STOTTD | Chapter 15

Chapter 15

Thud!

The peachwood sword fell to the ground, and the two of them both fell onto the ground.

Fortunately, when they were still in midair, Shen Jibai hugged her and spun halfway around, firmly shielding her in front of him.

So Zhou Xin did not fall painfully, and was fine. Shen Jibai, on the other hand, had a deathly pale face, his features twisted into a mess. He curled up and lay on the ground, unable to get up.

The butterfly circled above the two of them, its spiritual light flashing on and off, as if urging them on again and again.

The Jinwu Guards who had chased after them saw the two people and all froze for a moment. “Lingyun Jun? Shen Shaoqing? At this time of the night, why are the two of you not resting properly, and instead flying your swords into the palace?”

Break into the palace?

This guy was really something, he opened his mouth and directly pinned on them a hat that could nearly lead to the extermination of nine clans!

Zhou Xin was so angry that she raised her hand and pointed at him, scolding, “Which eye of yours saw this lord break into the palace?”

The other party was neither humble nor overbearing. “Since Lingyun Jun denies it, then this general would like to ask, did Lingyun Jun obtain the saint’s permission for this sword flight? If not, trouble the two of you to come with this general.”

Shen Jibai propped one hand on the ground, forced himself up, and gritted his teeth. “Da Li Si is handling a case. After we finish, we will naturally go before the saint and admit our guilt. Lingyun Jun, do not overstep, lest others misunderstand and think the Jinwu Guards are meddling where they shouldn’t.”

“The Jinwu Guards are responsible for the safety of the common people in the Eastern Capital, and also for the saint’s safety. The saint has strictly forbidden cultivators from flying swords within the Eastern Capital. Even if it is Lingyun Jun, without permission, it is still not allowed.”

He cupped his fists and saluted. “Please cooperate, the two of you, and come with this general. Otherwise, once this matter is reported to Da Li Si, it will not be easy to explain.”

Zhou Xin crouched beside Shen Jibai and asked, “Can you still walk?”

Shen Jibai shook his head in embarrassment.

“Is the mist spirit still acting up badly?”

Shen Jibai said, “I can still endure it.”

“There’s no time to wait.” Zhou Xin said, “I’m afraid the evil cultivator has already made a move. If we keep entangling with the Jinwu Guards, we may break the trail.”

“If Lingyun Jun has any method, just go ahead and do it.” Shen Jibai said, “This matter started because of Shen, all consequences will be borne by Shen alone.”

Zhou Xin curved her lips into a smile. “That’s what you said!”

Shen Jibai’s face was faintly pale. “Mm.”

Zhou Xin took out a bamboo signal from her robe, removed the cap, and held it high.

In an instant, a burst of fireworks shot into the air, blooming in the night sky. The flames formed the shape of a crane, lighting up a patch of dim world.

The Jinwu Guards all looked up at once, murmuring, “This is... Taiqing Daoist Temple’s distress fireworks?”

“Exactly.”

Zhou Xin said seriously, “Since the Jinwu Guards won’t sell this lord’s face, this lord can only invite daoist master to come over.”

She tilted her head to look at Shen Jibai. “If daoist master blames me, then I’ll say all of this was your idea.”

Shen Jibai: “....I’m afraid daoist master won’t believe that.”

One of the Jinwu Guards walked to Lingyun Jun’s side and whispered into his ear, “The Imperial Preceptor has special permission and may fly swords. If he comes, this matter will become a headless case, and can only be left unresolved. Why don’t we... just forget it?”

Lingyun Jun said, “Are those few brothers supposed to suffer injuries for nothing? They went along to catch demons, only to nearly lose their lives, and still didn’t get even half their merit!”

So that was the reason.

Zhou Xin said, “Who said there was no merit? It’s just that the hamster demon case has doubts, and the Da Li Si is still investigating it thoroughly. It has not yet been reported to the saint, so what are you anxious about?”

Hearing this, he did not blush either, and said frankly, “Since it has come to this, Yan dares to offend Lingyun Jun a bit more. May I ask Lingyun Jun, since your dao arts are damaged and your memory is lost, why did you still come alone to capture the demon? Even if Zhang Qingqing is traveling outside and not in the temple, and Linghe Zhenren is Linghe Zhenren, he will not easily make a move, then what about your junior disciple with extremely high talent? What about the hundreds of cultivators in the temple? If you had brought even one person, would the Jinwu Guards on duty at that time still have been injured?”

Zhou Xin narrowed her eyes.

Just as she was about to speak, she heard a voice ring out from the sky.

“It was this poor daoist who sent her out alone, not my young disciple being reckless and competitive, Lingyun Jun has blamed the wrong person.”

Following the sound, they looked up and saw an incomparably huge whisk in the sky. Linghe Zhenren sat at the end of the whisk handle, surveying them from above. Her bearing was imposing beyond measure, with a full sense of pressure.

Lingyun Jun glanced over and said in a voice only the two of them could hear, with hidden meaning, “Lingyun Jun really did worship a good master.”

After saying that, he saluted Linghe Zhenren and said, “Since that is the case, it was Yan who judged the gentleman’s belly with a villain’s heart. May I ask daoist master, did Lingyun Jun obtain the saint’s permission for this sword flight?”

“Yes.” Linghe Zhenren said, “The saint long ago allowed my young disciple to fly swords within the city, only the order had not yet been issued. If the young general does not believe it, you may have Da Li Si enter the palace to inquire.”

Lingyun Jun said, “That is natural. In that case, Yan will not disturb you further. Farewell.”

He turned and walked toward the bridge, and the other Jinwu Guards closely followed behind him, leaving together.

“...Real person.” Facing Linghe Zhenren, Zhou Xin always felt somewhat restrained and uneasy.

“Do not say more, the tracking spell has a time limit, hurry and follow.”

He slightly lifted a hand, and Zhou Xin and Shen Jibai were lifted into the air, slowly floating onto the whisk.

“Sit steady.” he said.

The butterfly once again flew toward the west, and the whisk carrying the three of them closely followed behind.

But the whisk handle was round, not flat, and as the whisk turned left and right, Zhou Xin would tilt along with it, while Shen Jibai, lying half-reclined by her side, was even less steady, several times nearly falling off.

Zhou Xin grabbed the hem of his robe. “Was the fall just now serious?”

Shen Jibai said, “It’s alright.”

She lowered her voice. “Thank you.”

Shen Jibai moved his lips. “No need, we’re even.”

That was true.

Shen Jibai had made an effort, but the mist spirit, he truly owed her a favor for that.

Now he had blocked this strike for her, which counted as repaying the favor.

Zhou Xin said, “It’s good to be even.”

The three of them followed the butterfly all the way out of the city, arriving at a vast and boundless forest. Looking down from above by moonlight, the trees that seemed chaotic and densely packed were in fact very carefully occupying the twenty-four directions, gradually decreasing toward the center, like an eight trigram formation, wrapping a suddenly towering mountain in the exact center.

Linghe Zhenren lowered his eyes to look at this mountain peak, his expression carrying a trace of emotion.

This mountain was not tall, square and blocky, its peak rising straight up and down without edges, as if it had formed by emerging directly from the ground.

If one looked carefully, one could faintly see a not very large Taiqing Daoist Temple on the mountaintop.

At this time, the butterfly that had been leading the way in front suddenly stopped and froze, its form breaking apart into countless spots of light, disappearing completely in the blink of an eye.

Shen Jibai said, “Why has it disappeared?”

He lowered his head and touched his own abdomen, and only after seeing that the bulging curve had not disappeared with the butterfly did he breathe a sigh of relief.

“What’s going on here?” Zhou Xin asked.

Linghe Zhenren was just about to speak, when he heard Shen Jibai say, “Real person, the mist is dispersing.”

Zhou Xin turned her head and saw Shen Jibai’s beer belly disappearing at a speed visible to the naked eye.

Linghe Zhenren shifted sideways, formed the Six Jia secret seal with both hands, and gave a low shout, “Congeal!”

No one knew what spell formula he used, but a mass of mist overflowed from Shen Jibai’s arms, slowly flowing toward the jade pendant hanging at his waist.

“The mist spirit’s main body has been absorbed, the sense between it and the mist has weakened, and it can no longer be tracked.”

Linghe Zhenren turned his body back again, with his back to the two of them. “This jade pendant contains lingering mist. Although it cannot guide the way, when it gets close to the evil cultivator who absorbed the mist spirit, it will glow as a warning.”

Shen Jibai took a deep breath, as if unwilling to accept it, but what he said was, “This is fine too.”

“We tracked it all the way here, and then the main body was suddenly absorbed. Does that mean the evil cultivator is nearby?” Zhou Xin asked.

“It’s possible.”

Linghe Zhenren controlled the whisk to descend, circling around in the forest. Only then did Zhou Xin realize this was the locust grove where she had woken up!

The nine-tailed spirit fox had lost its inner core here, and the mist’s tracking ended in nothing here. This meant that the evil cultivator had always been active around here.

A Taiqing Daoist Temple flashed through her mind, and Zhou Xin pointed at that strange mountain. “The evil cultivator is nearby, and just so happens that there is a Taiqing Daoist Temple nearby!”

Linghe Zhenren gently shook his head, his tone full of certainty. “It can’t be him.”

“Why?” Zhou Xin asked.

Linghe Zhenren lowered his eyes and said nothing.

He slightly raised a hand, and the whisk rose straight upward. Just as it was about to approach the Taiqing Daoist Temple, it suddenly stopped with a bang, as if it had撞 into something, making the whisk tremble slightly, and Zhou Xin trembled along with it.

“There’s a barrier here? Real person can’t break this barrier?”
Zhou Xin looked at the Taiqing Daoist Temple below. Faintly visible were red maple trees planted inside and outside the temple, their leaves forming a sea of red, looking very alluring.

“Could this be... Guihua Small Courtyard?” Shen Jibai asked.

Linghe Zhenren stroked his beard and said softly, “Guihua Small Courtyard has hidden for several hundred years, I did not expect there to still be people who remember it.”

“There are rumors that in Luoyang there was once a Guihua Small Courtyard. The temple master was a cultivator skilled in divination, one fortune for a thousand gold, and every calculation came true, highly admired by the world.”

“He once cast a fortune for the emperor of the previous dynasty, and bluntly said that the previous dynasty’s fate was nearly exhausted. The emperor flew into a rage and wanted to execute him, but unexpectedly that temple master actually disappeared in prison.”

“Later, the matters on the divination chart were verified one after another. The emperor sent people to search for him, but never found any information about him again, as if he had never existed.”

Shen Jibai blinked, seeming still somewhat unable to believe it. “I thought it was just a rumor, I didn’t expect it to be true.”

“What does this have to do with whether he is an evil cultivator?” Zhou Xin asked.

“This barrier can not only block outsiders from entering, it can also block the people inside from going out. Since they cannot come out, how could he be the evil cultivator causing waves in the Eastern Capital?” Linghe Zhenren said.

“That makes sense. Since we can’t continue tracking, let’s go back first. It’s already late now, and Shen is not convenient to disturb you any further.” The person behind said softly.

“Very well.”

After saying that, the whisk turned around and flew back to Luoyang City, delivering Shen Jibai to Guihua Small Courtyard in the Zunxian Fang.

The main house had already gone dark, and the courtyard was dim. Linghe Zhenren waved his hand, and the windows and doors of the room where Shen Jibai lived opened wide. He was carried into the room by a gust of gentle wind.

With another wave of his hand, the windows and doors all closed, and on the bed where Shen Jibai was staying, a black medicine bottle had appeared.

The whisk rose straight up, flew over several ward towns, flew over the Luo River, and landed in the quiet room courtyard.

As soon as he landed, Linghe Zhenren looked through the window and saw Chang Sheng lying on the bamboo mat, sleeping soundly, and beside him the desk piled in a mess and books scattered all over the floor.

“...This poor master was gone for only one day.”

He turned around, his eyes slightly lowered, and his deep gaze fell on Zhou Xin’s face, staring at her just like that in silence.

Zhou Xin’s heart tightened, and she quietly clenched her sleeves.

Her voice was as calm as ever, impossible to tell whether he was happy or angry. “Still not explaining it clearly?”