Chapter 11 – I Also Want To Spiritually Cultivate With Shizun Today

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Qi Shu hesitated to invite his master along, knowing that his body was still weak and couldn’t handle too much exertion. Besides, this was his task to undertake, and he couldn’t let his master suffer needlessly.

But why did his master seem unhappy after he said this? Qi Shu couldn’t understand it.

In fact, ever since this trip, his master’s mood had become more unpredictable than before, and many times Qi Shu couldn’t guess what he was thinking.

“… If you don’t want to come, go back,” Lu Chengyuan said impatiently, unable to stand Qi Shu’s distracted look any longer. “Did you even hear me?”

Qi Shu snapped out of his daze. “I heard… what were you saying?”

“…”

Perhaps it was because they had been fighting each other for so long, but Lu Chengyuan really couldn’t stand the urge to spar with this person. He gripped the hilt of his sword, forcibly suppressing the impulse to draw it, and gritted his teeth as he said, “I said, when I fought with that monster yesterday, I put tracking powder on it.”

“Mm, I heard you. So where does the tracking powder lead?”

“But the scent of the tracking powder dissipated right here!” Lu Chengyuan was annoyed. “You really weren’t paying attention!”

At that moment, the two of them were standing on the street, and when Lu Chengyuan raised his voice, many people looked over at them.

Qi Shu was silent for a moment, then looked off into the distance. “From here, it’s Misty Mountain. Looks like that monster is really hiding in Misty Mountain. The female corpse I saw yesterday was indeed a kidnapped citizen of Lingyang City.”

Lu Chengyuan: “Your way of changing the subject is too obvious.”

Qi Shu pretended not to hear him. “So we still have to go into the Misty Shadow Mountain to find it.”

Lu Chengyuan took a deep breath and decided not to argue with him. “But didn’t you find nothing last night after entering the mountain, and instead ended up in an illusion? Recklessly entering the mountain will only lead to the same result.”

Qi Shu: “That’s true.”

The two of them fell silent.

In the morning market town, many villagers had come to trade, and the place was bustling with activity. Qi Shu and Lu Chengyuan were both considered handsome and were attracting the sidelong glances of many village women as they stood on the street.

Qi Shu suddenly thought of something. “You said earlier that according to the government’s investigation, the monster only captures young, beautiful, unmarried girls, right?”

“Yeah, it’s very picky. People in Lingyang City are now panicked, especially if they have girls waiting at home. They’re all shutting themselves inside for fear of being targeted.” Lu Chengyuan held his sword and sighed. “But even so, you can’t completely rest assured. The girls who were kidnapped last night disappeared from their bedrooms.”

Qi Shu nodded solemnly. “So we can’t delay any longer. We have to take the initiative.”

“Do you have a plan?”

“Come with me.”

A moment later, in the bedroom of the inn, Qi Shu shook the cloth bag in his hand, and a table full of cosmetics¹ and silken clothes spilled out.

Lu Chengyuan was incredulous. “You took all my money and bought these?”

“I bought the best in town, you can rest assured.”

“I’m not reassured at all.” Lu Chengyuan asked, “What are you going to do with these?”

Qi Shu picked up the cosmetics from the table. “Since we can’t enter the mountain and can’t just sit here and wait to die, we might as well use these to create some bait to lure the monster out. Then you and I can team up and catch it like a turtle in a jar.”

“You’re not thinking of using these to bribe innocent girls to be bait for us, are you?” Lu Chengyuan said sternly. “Qi Shu, how can you be so callous with the lives of ordinary people?!”

Qi Shu hesitated, looking into Lu Chengyuan’s eyes with a hint of helplessness.He hesitated for a moment, then looked away, troubled.

“What you’re saying is right. We can’t be callous with the lives of ordinary people, but we do need bait. So what should we do? In any case, we can’t use ordinary people,” Qi Shu said with a sly smile. “But Second Brother, I’ve seen your handsome face and passionate eyes. With just a little makeup, you can definitely pass.”

But Lu Chengyuan was having none of it. He drew his sword and the room filled with the sound of clanging steel as Qi Shu dodged left and right, protecting the cosmetics he had so carefully purchased. “Is there something wrong with my method?” Qi Shu asked, still smiling. “If you don’t set a trap, people won’t fall for it. And if we can’t lure them out, how will we catch them?”

Lu Chengyuan gritted his teeth. “Why don’t you play the role?”

“I’m not as good-looking as you,” Qi Shu replied, knowing that he had struck a chord.

And it was true. Lu Chengyuan was second on the “Xianxia World’s Top Ten Dream Lovers” list, while Qi Shu had taken the top spot. It was a source of constant annoyance for Lu Chengyuan, and Qi Shu knew it well.

“Think about it,” Qi Shu continued, seizing the opportunity. “If this works out, it will be all thanks to you. You’ll be able to regain all the face you lost last night. It’s a win-win situation, what’s there to consider?”

Lu Chengyuan’s expression relaxed and his grip on his sword loosened.

“Then… ” Lu Chengyuan looked away and said, his neck stiff, “Then make it look good.”

To avoid disturbing Gu Hanjiang’s rest, Qi Shu used Lu Chengyuan’s silver to rent another room, carefully choosing one that was far from the original room.

But this couldn’t fool the Heavenly Venerable Immortal’s ears.

As long as he wanted to, he could find Qi Shu even if he was thousands of miles away.

“–Stop laughing, be gentle!”

“Sorry, sorry, my hand slipped, hahaha…”

“Qi Shu, what are you doing, let go if you’re not going to do it!”

“Doing, doing, doing…”

The meditating Gu Hanjiang opened his eyes.

His chest still felt a little stuffy and painful due to the disruption of his breathing, and he frowned as he coughed.

The room was quiet, very different from the one not far away.

Qi Shu always had a polite and obedient appearance in front of him, and he was careful in his words and actions, showing him respect. As a disciple, Qi Shu behaved better than most.

But Gu Hanjiang had never seen him behave so freely and playfully, cracking jokes and fooling around with his peers.

Never.

The palm on the bed tightened and Gu Hanjiang’s brows furrowed, not realizing that a black qi was forming on his forehead.

“I said it looks good, why don’t you believe me?” Qi Shu held back his laughter and took a step back, hands behind his back.

Lu Chengyuan gritted his teeth: “I’ll believe you if you give me the mirror.”

To be honest, his appearance with makeup on wasn’t that terrible. Qi Shu applied a light layer of powder to his face, drew his eyebrows, and applied red lipstick. If you only looked at his face, it was actually somewhat convincing.

Unfortunately, he was too tall, and no matter how he looked at it, the long skirt looked awkward on him.

Qi Shu couldn’t help but laugh when he saw it, and Lu Chengyuan seized the opportunity to go forward and grab the mirror that was hidden behind him.

It was at this moment that the door was pushed open.

Gu Hanjiang stood at the door, expressionless.

The two people in the room looked quite improper at the moment. Lu Chengyuan had almost cornered Qi Shu against the wall, one hand supporting the wall, the other reaching behind Qi Shu to grab the mirror. From the angle at the door, it seemed like he was trying to hug him.

The two people in the room were stunned for a moment before quickly separating.

“Master!”

“Venerable Immortal!”

Gu Hanjiang walked in slowly and glanced at Lu Chengyuan: “Leave.”

“Vene… Venerable Immortal?” Lu Chengyuan was still wearing the comical skirt, and he was completely stunned by the words.

Qi Shu instinctively felt that something was wrong and looked closely to see that Gu Hanjiang’s forehead was indeed producing black qi.

Oh no, how could he have fallen ill now?

He didn’t have time to think much and hurriedly pushed Lu Chengyuan out: “Second Brother, you go rest in my room first. Master has something to say to me.”

Lu Chengyuan: “But…”

“Hurry up, hurry up, are you not listening to Xianzun’s words? Go!”

With a bang, he was shut out of the room and Qi Shu quickly cast a spell to seal the door.

Before he had time to relax, the icy body appeared behind him…

Gu Hanjiang grabbed Qi Shu’s hands and pushed him against the door.

“Ahh… it hurts.” Qi Shu’s eyes were clouded with pain, but Qi Shu was still trying to calm him down and said, “Master, can you let me go first? You’re going to… you’re going to fall into a Qi Deviation² again.”

“Why did you avoid me?” Gu Hanjiang’s voice was low and icy.

The Heavenly Venerable Immortal’s temper has always been difficult to predict, and it becomes even more unreasonable when he falls into a Qi Deviation.

Fortunately, this is not the first time this has happened, and Qi Shu tried to relax his body and explain, “I was just discussing a plan for exorcising monsters with Second Brother Lu, I didn’t mean to avoid you…”

“Exorcising monsters.” Gu Hanjiang’s voice was cold, “Can’t I do it?”

Qi Shu was stunned.

“He can help you, but I can’t?”

Qi Shu turned and looked into Gu Hanjiang’s eyes.

The black energy in Gu Hanjiang’s brow was now very obvious, and there was even a faint hint of red in his eyes. The eyes looking at him were heavy and contained a certain terrifying, almost unbearable heat.

What did he mean by this?

Qi Shu hesitated and asked, “Master, are you unhappy about this?”

Gu Hanjiang did not answer.

Qi Shu stared into his eyes and asked in a trembling voice, “Master, I asked Second Brother Lu for help, are you unhappy about this? Is that why you suddenly… ”

Gu Hanjiang suddenly moaned in pain.

He frowned and released Qi Shu’s hand, then began to cough violently. He coughed so hard that he backed up a few steps and leaned on the table, even knocking over the cosmetics that Qi Shu had not yet cleaned up.

“Master!”

Qi Shu quickly supported him and asked worriedly, “Master, what’s wrong with you? Do you need to go to the healer?”

Gu Hanjiang’s coughing stopped, and he leaned on Qi Shu’s shoulder with a pale face, looking weak and powerless.

He didn’t answer, but his eyes were fixed on Qi Shu, and he whispered, “Why… why did you ask him for help?”

“I… ”

“Master, don’t speak.” said Qi Shu as he helped Gu Hanjiang lie down, “Your spiritual energy depletion is even worse than last time, you need to rest for a bit longer.”

Gu Hanjiang closed his eyes and stopped speaking. Seeing that the master was doing better, Qi Shu supported him as he lay down and transferred spiritual energy from his palm.

He knelt by the bed, looking at the sleeping face of the other, but his mind was filled with Gu Hanjiang’s previous words.

“He can help you, but I can’t?”

Why would he say that?

Even though Qi Shu tried his best to tell himself that his master was not in control of his actions while in a demonic state and that he shouldn’t think too much about it, he couldn’t convince himself that there was no other meaning in those words.

The implication in those words was too strong, and if it were any other person, it would seem like…

He was jealous.

Qi Shu’s heart rate increased and his mouth felt dry.

No, it couldn’t be.

********

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Reika’s Notes:

• This chapter is by Reika (me).
• I’m sorry for the erratic release schedule. My father was very ill for a long time and he died a few days ago.
• Please let me know if there are any errors. Thanks for reading!

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1. 桌子胭脂水粉 – ancient rouge and powder cosmetics that Chinese women applied to their face and lips.
2. 走火入魔 – Literally translates as “to catch fire and be entered [possessed] by devils”. A state wherein the cultivation base becomes dangerously unstable, causing internal damage to the body and symptoms of psychosis. People who succumb to their Internal Demons, who practice cultivation/martial arts incorrectly, or who rashly use forbidden arts are all at risk of falling into this state. Source: Immortal Mountain