IVYSCP - Chapter 122

Chapter 122

Though Liu Qingtang had regained consciousness, the Gu Vine still remained inside her body. The Gu Master Nie Wenxiao had commissioned Linglong Pavilion to find was unable to remove it, and had confirmed it was a Mother-Child Gu. The child perishes when the mother dies, but the mother remains unharmed if the child dies. To dispel the gu, one had to start with the Mother Gu.

Without a doubt, the Mother Gu was in Lou Wudu's possession.

After Nie Wenxiao explained the situation, a ruthless glint flashed in her eyes.

"I know where the Mother Gu is." Liu Qingtang suddenly spoke. She lifted her gaze to look at Ling Qingyue, and a seeming reluctance lingered at the bottom of her eyes.

Seeing her expression, Ling Qingyue felt a faint unease in her heart. "Where is it?"

Liu Qingtang drew a breath and said it plainly. "Inside your master, Senior Wang. Lou Wudu refined her together with the Gu Vine into a single entity. Senior Wang is the Mother Gu."

In an instant, a ringing filled her ears. Ling Qingyue felt as if she could hear nothing at all. She shot to her feet, her knee slamming into the table corner without any sensation of pain. Her eyes locked dead onto Liu Qingtang, her breath trembling as she asked, "What did you say?"

She had considered it. She had wondered whether Lou Wudu might have done something to her master, but she had never dared to think too deeply. Call her unfilial and treasonous if you must, but she had indeed entertained that thought for a fleeting moment. Her master was already dead. Now, hearing the words spoken by Liu Qingtang's own mouth, beneath the grief and fury in her heart, a thread of joy emerged as well.

If her master was the Mother Gu, that meant her master was still alive.

Liu Qingtang did not repeat herself. She merely looked at the three generations of Cangshan masters and disciples before her, and with a hint of entreaty said, "I know some of what Lou Wudu has done, but given my current condition, I'm afraid I can't tell you in exhaustive detail. Therefore, I ask you to perform soul searching."

She knew it herself. Her body was far too weak. If she had to speak of matters that could stir her emotions, she would likely faint midway through the telling, and she wouldn't be able to speak clearly. Better to use soul searching.

"Qingtang! No!"

But Nie Wenxiao was unwilling. Liu Qingtang had only just woken up, and soul searching could, with the slightest carelessness, damage the soul. It was no small matter.

Liu Qingtang turned her head and smiled at her, reassuring her. "Senior Sister, the two seniors and the Immortal Venerable all far surpass me in cultivation. With them performing the soul searching, you can set your mind at ease."

Nie Wenxiao furrowed her brow, wanting to say more, when she heard Liu Qingtang lower her gaze and murmur sorrowfully, "I don't want to remember it over and over again."

Without using soul searching, Liu Qingtang would have to recount those events herself. That would mean remembering them again and again, tearing open bloody, raw wounds over and over.

Nie Wenxiao pressed her lips together and swallowed the words she was about to speak. After wrestling with indecision for a long while, she finally relented.

"Alright."

Pei Congyi chuckled lightly and tilted her head toward Chu Qianshan beside her. "Then let Qianshan do it."

Chu Qianshan's face was taut. She snorted coldly and looked at Pei Yin.

You have a disciple, and I don't?

"Pei Yin, you..."

"Master." Pei Yin opened her mouth calmly. "On the hurried journey here, I expended too much spiritual energy. This disciple fears she may make a mistake."

The furrow between Chu Qianshan's brows deepened into a mountain. She stared at her in disbelief.

Expended spiritual energy from hurrying on the road? Did you even hear what you just said?

Drawing a deep breath, Chu Qianshan looked at the two Peis on either side of her and laughed in sheer exasperation.

"Fine. I'll do it."

Chu Qianshan rose with a sour expression. Whether it was intentional or not, when she turned, her leg bumped against Pei Congyi. As she rounded toward Pei Yin's side, she lifted her leg and gave her a bump as well. An ash-grey footprint appeared prominently on Pei Yin's calf.

She detested anyone surnamed Pei.

Chu Qianshan first set up a soul-protecting formation, then raised a finger and channeled spiritual energy into Liu Qingtang's forehead, directly entering her spiritual platform.

A formation abruptly rose beneath everyone's feet, with Pei Congyi alone standing outside it.

Pei Congyi raised her eyebrows in surprise, then pressed her lips into a smile.

Told her to do the soul searching, yet she won't let her see. Still so petty.

Liu Qingtang's memories began from the moment she had left the Ranking Tournament. The memories flickered past rapidly, but Ling Qingyue still recognized the black-clad person who had stopped Liu Qingtang from competing against her.

Lou Wudu!

Lou Wudu had deliberately provoked Liu Qingtang's will to fight, frequently setting matches with her in secret realms to forcibly raise her cultivation. On the eve of the Liuyun Immortal Sect's calamity, Lou Wudu had arranged a duel with Liu Qingtang in the Sand City Secret Realm, tricking her into consuming Gu Medicine, bringing her under her control, and taking her to the Liuyun Immortal Sect.

What Ling Qingyue and Pei Yin had seen at the Ten-Thousand Names Stele was Lou Wudu slaughtering the entire Liuyun Immortal Sect. Yet in Liu Qingtang's memories, it was she who had helped Lou Wudu annihilate the Liuyun Immortal Sect.

Though the Gu Medicine had controlled Liu Qingtang, its effective duration was not long. When Liu Qingtang regained clarity and recalled what she had done, she wished she could atone with her death on the spot. Lou Wudu did not let her die. Instead, she sealed her spiritual energy and hid her away to refine gu.

Lou Wudu attempted to merge Yuelou's Gu Techniques with spellcraft, but she had always lacked the most crucial Gu Vessel.

Until one day, Lou Wudu returned in a daze, as if her soul had left her body, carrying a segment of vine root. The vine root was strange, a soulless thing that yet retained spirit nature. Lou Wudu used the vine root as the Gu Vessel, attempting to refine the vine root and Liu Qingtang together.

This process lasted for several years. The vine root transformed into a Gu Vine and had already taken root throughout Liu Qingtang's meridians, deep into her very soul.

Yet just as the refinement neared completion, Lou Wudu brought Liu Qingtang to a hidden location and then forcibly extracted the Gu Vine from her body, not hesitating to start over from the beginning.

When the Gu Vine was extracted, Liu Qingtang recovered some consciousness. Collapsed on the ground, she saw Lou Wudu's shadowed expression as she muttered to herself, "Master, your disciple wants to give you a grand gift."

After speaking, Lou Wudu guided the Gu Vine and walked over to a crystal coffin. She stroked the coffin surface with a gentle touch. "Yanchun, someone as treacherous as her isn't worthy of your affection. How about I make her kneel before you in atonement? Right in front of you. I'll make her unable to live or die, repenting every day that she shouldn't have used you as a stepping stone for her Emotionless Path back then."

"Yanchun, don't be afraid. Your sister has already found a revival art. I won't keep you waiting long."

Lou Wudu rounded the crystal coffin. Liu Qingtang could only faintly make out a figure. Clenching her teeth, she dug her hands into the ground and crawled forward until her line of sight was no longer obstructed. Only then did she clearly see that person's face. It was unmistakably the Shangtianqiong Sect Leader and Sword Venerable, Wang Changming!

Wang Changming's cultivation had plummeted drastically, and Lou Wudu had broken her hands and feet, forcing her to kneel. Her mind and spirit seemed to have suffered severe damage as well. When Lou Wudu planted the Gu Vine into her body, there was practically no reaction at all.

After that, Lou Wudu refined the Mother-Child Gu, planted the Child Gu inside Liu Qingtang's body, and released her in the back mountain of Linshui Town to suppress the souls of those atoning cultivators.

The scene of memory before her eyes dissipated and faded into the distance, leaving only darkness. Dampness could still be felt on her lashes. Ling Qingyue's breathing was so disordered it nearly trembled. She clenched her hands tightly, and a sharp pain immediately came from her palms, the knuckles aching fiercely as well.

"Qingyue, let go."

Pei Yin's worried voice sounded beside her ear, and a hand wrapped around her clenched fist, gently kneading it open.

Ling Qingyue opened her eyes. A layer of blood hue had already accumulated at the bottom of her eyes. Deep crimson demonic markings, nearly black, crawled up from her collar and, in the blink of an eye, spread over the side of her face.

In an instant, the entire Water Cloud Dwelling was shrouded in demonic qi, only to be forcefully trapped by two formations. Pei Congyi and Chu Qianshan made their moves simultaneously. Nie Wenxiao and Liu Qingtang stared, eyes wide with shock.

"Ling Qingyue!"

Qiu Feng was about to act to help her suppress the demonic qi, but she never expected to be directly sent flying out of Water Cloud Dwelling by a single palm strike.

"Get away!" Ling Qingyue's voice reached her ear. "Otherwise, I'm afraid I won't be able to control myself and will really kill you."

The allure of that half a Seven-Aperture Exquisite Heart was still a bit too strong.

Qiu Feng pondered briefly. Her gaze suddenly swiveled toward a mountain peak within the Piaomiao Sect. Her figure flickered once and vanished from the spot.

Inside Water Cloud Dwelling, Pei Congyi's expression was severe. She raised her fingers and cast a spell. "Suppress Demons!"

Chu Qianshan turned and took her position. Seeing Pei Yin still hesitating, she barked harshly, "What are you still thinking about! Suppressing demons isn't demon elimination, it won't hurt her!"

Only then did Pei Yin raise her hand.

For a moment, three formations rose simultaneously, trapping Ling Qingyue within them and forcibly driving back the demonic qi surging outward.

Ling Qingyue did not struggle. The process was fairly smooth.

Nie Wenxiao murmured from the side, "Cultivation deviation?"

Liu Qingtang's eyes were dazed, as if she had remembered something. When she was in the back mountain of Linshui Town, she had once tried to break free of her restraints but had never succeeded. Only once had she managed to release a wisp of spiritual sense. That wisp of spiritual sense later, for some unknown reason, had suddenly slipped beyond her control and even acquired demonic qi.

Where had that demonic qi come from?

Liu Qingtang fixed her gaze on Ling Qingyue.

Could it be...

Once the demonic qi was fully restrained, Pei Yin stepped into the formation in one stride and wrapped her arms around her. "It's alright, it's alright."

Chu Qianshan rolled her eyes in annoyance. "What could be wrong with her."

Nie Wenxiao's shock had not yet faded, but she glanced around. It seemed she was the only one who had reacted so strongly to this.

Was this really a minor matter?

Ling Qingyue suppressed the Seven-Aperture Exquisite Heart, restless from murderous intent. Meeting Nie Wenxiao's gaze, she explained quietly, "I was revived through a demon race object and gained this half-demon body. I have concealed it until now. My apologies."

Nie Wenxiao nodded. "I see. It really did need to be concealed."

She clearly hadn't quite collected herself yet.

Ling Qingyue considered for a moment and said tactfully, "If Sect Leader Nie is worried that my being a half-demon might implicate..."

"How could that be!" Nie Wenxiao had now come back to her senses. Mindless of propriety, she hastily cut off her words. "Back then, without you and the Immortal Venerable, I could never have brought Qingtang back, and the Piaomiao Sect would no longer exist. Such kindness, the Piaomiao Sect could never repay."

Ling Qingyue looked at her and smiled faintly. "Thank you."

"Enough, enough of the pointless talk." Chu Qianshan snorted coldly, her eyes sweeping up and down Ling Qingyue. "With your demonic qi this unstable, you still want to lead a team to Shangtianqiong? Do you want to serve as a living target for the Hundred Immortal Sects?"

She waved a hand impatiently. "Hurry up and go into secluded cultivation."

Ling Qingyue indeed had that intention. She lifted her gaze toward Pei Yin.

Chu Qianshan's brow furrowed. "I told you to go into secluded cultivation, why are you looking at her? What, do you need to discuss going into seclusion?"

Ling Qingyue pressed her lips together and said quietly, "It's not a discussion. This seclusion requires Pei Yin to join me."

Her Desire Phase still hadn't passed.

Upon hearing this, Chu Qianshan's eyes widened. "You need someone to accompany you in seclusion!? Are you having her serve you tea and water, or warm your bed and make your quilts?"

Ling Qingyue fell silent.

"Qianshan." Pei Congyi brushed past from the side. "Come with me."

Chu Qianshan instinctively wanted to refuse, but when she lifted her gaze and saw the woman's calm, quiet eyes, it was as if her heart had been struck. Her mouth gave no reply, but her legs had already lifted and followed.

The two walked out of the East Courtyard and arrived at the cliff's edge behind Water Cloud Dwelling.

Chu Qianshan stood behind the woman, looking at her hair stirred by the mountain wind, looking at the soft lines of her profile, from brow to nose tip to lips.

How long had it been since they had last seen each other?

Chu Qianshan's eyes grew hot, and a sourness rose in her nose. She turned her head away and asked stiffly, "What did you call me out here for?"

"Xiao Yin truly likes that child. Their hearts are in harmony. Why are you unhappy?"

Pei Congyi's voice was calm, but it instantly ignited Chu Qianshan's anger. "I'm her master. Naturally, I can discipline her affairs. If you want to meddle, then meddle with your own disciple. She also has someone she likes. Why don't you ask her who she likes?"

Toward the end, her words carried a slight choke and a hint of grievance.

Pei Congyi sighed and turned to look at her, helpless. "Qianshan, I could have stayed out of matters of cause and effect altogether. Do you truly not know for whom I came?"

Chu Qianshan's heart and spirit jolted violently. She staggered back a step.

"Impossible!"

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