Yun Cuo was still injured here, and he was able to walk the next day, but the wound was still purple and bleeding, and it looked very scary.
Xue Huai knew that his current level of healing skills was not enough to cure Yun Cuo’s lightning injury, so he discussed it with him and wanted to return to the Murong Immortal Sect immediately.
Yun Cuo refused and asked him with a frown, “The matter of the Sansheng Stone has not been investigated clearly yet. Xue Huai, what will you do if you encounter such a thing again? I am worried.”
Xue Huai comforted him gently: “We can’t get anything else out of the Underworld either. Why don’t we go back to Shizun and discuss countermeasures? We should tell them about this kind of thing in advance.”
Xue Huai said, “Besides, maybe I’m overthinking it. Don’t worry about me.”
Before setting off to return to the Murong Immortal Sect, Xue Huai borrowed paper and a brush and wrote a letter to Xue Zong.
This letter should have been written long ago, after Yun Cuo confessed his mistake to him. But Xue Huai didn’t know what to say in the letter, so he didn’t start writing until now.
He wrote in the letter that he was fine and told his father, “Son has married Yun Cuo, you don’t have to worry. But I hope you don’t have to handle everything by yourself. If you have any news, please tell me also. I need your support and honesty. My situation has been complicated recently. I hope you take good care of yourself.”
After writing the letter, Xue Huai took Yun Cuo back to the Murong Mountain Sect.
When they arrived at the place, the first thing Xue Huai did was to contact Cai Yi and ask her to treat Yun Cuo’s lightning injuries and put him in confinement for recuperation.
This time, they ran away for two days without asking for leave. Murong Jinchuan did not bother them for the time being, probably because he was used to it.
He didn’t come to look for Xue Huai either.
However, after Xue Huai settled Yun Cuo, he took the initiative to find Murong Jinchuan to tell the old man about what happened this time, as well as his speculation about the previous events.
Murong Jinchuan frowned and took this matter very seriously.
“Xiao Huai, are you saying someone wants to kill you?” He asked.
Xue Huai nodded. “Although I can’t be sure now, I vaguely feel that this is the case. I wonder if our family has provoked some enemies so that they want to retaliate against me. Grandfather, do you have any clues?”
Murong Jinchuan did not answer immediately but closed his eyes and thought carefully.
“Xiao Huai, let grandfather think about it.”
Xue Huai waited quietly.
Murong Jinchuan usually called himself “Shizun” in front of him and rarely addressed him as his own grandson. To say so now meant that he must have taken it very seriously and had encountered something that he couldn’t solve.
Murong Jinchuan sighed. “I have thought of a few names, but they still need to be confirmed. Xiao Huai, come back another day, and I will tell you in detail. This is a serious matter, and I dare not speak rashly. But you and Yun Cuo should not leave the mountain for now. It is you, young people’s nature to be playful and casual. When facing major events, you need to know your limits. You have learned a lesson this time, so I will not nag you any more.”
Xue Huai said, “Shizun, I understand.”
He was about to step out the door and leave when he was stopped by Murong Jinchuan.
“Wait, come here for a moment, I’ll take your pulse.”
Xue Huai didn’t know what was going on, but he still walked over and sat down obediently, stretched out his hand, and quietly let Murong Jinchuan take his pulse.
Murong Jinchuan asked in a deep voice, “Xiao Huai, tell this master the truth. Have you practiced secretly without this master’s knowledge and reached the Mahayana level or above? Last time you told me that you were possessed by a ghost, but after thinking about it, it doesn’t seem like the pulse of an illness, but more like a thunder tribulation.”
Xue Huai was stunned for a moment, then quickly laughed and said, “How is that possible? I’m only seventeen years old this year. Even if I lived two lifetimes, I also couldn’t possibly cultivate to such a high level.”
“This master doesn’t think so. Your Daoist partner has reached such a high level with his half-immortal, half-demon body. He may lead you astray.”
Murong Jinchuan found that there was nothing abnormal in his pulse and snorted coldly.
“This master asked you to study hard, so you must remember this. Don’t be too impatient for success. Don’t end up like your Yun Shidi, who is an embroidered pillow that is a bag of straw1It means something that looks good but has no substance.. If no one is watching, he will go crazy. Alright, go back now. Come back to me again in a few days. I still have some things to confirm with my old friends.”
Xue Huai then took his leave.
Yun Cuo still lived in the same cabin as last time. Cai Yi treated his wounds and told him to rest for seven or eight days, so Xue Huai simply took a few days off to take care of him as well as accompany him.
Originally, Xue Huai wanted to wait until Yun Cuo was fully recovered, but this time, no matter how much he tried to please her, Cai Yi refused: “Xiao Huai, your mind is wild, you need to straighten it out. Count it yourself, how many times have you asked for leave this term? Come back to class obediently.”
Xue Huai had no choice but to agree dejectedly.
Yun Cuo was very happy. No matter when or where he was, he would be happy as long as Xue Huai was by his side.
Even the gluttonous ghost was sticking to Xue Huai more than usual—after walking by the Wangchuan River in the underworld, the little gluttonous inexplicably became a little more hostile towards Yun Cuo and stayed close to Xue Huai.
Even when Xue Huai bullied and exploited it, it was willing to do as he was told: for example, it went out to fight a Suanni, learned to cook for Xue Huai, and learned to write with a brush in its mouth—although the consequence was that it ate hundreds of the school’s brushes, and Xue Huai paid the fine out of his own pocket.
Xue Huai found that this little gluttonous was particularly passionate about writing, and he found it a little incredible. The probability of praising it also increased greatly: “Xiao Tao, you really have to become an all-round gluttonous ghost, you don’t have to be this tired.”
The gluttonous ghost howled at him, feeling a little anxious and a little aggrieved.
It heard a shocking secret from the faithful crow from the underworld, but since it couldn’t speak, it had to learn to write!
Only at certain times would the gluttonous ghost be beaten again—for example, when he chewed a hole in the door in the middle of the night, jumped onto the bed, and tried to bite the quilt.
The scene is very gorgeous, and the ending is tragic.
On the third day after they came back, Xue Huai’s leave finished, so he had to go back to class. Fortunately, he didn’t have many classes this term, so he came to Yun Cuo right after morning classes and brought their junior sister and a group of classmates to visit him.
Everyone said they came to visit Yun Cuo, but in fact, they just went to a different place to chat.
“I heard that the sect is going to open a school of divination and fortune-telling, and they have recruited a new fortune-teller. He is now setting up a stall in front of the main entrance to tell people’s fortunes for free.” Said the junior sister.
Xue Huai suddenly remembered that the last time he met a fortune-teller who was said to be applying for a job, he asked him to tell his fortune to predict the time when the thunder calamity would strike him.
That man told him that there would be no thunder calamity within ten days, so Xue Huai adjusted his schedule and set off to Dongzhou to avenge himself without letting anyone escape. On the eleventh day, his thunder calamity did come down as expected, and it must be said that this divine fortune teller was not in vain.
Xue Huai sighed. “It turns out that so much time has passed, and he has actually successfully competed for the position of a cultivator.”
This made everyone curious: “What? Have you seen him? Have you ever asked him to tell your fortune? Is it accurate? If it is accurate, we will also line up there.”
Another classmate chimed in, “But that person seems to only calculate marriages, saying that calculating anything other than marriages is likely to create bad karma.”
“That’s fine. I also want to know when I can find a Daoist partner!”
In fact, it became very lively all of a sudden.
A group of people were ready to go to the main gate to have their fortunes told.
Xue Huai was also ready to make a move.
But what he wanted to calculate was not marriage, but something else.
After everyone else in the room left, Xue Huai told Yun Cuo, “I want to ask that fortune teller about this matter. Don’t get out of bed. I’ll be here in a while. You wait here for me, alright?”
Yun Cuo was sitting at the head of the bed, teaching the gluttonous ghost to write a word. Hearing this, he put both the brush and the gluttonous ghost down, stared at him closely, and asked as if nothing had happened, “So, are you still considering our marriage?”
His tone was too cautious and nervous, and Xue Huai burst out laughing.
“Consider what marriage? Aren’t I already married to you now?”
Yun Cuo said “Oh” and looked away to cover up.
Only then did he feel relieved and let him go.
Xue Huai waited in line for half a day before it was finally his turn.
However, before he could open his mouth, the fortune teller raised his hand to interrupt him: “Little brother, I know what you want to ask. Look to the side, do you see this sign of mine?”
Xue Huai looked up and saw the words “only calculate the marriage cards” that his classmates had mentioned. These words were obviously newly added.
Xue Huai was smart and immediately understood what the other party meant: “You anticipated what I was going to ask, so you changed the sign in advance to only calculate marriage, right?”
He originally planned to add some money to make him agree, but it seems that it won’t work this time.
The fortune teller stroked his beard with a smile and remained silent.
Xue Huai sighed, then tilted his head and smiled: “However, I do have a marriage relationship to consider.”
It is impossible to say that he has no curiosity about the unknown future.
He and Yun Cuo had a very bumpy journey, and even the name on the Sansheng Stone was missing two of his name characters.
He wanted to know: could the two of them be together happily in this life?
Xue Huai asked, “How do people usually ask questions about marriage?”
The fortune teller stroked his beard and smiled. “Just ask the same questions as others, Young Lord Xue. Some ask if their future Daoist partner will be a sword cultivator. Some ask if their future Daoist partner is good-looking… It’s up to you.”
Xue Huai thinks.
He cannot ask, “Will my future Daoist partner be that of a person who practices both immortality and demonic?” because such a question is meaningless. It is an option provided to people who do not have a partner yet. Since they do not have a lover and their goal is unclear.
Xue Huai asked, “Will Yun Cuo be my lifelong companion?”
The fortune teller answered quickly. “Alright, I’ll tell you right now. I’ll tell you the will of heaven—heaven tells me that the person you will spend your life with will let you experience spring, summer, autumn, and winter in one day. He will walk towards you on the snow with flowers from thousands of mountains. That moment will be the time when he proposes to you.”
Xue Huai: “???”
He asked, “What’s the difference between saying this and not saying it?”
The junior sister next to him also heard it and showed a suspicious look: “What does this mean? It seems that bringing flowers to the mountains can be accomplished by commanding the ancient trees of the six realms, but spring, summer, autumn, and winter happen in one day… This is impossible. It can’t be accomplished by the magic of ordinary people in the Immortal Realm. It sounds like the magic of an illusionist. Could it be that Xue Huai Shixiong will marry an illusionist? Impossible, he and Yun Shidi can’t break up.”
The fortune teller didn’t give any explanation but just smiled and said, “It depends on one’s luck. I have never smashed a sign.”
He carved Xue Huai’s divination verdict and handed it to him.
A simple wooden sign with eight words written on it: “Flowers bloom in all seasons, people return home when the wind and snow come.”
Xue Huai was feeling a little depressed.
Not only did he not get to ask the questions he wanted to ask, but he also actually figured out that his future Daoist partner might not be Yun Cuo.
Being an illusionist requires special skills, and not everyone can learn them. Because one needs to build a stable and complex spiritual world, their minds must be especially stable, and they must be especially careful not to have inner demons.
Yun Cuo is almost separate from illusionists.
If the other party was a charlatan, Xue Huai would be better off. The key point was that the other party happened to be the master who successfully predicted the coming of his thunder calamity. The golden signboard of the Immortal Realm.
Xue Huai was so depressed that he didn’t even have dinner. He drank some fruit juice in a hurry, then went to sleep on the bed, covered himself with the quilt.
Yun Cuo had just finished cooking and came over to tickle and tease him.
“Xue Huai, Xue Huai, what’s wrong with you? Xue Huai ge, come down and have some food.”
Xue Huai said in a muffled voice, “No, I don’t want to eat.”
Yun Cuo didn’t know what was wrong with him, and after coaxing him for a while, he still didn’t get better, so he could only say in a gentle voice, “Then I’ll use magic to warm them up here, is that alright? If you wake up in the middle of the night and are hungry, just go downstairs and eat something, alright?”
He climbed back onto the bed, spread some of the quilt around for himself, and held Xue Huai in his arms.
“Xue Huai ge?”
Xue Huai said gloomily, “That person said that my future Daoist partner is an illusionist.”
Yun Cuo was a little surprised: “Is it because of this?”
“What do you mean just because of this?” Xue Huai turned over angrily and glared at him. “That master’s calculations were very accurate. He was the one who calculated my thunder last time. Yun Cuo, what do you think we should do now?”
Yun Cuo laughed instead and rubbed his neck.
“It’s nothing, Xue Huai ge.”
He rubbed against him like a puppy, held him in his arms, and coaxed him in a gentle voice, as if he found this matter very interesting.
“I’ll just go learn illusion. I’ll go learn. No matter what, you have to be with me.”
Xue Huai was even sadder, and he muttered half-jokingly and half-seriously: “You are so stupid, you will definitely not be able to learn illusion. You have too many inner demons to count.”
“I’m not stupid. I will learn. Believe me, Xue Huai.” Yun Cuo became serious and hurriedly leaned over to kiss him. “I promise.”
