MOF Chapter 56

Chapter 56: Bu Zhou Forest Knows of Spring Mountain Affairs

“Pa—”

A drop of chilling water trickled down the dry, wrinkled veins of a withered leaf, landing precisely on the brow of one of the people beneath the tree, then slowly approaching his eyelashes.

The man’s eyelashes were as black as raven feathers, soaked by the water droplet, several strands sticking together, forming a small clump.

Xie Yiling first felt a coolness on his brow, which then shifted to his right eye. A gust of wind made it especially icy. He frowned and slowly opened his eyes.

In the dim night, an unknown bird let out a startled cry. Xie Yiling inhaled a breath of cold air, which choked him, causing him to sit up and cough twice. The sound startled Nangong Ci awake, and Gu Huanzhi also stirred and woke up.

Nangong Ci spoke, his voice slightly hoarse, “Are you cold?”

Xie Yiling shook his head and looked at the sky, estimating that it was probably the wee hours of the morning. Turning around, he saw a dark shadow hidden by Gu Huanzhi. He got up to nudge it and found A Si, fast asleep. He shook him awake and turned back to ask Nangong Ci, “Master, where is this place?”

Nangong Ci glanced around. They were in a mountain forest near the Wei City gate.

“This is Bu Zhou Forest.” Gu Huanzhi brushed off the chill from his body and quickly recognized the place. “It seems we entered Wei City within the painting from the start.”

Awakened, A Si raised his head and asked blankly, “Is it dark? Are we sleeping here?”

“You’ve already slept.” Xie Yiling rubbed his icy face.

Nangong Ci shifted from a reclining position to standing. He pressed his hand on Azurefall and said, “Let Bai Cheng come out.”

Although they had used Bai Cheng’s soul to cast the array earlier, Xie Yiling had tried his best to save her when the painting collapsed, taking her into the Inquiry Curse.

Now it was night, so there was no major issue with Bai Cheng, as a soul, emerging. Xie Yiling took out the Inquiry Curse and released Bai Cheng’s soul.

In the night, Bai Cheng’s soul was surrounded by a faint gray-green light. After coming out, she stood quietly to the side, unconsciously clenching her clothes. She knew why she had been released.

Xie Yiling waited a moment before speaking, “Miss Bai, can you tell us now?”

“Alright.” Bai Cheng looked at the three and said, her expression slightly dimmed, as she began her story. “Wei City is a place blessed with talented people and abundant resources, renowned for its jewelry and fine jade since ancient times. Among them, the jade produced in Daouchun Mountain was the best.”

“Daouchun Mountain,” Xie Yiling heard the familiar mountain name and was somewhat surprised. “So that mountain actually produces fine jade.”

“Yes.” Bai Cheng nodded and continued, “It’s just a pity that now, you can’t find a single piece of fine jade on that mountain.”

“Is it because of,” Gu Huanzhi asked hesitantly, “excessive mining?”

“Correct.” Hatred flashed in Bai Cheng’s eyes. “Merchants value profit, and to satisfy their greed, they drained the pond to catch all the fish, leading to the depletion of the jade.”

“The mountain ran out of jade, but the merchants did not consider it their own fault.” Nangong Ci suddenly said, “They desperately needed to find an excuse, or rather, a scapegoat.”

A dim light flashed in Bai Cheng’s eyes, and she chuckled softly, “That’s right, people are strange like that. Clearly, it’s their own responsibility, but when something goes wrong, they always want to find a reason to shirk it.”

The smile faded from her face, and she continued, “At the foot of Daouchun Mountain, there originally lived a brother and sister who depended on each other. The sister was born with a birthmark on her face and different colored pupils in her eyes. Fearing to startle others and feeling inferior because of her appearance, she always wore a bamboo hat to hide herself.”

Xie Yiling vaguely guessed what would happen next and frowned as he listened intently.

“Even though they lived so cautiously, they still couldn’t escape the wickedness of people’s hearts.” At this point, Bai Cheng’s original gentle expression completely disappeared, replaced by an barely contained coldness. “The jade from Daouchun Mountain allowed that group of merchants to make a fortune. Now that the jade was gone, they thought of Gu, the eldest son, who had cooperated with them in mining the jade, in order to shift the blame. So, they fabricated a lie and staged a play.”

“Those people found a Taoist priest from somewhere, who volunteered his scheme to Gu, the eldest son. He said that there was a demon hiding on Daouchun Mountain, and as long as they found it and burned it to ashes, then scattered the ashes on Daouchun Mountain and let it be rained on in spring, the fine jade would be reborn next year.”

Xie Yiling couldn’t help but say, “Absurd.”

“And so, a rumor spread out of nowhere that a wicked thing haunted Daouchun Mountain, that the wicked thing loved jade, and that anyone who mined jade would be targeted and retaliated against. Our righteously awe-inspiring Gu, the eldest son, led a group of disciples to Daouchun Mountain to eliminate evil.”

Xie Yiling and the others heard the hidden sarcasm in her words and remained silent. Gu Huanzhi’s face was frighteningly ugly.

“It was also fate that on that day, the sister received a magical voice transmission from her brother and was about to leave home when she ran into Gu, the eldest son, and his group. Without saying a word, Gu, the eldest son, used his sword to lift the sister’s bamboo hat, and with just one glance, he determined that she was a demoness. The sister suffered unwarranted disaster because of her different colored pupils, and was seen as ominous.”

“Gu, the eldest son, listened to the slander and, for the sake of the jade’s rebirth, had people tie her up and burn her alive. They felt that such an absurd thing was justified, and they were so careful with their words that they didn’t let the Immortal Sect know the truth.”

Xie Yiling’s heart sank, and a chill ran down his back. “The sister in the story…”

Bai Cheng said, “Is me.”

Gu Huanzhi didn’t know what to feel. He suddenly realized that he had never truly seen through the eldest brother who had lived with him day and night.

“That day was the Beginning of Spring, it was raining, and I received a message from my brother, telling me to run away quickly.” Bai Cheng slowly narrated, her expression seemingly lost in memories.

A piece of jade at the top of Daouchun Mountain had absorbed the essence of heaven and earth and gained spiritual awareness. So, when the soil loosened and the jade fell to the ground and broke into two halves, the two pieces of jade transformed into two human forms, a man and a woman, almost simultaneously.

These were Bai Zhe and Bai Cheng.

They used their own power to build a house at the foot of the mountain and lived there from then on. Bai Zhe was born first, he was the older brother, and Bai Cheng was half a second slower, becoming the younger sister.

Although Bai Cheng was curious about everything in the human world, she was not enthusiastic about it, preferring to stay in her own little house. Bai Zhe was the opposite of her, he especially liked the beautiful scenery of mountains and rivers, often traveling far away from home, visiting various cities, and seeing the prosperity. It was not until the world was in chaos and Yin corpses were rampant that he reduced the number of times he went out.

Bai Zhe liked the feeling of being a mortal. He learned to drink wine, write poetry, play the zither, and paint. Even though Bai Cheng would receive the message quickly as long as he sent a voice transmission, he still wanted to write letters back.

Therefore, when Bai Cheng saw Bai Zhe use a magical voice transmission to return home after a long absence, her first reaction was that something big had happened. Unfortunately, she was a step too late to escape.

Hearing this, Xie Yiling suddenly looked at Gu Huanzhi and asked, “Did you know about what Gu, the eldest son, did?”

Gu Huanzhi’s throat moved. He sighed deeply and said, “Eldest brother had mentioned something similar to second brother before, and I was also present at the time. But what eldest brother said was that he cooperated with the merchants in mining jade, and because he changed the terrain, someone accidentally fell and died.”

Xie Yiling had another question, “Gu, the eldest son, as a member of the Immortal Sect, how could he have thought of getting involved in the affairs of merchants?”

Gu Huanzhi explained, “It seems that because the fine jade of Daouchun Mountain, a very small number of them, were beneficial to cultivation and could increase cultivation.”

After saying that, he added, “After eldest brother told second brother about this, second brother got very angry and scolded eldest brother for being muddled, telling him to go to the deceased’s home to apologize and guard the spirit for three days.”

“That’s it?” Xie Yiling asked in surprise, “Didn’t you go to the scene to see?”

Gu Huanzhi said, “At that time, I was still unable to leave the Sun and Moon Spirit Platform, and my father was also in seclusion. Second brother and eldest brother solved this matter together, and I don’t know what happened after that.”

After he finished speaking, he fell silent, but judging from the rise and fall of his chest, his heart was not at peace.

The atmosphere was somewhat heavy for a moment, and Gu Huanzhi was so ashamed that his ears turned red because this matter had occurred in his own sect. He suddenly said, “I’ll go back now and ask eldest brother and second brother!”

“Alright.” Xie Yiling immediately said, “We’ll go together.”

After putting Bai Cheng back into the Inquiry Curse, Xie Yiling consciously supported Nangong Ci’s shoulder. “Master, I’m counting on you.”

A Si could travel a thousand miles with one stride, but insisted on clinging to Gu Huanzhi, saying, “Brother Gu, I’m counting on you too.”

The Sun and Moon Spirit Platform was not like other Immortal Sects, located in the mountains or clouds. It faced the street, and the steps were long.

Although it was late at night, the Sun and Moon Spirit Platform was illuminated day and night. The two disciples on night duty saw two spiritual lights flashing in the night sky and immediately recognized that it was someone from the Immortal Sect flying on a sword.

“It’s Senior Brother Gu! Senior Brother Gu is back!” The two disciples said with surprise and joy.

Gu Huanzhi’s steps faltered when he descended from the sword. He looked at Xie Yiling and whispered, “I don’t know why my father suddenly summoned me back. If I’m not allowed to go out again this time, can Senior Brother Xie ask Immortal Lord Fufeng to plead for me in front of my father?”

Xie Yiling understood that no wonder Gu Huanzhi wanted them to come to Wei City, it turned out that he was asking them to be “spokespersons.”

He smiled and comforted him, “Don’t panic, Junior Brother Gu. If that’s really the case, we will definitely help you.”

“Senior Brother Gu, you’re finally back!” The two disciples on night duty seemed to breathe a sigh of relief. “Second Young Master returned a step ahead of you and has already gone to see the sect leader.”

“Did something happen?” Gu Huanzhi asked.

The disciple’s eyes darted around. “This, Senior Brother Gu, you should go see for yourself.”

Realizing that things were not as simple as just being summoned back, Gu Huanzhi hurried to the main hall.

The style of the Sun and Moon Spirit Platform was not like a fairyland, but like a magnificent ancient palace. Before entering the hall, they heard the sound of porcelain breaking.

“You outrageous thing!”

Xie Yiling’s heart jumped, and he subconsciously glanced at Nangong Ci.

“You are a disciple of my Immortal Sect, yet you dare to secretly practice ghost arts! This is! This is utterly rebellious and a stain on my Immortal Sect!”

As soon as these words came out, the group instantly sped up and walked inside. In Xie Yiling’s heart, there was a sudden tremor.

In the hall, Gu Shouan, nearly half a century old, glared at the young man with a fierce aura, Gu Ziyan stood aside, his lips slightly open in astonishment, looking at his own elder brother.

Seeing this scene, Xie Yiling immediately understood that Gu Zhanyun had become possessed!

“Yes!” For some reason, Gu Zhanyun’s originally tied-up hair was scattered in a mess. He heard Gu Shouan scolding himself, and his consciousness was still clear. “I am an outrageous thing! Then what about you? You actually want to kill your own son for an outsider!”