It Turns out that I am Beautiful, Strong and Miserable [Quick Wear] - 160

 

ITOTIABSAM | The Immortal on Liuyun Mountain | 160

He was as white as paper.

The gradually calming snow lightly fell on Song He's lips, but they remained cold and rigid, showing no signs of melting.

The separation of the soul and the body for a long time had already left this body barely sustained by formations, and now, with this fall, it had lost all its color, revealing a visible gray decay.

After many years, seeing his only son suffering from the wandering soul syndrome again, and in such a helpless state, the head of the Song family couldn't contain his anger any longer. He no longer cared about any relationship or dignity and shouted angrily, "Is the Wuliang Sword Sect trying to play us for fools?"

With just a few words, he directly pulled the other sects onto his side. After all, the matter of the wandering soul was something his foolish son had rushed to help with. If pushed too hard, it could easily be seen as a private matter, leading to chaos.

But Shen Qingshu knew where Song He was, yet he remained coldly aloof, maintaining his silence, allowing the situation to develop towards an attack on the Liuyun Mountain. This plan was too obvious, and which of the old foxes present couldn't see through it?

"Qingshu," with conclusive evidence before him, even the elder head couldn't continue to be biased. In such a situation, he could only handle things impartially, suppressing his frustration, "You explain."

Muttering under his breath, Shen Qingshu knelt on the ground, unable to come up with a rebuttal.

Staring straight at Xie Ye, he felt as if he had been bewitched, vaguely remembering that this might be the first time he hadn't avoided confronting someone.

Of course, the Immortal was terrifying. With puppet threads at his command and evil dragons circling, he was synonymous with the depths of hell. From his very being, he exuded a constant stream of black mist, causing the pale puppets clinging to the protective mountain formation to tremble and cackle maniacally.

Despite his limbs feeling like they were weighed down by lead and throbbing with pain, Shen Qingshu still tremulously raised his arm, pointing at Xie Ye as if grasping at the last straw of salvation, questioning, "Didn't you see it?"

"He's the Immortal, the strange Immortal of the Liuyun Mountain."

"Why do we need any reason to kill him?"

"Besides my own demons, what other reason do I need?"

In memory, Shen Qingshu of the Wuliang Sword Sect was always gentle, polite, humble, and composed. After entering the sect, he had a smooth journey, neither arrogant nor impatient, earning the admiration of both elders and juniors.

However, at this moment, he seemed to abruptly tear off layer upon layer of masks, becoming more vivid yet also more unfamiliar. Even the pink-clad girl who had always been biased towards her senior brother was somewhat taken aback.

The only one who remained unfazed was Qin Ji.

He had always known that Shen Qingshu wasn't the perfect "Senior Brother Shen" as perceived by the outside world. The experience of being betrayed and abandoned in his childhood had left him deeply unsettled, and anything that could potentially threaten his safety would be promptly eliminated without hesitation.

Being cautious within reasonable bounds might be called prudence.

However, Shen Qingshu's glimpse of his own inner demon during the tribulation of ascending to the out-of-body stage, combined with the subsequent demonstration by Xie Ye, silently bringing the latter to the Liuyun Mountain, set everything on a path towards chaos.

Life, aging, sickness, and death are all part of the natural order of the world. In a sense, cultivators are all struggling against fate. It's normal to feel fear, but if one becomes ensnared by fear, it only adds to their demonic obstacles, making progress even more difficult.

Qin Ji understood this principle, but he couldn't make Shen Qingshu understand it. So, all he could do was to help Shen Qingshu sever his fear at its root.

However, it seemed that they had lost, and lost thoroughly.

Even so, when Shen Qingshu uttered the words about overcoming his inner demon, Qin Ji still lifted his sword and instinctively stood in front of Shen Qingshu without hesitation.

"Sigh..." Regretfully, 1101 sighed, "You know, they actually make quite a pair." This trashy original story is only worth following for the romantic subplot.

However, no matter how good the CP is, harming its host is unacceptable.

"Inner demon?" Facing Shen Qingshu's unrepentant attitude even in such dire circumstances, the head of the Song family completely tore off the facade: "Then about He'er? Why did you place He'er there?"

Why should his son sacrifice his life for someone unrelated?

Shen Qingshu raised his eyes indifferently, “He was willing.”

Perhaps there was some guilt at the beginning when he placed Song He's body in the coffin. He had felt anxious and worried, fearing that something might happen to him, that he might die at the hands of the demon.

But as the appointed time drew near, the growing anxiety gradually eroded all positive emotions. Especially since Song He had already betrayed him, severed contact, and mingled with monsters.

"You!" With those words, apart from the Song family head who was almost knocked over with anger, the entire hall fell into silence. The girl in pink widened her eyes, her mouth moving dumbly as if she was meeting her senior brother for the first time.

The other two protagonists mentioned (Xie Ye & Gu Cong), however, were acting as if nothing had happened. They even had the mood to hold hands and flirt with each other, raising their eyebrows and chuckling lightly:

"Did you hear that? He said he's willing."

Clearly, both of them knew that it was Song He who liked Shen Qingshu, not Gu Cong. Yet, Xie Ye insisted on teasing them with his playful eyes.

Gu Cong, on the other hand, responded casually to his own master's teasing, with an open and relaxed attitude. However, his actions were childish as he pinched the other's fingertips coquettishly, saying, "I regret it."

The Song family head, who was still fuming, was left speechless by his own son feeding him dog food...

Can this work? Can he not provoke an Immortal again? Just a moment ago, he chased after Shen Qingshu, and now he's eagerly provoking another Immortal? 

He had a chance to step in and support his son in the former case, seeking justice for him. But in the latter case, he feared there was nothing even his ancestors could do!

"This matter is indeed the fault of Qingshu, and I, as the old master, have failed in my guidance, so I am also guilty," sighed the old patriarch, first assigning blame, then shifting the conversation. "But may I ask, Daoist Xie, why did you come down from the mountain? Why did you pursue my disciple relentlessly?"

Xie Ye replied leisurely, "I wanted to come down, so I did."

"And what? I’m not welcome?"

His words seemed to suggest that someone dared to come forward and declare their dislike for him.

After enjoying the awkward expressions of the crowd. Xie Ye smirked and continued, "Don't worry, no one wants to stop you from ascending."

Both him and Liuyun Mountain had been imbued with too many images detached from their true nature by the world. Gradually, they became mixed up with heavenly tribulations, downfall, and the Five Declines of the Celestial Beings, turning into something unspeakable, something one could not directly face.

In reality, before his awakening, he was just a prisoner trapped in a cage, manipulated by the will of heaven, filtering out those with steadfast convictions, wandering aimlessly, sharpening the protagonist's blade.

"As for Shen Qingshu, we had a brief encounter in our childhood," Xie Ye paused, self-deprecatingly, "I thought we were friends."

But evidently, only he from the previous life had such thoughts.

Inviting friends joyfully to his home, only to become someone else's inner demon—where else in the world could one find such a ridiculous case of self-deception and presumption?

"I have long resided in the deep mountains and do not understand the customs of the human world very well," Xie Ye withdrew his gaze, not bothering to look at Shen Qingshu again, "If you believe this inner demon of mine should be slain, you can do so together with him. Try to see if it's Haoran Peak that falls first, or if Liuyun Mountain is the first to be flattened."

Though his tone was calm, the content was tantamount to a threat, as if fearing that the other party might act impulsively and uproot Liuyun Mountain from thousands of miles away to smash Haoran Peak. Other onlookers quickly stepped forward to defuse the situation, saying, "How could that be?"

"Three thousand avenues ultimately converge in the same destination, don't they?"

Fear often stems from the unknown. Regardless, the legendary otherworldly being Xie Ye stood before them now, and setting aside his cultivation, his eyes were eyes, his nose was a nose, and he didn't seem much different from themselves.

Of course, his pets were a bit ugly, especially those puppets with mismatched features and limbs, which could be considered nightmare-inducing for children.

But compared to the scenes of bloodshed and lingering spirits from the demonic cultivators who had attracted the siege of the righteous factions in previous years, where cities were massacred and corpses littered the streets, wasn't this sight just as terrifying?

If that's the case, why bother making themselves uncomfortable?

Longing for death? Wanting to die quickly?

Only the girl in pink, bold despite her inexperience, looked at Xie Ye with a complex expression and asked bluntly, "If you're not the legendary monster, then what are you?"

"If he's not the legendary monster, then how could he have caused my senior brother to end up like this?"

Monster.

Sensing Gu Cong's hand tightening around his, Xie Ye gently reassured him with a return squeeze and gave the other person a sidelong glance, emphasizing each word deliberately, "I'd like to know that too."

But the author didn't provide him with that answer.

Fortunately, he still had plenty of time ahead of him.

With Gu Cong by his side.

"I'm not interested in the affairs of your cultivation world," Xie Ye continued, indifferent. "How to deal with Shen Qingshu is up to you."

With a click, the puppet strings were pulled, the coffin lid closed, and Xie Ye raised his hand to tuck the coffin containing the original owner's remains into his sleeve. He remained calm and unaffected, drawing a clear boundary and categorizing himself as an outlier. "As for how to handle Shen Qingshu, it's your call."

Experience from the past had taught him that, rather than death, offerings from villains often easily broke through the defenses of protagonists like Shen Qingshu.

The more casually Xie Ye spoke, the more it highlighted Shen Qingshu's previous state of paranoia, where every little thing seemed like a threat, akin to a startled bird. How ridiculous and pitiful it was.

Moreover, due to his own selfish desires, he spread a massive lie that nearly ignited a war, deceiving half of the cultivation world. Regardless of how much the Wuliang Sword Sect tried to cover up for him, they still had to give everyone an explanation.

"Oh, by the way," Xie Ye lightly gestured, summoning back the last evil flood dragon and revealing the excited Ma Shitou inside, "this kid nearly lost an arm because of our acquaintance. There should be some compensation for that. I believe your sect can handle it."

"If you don't believe me, you can go find Lin Yao from the Qingfeng Sect."

The Qingfeng Sect?

No one had ever heard of such a small and insignificant sect, but because it was mentioned by Xie Ye, everyone could only nod along and pretend to take it seriously.

"Wait!" As the curtain fell on the drama and it seemed like their host was about to leave with Gu Cong, 1101 had to remind them, "Um... haven't you forgotten something?"

Xie Ye: [?]

1101: "Gu Cong's supposed father."

In the novel, the ending marks the conclusion;

In reality, everything will continue to move forward.

Turning back belatedly, Xie Ye indeed saw the restrained anger in the Wuliang Sword Sect's Master. His gaze resembled that of someone looking at a smooth-talking yet disrespectful scoundrel:

"So, you're the Immortal, huh?"

"Let's have a talk."

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Author's Note:

Wuliang Sword Sect's Master: How did I end up losing my good son for nothing?

Gu Cong: It's because I wanted to. It's because I like you, Master.