Chapter 106: Storm

Chapter 106: Storm

Chapter 106: Storm (Two in One)

Inside the alchemy furnace, a small fire was slowly roasting a bronze mirror.

Cheng Peixin sat in front of the stove and sighed slowly: "Fei'er, you are already so old, there are some truths that you should understand even if I don't explain them. What are the thirty-six sects? Are they people? No, they are inheritance."

"You said that Li Wuxiang would become the sect leader after he got the seal. Well, let me ask you, why did you set this rule that whoever got the seal would become the sect leader? It was because more than 2,000 years ago, the 36 sects were fighting among themselves and were about to be destroyed. So people with insight thought that this shouldn't continue, so they set this rule to preserve the inheritance."

"In order to preserve this inheritance, as long as the person who gets the Dharma letter has the ability and can keep it, he can revitalize the sect. That's why we recognize it. It's not the other way around, where the person who gets the Dharma letter can't be touched. Do you understand?"

Cheng Shengfei sat on the couch in the northwest corner of the alchemy room, with a white silk wrapped around her body. She frowned and looked at the fire in the alchemy furnace: "Master, I don't want to hear those theories, I just want to know one thing - you said he is not a human, but how is he not a human? He is better than anyone who has ever seen me. You said you heard it from others, but who did you hear it from?"

Cheng Peixin looked at her and exhaled heavily, as if she was about to explode. But she suppressed her anger and said, "I won't hurt you."

"But I'm afraid that person will hurt you!" Cheng Shengfei straightened up, and the white silk fluttered with it. "You've trapped me for three days, five days, and told me a lot of truths. I understand, right? But I just want to know who told you that! If you don't tell me and trap me for another ten days, I... I will starve to death in front of you, which is better than you being deceived and harmed like before! Master, have you forgotten what happened in the past!"

"Shut up!" Cheng Peixin suddenly stood up from in front of the alchemy furnace and glared at him. Cheng Shengfei was not to be outdone and also looked at her.

After a while, Cheng Peixin sighed and said, "Okay, you really want to know, right? If you know, will you stop making trouble?"

"If you are a trustworthy person, of course I won't make a fuss... No, I'm not making a fuss, I'm just worried about you!"

"With your temper, you will suffer a great loss sooner or later!" Cheng Peixin walked out of the alchemy room, and quickly came back and sat next to Cheng Shengfei with a piece of paper in her hand.

This is an uncut piece of talisman paper with eight words written on it - "The position of Zhao Kui, the leader of Ranshan Sect".

"Listen carefully, listen carefully, and don't tell anyone." Cheng Pei thought for a moment, "Do you remember when I invited the door god that night?"

"Ah."

"I did find the true spirit of the door god. But just as I was about to ask it to come down, another person wanted to possess me. I thought it was a cultivator who went to Lingshan, so I wanted to drive him away, but the person told me that he was Zhao Kui!"

"I ignored it at the time. I couldn't get the door god to come down again. It seemed like something was blocking me. That night I went back to my room and the more I thought about it, the more I felt something was wrong. So I set up this tablet."

"I was thinking, is Sect Leader Zhao dead? But if he was dead, why didn't Li Wuxiang mention it? It might be something about their Ranshan, it's hard to say. I also thought, Sect Leader Zhao Kui ruled by doing nothing and concentrated on practicing, which is very rare in the Thirty-Six Sects. But such a person couldn't escape the fate of life and death, is there something missing over there? I'll just offer him a sacrifice so that he won't bother me again in the future."

"I used this talisman paper and prayed for incense and candles, and I actually saw him. Do you know what he looks like now?"

Cheng Shengfei was stunned for a moment: "...what happened?"

"He has become an immortal, and has achieved the right result. The golden light is shining, and he has attained the Tao! Only then did I know that Li Wuxiang's calligraphy was not passed down by Zhao Kui at all - Sect Master Zhao left the mountain gate because he found a way to become an immortal and achieve the Tao. He wanted to cultivate into a ghost immortal, but he is much stronger than a ghost immortal."

"You also know that to cultivate into a ghost immortal, one must overcome human calamity. That Li Wuxiang was his human calamity. When he was about to become a ghost immortal, he destroyed his body, took away his magic card, and stole his skills."

"Sect Master Zhao had some means to save his life and tricked him into it, but he could only go to Lingshan. As for Li Wuxiang, his cultivation was not good enough, and he used his skills to transform himself into a half-human, half-ghost!"

"Then he murdered a swordsman somewhere, seized his skills, and pretended to be a swordsman. During the days we spent with him, didn't you find that he didn't know a lot about cultivation? Why did I ask you to talk to him and ask about the swordsman a few days ago? It was to test his bottom line. How did you do with him?"

Cheng Shengfei was stunned for a while: "I...he...he only told me about some things he encountered on the road, but he didn't tell me about the Sword Sect. He just smiled and passed it over..."

Cheng Peixin looked at her, "Do you understand? When we were on Ran Mountain, Xu Daosheng said he was not a human, and I thought he was slandering him. But do you remember that he went to the Martial Temple a few days ago, saying that he wanted to take a look? Who would go to the Martial Temple at night? He wanted to steal incense, so he cultivated from foundation building to Qi refining overnight...Think about the three thunders that night, do they look like thunder tribulations? Would a living person who cultivates to Qi refining experience thunder tribulations?"

Cheng Shengfei fell silent for a while, then said, "Master, that Guo Jianming...wasn't it you who photographed him in the mirror?"

"Without him, Li Wuxiang would not have entered the mirror." Cheng Peixin sighed, "I know what you want to ask. It's the soul that was captured, and the body is still in the backyard."

"After being away from his soul for so long...his body will also decay."

Cheng Peixin looked at him seriously: "He is just an independent cultivator. Don't you know what independent cultivators are like? This is also his retribution. Fei'er, if you really can't stand the behavior of the Thirty-Six Sects, just think about it. Zhao Kui has promised me the Golden Chant. After refining Li Wuxiang, I will be the leader of Ranshan Sect, and you will be the next one - if you become the leader, what can't you do in Deyang? Do you like that Li Wuxiang to vent the anger of the people in the city? At that time, you can do whatever you want!"

Cheng Shengfei's eyes lit up: "You didn't stop me then?"

Cheng Peixin let out a long sigh, stroked her hair, and finally smiled: "I won't stop you. Are you still making trouble now?"

"Then... Master, if you become the leader of Ranshan Sect, what will happen to the sect?"

"The sect? Silly boy, the sect will naturally be happy." Cheng Peixin touched the white silk and collected it. "Don't all the thirty-six sects want to unify and return to Taiyi Dao? It's just that whoever does this kind of thing will be the first to come forward. But now that I, the leader of Ranshan Sect, am doing it legitimately, no one can say anything. The sect will naturally help us - we just need to practice well first, and talk about other things later. Even if we hand over the magic letter later, won't the benefits fall into our hands?"

Cheng Shengfei thought about it seriously: "Master, what you said makes sense. But..."

She raised her face and looked into Cheng Peixin's eyes: "Even if Li Wuxiang is not a human, he has not harmed us these days. Master, if it is reasonable, no matter what he did to Sect Master Zhao, on our side, we took the initiative to harm him. We want to burn some incense, candles and paper money for him."

At this time, she returned to her usual serious and solemn attitude. In fact, sometimes Cheng Peixin felt that she was her master.

But she also knew that Cheng Shengfei, who looked like this, had agreed and figured it out. Burning incense, candles and paper money for the deceased practitioners was a taboo, but she didn't want to dwell on these details. So she nodded: "Okay, I'll do as you say. Alas, I've been with you for the past few days, and you've slept from time to time, but I've never closed my eyes. You stay here and burn as much as you want. I'll go and rest for a while. Remember, don't use a big fire, just a small fire like this."

Cheng Shengfei looked at the alchemy furnace: "Is he... still alive?"

"He should be dead. But he is not a human being. It is just his skin that is gone. Sect Leader Zhao said that he has a treasure in his body that can protect his soul. It will take another thirteen days to refine the soul and the treasure so that he can take it. Well, don't think about it anymore. It's too late... He will haunt me even if he becomes a ghost. Besides, with Sect Leader Zhao around, I'm afraid he won't be a ghost for long."

Cheng Peixin sighed and walked out the door.

Cheng Shengfei went to sit beside the furnace. There was a small wooden cabinet next to the furnace, which contained some commonly used utensils, and on the cabinet were snacks. She took a stack of yellow paper from the cabinet, ate a few snacks, drank some tea warmed by the furnace, and took the yellow paper in her hand and threw it into the furnace one by one.

She stared at the bronze mirror as she cast her eyes, and seeing it lying motionless in the fire, tears slowly flowed down her cheeks, but she quickly glanced out the door and wiped them away herself.

So, after burning more than a dozen sheets of paper, he looked outside the door again and immediately slammed the half stack of paper on the cabinet.

Now the Master is really gone.

She immediately took out the talisman pen, cinnabar, and incense from the small cabinet, picked up the pen and began to write on the yellow paper.

She naturally understood the principles that the master taught, but she never felt that those principles were right!
As for Li Wuxiang... "Without him, Li Wuxiang would not have entered the mirror" - if that's the case, what difference does it make whether he's a human or a demon? Such a person would never really go to steal treasures and kill people!
As soon as she finished writing the words "The position of Li Wuxiang, the leader of Ranshan Sect", she lit the incense and candles and inserted them into the stove. She bit her tongue and sprayed a drop of blood on the paper and another drop of blood on the bronze mirror. She silently chanted the soul-calling spell, and then regulated her breathing to enter a state of concentration and empty her mind.

Only a short while later, she suddenly heard a voice in her ear—"Hmm?"

It seemed a little confused and a little surprised, but not panicked or angry, but it was indeed Li Wuxiang's voice.

Cheng Shengfei's mind went blank - she had never used the soul-calling spell to attract souls, and this time it actually worked. She didn't know what to say for a moment.

The voice on the other end stopped talking, and she knew he was waiting - because she could still hear faint whispers and wails like the sound of the wind in her ears... Was it like this in the bronze mirror?
"Master Li...are you...dead?"

That voice came again, just as calm and gentle as when he spoke every day: "Miss Cheng, do you want me to be dead or not?"

The few tears he shed just now were for his master to see. After hearing his words, Cheng Shengfei's tears flowed again: "I'm sorry, I'm really sorry... My master invited the former Zhao Zongzhu from Ranshan. I later found out that my master... my master... she must have been deceived by Zhao Zongzhu. Li Wuxiang, what's going on? You are definitely not a demon!"

"It's Zhao Kui, right?" She heard Li Wuxiang sigh, "He and I have a long story. Miss Cheng, are you willing to listen to me? It's a very long story."

"Tell me, tell me. I...I'll lure you out first. My master said that Zhao Kui wants to deal with your soul and destroy you completely!"

"No hurry. I'll tell you my story, and then you can decide whether to help me or not. Where should I start... Jinshui. It's about ten days away from Deyang, there's a town called Jinshui, right next to Qingjiang City. It's actually quite beautiful—"

The events of more than a month were told in less than a quarter of an hour. Although some things were omitted, it was enough for Cheng Shengfei to understand one thing - one person's statement was detailed and reasonable, while the other person's statement was vague and disgusting!
"My master... was really deceived!" Cheng Shengfei rubbed his face fiercely, "I'll go find my master, I'll tell her--"

"Ms. Cheng, if you heard something like this, would you try to verify it with another person first?"

Cheng Shengfei was stunned for a moment, and then he moved his lips after a long while: "My master...she is easily influenced by others, she...Master, you don't know how hard she had it in the past few years. She trusted the wrong person and came to Feiyun Temple. She has never reconciled herself to this, so she did such a thing in a moment of mistaken thought. In fact, it's all my fault. If it weren't for me, she..."

"You don't need to blame yourself. There's no reason why parents are so good to their children. You can't be blamed for anything."

Cheng Shengfei was stunned for a moment: "How do you know——"

"I can see that." She heard Li Wuxiang seemed to smile, "I can understand your master. The seal is a death warrant for ordinary people, but since she thinks I'm not a swordsman, and she feels that she has the protection of the Tianxin Sect, she should be able to keep the seal. I don't blame her for doing such a thing in the face of such temptation."

"It's just that your master is so... so easily trusting of others, so he won't be a match for Zhao Kui. Zhao Kui won't give her the Ranshan Fa Tie. His state is different from the ghost fairy you imagine."

"Then...then I'll rescue you first, and we'll discuss a long-term plan and come up with a plan—"

"To deal with Zhao Kui, it is most important to take a long-term approach. Miss Cheng, I will deal with him here today."

Cheng Shengfei's heart couldn't help but tremble - she suddenly felt that she had figured it out. When she first saw him, she just thought he was handsome and good-looking, and she didn't have any bad feelings towards him at once. But she knew that she didn't have the same temperament as her master. This feeling came from emotion and ended with courtesy. She wouldn't shed tears for a person just because of his appearance.

Why was that? She knew now—everything around her was gloomy, conservative, and timid, but this person had surging blood and bright vitality, like a gust of wind that was going to overturn everything!

She doesn't want to see Feng Zhi!
She took a deep breath and said, "Master, can I help you?"

"can."

"If I help you, can you let my master go?"

"With you here, I won't make it too difficult for her."

"Okay! Now tell me what you want me to do!"

(End of this chapter)