Chapter 38: Can You Keep Someone Company?

 

Qin Yunshang is different from Qin Yunyi.

Qin Yunyi always had the appearance of a bodhisattva but the heart of a venomous snake, while Qin Yunshang was straightforward—clearly wicked and openly cowardly.

Xie Changji hadn't even made a move yet, but Qin Yunshang had already fled with his people. It seemed he was traumatized by Xie Wushuang in Yunlai last time.

If Xie Wushuang was like that, what about his master Xie Changji?

Hua Xiangwan swallowed the glutinous rice ball. While eating, she dismounted from Xiaobai and walked to Yun Qingxu's side.

This little Taoist priest she'd met in Yunsheng Town had been full of energy when she first saw him. He'd helped them escape the predicament of being surrounded by elderly townspeople, and she'd given him a defensive talisman.

She hadn't expected the talisman to take effect so quickly. Now, seeing him again, the little Taoist priest was no longer the same. He carried a bundle and was covered in injuries.

Hua Xiangwan looked him over, confirming he was badly hurt. Turning to Xie Changji, she suggested, "Why don't we stabilize his condition and carry him to the inn?"

She then popped the last glutinous rice ball into her mouth.

Xie Changji turned to look at her. "We're complete strangers. Why did you save him?"

This question stunned Hua Xiangwan.

In her memory, Xie Changji was always a busybody—he would usually intervene in any injustice he witnessed.

Yun Qingxu was a disciple of the Daoist sect, a reputable sect. Now that he was in trouble, Xie Changji was asking her "why did you save him?"

She was stunned for a moment. Xie Changji seemed to realize his mistake, turning to Yun Qingxu. "I don't know his background, and I was afraid of causing trouble."

"Don't worry." Hua Xiangwan smiled. "Qin Yunshang wouldn't chase after a Daoist disciple for no reason. He must have something valuable. We've already saved him, so it's okay to take care of him a little longer."

Saying this, Hua Xiangwan called over Xiaobai and reached out to help Yun Qingxu.

Xie Changji, being very understanding, raised his hand to stop her, then carried Yun Qingxu up and tossed him onto Xiaobai.

The two led Yun Qingxu to a nearby town, found a clinic to treat him, and he finally woke up coughing the next day.

Hearing he was awake, Hua Xiangwan quickly got up with Xie Changji and went to see him.

Upon seeing Hua Xiangwan, Yun Qingxu was startled, somewhat surprised. "Senior?"

"Awake?" Hua Xiangwan smiled brightly, reaching for the teapot to pour water, while Xie Changji took the teapot and began brewing tea.

With her hands free, Hua Xiangwan moved a stool and turned to talk attentively to Yun Qingxu.

"Are you alright?"

Upon hearing this, Yun Qingxu checked his condition and nodded. "I'm much better now. Thank you for saving me, senior."

"What happened to you?" Hua Xiangwan gestured. "How did you manage to offend the people of Mingluan Palace?"

Hearing this, Yun Qingxu sighed. Xie Changji handed him water, and he said helplessly, "This is all a misunderstanding."

"How so?"

Hua Xiangwan asked curiously. Yun Qingxu took a sip, thanked Xie Changji, then hesitated before speaking slowly. "They chased me because they thought I had the Demon Lord's Blood Token."

Hearing this, Hua Xiangwan and Xie Changji exchanged a glance, not finding it too strange.

Yun Qingxu smiled wryly and took out a piece of broken iron from his pocket. "This is it."

Hua Xiangwan took it and examined it carefully.

This was indeed the Demon Lord's Blood Token, and it even carried the Demon Lord's aura. She looked up at Yun Qingxu curiously. "Isn't this the Demon Lord's Blood Token? What do you mean they thought so?"

"Young Master Hua is unaware." Yun Qingxu shook his head. "This is not the Demon Lord's Blood Token—it's a fake."

"A fake?"

Hua Xiangwan was surprised. Could there really be such a convincing fake?

"That's right." Yun Qingxu explained. "Actually, before coming to Yunsheng Town, I was dealing with another matter. This matter stemmed from the theft of the Dao Sect's treasure, the Mirror of Tracing Light, half a month ago."

"Mirror of Tracing Light?" Hua Xiangwan pondered. "Is that the legendary Mirror of Tracing Light that can see what it reflects in the past?"

"Exactly." Yun Qingxu nodded. "The thief was extremely clever. After stealing the Mirror of Tracing Light, she made a fake and placed it in the treasure vault. But the fake can't truly trace back to the past, so it was quickly discovered by our sect. We sent disciples to investigate, and it took us half a month to figure out her situation. Her real name is Gu Xing, and she's a weapon refiner from the Jade Completion Sect. Sometime during this period, she obtained a magic weapon that can bring paintings to life. That is, whatever she paints will become the actual object. Her cultivation level isn't high, but she always has ingenious ideas, and having this magic weapon has made things exceptionally troublesome."

"How troublesome?"

Hua Xiangwan listened with interest. Yun Qingxu raised his hand to his forehead, seemingly troubled. "She draws monsters—like tigers in full armor, or invulnerable iron-clad men. Sometimes she draws an eggshell and locks us all inside. Sometimes she draws a door that leads to a cesspool. Sometimes she draws a rain of knives, with blades raining down from the sky..."

"That... is interesting."

"It's one thing for her to draw these things." Yun Qingxu said helplessly. "But she can also freely enter and exit the paintings, making her extremely difficult to catch. Every time I almost catch her, she goes into the painting. I intend to burn it, but if I burn the painting, the Light-Tracing Mirror is still on her, so it burns along with it. You can only watch her eat and drink in the painting. She even paints within the painting—it feels like she could live in it forever. Then if you're not careful, she draws a teleportation array and runs away."

It was clear Yun Qingxu was being driven to the brink of collapse by this painter.

"And then what happened?"

"Then something happened in Yunsheng Town, so I volunteered to come. Who would have thought I'd run into her again yesterday? I was going to grab her, but she suddenly threw this thing at me. Then, not long after, the people from Mingluan Palace caught up, and they wouldn't listen to my explanations."

"Then why didn't you just give it to them?" Hua Xiangwan asked curiously. "It's a fake anyway."

"Although it's a fake, it's the only thing we've gotten from this painter so far." Yun Qingxu said clearly. "And we still need it to track her. Right now, she's definitely left my fellow disciples behind. If I don't catch up, the Tracing Light Mirror won't be recovered."

Hua Xiangwan nodded upon hearing this, finding Yun Qingxu's words quite reasonable.

Looking at his worried expression, she thought for a moment, recalling the results of checking with the Demon Lord's Blood Token that morning, and suddenly understood.

This morning, she'd used the fragment of the Demon Lord's Blood Token to find the direction of other fragments, and it had pointed toward the direction under Hehuan Palace's jurisdiction.

That wasn't particularly unusual in itself, but the problem was that at least three hundred points of light had appeared.

That meant there were at least three hundred Blood Tokens in the direction of Hehuan Palace. Was that even possible?

Had the Demon Lord crushed the Blood Token into pieces and distributed them for everyone to find? A Blood Token was only slightly larger than a palm—how could it be divided into more than three hundred pieces?

However, after hearing Yun Qingxu's words, she had an explanation. If this painter held the Demon Lord's Blood Token, and her power was granted by the token, then it was normal that the one in her hand could sense the aura of the Demon Lord's Blood Token, even though she'd painted more than three hundred fakes.

She nodded, her gaze falling on the blood token in her hand. After a moment's thought, she spoke. "Fellow Daoist Yun, I have a request."

"Please speak, Senior."

"I wish to go with Fellow Daoist Yun to pursue this painter."

Upon hearing this, Xie Changji turned to look at her. Yun Qingxu was taken aback. Hua Xiangwan smiled. "I won't hide it from you, Fellow Daoist. We've come for the Demon Lord's Blood Token. The Dao Sect is probably not interested in this item. So how about we cooperate? I'll take the Blood Token, and Fellow Daoist Yun will take the Mirror of Light. What do you say?"

Hearing this, Yun Qingxu hesitated. Xie Changji lowered his eyes to look at the blood token in Hua Xiangwan's hand, as if he wanted to say something, but ultimately held back.

He couldn't directly say he could just take it.

The little flower she'd given him in his qiankun bag was still blooming as before. He lowered his eyes.

Yun Qingxu, standing nearby, thought for a long time before finally saying, "Senior saved me, which is a great favor to this junior. Since senior needs me, if you don't mind, then let's capture Gu Xing together."

As he spoke, Yun Qingxu looked up and smiled. "What are your honorable names, seniors?"

"My name is Hua Xiangwan, and he is my..."

Hua Xiangwan hesitated for a moment, and Xie Changji interjected, "I am her husband. My Daoist name is Qingheng."

Upon hearing this, Yun Qingxu's eyes widened in shock as he looked at the two of them. After a moment, he nodded. "So you are Young Master Hua..." Yun Qingxu struggled for a while before deciding on the title. "...Lord Qingheng."

"With you two here," Yun Qingxu's emotions calmed down, and he said respectfully, "this junior is relieved."

Hua Xiangwan nodded, looked him up and down for a moment, then said, "You rest first. I'll go prepare. After lunch, we'll set off. I'll leave this fake here." Hua Xiangwan discussed with Yun Qingxu. "You don't mind, do you?"

"Of course I don't mind."

Yun Qingxu said with a wry smile.

But everyone present knew that if Hua Xiangwan wanted to take it, there was nothing he could do.

"Alright." Hua Xiangwan stood up. "You rest first."

With that, Hua Xiangwan led Xie Changji out. She took the fake item to the clinic's guest room. Xie Changji entered the room and saw her extend her hand to him. She said familiarly, "Give me some spiritual energy."

Xie Changji stepped forward, half-squatting down, and took her hand. She was completely unaware that he'd already gotten into the habit of transferring spiritual energy through handshakes. She lowered her head, picked up a tea tray, and drew a magic circle on it, muttering, "I'll go out and buy a carriage later, and have Xiaobai pull it. He's not in good health, so riding a sword or beast isn't suitable for him."

"I have one."

Xie Changji said. Hua Xiangwan couldn't help but turn around and look at him, quite surprised. "How come you have everything in your pocket?"

"When you're traveling," Xie Changji explained, "you have to be prepared."

It wasn't being prepared—it was having money.

Hua Xiangwan kept her inner grumbling to herself and lowered her head to draw a magic circle. Before, she'd used the Blood Token to find the Blood Token. This time, she would use the fake to find the person.

The fake swirled in the magic circle on the tea tray. After a short while, it pointed in a direction.

Hua Xiangwan smiled. "It's done."

Xie Changji looked up at her. Seeing her smile, the corners of his mouth couldn't help but curve slightly as well.

He thought for a moment, then recalled Yun Qingxu's hesitant words. "What was Yun Qingxu hesitating about just now?"

"Hmm?"

Hua Xiangwan turned her head. "When was he hesitating?"

"When he addressed me."

Hua Xiangwan was reminded by him and then remembered. "Oh, that's because, according to the rules of the Western Region, once you enter the Hehuan Palace, you shouldn't be called by your original Daoist name anymore."

Hearing this, Xie Changji frowned slightly. "But they've always called me that."

"Because you have high status and high cultivation. Although you've entered the Hehuan Palace, no one dares to really treat you as a member of the Hehuan Palace."

Hua Xiangwan said casually, picked up the tea tray that had been made into a locator, and walked out.

Xie Changji stood up and followed behind her, continuing to press. "If I were Shen Xiuwen, what would they call me?"

"Follow my form of address." Hua Xiangwan turned her head, a hint of playfulness in her eyes. "Young Master."

Xie Changji's expression remained unchanged. He looked at Hua Xiangwan's teasing eyes, his gaze softening slightly, and nodded gently. "Mm."

Hua Xiangwan was startled by his response, but before she could process it, Xie Changji reached out and took the "person-finding device" from her hand, covering it with his spiritual power. Holding the device in one hand and her hand in the other, he led her outside.

He took a jade carriage from his qiankun bag, fitted Xiaobai to it, and the spirit beast jade carriage was complete. Xie Changji then led her to the street to buy some things.

He seemed very familiar with mortal life, carefully selecting items and bringing back a large pile. After loading everything onto the carriage, he took Hua Xiangwan to pick up Yun Qingxu.

Yun Qingxu was ready, and the three of them ate lunch quietly together before boarding the carriage and heading toward the next town with the tracking device.

Once inside, Hua Xiangwan offered the bed to Yun Qingxu, who was injured, but he shook his head. "How could I accept this?" He then pointed to the carriage frame outside. "I'll drive. You two seniors, please rest well."

"But you are injured..."

"Young Master." Yun Qingxu bowed, his tone respectful but brooking no refusal. "I should stay outside."

Hearing this, Hua Xiangwan understood Yun Qingxu's meaning. She looked at him, couldn't help but chuckle, and nodded. "Alright, whatever you say."

With that, she was helped into the carriage by Xie Changji. Once inside, Xie Changji set up a barrier, allowing them to hear from outside, but not from outside in.

Hua Xiangwan sat in her seat, a smile on her face. Xie Changji, head down, brewed tea, his voice calm. "What did he say that made you so happy?"

"It's not that I'm happy. I just find it interesting." Hua Xiangwan turned her head and leaned closer to Xie Changji. "Don't you think he's a bit like you?"

Xie Changji paused. Hua Xiangwan thought for a moment, then stepped back, pondering carefully again. "But not really. He has a better temper than you. It's just that stubborn streak he has—that's a lot like you used to be."

Xie Changji didn't speak. He looked down at the tea in his porcelain cup.

After a long while, he spoke softly. "No, not at all."

There shouldn't be anyone who resembles him.

The three followed the counterfeit's directions for three days until the direction finally stabilized.

Looking at the city plaque that read "Boundless City," Hua Xiangwan breathed a sigh of relief. "This is it."

Yun Qingxu nodded and instructed the two, "Gu Xing is extremely cunning. Unless you are absolutely certain, you two shouldn't act rashly. If she escapes and you try to catch her again, it will be even more difficult."

"If I were to make a move..." Xie Changji looked up at Yun Qingxu.

Yun Qingxu shook his head. "My master is at the Tribulation Transcending stage. She has already tried. Gu Xing is extremely cunning and not easy to catch."

Xie Changji fell silent. Killing her might be easy for him, but capturing her alive would involve many escape routes.

Hua Xiangwan understood Yun Qingxu's concerns and nodded. "It's alright, let's go check it out first."

The three disguised themselves briefly and entered the city. Following the counterfeit blood token's directions, they arrived at a pawnshop, where they saw a woman in red carrying a money bag, happily walking out.

"It's her."

Yun Qingxu recognized Gu Xing immediately upon seeing her and whispered, "She must be making fakes to sell."

Perhaps the three hundred-plus Demon Lord Blood Tokens were used to make money.

Hua Xiangwan understood and nodded. "Follow her first."

The three of them quietly followed Gu Xing. After a long time, they saw her openly enter a place where men were dressed in flamboyant attire. A man took Gu Xing's arm, and she tossed him a spirit stone. The man then pulled her into the building.

The three stood in the alleyway watching Gu Xing's figure disappear. Yun Qingxu frowned. "Young Master Hua, what do we do now?"

"You can't catch a wolf without risking a man." Hua Xiangwan pondered. "There's a best way."

"What way?" Yun Qingxu asked curiously.

Hua Xiangwan coughed lightly, seemingly a little embarrassed, and glanced at Xie Changji beside her.

Xie Changji didn't react, quietly gazing at the brothel not far away, as if observing something.

"We can send a handsome man to approach her and drug her." Hua Xiangwan said, turning to Yun Qingxu after Xie Changji ignored her. "Once she's unconscious, we can capture her to prevent her from escaping."

Hearing this plan, Yun Qingxu frowned slightly. "Isn't this... a bit... dishonest?"

"You don't have to participate in this plan." Hua Xiangwan said immediately, seeing Yun Qingxu's hesitation. "Once I've tied her up, I'll get the Light-Tracing Mirror back for you."

"No." Yun Qingxu hesitated. "Since we're all working together, there's no reason for the young master to do all the bad things. There's really no better way right now, but..."

Yun Qingxu hesitated. "She's seen me before..."

"So the beauty we're sending isn't you."

Hua Xiangwan immediately resolved Yun Qingxu's worries, turning to Xie Changji, who'd been standing there without reacting, and coughed a few times.

Hearing the continuous coughing, Xie Changji finally turned to look at her.

Their eyes met. Hua Xiangwan blinked, and Xie Changji frowned slightly.

Seeing he still didn't seem to understand, Hua Xiangwan walked up to him, raised her hand to smooth out the wrinkles on his chest, looked up at him as if looking at a hero, full of trust.

"Xie Changji, can you keep someone company while they drink?"