Xuan Qingzi looked at He Qing, then at Guan Yue, his bright eyes filled with confusion.
One has always been overbearing and would like to tie his apprentice to his belt. The other has always been lenient and allowed his apprentice to be too free. As a result, one of them is now uncertain about his return date and does not take his best apprentice with him. The other even controls who his apprentice goes down the mountain with for training.
After hesitating for a moment, Xuan Qingzi chose to ask Guanyue: "I remember that your little disciple and Chang Nian have always had a good relationship?" He was also clear about He Qing's current temperament. If they agreed, then He Qing would cooperate perfectly. If they disagreed, then he would ignore everyone and no one would get anything out of him. He would just be looking for an easy target.
But who would have thought that Guanyue's attitude this time was very tough, and he even gave a perfunctory explanation, just saying: "It is precisely because they have a good relationship that young people can be easily distracted when they go out." This was just like the head teacher saying that students who are in love prematurely should be moved to other seats so as not to disturb each other's studies.
He Qing wanted to laugh, but she held it back. She wanted to sit on the sidelines and let Guan Yue perform, but then she thought, even if the two of them disagreed with Gu Changnian going with them, what if Gu Changnian still ran away on his own? After all, he had done this kind of thing many times.
After thinking it over, He Qing had no choice but to change his words and proposed to keep Gu Changnian by his side.
Xuan Qingzi was naturally a little dissatisfied with this repetition, but it attracted Guanyue's grateful look, as if she was thanking him for helping Chi Yu out of trouble.
After the new news was brought back to Beifeng, one family was happy while the other was sad.
Gu Changnian acted happy and grateful, and immediately went to Kaiyang Palace to get the elixir that he must take with him when going down the mountain for emergency use. This made He Qing want to kick him when he was down. If he knew that he missed the chance to go down the mountain with Hua Chiyu, he wondered if he would still be able to laugh.
Lu Li, on the other hand, congratulated He Qing in a sinister tone: "Master, are you overjoyed to have your beloved disciple accompany you?"
He Qing glanced at Yue Qingru, who was mumbling about packing her bags, and whispered, "If I don't take him with me, he will run to the Demon God's Seal, and what will happen if your past is exposed?"
Lu Li looked at her sideways, as if to confirm how sincere she was, and then he snorted softly. Although he still looked very depressed, he did not speak sarcastically to He Qing anymore.
Soon, it was the day to go down the mountain. Le Qingru ran all the way down towards the mountain gate as if he was released from prison. The way his legs moved made He Qing couldn't help but think that if there were no one else watching, this child would probably want to use his hands and feet to have fun.
When He Qing and the other two slowly arrived at the mountain gate, Yue Qingru had already run back and forth on both sides of the road. Not only was he not sweating at all, he was also pacing on the spot, unable to stand still, and asked, "Master, where shall we go first?"
"Let's go to your hometown first."
Yue Qingru suddenly became depressed, her ears drooped, and she pouted and said, "That's not my hometown."
"But that's your mother's hometown." He Qing walked over with his hands in his pockets and asked, "I heard that your mother sends a letter every month from the mountain gate, but you never reply. Don't you want to go back and see her?"
He Qing didn't mean for Yue Qingru to reconcile with her parents. It was just that after Yue Qingru entered the sect, she couldn't keep her sanity during the first few full-moon nights. Every time she transformed, she would crash into the barrier like crazy, roaring that she wanted to save her mother.
He Qing thought that although Le Qingru blamed her mother a little, she must still love her very much deep down in her heart.
Sure enough, after a moment of silence, Yue Qingru reached for the storage bag in his sleeve, took out the old cloth, and muttered, "Let's go, just take a look and we'll leave."
He Qing saw her wrapping the cloth around her head reluctantly and understood why she did so. He smiled with satisfaction and touched her round head.
※
Yue Qingru's hometown is a very poor village. Not only is it located in a remote area, but the land is mostly made of rocks, making it difficult to reclaim land and cultivate it.
What made He Qing concerned was that there was a very strong and chaotic demonic aura outside the village. It seemed that it was not emitted by the same kind of demon.
Gu Changnian quickly stepped forward and stood side by side with He Qing, asking, "Master, I'll go take a look."
He Qing nodded, and then asked Yue Qingru: "Has there been such a serious evil spirit here before?"
Yue Qingru also shook her head in surprise and said, "I'm not sure. It was only after I started practicing that I was able to distinguish different scents with my sense of smell."
In other words, perhaps it was like this in the past, but Yue Qingru had no cultivation at that time, so he could not smell the amount of demonic energy, nor could he distinguish the demonic energy from his own aura.
He Qing pondered for a moment and walked into the village with his two little disciples. It was almost noon, and smoke was rising from the chimneys of every household. There were also many people coming in and out. Such a deserted village would not have many people coming here on weekdays, so He Qing and his companions attracted the attention of the villagers almost as soon as they entered the village.
One or two people wanted to go forward to ask, but when they got closer and saw Le Qingru clearly, they all ran back to their rooms and closed the door. In addition, several boys and girls who were playing with stones under the eaves on the roadside ran to their homes in a hurry, shouting without disguising: "Dad! Mom! The monster is back again!"
Yue Qingru seemed to be used to it, and did not show any sign of being wronged, and led He Qing straight towards her home.
It was a small courtyard that had not been repaired for many years. Although the yard was well-maintained and there was not a single weed, the roof was in tatters and one side even showed signs of collapse.
Yue Qingru stopped outside the fence, pointed to the yard, turned her head away awkwardly and said, "This is it."
He Qing took a closer look around the yard. There was a thatched shed made of straw in the yard. Under the shed was a stove with an empty countertop. On the left was a small fence, but there were no poultry raised inside. There was also a piece of graphite at the back, which looked like it had not been moved for a long time.
In the middle was a room that was leaky everywhere, with the door ajar.
He Qing raised his voice and asked, "Is anyone there?"
Soon, a response came from inside the door: "Who? Cough cough cough!"
Yue Qingru was obviously concerned when she heard the cough. She took a step forward involuntarily and put her hand on the fence.
He Qing suppressed his laughter and glanced at her, saying, "Is this Yue Qingru's home? I'm here for a home visit."
When the people inside the door heard He Qing say this, they immediately made a series of noises of packing up their things. Their footsteps were hurried and messy. After a long while, the door was finally fully opened.
A sickly-looking woman wearing a patched linen shirt and a headscarf similar to the one on Yue Qingru's head stood at the door. She stroked her hair in a panic and greeted him, "Are you the immortal from Lingshan? I'm Qingru's..."
Before she finished speaking, the woman saw Yue Qingru.