Chapter 302 - 288: They’re So Close
Su Ling’er let out a long sigh. The relief of surviving the close call left her tense nerves feeling almost numb.
She quickly composed herself, forcing a sweet, obedient smile onto her little face, which had been pale with fright.
She scurried out of Qingxu Hall with quick, short steps. But as she passed the few dust-covered bronze and wooden statues by the entrance, she couldn’t help but feel that something was odd.
’Their positions seem a little different from before. Besides, the temple is abandoned and all the memorial tablets have been moved. Why would they leave just these statues behind?’
A flicker of strangeness passed through her mind, but she had no time to dwell on it. Outside the mountain gate, the figure she both respected and feared was waving at her with a smile.
"Senior Brother!" Su Ling’er ran to the mountain gate, stopping to complain, "How did you find me? I just saw this abandoned temple and thought I’d pop in to see if there was anything good, but this place is a total wreck!"
She put on a convincing act, shrugging helplessly at Lin Qingfeng. "Ah, what a shame! You wouldn’t believe it. I rummaged around for ages and actually found a pretty impressive-looking Spirit Gathering Array, but the Spirit Stones had already been pried out!"
"See?" Lin Qingfeng said, wearing an ’I-knew-it-all-along’ expression. "I had a feeling that in a dump like this, even if there were any treasures, they would’ve been picked clean centuries ago."
"You’re my Junior Sister. How could I not know where you are? Your path is guided by its own causality. What difficulty is there for me to follow its trail? I do hope that when you undertake sect missions in the future, you’ll apply this same thoroughness."
"Hmph!" Su Ling’er kicked a loose stone at her feet. "I’m never coming back to this stupid place again! It’s bad luck!"
Though she complained, her body betrayed her as she started to sidle up to Lin Qingfeng, her voice turning sickly sweet. "Senior Brother is the best to me after all. You even came all this way to get me for dinner! Let’s hurry back, I’m starving!"
"Heh heh." Seeing her act, Lin Qingfeng smugly produced a skewer of bright red, sugar-coated haws from behind his back. "Look, I bought you a candied hawthorn skewer on my way back. I sense this item has an affinity with you. Want it?"
Su Ling’er’s eyes instantly lit up. She nodded her head like a chicken pecking at grain. "Yes! Yes! Yes!"
The words had barely left her mouth when Lin Qingfeng’s wrist suddenly flicked. "It’s yours!!!"
"WHOOSH—!"
The skewer of candied haws, like an arrow loosed from a bowstring, was wrapped in a faint layer of Spiritual Power. It sliced through the air with a piercing sound, shooting straight for Su Ling’er!
Su Ling’er’s pupils dilated instantly!
’What the—?! Is this how your family gives people candied haws?! Are you sure that’s not a deadly weapon?’
She watched wide-eyed as the "deadly weapon" grew rapidly in her field of vision, nearly grazing her cheek as it flew past.
In a flash, she twisted at the waist, her arm shot out like lightning, and she snatched the skewer of candied haws from the air. Then, with a sudden burst of strength from her arm, she flung it right back with equal ferocity!
"Senior Brother! Who gives someone candied haws like that?!" she yelled, huffing, as she threw it. "Are you trying to kill me?!"
"Heh heh, this is ’destined opportunity.’ How can such an opportunity be obtained so easily?" Lin Qingfeng effortlessly caught the returning skewer and, with a backhand flick, sent it flying back like a dart. "The struggle for the Great Dao is decided in an instant," he said, not missing a beat. "If you can’t even catch this today, how will you ever grasp that sliver of life that may one day fly down from the heavens? Speaking of which, have you seen Wang Xiedi and the others?"
"How should I know? Didn’t you drop them off?" Su Ling’er precariously caught the skewer again and flung it back with all her might. Then, mimicking her Senior Brother’s tone, she replied, "Everyone has their own destiny. How can I be expected to look after them at all times!"
"Not so," Lin Qingfeng said, shaking his head while casually playing with his "candied-haw-boomerang." "The bonds between disciples are also a part of the Dao. I have already pierced the veil of illusion and completed a full circuit, yet they still wander along the path. It seems their Dao hearts still require tempering."
Su Ling’er threw it back again. "Why don’t you take a look at your Cultivation and then look at theirs?! You can make a round trip, and they can’t even keep up with your first leg!"
And so, in front of the dilapidated temple in the desolate mountains, the two of them, completely oblivious to the world, began a thrilling yet childish throwing war, using a skewer of candied haws as their weapon.
Just then, Wang Xiedi and Li Chunfeng arrived at the mountain gate, panting for breath.
They had been perfectly fine at the Su Mansion. Their Senior Brother had even given them the *Initial Understanding of Beast Fire*, the *Alchemy Manual*, and a gemstone, calling them prizes from some competition. But then Mr. Su mentioned that his daughter wasn’t back for dinner, and somehow, their Senior Brother instantly knew Su Ling’er had gone to the Qingxu Mountain region.
The two of them felt their hearts sink, terrified Su Ling’er might have exposed something. They had begged their Senior Brother to bring them along. But just as they were nearing the mountain gate, their Senior Brother seemed to suddenly remember something and turned back?
The moment they arrived, they were greeted by this absurd scene.
Wang Xiedi watched the candied hawthorn skewer flying back and forth, and his two sect-mates having the time of their lives. The corner of his mouth twitched uncontrollably as he couldn’t help but comment, "They... seem to get along really well... By the way, what’s Senior Brother’s Cultivation now? Is he at the Nascent Soul realm? He made a round trip that fast?"
"I don’t know, but they really do seem to get along great!" Li Chunfeng added from the side. "That’s a good thing!!"
Finally, the sound of their voices brought the "great war" to a halt.
"Who gets along with him?!" Su Ling’er snapped, finally snatching the skewer and starting to eat it while still huffing.
"Exactly!" Lin Qingfeng took out his own skewer and started eating, an expression of profound disappointment on his face. "The Great Dao is heartless. I wished to use this destined opportunity to enlighten her, but alas, some children simply cannot be taught!"
"Is that how you enlighten someone?! You were obviously trying to kill me!"
"Alas, if I truly had killing intent, you would have been reincarnated a hundred times over by now. Never mind, never mind. The people of this world are dull; they cannot comprehend the suffering of my Dao heart..."
Seeing her Senior Brother about to launch into another long-winded lecture, Su Ling’er waved her hand dismissively while eating. "Alright, alright, Senior Brother’s mastery of the Dao is profound! Senior Brother is the best, the very best! I’m the dull one. Let’s go, let’s go, time for dinner!"
And so, the group bickered and bantered as they strolled away.
Su Ling’er praised her Senior Brother out loud, but inside, her resolve was as firm as a rock.
’After all this time since we entered the city, based on how he interacts with ordinary people, I’m starting to think this Senior Brother of mine... isn’t as sinister or cruel as the traditional Evil Cultivators I’d imagined.’
’He’s more like... an extremely playful, thick-skinned weirdo. But that only applies to him as an individual.’
’But... that doesn’t mean the Guixi Sect isn’t a demonic sect.’
’The secrets hidden within this sect are likely far more terrifying than I can imagine. My fellow disciples and even my Senior Brother often fall into a stupor, and then there’s Mr. Qian, who was refined into a puppet... It all suggests that an unseen hand is manipulating everything in the Guixi Sect.’
’Senior Brother might just be a piece in this game, unable to control his own fate. But I must also cultivate even more diligently. It’s the only way I’ll find a path to survival in this grand game of chess.’
’Perhaps the line between the righteous path and the demonic path isn’t as clear-cut as I once thought.’
’Perhaps I’m in a den of demons right now.’
’But so what if I am?’
’From this day forward, I, Su Ling’er, will walk my own path.’
’Even if I’m in the deepest hell, my heart can still yearn for the light.’
And this path of Cultivation, one that was uniquely hers—the true righteous path in her heart—was only just beginning.
Before the mountain gate of Qingxu Temple, their figures gradually faded into the distance. All that remained was the stick of incense in the censer, its last wisp of smoke burning away in the lonely night wind.
...
「Across from the Su Mansion」
In the shadow of a giant locust tree, a slender figure had been waiting for a long time.
’Why isn’t that Immortal from the Su Family back yet?’