Crammed in here were all cultivators with five senses that were keen and acute. Whether or not they were in close proximity, all of them now turned towards Shen Qingqiu; hundreds of pairs of eyes, with varying gazes, enveloped him from all directions.
Spreading open his fan, Shen Qingqiu silently hid the lower half of his face behind it.
Luo Binghe sauntered in, the hem of his black outfit fluttering as a breeze wafted across; the sword suspended on his waist was surprisingly Zheng Yang. Behind him, Mobei-Jun was on the left with his head held high, while Sha Hualing sashayed seductively on the right. Huan Hua disciples, who have long been missing in action, trailed closely behind them. Bringing up the rear was a small army of black-armored infantry made up of demons. Shang Qinghua muddled along in the middle, weaving in and out, back and forth, like a slippery loach; this was an extremely incongruous sight to behold. Both of them stared daggers at one another the moment they came face to face with each other, sending knives and swords back and forth with their glares; how boisterous!
Luo Binghe crossed over in an imposing manner and took his stand as the third party of the trio; the colorful expressions that appeared on everyone’s face were more than enough to make an emoji pack. Especially those from Cang Qiong Mountain, there was a period of time when they would fight those from Huan Hua Palace whenever they crossed paths with them; even now, their anger still felt particularly raw upon seeing this old enemy of theirs. Yet, the words of Zhao Hua Temple plainly suggested that they were allies at present and not foes, so they could only endure it and restrain themselves.
Qi Qingqi warily asked, “Is what both masters said for real?”
Luo Binghe smiled, “Is Peak Lord Qi suspecting that Zhao Hua Temple has also been…… ah, brainwashed and oppressed by me?”
Seeing that they were going to get into an argument again, Shen Qingqiu hurriedly said, “The words of Great Master Wu Chen are naturally true.”
Hearing his words, the hundreds of eyes that were originally looking away from him seemed to have been triggered, and once again they all turned towards him. Qi Qingqi glared at him, looking at him as if Shen Qingqiu was a wayward and unfilial daughter siding with her husband instead of her parents.
Luo Binghe’s eyes were fixed on him. It was as if he could see no one else but Shen Qingqiu. He said, “Shizun, after not seeing you for so many days, this disciple missed you very much.”
Didn’t they just meet last night……
If someone else had said “missed you very much,” everyone here would have been covered in goosebumps. But it happened that Luo Binghe’s physical attributes and settings had been configured in a way such that “no matter what he said, others would not feel out of sorts,” thus everyone’s attention did not shift to him. Shen Qingqiu could feel the unfeeling gazes from everyone around him, so he could only reply with what he thought was an appropriate “mhm.”
There was still a trace of a smile at the corners of Luo Binghe’s mouth. He continued, “The Northern and Southern demon territories have always been at odds with one another. The Northern Territory, of which I’m the leader, does not approve of the merge. We are thus willing to assist and join forces with all of you to fend off the enemy.”
Standing with his hands at his back, Luo Binghe looked like a model human being. Who would know that behind the scenes, he was like a young girl who loved to lean on others while crying and acting like a pampered child…… Who would believe it?!
Yue Qingyuan calmly said, “Forgive me for being suspicious. We parted on bad terms the last time at Zhao Hua Temple. And now Palace Master Luo suddenly wants to join forces with the cultivation world to fight off your biological father……”
Luo Binghe replied succinctly, “I’m only doing this for one person. I don’t care about anything else.”
This time, he did not say for whom, but was there any difference? Was there any point?
In the snowy winter, Shen Qingqiu shook and turned the folding fan which he had used as a prop for posing like a cultured gentleman into a cattail leaf fan, wishing he could sweep away the various gazes directed at him to the nine heavens with a wave of his fan. One of the sect masters said with a dry laugh, “Peak Lord Shen has trained a good disciple. It’s indeed a great blessing for the cultivation world.”
Although he said “trained a good disciple,” his tone was no different from saying “married a good husband.” Upon hearing it, Shen Qingqiu’s fanning movements started to carry an undercurrent of murderous intent. Wu Wang looked as if he wanted to smash these two – people who corrupt public morals – to death with his staff. Great Master Wu Chen hurriedly said, “Since Benefactor Luo is willing to help, that’d be the best. I would also like to ask Sect Master Yue to take charge of the whole operation.”
The various sects had always considered Yue Qingyuan to be the pillar of strength during critical moments. This time was no different; he naturally began to deploy and give instructions to the various sects, “Zhao Hua Temple, please arrange for the rest of the manpower to keep the barrier up. Stop Maigu Ridge from falling further. You must prevent it from connecting with the river.”
Great Master Wu Chen looked awkward as he said, “We will do our best. However, Luo River is broad, and its two banks are far apart. There is no place to land, and the foundation is unstable; it is not suitable to set up an array there.”
Yue Qingyuan thought for a moment and said, “How about sending a Cang Qiong disciple to ride a sword to set up and maintain the array in the air?”
Luo Binghe suddenly piped up, “There’s no need to go to so much trouble.”
He turned his head aside but said nothing. Mobei-Jun spontaneously stepped out, marched to the river, and stepped onto the surface of the water. Solid ice rapidly spread wherever he walked. It did not take long for the body of waters to be frozen by three feet. Even so, it continued to expand until even the swimming fishes were frozen in ice. With just a little more time, he would be able to freeze the entire middle stretch of Luo River.
The output advantage that Demons had over humans was innate. There were exclamations of marvel, as well as chagrin, all around. Wu Chen said his thanks. With no trace of arrogance, Luo Binghe looked back at Shen Qingqiu with bright, shiny eyes.
Shen Qingqiu saw that he had scored a lot of brownie points, and the hostility and wariness that everyone had towards him were no longer as bad. He could not help but feel gratified and said, “Mhm. Well done.“
A wide smile spread across Luo Binghe’s face. Somehow, the corners of Shen Qingqiu’s mouth lifted too. As soon as Shen Qingqiu noticed it, he immediately pulled the corners of his mouth down and composed himself. He wondered if it was not only tears that were contagious but even smiles too.
Yue Qingyuan continued to assign tasks. Tian Yi Monastery would continue to spread out to other places beside Luo River where signs of the merge had begun to show and protect and evacuate the commoners in those places. Next up was Cang Qiong Mountain. Yue Qingyuan thought for a moment and said, “When the first wave of demons from Nan Jiang break through the barrier, Bai Zhan Peak will take the lead.”
There were only forty people from Bai Zhan Peak, and someone could not help but ask, “Most of the demons from Nan Jiang are beasts, each of them formidable. Can forty people really resist the first wave of attacks?”
How dare they doubt the battle capability of the combat clan!
Liu Qingge stepped on the rocks with his foot. The tassel of his sword fluttered in the wind along with his white sleeves and black hair. Instead of answering directly, he said coldly to the disciples behind him, “Those who do not kill at least a thousand, scram on your own to An Ding Peak.”
Forty people shouted in unison, “Yes!”
Shang Qinghua muttered weakly: “Don’t discriminate against An Ding Peak……” Logistics is innocent, long live logistics!
Yue Qingyuan continued to entrust tasks to Qiong Ding Peak, Xian Shu Peak, Qian Cao Peak…… Each in their own positions, with their own duties. Shen Qingqiu saw that Luo Binghe was too laid-back and could not help but ask, “How many people have you brought with you? Don’t you need to make arrangements?”
As soon as he opened his mouth, he felt countless ears pricked up and listened intently with bated breath. Even the whispers abruptly quietened down. The lithe Taoist nun triplets nearby let out a snicker.
Luo Binghe replied, “I’ve brought everyone I could. The arrangement is simple.” Saying so, he pointed to Sha Hualing and Mobei-Jun who were standing behind him. “Entrust Jiuzhong-Jun to her. Entrust the ugly beasts to him.”
……Wasn’t that pitting the daughter against her father again? That was simply……
Shen Qingqiu probed, “And?”
Luo Binghe nodded solemnly, “And”—a smile spread on his face—“entrust Shizun to me.”
The place erupted with coughs all around. Shen Qingqiu could barely maintain his composure.
He snapped the folding fan shut and gripped it in his hand. Adjusting his expression, he said in all seriousness, “I have something to say to the former An Ding Peak Lord. For the time being, discuss with the various sect leaders on a plan to deal with the enemy.”
Without caring about the reactions of others, he ran the moment he was done talking. He grabbed Shang Qinghua and dragged him as if dragging a dead boar to underneath a tree that was slightly isolated from the others.
Shen Qingqiu said, “Why are you still alive? You should have died eight hundred chapters earlier. Why hasn’t Mobei-Jun offed you yet?!”
Shang Qinghua adjusted his collar: “Shen Da Da, you should have died earlier than me. Now you are still alive and kicking. Aren’t you ashamed to talk about me?”
Shen Qingqiu held his forehead and took a deep breath, “Brother Towards the Sky, Hero, Hero Airplane, do you lack love? So the original background for Shen Qingqiu you initially mentioned was that he was abused by a pervert in his childhood? Do you like to write bitter and tragic background stories that much?”
Shang Qinghua replied, “The more tragic the character, the higher the popularity.”
Shen Qingqiu said, “Bullshit! After getting spammed with two threads of reader comments braying for my castration, you’re telling me this is popularity?”
“That was because I didn’t stick to the original settings.” Shang Qinghua put forth his argument and reasoned with him, “Bing-ge, tragic or not? Popularity, high or not?”
He still dared to use Luo Binghe as an example! Shen Qingqiu smacked him with his fan and asked, “Do you really like to make use of this point that much?”
He thought of a miserable Luo Binghe kneeling on the ground to pick up broken teacups. Of his small and thin body straining to carry two buckets of water up and down the mountain steps. Of him huddled in the corner of the woodshed shivering uncontrollably at night. He felt so flustered and perturbed at those recollections he had the urge to hit someone, and this someone must be Airplane Shooting Towards The Sky!
Shang Qinghua observed his face and said in astonishment, “……What expression is that? Don’t tell me your heart aches for him? Damn, I always thought you were tenacious, unyielding, and would always hold your ground. I always thought you were straight!”
Shen Qingqiu kicked him. “I don’t have time for your nonsense. Out with it, how do we fight Tianlang-Jun!”
Shang Qinghua felt sorry for Tianlang-Jun and said, “Don’t fight him! Don’t you feel he has suffered enough? And to be honest, I can’t think of how to fight him myself, since the outline and details have not been worked out yet.”
Shen Qingqiu said, “If we don’t defeat him, the ones who will suffer will be you and me. If you can’t think, then think of a way now. You are the one who established the foundation of this world; your thoughts themselves are the fabric of the story!”
He had yet to finish speaking when they heard Luo Binghe’s voice, “Shizun, are you done with the discussion? It’s almost time to set out.”
It was not even five minutes. Shen Qingqiu turned around quickly and said, “Set out?”
Luo Binghe said: “Sect Master Yue and I think it’s best to send ten people to seize the sword. Shizun, are you going? I’ll go if you’re going.”
Shen Qingqiu replied, “All right.”
After a pause, he pointed to Shang Qinghua: “Take him, too.”
The colors drained from Shang Qinghua’s face, and his eyebrows twitched. He yelled for Cucumber Bro to spare his life, but Shen Qingqiu had already swaggered away. Liu Qingge and Bai Zhan Peak were responsible for staying behind to guard the surface of the ice. Shen Qingqiu walked past him, then suddenly turned back and said half in jest, “Since you want your disciples to kill a thousand, then, Shidi, you must personally kill ten thousand to set an example.”
Liu Qingge scoffed and said, “I’ll kill whoever dares to come.”
Shen Qingqiu asked, “You feel reassured this time?”
Liu Qingge thought for a moment and reluctantly said, “Sect Master-shixiong is around.”
Luo Binghe tugged at the corner of Shen Qingqiu’s robe and said, “Shizun, take me flying.”
Shen Qingqiu looked down at his waist, “……Don’t you have a sword?”
Faced with Shen Qingqiu alone, Luo Binghe was now no longer the overbearing and arrogant man. He said bashfully, “Recently, I’ve been using too much demonic energy and too few spiritual energy. I’ve kind of forgotten how to use it.”
The other ten people nearby were looking at them. Shen Qingqiu did not want to delay, and thus he casually said, “Come on up!”
They rode the sword high into the sky and landed as soon as they entered Maigu Ridge. So Luo Binghe did not really embrace him for long.
The place they landed at was a rough patch of rock, with dried skeletons and bones growing out of the crevices between the dense white stones. Looking up, strange dark trees towered above them, intertwined with one another. The peculiar cries of some unknown monster, combined with the caws of crows, reverberated through the ridge.
It should take them some time to search the ridge before finding Xin Mo sword. Shen Qingqiu warned, “There are many monsters in Maigu Ridge. It’s better not to touch anything that looks alive.”
Luo Binghe was of the demonic tribe. To show his sincerity for their cooperation, he took the lead this time. Shen Qingqiu walked beside him. As they walked, Luo Binghe quietly reached his hand out to hold Shen Qingqiu’s hand.
Wu Wang gave a loud cough, while Wu Chen said “Amitabha.” Yue Qingyuan simply and calmly shifted his gaze away.
Shen Qingqiu’s breath caught. His forehead, cheeks, neck, and earlobes all felt as if they were burning. He was flustered, and, for no reason, felt like someone with a guilty conscience. He slowly withdrew his hand.
The instant his palm turned up empty, Luo Binghe’s eyes looked as if they were instantly transformed into a wilderness blanketed with freezing snow.
It was not long before he let out a laugh, lowered his voice and said, “What are you afraid of? They have a favor to ask of me; they will not dare to say anything.”
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