Thousand Dusts Ferry Me - Chapter 64

On another autumn night heavy with rain, Yun Qing and her group came to the osmanthus tree in Anle Lane.

They skillfully recited the yin-yang incantation and opened their yin-yang eyes.

The female ghost floated leisurely, once again not recognizing them.

After Jiang Baiyu set up the yin-gathering formation, Yun Qing called out to her, “Wei Sanniang.”

“Ah, are you calling me?”

“Yes, come, I’ll send you to be reborn.”

“I won’t go, I’m waiting for someone.”

“Are you waiting for Jinglang?”

“Yes, how did you know? Ah, my Jinglang…”

“It was your Jinglang who asked me to find you,” Yun Qing said, holding up a love knot and waving it in front of the female ghost. “Look, I’m not lying to you.”

“This is… this is what I gave to Jinglang! Where is my Jinglang?”

“He asked me to tell you that he has already gone to be reborn. You need to enter reincarnation again to see him.”

The female ghost then followed them to a nearby ghost well.

The so-called ghost well was a connection point between the underworld and the human realm. After death, souls would unconsciously move toward ghost wells.

Many ghost wells were scattered across the earth, invisible to ordinary people. The areas around ghost wells had heavy yin energy, and when common folk sometimes encountered ghost walls while walking, it was mostly because there was a ghost well nearby.

Wei Sanniang clutched the love knot tightly, called out “Jinglang” once, walked into the center of the ghost well, and quickly sank down and disappeared.

A red love knot remained in the center of the ghost well shrouded in yin energy.

In the end, no one could know their complete story. Time weathered all love and hatred into dust, returning to silence.

—-

Besides the osmanthus branch and love knot, the city lord’s guards had also picked up a jade sword near Chaoque Tower, which they handed over to Yun Qing.

The sword was three feet long, rich in green color, and when struck, it rang like jade ornaments, clear and pleasing to the ear.

Two seal characters were carved on the blade: Cai Han. (TL: Cutting Hatred)

Ci Li commented, “The sword is good, but the name is a bit ominous.”

Normally, when encountering good weapons, Yun Qing would definitely claim them for herself first. But this jade sword was only suitable for casting spells, not good for real combat, and she found it awkward to use, so she gave it to Jiang Baiyu.

Ci Li was somewhat sharp-tongued and deliberately provoked Fu Xue. “She gives good things to the pretty boy first… your senior sister doesn’t want you anymore.”

Fu Xue became furious. “What does a cat like you understand? It’s because I don’t want it, not because senior sister won’t give it to me! Senior sister and I sleep in the same bed at night, we’re the closest!”

Jiang Baiyu listened from the side, his eyebrows twitching.

Ci Li laughed heartily, looked at Fu Xue then at Jiang Baiyu, and continued being sharp-tongued. “You two really look like her primary wife and secondary wife.”

Cheng Suiyan cheerfully joined the commotion, asking, “Then tell us, who’s the primary wife and who’s the secondary wife?”

Fu Xue stood with hands on her hips, looking defiantly at Jiang Baiyu, then raised the corner of her mouth. “Speak up!”

Ci Li nimbly jumped onto a decorative rock to squat. Seeing it run away, Jiang Baiyu knew it had nothing good to say.

Sure enough, it said, “Jiang Baiyu is definitely the concubine.”

Although it had run far, Jiang Baiyu still caught it, shrunk it to palm size, and tossed it into the pond. The small cat’s body skipped twice across the water surface like a stone.

Ci Li cursed furiously.

The three stood by the pond laughing.

Yun Qing had just woken up and heard the faint sounds of laughter and cursing outside. She pushed open the window, leaned against it, and watched them through the crabapple tree, laughing as she asked, “What are you talking about?”

Cheng Suiyan called back loudly, “We’re discussing taking concubines for you.”

“Huh?”

In the end, Cheng Suiyan also had the honor of entering the pond.

However, that evening, Ci Li privately apologized to Jiang Baiyu and sincerely stated that Jiang Baiyu was the primary wife, and Fu Xue was more like a concubine.

The reason was simple: Jiang Baiyu had cured Liaoliao’s eyes.

To repay Jiang Baiyu, it even voluntarily transformed into a black cat hair ornament slightly smaller than a fist, perching on Yun Qing’s head.

This made Yun Qing laugh until she couldn’t close her mouth.

Fu Xue looked on enviously. “Senior sister, I want to wear it too!”

So Yun Qing removed the hair ornament and placed it in Fu Xue’s hair. Indeed, her junior sister was born spirited and cute, very suitable for such an ornament.

Ci Li rolled over in Fu Xue’s black hair, changing from lying down to squatting, and looked down at Yun Qing saying, “Hey, I helped you guys too, right?”

Yun Qing laughed. “Yes, thank you, Great Demon Ci Li.” As she spoke, she even made a proper bow to it.

Fu Xue and Cheng Suiyan also laughed and chimed in.

Ci Li raised its head and said, “Who wants your thanks? I just want you to answer one question, Yun Qing.”

Yun Qing crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow. “What question? Let’s hear it.”

“What exactly is your relationship with Yixin Zi?”

Hearing this, Yun Qing turned around, walked a few steps with her hands behind her back, rolled her eyes, and instead of answering, asked back, “What do you think our relationship is?”

“Are you her successor? But you don’t cultivate the Way of One Mind, do you?” As Ci Li spoke, it became confused itself. “But you have her magic treasure.”

“Her magic treasure?”

“Don’t play dumb, it’s that torn book. A hundred years ago she used it to block my Heaven Star Falling Earth technique, and now you come again, really unlucky!”

But Yun Qing didn’t believe it. “Stop bragging. Your cultivation level is even inferior to Baiyu’s, yet you fought with an immortal?”

“So I lost, is that hard to understand? Answer my question, what’s your relationship with Yixin Zi?”

Yun Qing turned around and looked at it mysteriously, saying, “To tell you the truth, our relationship is what you just told me.”

“…” Ci Li was stunned for a moment, then became agitated. “Nonsense, you don’t know her, yet you have her magic treasure? Moreover, you’re now with this little… uh…”

It wanted to say “pretty boy,” but considering that Jiang Baiyu had saved Liaoliao, it paused and continued, “…little, little cutie from Huayang Sect.”

Jiang Baiyu’s eyebrows twitched, and he wanted to beat it up again.

Hearing Ci Li say this, Yun Qing became even more puzzled. “I’m with this… um, little cutie from Huayang Sect.” At this point, she looked at Jiang Baiyu with a smile.

Jiang Baiyu’s heart suddenly jumped, inexplicably feeling like he had been teased.

Yun Qing continued, “What does this have to do with Yixin Zi?”

“Because Huayang Zi was Yixin Zi’s lover!”

Yun Qing: “!!!”

This was quite a shock.

So Huayang Zi and Yixin Zi had such a relationship? No wonder her master had said he had some connection with Huayang Sect.

Her master was very likely Yixin Zi’s successor, so encountering Huayang Sect disciples in trouble and lending a helping hand would be perfectly normal.

But if there was such a relationship, why did Jiang Binghe betray him? Why did the immortal in the dream want to capture her master? What grudge could he have with her master, a mere mortal? Or was his grudge with Yixin Zi?

Did Huayang Zi and Yixin Zi eventually turn love into hate, hating each other to the point of wanting to destroy one another?

But what about Yixin Zi? Did Yixin Zi know that her master had been captured? If she knew, why didn’t she come to rescue him? If she didn’t know, where was she?

Though she had gained new clues, Yun Qing’s mind was flooded with even more questions. She felt like some important information had been overlooked.

Seeing her dazed expression with her eyebrows furrowed high, Ci Li realized she didn’t seem to be pretending. So she really knew nothing about Yixin Zi?

Jiang Baiyu asked Ci Li. “Are you sure they were dao companions?”

“Of course I’m sure. I saw them kissing.”

This explosive news made the three of them widen their eyes and blush.

Fu Xue couldn’t help saying, “You’re lucky they didn’t kill you to silence you.”

Jiang Baiyu: “So you’ve been following us to find Yixin Zi?”

Ci Li admitted frankly. “Yes.”

Yun Qing also snapped out of her thoughts. Hearing them say this, she asked curiously, “Why do you want to find her? Tell us.”

Ci Li became somewhat irritated. Today it hadn’t gotten a single useful answer, but had instead revealed quite a bit of information to them. So it said impatiently, “Young people shouldn’t pry into everything.”

Yun Qing had to say: “Now you know that I don’t know Yixin Zi at all. Do you still want to follow us?”

Ci Li thought for a moment and asked, “Who is your master? I want to meet your master.”

Yun Qing looked at it awkwardly. “Master has disappeared. We’re looking for him too.”

“…” After a moment, the black cat roared angrily at the sky, “You people are completely unreliable!”

****

Three days later.

Chu Yanhe, dressed in black riding clothes, led a horse and fifty guards, with many common people following behind the guards.

The vast crowd raised a cloud of dust on the official road.

They had come to see Yun Qing and her group off.

The common people, supporting the old and carrying the young, also brought many pastries and fruits. Fu Xue held a pile in her arms, really couldn’t carry any more, but those people kept stuffing things into her hands.

“Enough, enough,” Fu Xue laughed. “We can’t finish eating all this!”

Yun Qing had a black cat ornament resting in her hair. Hearing Fu Xue’s words, she chuckled and said, “You’re being too modest.”

Chu Yanhe gestured to her side, and Chu Xing approached with a bronze tray.

The tray held a golden wine pot and golden wine cups. Chu Yanhe filled each cup with wine and handed them to the four people.

She raised her wine cup and said, “Sister Yun Qing, Sister Fu Xue, Brother Baiyu, Brother Suiyan, please drink this cup. The green mountains remain unchanged, the clear waters flow forever. When you have time in the future, you must come back to Linglong City to see me.”

“Alright.” Yun Qing held up her wine cup and drank it all in one gulp.

After everyone put down their cups, Chu Xing approached with another copper tray covered with red cloth, on which several items were placed.

Chu Yanhe picked up a jade disc from the tray and said, “Sister Yun Qing, this jade disc was collected by our ancestor Chu Xiang. It’s said to be a relic left by an immortal. I don’t know if it’s useful to you, but please keep it.”

Yun Qing accepted it. The jade disc was green in color, about the size of a goose egg.

The jade quality was secondary; what was rare was that it had been somehow stained with blood, looking like a cluster of red plum blossoms blooming among green leaves, containing traces of spiritual energy. It was indeed quite precious.

Yun Qing had always been thick-skinned. Seeing good things, she didn’t decline, thanked her, and accepted it.

Chu Yanhe then picked up a black token from the tray and handed it to Yun Qing with both hands. “Sister Yun Qing, this is also for you.”

“What is this?” Yun Qing took it and looked at it.

“This is Linglong City’s city lord token. Holding this token, you can make any request to Linglong City. As long as we can fulfill it, we definitely will.”

Yun Qing understood the weight of this token. She smiled at Chu Yanhe. “In that case, thank you very much.”

“Sister Yun Qing, you’re too polite. It should be Linglong City thanking you.” Chu Yanhe said, then picked up the last item from the tray, a white jade pendant, and handed it to her. “This is for you.”

The jade pendant was pure white without any flaws. The edges were carved with several auspicious clouds, and above the clouds was a lifelike immortal deer.

Yun Qing touched the exquisite and smooth jade pendant and asked, “This is?”

But Chu Yanhe didn’t explain, only saying, “Sister Yun Qing, promise me you’ll keep it safe.”

“Alright.”

Seeing Yun Qing carefully put away the jade pendant close to her body, Chu Yanhe’s eyes suddenly reddened, and she asked, “Sister Yun Qing, can Ai Ge….can he get better?”

Yun Qing didn’t know how to answer this question.

That day, she had summoned heavenly thunder to shatter the evil cultivator’s soul. The hundred thousand gathered earth souls separated and scattered again, causing a meteor shower in broad daylight.

These hundred thousand earth souls drifted toward the earth, wandering with the flow of qi like drifting duckweed.

To search for one specific earth soul would probably be like looking for a needle in a haystack.

However, human souls were complex. The main soul body had a weak attraction to the separated three souls and seven spirits, but this attraction had distance limitations.

When the separated souls were very, very close to the soul body, they had a chance to return under this attraction.

Among the hundred thousand earth souls, the only one confirmed to have returned was Chu Yanzhang, which wasn’t hard to understand.

As for the others…

“Yanhe, take him around more places. I think we can believe in hope.”

“Yes!”

Even after escorting them twenty li outside Linglong City, the crowd still didn’t want to stop. Yun Qing had to have Jiang Baiyu create a qi barrier. The common people were blocked by this “divine miracle” and watched them depart.

Even many years later, Chu Yanhe, who became Linglong City’s first female city lord, would still remember this scene.

The sun had already moved west, and the sword-wielding young people walked in the remaining sunlight by the river. Maple poplars hung red, and reed flowers drifted like snow. The autumn wind made the young people’s robes flutter, and their backs became increasingly blurred in the misty grass and trees.

The moon waxes and wanes, flowers bloom and wither, life is full of painful partings.

But flowing water will eventually merge into the sea, then return in a different form.