Chapter Ninety-Two: Marrying Her Disciple

The punishment meted out to the old fools Cuo Tuo Daoist and Ning Jiuyi was, beyond doubt, far more severe than the one Fang Junmei had once endured.

On the square, the two groups led by Fan Lanzhou and Bai Chengzhou watched their masters being punished, and all of them felt a chill creep up their spines.

Tianhe Daoist, by contrast, still wore that same grim expression.

When it was over, the two old men were lying on the ground, unable to move, battered and bruised, looking as though they were hanging by a thread. In truth, though, they had only suffered flesh wounds painful enough to pierce the bones; there were no internal injuries.

“Carry them back. Lanzhou, Chengzhou, the two of you go and inform the injured disciples that they may come to your master for compensation in one month.”

Tianhe barked the order once more.

After the others acknowledged him, they dispersed in all directions.

In the days that followed, the Quiet Peak suddenly grew lively.

When Cuo Tuo Daoist awoke, the rest of the brothers and sisters naturally came to visit and offer congratulations. Asked how he had woken, they said only that after Xiaoman left the sect, she had gone out and found some miraculous medicine.

They were all old foxes. At once they could tell that Cuo Tuo Daoist did not wish to speak of it. As for Chunyu Qian, he was the most dissatisfied of the lot, and he muttered darkly, “I’ve played with pills for most of my life. Unless it was an antidote, where would all these miraculous medicines come from to cure your condition?”

At that, Cuo Tuo Daoist could only chuckle awkwardly.

Seeing that he refused to elaborate, the others did not press him further. When they asked who had schemed against him, he likewise gave no direct answer, saying only that he would settle that debt himself.

After the crowd had gone, only Tianhe Daoist remained. He shut the door, set a soundproofing ward, and spoke with Cuo Tuo Daoist for half an hour before leaving.

Thus, there was no more trouble.

Cuo Tuo Daoist first rested and recovered from his injuries, while Fang Junmei and the others continued their cultivation.

A little more than half a month passed before Cuo Tuo Daoist was fully healed. Once he had recovered, he first sought out Fan Lanzhou and carefully asked about everything that had happened during the three hundred years he had slept.

Master and disciple spoke from dawn until noon. When they were done, he called Fang Junmei and the other two over as well.

“Lanzhou has already told me everything that happened after I fell asleep.”

Cuo Tuo Daoist looked at his four disciples with unmistakable satisfaction, nodding with deep comfort. “The four of you have done well, far better than I ever imagined. Thanks to you, Quiet Peak was preserved.”

The four hurriedly said they did not deserve such praise, and Linghu Jinjiu in particular felt somewhat ashamed.

Cuo Tuo Daoist then asked about the three of them before they had joined the sect. The conversation remained casual, without the slightest hint of interrogation. It was plain that this old fellow had slept too long and was eager to grow less unfamiliar with the three disciples he had never met.

In the course of that talk, Fang Junmei learned for the first time what had happened to Linghu Jinjiu and Yang Xiaoman before they joined the sect.

Yang Xiaoman had been a lone orphan among ordinary people. By chance, a disciple of the Peach Blossom Spring Sword Sect discovered that she possessed spiritual roots and brought her up the mountain. There had been quite a few such children brought up in that way. When disciples were assigned to masters, Yang Xiaoman had been personally chosen by Long Jinyi for Cuo Tuo Daoist, and she was the only one selected in that way. For that reason, her relationship with Long Jinyi was especially good.

As for Linghu Jinjiu, his story was far more miserable. He had originally been the son of a prosperous common family, and he had even had a beautiful wife. It was precisely because his wife was so beautiful that a passing demonic cultivator had taken a fancy to her. She was not only violated, but his home was destroyed as well. If Linghu Jinjiu’s heart had not been set a little off from the usual position, he would surely have died too.

In order to avenge them, he had wandered from place to place and eventually, by good fortune, entered the Peach Blossom Spring Sword Sect. There, Fan Lanzhou took notice of him and selected him into the Quiet Peak.

He had not originally been a man fond of drink, but after spending years drowning his sorrows in alcohol, he had grown ever more devoted to it.

When he spoke of these things, Linghu Jinjiu did his best to keep his expression calm, but the others could still catch the hatred in his eyes. They could not help but sigh and console him.

At last, Cuo Tuo Daoist reached for his storage bag and said, “I slept for three hundred years. After the three of you entered under my tutelage, I never gave you a single word of guidance or a single gift. I truly feel ashamed.”

Again the others said they would never dare to accept such a thing.

At another time, the playful Yang Xiaoman would certainly have teased him a few times, but Linghu Jinjiu’s mood was clearly low, and she knew enough to behave.

“Linghu, I know the thing you most want right now is the Dao Embryo Pill. Unfortunately, that is not something nearly as common as you imagine. I don’t have any on hand, and even if Chunyu does, I doubt there are many left. Otherwise, Eldest Brother would never have made those three Dao Embryo Pills the top prize for the Dust of the World Group.”

Cuo Tuo Daoist’s voice grew a little heavy.

At that, Linghu Jinjiu forced out a smile. “Master, you needn’t take it too much to heart. I was only joking before.”

Cuo Tuo Daoist nodded and said, “There are many Dao Embryo cultivators in the world of cultivation, and not all of them reached that stage through Dao Embryo Pills. I believe that even without one, with your aptitude, you will advance sooner or later.”

Linghu Jinjiu nodded.

Cuo Tuo Daoist then produced a storage bag and handed it to him. “Inside this bag are spirit stones and Essence Pills. Take them as a gift from me, to help you strike at the Dao Embryo realm.”

“Thank you, Master.”

Linghu Jinjiu accepted it with both hands.

Cuo Tuo Daoist then turned to Yang Xiaoman and let out a wistful sigh. “Xiaoman, let me give you this five-colored flower hairpin.”

With that, he produced a jade hairpin of vivid green and handed it to her.

It was exquisitely made, mostly emerald in color, with five multicolored blossoms at the tip, gleaming brilliantly and carrying the aura of a high-grade magic treasure. No one could tell what function it possessed.

Yang Xiaoman only glanced at it before her eyes lit up. She adored it at once, and with no concern for dignity, she snatched it over and turned it over in her hands a few times before grinning. “Thank you, Master. But why do you have a woman’s hairpin?”

At that, a look of reminiscence appeared in Cuo Tuo Daoist’s eyes. He smiled faintly. “I once intended to give this hairpin to a fellow female cultivator.”

“Oh—”

Yang Xiaoman drew out the word, as if discovering some great new continent. “So it was for Madam Master.”

At last she could not resist teasing him, her bright, curved eyes full of mischief.

Cuo Tuo Daoist laughed heartily. “I did think so too. Unfortunately, she looked down on me and said I was hopelessly unpromising. Hah!”

The old fellow was plainly delighted, and must have long since let the matter go.

The four of them were amused as well.

Cuo Tuo Daoist swept his gaze over Fan Lanzhou and the other two men, then said rather fiercely, “The three of you, if you ever encounter her female disciple in the future, you must marry one of them for me and settle this old grudge in my heart.”

Hearing that, Yang Xiaoman burst into laughter, clutching her stomach. For the first time, she felt truly certain that she had chosen the right master. Compared with Cuo Tuo Daoist, the other great figures of the Peach Blossom Spring Sword Sect were nothing but the most boring wooden dolls and clay figurines.

Fan Lanzhou and the others shook their heads with smiles, all of them knowing that Cuo Tuo Daoist was joking. Yet who could have imagined that the story of the future would be far more splendid than their jest, and far more moving as well?

Cuo Tuo Daoist had already reached again for his storage bag, apparently about to take out the gift for Fang Junmei.

“Master, who is she? Who is she? I want to hear that story first. We can do the serious business afterward.”

Yang Xiaoman’s gossiping fire was now blazing like a furnace. She grabbed Cuo Tuo Daoist’s hand at once and cried out anxiously.

Her eyes were practically sparkling, and she looked ready to drag over a little stool and produce melon seeds and peanuts.

The others were amused by her antics again, though Fan Lanzhou and the others also cast Cuo Tuo Daoist curious looks. In all of Great River Nation, there were probably not even one or two female cultivators who could make Cuo Tuo Daoist feel unpromising.

Cuo Tuo Daoist’s brow finally settled into a serious line. After pondering for a moment, he said quietly, “Her name was Loubian Mingyue. She was a cultivator from the nation of Bai, a country a million li west of Great River Nation. Her sect was the Ultimate Palace. At the time, she was the genius disciple of that sect, and I met her by chance during my travels.”

The four of them nodded in understanding.

Yang Xiaoman asked, “There’s a surname like Loubian?”

Cuo Tuo Daoist nodded. “The people of Bai Country have very strange surnames. If you ever have the chance to go there in the future, you’ll understand. Among the five great demonic sects of Great River Nation, the noble line of the Chaotic World Clan is in fact an enormous cultivation family from Bai Country.”

The four of them nodded again, thinking no wonder the surname Chaotic World was so unusual.

Thus, that matter was put aside.

Cuo Tuo Daoist then took out another item.

It was a magic treasure shaped like a yellow-brown drill or shuttle, somewhat strange in appearance, radiating earth-toned light. It too was a high-grade magic treasure.

“Junmei, there are people in this world who, even if they do not want trouble, trouble will still come looking for them. The saying that only the mediocre escape envy is exactly this. Though you are not the sort who goes seeking disaster, in the future you may well become one against your will, and spend your whole life amid slaughter.”

Cuo Tuo Daoist said gravely.

Was it really that exaggerated?

Fang Junmei’s brow twitched, but he did not object.

“This item is called the Earth-Drilling Shuttle. Once activated, it can carry you swiftly through the ground. Its speed is extraordinary, though it consumes quite a lot of power. I give it to you. If you encounter great trouble, you may use it to flee.”

With that, Cuo Tuo Daoist handed the Earth-Drilling Shuttle to Fang Junmei.