TDFM Chapter 125

I Don’t Accept

 

The Way of One Mind was a cultivation method that appeared simple at first glance, but the more one studied it, the more one discovered its infinite wonders and applications.

 

Jiang Baiyu and Ci Li were both discerning people who could immediately recognize the exquisiteness of this cultivation method. On the other hand, the other three, although they had practiced frequently before, had seen few techniques and did not know how rare and precious this method was.

 

Regardless, now all five were practicing together. Though their progress differed and their talents varied, in the end they were all basically prepared enough to handle Qiguang Zi’s Dream Weaving technique.

 

While cultivating, they also had to guard against Qiguang Zi’s pursuit, so every two hours they used the Neat Family to teleport once. To prevent the same person from using the treasure and leaving a pattern, all five took turns using it in random order.

 

After seven days, the Thousand-Mile Sound-Transmitting Conch once again flowed with radiance.

 

“Little one, you’re quite cunning,” he said.

 

Yun Qing remained silent.

 

“I can give you one chance to negotiate terms.”

 

“Within three days, come to the capital to see me. As long as I get what I want, I will spare your master.”

 

“And all of you.”

 

…..

 

The light on the conch shell returned to silence.

 

Fu Xue couldn’t believe what she had just heard and asked in a daze, “Senior Sister, I didn’t mishear, did I? We’ve worked so hard for so long, and finally we can save Master?”

 

Yun Qing stared blankly at the Thousand-Mile Sound-Transmitting Conch. Yes, after going through countless hardships and facing death multiple times, they were like people who had walked in darkness for a very long time and finally saw a glimmer of light.

 

She should have been overjoyed, but she wasn’t.

 

Light was certainly welcome, but what was the price?

 

Yun Qing sighed heavily and said, “He wants Xi’s earth soul.”

 

The gentle voice in her mind spoke up, as Xi comforted her. “It’s alright, let everything return to how it should be. My tribulation shouldn’t be borne by you all. This is already the best outcome.

 

Hand me over to him. I’m about to perish anyway, so he won’t be able to torment me for long.”

 

Yun Qing bit her lip and remained silent.

 

“Yun Qing, I’m truly happy that the mortal world I protect has many people like you. This makes me feel that everything I’ve done has meaning. I won’t be sad at all, and I hope you won’t be sad either.”

 

Yun Qing looked up and made an “mm” sound through her nose.

 

****

 

This day was the fifteenth of the twelfth lunar month.

 

By nightfall, the jade rabbit rose in the east, and the pure, cold moonlight spilled over the desolate winter earth. The grass leaves had been frozen brittle, and when people stepped on them, they made crackling sounds as they shattered.

 

Cheng Suiyan broke through the frozen river surface, and Fu Xue caught a fish for him.

 

He cut the fish into sashimi with his sword, picking up piece after piece to eat, though it was tasteless.

 

“I really never thought we’d actually make it this far. It feels unreal, like a dream,” he sighed, then asked, “When everything is settled, what do you all want to do?”

 

Yun Qing sat in a pile of grass, hugging her knees and looking up at the sky as she answered:

 

“I want to go back to Longshou Mountain first to have a look. Then, counting the days, Qingyun Island should be setting sail soon. When the time comes, I’ll go with Master and Junior Sister to Qingyun Island to visit Madam Fengyi. Do you want to come?”

 

Cheng Suiyan immediately nodded. “Yes, yes!”

 

Fu Xue said, “If you want to go, you’ll need to prepare plenty of dry provisions. There’s nothing to eat on that island.”

 

“Ah? That terrible? What do the people on the island live on? Have they practiced Bigu since birth?”

 

“No, they live on eating flowers and grass, occasionally gnawing on stones and such.”

 

“This? This is too miserable!”

 

“It’s their tradition. However, people who eat flowers and grass all grow beautiful. I tell you, there are many handsome men on that island who like my Senior Sister and want to go on blind dates with her!”

 

Cheng Suiyan became excited upon hearing this. He looked at Jiang Baiyu with a chuckle and asked Yun Qing, “Really? Yun Qing? Tell us more!”

 

Yun Qing felt very embarrassed, feeling that her junior sister’s habit of bragging was getting worse and worse.

 

Jiang Baiyu squeezed Yun Qing’s hand, thinking to herself that they needed to get married before going to Qingyun Island.

 

Cheng Suiyan asked Ci Li again, “Little Cat, how about you? Want to come with us?”

 

Ci Li curled the corner of her mouth, “No.”

 

“Mimi, come with us. At worst, we’ll accompany you to look for Bie Li again.”

 

“Get lost.”

 

…..

 

Yun Qing rested her chin on her hand and looked at the moon. Cheng Suiyan was regretting the lack of wine, Jiang Baiyu was indirectly asking Fu Xue exactly how many men from Qingyun Island wanted to go on blind dates with Yun Qing, and Fu Xue was trying to make this boast more reasonable with richer details.

 

Yun Qing suddenly said, “I don’t accept.”

 

The others stopped talking and looked at her together.

 

Her gaze was very calm, and her bright eyes reflected two small full moons. She said, “I cannot accept just handing Xi over like this. Qiguang Zi will definitely threaten her again with the human race. Xi will repeat her past suffering, and more people will be harmed.

 

Fu Xue, Baiyu, and I became orphans because of disasters created by Qiguang Zi. I cannot accept more children becoming orphans because of this.

 

Becoming an orphan is considered lucky—many more people have died because of him. He killed Yixin Zi, killed Huayang Zi, killed Sister Muyu and Grandma Baiyin. He’s killed too many people!

 

Moreover, even if we hand over Xi and temporarily live in degradation, will we be safe? For the rest of our lives, we’ll live under Qiguang Zi’s shadow. Our life and death will depend only on whether he’s willing to keep his promise.

 

How can people pin their hopes on others’ conscience? That’s truly absurd… I don’t accept any of this. I think if Master were here, he wouldn’t accept it either.”

 

Cheng Suiyan threw down the fish sashimi in his hand, stood up and said, “Actually, I also don’t agree with handing over Xi. I just couldn’t bear to persuade you to give up on Master.”

 

Yun Qing looked at the others, “What do you think?”

 

Ci Li glanced at Cheng Suiyan and said, “I think the same as this lunatic. How rare.”

 

Fu Xue struggled for a while, then said quietly, “Senior Sister, I’ll listen to you in everything.”

 

Jiang Baiyu asked, “Yun Qing, have you thought of some method?”

 

“I’ve thought it over and over. The key to breaking this deadlock still lies with it.” As Yun Qing spoke, she opened her hand to show everyone.

 

In her palm, a pure white pearl emanated gentle, quiet light.

 

In her mind, Xi sighed softly and said, “Yun Qing, once my soul returns to its place, your constitution will immediately revert to that of an ordinary person. At that time, at an altitude of five thousand zhang, you… you will die.

 

Even the Golden Frost Jade Dew Lotus would have difficulty saving you. That lotus can heal injuries, but cannot restore qi. When you die from qi transformation, there will be no wounds on your body, so the Golden Frost Jade Dew Lotus will have nowhere to start.

 

Furthermore, that place is Qiguang Zi’s sanctuary. We don’t know when he might appear there, or if he’ll have preparations in advance. If we encounter Qiguang Zi, you’ll have even less chance of surviving.”

 

“Even if I die, I will send you back to your place before dying,” Yun Qing bit her teeth with determination. “If I can truly trade my life for Qiguang Zi’s life, that would be a great profit. It seems like trading one life for one life, but actually, it’s for many people’s lives.”

 

“Well said!” Cheng Suiyan nodded heavily, his eyes bright as he said, “Just like you said, standing tall and proud, a worthless life, if you don’t submit, then fight!”

 

“Suiyan, maybe you shouldn’t go this time. I—” She was about to say “I’ll go alone” when she noticed Jiang Baiyu pulling her hand, so she changed her words. “Baiyu and I will go.” If she died, Baiyu could at least retrieve her corpse.

 

Cheng Suiyan’s eyes widened, “Wow, Yun Qing, what do you mean? Are you, husband and wife, going to monopolize this heroic opportunity?”

 

Just as Yun Qing was about to explain, Fu Xue also said, “Exactly, Senior Sister, let’s all go together. We can look after each other. With more people comes more strength. Who knows, it might come in handy at a crucial moment! I’m not afraid of death either!”

 

Ci Li said, “You’re not afraid of death, you’re afraid of ghosts.”

 

“Stinky little cat, your mouth is like a knife. Do you cut your pillow when you sleep at night?”

 

Ci Li smiled slightly, “You’re not bad either.”

 

Yun Qing thought that as long as they could find Xi’s body in a short time and quickly leave the high altitude, there might not be no chance of survival.

 

Moreover, Fu Xue was right—having more people could indeed provide mutual support. Fate was unpredictable; you never knew who might play what crucial role at a key moment. One couldn’t underestimate any companion.

 

The biggest variable in this plan was actually that Qiguang Zi might prepare defenses in advance. But they had no other choice and could only gamble on this.

 

Cheng Suiyan took out his small booklet, tore off several sheets of paper, then took out his small brush.

 

The black brush tip had frozen hard, so he put it in his mouth to moisten it, then wrote a letter to his parents by moonlight. After writing the letter, he didn’t dare send it back with a paper crane, fearing Qiguang Zi would notice something amiss, so he found a large stone.

 

He folded the letter neatly, wrapped it with a handkerchief, wrote “Delivering to Minister Cheng will be heavily rewarded” on the handkerchief, then pressed these under the large stone. Finally, he patted the stone and sighed. “I’ve never been this sentimental before.”

 

****

 

How could mortals fly over the five-thousand-zhang cloud sea peaks?

 

Yun Qing’s first thought was naturally the phoenix.

 

But with only two days left until Qiguang Zi’s deadline, contacting Qingshang with paper crane transmission was too late now. Unless they used treasure relay transmission to reach Shenle Valley, that would be faster, but would consume too much cultivation.

 

“Xi, you must have a way,” Yun Qing said. When she discussed the cloud sea with Xi, Xi’s focus was always that the cloud sea was uninhabitable, never denying that they could stand upon it.

 

“Sigh,” Xi was somewhat helpless. “Yun Qing, it would be better if you were a bit dumber.”

 

“So, what exactly should we do?”

 

“Try putting your divine consciousness into the Compassionate Sword, and I’ll control it.”

 

Yun Qing did as instructed.

 

The Compassionate Sword recognized Xi. It floated in the air and let out a clear, resonant ring, sounding very joyful.

 

Then, before everyone’s eyes, it suddenly grew to over two zhang long!

 

Yun Qing was stunned for a moment, then realized what this meant and leaped onto the sword blade.

 

The others also jumped on.

 

The five sat side by side on the blade. Fu Xue said in a daze, “Not long ago we rode a phoenix, and today we’re riding a divine sword! Even dying would be worth it!”

 

Xi laughed. “Yun Qing, this will consume more of your cultivation, but that’s not a bad thing.”

 

Yun Qing understood Xi’s meaning.

 

After Xi’s earth soul returned to its place, Yun Qing’s body would also revert to that of an ordinary cultivator. At that time, her qi sea would shrink to be similar to Fu Xue’s, and her full cultivation would have nowhere to go, creating a burden on her body. It was better to consume some in advance.

 

The wind in the sky was fierce. The Compassionate Sword emanated golden light, forming a spherical protective layer that enveloped several people.

 

“Hold on tight,” Xi said.

 

Then the Compassionate Sword “whooshed” out.

 

This time it was much faster than the phoenix. Fortunately, none of them were ordinary people, or they would have been thrown off immediately.

 

The sky grew closer and closer, and the earth was pitch black. Passing through the cloud layer, the moon hung like a bright lamp in the ink-colored sky, its white light somewhat sharper than when viewed from the ground.

 

Moonlight spilled onto the cloud layer, making its surface appear grayish-white, with gray darkness and deathly silence all around.

 

Yun Qing looked into the distance. Besides the endless grayish-white cloud sea, there was only the dark, heavy sky. Even the moon had become pale and wan.

 

Feeling somewhat bored, she took out her copper divination coins and cast a divination for herself, asking about the fortune and misfortune of this journey.

 

Severed Head Divination, Great Misfortune, tsk.