master~" Pulled back to reality by Mi Xingzhe's voice, Li Luoning realized that her hand had unconsciously chipped a piece out of the window frame.
Mi Xingzhe waved his hand in front of Li Luoning, and seeing that his master had finally come to his senses, he asked cautiously,
"Master, are we going to live here from now on?"
"What else?" Li Luoning turned her head and asked Mi Xingzhe with a look in her eyes.
Come to think of it, even though this house is in ruins, it is still their own land. It is much more stable than living in a ruined temple and being driven away by the market.
"Well, it's not bad. Once it's cleaned up, it should be quite nice. I'll go fetch some water to clean it up and then go to the market to exchange some things. It should be habitable after some repairs." Mi Xingzhe picked up a dead branch from the ground and said with a soft smile.
Li Luoning nodded and looked out at the blue snowdrops again, but her eyes gradually turned cold and ruthless.
Unsatisfied with his inability to find Hua Qiuyuan's whereabouts, Shentu Zhajia decided to try his luck in the Flatland.
It was already late at night in the Demon Forest, the air was thick with fog, and the willows swayed eerily in the moonlight, casting long, distorted shadows on the blood-stained sand.
Shentu Zhajia naturally knew what had happened here before, but he didn't pay much attention to it. He just wanted to get to the Flatland City as soon as possible to find out what was going on, and he didn't notice at all that a powerful magic energy shot out from the shadows behind him.
"Who~" The magic force struck him hard on the back, and Shentu Zhajia, off balance, stumbled forward a few steps, almost falling to the ground.
Nan Zhe walked out of the darkness slowly and unhurriedly,
"Lord Demon Lord is in such a hurry, where are you going?"
"You came just in time, I was just about to look for you, and you delivered yourself to my doorstep."
"What's wrong, Lord Demon Lord? Why are you so angry?" A cold voice came from under Nan Zhe's dark mask.
"I'm asking you, did you send someone to invite Hua Qiuyuan to your mansion as a guest?"
"I wouldn't call it a guest, but Miss Hua Ruoying was murdered, and as a friend, I should inform her brother, shouldn't I?" Nan Zhe rubbed his fingers lightly, as if it was the most natural thing to do.
"Where did Hua Qiuyuan go after he came to your place?" Shentu Zhajia continued to ask.
"How would I know? Commander Hua is swift and decisive in his actions, and he is not good at socializing. I was only responsible for telling him who killed his sister, and he chased after him on his own. I couldn't stop him." Nan Zhe tilted his head and looked straight at Shentu Zhajia, his eyes filled with defiance.
"You know who killed Ruoying?" Shentu Zhajia asked in surprise.
"Is there anything in the Flatland that I don't know?" Nan Zhe spread his hands arrogantly, his tone filled with mocking sarcasm.
"Who is it exactly?" Shentu Zhajia was eager to know this person's name at this moment.
"Oh~ So Lord Demon Lord personally came down the mountain to search everywhere for this reason? Tsk tsk tsk, I didn't expect that Hua Qiuyuan, a mere demon soldier commander, would be worth you, Lord Demon Lord, to personally search everywhere for him. He must be a very trusted dog of yours." Nan Zhe suddenly sold a trick.
"Cut the crap, I haven't bothered you about your business with Minghan, you'd better be smart and tell me right away who killed Hua Ruoying and where you took Hua Qiuyuan! Otherwise, don't blame me for being rude to you." Shentu Zhajia's patience was about to wear thin, and his eyes on Nan Zhe were filled with growing anger.
"Lord Demon Lord, this is wrong. I didn't know he was a fake Demon Lord at the time, I thought I was on the big ship of the Demon Race. Now that I think about it, I was also a victim of deception." Nan Zhe said in a leisurely and slow tone.
"I'll ask you again, who killed Ruoying?" Shentu Zhajia had no intention of wasting time with Nan Zhe here, and he tried to suppress his anger, squeezing out a low voice from between his teeth.
"Alright, I won't sell you a trick anymore. Who was the one who was fooled by Miss Ruoying again and again back then? This person, I don't need to say it very clearly, right?" Nan Zhe threw something out of his hand, turned around and disappeared into the night of the Demon Forest.
Shentu Zhajia instinctively raised his hand and caught the thing Nan Zhe threw, slowly opened his palm, and saw a blue snowdrop in his hand.
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