novelapdf Chapter 129 Yu Xiaoqian
Chapter 129 Yu Xiaoqian
The mountain wind howled.
The girl held onto Jiang Mu's wrist and flew towards the mountainside.
Jiang Mu was carried and floated in the air, her face always showing a look of fear, but she was secretly memorizing the route.
However, when she reached the middle of the mountain, Nie Xiaoqian suddenly stopped.
She landed on a large blue stone.
She released Jiang Mu, turned around, and quietly looked at him.
Under the moonlight, the girl's face was beautiful yet tinged with a hint of gloom. Her skin was so white it was almost transparent, but it did not frighten people. Instead, it had a unique kind of beauty.
Those eyes, which were originally shrouded in mist, were now looking at him with a complex expression.
"What's wrong?"
Jiang Mu, who was just planning how to take down that old hag later, was taken aback and somewhat puzzled.
Nie Xiaoqian looked at him and suddenly spoke:
"Do you know? My name isn't Nie Xiaoqian. That's a fake name my grandma gave me."
Jiang Mu was taken aback, somewhat puzzled.
Why is this girl suddenly saying this?
"My real name is Yu Xiaoqian."
The girl's voice was very soft.
"Remember this name. Because... this is the first and last time I'll be a good ghost."
Jiang Mu's heart skipped a beat, and an ominous premonition arose within her:
"Girl... what do you mean by that?"
Yu Xiaoqian rolled her eyes playfully, her expression a mix of coquettishness and helplessness, and said irritably:
Are you really stupid or just pretending? Don't you understand?
"I'm in a good mood today, and in a moment of pity, I've decided to spare your life, you idiot!"
Jiang Mu was completely speechless.
no………
Sister, are you crazy?
I've worked so hard for so long, and I'm finally almost at my lair, and you suddenly show me some kindness?!
I'm going to collect experience points.
"You should leave now!"
Seeing that he was still standing there motionless, Yu Xiaoqian became a little anxious and gave him a push. "If Grandma finds out I let you go, you won't be able to leave even if you want to!"
Jiang Mu took a deep breath, suppressing the complaints in her heart.
He quickly composed himself, looking at Yu Xiaoqian with deep emotion, and said tenderly:
"Girl, I knew I hadn't misjudged you. You really are a beautiful and kind girl."
Yu Xiaoqian pursed her lips, but inexplicably felt a sense of satisfaction.
"Since the young lady is so kind,"
Jiang Mu pressed his advantage, "I suppose your grandmother was forced into this situation. How about this, you take me to see her, and I'm willing to use sage-like principles to enlighten her, so that she might lay down her weapons and follow the path of good..."
Yu Xiaoqian stared wide-eyed at Jiang Mu as if he were an idiot.
How can there be such a silly bookworm in the world?
You're even dumber than me!
My sisters often say that scholars may seem dull on the surface, but they are actually full of tricks and wicked schemes.
But this one in front of me...
He's really clueless!
She couldn't resist standing on tiptoe, reaching out, and lightly flicking Jiang Mu's forehead.
"Idiot, just leave when I tell you to! My grandma isn't some benevolent demon; she kills without blinking an eye!"
The girl puffed out her cheeks. "She hates two kinds of people the most: the lackeys of the Demon Slayer Division and bookworms like you who spout nonsense about morality!"
"If she captures you, she'll definitely skin you alive, pull out your tendons, and turn you into a lantern, so you can suffer the torment of being burned by the lamplight day and night." As she spoke, she made a fierce, baring face, trying to scare him with her claws.
Jiang Mu looked at her intently:
"You're trying to scare me."
"you!"
Yu Xiaoge slapped himself on the forehead, utterly speechless.
Why is this stubborn elm tree so impervious to reason?
"Fine, I'm not going to bother with you anymore. Go if you want, don't go if you don't. I've done everything I could! If you're courting death, don't blame me for not saving you in the underworld!"
After saying that, the girl stomped her foot angrily and turned to leave.
Jiang Mu stood there, her expression shifting.
This is troublesome.
The female ghost's sudden change of heart completely disrupted his plans.
What should we do now?
Should we just arrest her and torture her to extract a confession?
Judging from the girl's selfless act of "sacrificing herself to save others," even if she were arrested, this stubborn girl probably wouldn't betray her grandmother. Secretly tracking her?
I'm afraid my grandmother's true senses will detect it.
"Hey, are you coming or not?"
Yu Xiaoqian drifted more than ten meters away, and seeing Jiang Mu still standing there dumbfounded, she couldn't help but turn around and glare at him fiercely.
Just then, Ji Hongyuan's teasing voice rang in Jiang Mu's ear:
"Hehehe... Little one, looks like your charm hasn't faded at all; even the female ghost can't bear to kill you. How about I give you a hand?"
"How can I help?" Jiang Mu asked in a low voice.
"This girl is so kind-hearted, let's put on a good show of 'hero saves the beauty' for her."
Ji Hongyuan laughed.
"I pretended to attack her, and you were seriously injured and poisoned by the corpse virus while protecting her. This girl definitely wouldn't have the heart to abandon you, so she will naturally take you back to her grandmother's place to heal your wounds."
Jiang Mu frowned.
What a cheesy and melodramatic plot!
"I'm injured, shouldn't she have told me to go down the mountain to find a doctor? How could she possibly take me to the demon's lair?"
"Don't worry, I have a way to get her to take you there."
Ji Hongyuan was full of confidence, "My corpse poison cannot be cured by ordinary doctors."
Her grandmother must have a way to detoxify her, or some kind of miracle cure. If she really wants to save you, she can only take you back with her.
"Quick, get ready, your older sister's about to make her move. Remember to act convincingly."
Jiang Mu was helpless.
Fine, I'll trust this woman this once.
"Hey, say something! This is the last time I'm asking you, are you coming or not?"
Seeing him talking to himself, Yu Xiaoqian impatiently floated back and asked again.
"boom!"
Just then, the ground at Yu Xiaoqian's feet suddenly exploded, sending dirt flying everywhere.
A female corpse dressed in red, with a face as pale as paper, suddenly sprang from the ground, letting out a mournful roar, and lunged at Yu Xiaoqian with her sharp claws outstretched.
"Be careful, young lady!"
Jiang Mu shouted and rushed forward, forcefully shoving Yu Xiaoqian aside.
The woman in red missed her target, but instead tackled Jiang Mu to the ground.
"roar!"
The female corpse opened her blood-red maw and bit down hard on Jiang Mu's neck.
"ah!!"
Jiang Mu let out a scream and her whole body convulsed.
Yu Xiaoqian stumbled a few steps after being pushed, and when she came to her senses and saw what was happening, she was immediately stunned.
"Where did these zombies come from?!"
Her reaction was extremely quick. With a flick of her slender hand, a dense cloud of black energy condensed in her palm and slapped it onto the back of the red-clad female corpse.
"Bang!"
The female corpse was struck, let out a mournful cry, and her body instantly turned into countless ashes, dissipating in the night wind.
"So dedicated."
Jiang Mu lay on the ground, watching the dissipating female corpse, and secretly gave Ji Hongyuan a thumbs up in his heart.
Without thinking twice, Yu Xiaoqian rushed to Jiang Mu's side, helped him up, and anxiously asked:
"Hey, nerd, are you alright?"
Jiang Mu's face quickly turned ashen, her lips turned purple, and her whole body stiffened.
He shook his head, trembling, and said weakly:
"I...I'm fine...Miss...please hurry..."
Yu Xiaoqian caught a glimpse of the two black dentition holes on his neck, then looked at the rapidly spreading lividity, and gasped in shock:
"Oh no, you've been infected with corpse poison!"
"fine……"
Jiang Mu's breath was as faint as a spider's thread.
Around the two pitch-black cavities, purplish-black poisonous gas was spreading rapidly along the blood vessels like a spider web, a truly shocking sight.
"Who gave you permission to play the hero?"
The girl was both anxious and angry. "Aren't you a scholar? Don't you know how powerful that zombie is? You risked your life to save a female ghost like me. You're so stupid!"
Jiang Mu kept her eyes closed, but inwardly she was rolling her eyes.
Ji Hongyuan really went all out; although it was all an act, the corpse poison was real.
It hurts like hell.
And this silly female ghost, stop crying and cursing all you do!
Hurry up and take me away.
Yu Xiaoqian bit her lower lip, looking at Jiang Mu's face, which was pale but still handsome, with a gentle gaze.
No one had ever treated her like that before.
Even before she became a ghost, those people only coveted her beauty.
Only this idiot...
He was willing to risk his life to save her.
"Bear with it!"
Yu Xiaoqian raised her slender, jade-like hand, and a ball of icy, ghostly energy gathered in her palm.
"Snapped!"
She slapped Jiang Mu on the chest.
The ghostly energy entered his body and immediately transformed into several streams of cold air, quickly sealing off Jiang Mu's heart meridian and major acupoints throughout his body, forcibly freezing the rampant corpse poison within his meridians and preventing it from attacking his heart.
"..."
Jiang Mu let out a muffled groan and straightened her body in response.
She completely fainted.
Seeing that Jiang Mu had fainted, Yu Xiaoqian did not delay any longer and carried him on her back.
The corpse poison had invaded, and an ordinary person without cultivation couldn't withstand it for long. Her only option now was to bring it back to the temple, where there were substances that could neutralize the poison. But if she brought it back…
Yu Xiaoqian's eyes darted around, and she gritted her teeth and said, "Let's take it back first."
Jiang Mu's head slumped on her thin shoulders, her warm breath brushing against her cool earlobe.
"It's as heavy as a pig..."
She muttered something under her breath, then lightly touched the ground with her toes, transforming into a white blur as she sped towards the deep mountains and dense forests.
We meandered through the mountains and forests.
About fifteen minutes later, she stopped in front of an ancient locust tree.
The old locust tree had long since died, its trunk black and cracked, resembling a menacing ghost in the night.
Jiang Mu secretly opened her eyes a crack and observed from the shadows.
Yu Xiaoqian, carrying him on her back, with a solemn expression, began to circle the withered old locust tree.
First, it circled around to the left three times.
Then, it circled around to the right three times.
Just as she finished her last lap, a strange thing happened.
The once dark and lifeless tree trunk suddenly shimmered with a faint, eerie light, and then the space seemed to transform into a body of water, rippling with visible, transparent waves.
An invisible barrier of water ripples appeared out of thin air.
"arrive."
Yu Xiaoqian whispered something, and carrying Jiang Mu on her back, stepped into the water-patterned barrier without any hesitation.
"Buzz"
The moment Jiang Mu passed through the barrier, she felt the light and shadows in front of her distort.
Wait until your vision becomes clear again.
The scene before us has been completely transformed.
The once gloomy and dark forest has disappeared, and has been transformed into a deep and secluded valley.
The valley was shrouded in mist, and the air was filled with the fragrance of flowers.
Using the strange rocks and plants in the valley that emitted a faint glow, Jiang Mu was able to see his surroundings clearly.
The valley sides are covered with all sorts of strangely shaped flowers.
Some petals are twisted like human faces.
Some flowers have long, thin tentacles extending from their stamens, while others are entirely blood-red, as if they have just drunk fresh blood.
At the deepest part of the valley stood a black palace.
Built against the mountain, with its flying eaves and brackets, it resembles a giant beast lurking in the darkness.
Above the main hall, dark clouds loomed overhead, and demonic energy surged into the sky.
"Wow, this is truly a hidden gem!"
Jiang Mu was secretly surprised.
"No wonder the Demon Slayer Division failed in their previous attempts to encircle and annihilate us, not even managing to touch a hair of our heads."
This entrance not only features a sophisticated maze, but also requires specific steps to open. Without a guide, even a fifth-realm expert would likely just wander around aimlessly outside.
This time, the sacrificial color was quite a decoy; it seems the gamble paid off.
After carrying Jiang Mu into the valley, Yu Xiaoqian did not immediately head towards the magnificent hall.
She stopped and looked around nervously.
They breathed a sigh of relief after confirming that no other demons or ghosts were patrolling.
She gently placed Jiang Mu on a flat rock and let him sit up.
Seeing Jiang Mu still unconscious, his face ashen from the combined effects of corpse poison and ghostly energy, a flicker of hesitation and struggle crossed the girl's eyes as she murmured to herself:
"This fool did this to save me. If I hand him over to Grandma, that would be repaying kindness with enmity, something only a wicked ghost would do. Even though I, Yu Xiaoqian, am a ghost, I will still be a ghost with feelings and loyalty."
She seemed to have made up her mind.
The girl tilted her head slightly and opened her cherry-like mouth.
A round, jet-black bead, emitting a faint fragrance, was slowly exhaled from her mouth and hovered near her lips.
The surface of the beads has a warm, lustrous sheen.
It's clearly not an ordinary item.
Yu Xiaoqian stretched out two fingers, carefully pinching the black pill between them, a look of pain on her face, and muttered:
"With this, you can mask the yang energy of a living person on your body, otherwise Grandma will smell it before you even enter the door."
As she spoke, she pried open Jiang Mu's jaw and shoved the black pill, still warm from her body and saliva, directly into his mouth. Then she closed his jaw.
After doing all this, she picked Jiang Mu up again.
This time, however, she didn't head towards the grand central hall. Instead, she stealthily turned onto a secluded path hidden by bushes. Jiang Mu, perched on the girl's back, swallowed hard.
He didn't actually swallow the pill; instead, he used the clever force of the back of his tongue to press it under his tongue.
While Yu Xiaoqian was focused on traveling and had no time to look back, he took advantage of the moment when Yu Xiaoqian was carrying him.
Jiang Mu quietly opened her mouth and spat the black bead into her palm.
He squinted one eye, examining the wet, black pill in the dim light.
"What is this thing?"
Jiang Mu was puzzled and couldn't quite understand it.
"But this girl was muttering something about concealing yang energy... It seems she really wanted to save me, and didn't intend to hand me over to that old hag directly." This is a bit troublesome.
How can I find out the truth about that old hag if I don't go into the main hall?
How do you launch a surprise attack?
Jiang Mu gripped the black pill tightly in her hand, feeling the lingering warmth on it, her eyes flickering slightly.
"Fine, what's done is done. Let's see where she takes me first, and then we'll see how things go."
Yu Xiaoqian carried Jiang Mu on her back to a secluded courtyard.
At this moment, Jiang Mu also slowly woke up.
"Where is this?"
Jiang Mu asked weakly.
"You stay here and lie still, don't make a sound or move around."
Yu Xiaoqian carried Jiang Mu into a house. Looking at the pale-faced man, worry flashed in her eyes.
"Your corpse poison has been suppressed by my ghost pill, so you won't die for now. I'm going to steal... to beg Grandma for medicine. You must hold on." Jiang Mu closed her eyes, her breathing weak.
Just as Yu Xiaoqian was about to turn around and leave, a knock on the door suddenly sounded.
Yu Xiaoqian froze, like a child caught doing something wrong, and looked at Jiang Mu on the bed in a panic.
"Xiaoqian, are you inside?"
A slightly high-pitched female voice came from outside the door, "I see you're back."
"It's...it's Sister Qing!"
Yu Xiaoqian let out a soft cry.
She grabbed a thick quilt from the side and covered Jiang Mu completely, leaving only a small gap for ventilation, before pulling the curtains shut.
The girl calmed her racing heart and then, forcing herself to remain composed, walked over and opened the door.
A woman dressed in a light blue gauze dress stood outside the door.
The woman was quite beautiful, but her cheekbones were slightly high and her eyes were upturned, giving her a mean-spirited look.
At this moment, she was standing with her arms crossed, peering suspiciously into the room.
"Sister Qing, what brings you here?"
Yu Xiaoqian stood in the doorway, forcing a smile.
The female ghost, known as Sister Qing, frowned: "Why did it take so long to open the door?"
"Oh, I'm changing my clothes right now."
Yu Xiaoqian said.
"Grandma is in a rage in the main hall and sent me to find you," Wen Xiaoqing said in a cold voice.
Upon hearing the word "grandmother," Yu Xiaoqian trembled.
Wen Xiaoqing looked directly into her eyes and asked, "Grandma asked me to ask you, where is that scholar? Did you bring the person you were asked to bring back?" Yu Xiaoqian lowered her head, not daring to look Xiaoqing in the eye, and stammered:
"No...no."
"No?!"
Wen Xiaoqing's face suddenly darkened. "You're a good-for-nothing too! Grandma specifically asked for him, and you actually let him get away?"
"No, they didn't escape!"
Yu Xiaoqian quickly defended herself, using the excuse she had prepared beforehand, and said with a wronged expression,
"Yes...we encountered trouble on the way."
That bearded Taoist priest was too powerful. As soon as Grandma's clones dispersed, he started chasing after me relentlessly. I was originally holding onto the scholar, but the Taoist priest attacked me like a madman.
To save my own life, I had no choice but to... I had no choice but to abandon the scholar and escape back first.
In the end, she put on a pitiful look.
Wen Xiaoqing stared at her for a long time, and seeing her disheveled appearance, she snorted coldly:
"You're more trouble than you're worth. Grandma's furious right now, you'd better think carefully about how you're going to explain yourself."
With that, he snorted coldly, turned around, and swayed away.
Only after Wen Xiaoqing's figure completely disappeared at one end of the corridor did Yu Xiaoqian collapse, as if all her strength had left her body, and lean against the door frame, panting heavily. "That was close..."
She patted her chest, quickly closed the door, ran to the bedside, and lifted the blanket.