Mountain and River Festival

Chapter 276 Your Entertainment Circle is a Mess (Seeking Monthly Tickets)

Before long, a cold wind suddenly rose, and an evil pressure descended upon them.

Dugu Qingli instinctively gripped the sword hilt.

A sinister laugh echoed from the eerie wind: "Where did this righteous female swordswoman come from? How did she end up in our Yama Palace... uh?"

Before he could finish speaking, his voice trembled, his eerie laughter turned into a forced smile, and a withered, pale old man suddenly appeared from the cold wind, bowing so low he was almost touching the ground: "Greetings, Your Honor, Judge."

Lu Xingzhou asked, "Do you know me?"

The old man with the cold wind said cautiously, "When we first joined the Yama Palace, Mr. Ji showed us images of important figures who were both enemies and friends. Mr. Ji instructed us to memorize the appearance of the judge, saying that if we offended him, Tan Xinhong would be a good example."

Lu Xingzhou: “…”

The old man with the cold wind glanced at Dugu Qingli's hand on the sword hilt and the chilling killing intent emanating from her, and cautiously said, "My lord, are you perhaps being threatened by this woman? Don't worry, my lord, with me here, I will immediately capture this woman and present her to you..."

Dugu Qingli: "?"

The old man with the cold wind quickly realized what was going on and added, "So you were the judge's confidante all along; we were just being ungrateful..."

Dugu Qingli searched her mind for what kind of flower the "Understanding Flower" was, but couldn't find it for a while.

Lu Xingzhou couldn't bear to look at it: "You should stick to dealing with corpses. I don't think communicating with humans is really suitable for you."

The old man with the cold wind smiled ingratiatingly: "Your teachings are correct."

Lu Xingzhou didn't emphasize that he wasn't some judge, but simply laughed and said, "You were once a powerful ruler, and now you're one of the Five Ghost Emperors, second only to Yama, yet you act like a nobody. Even a judge isn't your superior..."

"No, no, no, Judge is second only to Yama and above all others." Old Man Yinfeng hurriedly said, "Yama has already given the order that our Western Division will fully cooperate with Judge. May I ask what your instructions are for this summons?"

Lu Xingzhou was almost driven crazy by him.

Even before, he had never reached the level of "above ten thousand men and below Yama" mainly because his cultivation was insufficient, making it difficult to gain the respect of the masses. Not to mention Tan Xinhong's faction, even his best friend Ji Wenchuan, he could not speak to him in a superior manner. He had always been on equal footing with the various Ghost Emperors.

Now that they've all left, they've become second only to Yama, above everyone else. This new Western Ghost Emperor really treats himself like a king... It's really hard to keep up.

Since the Yin Corpse Sect has this level of cooperation, it seems they can do even more. The original plan can be discarded, and a more direct approach can be devised.

Ling Qixuan had witnessed "King Yama" taking Little White Hair away earlier, and even now, seeing Little White Hair traveling alone, he would assume it was a reconciliation between King Yama and the Tianyao Holy Land, and would certainly not dare to cause any more trouble. His original plan to find out how they intended to use Little White Hair as the core of the formation was to have Elder Yin Feng inquire, saying that King Yama regretted releasing Dugu Qingli and wanted to know Ling Qixuan's original intentions.

Well, Ling Qixuan isn't stupid, so the probability of getting the truth from him is still not high. We can only say we'll try our best.

Now that the Old Man of the Dark Wind is cooperating like a subordinate, we can think of another strategy. For example...

Lu Xingzhou thought for a moment, then asked Dugu Qingli in a low voice, "Do you want to find out the connection between yourself and Dongyue Hanchuan?"

Dugu Qingli nodded: "Of course."

Lu Xingzhou said, "Then are you willing to make some sacrifices..."

Dugu Qingli looked at him warily: "If it's the kind of thing you're thinking of, I'm not willing."

This machine can even predict human thought processes. It seems that the data it was previously fed was all of that type, which made it extremely sensitive to related questions.

Lu Xingzhou coaxed patiently: "Anyway, it's not like it hasn't happened before..."

"Clang!" Dugu Qingli instinctively drew her sword, wanting to put it to his neck, but she couldn't reach out, so she could only hold it in front of her: "You are my aunt now, even if you deliberately say that seniority doesn't matter!"

Look how agitated Little White Hair is… Lu Xingzhou helplessly moved the sword tip away: “What are you thinking? I was just saying that I’m creating the illusion that your cultivation was sealed by the King of Hell and you were given to me as a reward. As for me, since I know that the Ice Prison Sect wants to capture you, and I have my own ulterior motives, I’ll use you to exchange for benefits for the Ice Prison Sect. This is more believable than the original plan of having Old Man Yin Feng ask him himself.”

Dugu Qingli looked at him suspiciously: "If that's all, why did you say 'anyway, it's not like it never happened'?"

“If I take you directly to the Ice Prison Sect, something bad will happen. We must set the location at the Yama Palace branch, our home turf,” Lu Xingzhou said. “I will take you to the Yama Palace branch to ‘play around’ with you, and send Elder Yin Feng to inform Ling Qixuan and ask if he is still interested in the Ice Soul Sword Body. If he is, he can come to the branch to talk. This way, it will be safer and more realistic.”

Dugu Qingli's blue eyes were like ice as she stared at Lu Xingzhou without saying a word.

In reality, he racked his brains several times, even dozens of times, but couldn't find a way to refute Lu Xingzhou's tactic. No matter how he thought about it, it did seem very realistic and consistent with the actions of a demonic cultivator; Ling Qixuan was very likely to believe it.

After thinking for a long time, Dugu Qingli hesitated and asked, "Are you sure it's just an act?"

"Of course it's just an act. I can't beat you, and if I were to go all out, wouldn't I be afraid of your divine sword?"

Dugu Qingli thought to herself, "If I really fight you, even Master doesn't know whose side to take. It's infuriating!"

Oh no, if I said you molested me, Master would definitely beat you to death.

With this thought, Dugu Qingli's courage suddenly grew, and sheathed her sword: "Then it's settled. Where is the Yama Palace branch?"

The old man with the gloomy wind watched the whole thing unfold. The iced melons from Tianshuang Kingdom were quite refreshing, even though they were poisonous. Judging from Ji Wenchuan's attitude, Yama should still have feelings for the judge. But here, the judge was openly flirting with the Holy Maiden of Tianyao. Judging from this conversation, Yama himself probably knew, and could even pretend that Yama was "given" to him for fun.

All I can say is that this industry is truly chaotic; those of us who deal with corpses simply can't understand it.

If you don't understand, don't bother reading; just enjoy the show. The old man with the gloomy wind said calmly, "It's in Shadowmoon City. Please follow me."

While Ye Tinglan was inspecting the Tianyao disciples' footsteps in Tianshuang Kingdom with Su Yuan, she was still worried about them. Her divine sense was constantly on her disciple and the man.

Seeing that the two were unharmed and even followed the old man Yin Feng into the city, Ye Tinglan was even more surprised and tightened her divine sense to follow them, fearing that they would be tricked by the old man Yin Feng.

They found that the old man with the gloomy wind respectfully led the two into a large mansion, arranged for them to stay in the best guest room, then bowed and withdrew, heading straight towards the Ice Prison Sect.

A large number of servants were left to serve Lu Xingzhou and Dugu Qingli. Lu Xingzhou only had them serve tea, pastries and fruit, and then dismissed them all: "Do not approach without being summoned."

The servants all retreated far away, leaving only Lu Xingzhou and Dugu Qingli, a lone man and woman, in the room.

Ye Tinglan: "???"

Why is this trend not quite right?
Are you two really just friends?
What kind of friend would willingly be alone in a room with a man like this, when there are plenty of other rooms nearby? And yet she remains so calm and composed, acting as if nothing's wrong... Could it be that her disciple's cultivation has truly achieved a state of perfect purity, almost reaching her own level?

Ye Tinglan perked up her ears.

"Sect Master, Sect Master?" Su Yuan called out from the side.

"Wait a minute," Ye Tinglan said, "Don't bother me even if the sky falls down now."

Su Yuan: "..."

Inside the room, the air was warm with incense, and the curtains were draped in hibiscus-colored gauze, creating an extremely ambiguous atmosphere. No wonder Ye Tinglan was terrified.

But in reality, the two did nothing. Lu Xingzhou sat at the table and casually made tea, his posture elegant and composed: "Don't be so nervous holding a sword. I said it's just an act. Come, have some tea."

Dugu Qingli placed the sword in the most easily accessible spot and silently accepted the tea.

Lu Xingzhou asked, "Did you see Tangtang and Anuo at dawn?"

"Ah."

"Is everything alright?"

"It's okay, Anuo said she misses you."

"I was planning to go back as soon as I finished things here, but then one thing after another came up. For example, if it weren't for this, I would have gone back as soon as my injury healed, or even before I was fully healed..."

Dugu Qingli said calmly, "Isn't it because I'm with my martial uncle, Le Bu Si Xia Zhou?"

Lu Xingzhou was silent for a moment, then suddenly said, "Qingli..."

"Ok?"

“Your master…uncle, though she is renowned throughout the world and a leader among men, actually carries too much on her shoulders. She has everything weighing on her and has never been truly happy. When I first met her, I felt that she was overworked. As an outsider, it didn’t matter, but since I became her disciple, I hoped that she could relax a little. At that time, I didn’t have any ulterior motives.”

Dugu Qingli was silent for a moment, then said in a low voice, "It's because I'm not qualified."

“No, I wasn’t referring to you, don’t misunderstand. Everyone has their own place. As long as you cultivate well and live peacefully and joyfully, that’s the best way to repay her.” Lu Xingzhou poured her another cup of tea. “What I mean is, you criticized us for being so happy that we forgot about Xiazhou, but I want to say that making her so happy that she forgot about Qianzhou during this time is the greatest contribution I’ve made to her…”

Dugu Qingli was stunned for a moment, then stood up and bowed, saying, "Thank you."

Ye Tinglan was also stunned, remaining completely unresponsive as Su Yuan and a group of Tianyao disciples watched from the sidelines.

Her beautiful eyes were shimmering with light, so alluring they seemed to be dripping with moisture.

Lu Xingzhou continued, "Back to your matter, the so-called use of you as the core of the formation is simply not going to happen right now. You can go back directly, and nothing will happen. When your cultivation level is higher, you can still come back to investigate your background. There's no need to rush. The reason I want to find out is not because of your background."

Dugu Qingli stared at him intently: "Then what was it for?"

"What the Ice Prison Sect is doing could lead to chaos in the Ice Ocean. Just thinking about the worry on some people's faces makes my heart ache... I had to take over in order to nip this in the bud. To put it bluntly, it's all to make things easier for her."

Ye Tinglan took a deep breath and withdrew her divine sense.

I don't want to listen anymore. If I keep listening, I'm afraid I won't be able to walk...

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

P.S.: Fill me up~
(End of this chapter)