Dong... Dong---
With two evening bells ringing, night fell.
Snow seemed to fall from the waning moon, covering the peaks of the Moon Shadow Sword Sect with a new layer of snow-white mantle.
On the Sword Sect Central Peak , the surviving disciples of the Justice Division were all gathered in front of the main hall. They drank amid the music of the zither and the fragrance of the wine. Through the wine, they forgot everything they had experienced before.
Some people cried heartily under the comfort of their fellow cultivators because they lost their friends and relatives.
Other people made new friends in this adversity.
The emotions they had suppressed for more than a month were vented today in the Sword Sect's main hall that Yun Tianchong had put at their disposal.
...
"Miss Feng, I am Master Cheng, one of the generals of the Justice Division . Thank you for saving my daughter, Xin. If you want anything, just ask. As long as I can do it, I will never refuse."
Feng Yu Die, who was nibbling on her roasted chicken, froze when she saw a golden-robed Nascent Soul cultivator holding a wine cup and bringing a girl over.
She looked up and stared at the girl for a while before she remembered that she was a Core Formation disciple who had followed her and Yun Jiujiu.
"Oh, it's fine. Why don't you give me some spirit stones?"
"Uh... Spirit stones? Since Miss Feng said so..."
The Nascent Soul cultivator looked at the pile of bags with spirit stones lying beside her. He seemed to think Feng Yu Die had no desires, so he didn't say anything else. He toasted to her and gave her a bag full of spirit stones, then he took his daughter to toast the other cultivators of the Justice Division .
After the man left, Yun Jiujiu, who was sitting beside Feng Yu Die, turned and glanced at her. "I heard from Yun Xi that this cultivator is very skilled in refining weapons. Why didn't you ask for a spiritual weapon? What use are all these spirit stones?"
Feng Yu Die frowned. "How was I to know? Why didn't you tell me just now?"
"You want me to tell you in front of him? Wouldn't that be embarrassing?"
Feng Yu Die seemed to feel that she had suffered a loss, but after touching the bag of spirit stones that the man had given her, she saw that there were still hundreds of thousands of them, so she simply let it go and continued to eat the roasted chicken, while looking to her right from time to time.
On her right side, sat Pei Lianxue, silently eating her rice in small bites. Seeing her well-behaved appearance, Feng Yu Die was thrilled, and she even blushed a little.
---Sister Pei is really pretty, hehe...
Yun Jiujiu rolled her eyes at her and continued drinking and eating roasted chicken without saying anything.
As the festive banquet went on, Feng Yu Die stayed beside Pei Lianxue, sneaking a look at her occasionally, watching her dealing with the Justice Division disciples who came to thank her, and eating her roasted chicken.
After a while, many disciples were already drunk in the square in front of the main hall. Feng Yu Die looked around and suddenly realized that Ye Anping, who had been sitting not too far away earlier, had suddenly disappeared. She asked, puzzled, "Eh? Sister Pei, where is Young Master Ye? He was right here."
Pei Lianxue took a mouthful of rice and swallowed it before answering. "Brother has gone to the garden behind the main hall to take a walk and get some fresh air. He will be back soon."
Hearing that Ye Anping was not there, Feng Yu Die pursed her lips, as if she had found an opportunity. She slowly took out a bloodied note from the storage bag, moved the cushion under her butt a few inches toward Pei Lianxue, and said shyly, "Is that so? Well, Sister Pei, look at this... Hehe---"
Seeing her like this, Pei Lianxue sneered in disdain. Ye Anping had already warned her and told her about the treasure bag.
---If Second Idiot suddenly brought up this matter when he was not around, she should decide for herself. If she still made a fuss, let her kiss her on the cheek.
Pei Lianxue stared at the blood-stained note. After a moment of silence, she put down her bowl and raised her index finger, touching her cheek.
"Brother told me about this. Wipe your mouth first and kiss here."
Seeing that Pei Lianxue agreed, Feng Yu Die's eyes lit up. She quickly raised her sleeves and wiped the chicken sauce off her mouth. She even cleaned it with the water on the table, then puckered her mouth as she moved closer to Pei Lianxue's face.
Seeing Feng Yu Die approaching with her eyes closed and her pig mouth, Pei Lianxue's face, which had always been expressionless, started to change.
She held her breath and recalled the method her brother taught her when they ate poisonous insects.
---Imagine that the poisonous insects are just lumps of braised pork, just swallow them in one gulp!
At this moment, she also tried to imagine that it was her brother making the pig mouth...
But...
Pei Lianxue couldn't imagine. After all, her brother definitely wouldn't pout like this. She immediately felt as if she were facing a great enemy and couldn't help but tense up all her muscles...
"..."
However, just as she was about to touch Pei Lianxue's face, Feng Yu Die seemed to remember something and stopped, suddenly opening her eyes.
?
Pei Lianxue was confused. "What's wrong?"
"Hmm..."
"Well..."
Feng Yu Die remembered that Ye Ao had also brought the crane to the banquet, so she looked toward the corner and saw the red-crowned crane worth eight hundred and eighty thousand spirit stones tied in the corner of the square with a rope, eating the fresh fish prepared for it one by one.
"Sister Pei, let's go there to kiss..."
"?"
As she spoke, Feng Yu Die gently pulled up Pei Lianxue's sleeve and led her out of her seat, running toward the red-crowned crane.
The red-crowned crane, which was tasting the fresh fish, noticed that Feng Yu Die was pulling Pei Lianxue over and immediately spread its wings in warning, as if it thought they were coming to steal its fish.
Just as Pei Lianxue was dragged in front of the red-crowned crane and was wondering what Feng Yu Die was going to do, Feng Yu Die suddenly turned around and kissed her cheek as if she was going to suck her face into her mouth, making a series of "chirp~~~" sounds.
？
The red-crowned crane looked at the two of them speechlessly, and even the struggling fresh fish in its beak forgot to struggle after seeing what the two of them did.
Some of the half-drunk disciples of the Justice Division nearby were also attracted by the sound.
A quarter of the square fell silent.
With a "pop~~" , Feng Yu Die's lips parted from Pei Lianxue's cheek.
Pei Lianxue looked at all the eyes fixed on her, and her toes curled up unconsciously, but Feng Yu Die didn't care at all. She turned her head and looked at the red-crowned crane expectantly, as if asking it: Where is my and Sister Pei's baby?
The red-crowned crane blinked its eyes blankly. Then, it raised its head and swallowed the fish in its beak. Then, it let out an unidentified cry, went to the full bucket of fish, turned its butt toward them, and continued to eat.
Lii--!
"..."
Seeing it like this, Feng Yu Die shrank her head but still tried. "Why don't you go and fetch us the baby?"
"..."
Pei Lianxue couldn't take it anymore. She looked around at the confused disciples, and her cheeks flushed red. She ran out with her face covered.
Feng Yu Die stayed in place and watched Pei Lianxue run away. She reached out, trying to stop her. "Hey, Sister Pei..."
But she couldn't stop her.
Feng Yu Die looked at the red-crowned crane's butt facing her and ignored the gazes of the disciples around her. She went back and sat down with her shoulders drooping dejectedly.
Although Yun Jiujiu didn't say a word, she saw everything.
Seeing Feng Yu Die kiss Pei Lianxue in front of the red-crowned crane and then come back with a dejected face, she was even more confused, and even the wine jar in her hand was suspended in the air.
"What the hell is wrong with you now?"
"..."
Two teardrops squeezed out from Feng Yu Die's eyes. She sniffled and whispered. "My master lied to me."
Yun Jiujiu didn't understand. "Huh?"
"My master once told me that if you kiss in front of a crane, the crane will bring you a baby... She said the baby is brought by the crane... My master lied to me... Sniff--"
"..."
Yun Jiujiu saw Feng Yu Die was really crying, and she froze on the spot, not knowing how to comfort her.
She didn't understand...
However, seeing that many of the Justice Division and Sword Sect disciples at the banquet were still staring at Feng Yu Die, Yun Jiujiu frowned and shouted at them angrily. "What are you looking at?! Haven't you seen a girl cry?! Look away! Or I'll throw you all off this mountain!"
After scaring off those people, Yun Jiujiu saw that Feng Yu Die cried even harder, and after hesitating shortly, she simply pulled her to stand up. "Hiss... Let's go... Come with me to the side hall..."
"Sob--- sob---"
"Hey... why are you crying? What nonsense! Stop crying! I get annoyed when I see people crying!"
"Woo... sob-- I really trusted Master so much, but she lied to me..."
"Wah-ah-ah..."
Yun Jiujiu was already fed up with it. She simply took out a wine gourd from her storage bag, stuffed the gourd stopper into her mouth, and then ran toward the side hall carrying Feng Yu Die.
Yun Tianchong was sitting in a wheelchair in front of the main hall, wearing the golden robe of the Sword Sect Master. He was originally toasting to Commander Fu Xuan, who was nearby. When he heard Yun Jiujiu's angry loli voice, he looked up in surprise. "What are those two girls up to?"
He muttered to himself but didn't dwell on it. Instead, he smiled and toasted to Commander Fu Xuan. "Commander Qu, I'll toast to you again."
Qu Ruyun looked at him indifferently, then glanced at Yun Xi who was sitting at the opposite table, looking at her father with a murderous look. With a smile, she said, "I'll decline this glass of wine. Master Yun, you'd better take a look at Third Miss' gaze?"
"Eh?" Yun Tianchong turned his head to look at Yun Xi and asked, "Xi, what's wrong?"
Yun Xi's eyes swapped over Commander Fu Xuan's generous chest and rolled her eyes at her father. She scolded him. "Sister Yiyi specially asked me to sit here just to watch you. Fortunately, Commander Qu is smart. Doctor Liu had barely re-attached your bird and you've already started again, haven't you?"
"Hiss--- Xi, what nonsense are you talking about?" Yun Tianchong was a little embarrassed, and he hurriedly smiled and apologized to Qu Ruyun. "Master Qu, it was just a simple toast, and I have no other intentions..."
Qu Ruyun covered her mouth and chuckled, then shook her head. "Master Yun, this is the so-called unity of knowledge and action. Your previous actions have created your image in the eyes of Third Miss Yun. Whether this can be changed depends on you."
Yun Tianchong lowered his eyes and sighed. He drank the cup of wine alone before replying, "Of course, I know that I owe these three girls..."
Qu Ruyun smiled, slowly raised the cup and drank, then looked at Yun Xi. "Third Miss Yun, when we were at Sunset Mountain , Patriarch Yun was indeed thinking about you and the other two daughters at all times. I can testify to this."
"Hmm?"
"If Master Yun had not accompanied us, I and a few other Elders of the Justice Division might have already died at the hands of Seven Ghost Tomb. This is a fact. Third Miss, why don't you re-evaluate your father?"
Yun Xi glanced at her father with some skepticism.
Seeing her gaze, Yun Tianchong raised his eyebrows, as if to brag. "Xi, look, Daddy is the son of the Immortal Yun Jian, and also a cultivator in the late stage of Deification . That's a step away from the Void Returning stage. In the future, I might be on par with the five Void Returning immortals of the Immortal Family... It's not so embarrassing, right?"
Well, Nangong Cheng was dead, only four were left...
Yun Xi rolled her eyes at him but glanced at Commander Fu Xuan. After all, she was speaking for her father, so she nodded. "Since Commander said so, I will keep it in mind."
Qu Ruyun nodded in response. "However, Master Yun, although you have achieved the late stage of Deification , you are still a few steps away from the Void Returning stage. Don't be arrogant. Breaking through to the Void requires the right time, right place, and right people..."
"Thank you, Commander Qu. I will remember it."
Qu Ruyun let out a long breath, then looked up at the fine snow in the Southern Region , and couldn't help but touch the blank divination talisman on her belt.
Ye Anping, the young master of the Hundred Lotus Sect.
Truly worthy of being the person chosen by the Matriarch Red Moon. With a mere Core Formation cultivation stage, he broke the death calamity of a Deification cultivator like her... No, not just her...
She looked at the drunk disciples of the Justice Division at the banquet.
Most of these people still didn't understand the extent of the lethal tribulation they had encountered at the Eastern Great Wall.
But with her divination skills, Qu Ruyun, who had helped the Justice Division survive till now, knew it.
Ye Anping changed the fate of the entire Justice Division ...
Moreover...
Qu Ruyun looked at Yun Tianchong again. Although she didn't know what happened in the Moon Shadow Sword Sect in the past, the bull Yun Tianchong, who used to be a renowned philanderer in the four regions and owed debts of love everywhere, now seemed to have an epiphany and underwent a drastic change.
In other words, Ye Anping also put the future of the entire Moon Shadow Sword Sect on the right track.
In the end, the person who influenced these Deification -stage cultivators was just a Young Master from an unknown sect.
"Whew..."
Qu Ruyun let out a light sigh and turned to look at Ye Ao, who was chatting with several Nascent Soul cultivators not far away.
In her eyes, although Ye Ao seemed to be a loving father, he had no outstanding abilities.
This made her wonder if Ye Ao's wife was the disciple or daughter of a famous cultivator...
"Whatever. Let's wait and see what happens."
With this, Qu Ruyun stopped thinking about it. Now that she had survived the death tribulation, she would see the future with her own eyes.
---What kind of world will Ye Anping create within these four regions?