Minglong

Chapter 444 is simply outrageous!

North of Danzhou, Zihui Mountain.

As news of the reappearance of the Qixia Immortal spread, the number of people going to Zihui Mountain to seek apprenticeship increased several times compared to previous years. At noon, people could be seen everywhere on the winding stone road of the main peak, with carriages and sedan chairs belonging to ordinary people. Couples would even pull over passing Taoist priests to have their bones examined and their faces read to see if they had any spiritual roots.

The Qixia Master, clad in golden armor, walked along a mountain path, followed by two young disciples. One of them was A Cai, the direct disciple of the deputy sect leader Zhang Guan. Although young, she was very clever and quick-witted, and was currently sizing up the timid little girl beside her.

The timid girl looked about seven or eight years old, wearing a black and red dress, with pigtails. Her big eyes were full of curiosity, but upon arriving at the immortal's cave, she became a little cowardly, simply following along and silently listening to the white-haired immortal's teachings.

"The distinction between immortals and mortals, and the different paths of humans and demons, are all excuses for fools in my view. People often say that the will of Heaven is hard to defy, but does that mean that I, as a Taoist, must compromise myself to please Heaven?"
"Buddhism says 'not to listen, not to see, not to hear,' but what kind of purity of the six senses is that? If someone glares at me and I don't look, if someone's crickets chirp and I don't listen, then these things don't happen?"

"We're all experiencing life for the first time. If you give in to others, you're only hurting yourself. To achieve enlightenment, you don't need to shut yourself up, but rather you need to shut others up. If outsiders don't understand the principles, then use the methods of the Tao..."

After listening for a while, A-Cai asked curiously:
"But the book says, 'The Way follows nature...'"

Master Qixia, with one hand behind his back, said earnestly:

"The Tao follows nature, which means that all things operate according to their own laws. If you crack a walnut, it will break. But if someone hits you and you don't fight back, can that be called following nature?"

"Ouch!"

Ah Cai suddenly realized and gave a thumbs up:

"I understand now, no wonder our master's cultivation is so high!"

"Hmph~ Anyway, you all need to remember this: if God helps you, then it's a gift from Heaven that you shouldn't accept and will only bring trouble upon yourself; if God opposes you, then it's my fate, not God's! Without a rebellious spirit, you'll be bullied in the mortal world, so what's the point of cultivating immortality..."

As Master Qixia spoke, he put his hands on his hips, revealing his lofty ambition!

Unfortunately, this doesn't change the fact that it's shorter than a scallion...

The little girl, who had been given the name 'Mo Bao' (meaning "Master Calligraphy"), was still getting used to walking. Suddenly, her eyes lit up, and she ran to a large scallion by the roadside, spreading her arms out as if raising her claws in admiration.
Wow~ It's so high!

Master Qixia has just returned and is preparing to take the newly adopted baby to register and arrange homework. He hasn't noticed the changes in Zihui Mountain yet.

It was the turn of spring and summer, and the grass was growing and birds were singing in the mountains and fields. The flowers and shrubs on both sides of the road had obviously grown a lot taller, but they were not fully grown yet. Their height only reached the chin of the Qixia Zhenren, and half of his head could be seen.

However, the 'No Onion Tall Brand' scallion seeds planted by Empress Dowager Guo have sprouted and grown rapidly. They are now estimated to be 1.8 meters tall, with green on top and white on the bottom, making them stand out from the crowd on the roadside!

Zihui Mountain is in the south. The young apprentices responsible for tending the flowers and plants probably had never seen such exaggerated northern scallions before. They thought it was an auspicious gift from the mountain god, so they specially built a fence around it for tourists to admire...

? !
Qixia Zhenren looked up at the scallion that was much taller than her, paused for a moment, then clenched her fists, and a murderous aura appeared in her eyes!
But Ah Cai was still young, not even reaching Master Qixia's shoulder in height, and unaware of her master's sore spot, she blurted out:

"Wow~ This scallion is taller than my master, I wonder if it tastes good..."

Click~
Before he could finish speaking, the scallion was uprooted.

Master Qixia, carrying a large scallion as if wielding a spear, vanished down the mountain path, leaving the two young girls staring at each other in bewilderment.

Then, Mo Bao's eyes brightened slightly, and she dashed away at lightning speed, kicking up a trail of dust.
"Wow~ there's more... Let me try some... Ugh~..."

"Hey? Why are you running so fast? Don't eat random things, you haven't washed up yet..."

……
-
Meanwhile, at the Book and Sword Pavilion.

Inside the sect leader's office, Nangong Ye sat behind her desk, carefully annotating the various incomes and expenditures of Zihui Mountain in recent times. She looked like an ice-cold female CEO who controlled the entire Zihui Mountain Group.

But just now, he was dragged to a rented room by that frizzy-haired guy, who then proceeded to humiliate him relentlessly, leaving him completely disoriented. How could he possibly calm down now?

After writing a few strokes, Nangong Ye rubbed his temples, feeling that he had truly changed.

Last year, when she sat here, her heart was pure and untainted, with only the righteous path and the future of Zihui Mountain in her mind. She didn't even know what romantic desire was.

In less than a year, she has fallen so low that she doesn't even get angry when she's bullied in broad daylight. In the future, she'll probably be speaking at the sect assembly while carrying a nine-bead magic artifact...

buzz~
Just as he was lost in thought, the door was suddenly pushed open:

wow-

Startled, Nangong Ye quickly sat up straight, adopting a serious work posture. But then, noticing the golden-armored, white-haired man rush in, he immediately stood up again.
"Master? You're back... Eh?"

Snapped--

Master Qixia gritted his teeth and slammed the scallion in his hand onto his incompetent disciple's desk:
"Ah Ye, explain this to me, what does it mean?"

Seeing that his white-haired master was angry, Nangong Ye was naturally terrified. He quickly gestured for his master to sit down first, and then carefully examined the green onion...

This is just a regular scallion...

"Uh... forgive my ignorance, Master, I do not understand your meaning..."

Master Qixia sat in his eldest disciple's office chair. Although there was a significant height difference between the two, and the chair was a bit high, causing his feet to dangle and sway, it didn't detract from his imposing posture as he leaned back in the chair and rested his arms on the armrests.
"I dislike eating northern scallions the most. I have also specifically instructed that the flowers and shrubs in the sect should be three feet and three inches tall, symbolizing 'three giving birth to all things.' Look at what Zihui Mountain has become."

Nangong Ye knew about this little rule, but the main peak of Zihui Mountain was so big, how could the flowers be all the same height? He hadn't paid much attention to it before.

She glanced out the window and noticed that the trees and shrubs on the main peak had grown a foot or two taller than in previous years, and two little girls were carrying large green onions around...

?

Nangong Ye blinked his beautiful phoenix eyes, somewhat bewildered:
"This...that's impossible. The flowers on the mountain haven't been replanted. I remember last year..."

Master Qixia raised his hand and looked at his icy eldest disciple sitting at the table:
"You're the sect leader, didn't you notice that the main peak has been tampered with? Your disciples even surrounded the green onions for everyone to see, do you think Zihui Mountain is some makeshift operation?"

Nangong Ye thought that the lush growth of flowers, plants, and trees was a good thing, academically speaking, it meant "abundant spiritual energy and thriving vegetation," but since her master was unhappy, she didn't dare to argue. She simply asked:

"Who would tamper with this? Would it make any sense?"

You've already angered your teacher to this extent, and it's still not enough?

Master Qixia said earnestly:
"The feng shui of a sect is very important. Outsiders using these methods must be trying to ruin the feng shui and fortune of my Ziwei Mountain! In my opinion, this person can only be the Northern Zhou Martial Goddess. My Southern Dynasty has become increasingly powerful in recent years, while the North has gradually declined. She is jealous..." "Huh?"

Nangong Ye straightened up a bit, his gaze incredulous, thinking this was probably a bit far-fetched...

But the master was clearly a man of his word; after explaining the reasons, he began to interrogate him:
"I asked you to matchmake Xie Jinhuan with me, but you did nothing and instead let him make a mess of the main peak. It seems you didn't take it seriously. In that case, there's no need to mention promoting Qingmo to the twelfth generation disciple anymore..."

"Eh?"

Nangong Ye was startled and quickly cupped his hands in greeting:

“It’s not that I’m not interested, it’s just that Xie Jinhuan said this matter needs time to unfold naturally…”

"How long will it take?"

"Uh...as soon as possible!"

Master Qixia felt that this disciple was only focused on enjoying himself and probably couldn't be relied on, but he still wanted to put some pressure on him first:
"I expended too much energy at Beiming Lake and will soon be going into seclusion. If you still haven't handled things well when I come out next time, then I will take care of it myself and you shouldn't ask me for help in the future."

"Disciple knows his mistake, disciple will definitely urge Xie Jinhuan to improve..."

Master Qixia nodded slightly, stood up, and said:

"Alright, I'm going to Northern Zhou. I'll be back later. Go get a position in the Crimson Scale Guard. I'll transfer Jiang Xian here to gain experience in the Southern Dynasty for a while."

"Yes."

Seeing that his master was going north, Nangong Ye asked in confusion:
"We just got back, what is Master doing going north again?"

When Master Qixia went to Northern Zhou, he naturally went to Tiange and sawed off all the legs of Guo Xiaomei's tables, chairs, and benches, making her squat back to drink tea!

If one doesn't seek revenge, can one's heart truly be at peace?
But such words greatly affected the demeanor of the immortal, so Master Qixia simply said:

"Go and temper your Dao heart. You are still young. Just take care of your own affairs."

"okay."

Nangong Ye breathed a sigh of relief after his white-haired master disappeared. He wanted to pack his things and leave immediately, but when he saw the green onions on the table, he quickly asked his disciples to find a gardener to trim the entire Purple Mountain, inside and out, so that he wouldn't get scolded by his master again...
-
Luoyang.

For Xie Jinhuan, traversing over a hundred miles of mountains and rivers is merely a fleeting moment.

As they arrived at the outskirts of Beijing, familiar scenery came into view once again. Zisu, who was looking around with her binoculars, suddenly raised her hand and gestured to a manor in the suburbs:
"Xie Lang, do you still remember Wei Lu?"

Upon hearing this name, Xie Jinhuan couldn't help but think of his senior sister and mistress's bright white moon, and exclaimed in surprise:

"Does Wei Lu live here?"

Lin Wanyi nodded and sighed softly:
“As long as we don’t compare him to you, Wei Lu is also considered a prodigy of the sect. He used to have a great reputation for chivalry. It’s a pity that his family is in such a predicament, but the court can’t just let bygones be bygones. So, under the guise of investigation, Sect Leader Lu let him settle down in Jingzhao Prefecture and find his own way.”

"Wei Lu is quite ambitious. Not wanting his master's wife and senior sisters to go out and work and be looked down upon, he changed his name to Wei Xianzong and opened a martial arts school to teach kung fu to support his family. He teaches martial arts that he honed himself, and I've heard that he has quite the unique style..."

"Wei...Xianzhong?"

Xie Jinhuan blinked, seemingly wanting to say something but then stopping herself.

Lin Zisu turned her head and said, "Is there something wrong with this name? 'Loyal and Virtuous, Dedicated to Serving the Country' sounds better than 'Wei Kun'..."

"Uh... it's not a problem."

Xie Jinhuan shook his head and smiled. As he passed the martial arts hall, he could still see Wei Lu teaching his disciples in the courtyard. He had grown a beard and dressed simply, completely losing the air of a young master from a noble family. He looked much more mature.

Xie Jinhuan knew that Wei Lu had suffered an undeserved disaster and thought highly of him. However, now that Wei Lu had two wings, it was not appropriate for him to go down to reminisce. After taking a few glances, he returned to the city first.

Xiaoyao Cave is located in the outer city and used to be the stronghold of the Poisonous Rat Cult.

As news of Sikong Tianyuan and Yang Huaxian's treacherous relationship spread throughout the north and south via Huang Lin Zhenren, Xiaoyao Cave clearly experienced some chaos.

Some of the poison rats, fearing capture, began to flee, while others severed ties with the Chilong Cave and pledged allegiance. However, the Witch Cult had deep roots in Southern Xinjiang, and many still supported Ancestor Sikong, even leading to the following bizarre remarks:
"You say our Gu Poison Sect has betrayed the righteous path? Haven't we always been the evil path? Apart from Crescent Moon Manor, when have any of us ever secretly followed the righteous path?"

That's not entirely wrong. As the supervisor, Lu Wuzhen should bear the main responsibility for this.

After all, the Gu Poisoning Sect led by the Sikong family was exiled back then, but because Sikong Shitang upheld the righteous path, it was not classified as an evil path.

However, after Lu Wuzhen took power, he 'exalted the Daoist arts' and directly suppressed the Gu Poison Sect. His treatment of them was no different from investigating evil paths, which led most Gu Poison Sect disciples to not consider themselves to be on the righteous path.

Now that Patriarch Sikong has truly turned to evil, and yet these poisonous rats are calling on him to spit on Patriarch Sikong, isn't that insane?

You first said I had weapons of mass destruction, then sanctioned me for decades. After that, you found out I really did have weapons of mass destruction, and then you made me fight against my own boss. Are you stupid or am I stupid?
As a result, Patriarch Sikong defected, causing great divisions within the Gu Poison Sect, as evidenced by the chaos in the Xiaoyao Cave.

Xie Jinhuan glanced at Xiaoyao Cave as he passed by, and seeing constables and Red Scale Guards everywhere on the street, he felt the situation was rather serious. He originally wanted to go home early to finish his party and get down to business, but Wanyi in his arms said:

"Qingmo has been leading a patrol in Xiaoyao Cave these past few days. Go check on him. I'll go back to the hall to pack up first."

"is it?"

Xie Jinhuan had just returned and hadn't seen Da Momo yet. He then fell into the Xiaoyao Cave, and halfway there, he kissed Wanyi on the cheek to say goodbye.

As a result, Zisu on the other side immediately covered Meiqiu's eyes, her face turning red, and said:

"Huh~ I'm still here..."

Lin Wanyi, her face flushed, punched Ah Huan's chest muscles twice:
"You really don't know the place, put me down right now..."

"Ha ha……"

……

(End of this chapter)