When I woke up, the entire cultivation world was talking about my master.

Hua Ling asked, "Xian Lan, can you play the zither?"

Chu Xianlan shook her head.

In the cultivation world, those skilled in playing the zither are mostly sound cultivators. They can use the zither's sound as a weapon to kill enemies invisibly, or they can use the zither's sound as a guide to aid their cultivation. In addition, some cultivators also use playing the zither as a pastime in their spare time.

Those are hobbies for refined people; he wouldn't have time to learn them.

"There are things you don't understand?" Yan Ling asked in surprise. "I thought you knew everything."

The cultivation of artifacts has too many areas of expertise. After spending these days together, Yan Ling has almost gotten used to Chu Xianlan's ability to know a little bit about everything. She knows everything from astronomy to geography, and she can wield magical artifacts in her left hand and weapons in her right. She seems to have three heads and six arms, like a know-it-all.

"So how exactly do we get out?" Hua Ling asked.

Xue Ling tugged at Chu Xianlan's clothes and asked softly, "Is the connection between master and disciple still there?"

Chu Xianlan raised her hand to her chest, probing with her spiritual energy. Her master's location was... far above her head.

Huh? So he wasn't actually taken to any special space, and is still underground in the forbidden area? Right below where they fell from?

Regardless, Chu Xianlan breathed a sigh of relief.

Thankfully, the master-disciple agreement is still working. Master shouldn't be too worried, right?

The three spirits stared at the scene before them with question marks above their heads, unaware that an eye was watching them intently from the shadows.

Hua Ling flew around the stinky stream in the low mountains for a while, and feeling there was no danger, suggested, "Xian Lan, why don't you go and try it? What if it's an opportunity and you find some magical treasure or artifact for free? You'll be the one who benefits!"

With the atmosphere so inviting, it would be impolite not to touch the guqin.

After all, this place was strange in every way, and Chu Xianlan didn't want to make any rash moves. He stepped forward and examined the zither, and upon seeing it, he couldn't help but be stunned.

The guqin (a traditional Chinese stringed instrument) was actually real. It was the only thing here that wasn't made of sand.

With a light touch of my fingertips, I flicked it three times.

Snap, snap, snap—all the strings that had been touched broke.

Feeling as if she had done something wrong, Chu Xianlan silently withdrew her hand: "..."

"What! The zither is completely broken!?" Yan Ling was utterly dumbfounded. "You wrecker!"

"I'm innocent!" Chu Xianlan felt a chill run through his heart. He raised two fingers and swore, "I just touched it casually!"

Although the fingers of a weapon cultivator are quite strong and powerful, I have never practiced Iron Palm!

Suddenly, the sound of a zither drifted into the courtyard. The melodious tune was like flowing water, calming and soothing, seemingly possessing the power to soothe the mind.

Chu Xianlan seemed to sense something and searched for the direction from which the zither music was coming.

Xue Ling said, "Look over there."

A figure playing the zither was vaguely visible through the window frame made of sand and gravel, but by the time they chased after him, he had vanished without a trace.

"Where is everyone?" Yan Ling propped her head up and looked around.

After that, the sound of a piano would occasionally rise from various corners, sometimes seeming to be across towering mountains, and sometimes seemingly right next to one's ear. But each time one approached, there was no one there, as if one were trapped in a maze.

Chu Xianlan turned around abruptly and felt a chill run down her spine.

"Who on earth is playing tricks on us!" Yan Ling, who had been running around, had completely lost his patience. He kicked his hind legs hard, creating a large hole in the sand and stone wall.

Yan Ling turned to admire her masterpiece, only to suddenly meet an enormous eyeball.

transfixed.

"Holy crap! A ghost!"

Yan Ling was terrified. Flames surged three zhang high around her, and she kicked her horse again without mercy.

"Aaaaaah!"

The big-eyed creature let out the same painful scream.

Chu Xianlan's movements were incredibly fast; without saying a word, she nimbly flipped over and jumped over the courtyard wall.

A thing covered in tattered cloth, whose exact shape was indistinguishable, was crawling around on the ground.

Dark and twisted, crawling all over the ground.

"It hurts, it hurts, it hurts..." His tone was dry and stiff, as if he hadn't spoken in a long time.

Chu Xianlan suddenly took a deep breath, his sword-wielding motion pausing slightly. He had never seen such a wriggling, insect-like creature before. It was said to be an evil being, yet it could speak human language, making it truly bizarre.

Before he could make a move, three angry spirits of heaven and earth rushed up and beat the thing crawling all over the ground!

The monster didn't fight back even after being hit, and its crawling speed was incredibly fast. Unfortunately, it still failed to escape. Yanling used it as a ball to kick, and Hualing signaled Xueling with her eyes to cooperate and fiercely ripped off the tattered cloth on the monster's head!

"What are you...?" Hua Ling was horrified.

The creature beneath the tattered cloth resembled a deformed mass of mud, its limp body a mixture of mud, sand, and minerals. From the front, what should have been a face was merely a single, terrified eye.

How sinister.

The features, scattered here and there, seemed to be disassembled, making it look ferocious and terrifying. The mouth was on the left side, the nose was on the back, and the other eye was on the top of the head.

To say it's all about good looks is an understatement.

Chu Xianlan would call it "playing the bad guy".

Yan Ling's nostrils spewed out hot breath: "So it was you, you ugly thing, playing tricks!"

Xue Ling tilted her head: "Is it it that controls the puppets? But what exactly is it?"

They didn't sense any evil presence, and after searching their minds for a long time, the answer they came to was that they had never heard of it before.

But the next second, the monster began to sob and buried itself in Chu Xianlan's arms, crying bitterly.

"Ah Li, Ah Li, they're all bullying me..."

Chu Xianlan was taken aback and hurriedly pulled it off her body, her pupils shrinking slightly. "What did you call me?"

The other spirits of heaven and earth also clearly heard the "A-Li" just now, but Chu Xianlan's courtesy name had never been revealed to outsiders. This monster was hiding deep in the forbidden area of ​​Peach Blossom Spring, so how could it have the opportunity to know?

"Hey, what did you just say?" Yan Ling leaned close to the monster's face, spitting out two sparks from her nose.

The monster rolled its eyes blankly.

It was quite stupid, and now it seemed to have lost the ability to speak, making muffled gurgling sounds in its throat.

Flower Spirit floated above the monster's head, looking down at it condescendingly: "What? You're silent now that you've encountered a difficult question?"

Seeing this, Yanling tried to kick it again, continuing its speech function like a bully interrogating a prisoner, "Will you talk or not? Will you talk or not? If you don't talk, I'll kick you!"

Chu Xianlan quickly reached out to stop her: "Wait."

The monster secretly glanced at them with the eye on the top of its head.

"You...do you know me?" Chu Xianlan herself found the question absurd when she asked it.

The monster didn't answer. Instead, it melted and spread out its body, flattening itself and sticking to the ground, staring longingly at the boy with the eyes on the top of its head.

Give up.

Putting everything else aside, his eyes are quite clear.

Hua Ling, perched on Chu Xianlan's shoulder, wondered, "This guy, could he be some kind of demon?"

For a time, no one knew what to do with this troublesome little devil.

Now that things had come to this, Hua Ling had a sudden inspiration and said, "Xianlan, since it doesn't seem hostile and even looks quite fond of you, why don't you hold it in your arms and whisper sweet nothings to it? Maybe it'll work wonders?"

Chu Xianlan shook her head repeatedly; it was truly a dirty trick.

But Yan Ling nodded, "That's good, that's a great idea, a loving hug!"

"Feed...you guys."

Xue Ling also expressed her support: "Sure, let's give it a try."

The minority must submit to the majority.

Chu Xianlan endured the humiliation and opened her palm to the monster.

The sticky body crawled slowly and sluggishly, then snuggled back into the boy's arms.

My God. Chu Xianlan hugged the heavy monster with both arms, questioning the meaning of life.

He no longer wanted to think about the causes and consequences. The cultivation world was full of wonders, and no one could say for sure what happened a thousand years ago. He could only guess that this might really be some unknown demon that evolved from the sand. Chu Xianlan smiled weakly and asked with as much kindness as possible, "Can you take us away from here?"

The monster blinked, and as if by magic, the broken zither reappeared.

Then, Chu Xianlan was bathed in the monster's expectant and suggestive gaze.

Always...always...staring...forever...

Chu Xianlan: But I really can't play the piano!