Thousand Dusts Ferry Me - Chapter 47

Yun Qing ran away.

She didn’t blame Jiang Baiyu for speaking directly and making everyone uncomfortable. She could understand him. After all, he had been inexplicably touched intimately by someone, and the fact that he didn’t punch her in the face should be considered a testament to his good character.

She left with a hurried “I’ll go see if Fu Xue is awake yet,” and returned to the cave.

Feeling Jiang Baiyu’s gaze following her from behind, Yun Qing’s footsteps became somewhat unsteady, and she nearly fell.

She didn’t think this was due to guilt, but rather because the Mountain Reliance Formation from last night had depleted her spiritual power, making her body weak now, which caused her unsteady gait.

Moreover, she suspected that the formation not only drained spiritual power but also affected the mind. Otherwise, how could she have overlooked something as important as “a natal weapon sharing sensations with its master”!

But thinking back, it really did smell wonderful…

Stop, stop, stop! Don’t think about it, just run! In a moment, Baiyu might really come to hit her!

…..

Yun Qing returned to the cave, rubbed her face, and crouched down beside Fu Xue.

Fu Xue’s face had a healthy flush, and she was sleep-talking. “Why do we eat this kind of thing in the underworld? Can’t we eat something better?”

Yun Qing: “…”

She found it amusing and engaged with Fu Xue. “What do they eat in the underworld?”

Fu Xue: “Deep-fried starved ghosts, without any meat at all.”

Yun Qing: “What else?”

Fu Xue: “Stir-fried wolf heart, cold mixed dog lungs. Charcoal-grilled Yaksha.”

These all had quite an underworld flavor to them…

Yun Qing found it entertaining and started chatting with the sleeping Fu Xue.

When Cheng Suiyan woke up, he saw the two of them—one sitting and one lying down—discussing whether steamed Ox-Head and Horse-Face would taste good and what condiments would enhance the flavor and improve the texture.

“What kind of underworld thing is this,” Cheng Suiyan mumbled, feeling like he must still be half-asleep.

Yun Qing had grown tired of chatting and stood up. Turning around, she saw that Cheng Suiyan was already awake, standing in the corner looking at her and Fu Xue with an indescribable expression.

“Awake?” she asked.

“Yes.” He had been listening for quite a while.

At that moment, Jiang Baiyu also walked in, with one hand behind his back and the other holding the large green bamboo tube. His expression had returned to normal, and the rich fragrance had subsided.

Seeing that Cheng Suiyan was awake, Jiang Baiyu handed him the bamboo tube. “Have some water.”

“Thank you.” Cheng Suiyan was indeed thirsty. He took the cylinder, removed the lid, and was just about to drink with the tube in hand.

Jiang Baiyu suddenly said, “Use the lid to drink.”

“Oh.” Cheng Suiyan then poured water into the tube lid and asked while raising it to his lips, “Where did this water come from?” He tilted his head back and took a big gulp.

Yun Qing suddenly smiled and spoke before Jiang Baiyu could answer, “I just saw a monkey urinating in a tree outside and collected it with the bamboo tube.”

Pfft—

Cheng Suiyan spat it out immediately.

Jiang Baiyu nimbly dodged.

“Y-y-you, I-I-I…” Cheng Suiyan pointed at Yun Qing, stammering.

Yun Qing said with a straight face, “Can’t waste it, you know.”

Jiang Baiyu couldn’t help but shake his head and smile, revealing neat white teeth. After laughing, he glanced at Yun Qing.

Yun Qing had her hands behind her back and didn’t look at him.

Cheng Suiyan realized Yun Qing was joking and sighed in relief, shaking his head in complaint. “Yun Qing, you’re too mischievous!”

How could someone like this walk the jianghu without being beaten to death? It must be because her head was hard enough, he thought, and couldn’t help but chuckle.

Yun Qing walked up to him, raising an eyebrow. “Not bad, you’re finally smiling.”

Cheng Suiyan was taken aback and said, “I’m not that fragile. But… last night was indeed difficult.”

“Hmm?”

He lowered his eyes slightly and said softly, “I feel like I was holding everyone back… and Fu Xue was hurt because of me too.”

Yun Qing leaned against the stone wall next to him with her arms crossed and asked, “Haven’t you had friends before?”

“I have, why?”

“Don’t friends take care of each other?”

Cheng Suiyan was silent for a moment, “That’s true, but it’s always you all taking care of me. I never get a chance to take care of you.”

“If friendship required keeping such clear accounts, how would it be different from doing business? Besides, how does treating us to meals not count as taking care of us? Fu Xue has gotten plump thanks to you. And the money you lent me played a crucial role.”

“Those are just small things.”

Yun Qing continued, “Moreover, your strength isn’t that weak.”

Jiang Baiyu’s eyebrow twitched as he listened.

She was comforting people again. Her skill at consolation was as unpredictable as her cooking skills, often producing an effect that could bring people to tears.

Before Cheng Suiyan’s expression could change, Jiang Baiyu picked up where Yun Qing left off:

“Suiyan, you have natural divine strength, which is actually very suitable for cultivation. It’s just that you started too late and have practiced for too short a time, so your foundation is shallow. To make rapid progress, you need some time. You can’t be hasty.”

Cheng Suiyan’s spirits lifted considerably. “Yes!” He would practice doubly hard. One day, he would become a hero who could protect his friends.

As the three were talking, Yun Qing heard Fu Xue calling her.

“Senior Sister?”

She turned her head to see that Fu Xue had awakened and was now sitting up, rubbing her eyes.

While rubbing her eyes, Fu Xue asked, “Are you all dead too?”

Cheng Suiyan said, “Yes, we’ve come to keep you company. Just enough for a table of mahjong, so no one will be bored.”

Fu Xue shook her head. “That’s terrible, the food here isn’t good.”

The three of them were amused by her.

Yun Qing went forward and helped her up, saying, “We’re all alive, and you’re not dead either.”

“Really?” Fu Xue touched her chest. The wound had completely healed without even leaving a scar. “What happened? It feels like a dream.”

“Let’s go back first. We’ll talk as we walk.”

…..

When they left the cave, Cheng Suiyan volunteered to carry the string of heads. Yun Qing, whose strength from last night had not yet recovered, was happy to take it easy.

If she could have brought herself to do it, she would have wanted Baiyu and Suiyan to carry her back in a sedan chair.

On the way, Fu Xue heard that she had been saved by Jiang Baiyu’s natal treasure and became extremely curious.

Natal treasures had always been mysterious things. Their existence didn’t depend on strength but on fate, making them truly rare. Moreover, Jiang Baiyu’s natal treasure was a beautiful flower, which made it even more intriguing.

Both her Senior Sister and Suiyan had seen the mysterious lotus, and only she hadn’t. Fu Xue felt very regretful and asked, “Could I see my life-saving… benefac-lotus? I’d like to bow to it.”

“You can look, but no need to bow,” Jiang Baiyu generously summoned the Golden Frost Jade Dew Lotus again, displaying it before them.

Then, as if worried, he added, “No touching.”

Yun Qing guiltily averted her gaze and touched her nose.

Fu Xue carefully admired the Golden Frost Jade Dew Lotus for a while, feeling satisfied. Finally, she respectfully bowed to it.

After bowing, she said, “With such a good thing, I’m not afraid of dying anymore!”

Jiang Baiyu couldn’t help but remind her, “You should still be afraid. It can’t truly save you from death. No matter what injury you sustain, you need to be alive for it to help.”

“Oh, I see.”

The four then continued down the mountain.

Walking through Linglong Mountain, Yun Qing felt that the spiritual energy was thinner than last night, which struck her as strange.

Logically, the world’s spiritual energy was indeed gradually diminishing. Even if no one cultivated on a mountain, the spiritual energy would slowly decrease, but this decrease was supposed to be gradual, not noticeable overnight.

Was it because of the Mountain Reliance Formation?

But the principle of that formation was only to amplify one’s cultivation by drawing on Linglong Mountain’s power, not consuming the mountain itself. It shouldn’t cause such a noticeable decrease in spiritual energy.

And the power mentioned in Emperor Xi’s Wordless Book shouldn’t be—or at least not solely—spiritual energy, right?

So, could she assume that the decrease in spiritual energy had nothing to do with her?

If it wasn’t related to her, then what caused it?

Yun Qing couldn’t help thinking about the Golden Frost Jade Dew Lotus. After saving Fu Xue last night, it had become extremely dim, but today it was bright and radiant again, rejuvenated with vitality. Where did this vitality come from?

First, Jiang Baiyu could be ruled out. He was in high spirits today, showing no signs of the weakness that typically followed nourishing a natal treasure with one’s own vitality.

Could it be that the Golden Frost Jade Dew Lotus had absorbed Linglong Mountain’s spiritual energy?

That seemed like the only possible answer.

Realizing this, Yun Qing was greatly astonished. Could this natal treasure absorb spiritual energy from the surrounding environment?

And it could absorb so much?

Since the Golden Frost Jade Dew Lotus was Jiang Baiyu’s natal treasure, the spiritual energy it absorbed should be usable by him.

What an incredibly powerful natal treasure!!!

Understanding this, she finally realized why Jiang Baiyu, despite his young age, had such unfathomable cultivation.

So! Envious!

In her envy, she occasionally swept Jiang Baiyu’s chest with fervent glances.

Jiang Baiyu: “…”

If she wanted to act frivolously, she should just say so. He wasn’t a stingy person.

Looking at him this way, now and then, made his heart rebel with a “thump” every so often.

After walking a bit further, the four saw the flat ground where the demons had gathered for dinner the night before.

Now the flat ground was no longer flat. From a distance, they could see what looked like a small golden hill rising in the middle.

Although he had already guessed, Cheng Suiyan was still shocked by the sight. The body of the golden-haired hound was truly so enormous! What had it eaten to grow so large?

He walked closer with wide eyes, and the visual impact became even more direct.

The giant corpse lay on its side, naturally headless. The cut where the head had been was larger than a bridge tunnel, with a lot of blood that had stained the flat ground a dark red.

By now the blood had congealed, with a large mass of dried blood clots covering the cut. The entire corpse looked like a huge bottle tipped over, with the liquid at the mouth having dried up.

Cheng Suiyan looked at this bottle mouth, then at the unresigned head of the golden-haired hound he was carrying, and thought strangely that it was fortunate Yun Qing had cut off its head while it was still alive.

If she had to cut it after death, such a large head would not be easy to hang on a rope.

Besides the neck cut, there was also a wound on its belly, bloody, with the fur around the wound stuck together in clumps due to the blood.

Nearby were scattered many other animal corpses—wolves, tigers, and leopards—which had attracted some scavengers.

Some of these corpses were missing their heads, but most still had them. According to Cheng Suiyan’s guess, only the higher-ranking demons had the privilege of having their heads cut off by Yun Qing.

Looking at the dense mass of corpses, Cheng Suiyan’s skin broke out in goosebumps. He couldn’t imagine how Yun Qing had done it.

How strong was this woman?!

Cheng Suiyan pointed at the golden-haired hound, wanting to ask Yun Qing how she had killed it last night. “Yun Qing, you… Yun Qing?”

Yun Qing was sitting on the ground resting, feeling exhausted. She fell backward with a thud and fell asleep again. Hearing Cheng Suiyan call her, she gave a drowsy “Mmm” in response.