CH 31

The horse carriage was quite packed, but the atmosphere wasn’t too great.

Xiao Fuxuan didn’t like to sit down, and like last time, he chose to stand and lean by the door.

Fang Chu sat on the same side as Yi Wusheng. Ever since he got on, he has been playing dead, pretending to not wake up until they arrive.

Ning Huaishan sat with Wu Xingxue. His thin body lay in the corner. The sword scar on his neck was hurting again, and it was damp and soft to the touch like it would reopen again.

He was rather annoyed by this old wound and decided to vent on Yi Wusheng. He said churly, “Didn’t you say you still had some regrets? What, they’re gone now?” 

Yi Wusheng replied with a face of abashment, “I am ashamed.”

He was a person of great curiosity, as he would always try to get to the bottom of things. But if it wasn’t for this temperament, how would he have developed so many new medicines?

Before, hindered by his status in the Hua Sect, he always needed to pay attention to everything he did. He needed to remain calm at all times and even had to restrain some of his natural instincts. Now, with few days left to live, he could finally be free and act as his heart desired.

Ning Huaishan’s original intention was just to provoke him. But seeing that he was only ashamed and not angry, he found no reason to continue the conversation. He shrank back to the corner, and before long, began to rub the scar on his neck.

He was skinny to begin with, and leaning in the corner made him look rather like a wronged child. 

Yi Wusheng looked at him for a while, then couldn’t help but ask, “Your scar——”

Ning Huaishan suddenly gave a fierce glare, “None of your business.”

After all, the scar was left by Yi Wusheng back then. Although it was natural for cultivators to eliminate devils, Yi Wusheng couldn’t help but feel worried after seeing his wound like that.

Yi Wusheng asked, “Is it hurting again?”

Ning Huaishan: “No!“

Yi Wusheng: “I have some medicine——”

Ning Huaishan: “Not taking it!”

Yi Wusheng still wanted to say more.

Ning Huaishan: “One more word and you’re dead.”

Things usually didn’t go through his brain when he was cursing others. Only after speaking did he realize that Yi Wusheng was in fact not far from death.

He actually felt a hint of guilt and remorse.

Yi Wusheng didn’t speak. He just smiled, and still took out a pill from his medicine pouch.

Ning Huaishan felt even more guilty.

When he lifted his head again, he saw that the City Lord, who has been resting with his eyes closed, has half-opened his eyes to look over. He immediately surrendered, taking over the pill from Yi Wusheng’s hands and swallowing it.

Afterwards, he reached out his leg under the table to nudge Fang Chu’s foot, then transmitted, “Stop pretending to sleep, help me out here.”

Fang Chu remained motionless, and after a while, he transmitted back, “No.” 

The reason why Fang Chu began to play dead the moment after he entered the carriage was because ever since the carriage curtains were lowered, he suddenly realized a problem——

On the way here, it was the same carriage, and the same five people. He had thought that three of them were devils from Zhaoye City, and one was a puppet under the control of a devil. Hence, they had the upper hand.

The cultivation sect member, Yi Wusheng, was alone and all by himself, surrounded by devils. 

But not anymore.

Yi Wusheng was not forced, instead, he came here willingly. The puppet wasn’t a puppet either, and was the Tianxiu Immortal himself. Their City Lord wasn’t just the plain City Lord anymore either, he was the Spirit King of the Immortal Capital – the person who held the same status as Tianxiu.

Five people, three of them were on the immortal’s side. He and Ning Huaishan were as good as dead.

Moreover, the former site of Falling Flower Mountain Market had now become the entrance to the Devil’s Den, Zhaoye City. Bringing this carriage full of immortals, would this be considered treason?

Of all the places they could go, why did it have to be Falling Flower Mountain Market…

Fang Chu felt his stomach turning.

And right after that, he heard the drowsy voice of his City Lord.

“Xiao Fuxuan,” said Wu Xingxue.

The man leaning by the door looked over.

“Why don’t you have a seat?” Wu Xingxue asked, “There’s plenty of room.”

With that sentence, Fang Chu, who was playing dead, and Ning Huaishan, who was acting weak, all instantly snapped their eyes open.

The carriage was indeed quite spacious. It could easily fit three people on one side. But the problem was the two of them.

Yi Wusheng and Wu Xingxue were all sitting on the inside, while the two of them were sitting closer to the door. If Tianxiu Immortal were to sit down, then one of them would have to be sandwiched in the middle…

Ning Huaishan immediately kicked Fang Chu, transmitting, “Hey, come sit here NOW. Let Tianxiu sit with Yi Wusheng!”1

Fang Chu kicked back, “If I move to your side, then we’ll be squeezing City Lord to the corner, are you crazy?”

Unexpectedly, Fang Chu’s kick accidentally missed and hit Wu Xingxue instead.

Wu Xingxue rubbed his handwarmer and said out loud, “I’m not sure if I’m crazy, but what I know for sure is that you two are certainly making quite the commotion.”

Fang Chu: “……”

Fang Chu has been a devil for decades, and this was the first time he got embarrassed. Speechless, he could only glare at the person who started it all, Ning Huaishan.

Exposed, Ning Huaishan didn’t dare to stay by Wu Xingxue any longer. He quickly shot himself over to the opposite side.

Wu Xingxue: “……”

He asked angrily, “What are you running for?”

Ning Huaishan sat down beside Fang Chu. Of course, he couldn’t say “it’s cus I’m scared of you”. So he could only reply politely, “It’s to leave a spot for Tianxiu.”

After speaking, there was a moment of silence in the carriage. City Lord and Tianxiu both glanced at him at the same time.

Ning Huaishan: “……”

He felt like there must’ve been something wrong with what he had said, but he couldn’t exactly figure out what it was. He could only cover his neck and try to ease the awkwardness.

He whined, “City Lord, my neck hurts.”

Let it be your mouth next time, Wu Xingxue thought.

He lifted his chin and reminded unhurriedly, “the part you are covering has already started to form a scab, you can move your hand a bit lower.”

Ning Huaishan: “……”

Yi Wusheng’s medicine was indeed powerful. Just one pill was enough to stop the pain. But since he had already started the act, he had to finish it.

So, he silently moved his finger down a few inches.

The City Lord was not showing him any mercy, saying softly, “Too late, that part is already forming a scab too.”

Ning Huaishan let down his hand; his act could no longer last.

The City Lord always had a lazy temperament, even while speaking. He rarely teased them like this. Ning Huaishan, feeling quite wronged, mumbled quietly, “All I did was move to make some room…”

Wu Xingxue said in his head, “Who asked?”

Besides, Tianxiu Immortal didn’t like to sit with others to begin with, nor did he like to be too close to others. Even if Wu Xingxue asked, and even if Ning Huaishan voluntarily moved, he would still probably just respond with “no need”.

It was like this on the way to the Valley of Great Sorrow.

Wu Xingxue’s eyes didn’t move. He stared at Ning Huaishan and just as he was about to continue bullying him, he suddenly noticed a tall figure move through the corner of his eyes.

The long sword knocking against the waist jade gave off a very subtle sound, approaching him from far to near. The smell and temperature of another person became abruptly more distinct.

Xiao Fuxuan sat down beside him.

Wu Xingxue suddenly fell silent.

This was an eye-opener for Ning Huaishan. Just a moment ago, his City Lord was still in an unpredictable ambiguous state, and a moment later, he immediately quieted down.

Here’s a nice analogy: It was like a near-extinct masked palm civet with its chest puffed ready to make an aggressive attack. But after two scratches on the chin, it surrendered immediately.

He suddenly felt like this thought itself was even scarier than his unfathomable City Lord.

He decided that the safest way would be to be like Fang Chu: Close his eyes and play dead.

Wu Xingxue, of course, didn’t know what nonsense his subordinates were thinking. When he raised his head again, what appeared in front of him was a row of three people, all with their eyes closed and looking like they had passed out.

“……”

This made him rather angry, making him laugh a little.

“Laughing at what.” Xiao Fuxuan suddenly spoke.

Wu Xingxue: “Nothing.”

After retracting his gaze from the other side and tucking the handwarmer into his sleeves, he looked up at Xiao Fuxuan, “I heard them say that the Falling Flower Mountain Market was a busy market centuries ago, but it’s gone now.”

The first time he heard of this place was when Yi Wusheng said that the dream bell of the mortal realm first originated there. The second time was during Yun Hai’s interrogation.

He should have no memories of that place, but perhaps it was because of the dream bell he carried by his waist, every time the name “Falling Flower Mountain Market” was mentioned, he would always vaguely recall a distinctive cacophony of voices.

That place must have been a lively and bustling place. It was a pity that it has now become the entrance to the Devil’s Den, Zhaoye City. 

According to Ning Huaishan, he personally set that place as the boundary and as the entrance to Zhaoye City back then.

Wu Xingxue asked, “Then how did the mountain market disappear?” 

Xiao Fuxuan replied, “Sudden wildfire.”

Wu Xingxue: “Fire?”

Xiao Fuxuan gave an “mm” for affirmation. That was already a long time ago. After recalling for a bit, he continued, “The mountain market is supposed to open on the third day of the third month every year. It was said that not long after the market opened that year, a sudden wildfire erupted. The fire was too fierce and too sudden for anyone to respond.”

Every year, the Falling Flower Mountain Market would always be so lively that the lights could form a river. When the fire started, many people outside the market even thought it was the usual market lights.

That day, nearly four miles of wildfire burned so red that even the moon hanging above it gave off a crimson glow. When the surrounding common folks saw it, they still had no clue what was going on. They pointed to it and exclaimed, “That fiery red is an omen of prosperity!”

Later, only after the entire Falling Flower Terrace2 was covered in smoke, people started to realize that something was off. By the time they got to the market, everything was already too late. 

Multiple cultivation sects came to help, summoning clouds and controlling water, but for some reason, the fire just wouldn’t die out. Only after the entire Falling Flower Terrace was burnt to the ground, leaving nothing else to burn, did the fire finally slowly extinguish.

“I wasn’t born at that time, but I have heard many rumors about it.” Yi Wusheng opened his eyes and spoke, “At that time, many people felt like that was no ordinary wildfire. Someone must have done something to cause a heavenly punishment.”

Upon hearing “heavenly punishment,” Wu Xingxue immediately looked towards Xiao Fuxuan.

Yi Wusheng quickly added, “It’s not from Tianxiu. It was said that at that time, Tianxiu Immortal was… uh, was under self-sanction, sealing himself in the far North for an entire century?”

Self sanction?

Sealed for a whole century?

Wu Xingxue did not understand what this sanction thing was, nor what the punishment was if one went against such sanction. But before he could come back to his senses, his brows had already furrowed. 

“It’s just some confinement, nothing much,” Xiao Fuxuan’s deep voice sounded.

Xiao Fuxuan’s eyes gleamed a moment of coldness, as if he didn’t want to talk about it any further.

Having an EQ much higher than that of Ning Huaishan and the others, Yi Wusheng quickly changed the topic, “All in all, the Falling Flower Mountain Market never opened afterwards. The entire terrace was burned to a crisp, and even the rivers that flowed through there would flow out as a crimson red color, snaking throughout the Jiaming Wilderness.”

“Oddly enough, every year on the third day of March, the moon hanging on top of the mountain will still shine crimson red, and the Falling Flower Terrace will still flicker with firelights.” 

The first few years this happened, the cultivation sects and the common people saw this and rushed over, thinking it was another fire. Only after they arrived did they realize there was no fire at all.

Later, people felt like it was because the souls of the individuals that died there could not rest in peace, so they would go there every year to chant and pray for them.

Then, even later, that place was set as the entrance to the Devil’s Den. Perhaps the sinister energies mutually controlled each other, because the firelights never appeared there ever again for decades.

According to the people there now, that place had already returned to normal.

This was also why Yi Wusheng was really puzzled. Why did they have to come to this no-longer-existing Falling Flower Mountain Market to repair the dream bell?

That was, after all, a heavenly treasure. An immortal wouldn’t just tell you how to build and repair one. For any person with common sense, they would know better than to ask for that. Yi Wusheng has spent his entire life in a cultivation sect, he naturally knew these taboos.

Fortunately, there was a mouthy person on the carriage…

And were that certain person to ask, Tianxiu Immortal would always reply.

That person asked what Yi Wusheng wanted to know the most.

Xiao Fuxuan replied, “Because the Falling Flower Terrace has jade essence.”

That person didn’t even know what a jade essence was.

He silently looked at Xiao Fuxuan, waiting for a response… but what he received was Xiao Fuxuan’s hand.

That hand flicked the bell that was resting on the seat, and then held it in his hand and studied it for a second. He continued lightly, “Its original materials were jade essence from that place.”

Wu Xingxue: “……”

The lamp wasn’t lit in the carriage, making the interior quite dim. Only occasionally, the felt door curtains would shift a little, letting in a bit of hazy light. 

Xiao Fuxuan couldn’t see Wu Xingxue’s expression clearly. He could only see his half-closed eyes as well as his fingers that were hooked around the dream bell’s string.

After a while, Wu Xingxue silently pulled on the string and brought the white jade bell back into his hand.