Chapter 213: So I’m the Protagonist After All (9)
Seeing the soil at the bottom of the pit resembling an abyss, soaking every inch of the land’s texture, Su Mingxiu jumped down, bent down, and pinched some with her fingertips, only then did she understand what it was—
Demonic energy.
Since the fame of One Sword, Four Sects, and Thirteen Schools spread throughout the nine continents, all the demons in the world had been driven to the edge of the Southern Sea, separated into a separate realm, and no longer had contact with the inhabitants of the nine continents.
Now, tens of thousands of years had passed, and no one knew how much the demon race had developed… Moreover, why was there demonic energy in the back mountain of the Hundred Flower Sect?
【Heavenly Dao, it’s time to do something.】
Even in the previous life, Su Mingxiu couldn’t figure out why her master was related to demons.
And actually, in the later period when the demons broke out of the seal and ravaged the nine continents, the Heavenly Demon did not reappear. It was rumored that the appearance of the human demon caused internal strife in the Demon Abyss, until later…
Her memory was fragmented here, probably because too many related people were no longer around, so Su Mingxiu couldn’t remember more.
This time, the Heavenly Dao was silent for a long time. But thinking that the male protagonist, who had not yet secured his status as the Child of Destiny, still needed Su Mingxiu’s help, it had to give her a spoiler, “The story between the founding ancestors of the Sword Sect, Hundred Flower Sect, and Joyful Union Sect is real, but the rumors have omitted a part—”
【Back then, the three of them joined forces during the war precisely because they beheaded the Heavenly Demon that was causing chaos. Then, led by the Buddhist Sect, they joined forces with countless elders from the Thirteen Schools and used immense spiritual power to seal the remnants of the demon race outside the Southern Sea. Now the nine continents have formed the situation of One Sword, Four Sects, and Thirteen Schools. The place where the Heavenly Demon fell is now the back mountain of the Hundred Flower Sect.】
【The back mountain of the Hundred Flower Sect, in addition to being the resting place of the fallen powerful beings, is most importantly used to seal the accompanying artifact of the last Heavenly Demon, the God Sealing Mirror.】
【Because the Thirteen Schools guard the South Sea, the demon race can no longer ravage the nine continents. Therefore, the legends of the nine continents erased all records of the defeated, so that future generations would not have to suffer from the demon race.】
Su Mingxiu stood in the pit without moving.
She suddenly thought of a more deadly matter. She had once thought that the demon race had suddenly descended on the Hundred Flower Sect’s territory and destroyed the Hundred Flower Sect through the damaged protective formation. But according to the Heavenly Dao, the demon race’s sealed land was in the further south overseas…
Then what was the fate of all the people in the Thirteen Schools in the previous life?
Furthermore.
The Qiangshan Sect where Sui Yihuan was from seemed to be… within the territory of the Thirteen Schools.
She subconsciously looked at the person beside her, pinching her fan. Compared to Su Mingxiu, who had fragmented memories, Sui Yihuan naturally didn’t know what these black traces were. Moreover, because the demonic energy had been sealed here for many years, the color of the soil had completely covered the traces of the formation buried underground, making it impossible to see any clues.
“Daoist friend Su, have you discovered anything?”
Xiao Xingwei, standing at the edge of the pit, noticed her heavy expression and couldn’t help but ask from above.
His voice brought Su Mingxiu’s attention back. She shook her head and didn’t say anything related to the demon race—
After all, the artifact that was sealed here was now missing, and it seemed to be related to her master.
In addition, demonic energy had reappeared in the nine continents. Releasing such news would only cause panic in advance, and there would be no benefit.
“No.”
Su Mingxiu pulled Sui Yihuan and jumped up. She didn’t look at the surrounding conditions anymore, so as not to cause any accidents. Under the guidance of the Heavenly Dao’s GPS, she successfully bypassed the back mountain without triggering the formation or alerting the sect’s patrolling disciples.
As soon as they left the mountain, Su Mingxiu followed Sui Yihuan to her lodging, the Lotus House. Xiao Xingwei wanted to follow, but he had no excuse, and there was also Xuan Chan, who kept clinging to him. In the end, he could only watch them walk away regretfully.
The moonlight illuminated the path lined with nameless flowers. Su Mingxiu wanted to speak, but found that Sui Yihuan had very awkwardly let go of her hand, moved to the side, and pretended to tidy up her clothes and hair.
But a faint mist remained in Su Mingxiu’s palm.
—It was the sweat from the little girl’s nervousness from holding hands for too long.
She rarely didn’t take advantage of the situation, but instead naturally changed the subject, “I haven’t had the chance to ask, why did Daoist friend Sui come to participate in the Cultivation Conference? I heard that the Qiangshan Sect bypassed the Thirteen Schools this time and sent a letter of inquiry.”
“My father wanted me to come…” Mentioning this, Sui Yihuan finally escaped from her embarrassment. A few strands of worry appeared between her delicate eyebrows. “Moreover, the Thirteen Schools seem to have important matters to deal with internally and do not plan to participate in this Cultivation Conference. My father didn’t want me to miss this grand event, so he let me come alone.”
Sure enough.
There was probably something wrong within the Thirteen Schools as well.
Otherwise, they wouldn’t miss this opportunity to compare the talents of the new generation of disciples.
Su Mingxiu had various speculations in her mind, but she smiled faintly on the surface, “If there is a chance, I would like to visit your esteemed father and see what kind of family can cultivate such an interesting character as Daoist friend.”
Because she was thinking about her father, Sui Yihuan even forgot why Su Mingxiu suddenly expressed interest in visiting. The worry in her eyes deepened, and she said softly, “My father was injured while out at sea and is currently in seclusion to recuperate. If he hadn’t insisted on sending me to participate in this conference, I should be at home waiting for him to come out of seclusion.”
“The conference has a vacation system. If Daoist friend is really concerned about the situation at home, I think the sect elders will understand. As long as you can return before the end of the conference and complete all the assessments of the Hundred Flower Sect, Daoist friend can also obtain the certificate of completion.”
Hearing Su Mingxiu’s words, Sui Yihuan was immediately tempted, “Is that possible?”
But she soon hesitated again, “But my father sent me out to see more of the people and events of the nine continents. If I go back so soon, I’m afraid my father will be disappointed in me.”
“Cultivators cultivate their own Great Dao. Even if they want to sever ties with the mortal world, it should be done willingly and naturally, not by forcing cultivators to cut off their mortal ties—to be able to fulfill filial piety as a human, to provide for their parents in their old age, and then to walk the Great Dao without any worries, wouldn’t that be better?”
Seeing the hazy, dreamy smile in her eyes, Sui Yihuan could no longer hide her concern for her family. The two agreed to apply for leave from the Hundred Flower Sect tomorrow.
Su Mingxiu watched her walk into the Lotus House and smelled the fragrance of lotus flowers carried by the evening breeze. The smile she had been wearing in front of the other person had now completely disappeared.
She didn’t even dare to ask the Heavenly Dao if Sui Yihuan’s family was safe.
Because Su Mingxiu was afraid of hearing bad news, which would make her feel remorse, regretting that she hadn’t come back early enough to change everything.
So she could only do her best to make up for the regrets. In the previous life, this Cultivation Conference of the Hundred Flower Sect didn’t last until the end, precisely because most of the talented individuals from various sects had gathered here.
Therefore, the demon race’s attack caused a generational gap in the nine continents, leaving all the top sects facing the embarrassing situation of losing their successors for decades to come, and dealing a devastating blow to One Sword, Four Sects, and Thirteen Schools.
“I have already warned you not to approach Sui Yihuan.” When Su Mingxiu returned to the small garden, the Heavenly Dao suddenly warned her again.
But this time, before Su Mingxiu could answer, it added the second half of the sentence on its own, “Everything you change will not make the ending better, but worse—I just hope that when the time comes, you can remember that all this misfortune originated from you.”
Su Mingxiu didn’t ask what it meant by these cryptic words. Having spent so much time together, she thought she had some understanding of this damn thing.
There must be something happening that she wouldn’t be happy to see.
Sure enough—
Early the next morning.
Su Mingxiu hadn’t slept all night. When she felt the token at her side buzzing, she instantly appeared outside the small garden, not even having time to use a cleansing spell to remove the mixed floral scents from her body.
“Senior Sister!”
Little junior sister Yan Miaomiao, who had also received the sect’s message, saw her on the mountain path and quickly waved to her.
The green-clothed female cultivator hadn’t even approached, but her voice arrived first, “The Sect Leader has issued an urgent summons. Why are you still here?”
Yan Miaomiao’s hairpin was a little messy, but she didn’t care about that at the moment. She quickly approached Su Mingxiu and spoke to her while running to keep up with her, “Because I know what happened, and I thought that person was related to you, I hurried to tell you.”
“What?” Su Mingxiu stopped abruptly.
“Early this morning, by the door of the Lotus House, patrolling disciples found a dead disciple from another sect. The manner of death was terrifying, and it alarmed my master. I happened to go with my master, and my master said it was the work of the demon race. Now the matter has been reported to the Sect Leader, and everyone is saying that there is a demon in the Lotus House. I thought that you should know that person, Senior Sister, so I hurried to tell you—”
Yan Miaomiao held Su Mingxiu’s sleeve very seriously, “Although I don’t know much about the demon race or demons, my master’s expression was extremely serious. It seems that anyone involved in this matter will not have a good time. Senior Sister, you have always been kind and like to help others. But this time is different. If you are not careful, you may be locked up in the forbidden prison. You must clear yourself of any relationship with that person, okay?”
This was something that had never happened in her fragmented memories.
The Heavenly Dao’s warning from last night still lingered in her mind. Now, being hit suddenly by Yan Miaomiao, Su Mingxiu felt a pain in her heart, as if she had been struck by something heavy.
But her expression only froze for a moment, and soon she showed a faint smile, “So, the person suspected of being a demon is Sui Yihuan, right?”
Was it because her previous approach to the back mountain formation had attracted Ye Qingbai’s attention, or was it because of Xuan Chan’s attack last night, or had they left some extra traces that caused the snake to come out of the cave early?
The smile reached the bottom of her eyes, but it was like frost, frozen within. Su Mingxiu suppressed herself from using spells that exceeded her current cultivation level, such as teleportation. When she arrived at Spring Hall, she saw Sui Yihuan being escorted out by the Hundred Flower Sect’s law enforcement disciples—
Their eyes met.
Sui Yihuan moved her throat nervously, as if she wanted to say something to her. But in the end, she just lowered her eyes, avoiding her gaze, as if she already understood that all efforts were futile, so she could only try to minimize the impact on others.
When she lowered her eyes, Su Mingxiu’s heart also sank to the bottom.
Leave a Reply