After returning from Fengdu City, Xing Shuishui appeared dazed. Li Guanyu thought she had been frightened down there and came forward to comfort her by patting her head. The yin-yang candles had extinguished with He Liansheng’s arrival.
The situation above ground wasn’t much better, with corpses everywhere.
Li Guanxing asked, “Is it resolved?”
He Liansheng replied impatiently, “Do you need to find a place to get your eyes checked?”
Unable to deal with He Liansheng, Li Guanxing turned to examine Xing Shuishui. Noticing blood on her skirt hem, he rushed over to pull her away, “You’re all dirty. No, don’t hug my sister!”
Xing Shuishui retorted irritably, “He Liansheng also—”
From the corner of her eye, she saw the bloodstains disappear from He Liansheng’s clothes. Oh, she had almost forgotten these spirit hunters knew cleaning spells.
He Liansheng made a fire gesture, burning away the corpses on the ground. Then he turned around, looking coldly at Xing Shuishui, and mocked, “Covered in ghost blood and not washing it off? If it attracts ghosts, do you plan to eat them yourself?”
He stood tall, his black pupils trapping her reflection within them.
Xing Shuishui lifted her face: “He Liansheng, it doesn’t need to be this complicated.”
“You could just cast a spell on me.”
He Liansheng: “Can your shabby clothes withstand magic?”
Xing Shuishui: “But this is my only outfit.”
He Liansheng froze. Xing Shuishui continued, “You know, I have no family and no money to buy clothes. When clothes tear, I just patch them up.”
Li Guanyu felt immense pity: “Let’s go buy Shuishui some clothes first. What happened in Fengdu City can wait. Since the matter is resolved, there’s no rush to report to the Mountain Master.”
Li Guanxing crossed his arms and reminded, “Sister, have you forgotten? Your money purse was stolen by that person who sold himself to bury his father.”
Seeing his sister looking at him, he said innocently, “I’m out of money too. I paid for lodging, food, and that freeloader. Now only He Liansheng has money—the He family is the wealthiest.”
Xing Shuishui looked at him.
Li Guanyu looked at him.
Li Guanxing also looked at him.
He Liansheng coldly swept his gaze across them and said one word: “Walk.”
The city had many clothing shops, but Xing Shuishui particularly liked the most impressive one called Qiyun Tower—simply because it had the most magnificent signboard. She had been keeping track of He Liansheng’s awful attitude toward her along the way, and since he was paying, there was no reason to go easy on him.
Xing Shuishui pointed at the cyan silk robe in front of her, then at the yellow hairpin dress not far away: “This one and that one—”
He Liansheng was already very impatient, wanting to just give her some money to get rid of her.
But Xing Shuishui said shyly, “I need to try them on.”
Changing out of the blood-stained clothes was indeed more comfortable, but Xing Shuishui was deliberately taking her time to annoy He Liansheng, being slow with both changing and choosing clothes, only to reject them in the end. He Liansheng stared at her for a long while, suddenly wanting to shred the pile of clothes in her arms.
Darkness fell over Xing Shuishui as a shadow enveloped her.
Without thinking, she knew who was behind her. Her hand stiffened, ready to quit while she was ahead.
The young man casually picked up a white dress with pink sleeves and threw it at her, threatening, “Put this on.”
Xing Shuishui caught it and could only obey.
Soon after, He Liansheng heard her ask, “He Liansheng, how does it look?”
The young man was leaning against the wall, his expression indifferent, his white clothes proud as snow.
He raised his head at her voice.
Xing Shuishui lifted the curtain, an emerald silk scarf draped over her arm, swaying with her skirt in the breeze. Her arms were slender, and under the white dress, the hem was dyed light pink. When she blinked, she appeared even more delicate.
“He Liansheng? You picked this one, you know.”
Seeing him not answer for a long while, Xing Shuishui thought she had angered him again. She muttered quietly for a moment, preparing to go back and change.
Unexpectedly, He Liansheng grabbed her and said coldly, “If you’ve put it on properly, don’t take it off—or I’ll throw you out.”
The shopkeeper came over, praising endlessly: “What good taste! This young lady looks wonderful in this dress. To be honest, this pink-sleeved double-lapel skirt and that red cross-collared robe are a set. Young master, I see you have celestial bearing, would you like to try the other piece?”
He Liansheng: “No.”
Shopkeeper: “Buying a set means a discount of several coins.”
He Liansheng: “No.”
As the shopkeeper was about to speak again, He Liansheng smiled coldly: “Do I need to put my sword to your neck to make you shut up?”
Xing Shuishui stepped between them: “Alright, alright, just this piece is fine.”
Leaving Qiyun Tower, Xing Shuishui appeared to be in a good mood, patting her new dress and smoothing out the wrinkles, walking with a light step. He Liansheng mocked: “How come you weren’t this happy in Fengdu City?”
Xing Shuishui grumbled: “Ghosts everywhere, even sleeping in coffins at the inn, who could be happy?”
However, thinking of the matters in Fengdu, although one chapter had closed, the King of Hell was still helping her search for a way to gather her sister’s soul. She lowered her eyes, only hoping things would go smoothly.
Sensing her change in mood, He Liansheng said: “It’s your own fault for being useless.”
Xing Shuishui became unhappy: “I was born a mortal, isn’t it normal to be afraid? Could you help me grow celestial roots?”
“You’re dreaming. Help you grow celestial roots?”
He Liansheng seemed to recall something and stopped walking. Xing Shuishui had a bad feeling and shifted away slightly. He Liansheng watched her expression and curved his lips: “But I remember, aren’t you afraid of ghosts?”
Xing Shuishui hesitated for a moment before nodding.
He Liansheng took out a spirit-warding talisman. Xing Shuishui frowned when she saw the bright cinnabar on the paper. A spirit-warding talisman with cinnabar could not only ward off ghosts but harm all spirits in the world, including demons.
This was the most direct and effective method.
The young man seemed to have anticipated her reaction and said indifferently: “With this spirit-warding talisman, you won’t be afraid anymore.”
Xing Shuishui kept staring at it, not moving for a long time.
Even after drinking the realgar wine, He Liansheng still hadn’t dismissed his suspicions about her.
He Liansheng’s gaze turned cold: “Are you afraid?”
He bent down. Xing Shuishui was still wearing her new dress, and her hair was slightly askew from trying on clothes so many times.
She stared back at him blankly.
Light and shadow played across the young man’s face, his Peach Spring sword cold, as if ready to be drawn at any moment.
Xing Shuishui snatched the spirit-warding talisman written in cinnabar from his hand. He Liansheng looked at her fingertips, completely unharmed, and immediately lost interest.
Xing Shuishui said: “I’m not afraid. I was just thinking, at first I thought you were fierce, well, you still are. But now you’re buying me clothes and giving me talismans, so I forgive you.”
He Liansheng grabbed her wrist. Xing Shuishui cried out in surprise, then her wrist was pressed against the wall, causing some pain. He Liansheng’s shadow loomed over her, and Xing Shuishui’s breathing slowed as she faced his black pupils.
He was as cold as water, the air filled with the scent of peach blossom wine.
The young man said coldly: “Xing Shuishui, these clothes are only so you won’t run around with ghost blood, and this talisman is just to see if you’re a demon.”
He had expected Xing Shuishui to be surprised and hurt. But she just obediently said: “I know, I know…”
She only cared that He Liansheng was making her uncomfortable: “Your grip is too strong, let go first. I understand.”
She paused: “He Liansheng… let go quickly… you’ve made my hand all red.”
He Liansheng became irritated and released her hand.
Xing Shuishui stared at his back, wondering if this person had something wrong with his head, always resorting to force.
Her fingertips were slightly burned, marks left by the true fire of the spirit-warding talisman, barely noticeable unless looked at carefully. If she hadn’t been afraid of He Liansheng discovering, she would have been less restrained with her fire resistance, and the spirit-warding talisman wouldn’t have hurt her at all.
However, it should heal soon, Xing Shuishui thought.
At the hour of Xu, the sky was like spilled ink, with no evening star to be found.
After changing clothes, Xing Shuishui had dinner with Li Guanyu and the others, telling them everything that happened in Fengdu City, including Li Shixu’s later tower explosion and disappearance.
Li Guanxing couldn’t believe it: “You, you’re lying! How could it be Uncle Shixu? Back then, he reported the evil deeds of the Yinshan Patriarch to the Mountain Master, he’s not that kind of person!”
Xing Shuishui blinked: “But I called his name and that’s what unlocked the Zhongfan Tower!”
Li Guanxing fell silent.
Li Guanyu sighed: “The world and its beings each have their own fate. Perhaps Senior Shixu became too desperate at the Endless Sea back then, leading to a moment of confusion and harm to the common people. The dead are gone, there’s no use saying more. We will report to Master.”
Xing Shuishui didn’t want to think more about Li Shixu’s matter. Compared to that, she was more concerned about the little boy who escaped from the fire the night Guan Yinzi died.
Li Guanyu changed the subject: “Shuishui, what are your plans now?”
Xing Shuishui came back to her senses and casually said: “Continue looking for my grandmother.”
He Liansheng sneered: “Weren’t you looking for your grandfather? How did it become grandmother?”
Xing Shuishui: “…”
“Slip of the tongue…”
The original purpose was to save someone, but after following these people for so many days, she hadn’t seen even a shadow of that earth deity’s ghost. Xing Shuishui still doubted if he had really been captured.
Li Guanyu suddenly asked Li Guanxing: “Guanxing, what about those demons we caught before?”
Li Guanxing said: “Don’t worry, Sister, with me here, they can’t escape the Demon Imprisoning Tower.”
Xing Shuishui finally couldn’t help but ask: “What’s the Demon Imprisoning Tower? Is it similar to the Zhongfan Tower?”
Li Guanxing rarely explained: “It’s different. The Zhongfan Tower was his life-bound magical weapon. The Demon Imprisoning Tower is something every Lingshan cultivator must carry when leaving the mountain. If we encounter unrepentant demons, we lock them in the tower and take them back to Lingshan.”
Xing Shuishui probed: “You don’t all have one, do you?”
Li Guanxing: “Of course we do.”
If she remembered correctly, that earth deity was caught by He Liansheng. He Liansheng… Xing Shuishui secretly gritted her teeth, took a deep breath. If she really rescued that earth deity, he’d better kowtow to her.
Li Guanxing looked at Xing Shuishui, not realizing the severity of the situation. He said: “There’s no use in you being curious about this. Anyway, this matter is over, go wherever you want to find your grandfather, just stop clinging to my sister.”
Xing Shuishui: “There are many demons outside…”
Li Guanxing immediately became alert: “So what if there are many? Don’t tell me you want to follow us?”
Xing Shuishui: “Following you won’t affect my search for grandfather. I can take care of myself, and who wants to follow you? I just don’t want to part with Sister Guanyu.”
Li Guanyu wasn’t worried about this, she spoke up: “If you follow us, the journey will definitely be dangerous. And most of the time we won’t be able to look after you. Shuishui should think it through carefully.”
Xing Shuishui: “I’ve thought it all through! Don’t worry Sister Guanyu, I’m very clever.”
Li Guanxing’s expression turned ugly: “Sister, do you really want this woman of unknown origin to return to Lingshan with us?”
But Li Guanyu smiled: “Master often says, meeting is fate. Perhaps all of this is destiny.”
Seeing that Xing Shuishui was about to succeed, Li Guanxing looked towards He Liansheng. He Liansheng walked up to Xing Shuishui, curved his lips: “Want to follow?”
Xing Shuishui hesitated for a moment before nodding, only to hear him laugh coldly, his tone like the cold edge of a curved blade.
“That depends on whether you have the fate to follow.”
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