Chapter 17

May I Ask Are You My…

“We’re finally back in Star Sand City.”

At this moment, what appeared before Feng Xia was a magnificent city.

By the time he arrived, night had gradually covered the land. Starlight shone down from the sky, looking like quicksand draping the land with a hazy veil.

“Star Sand City takes its name from the Star Sand Ruins nearby.”

“The Star Sand Ruins is said to be formed by a star that fell from the sky. There are many ancient restrictions inside and it can attract the power of the stars in the sky. For cultivators who have yet to open their Mystical Realm, it is one of the rare cultivation sites they can go to in Xuanwu Kingdom.”

I feel that the waste sorting system in your world is a big failure…

No, no, no. To be more precise, you have not even formed the good habit of not casually throwing your trash around!

Look at the content of these two legends—the Ancient Forsaken Land fell from the sky, as did the Star Sand Ruins. It is highly probable that other things they encounter in the future would also be something that has fallen from the sky!

Do you all have a home in the sky or is there a mine in the sky?

With things falling from the sky all the time, are you not afraid of killer litter?

Feng Xia’s thoughts raced and he quickly came up with a possible theory. “Fallen from the sky” was the simple and practical universal setting that must be used in legends…

As long as people encountered something that could not be explained, they would categorize it as something that had fallen from the sky. Anyone who needed proof would need to ride the wind up to the sky to verify for themselves?

“Before we reached Star Sand City, Junior Sister Ling had always been with us. It was only on the night we stayed here temporarily, when everyone had some free time to go out on their own, that the Hundred Nether Sect demoness found the chance to impersonate Junior Sister Ling and took her place.”

Bai Canghai took a deep breath and analyzed the situation with a solemn expression, “Since we then set off very early the next day, and it was the demoness who was following us every since, there would not have been a lot of time for her to do the swap.”

Feng Xia understood immediately.

Within the extremely limited period of time, even if Yan Wuyou managed to do the swap, it would have been impossible for her to send Ling Jieyu too far away. The most likely possibility was that she had left the young girl somewhere in the city!

“After I find Junior Sister Ling, I will escort you back to the Thousand Autumn Valley. After that, I will leave the sect and walk the world alone from now on.”

“E-Eldest Brother? What did you… just say?”

Bai Canghai had only just finished speaking.

A pleasant lark-like voice, full of shock and disbelief, suddenly sounded from behind everyone.

Everyone turned around to take a look. There was a petite girl in a yellow dress not far away from them, with a seemingly tear-stained face and a pair of bright eyes that were filled with awe and shock.

“You… you… Eldest Brother, what did you just… say?”

“Junior Sister Ling?”

Bai Canghai cried out involuntarily as he turned around and looked at the girl in surprise and joy.

“Ling Jieyu! What are you doing here?”

“Where exactly did you go that night? Did you know you’d been impersonated?”

The other Thousand Autumn Valley disciples also spoke one after another. Some people were concerned and some people were stern. In an instant, they surrounded the girl.

They had thought that they needed to expend some effort to find the hidden Junior Sister Ling. They did not expect to bump into her, safe and sound, so soon after they returned to Star Sand City!

“That demoness… did she do anything to you?”

Bai Canghai took big hurried steps forward and carefully sized up the girl. After confirming that her aura was normal, he asked her in a worried tone.

The most trusted disciple in the Thousand Autumn Valley was naturally Bai Canghai, the eldest disciple.

Regarding the most favored disciple…

Most of the disciples of the Thousand Autumn Valley would have a common candidate in their hearts, i.e. Little Junior Sister Ling Jieyu!

A line in an ancient poem read: The young crane was spirited and spoke beautifully, the leaves soft and silent. The name Ling Jieyu equated to “spirited and spoke beautifully”.

From the elders of the sect to the ordinary disciples, almost no one was able to bear any ill will towards this adorable junior sister.

She had exquisite looks, outstanding talent and a mild personality.

She was ranked third in the survey regarding “The Fellow Practitioner You Most Want as a Companion” within the Thousand Autumn Valley as well as other surrounding sects. The reason why Ling Jieyu did not rank first was partly because she was still too young.

Zhang Qian, a disciple of the Bright Moon Sect who had voted anonymously, said that he would prefer it if she was older.

Furthermore, a considerable number of Ling Jieyu’s supporters were women.

“Demoness? Eh? Eldest Brother, what are you talking about?”

The girl in the yellow dress looked confused when she heard this. She shook her head and said in a soft voice, “Eldest Brother, you told me that night that this exploration was extremely dangerous and you were afraid that you would not be able to protect me. I decided that I didn’t want to be a burden to everyone, so I temporarily stayed behind in Star Sand City and worked hard to improve my cultivation…”

As she spoke, she suddenly saw two pairs of curious eyes.

Feng Xia and Zhu Youniang stood side by side, watching this junior sister from the Thousand Autumn Valley attentively.

Ling Jieyu’s voice faltered and she suddenly shivered.

The girl asked in a slightly trembling voice, “Eldest, Eldest Brother… these two are…”

Bai Canghai slapped his forehead and came to a sudden realization. “Oh right, I forgot to introduce you. This is a senior whom we met on our journey. He’s a reclusive Champion, and this is senior’s companion, Zhu Youniang.”

Feng Xia raised his eyebrows. “Companion?”

Zhu Youniang subconsciously licked her lips. “Edible?”

Feng Xia said nothing. “…”

“Oh, oh…”

Ling Jieyu regained the color in her face. She gently patted her chest and acknowledged the information in a well-behaved manner. She bowed to the couple. “Junior Ling Jieyu greets Senior Feng.”

“The young lady is not bad.”

Feng Xia nodded calmly and smiled as kindly as he could. “You don’t have to be so afraid. Most of the time, I’m a very amiable person. If you don’t believe me, you can ask your Brother Bai?”

Bai Canghai’s chest still hurt on the spot where he was hit and the corners of his mouth twitched a little, but he nodded at Ling Jieyu with a bitter smile. “That’s right. Senior Feng is indeed a good person. After I leave the sect, he will remain a guest at Thousand Autumn Valley…”

“Eldest Brother… what do you mean?”

The junior sister’s expression finally changed.

The sense of unease she had been feeling was turning into reality right before her eyes.

“I…” Bai Canghai took a deep breath and articulated his words clearly as he said,” I’ve decided to leave the Thousand Autumn Valley. From now on, I’ll roam the martial arts world as an individual cultivator.”

“This… This is impossible! Eldest Brother, you must be… lying to me…”

Ling Jieyu widened her eyes.

Then, her body swayed slightly. She was so shocked by the news that she lost consciousness and fell to the ground with a loud thud.

“Junior Sister!”

“Junior Sister Ling!”

“Junior Sister has fainted. Someone help her!”

Everyone from the Thousand Autumn Valley behaved frantically.

At this moment, only two figures moved minimally and watched everything calmly, like they were bystanders who had nothing to do with it.

Feng Xia had one hand behind his back. As he watched, he suddenly raised his hand and rubbed the space between his eyebrows. He said with slight uncertainty, “There seems to be something wrong with this little junior sister.”

Zhu Youniang nodded solemnly. “Then can your companion eat now?”

“… No.”

“Tsk, is there anything good to eat? These rations that humans eat are too disgusting.”

“… Can we talk about something else at a time like this? I keep having a feeling that there’s something wrong with this junior sister…”

“Oh, alright. Then can this little junior sister be eaten?”

“…”

Zhu Youniang was as straightforward as ever. Feng Xia could not help but bare his teeth as he listened to her. “Can we change the topic and stop talking about food?”

Zhu Youniang did not retort. Instead, she turned her head and looked at Feng Xia seriously.

“Then am I your companion?”

“… Probably not at this moment.”

Feng Xia finally realized something—

It was a completely wrong decision for him to want to communicate seriously with Zhu Youniang!

It was because not only was this girl particularly good at talking, but her thoughts were also quite strange most of the time…

“Should I say that she’s indeed not human? Her way of thinking is really too different from what humans do.”

Feng Xia shook his head, caught between laughter and tears. At this moment, after a round of emergency treatment, Ling Jieyu had woken up. However, her face was still pale and her big eyes were filled with tears.

She looked like she was going to cry again if she could not understand the situation clearly.

Seeing this, Bai Canghai could only sigh. “Anyway, let’s return to the sect first. We’ll talk about everything after we get back.”

Half a day later, the group of people who did not manage to find anything in the Ancient Forsaken Land finally embarked on their journey back to the sect.

The sun and moon changed positions and the stars moved—

At the foot of Mount Canglan, ancient trees covered the sky.

“You… what is this young man saying!?”

A furious shout exploded in the sky like the sound of thunder. It originated suddenly from a deep valley, causing leaves to fall off the trees and startling the birds in the forest.

“Bai! Cang! Hai! Do you know what you’re saying!?” The voice rose another octave and felt as heated as flowing lava!

“By doing this, you’re… betraying the sect!”

“I understand.”

Bai Canghai’s voice followed. It was low and hoarse, but filled with a sense of unprecedented determination.

“Very good… very good! I let you lead the team out for once and you become so bold now?” After a long time, the voice squeezed out a constrained sentence. “My disciple wants to leave the sect… Are you the one who instigated it?!”

The imposing middle-aged man suddenly turned around. His gaze was like a blade and his voice was like a sword. With a wave of his hand, he condensed blades of magnificent sword energy!

It was the Thousand Autumn Valley’s secret technique—Spring Autumn Sword Technique!

Kaboom—

The violent sword energy tore through the air, as if it could split time itself. It brushed past a tree more than 10 feet away from Feng Xia, grinding the tree and the mountain rocks behind it into dust.

Zhu Youniang poked Feng Xia in the waist. “Is this guy… blind?”

At this moment, Bai Canghai said helplessly, “Master, you’ve forgotten to wear your glasses again…”

…

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