During these days of the Demon Realm festival, Jian Zhen had been injured, so it often stayed in the Demon Palace and couldn’t leave. These days it frequently followed beside Ye Jisheng basking in the sun and absorbing spiritual energy, so its body improved a lot.
After waking from a nap and opening its eyes again, it discovered that the scene before it had finally changed.
On the immortal mountain, snow fell year-round. Between heaven and earth, everything was wrapped in silver white, clear, cold, and silent.
The little grass in the pot lightly yawned, and then heard the voices of children chatting and discussing coming from a courtyard not far away:
“Princess Changle has been outside since a few days ago.”
“Yes, she’s always wanted to see the Immortal Venerable.”
“The Immortal Venerable doesn’t want to see her at all. She even snapped all the grass the Immortal Venerable raised.”
“The princess seems to admire the Immortal Venerable and wants to form a dao companion with him.”
The short-haired attendant said excitedly: “How could that be possible! The Immortal Venerable is the supreme ruler of the Three Realms, the leader of our Immortal Clan. How could he possibly like that willful princess? I think it’s more possible that the Immortal Venerable would like the pot of grass on the window ledge than like the princess.”
Jian Zhen: “……”
No, it didn’t provoke anyone.
The little grass in the pot, hearing this, only felt its mood grow complicated!
It really was something the grass had never expected, who would have thought that being urged into marriage was something even the venerables of the Three Realms couldn’t escape? First there was the Demon Lord, petitioned by a group of elders to choose a consort, and later the Immortal Venerable was chased into marriage by a princess of the yao clan all the way to outside the hall. How truly interesting.
Jian Zhen was just getting curious and wanted to keep listening.
But the voices of the little attendants suddenly became clearly panicked: “Master….”
Fu Changhuan’s cool, clear voice sounded from the courtyard. Clad in white robes, dreamlike as a heavenly immortal amid wind and snow, he said, “Tell the princess that from today onward this Venerable will enter closed cultivation and cannot receive guests. After that, you will go to Cloud Cliff to receive punishment.”
The two little attendants accepted the order pitifully.
The little grass on the windowsill was still listening to gossip when it suddenly met a gaze.
Fu Changhuan’s clear, refined brows and eyes were like jade, like an immortal in the snow. He slowly stepped forward from the courtyard, not even leaving footprints in the snow. All sounds fell silent; between heaven and earth it seemed only the two of them remained. His eyes seemed tinged with a trace of a smile as he spoke gently, “You’ve taken form?”
Hearing this, Jian Zhen froze for a moment.
After waking up it had been busy listening to gossip and had neglected itself. Now, lowering its gaze, it saw the familiar green, glowing spiritual body floating above the flowerpot.
Fu Changhuan walked over and cupped it in his palm. The little grass’s figure was reflected in his cool, clear eyes. “It seems this Venerable’s heart’s blood has been of help to your cultivation.”
Jian Zhen hadn’t thought of that at all.
In the Demon Realm’s main hall it had taken form relying on the Glazed Tile Stone, while on the Immortal Mountain it had actually relied on Fu Changhuan’s blood to take form.
All things considered, both of its caretakers had shown it great kindness.
Sitting in Fu Changhuan’s palm, the little grass moved with a hint of reliance, rubbing gently against his hand. The soft touch of the little lump finally drew a smile onto Fu Changhuan’s otherwise cool, transcendent face. “You, you, already a grass that’s taken form, yet you still love to act spoiled like this.”
Though his words were reproachful, they were indulgent.
Outside the window, the snow fell rustling and ceaseless. Jian Zhen, who could already leave the pot, was held and taken away from the long corridor.
This was its first time leaving this palace complex.
Fu Changhuan carried it across the vast snowy ground, finally landing at the edge of a cliff at the back mountain. Cold winds gusted forth, yet all of them curved away from the little sprite on his shoulder. His white robes billowed in the wind, and a faint sandalwood fragrance forever lingered about him, elegant and lingering, as pure and refined as the mountain’s year-round, never-melting snow.
Jian Zhen looked down the mountain. Clouds and mist swirled, and all living beings below appeared small.
Fu Changhuan said, “What do you think of the scenery here?”
The little sprite froze slightly. Though it didn’t understand his intent, it still obediently nodded its head. This place was very beautiful.
Fu Changhuan chuckled softly, yet there was not the slightest smile on his face. His voice was scattered by the cold wind. “But this Venerable feels that this place is lonely and bleak, without the slightest bit of interest.”
Jian Zhen turned to look at him, yet could only see his jade-carved profile. Those eyes that pitied all living beings fell toward the mountain below, and yet seemed to fall upon empty space, or perhaps nowhere at all.
Fu Changhuan said, “You’ve accompanied this Venerable here year after year. You must have been stifled, finding it very boring, right? But this place, this Venerable has stayed here for thirteen million years.”
Jian Zhen thought that it had only stayed a hundred years and already felt stifled, so the Immortal Venerable must find it even more boring.
But then it thought again.
The Immortal Venerable could often go down the mountain, and had many matters to handle. His days should be far better than his own.
Fu Changhuan sat down on a stone chair and said, “You must be thinking, since this Venerable finds it boring, why not leave this place?”
The little grass sprite nodded.
Fu Changhuan curled his lips into a smile. When an immortal of transcendent bearing smiles, the scene is clear and radiant like wind and moonlight. He lowered his gaze to the little grass in his hand, his voice calm yet powerful. “Because this Venerable is the Immortal Clan’s venerable, and bears upon these shoulders the mission of protecting the clan.”
In a daze, Jian Zhen felt as though it had heard similar words somewhere before.
When it came back to itself, Fu Changhuan’s warm fingers gently brushed across its soft, clear spiritual body as he spoke, “Little grass, the Immortal Mountain is lonely. I fear you may be the only one in this world who can keep this Venerable company. When you take full form in the future, this Venerable will also let you remain on Spirit Mountain. You won’t leave me, will you?”
This was something all cultivators under heaven dreamed of, being able to stay by the Immortal Venerable’s side on Spirit Mountain.
Jian Zhen looked at his gentle brows and eyes and almost agreed, yet another lonely figure flashed through its mind, and it hesitated for an instant.
Fu Changhuan’s eyes dimmed slightly as he laughed softly. “Forget it. You’re still just a little grass, how could you understand such things? When you take human form in the future, you’ll naturally understand. This time, when this Venerable enters closed cultivation, you’ll come along as well. It will be beneficial to your cultivation and taking form.”
Jian Zhen hadn’t expected that it would actually enter closed cultivation together with him.
As Fu Changhuan stepped inside, he soothed it with a gentle stroke to the head. “Don’t be afraid. Just have a good sleep. With this Venerable here, there will be no danger. When you wake from one sleep, everything will be fine.”
Upon entering the cliff cave behind them, only a rich concentration of spiritual energy could be felt. This was a cultivation treasure ground rarely found in the world. Especially with a great power at one’s side, it was an exceptional place for cultivation. Once inside, true qi could be seen swirling wildly all around, forcing it to devote its entire focus to coping. Very soon, it lost consciousness on an open patch of ground nearby.
In a hazy stupor… a strange sensation suddenly flooded its entire body.
Jian Zhen jolted awake from its sea of consciousness. This feeling, of its entire being and heartbeat seeming to accelerate, it was very familiar with it.
A red moon hung in the sky.
It was once again the Demon Realm’s Red Moon Night. The curse on Ye Jisheng was about to act up. Jian Zhen grew worried almost the moment it opened its eyes. Just as it was about to leave the flowerpot, the sound of a sword falling to the ground came from not far away.
“Clang!”
In the silent black night, that sound was especially clear.
The branches of the little grass on the windowsill swayed slightly. Not far away, inside the great hall, a figure slowly clutched his heart and half-knelt to the ground. Blood overflowed from his mouth, while red soul-fire spiraled all around him.
The black-clothed man said in pain, “Your Excellency… spare my life.”
Before him, a tall man in dark robes stood at the steps below the Demon Clan’s main hall. The candlelight in the hall flickered, casting his face in alternating light and shadow.
Ye Jisheng stepped on the black-clothed man with one foot, looking down at him as he let out agonized howls. The floor was flooded with dark red blood. He smiled slightly. “Who sent you?”
The red moon hung in the sky; endless killing intent and surging demonic qi drifted through the hall.
The soul fire almost burned him to nothing.
Piercing screams echoed through the night sky. The little grass on the windowsill not far away also stiffened in place. Last time it had only seen the miserable deaths of those demonic beasts; this was the first time it had seen a living person being punished.
The black-clothed man begged in agony, “I’ll talk, I’ll talk. It was the Immortal Clan and the Yao Clan. They said that the curse on Your Excellency would act up on Red Moon Night, so every time at this time you go into closed cultivation. I was a guard sent by the High Priest this time to watch over the hall. They wanted me to take advantage of this opportunity to do… do something to your formation…”
Ye Jisheng curled his lips into a smile, dangerous yet handsome.
The black-clothed man’s entire body burned with fire, yet he still tried to crawl toward him to live. “Your Excellency, please don’t kill me. I know I was wrong. I was just momentarily led astray! I can work for you. I can be your pawn, be a double agent. Please, give me another chance!”
The soul fire suddenly intensified.
The red moonlight poured down, coating the blood-covered ground in an eerie glow.
“Why…” The black-clothed man’s voice seemed to be squeezed out between clenched teeth. “Why must you kill me… I still have value.”
Ye Jisheng said, “You talk too much.”
The black-clothed man exhausted all his strength trying to reach out and grab the corner of his robe. “I can be your pawn…”
Ye Jisheng watched as the man was swallowed by the soul fire, his gaze indifferent, as if looking at an ant. “You’re not worthy.”
Endless soul fire instantly burned the man to ashes. Only the blood spread across the ground remained as the red moonlight fell, dyeing the entire world in a cruel hue.
Ye Jisheng turned his head and looked toward the little grass on the windowsill.
Jian Zhen’s heart trembled. Those red eyes were even more vivid than usual, as if stained with blood, dangerous to the extreme.
Yet Ye Jisheng smiled and said slowly, “Awake?”
Just like his usual casual chatting, yet Jian Zhen knew that his state today was very wrong. The curse was spreading; the killing intent over his entire body swelled in the air like flames. The pressure belonging to a demon god made it so that no one dared approach within several li, as if the person who slaughtered everything that day had returned once more.
Almost in an instant, Ye Jisheng’s figure appeared beside the windowsill. He raised his hand, slender fingertips brushing across the thin, tender leaves of the immortal grass.
Jian Zhen could feel the scorching heat of his palm and the surging demonic qi. Because of the closeness, the bloody smell on him also faintly reached it. The screams from just now seemed to still echo through the hall, and its branches trembled slightly.
Ye Jisheng said, “Are you afraid of me?”
When the words fell, they carried an intense chill.
Jian Zhen’s entire grassy body shook. To be honest, over these hundred years together with the demon god, it really wasn’t that afraid anymore. Moreover, the person just now was clearly a traitor, and Ye Jisheng was not one to indiscriminately kill the innocent.
Thinking of this, the little grass in the flowerpot quietly moved closer again and gently rubbed against the back of his hand.
Ye Jisheng’s red eyes clearly reflected all of this. He curled his lips and spoke in a low voice, “Zhuzhu, you don’t need to be afraid. He colluded with outsiders, he deserved to die. You are different. This Venerable believes that you would never betray me, right?”
A certain grass suddenly stiffened.
Recalling that it was a twin immortal grass, with its other body still on the Immortal Venerable’s Spirit Mountain.
If…
If one day, after it took human form, everything was exposed, and Ye Jisheng found out that it had ties to the Immortal Clan, given the demon god’s extreme nature, would he… would he directly kill the grass to silence it?!
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