Thousand Dusts Ferry Me - Chapter 82

Jiang Baiyu looked at the jade branches appearing and disappearing in his field of vision above, remaining silent.

No one knew that her joking “Yes” had made his heart race for a long time. Throughout the entire day, he would occasionally take out those two words to savor them, and the corners of his mouth would always be pulled upward.

Liuyun Mountain was located northeast of Huayang Mountain and had always been a famous mountain for cultivation. This mountain stretched for more than eight hundred li, towering into the clouds with dense spiritual energy. More than a dozen immortals had ascended from this place over the years.

For thousands of years, Liuyun Mountain had produced many great sects, but later, due to the gradual decline of talent, it no longer maintained its former glory. The better ones guarded a mountain gate and a few magical treasures to get by while waiting for better times, while the worse ones simply disappeared without a trace.

Currently, there were no major sects stationed in Liuyun Mountain, making competition very fierce. Various cultivators, demons, ghosts, and monsters were numerous, and bloody incidents over territory disputes and magical treasure fights occurred frequently.

Yun Qing thought that the more eager one was for quick success, the easier it was to bungle things, so she wasn’t in a hurry to travel. The group strolled leisurely for more than half a month before finally reaching the foot of Liuyun Mountain.

It was winter, and they could see the continuous mountains stretching green and verdant. The higher they went, the closer the color approached ink jade, while the mountain peaks suddenly turned white at the top. The edges of the white mountain peaks reflected golden sunlight against the azure sky.

They arrived at a small city at the foot of the mountain.

This city was called Mengliang City, serving as a fortress for entering and exiting Liuyun Mountain. With people coming and going, it was quite prosperous.

Whenever they arrived at a place with human habitation, Fu Xue had to try the local specialties. As soon as the group entered Mengliang City, they saw a teahouse packed with guests, bustling with voices and apparently doing good business, suggesting that the pastries inside must be excellent.

So they walked into the teahouse, partly to rest their feet, and partly because such crowded places were well-informed with news—they might be able to find some clues related to Qi Guangzi.

The private rooms in this teahouse were already full, so they had to share tables with others in the main hall. The five people split between two adjacent tables and called over a waiter to order many items.

Because they spent generously, the waiter was all smiles. Soon he brought out a table full of tea and snacks, and also sent a plate of the local specialty—fried fragrant mushrooms.

There was a storyteller in the teahouse who was performing. When he reached exciting parts, the crowd would burst into cheers.

Yun Qing sat in the main hall and could even hear the cheers from the second floor. From time to time, people would throw copper coins at the storyteller’s feet. The storyteller spoke with such dedication that his eyes never glanced at the copper coins, making the audience admire him even more.

Yun Qing was quite curious, so she perked up her ears to listen to what the gentleman was telling. This person had a deep, slightly hoarse voice, spoke clearly with emotion, and his storytelling skills were indeed excellent.

But after listening for just a few sentences, she felt so embarrassed that she was sitting on pins and needles.

This was because the storyteller was actually telling the story of her battle with the Golden-Haired Hound. These people naturally didn’t know the specific details, but that didn’t matter—they could make things up.

When people fabricated stories, their creativity was always boundless. In this storyteller’s mouth, Immortal Lady Yun had transformed into a giant, slapping Linglong Mountain in half with one palm, overturning the Golden-Haired Hound with another palm, and then trampling the monsters of Linglong Mountain into powder with one foot.

Because their battle was too intense, it caused the earth to crack and the Linglong River to burst its banks, causing floods to rage. Good heavens, Immortal Lady Yun actually bent down, blocked the broken dam with one hand, and stretched her other hand to the low-lying areas, letting the disaster victims climb into her palm to take refuge.

Even with skin as thick as Yun Qing’s, this exaggerated imagination aroused her sense of shame. She blushed, covered her forehead with her hand, and looked around.

The other four were all looking at her with grins.

Cheng Suiyan suppressed his laughter and asked a guest at the neighboring table. “What is this story called?”

The guest laughed and said, “This is the most popular story in Mengliang City recently. The complete version is called ‘Immortal Lady Yun’s Bloody Battle with the Golden-Haired Hound.’ There are two related volumes: ‘Immortal Lady Yun’s Clever Plan to Save Linglong’ and ‘Immortal Lady Yun’s Furious Pacification of Mingyue Tower.’

Are you several from far away? You can stay in Mengliang City for some time. In a couple of days, they should be telling ‘Immortal Lady Yun’s Clever Plan to Save Linglong.'”

Cheng Suiyan asked again, “Who made all this up?”

When the guest heard this, he straightened his face and said, “What do you mean ‘made up’! These are all things people witnessed with their own eyes. The storyteller is just organizing these facts. Young man, you should see more of the world!”

Another guest, hearing their conversation, couldn’t help but lean over and chime in: “Exactly! These are all absolutely true. I have a distant cousin who does business in Linglong City and saw Immortal Lady Yun summon heavenly thunder to battle demons and monsters with his own eyes! I also heard that—”

He deliberately paused here, waiting for everyone at the table to look at him curiously before continuing. “There will soon be new stories about Immortal Lady Yun.”

The others perked up when they heard this. “What stories?”

“Have you heard of a major cultivation sect called Huayang Sect? It’s in Huayang Mountain, near Immortal-Seeking Town. I have a cousin who travels as a merchant and often goes to Immortal-Seeking Town.”

“We’ve heard of it, then what?”

“Didn’t the former sect master of Huayang Sect die recently? I heard that Immortal Lady Yun had a hand in this too!”

“Really?”

“Absolutely true. Let me tell you, the situation there is very complicated. You’ll know when the time comes. I’ll just say one thing—Immortal Lady Yun originally didn’t want to get involved in this matter, but the current new sect master of Huayang Sect, Jiang Baiyu, requested our Immortal Lady Yun to come out of seclusion!”

“Ah? Then why did Immortal Lady Yun help him?”

“Jiang Baiyu is after all a famous handsome man. He promised to offer his primordial yang, so the immortal lady helped!”

Pfft—

Jiang Baiyu, who was always elegant in his conduct, actually spat out his tea.

Now there was another person sitting on pins and needles.

Cheng Suiyan covered his mouth, his shoulders shaking with suppressed laughter, unable to speak.

Ci Li commented. “The fabrication is quite reasonable.”

Fu Xue curled her lips and said, “What’s reasonable about it? My senior sister wouldn’t care about such things.”

The guest said, “I emphasize again, this isn’t fabricated—this is real!”

Yun Qing really couldn’t stand it anymore and stood up saying, “Let’s go.” No matter what, they had to leave this place first. This damned place was too evil.

So the five left the teahouse. As soon as they walked out the door, Cheng Suiyan released the hand covering his mouth and laughed thunderously. “Hahahahahaha!”

Jiang Baiyu put his hands behind his back, his fingers moving slightly as he drew an extremely small talisman behind him, then pinched the talisman between two fingers and tapped it on Cheng Suiyan’s back.

Cheng Suiyan was still laughing. “Hahahaha woof woof woof woof woof woof!”

Cheng Suiyan: “!!!!”

He looked at the others in shock, tears from his wild laughter still lingering in his eyes. “Woof woof woof woof!”

Passersby who saw a tall man first laughing wildly then barking like a dog all showed expressions of terror on their faces and quietly avoided him.

Cheng Suiyan pointed at Fu Xue, “Woof woof woof woof woof woof, woof woof!” while reaching behind his back with his other hand, trying to tear off some talisman.

This time it was Fu Xue’s turn to laugh loudly. “Hahahahahaha!”

Cheng Suiyan anxiously tugged at her sleeve. “Woof woof woof woof woof woof woof!”

Fu Xue waved her hand: “It’s not me, really not me.”

Cheng Suiyan looked at Jiang Baiyu. “Woof woof, woof woof woof woof?”

Jiang Baiyu pressed his lips together and said, “You’re not allowed to laugh anymore.”

Cheng Suiyan nodded frantically, looking at him with utmost sincerity.

So Jiang Baiyu released the spell for him.

“Finally, it’s finally over,” Cheng Suiyan let out a big sigh of relief, patted his chest and complained, “How can you do this, using spells on a good brother? Yun Qing, why don’t you control him?”

Inexplicably, Jiang Baiyu felt his heart sweeten because of that last sentence.

The group wandered aimlessly for a while, finally deciding to find a good inn to rest, but unexpectedly, just as they turned a corner, they suddenly heard a young girl at the street corner say, “Are you really Immortal Lady Yun?” Her voice sounded young, soft and sweet.

Yun Qing wondered—she hadn’t carved words on her face, so how could she be recognized so easily? Moreover, her current appearance should be vastly different from the circulated image.

Curious, she followed the sound and saw a girl ahead with her back to them, speaking.

It turned out this girl wasn’t asking her.

The girl had a thin silhouette with a ponytail hanging behind her head.

In front of this girl stood two women, one tall and thin, one short and fat. Both wore Taoist robes, without caps or swords.

Both women had rouge on their faces. The short, fat one also wore red lipstick—wide, thick lips painted bright red like fire, as if trying to burn people’s eyes.

Hearing the girl’s question, the tall, thin woman nodded and deliberately lowered her voice to sound deep and imposing. “That’s right. This humble one is indeed Yun Qing, whom people call Immortal Lady Yun. This is my junior sister Fu Xue.”

Yun Qing: “…………”

Had she not checked the almanac before going out today? Why was she encountering nothing but evil things?

The girl said to the short, fat woman, “So you’re Immortal Lady Fu Xue?”

The short, fat woman didn’t respond.

The tall, thin woman said, “My junior sister has damaged her voice recently and cannot speak.”

“Oh, I see.”

Yun Qing felt something was wrong. Looking carefully at the short, fat “Fu Xue,” good heavens, she actually had an Adam’s apple, and there was a circle of light blue around her lips—probably stubble.

This was too much! Going out to swindle people, they couldn’t even gather two women and had to have a man pretend to be Fu Xue. How wronged her junior sister must feel.

Yun Qing glanced at Fu Xue. Very good, her junior sister was already stunned speechless.

At this moment, the tall, thin woman was proudly recounting her various glorious deeds of bloody battles with the Golden-Haired Hound and furiously pacifying Mingyue Tower. The girl listened carefully, then said, “That’s wonderful, Immortal Lady Yun. I’m so happy to meet you. My name is Shi Muyu.”

The tall, thin woman nodded and said with feigned profundity. “I can see from your face that you have good prospects and a bright future, but recently you may face great disaster that could endanger your life. You must act cautiously.”

“Ah? That’s okay, I’m not afraid!”

This girl called Shi Muyu unexpectedly didn’t beg the immortal lady to help resolve the disaster, which was obviously beyond the two swindlers’ expectations. The tall, thin woman said disappointedly, “Then why are you looking for me everywhere?”

Shi Muyu said, “I do have a favor to ask.”

“Oh? What is it?”

Shi Muyu: “Immortal Lady Yun, can you give me a child?”

Yun Qing: “???”

Jiang Baiyu: “???”

Yun Qing really wondered if today’s events could get any more bizarre.

The tall, thin woman was obviously stumped by this question too. After a long silence, she said, “I can, but my fees are very high.”

Yun Qing couldn’t listen anymore. She drew her sword, thinking that those two swindlers probably couldn’t withstand even one sword light from her, so she just threw the scabbard over.

Unexpectedly, the girl called Shi Muyu used her hearing to locate the sound. She raised her hand, and with her sword still sheathed, used only the hilt to block the flying scabbard.

The scabbard of Hundred Years of Sorrow returned to Yun Qing’s hand.

Shi Muyu didn’t turn around but called out loudly, “Who are you, and why are you launching a sneak attack on me and Immortal Lady Yun?”

Fu Xue said: “What Immortal Lady Yun? They’re clearly two swindlers!”

The two swindlers, seeing the situation turning bad, cursed “Mind your own business” and ran away.

Shi Muyu then slowly turned around.

Fu Xue ran up to her, complaining indignantly: “Tell me, aren’t you being foolish? His beard was practically poking your face, how could you believe he was—” Her words suddenly stopped mid-sentence.

Shi Muyu stared with a pair of dim eyes, her eyeballs completely motionless. She tilted her head slightly and said, “What did you say?”