**Chapter 36: Playing a Small Role is also a Traditional Skill**
Tangcheng Four Seasons Hotel, Room 7017.
Fu Xinyi watched the silver-haired girl on the bed who was unconscious, taking deep breaths repeatedly to force herself to calm down.
She had thought that this senior, who was slightly older than the Chief Priest, was not severely injured. After all, how could a person who was injured have the energy to talk so much nonsense without variation?
Perhaps as one aged, they would become more talkative, right?
Just like her grandfather and master, for even a small matter, they could go on for ages…
This senior was the senior sister of the Chief Priest, so she couldn’t be younger than him; she was probably over a hundred and twenty years old, Fu Xinyi thought.
However, what she didn’t expect was that after she had just hidden this senior in the hotel, she collapsed onto the bed.
Then…
Luxianbei used her last bit of strength to instruct Fu Xinyi with three things: “Stop the bleeding for me. After the bleeding is stopped, move to a concealed place. Don’t let my body see sunlight…”
As she barely managed to finish the last word, she crumpled into a ball, her body convulsing under the nearly overwhelming pain, and then darkness took over as she fainted.
The first two things were understandable to Fu Xinyi, but when Luxianbei mentioned that her body shouldn’t see sunlight, she was filled with confusion.
Though sunlight had some suppressive effect on the spirit energy fluctuations of urban legends, given the state of this senior, she was already classified as an A Grade urban legend, which meant the suppressive effects should be negligible for her.
Why would she still fear sunlight?
Fu Xinyi was puzzled, and before she could clear her thoughts, a strong metallic smell of bl**d invaded her nostrils, cutting off her train of thought.
The smell of bl**d mixed with an inexplicably sweet fragrance swirled in her nose, almost as if it had a magical power, making her head spin and visions of strange auras float before her eyes.
The bl**d of the witch type urban legend mixed with misfortune naturally tasted wonderful; it was an experience Fu Xinyi had never had before, making her almost faint directly.
She knew that the bl**d of witch-type urban legends often contained some hallucinogenic properties, but she didn’t expect the concentration of misfortune in this senior’s body to be so high.
She urged her spirit energy to muster her spirits and followed the scent of bl**d to see that beneath the girl on the bed, a patch of crimson was spreading, blooming like a beautiful flower, staining most of the bed sheet red.
With Luxianbei losing consciousness, the wounds on her back lost their spirit energy suppression, immediately tearing open.
The lunar fire obtained from the mythological species urban legend Sesa was not ordinary; even though Luxianbei had tremendous recovery abilities in her witch urban legend state, and could survive a thrust to the heart, it was only a minor advantage against the lunar fire.
Moreover, the power of the Hundred-Armed Giant was still wreaking havoc in her body; the wound was healing slowly but without external assistance, bleeding was relentless for a while.
After a moment of stunned silence, Fu Xinyi suddenly came back to her senses, hurriedly rushing to Luxianbei’s side, and with trembling hands, carefully turned her body over. Upon seeing the deep indigo wound on her back, she couldn’t help but take a deep breath, before reciting the spell formula with quivering lips.
“Emerald mountains, traversing veins, seek rock marrow for spiritual resin, seek red flowers to mend bones, the monarch cannot be allowed to remain their path. Medicine spell forty-six, dragon carp draws bl**d!”
As the incantation was recited, a faint golden halo appeared at Fu Xinyi’s fingertips, condensing into a cloud-like shape. At the moment the incantation was completed, the cloud dispersed, transforming into specks of glimmering dust that fell into Luxianbei’s wound.
After casting the spell, waiting quietly for two seconds, Luxianbei’s breathing seemed to quicken, and the next moment, a soft “puff!” sounded as bl**d spouted from the wound like a high-pressure water g*n, spraying more than three meters high and staining the ceiling red, and her vitality immediately weakened further.
Fu Xinyi, “…”
Ah, how could this happen? Did my spell go wrong?
Emerald mountains, traversing veins… wait! Oh no!
This doesn’t seem like the spell for stopping bleeding, how did I accidentally use the one for invigorating bl**d? Fu Xinyi thought in panic.
Fortunately, Luxianbei had strong vitality; had this been an ordinary patient, her blunder would have stirred up her vital energy dangerously, causing her to bleed out and d*e on the spot.
But…
What was the spell for stopping bleeding again? Fu Xinyi thought frantically while hastily pressing the quilt against Luxianbei’s wound.
Though Dachunyang Palace was like a high institution for spirit energy users, aside from sword techniques and spell formulas, the mysteries such as mountain medicine, fate, divination, heart laws, and urban legend studies were subjects that disciples needed to master.
However, Fu Xinyi did not.
In order to maintain her once-in-a-century genius persona, she had exhausted herself perfecting sword techniques and spell formulas, while neglecting other knowledge; her elders in the sect allowed her learning to be hands-off.
As for why she was allowed to be hands-off, perhaps that was to blame on Huasang…
————
Years ago.
A senior sister from Dachunyang Palace was sent down the mountain to hunt urban legends but returned grievously injured, leading everyone to believe her life was nearing its end.
At that moment, Huasang stepped forward, sneaking into the senior sister’s room three nights in a row to heal her injuries. Once her injuries had miraculously healed, he left a bowl of hot congee and a note.
The note read, “Senior sister, your injuries are almost healed. If you wake up, you can have a little hot congee to warm your stomach. – Fu Xinyi.”
When that senior sister awoke and saw the note beside her, it spread around, further solidifying Fu Xinyi’s genius reputation, leading her to be pulled by the elder in charge of the medicinal care at Dachunyang Palace to write a thirty-thousand-word reflection for the other disciples’ learning.
That month, after sword practice every night, exhausted Fu Xinyi sat in front of her desk in the dark, feeling her empty head, looking at the empty new folder, and shedding tears of sadness and frustration.
————
After a moment.
In the bl**d-soaked Room 7017, Luxianbei lay quietly on the bed, sleeping peacefully.
It’s unclear whether Fu Xinyi’s botched spell inadvertently caused a significant loss of bl**d and expunged much of the lunar fire, but the bleeding from her wound had significantly eased.
Fu Xinyi held a basin of hot water and bandages bought from the pharmacy downstairs, standing beside Luxianbei, placing down what she held, and with a serious expression, cupped her hands in respect.
“Senior, forgive me!”
Special situations warrant special handling; it was just a quick look, the senior shouldn’t blame her, right?
After all, they were all girls, right?
With everyone in Dachunyang Palace being so exceptional, with looks and abilities, and with someone like Luxianbei, who seemed interested in her, how could she have any ill thoughts towards an old woman? Fu Xinyi thought.
As she contemplated, she leaned down, carefully removing Luxianbei’s clothing, intending to help her treat her wounds in a more primal yet effective way.
Unfastening the clasps and removing the elaborate blue gauzy dress, she revealed the pale, sickly skin from bl**d loss, each inch of her exquisite figure unfolding before Fu Xinyi’s eyes.
Fu Xinyi’s gaze lingered on Luxianbei’s chest, and uncontrollably three words floated through her mind: “So beautiful.” Immediately, she was lost in thought, her breath quickening.
She couldn’t tell if it was an illusion, but she felt like she had never seen such a beautiful woman; her skin was as white as snow, her demeanor cold as ice. Lying on the bl**d-stained bed, she looked like a deceased muse, so beautiful it made one’s heart tremble.
I was wrong, I was truly wrong.
I actually developed a little bad thought towards my senior, how shameless I am, I’m lusting after the old woman’s body!
Fu Xinyi absentmindedly thought, raising her hand and giving herself a hard slap.
“Slap——!”
With a crisp sound, the pain on her cheek jolted her awake from the alluring aura emanating from Luxianbei, and she repeated the “Pure Heart Mantra” in her heart to steady her mind before tending to Luxianbei’s wounds.
————
While Fu Xinyi was busy treating Luxianbei’s wounds, under the lead-gray clouds racing with lightning, on the crumbling and tilted rooftop, Luxianbei slowly opened her eyes.
After a moment of daze, she saw Qing Ji’s figure in the distance and breathed a sigh of relief internally.
Being able to enter the dream and see the Ancestor meant she was temporarily out of danger. It seemed Fu Xinyi did a good job with the help she requested. Luxianbei thought.
Thinking of Fu Xinyi, Luxianbei couldn’t help but recall the scene of her battling with Solang Pema, casting the Taihe Gentleman Sword.
At that thought, she looked at Qing Ji, who was leaning on the edge of the rooftop, dozing off, and called out loudly, “Ancestor, unexpectedly, unexpectedly! You big browed and big-eyed guy are actually out here fooling around?”
“If this matter gets back to Great Ancestor, just wait and see how she deals with you!”
Half asleep, upon hearing this, Qing Ji’s heart jolted, waking up in a panic. “I didn’t! I didn’t! Don’t talk nonsense! I’m single-mindedly devoted to Little Yan Zhi!”
Coming to his senses and seeing Luxianbei, whose chin was slightly raised, her eyes filled with “a small person has achieved undeserved success,” Qing Ji’s expression darkened, “You little girl, what are you talking about? Can you say such things?”
“My love for Little Yan Zhi is deep and eternal, as unchanging as the ocean and the stones, until d*ath do us part! How could you small children understand? Ever since we got married, I haven’t even glanced at another woman!”
“Is it that you dare not, or that you do not wish to?” Luxianbei asked with a smile in her eyes.
“…” Qing Ji hesitated, fell silent for two seconds, and changed the subject, “Speaking of which, why are you here at this time? Don’t you always appear after midnight?”
“Well, mainly because I accidentally uncovered evidence of you cheating today, feeling quite happy, so I couldn’t wait to come to confront you!” Luxianbei said unabashedly, pulling the topic back to Qing Ji’s mischief.
Seeing that she couldn’t escape Luxianbei’s relentless questioning, Qing Ji tilted his head in confusion, “Confront? What do you mean?”
“Uh… it means to talk, just to talk, to greet you.” Luxianbei explained.
Just greeting other people’s relatives… Luxianbei added silently in her heart.
“You said you uncovered evidence. Could it be that…” Qing Ji pondered for a moment, “Did you see the descendant of Miaojiang Guji? No, perhaps it was the Tianshan Fairy reappearing in the world?”
“No, no, at that time, we had just made our mutual promise and were not yet married!”
“Right! It must be that little girl from Liu’s place, she is the most likely!”
Luxianbei, “…” And you said you were single-minded?
You suddenly exposed this thoroughly; I can’t even respond, you j*rk!
After silently complaining a few times in her heart, Luxianbei looked at Qing Ji with a straight face and said softly, “I actually saw a girl using the Taihe Gentleman Sword and just wanted to ask you whether you’ve passed it on to others besides our Luxian family, but with you like this…”
“You little brat, using that to pry my words!” Qing Ji interrupted angrily, “Is it very normal for the Taihe Gentleman Sword to be used by others? You remember the guy Zhang Hainan I told you about, right?”
Luxianbei nodded.
“Remembering is good! When I was a guest elder at Dachunyang Palace, I taught him before. My sword techniques are surely much better than those mediocre ones at Dachunyang Palace. If that kid Zhang Hainan understands the profundities within, he will definitely pass it down to the descendants of Dachunyang Palace.”
Upon hearing this, Luxianbei frowned in confusion, “Weren’t you not on good terms with the people from Dachunyang Palace? Why did you go to be a guest elder then?”
“This…” Qing Ji rubbed his forehead awkwardly, “You know that having money allows you to travel freely, while being broke means you can’t go anywhere. Besides having a skill to rely on, you also need money while traveling the world.”
“Did you rob them?” Luxianbei exclaimed.
“Nonsense! I call that robbing the rich to help the poor!” Qing Ji retorted loudly.
Luxianbei looked at Qing Ji with a sidelong glance, “You’re probably the poor one, aren’t you?”
Qing Ji, “…”
So, it’s better to have a wife like Little Yan Zhi, she’s fierce but at least a hundred times better than this scheming girl!
————
After spending two years traveling down the mountain, Qing Ji encountered the mischief of urban legends as a locust plague engulfed Jinbei.
While the rich could still eat in luxury, the poor were left with starving corpses on the streets, some gnawing on earth, some eating trees, even resorting to cannibalism; everyone was struggling to get food, and his previous method of earning travel expenses through odd jobs was now unfeasible, leading him to undertakings involving trickery, deception, or as a petty thief.
However, engaging in such dishonorable work wasn’t appropriate for him to act under his own name, so he assumed the title of the true disciple of Dachunyang Palace.
Unexpectedly, over time, this name spread, becoming known as a famous wandering hero, and eventually this matter even reached the ears of the Chief Priest of Dachunyang Palace at the time.
Although a hero has the word ‘hero’ in it, it was still coupled with ‘thief,’ tarnishing the reputation of Dachunyang Palace.
In a fit of rage, the Chief Priest summoned three elders, along with Qing Ji’s masters, down the mountain and bound him tightly to bring him back.
However, upon bringing Qing Ji back, the Chief Priest was reluctant to waste a talent and, recalling his act of robbing the rich to help the poor, reluctantly deemed it somewhat heroic and dismissed the elders’ proposals to strip him of his capabilities, instead inviting him to be a guest elder to teach the disciples.
He stayed for three years. After three years, when Qing Ji descended the mountain for the second time, he met the woman of his destiny and never returned.
————
“Master, what you said isn’t right!” Huasang exclaimed, slapping his thigh, “From those deeds you mentioned, that senior not only robbed the rich to help the poor but later also saved people from peril; surely, she could be called a great hero. Why are you so afraid of her?”
Hearing this, Zhang Hainan behind the stone door threw out the chicken bones he had eaten, wiped his greasy mouth, and, rubbing his oily hands on his Daoist robe, said quietly, “Don’t think I don’t know how you treat that girl Fu Xinyi. I’m just not wanting to expose you.”
That was how that person treated me back then, and even more excessively! Zhang Hainan silently shouted in his heart.
Moreover, when I was young, he tricked me into putting colorful scorpions in my pants, when I was a teenager he deceived me into pulling hairs from the divine beast of the mountain, tricked me into practicing the Taihe Gentleman Sword incorrectly, and misled me into using the urban legend spirit energy methods to operate my sect’s heart law… How could I tell you?
If I did, would I still be the Chief Priest? Zhang Hainan thought.
After hearing Zhang Hainan’s story, Huasang was stunned for a moment before returning to his senses, clicking his tongue.
So, Zhang Hainan became the Chief Priest by pure luck, huh?
How pathetic! Huasang thought.
“Huasang?”
“Hmm?”
“Are you talking bad about me in your heart?” Zhang Hainan asked softly.
“I didn’t!” Huasang replied seriously.
“I sensed it…”
“……”
Huasang was silent for a few seconds, shrugged, “Fine, I did think about it, and if you want to punish me, please do. Offending the Chief Priest deserves a hundred whips; here’s the ruler for you.”
Seeing that Zhang Hainan remained unmoved, Huasang lifted the ruler in his hand towards him, “Come on, Chief Priest, hit me hard. Don’t spare me, don’t be courteous.”
Zhang Hainan looked at the ruler in Huasang’s hand, “……”
Hiss——!
Is my disciple not quite right?
————
Is playing a small role also a traditional skill of the Lu family? Luxianbei thought, a low growl interrupting her train of thought.
“You’re not right, you must be not right! Now that you’ve finished asking, why are you still lingering here?” Qing Ji whispered angrily at Luxianbei.
Originally, staying in this cursed place without a single person to talk to made Qing Ji feel very lonely, and Luxianbei occasionally coming to talk to him was a source of happiness.
But today, Luxianbei appeared and acted strangely, told stories, cleared it up, then sat silently beside him, looking at him meaningfully, causing him to feel uneasy, making him wish she would leave sooner.
Seeing Qing Ji’s expression growing increasingly somber, Luxianbei knew the time had come, so she glanced at Qing Ji and said, “Ancestor, it’s not that I don’t want to leave, but it’s just that you just revealed so many unspeakable things, and I’m naturally intelligent, having a perfect memory, I can’t control my mouth.”
“I’m worried that once I go out, in less than two days, your secret will be leaked; what should I do about that?”
As she spoke, Luxianbei’s eyes darted around slyly, secretly delighted.
Today, when she fought with Miss Rabbit, she had learned a lot about the spirit energy characteristics of the witch type, and now that she was awake, it was just suffering from pain and affliction. She might as well take the opportunity to practice controlling the Hundred-Armed Giant’s powers.
Moreover, with some leverage in hand, the Ancestor, who had been hesitant to teach her things similar to Zhipianxian’s “devious methods,” must now spill everything today.
Otherwise, once I return to Huacheng, I’ll immediately go to the ancestral tomb to offer incense and burn paper for the Great Ancestor! Luxianbei thought.
Seemingly having guessed Luxianbei’s thoughts, Qing Ji glanced at her, saying ominously, “You staying here is to threaten me to teach you those devious methods, right?”
“I’ll tell you, there’s no way! However, recently I’ve gained new insights into the operation of that power within you, and that can be taught to you well!”
Qing Ji said darkly, and seeing Luxianbei’s expression change slightly, he turned to run, immediately hollering, “Wretched child, d*e!”
With that roar, a massive, swirling light ball shot from his palm, hurtling towards Luxianbei’s fleeing back.
Thus…
“Don’t hit me, don’t hit me! The child will be beaten to d*ath, waah!”
“d*e!”
“Ancestor, I realize my mistake! I won’t dare again, wailing——!”
“d*e!”
“Ancestor, look into my eyes, ah——!”
“……”
The heart-wrenching screams echoed throughout the dream city.
