Chapter 28: Changing Course to Mount Huang

  After Sun Langzhong finished telling those past events, he seemed to have lost interest in idle chatter and handed over the golden medicine to Xuanzhen before taking his leave. The town mayor also left with him. It wasn't until after that day that Xuanzhen came to realize that behind the ugly youth's evil deeds was actually such a reason.

  He thought back and forth, but in less than half a day, he had figured out many key points. Others might have just said that the ugly young man was a madman who did some crazy things, although they were all angry with him, but after more than a year, they had almost forgotten about it, and would not have connected the strange things that happened later to him. Only Xuan Zhen, who had witnessed the young man's ferocious behavior and heard his words of truth, was clear in his heart that what the young man said when he left was not just intimidation, because less than half a year after he left, Qinglong Town suffered a terrible event of monsters killing infants. The ugly young man said that he would let the people of Qinglong Town experience the pain of losing their children, wasn't it a prophecy come true?

  As he thought deeper, Xuan Zhen was secretly shocked by the young man's meticulous thoughts. The ugly young man had made up his mind to take revenge on the people of Qinglong Town and spent half a year taming the demon beasts. This way, not only could the townspeople gradually forget about the incident with Mrs. Pei, but he could also harm people at will when they were off guard. Moreover, the Gouhuai bird was naturally fond of stealing children, and the Wangxiang was born to eat human liver and brain. He took advantage of their preferences to tame them, and all he had to do was bring them to the vicinity of Qinglong Town and let them go to achieve his goal. Even if a powerful person came to deal with the demon beasts, they would be too busy to ask about what happened over a year ago, and the Gouhuai bird and Wangxiang would lead them away completely. He could hide behind the scenes and remain safe. If he hadn't been so sure that Xuan Zhen wouldn't escape his grasp back then, he wouldn't have come out of hiding so openly, nor would he have revealed the truth to others so easily. Xuan Zhen thought about this and felt even more grateful.

  Although the martial arts of this young man are not very high, compared to those ordinary people, they are also stronger than a little bit. It is not difficult to avenge those who have insulted him, but he insists on spending time and effort, setting up such a big plan, even extending his poisonous hand to the innocent people in the town, his heart is twisted and vicious, truly unmatched by anyone.

  But Xuan Zhen still had one thing that he couldn't figure out, and that was the cause of these tragic events. If it was said that the Gou Huai Niao and the Wang Xiang harmed people because the ugly young man wanted to avenge himself on the people of Qing Long Town, and the reason why the people of Qing Long Town offended him was that someone accidentally broke the urn containing Pei Po Po's ashes, then tracing back to the root of the matter, this young man and Pei Po Po were not related by blood or marriage, yet he dug up her grave, burned her corpse, and even wanted to take away her ashes. This move was truly unbearable, and it was no wonder that those people wanted to stop him. It could be seen that the great mistake was entirely caused by this young man himself. He shifted his anger onto others; could it be that he was really a madman, or was he just a madman with an intellect surpassing that of ordinary people?

  These concerns, of course, could not be told to the people in Qinglong Town, nor had Xuan Zhen ever mentioned them to San and his wife. Fortunately, there was still a Xun Heng by his side, who had also experienced the ugly boy's harm that day. Xuan Zhen simply told him all about it and asked Xun Heng what he thought.

  Xun Heng accompanied Xuan Zhen in Qinglong Town for several days, and had already heard about the rumors circulating around town regarding "Immortal Exterminating Demons". He calmly said while wiping his sword: "He won't come again."

  "Oh, why?" Xuan Zhenqi said.

  Xun Heng flipped the sword on his knee and said lightly, "You're still worried that he might not come again. How can he not worry that you won't be waiting for him here?"

  "Even so, not coming again for the time being does not mean never coming again." Xuan Zhen furrowed his brow and said, "I have other important matters to attend to down the mountain, and I mustn't linger here any longer."

  “…his heart's desire has already been fulfilled, why return?” Xun Heng carefully wiped it for a while, put the towel aside and picked up the sword to stroke it gently, “The scar on the face is just superficial, if there are scars in the heart...hmm.” With a cold hum, he sheathed his sword.

  Xuan Zhen's eyes widened slightly as he thought carefully, and soon understood the implication of Xun Heng's words. The young man's actions were completely different from those of ordinary people. Usually, a villain who had been thwarted might come back for revenge, but this one was likely to be careful and hide, so as not to be discovered again. Moreover, several children in the town had already been harmed by him, and the villagers had also suffered greatly from fear. His goal could be said to have been achieved. Thinking deeper, the young man's thoughts were meticulous, perhaps guessing that Xuan Zhen had concerns and would not reveal his affairs, so he escaped without worry. In this way, the people of Qinglong Town would not know the truth of the matter, and he had avenged himself. Even if he had made an enemy of Xuan Zhen, in a world as big as this one, there were countless places to hide, and Xuan Zhen didn't have the energy to waste on dealing with a petty person like him.

  "Xun Heng Gongzi indeed thought it through, Xuan Zhen admired." To understand this section, Xuan Zhen was even more wary of the ugly young man's plan, "But I still can't figure out why he insisted on saying that he is the son of that old lady Pei. Is there something special about the Pei family? According to Sun Langzhong, the Pei family is not a wealthy household and has no illustrious background, they are just a fishing family native to Qinglong Town. Why did this scar-faced young man insist on entangling himself with them?"

  He pondered for a long time, as if in thought, and said: "In my hometown, there is an ancient legend that says in the distant past, there was a secret method to transfer one's soul into another person's body, called 'soul transmigration'. It's possible that this young man is indeed Pei Qingsheng reborn, but with a completely different appearance, making it hard for his old friends to believe."

  "This land of China is vast, and nothing is impossible. If you say there's a secret art to transfer souls, it might be possible." Xuan Zhen said, but shook his head, "However, thinking about it this way makes it even harder to accept. A person who grew up in Qinglong Town, after rebirth, would poison the people he interacted with daily, and even desecrate his own birth mother's corpse... Compared to a stranger doing such things, it's even more infuriating! If that's the case, I'd rather think that young man is just crazy..."

  Xuan Zhen was shaking his head, but suddenly the sound in front of him stopped. He looked up and found himself staring into a pair of cold eyes. Xun Heng was sitting across from him, gripping the hilt of his sword, staring at him without blinking for who knows how long. What made Xuan Zhen's heart tremble slightly was that a faint, almost imperceptible smile had appeared on the lips of the white-clothed youth.

  A person who is normally cold and stern showing a smile is much rarer than those who laugh every day. Moreover, that person is also a handsome young man?

  The ice and snow that had accumulated like a thousand mountains and peaks melted away in an instant, as warmth swept across the land and all things were revived. Xun He's lips curled up slightly, and the icy aura surrounding him also dissipated completely. His bright and sharp black eyes sparkled like stars, reflecting Xuanyuan's stunned expression. He gazed at the young man with a jade crown and long robes in front of him, and smiled faintly: "I didn't expect that Daozhang would be such a soft-hearted person."

  As soon as this was said, Xuan Zhen suddenly felt a little embarrassed and said in a low voice: "But it's not that I'm soft-hearted, it's just unbearable to see such miserable things in the world..."

  "But this is also good."

  Under the gaze of this young man, Xuan Zhen was at a loss for words and could only silently turn his head away, avoiding eye contact. As for the faint warmth on his face, he didn't have time to pay attention to it either.

  For the next month, Xuan Zhen used his leg injury as an excuse to stay in Qinglong Town. He moved from the Three Families' residence to a local inn, fortunately with Xun Heng's help in mediating the situation. The Three Families and their wives were unwilling to let Xuan Zhen move out, but they didn't dare to be too forceful either.

  After a long time, Qinglong Town gradually regained its former prosperity and bustle, and most of the people dared to go out at night again. The young man did not appear again as Xunheng said. Xuanshen felt slightly relieved but still worried about the boy's whereabouts being unknown.

  In the days spent in Qinglong Town, Xuan Zhen was either cultivating or chatting with Xun Heng about cultivation matters. Since that day when he inexplicably said those few words to Xuan Zhen, this white-clothed youth seemed to have developed some goodwill towards him, and his speech became more frequent than when they first met. As both were fond of using swords, their relationship gradually deepened. The more Xuan Zhen understood Xun Heng, the more he liked the young man. Although Xun Heng was reluctant to talk about his hometown and background, the upright and proud air in his words made Xuan Zhen not pay much attention to those trivial matters.

  After more than a month, Xuan Zhen finally decided to leave Qinglong Town. Coincidentally, Xun Heng also planned to go elsewhere, so the two set out together. Previously, Xun Heng had intentionally or unintentionally asked a few questions about how to get to Kunlun Mountain's Qionghua Sect, and Xuan Zhen inferred his underlying intentions, seeming to plan to visit Qionghua Sect to pay respects to a master. He already liked Xun Heng very much, and there was also the matter of Ling Guang Mo Yu shining brightly in front of this young man earlier, so he didn't say anything more at the time, but had already made up his mind.

  Two people set out together, and in just a few days, Xuan Zhen said he wanted to change direction and head south, parting ways with Xun Heng. In reality, he secretly followed the young man for several more days, seeing that he indeed continued northwest, only then did he put his mind at ease.

  At this time, it has been nearly two months since he descended from Kunlun Mountain. Although the people of Qinglong Town have been relieved of their difficulties, the matter of finding a person with extremely strong yin and yang seems to have made little progress. Xuan Zhen thought for a moment, recalling what the elder of Qingyang had said that day, so he rode his sword to Huangshan. His only memory of Huangshan was on the Qinglian Peak, so he naturally set his destination there as well.

  After being away for over a decade, the white waterfall on the green peak still cascades like a ribbon, and the green pines stand tall and upright, not having changed in the slightest from back then. Xuán Zhèn wandered around the three ancient pines where that demonic beast was burned to death that day, but saw that the area which had been scorched black by fire now teemed with life, full of vitality, leaving him with only a sense of nostalgia.

  As for the cave in his earliest memory, Xuan Zhen also went in to explore it. The road inside the cave was still winding and tortuous, but after all these years, who could remember how to walk? He walked into several dead ends, and finally reached the deepest part of the cave. The ice had long since melted into water, and those footprints had long since dried up. Only in the depths of the stone cave did a hint of cold air still linger, but it was also useless for the part of his memory that he had lost.

  After fooling around on Mount Huang for several hours, the sky gradually darkened. The night in the mountains was extremely cold, and the peak was even windier. Xuanshen couldn't think of anything from his past, so he reluctantly called out Chunshui and rode his sword down the mountain.

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