Chapter 180: Not Resting Until It Points South
Xinyi stared at Maidong lying on the bed, feeling mixed emotions. When Lingxiang of the Yuanqing Sect revealed his identity, he had advised him not to get stuck in hatred anymore. Now that he thought about it, he was right...
……
There is a circle of halo surrounding the Moon Palace tonight. It seems that it will be windy tomorrow.
Tomorrow is the day that Yuan Qing sends his disciples down the mountain for training. If that were the case, it would be appropriate. However, Xinyi was too upset to sleep, so she sat alone in the courtyard of Xianyunju, drinking alone.
At this moment, someone suddenly snatched the wine cup from his hand, but he was not flustered at all. He just smiled, but still kept holding the wine cup.
The person who came was none other than Lingxiang.
She also couldn't sleep. Starting tomorrow, she would be the only one left in Xianyunju. She had been used to the hustle and bustle of the place over the past few days, and now it would suddenly become empty, which made her feel a little at a loss.
Lingxiang put the wine cup to her nose, sniffed it, frowned, and then put it back in Xinyi's hand.
"I really don't understand why you men like this kind of bitter and spicy soup that is so hard to swallow?"
Xinyi took a sip of wine and after the sweetness in her mouth, she felt a spicy and bitter taste in her throat.
"Drinking is for two reasons: to have fun or to relieve sorrow."
Lingxiang curled her lips when she heard this and sat down at the side: "As the saying goes, drinking to dispel sorrow only makes sorrow worse. Alcohol is nothing but a scourge. How can it bring joy and happiness to people?"
Xinyi didn't say anything when she heard that. She just smiled and then raised her head to drink the whole cup of wine.
Seeing him like this, Lingxiang curled her lips again: "Even if you always think about your mother, you are powerless now. Instead, you will be constrained by her. I think that Bai Wuchang spared your mother and son's lives because he wanted you to work for him like this. In other words, since you are useful to him, I think your mother should be safe."
Xinyi frowned slightly and looked up at Lingxiang. He didn't understand why Lingxiang suddenly said this to him, and her words implied that his mother had already died.
Lingxiang naturally had some guesses in her mind, which is why she said this, but she couldn't say it too clearly.
"Have you ever thought about what you would do if one day, Bai Wuchang threatened you with your mother's life and asked you to hurt the people around you?"
Xinyi remained silent and did not answer - people around him? Who else was around him?
Seeing him like this, Ling Xiang sighed: "What if he wants you to kill Long Qi? Or Liu Xia, Wu Yang? Or..."
"Ophiopogon japonicus?"
……
Yes, if that was the case, what should he do? Should he just let him order him around like that?
Looking at Maidong lying on the couch, Xinyi frowned. For a moment, he didn't know what to do and just stared at Maidong's face in a daze.
If that time really comes, how should he deal with it?
After a long time, Xinyi tucked the corner of the quilt for Maidong, shook her head, and stood up with her hand on her forehead - Maidong was saved, so he should go and thank someone.
……
Lingxiang sighed: "You also know everything about Xinyi, but there is one thing I have never told you."
Long Qi was confused when he heard this. What else could Xinyi be talking about?
Lingxiang sighed again when she saw this, and then revealed Maidong's identity. Long Qi was extremely surprised, but he didn't expect that Long Sheng's reaction was even more extreme than his.
"Mai Dong is Cheng Nuo's daughter?!" he exclaimed loudly, his face full of disbelief.
Seeing him like this, Lingxiang Longqi was puzzled. Although all this sounded extremely bizarre and strange, it shouldn't be so difficult to accept, right? There are so many coincidences in the world, what does this count for?
But Long Sheng's next words surprised them both.
It turned out that after Long Sheng entrusted the sword tactics to Master Fu Yin, he investigated the affairs of the demon clan alone, hoping to find an opportunity to avenge the Long family. During that time, he went to the Gaoling Qiao family and the Youlu Lu family, but found that both families were killed by the demon clan.
But there was one thing that puzzled him. The Long family was a mansion in the forest, and the Qiao family was in the market. If someone wanted to invade, it would be very easy, but the Lu family was different.
The Lu family's house was built in the mountains. No one could find it except the Lu family and a few close relatives. Even if it could be found, the Lu family's house was located in a deep valley with numerous traps and magic arrays, making it extremely difficult to pass through. How could it be easily conquered by the demons?
Later, after much investigation, Long Sheng found out that it was a traitor in the Lu family who led to the fall of Lujiabao. The traitor was the brother-in-law of the then head of the Lu family and his subordinate - Cheng Nuo.
It was he who colluded with the demons, it was he who shut down the magic array, and it was he who stabbed the head of the Lu family in the back.
Is there such a thing? Long Qi was shocked when he heard this, and although Ling Xiang was also surprised, she was not as surprised as Long Qi. When she went out to travel before, the nether grass she was looking for was in the valley where Lu Family Castle was located. At that time, she could indeed see that there were abandoned magic circles around, but she didn't know that they were actually closed by someone.
That makes sense.
Lingxiang had been puzzled before. Xinyi said that he and his mother went to the city together, so they should have escaped, but in the end they were still caught by Bai Wuchang. She thought that Bai Wuchang had been keeping an eye on them, but now it seems that it might be because of this traitor.
However, this caused some awkwardness between Maidong and Xinyi, because Maidong's father was the enemy who wiped out the Lu family!
Just when Lingxiang was frowning, the door was suddenly opened, and the person who came in was none other than Xinyi!
Xinyi originally wanted to find Lingxiang to express her gratitude, but when she was about to knock on the door, she inadvertently heard Long Sheng's narration at the door, and was immediately struck by lightning.
He really didn't expect that his uncle, who looked kind and benevolent, would do such a thing. Didn't he ever think about returning home? Wasn't he afraid that those monsters would kill his daughter when they did evil? !
Looking at Xin Yi rushing in, with a look of astonishment on his face, Ling Xiang didn't know what to say for a moment. She glanced at Long Qi, who was also at a loss, and quickly poked him.
Long Qi felt a pain in his waist and immediately understood what Ling Xiang meant. He hurried forward and hooked his arm around Xin Yi's shoulders, thinking of taking him out for a deep chat.
Xinyi was naturally full of questions and wanted to ask Long Sheng for clarification, but after seeing Lingxiang's eye signal, she followed Long Qi's strength and went out with him.
Seeing the door closed, Lingxiang sighed, pulled Longsheng to sit down, poured him a glass of water and said, "Senior, I have one more question to ask, I hope you can tell me the truth..."
Long Sheng was struggling with the relationship between Ling Xiang and Long Qi. He was a little surprised to learn about Mai Dong's identity. Plus, with Long Qi present, he was afraid that asking would embarrass the two of them. Now that there was only one left, he was not afraid of the others.
Miss Lingxiang seemed straightforward, so she probably wasn't afraid of his questions. "It just so happens that I have something I don't understand, and I want to talk to Miss Lingxiang about it."
……
Zhao Wuyang sat alone in the courtyard, staring at the starry sky in a trance. Although there were no lanterns around, his eyes were particularly bright under the reflection of the starlight, as if all the stars in the sky were in his eyes. But he just sat there, and even he himself didn't know what he was thinking.
Ever since he learned about his mother from Ajin, he had been thinking, if Ajin could really fulfill any of his wishes, what should he wish for? To bring his mother back to life? Ajin must be able to do it, but would that be right?
According to the "Records of Strange Stories from Mountains and Seas" given to him by Elder Fu Cang, every time the Western Mountain Cat Spirit cultivated to the point where it had eight tails, it would have to satisfy the wish of a mortal before it could grow a ninth tail. However, if it had to fulfill someone's wish, it would have to sacrifice one tail.
I still remember that when Elder Fu Cang was teaching him the method of gathering spirits, he once said that people are always greedy, and it is this greed that leads to many tragedies.
He didn't know how many times Ah Jin had repeated the cycle of fulfilling other people's wishes, nor did he know what wish he should make to escape this cursed fate.
But his mother would never allow him to satisfy his own selfish desires at the expense of others. Since he was a child, his mother taught him to be kind and understanding, and to have a loving heart, but he really...
But he really wanted to see his mother again!
Zhao Wuyang was extremely confused. Naturally, he didn't want to let Ajin fall into this kind of cause and effect again because of his greed.
When Liu Xia came out of Chi Yanzi's room, he saw Zhao Wuyang sitting alone in the yard, staring at the starry sky. He walked over gently and sat down with his back against Zhao Wuyang's.
"Has Senior Chi Yanzi gone to rest?" Zhao Wuyang asked, but he still kept looking up at the sky, staring at the stars in the sky.
"Yeah," Liu Xia responded, and raised his head to look at the night sky. He couldn't help but sigh in his heart, this brilliant starry sky is really beautiful!
The two of them just stared at the twinkling stars in the sky without saying anything. After a long time, Zhao Wuyang finally asked, "Brother Liu Xia, what are your plans for the future?"
Liu Xia turned to look at Zhao Wuyang, feeling confused.
Although Zhao Wuyang is still young, he seems unusually serious today, totally unlike his usual carefree and innocent appearance.
"Why do you ask this suddenly?"
Zhao Wuyang did not reply. After a long while, he sighed and said, "I have known since I was a child that my mother was in poor health, but I did not know what happened to her. I wanted to learn Taoism because I thought I could find out the reason for her death. But now she has passed away. For a moment, I do not know what I should do in the future..."
Liu Xia was stunned when he heard this, and his heart ached when he looked at the childish Zhao Wuyang.
The reason why he was determined to seek the truth was because in an earlier war, he and his mother were captured and thrown into the snowy mountains, where they were rescued by a female fairy. His firm belief was probably related to his mother.
Among the four brothers, Long Qi and Xin Yi had suffered hardships since childhood and their minds had long been tempered and matured. As their parents were safe, they could not feel such pain. But Wu Yang was different. He had been pampered since childhood, but now he suddenly learned the bad news. It must be very difficult to get over this hurdle in his heart.
Zhao Wuyang raised his head, staring at the starry sky, watching and listening, but he was unexpectedly pulled back by a strong force.
Liu Xia really didn't know how to comfort him. He was not good at speaking and he himself was not very clear about the future. But he couldn't just ignore Zhao Wuyang.
Before Zhao Wuyang could react, he rested his head on Liu Xia's thigh. While he was stunned, he heard Liu Xia say, "Don't keep looking up like that. It's bad for your neck. If you want to look at the stars, then look at it like this. It will be more comfortable."
Hearing this, Zhao Wuyang's eyes actually had some mist in them, and then he heard Liu Xia say: "Even if the city lord's wife is gone, you still have me, your elder brother Xinyi, and your seventh brother. Don't worry about the future, we are ahead!"
……
Not long after bidding farewell to Chi Yanzi and his four companions, Ling Xianglong and his seventy-six companions set out southward toward Nanhuai.
They didn't encounter any dangerous things along the way, but Banxia felt that something was different.
There were six people in the group, four men and two women, so they would naturally walk side by side. Perhaps Long Qi and the other three did not notice it, but Lingxiang could feel it clearly.
Banxia is not a person who thinks too much. She would just say whatever she wants to say. But she acted like this. Something must have happened.
Maybe it was inconvenient to say it because these men were present?
Thinking of this, Lingxiang found an opportunity and, while preparing firewood for the night fire, she pulled Banxia aside and asked.
Banxia was shocked at first. Could it be that the expression on her face was so obvious? But she understood it after thinking about it again.
The reason why she likes Lingxiang and appreciates Lingxiang is because of her personality. Although she looks careless, she is actually meticulous and thoughtful. She is able to put herself in other people's shoes and consider other people's considerations. However, she will not show sympathy indiscriminately because of her kindness, but will only guide others appropriately.
Lingxiang would probably never have dreamed that the person who knew her best was Banxia, whom she had only known for a few months.
The reason why Banxia was so worried was because of the hexagram on the Bagua plate before she set out the day before - that hexagram was extremely dangerous!
After knowing Banxia's worries, Lingxiang smiled. It is true that these omens need to be paid attention to, but if one only pays attention to these illusory things, then nothing can be done.
"I have always believed that one should do one's best and leave the rest to fate. If one is afraid to act because of such trivial matters before doing all one's best, then nothing can be accomplished."
Looking at Lingxiang who was smiling, and listening to what she said, Banxia suddenly felt relieved. Yes, even if you know that the road ahead is dangerous, so what? Being hesitant will only make you hesitate and unable to move forward.
Why think so much? It’s better to give it your all!
……
After two days of walking, they arrived at the border of Nanhuai. Looking at the changes in the world before his eyes, Long Qi could only sigh that things and people have changed.
Although he was still young at that time, he still remembers many things clearly, such as the flower cakes sold in the street market in Zoucheng, Nanhuai, the babbling by the Huaishui Lake, and his father's hearty and deep laughter...
He may not remember what these people looked like, or have forgotten many details, but these things are like a brand, deeply imprinted in his heart and cannot be erased...
This is his home!
(End of this chapter)
