Chapter 73 - Return of Fox Xiao Xian
Kunlun Mountain wind Xi Jian, the Nanji Immortal, is leisurely alone to enjoy the flowers and drink tea; he even stoned melon seeds sunbathing; the heart is not worried about leisurely. In contrast, his two disciples are a bit nervous. The eldest disciple, White Crane Boy He Yunfeng, kept walking around or disguised as a white crane and flew to the top of the mountain to look into the distance. The second disciple, plum flower venerable Mei Xiangzi, looks relatively stable but can't do the Master such a light breeze. He sometimes goes to look at the alchemy room in the pills refined how, sometimes busy to see if the Master's tea is not enough to hurry up to boil the water to cook the tea, and is always just too busy with something in order to alleviate the anxiety of the heart.
Master Nanji Immortal smiled and said, "Tell me that you two have several hundred thousand years together. How are you still like a brat, so calm?"
"Master!" Mei Xiangzi complained a bit. "That's the fifth senior sister. Whether or not she'll be able to complete her journey this time depends on this last one. Otherwise, all her previous efforts will be wasted, and not to mention that she herself will go up in smoke. You will also have wasted all your hard work over the years. Why are you not anxious at all?"
"Heaven and earth are created, so don't be obsessed. As the saying goes, do your best and listen to heaven's fate. Just do your best, and the rest will follow the Heavenly Dao. It's not up to you or me!" Nanji Immortal stroked his long white beard and smiled meaningfully, then casually picked a fresh peach before saying, "Don't you guys panic! Our guest is almost here. I'll pick a peach here to quench his thirst."
After saying that, Kunlun Mountain suddenly changed, behind a giant cloud, revealing the dog nose of the roaring dog XuanMo. He sniffed the smell and opened his bloody mouth, and the Nanji Immortal sent the immortal peach into his mouth. In a short while, Xuanmo finally returned to his standard human form and spat out a shining golden treasure pearl from his mouth. After recalling the pearl into his hand, the Nanji Immortal Weng smilingly bowed to Xuan Mo and said, "Thank you, Immortal Monarch, for your assistance in sending my disciple back to Kunlun. That Immortal Peach is a token of appreciation for the meeting."
"How dare you, how dare you! Fox Xiaoxian must also thank Immortal Weng for assisting me with his magic; otherwise, I don't know how to change back! Only blame me for my low magic power; I am unable to rescue Cang Cang. Oh no, Fox Xiaoxian's Yuan Shen from the poplar forest. At that time, the situation was urgent Little Fox had to come up with this plan, swallowing the entire poplar forest into his stomach to send it back to you." Xuan Mo is humble and polite; he knows that the person before him is not ordinary. He looks like a tiny old man who is like a peaceful old boy, and the high level of his magic power is also a top existence among the immortals.
Nanji Immortal stroked his beard and said with a smile: ''I just want to wait for you to send it back! The timing is just right. Fox Xiaoxian's Yuan Shen was nurtured in the poplar forest for only a few months because of the Sumeru Illusion Realm, which lengthened the time so as to help her accelerate the repair at an extraordinary time. In addition, your stomach, as a magic weapon for refining demons and evils, is an excellent alchemy furnace to help her purify even further. This is all her blessing!"
Nanji Immortal looked at the yin and yang ball in his hand; half of it was red like fire, while the other half was cold like water, presenting a pure blue color; this was Fox Xiao Xian's Yuan Shen. Flame and seawater are each half before it is torment; after that, it will be fused together to achieve her other world. "Xiangzi, open the furnace!" Nanji Immortal called out to his second disciple while his eldest disciple, He Yunfeng, held this yin and yang ball and put it into the alchemy furnace. The auspicious time had arrived, and Nanji Immortal cast a spell to draw out his own Samadhi Flame to burn the alchemy furnace to reddish color, and the pre-prepared Immortal Elixir in the furnace helped to quickly repairFox XIaoXian's Yuan Shen under the power of the Samadhi Flame.
One incense stick later. A green smoke curled up from the furnace and floated in front of everyone's eyes, gradually gathering Qi and condensing to manifest into shape, a young girl dressed in red slowly awakened, her eyes opened with a golden-red hue, and her large eyes revealed aura and maturity.Fox XIaoXian, finally returned.
Xuan Mo was the most excited among several people. He couldn't help but burst into tears just as he wanted to open his mouth to call out. He was choked by the thousands of thoughts in his heart. The girl in front of him was not Hu Cangcang; she was Fox XIaoXian, a brand new, cleansed of demonic aura, fairy who had passed through the tribulation to become an immortal.
Fox XIao Xian smiled and gave her Master a big salute, saying, "Thank you, Master, thank you all senior brothers, thank you Xuan Mo Immortal Monarch for helping me succeed in the tribulation! Master Teacher, Little Fifth is back!" Then, mischievously and innocently, he spat out his tongue and laughed happily.
As if all those sufferings and pains, partings, and breakups had become a thing of the past, the broken hearts, the tears, the blood, and the lives paid for had all become worthless. Today, Fox XiaoXian is no longer that coy, frightened, and helpless little fox spirit; she has really grown up completely and has become a person who can walk upright between heaven and earth, the true immortal that she imagined becoming when she was a child.
The Master was delighted as he nodded and said, "Good! Good ah! Fox Xiaoxian, you have come back well! As the saying goes, to move the heart and nourish the nature is to gain what it cannot. Three lifetimes of cultivation are to cultivate your heart, to cultivate your seven-knuckle heart!"
Fox Xiao Xian knelt and bowed to her Master Nanji Immortal , still smiling but with a slightly more serious tone, "Master, the people of Zhongming are still deep in water and fire, and war is imminent, so I want to go back and save the people, and even if I save one more person, it's worth it. I promise to abide by the heavenly rules and regulations, not to use spells in front of mortal humans, and to use my wisdom and martial arts to help Ouyang Zhong and the others. I ask the Master to be gracious enough to allow my apprentice to descend to the earth once again."
"Goodness! You follow Immortal Lord Xuanmo! This is also your common mission. This time, the Demon Monarch has reappeared, and if it is not stopped, it will jeopardize the living beings in the six realms. Immortals must eliminate demons and defend the way of the Immortals. You guys go earlier, then I will report to the Heavenly King. When the time comes, heavenly soldiers and generals will help you catch the demon together." After saying that, Nanji Immortal reached out his hand, changed into two weapons, and handed them over to Fox Xiao Xian as his magic weapon. One was a golden bow, and the other was a meteorite iron sword. Then, looking lovingly at this female disciple, he waved his hand and said, "Go! The Master will wait for your triumph, and we will all drink tea and chat under the peach blossom tree here in Feng Xi Jian!"
Fox Xiao Xian and Xuan Mo saluted the Nanji Immortal, He Yunfeng and Mei Xiangzi, and then left the Kunlun Mountains to run towards Zongcheng.
Fox Xiao Xian looked down on the land of Zhongming from above the clouds, and her heart felt very bad. The once prosperous Zhongming country was vast, rich, and beautiful, and the people lived and worked in peace and happiness, peaceful weather. Now, wars are frequent and devastating, and the people do not want to live. Farmland has been deserted because of the war, and many formerly good fields have been turned graveyards. Even during the daytime, wild animals from the neighborhood come to the human settlements to gnaw on the corpses of the recently dead humans to feed on their hunger.
Due to a scarcity of food, homelessness, and displacement, countless villages and towns have become deserted ghost towns. Those who can escape have become vagabonds wandering around, and those who can't escape are hiding. Only in the evening and at dawn do they dare to come out quietly to look for food to make ends meet.
Fox Xiao Xian and Xuan Mo first took a detour to Xi City. At this time, Xi City had been surrounded by Dongfang Chang's army for over a month. During such a fierce battle, countless people had already died. At the same time, the remaining civil officials, military generals, and women, young and old, who stayed in Xi City are all resisting and supporting themselves. They knew clearly that Xi City was just hitting a stone with an egg, but even if they could hold on for one more hour and kill one more person, they were still fighting for a little more chance for Zong Cheng City, for Mrs. Xie, the principal mother of the Ouyang family, and the young king.
Xuan Mo pulled Fox Xiao Xian to hide his figure in a mountain near Xi City. He could sense that Fox Xiao Xian wanted to go to the city to rescue the people. However, he still had to encourage again, "I know that you are bent on saving the people, but this is the national fortune and destiny of Zhongming Country. You can't turn the tide. Instead of fighting the Nandu Army head-on, why don't we think of a way to retreat the people in the city to other places? When the battle is over, then we can return here."
"How to retreat? Retreat to where? In the beginning, I only gave up my life because I wanted the military and people of Northwatch City to retreat. But now, the people inside Xi City and the Nandu enemy army outside are ordinary mortals, and we can't use our mana to stop this war. We can only find a way to make the enemy give up attacking the city without moving a single shot or arrow."Fox XIaoXian mused.
When they took advantage of the night to sneak into Xi City, they only saw that everyone in the city's military and civilians were carrying bladed weapons, even if it was just a rolling pin, it had to be used as a thing that could be used as a sidekick, in case the enemy army attacked the city, they said that they couldn't be weak and throw themselves to the side. They would die to make their will clear.
The patriarch of the Ouyang family, Ouyang Ming, has been killed; his coffin has not even had time to be buried, always parked in the makeshift funeral hall, and next to him, an empty coffin in front of the tablets written on the "first grade enjoined Mrs. Ouyang Xie's seat."
Ouyang Zhong's mother accompanied the young emperor in escaping to the secret passage in the imperial city of Zongcheng City. Initially, according to the plan, she could not return to Xi City. However, no matter how much her son Ouyang Zhong tried to retain her, Mrs. Xie still decided to return to Xi City, vowing to work together with all the people in Xi City. She knew that she would die this time, so she just went to her death so that she could reunite with her husband, Ouyang Ming, in the netherworld.
Mrs. Xie personally wrote her tablet, then gently stroked Ouyang Ming's coffin and quietly said, "Husband, you have to wait for me."
In her last life as Linghu Xian, Fox Xiao Xian received a lot of care from Lady Xie. Seeing Lady Xie treat death with such deep respect, she both admired and felt sorry for her. She still couldn't do anything about it. So she disguised herself as a small, unimpressive guarding general, mixing in Xi City, on the one hand, to observe the situation, on the other hand, to secretly protect Mrs. Xie's safety.
Xi City was not big, but it was easy to defend and difficult to attack. If Dongfang Chang hadn't insisted on capturing the young emperor as a hostage, in fact, with the strength of Dongfang Chang's army, he could have taken a detour and gone directly to Zongcheng. Several strategists and generals under Dongfang Chang's command repeatedly advised him to give up the meaningless and grain-consuming attack on Xi City and go directly north to take Zong Cheng City with the army of Zhangsun Zhi and Zhangsun Tai in the west. But the great heart of revenge has made Dongfang Chang gradually lose his mind; the devil has infested his body and soul, and he is more and more unable to control himself, deep in the darkness that can not be disengaged.
When he heard this kind of suggestion, he could still think a little bit. Later, when someone else made a similar suggestion, he was directly enraged from the heart. No matter who the other party was, he directly pulled down the military justice.
The men saw Dongfang Chang as a whole person who was crazier and crueler; all dared not say much. After all, the purpose of the war was for these high officials and nobles to fight for wealth and power. The bottom line of the people is to follow the orders of the effectiveness of taking a portion of the rations to make a living, not to bother, not to please, but also in vain to send life as cannon fodder.
After Xuan Mo secretly mapped out the terrain around Xi City and the enemy's situation, he sneaked into the city to meet with Fox Xiao Xian.
"Xi City itself is built on top of a relatively high mound, and several streams pass by around it, so we can use the terrain to dam the upper reaches to intercept the water flow and then lure the enemy troops into the river to break through with the flooding method," Xuan Mo said.
Fox Xiao Xian hit on a ghost idea and said with a hefty smile, "Teacher's plan is wonderful. I'll find a way to inform Lady Xie and the city guards of this method. In addition, even if we are not allowed to use spells, playing tricks and pretending to be gods is not impossible. Scare Dongfang Chang."
Xuan Mo looked at Fox XIaoXian before him and swayed for a moment.
Xuan Mo looked at Fox XIaoXian seriously and said, "Xiao Xian, since you still address me as 'teacher,' then you remember the question I asked you that day - when everything is over, and we look for a place to start over. Are you willing?"
Fox Xiao Xian was silent for a split second and replied to Xuan Mo with great certainty and sincerity, "Teacher, I don't think I can promise you. Because, as you know, the person I love is Ni Zhong."
"But he is Ouyang Zhong now and already has a wife. Would you rather wait for him than accept me?" Xuan Mo had the answer in his heart, but he still couldn't help but ask.
"This matter of me loving Ni Zhong was also something I realized in the Sumeru Illusion Realm. I love him, like worshipping the light of the sun and the moon, needing the nourishment of the fresh wind and rain, and like a breath of air that is as natural and ordinary as a breath of air. As for why I love him? I can only say that it comes down to the bond between me and him in life and death; I do not need to reason or repress, and I do not necessarily need to be together for a long time. I am me; he is him. We are attracted to and love each other, but we are also independent of each other. Both need to fulfill their respective missions.
As for you or Third Senior Brother, I am grateful for all the good you have done for me, the care and thoughts you have shown me, but gratitude is not love. It is a debt to be repaid. Teacher, you are the second master I have honored besides my Master, teaching me a lot and accompanying me a lot. I can never forget the kindness you have shown me, but it is true that I do not love you as a man or a woman but as a kind of reverence. I don't want you to be my second best. Xuan Mo, you deserve someone who truly loves you wholeheartedly. Only this person is not me.
I hope that, in the future, you can also meet someone who doesn't need any reason to love each other, rather than someone who always feels that they owe something before they have to give their body as repayment." Fox Xiao Xian sincerely held Xuan Mo's hand and poured out all the words in her heart. Xuan Mo realized that the Fox XiaoXian at this time was no longer the Hu Cangcang of that year. At one time, because of her apologies to Hu Cangcang, she had projected her apologies as liking to Linghu Xian. At this moment, this former student had taught him another lesson.
Roaring Dog Xuan Mo, who hadn't moved in love in ten thousand years, finally understood what love was and was finally relieved. He gripped Fox Xiao Xian's hand, patted it gently, and said, "Thank you, Fox Xiao Xian, let's go do something serious!"