When Chu Xuan landed with his flying sword, the setting sun was burning the horizon into a pot of rust color.
He retracted the Cold Moon sword, which was still covered with Kunlun snow. With a shake, the snow crumbled into the dust like a small avalanche.
"Is the Liuhe Valley ahead?" Su Meier turned her head and asked.
She was not wearing the flamboyant purple robe, but had changed into a plain blue dress, with the neckline tucked in, her seductive charm was suppressed by seven parts, and she looked like a young lady who had sneaked down the mountain.
Chu Xuan made a "MHM" sound, his throat dry.
After not returning for three years, the old locust tree at the entrance of the village was uprooted, half of the stump charred black, as if struck by lightning or roasted by fire.
-- The work of a sorcerer.
He quickened his pace. At the end of the dirt road, a large part of the fence had collapsed. The trellis, which had been filled with peppers and corn, was empty, with only a few withered vines swaying in the wind.
"Old Chu boy, didn't he say he was going to become an immortal? Why hasn't anyone come back to save him?"
"I heard that once you become an immortal, you cut off all your relatives. TSK TSK, it's all in vain."
A few peasant women whispered in the distance, looked up and saw Chu Xuan, first stunned, then as if seeing a ghost, picked up the hoe and ran away.
Chu Xuan did not chase after him. He stared at the broken door of his house - the door panel was slanted, the threshold was covered with dust, but there was a string of messy footprints extending into the house.
"Mother?" He cried out, his voice stuck in his throat, bitter.
There was no one in the room, half of the stove collapsed, and POTS and pans were broken all over the floor. On the wall, there was a crooked line of words written in charcoal:
"Little Xuanzi, if you can't survive, run away. Don't come back."
It was the handwriting of Uncle Li next door, as ugly as a dog crawling, but it made his eyes warm.
Su Mei 'er gently kicked the broken tiles on the ground. "The man is gone, but not long ago. The broken tiles are new and the dust is thin."
Chu Xuan took a deep breath and turned towards the back of the village. There was a natural cave at the back of the mountain. When he was a child playing hide-and-seek with his friends, he often hid in it.
The weeds outside the cave were trampled over, and he bent down to push them aside and saw a new mark on the stone wall - a crooked circle, a little bit in the middle.
"It's Li Jia Wa's code." Chu Xuan rubbed the mark with the pads of his fingers. "They went towards the black wind outlet."
The Black Vent is the thinnest fissure between the mortal world and the demon world, where the cold wind blows all year round, and mortals avoid it at all costs.
Su Meier narrowed her eyes. "The demon cultivator is looking for the descendants of the spirit body, Black Wind outlet... It looks like a deliberate bait."
Chu Xuan did not reply, turned his wrist, drew the Cold Moon sword, and the sword light made his eyes cold. "Then go and meet them."
...
Outside the black air vent, the wind, carrying sand, hit the face painfully.
In front of a dilapidated land temple, dozens of ordinary people were huddled together, with the elderly holding children and the strong holding hoes and sickles, forming a circle back to back.
Outside the circle, three demonic cultivators were suspended in the air, their black robes fluttering, black mist forming chains in their palms, and at the end of the chains was a maiden - no more than fourteen or fifteen years old, pale but with hatred burning in her eyes.
"Say, who else is the bloodline of the spirit?" The leader's voice was hoarse, like an iron spoon scraping a pot.
The girl gritted her teeth, blood oozed from the corner of her mouth, and spat out a mouthful of blood foam.
The chains tightened abruptly, and the veins on the girl's neck bulged.
"Stop!" This is what Chu Xuan saw when he arrived.
His voice was not loud, but it was wrapped in spiritual energy, causing the eardrums of the three demonic cultivators to go numb and they all turned their heads in unison.
"Oh, cultivators?" The leader licked his lips and his gaze fell on the jade pendant at Chu Xuan's waist - it was the mark of the covenant of the Dao, a golden thread wrapped around the jade, flashing for a moment.
"Dao Qi Meng?" The sorcerer squinted and then laughed, "Just right, take it back to report."
Chu Xuan said no nonsense. With a flick of the Cold Moon sword, the sword's light was like the moon, straight to the chain.
Ding --
The chains broke and the girl fell to the ground, coughing her heart out.
Three demonic cultivators strike at the same time, black mist becomes a three-headed python, opens its mouth stinking and pounced on Chu Xuan.
Su Mei 'er chuckled, flicked her finger, and a wisp of purple fire flew out, and the tongue of fire rolled onto the python, instantly burning to nothingness.
"Little fellow of the demon world, not bowing to the queen?" Her voice was soft but oppressive.
The three sorcerers' faces changed abruptly, "Su... Su Mei 'er? !"
"Get out." Su Mei 'er spat out a word, and the purple fire turned into a ring of fire, exploding with a roar. Before the demon cultivator could even scream, he was burned into a mass of black ash, and the wind blew it away.
Among the crowd of mortals, someone recognized Chu Xuan and trembled, "Chu kid? It's Chu kid!"
Uncle Li pushed his way through the crowd, carrying a slotted kitchen knife in his hand, with a scruffy beard and bloodshot eyes. "Little Xuanzi, is it really you?"
Chu Xuan stepped forward and held Li Shu's shoulder. "It's me, I'm back."
Uncle Li's lips quivered, he raised his hand to pat him, but was afraid of dirtying his clothes, he stopped in mid-air, "It's good that I'm back, it's good..."
The girl was lifted up, with a hoarse voice: "Brother, they took auntie and Big bull brother, said... They said they were going to draw blood and look for spirits."
Chu Xuan's eyes darkened. "Draw blood?" "
"They said they were looking for descendants of some primordial spirit," Uncle Li wiped his face. "All the Chu people in our village have been taken away. Only we outsiders are left."
Chu Xuan felt a chill in his heart - there was indeed someone behind the demonic cultivator.
Su Mei 'er crouched down, examined the strangle mark on the girl's neck, her voice soft but cold, "Soul Lock chain, the technique of the Heavenly Dao Pavilion."
Chu Xuan raised his eyes and looked into the depths of the black wind, where the wind was swirling sand and stones, like the wailing of countless wronged souls.
"Uncle Li, you go back to the village first, pack up the things you can bring, go to the foot of the Qingyun Sect mountain, tell me my name, someone will pick me up."
Uncle Li froze, "Qingyun Sect? Isn't that the territory of immortals?
"It's your territory now too." Chu Xuan patted him on the shoulder and sent a wisp of gentle spiritual energy in his palm to soothe the old man's terror.
The girl grabbed his sleeve, her eyes shining terrifyingly, "Brother, can I cultivate immortality? I want to take revenge with my own hands."
Chu Xuan looked at her, as if he saw himself who was bullied but gritted his teeth and did not cry.
"Yes." He nodded. "As long as you want, you can."
Su Mei 'er turned her head to look at him, a smile flashing in her eyes - this boy is getting more and more like a leader.
...
As they set off for the village, the setting sun sank completely, leaving only a shade of purple on the horizon.
Chu Xuan walked at the back and looked back at the black wind outlet, which contained the ashes of the demonic cultivators and the undispersed blood.
He clenched the Cold Moon sword, his voice so low that only he could hear it:
"Mother, Big Bull, hold on a little longer, I'm coming."
The wind from the black vent was blowing so hard that it felt as if the back of a knife had been slashed back and forth.
Chu Xuan lifted the corner of his robe and tied it around his waist, revealing a part of his wrist, which had blue veins floating up like meandering rivers.
"Beyond that is the fissure." "Half a year ago, the opening was torn open with a 'crack', black fog gushed out, livestock went wild and people cried."
Su Mei 'er raised her hand, and a wisp of purple fire floated over, with tiny gold patterns embedded in the fire core, like little fish swimming. The fire cast a fissure ten feet away, deep and bottomless, with black ice at the edge, and half of the hand in the ice - pale, stiff, yet still clutching a sickle.
"The smell of the soul chain." Su Mei 'er narrowed her eyes. "No matter how deep the rats in the gutter of the Heavenly Dao Pavilion hide, they can't hide this sweet and fishy smell."
Chu Xuan crouched down, his fingertips touched the black ice, and immediately the ice was covered with spider web patterns, and a wisp of black gas crept down his fingertips into his meridians. He snorted, the primordial spirit trembled, and the black gas was crushed into light.
"Human sacrifice." He said in a low voice, "Warm the rift with mortal blood so that the demonic aura can seep in."
Girl Ali followed behind, her hands clenched into fists and her nails tucked into her palms. "Auntie... Big Bull Brother... Could it be down there?"
Chu Xuan did not answer but turned his head to look at her. "Are you scared?"
Ali shook her head, her eyes shining terrifyingly. "If I'm afraid, I won't be able to save people."
He laughed and raised his hand to rub her disheveled head. "Then follow."
...
At the edge of the fissure, the wind howled like a Wolf.
Chu Xuan sat cross-legged, the Cold Moon sword placed across his knee, with a touch of his fingertip, the blade hummed, and the ice-blue sword light turned into a moon wheel, hanging above the fissure. A distorted picture was reflected in the moon wheel - in the depths of the black mist, a temporary stone prison, dozens of mortals lifted by chains, with cuts on their wrists, blood beads forming lines and dripping into a black cauldron. Three figures stood by the side of the cauldron, their black robes rolled with golden edges, and their sleeves embroidered with - the Heavenly Way Pavilion.
"Found it." Chu Xuan opened his eyes, his gaze terrifyingly cold.
Su Mei 'er licked her lips and laughed seductive, "Three early stages of spirit transformation, one middle stage, no small feat."
"I'll save the person, you lead the charge." Chu Xuan rose, his sleeves bulging without the wind.
"Little Xuanzi -" Su Meier pulled out her voice and shouted softly, "Don't die. I'm still stewing the spirit soup for you on the stove." "
Chu Xuan did not turn his head. With his back to her, he waved his hand and stepped out. The moon wheel followed him and he fell straight into the fissure.
...
At the bottom of the fissure, the black mist was as thick as ink.
Chu Xuan landed, the moon wheel exploded, and the sword light turned into a sky full of cold stars, instantly clearing a ten-foot gap. In the stone prison, the hanged woman slowly raised her head, her face pale, but when she saw the person, her pupils suddenly constricted --
"Little... Xuan?"
Chu Xuan felt as if struck by a heavy hammer and his voice trembled. "Auntie, I'm coming."
With a whoosh, the chains broke, and four sword qi flew out of his sleeve, cutting through all the slings, and the mortals fell one after another. He raised his hand, and the gentle spiritual energy turned into a curtain of light, supporting everyone.
"Bold!" The three men of the Heavenly Dao Pavilion shouted angrily and attacked at the same time. The black mist condensed into pythons, blood blades and bone spears, covering the sky.
Chu Xuan sneered coldly, with a touch of his fingertip, the Cold Moon sword turned into an ice-blue rainbow, and wherever it passed, the black mist froze. In a flash, he appeared at the top of the stone prison, with his palm down, and drank: "Cold Star, fall!"
Boom --
A deluge of ice-blue swords came pouring down, and pythons, blood blades, bone spears were instantly nailed to pieces. Three black-robed men staggered back, one of them had the golden thread of his sleeve cut off by sword qi and looked ugly, "Innate spirit? !"
Chu Xuan did not reply. He took a step forward and punched him like a dragon, directly hitting him in the chest. The black-robed man's sternum collapsed, blood gushed out, crashed into the rock wall, and pierced into the rock layer.
The two of them looked at each other and made a sign at the same time. The black mist condensed into chains, and at the end of the chains emerged baby faces, crying shrill and disturbing the mind.
Chu Xuan looked even colder, "Take the soul of a baby to forge a weapon? You deserve to die."
He pointed together like a sword, and a wisp of chaotic light, the rudiments of the four laws of ice, fire, spirit, and demonic power, flashed and the chains broke inch by inch, and the baby's face turned into light and dissipated.
"Chaos, a line of sky."
Puh --
Two heads flew high up, and the blood was instantly frozen into a red mist by the cold.
...
Outside the stone cell, Su Mei 'er leaned against the rock wall, purple fire dancing on her fingertips. Seeing Chu Xuan leading the people out, she whistled, "Oh, swift."
Chu Xuan paid no attention to her teasing and turned to look at the woman - that was his aunt, the woman who had raised him for ten years, now with a cut on her wrist showing the bone, but still smiled at him and weakly called out, "Little Xuanzi, you've grown taller."
Chu Xuan's eyes welled up, he knelt down on one knee, held her hand, and a wisp of warm spiritual energy flowed through the palm, and the wound healed at a visible speed.
"Go home." He said softly.
...
Outside the fissure, it was late at night.
The people, supporting each other, set off on their way back to the village. Ali, carrying the sleeping big bull brother on his back, staggered but firm. Su Mei 'er threw out a small flying boat, with purple fire at the bottom, carrying people into the air.
Chu Xuan stood in the wind, looking back at the dark fissure. The wind carried the ashes, like countless vengeful souls weeping.
He raised his hand, and the Cold Moon sword was thrown high, and the sword's light soared, turning into a hundred-foot moon wheel, and it was struck down with a roar --
Rumble!
The fissure was split in two by a sword, the black ice crumbled, the veins closed, and the wind stopped.
Su Mei 'er turned her head to look at him, "Has the breath gone?"
Chu Xuan shook his head, his voice hoarse: "It's just the beginning."
He turned his palm, and the wisp of black gas drawn from the black ice condensed into a black chess piece, and on the surface of the piece, the dark golden patterns of the Heavenly Dao Pavilion were faintly visible.
"Next," he clenched the chess piece, his knuckles pale, "it's our turn to look for them."