Chapter 204 - 144: A Warm Belly

Chapter 204: Chapter 144: A Warm Belly

Qiu Yuehan wrapped her jade-white arms around Lu Changyuan’s neck, teasing him by his ear.

"Feeling something now? And you said you didn’t like this."

’Such a demoness.’

’Why does the Miao Yu Palace only produce demonesses? Is our feng shui bad? Maybe we should move the ancestral graves... oh, right, we killed the ancestors. Never mind then.’

And so, they bathed for another two hours.

Lu Changyuan sighed. ’At this rate,’ he thought, ’we’re never getting out of this bamboo forest today.’

The sated Fairy rinsed her small feet in the water. A short while later, she evaporated the water from her body, turned to give Lu Changyuan another kiss, and only then stepped onto the bank.

"Can you please put on some clothes first?"

"You got my dress dirty."

Lu Changyuan was a bit baffled. "Wasn’t it already dirty last night? You can just wash it."

Qiu Yuehan turned her head and shot Lu Changyuan a look. She then took out a small, light-gauze sedan. It grew in the wind, and she slipped inside, taking out a fresh change of clothes.

’No idea what she’s keeping that black dress as a memento for.’

Lu Changyuan boarded the sedan as well. The interior, as large as two beds, was spacious enough to lie down in. Qiu Yuehan lay in Lu Changyuan’s arms like a cat, her legs stretched out straight.

"My junior sister used to love leaning in your arms just like this."

’She’s really trying to step into her shoes, huh?’

Lu Changyuan said, "What’s the deal with Mei Zhaozhao?"

The Red Fox’s face had already blurred before slowly being replaced by Mei Zhaozhao’s.

Thinking about it carefully, it was as if Mei Zhaozhao’s face had existed first, and only then did the Red Fox’s face appear. It was bizarre.

Qiu Yuehan’s voice was like a sleepy murmur. "It probably has something to do with the Dao she is cultivating. That Stupid Fox should be her. As for why she ended up looking like this, I can’t say for sure."

~~~~~~~~~~~~

「Compassionate Palace.」

Su Youwan stood in a pavilion at the Compassionate Palace, watching this year’s snow.

The scenery atop this snow mountain was always the same, with heavy snow falling through all Four Seasons. The Silver-haired Maiden calculated the time. Down in the Mortal World, it should almost be the beginning of spring. It would probably start to warm up after the last major snowfall.

The sound of chanting sutras drifted from the distance: "Words are not carelessly formed, theories not born from nothing. Proof is found in evidence, deities measured and understood. Characters are derived from categories, principles serving as proof."

She remembered this scripture. She had lived the life of a lonely nun with a green lantern and an ancient Buddha statue for over ten years; she had memorized quite a few scriptures herself.

"Little Ancestor."

A shaven-headed nun walked up, holding a hand warmer. Charcoal burned inside, giving off a trace of warmth. She placed the warmer in front of Su Youwan and addressed her respectfully.

The current Palace Master of Compassionate Palace was the second to hold the title. However, her own master, who resided in the cave, was from the same generation as the very first Palace Master. By that lineage, Su Youwan was actually of the same generation as the current Palace Master.

Her seniority was terrifyingly high, so her status had naturally risen with it.

"A new batch of disciples has been admitted?"

The nun replied, "That is correct. The disciple acceptance ceremony was held before the year’s end. There weren’t any particularly outstanding prospects this year."

By "outstanding," she meant those who stood out from the crowd at a single glance.

The reason Su Youwan asked was that the scripture they were chanting was the first lesson of the Compassionate Palace’s introductory Heart Method. She had gone through the same process.

"Little Ancestor, the Palace Master asked me to inform you of something. Not long ago, the Blood Demon Palace and Shifo Temple both suffered heavy losses in a battle, and the Brain-Eating Evil Buddha has fallen. She fears things may be unstable recently, so she hopes you will be extra careful. If your trip to the Demon Race proves dangerous, you may return at any time."

"Mm."

The Silver-haired Maiden acknowledged her softly. "I will leave the mountain tomorrow."

In truth, she didn’t plan on going directly to the Demon Race.

The matter with the Demon Race wasn’t very urgent, so she would first return to the Glazed Dynasty to ask about a few things.

~~~~~~~~~~~

「Celestial Mountain.」

"The Sect Leader of the Qingcao Sword Sect has arrived."

"Mm."

Jiang Jiayi glanced at the Mortal World. Seeing no major issues, she descended the mountain to visit another peak of the Daoist Sect.

The reception hall wasn’t on Celestial Mountain, but on a peak called Celestial Sword Peak.

Arriving at the peak, she found a Peak Master already hosting the Sect Leader of the Qingcao Sword Sect.

"Ha! The scenery at your Daoist Sect is as good as ever. This tea is good, too. Let me take some with me when I head back later."

’He’s come to the Daoist Sect to freeload.’

The Peak Master could only give a helpless smile. "As long as you like it, Sect Leader Li."

A burly, powerfully built man sat in the hall, sipping tea. His exceptionally sharp eyes were filled with satisfaction for the Daoist Sect’s tea.

No one would have guessed this was the Sect Leader of the Qingcao Sword Sect. At a glance, one might have mistaken him for a butcher from some meat shop.

But the man was, without a doubt, a genuine Yao Guang Realm cultivator.

The Sect Leader of the Qingcao Sword Sect, a Seventh Realm Yao Guang Cultivator, Li Dashu.

It was said that before he entered the Immortal Dao, he was indeed a butcher in the Mortal World.

When he was forty, a monk came to the small town where Li Dashu lived. At first, the townspeople were quite friendly to the monk. Who would have known that this monk was an Evil Cultivator? Relying on his Second Realm Cultivation, he had been in town for only a month but had already committed all kinds of evil, oppressing the common people and forcing himself on young women.

One day, the monk came to his stall to buy meat and immediately started making things difficult, asking him to cut it into fine mince. Li Dashu was an honest man, so he spent several hours on the task.

But when it was time to pay, Li Dashu weighed the meat and said it was thirty pounds, but the monk insisted it was only twenty-five.

If it had just been that, it would have been one thing. But the monk then said that because Li Dashu had lied, the Buddha would punish him, and so the monk wouldn’t pay a single piece of silver for the thirty pounds of meat.

"You really aren’t going to pay?"

"I’m not. Patron, you should reflect on your actions. Lying will send you to Abi Hell."

Enraged, Li Dashu’s blood boiled, and his fury surged.

He had been an honest man his whole life. Though he looked rough, he was a genuinely good person.

’The Mortal World shouldn’t be like this,’ Li Dashu thought. ’Evil people shouldn’t go unpunished.’

’If no one else would deliver retribution, then he would.’

And so, with a great swing of his arm, he swept his butcher’s knife across and sliced off the monk’s head.

As he pulled his knife back, Li Dashu stepped onto the Immortal Ascension Path in a single breath and reached the Third Realm in three. Thus began his path of Cultivation.

Later on.

He joined the Qingcao Sword Sect and began to cultivate the sword. After that, no one saw his butcher’s knife. Li Dashu’s talent was considerable, and he quickly distinguished himself, becoming an Inner Sect Disciple of the Qingcao Sword Sect.

A hundred years later, turmoil erupted.

Besieged by three Sixth Realm Great Demons, Li Dashu’s sword was knocked from his hand. All three Great Demons thought they were about to win, but then Li Dashu pulled a long-unused butcher’s knife from the back of his belt and cut the three of them down.

This became one of the more curious tales in the Cultivation Realm.

The Sect Leader of the Qingcao Sword Sect’s Swordsmanship was divine, but his strongest weapon was still the butcher’s knife at the small of his back.

Jiang Jiayi nodded at Li Dashu. "Sect Leader Li, it’s been a while."

The Daoist Sect and the Qingcao Sword Sect had a good relationship.

It was a relationship that had existed since the time of the Chang’an Daoist.

Li Dashu cupped his fist and broke into a huge grin, his white front teeth glinting in the sun. "I wonder why Sect Leader Jiang called me here? Are we going to make a move against the Demon Sect?"

"Not exactly. The Brain-Eating Evil Buddha appeared not long ago, and I was unable to leave Celestial Mountain. I had originally intended to ask Sect Leader Li to go vanquish the demon, but the Evil Buddha’s Dao Star collapsed. He perished, his Dao erased, so there was no longer a need."

Li Dashu nodded. "I don’t know who killed that thing that was worse than a pig or a dog, but it was a beautiful job... If anything like this happens again, you have to call me."

The Red-clothed Sword Immortal was helpless. This was just Li Dashu’s personality. Almost every Sect Leader of the Qingcao Sword Sect had a similar disposition.

Meddlesome, and they hated evil as if it were a personal enemy.

"How are the Dream Race?"

Li Dashu scratched his head. "Same as always. They’re very well-behaved. Weren’t they ’educated’ here at Celestial Mountain a few years ago? They’ve been acting crazy ever since."

The Dream Race Clan Leader had been a bit rebellious before, so the Daoist Sect Master "invited" him to Celestial Mountain.

No one knew what exactly that Clan Leader experienced, only that he returned completely unhinged, capable only of shouting, "Long live the Chang’an Daoist!"

"Sect Leader Leng’s methods are truly a bit frightening."

Jiang Jiayi gave a wry smile. She didn’t know what the Daoist Sect Master had done either, only that she had heard the Dream Race Clan Leader’s miserable screams for a time.

"That’s good, then."

"Oh, right. That kid Qingcao said he met an incredibly terrifying young man whose ’A Sword from the West’ was used with divine skill. What’s that person’s background? Qingcao now looks up to him as a role model every day, rummaging all over the sect asking if there’s a sword that’s just as handsome and strong."

"That person... that person."

Jiang Jiayi was at a loss for words.

"Sect Leader Jiang, we still need to discuss the reward for this time’s champion."