Great Red Immortal Sect

Chapter 6 Returning Home
Liu Xiaowen hasn't returned home for three years.

The road to becoming an immortal is bumpy. Master said that one must be calm and free from thoughts. Only when one’s heart is as calm as a lake without any disturbances can one be a true feathered guest.

The master is the head of the sect. He is either in seclusion practicing or fighting with others, so he sees him less often.

Uncle Wang was a bit old-fashioned. Every time he saw Liu Xiaowen, he would test his cultivation, which made him a little scared.

Sister Wen was really like a fairy in a storybook. Every time she saw him, she would give him some pills, just like giving candies to a child.

If you ask him who he is closest to, Liu Xiaowen touched the [Fire Tiger Fang] at his waist and thought of a figure busy beside the copper furnace.

Senior Brother Qiyun always smiles, but for some reason he becomes cold when he sees Uncle Wang. Isn’t that his father?
Liu Xiaowen lost his parents when he was young, and didn't know the twists and turns in the story. He just thought of Liu Shengshui, who was always cheerful even when he was beaten by his grandfather.

Baigang is located on the road between Luoqing and Changming. The journey is not far. With Liu Xiaowen's leg strength in the middle stage of fetal breathing, it won't take long to arrive.

It was noon, and as usual, a large bluestone monument stood at the entrance of the village.

When he was a child, he was brought here by Liu Shengshui and taught to recognize the characters one by one. He was very lazy and only wanted to play. He was so careless that he was beaten many times.

The roads were muddy, the huts were low, and the grass was overgrown.

Liu Xiaowen didn't think much of Baigang before, but after seeing Luo Qing's fairy palace, golden buildings and jade pavilions, and returning to the village again, he suddenly felt a bit sad, and he couldn't tell what it was.

The yellow dog was wandering around the village entrance, and several children were playing with it. Most of the children in the village were wearing coarse linen clothes, with two lines of clear snot running from their noses, and they kept sniffing. Suddenly, they saw a young Taoist priest standing outside the village, and they all started shouting.

"The gods are coming, the gods are coming."

Liu Xiaowen has changed a lot in the past three years. He is full of energy and has been nourished by the magical medicine in the mountains. His body has become as tall as a fifteen or sixteen-year-old boy in the village. The dark black Taoist robe he wears is even more extraordinary. The fire clouds flowing on him seem to be spiritual, making him look like a fairy.

The villagers were alarmed and gathered around, bowing down repeatedly, thinking that the god had come to choose a disciple again, and hurried to look for their own children.

Liu Xiaowen was surrounded by a crowd of people and tried hard to find someone he knew among the crowd, but he couldn't find anyone.

"Why are you all crowding in? You're disgusting the immortal. Forget about sending your own children to the mountains to cultivate the Dao."

A shout stopped the bustling crowd, and a man in brocade robes parted the crowd and walked over with a slightly dissatisfied look.

"You are just peasants. When the immortal comes, you don't even tell me. It's my family that should be the first to choose a disciple."

Liu Fanhe strode forward, his waist straight, revealing his wealthy belly.

Xu Xuan asked him to take care of Liu Shengshui's family and rewarded him with some elixirs to strengthen his body. He had recently taken in a concubine and was in high spirits, with red candles and a warm tent, feeling very happy.

Liu Fanhe stepped forward, thinking that it was Xu Xuan who had come, but he turned out to be a young Taoist priest with an unfamiliar face, wearing the Taoist robe of Dachiguan.

"May I ask what brings this young Taoist priest to Baigang? It's not time to collect rent yet."

Liu Fanhe asked tentatively, but he didn't expect the Taoist opposite to smile and say loudly:
"Uncle Liu, why don't you recognize Xiao Wen?"

Liu Fanhe's eyes suddenly showed a bright light. The figure of the little Taoist in front of him gradually overlapped with Liu Shengshui's grandson. He was slightly stunned and said tentatively:

"Xiao Wen, you're back?"

Liu Xiaowen nodded, and soon the Liu family members around him burst into cheers. He was surrounded and welcomed back to the village. Liu Fanhe asked everyone to disperse and went home with him.

There is not much change in front of the door, with bluestone floor tiles, mud house and wooden beams, and yellow cows sleeping in the cowshed next to it. An old man is sitting on a bench, chopping hay.

"Xiao Wen, please don't be offended. I asked your grandfather to move to my house, but he refused. I offered him money and food, but he refused. He wanted to find someone to serve him, but he wanted to do all the work himself. I couldn't persuade him—"

Liu Fanhe told him his troubles in his ear, but Liu Xiaowen quickly ignored the voice. He stared blankly at the old man in front of him, his lips trembling a few times, but he couldn't say anything.

Liu Shengshui finally noticed the visitor in front of the house. It was Liu Fanhe. Was this young man here to deliver something again? Who was that Taoist priest next to him, and why did he come here?

The old man tried hard to open his dim eyes, and then seemed to see something clearly. He stood up tremblingly, and the hatchet fell on the stone slab, making a crisp sound.

"Wen'er?"

The voice was so old that Liu Xiaowen was afraid to listen. He quickly stepped forward, supported Liu Shengshui, and replied in a low voice:

"Master, we are back."

The old man suddenly laughed, and the laughter was desolate and relieved, like iron sand hitting Liu Xiaowen's heart.

"It's good that you're back. I'll go cook for you."

Liu Shengshui went to the kitchen to work, while on the other side Liu Fanhe led his men to put down some money and food and also took his leave first.

After entering the house, Liu Xiaowen first lit a stick of incense for his parents. The faint scent of the incense reminded him of the incense in the ancestral hall. He seemed to vaguely understand what his master was thinking at the time.

In the inner room, Liu Xiaowen's sleeping quarters were as usual, the bedding spread flat and dust-free. He took off his Taoist robe and changed into the coarse linen clothes at home. When his master had given him these robes, he had been so delighted that he had discarded his old clothes. Now, putting on the same robes again, he felt a sense of relief and indescribable joy.

"Master, let us help you light the fire."

Liu Xiaowen ran happily to chop firewood, as if he had never been to Luoqing and it was just a dream.

After a while, the grandfather and grandson had their meal and went to the ridges of the fields, where they talked about crops, and soon it was afternoon.

Liu Xiaowen sat on the yellow mud, smelling the earthy scent, and looked at the mountains in the distance. Changming Mountain was just dozens of miles away, majestic and towering.

He suddenly realized something was wrong. The jade pendant on his waist felt slightly hot and pointed at Changming, which frightened him.

"Is this, an attack?"

Liu Xiaowen stood up suddenly and looked straight in the direction of Changming.

"You're leaving again. If you have something to do, go and do it now. Don't delay."

Liu Shengshui looked at his grandson and noticed something was wrong.

Liu Xiaowen took a last look at his grandfather's face, which was dark red from the sun, like a shriveled sweet potato.

He didn't have time to say much, just said: "Take care of yourself."

Then he went to get his Taoist robe and magic sword and ran towards Luo Qing. Chang Ming encountered an enemy, and with his cultivation level of the middle stage of fetal breathing, he might not be able to help much. It would be better for him to go back to Luo Qing first and discuss with his master and senior brothers.
-
When Xu Xuan returned to Luo Qing, it was already completely dark.

Wang Xiwei said that he wanted to fill in the gaps in Changming's formation, so he asked Xu Xuan to take Wen Si'an back to the mountain first.

The moon was bright and the stars were sparse. Xu Xuan and Wen Si'an rode on a cloud together, without saying a word all the way.

His junior sister was meditating in front of him. Xu Xuan was behind the clouds, looking at the slightly thin figure. He wanted to say something, but he kept his mouth shut.

"Why are you becoming more and more withdrawn?"

Ever since Wen Fufeng passed away, his junior sister stopped crying and laughing. She moved directly to Changming Mountain and worked day and night on those elixirs. It was unknown how long they hadn't seen each other.

In the past, the two of them could talk about anything, but now they seem a little estranged.

"I'm afraid Black Wind Valley is just testing this time."

The woman in front of him finally turned around and blurted out these words. Her pure face looked even colder under the moonlight. I wonder if she looked like a hermit girl in a deserted temple or Chang'e in the Moon Palace.

"As long as the Chen family survives, they won't dare to make any big moves."

Xu Xuan replied with a tone of consolation in his words, and then he talked about his plan with the Liu family. He had discussed this matter with Wang Xiwei before, and now he asked his junior sister for her opinion.

"I don't trust Liu Qiuci's words completely. We are sitting in Qingwei, and we are close to Da Jingyuan, but not too close. We still need to consult the elder of the Chen family."

Wen Sian's tone was faint and he seemed a little tired.

The two discussed for a while and then returned to Juzhen Palace.

The lights in front of the door were on, shining on the green pines, casting long shadows.

Liu Xiaowen and Wang Qiyun were waiting in front of the hall. When they saw their elder returning, they hurried forward to greet him.

Nowadays, there is no method to transmit sound over a thousand miles. The communication between sects mostly relies on this [Mother and Child Jade]. The mother jade is on Xu Xuan, and the child jade is made into a jade pendant and carried by disciples.

If Xu Xuan uses his magic power to stimulate the mother jade, the child jade will feel it, but the farther away it is, the slower the response will be. It would be more convenient for a Qigong cultivator to directly transmit the message by riding the wind.

Wen Sian went to the alchemy room to take medicine to heal his injuries, while Xu Xuan asked his two disciples not to go out into the battlefield in the near future, so as to prevent the Black Wind Valley from attacking again.

Luo Qing and Bai Shi were both protected by the foundation-building formation [Fire Crossing and Long Qi Formation], but Chang Ming's formation was destroyed by the Lotus Temple. Now he only replaced it with a low-grade Qi training formation [Golden Light Formation], which could only barely block cultivators below the third level of Qi training, but could not defend against Xie Miao.

As for Xie Shu, he occupied Dongmi and had been coveting the gate of Dachiguan for a long time.

He had been silent all these years. When Chong Yangzi was alive, he was willing to be humble. But as soon as Master Xu Xuan passed away, he ruthlessly tore off some of the vital energy from Dachi Temple.

Xu Xuan took a big gulp of the liquor and looked at the peaks of Luo Qing. He couldn't wait any longer. After delivering the birthday gifts to the Chen family, he would come back to ask for the [Life Source] and take some pills. He would climb to the sixth level of Qi training in one breath. Even if his foundation was not stable and it would affect his future path, this was the only way.

"Time waits for no man, Master, what will be your decision?"

Xu Xuan closed his eyes. The night wind howled in the mountains, lifting his Taoist robe, and red clouds rose like fire.

(End of this chapter)