Chapter 227: Shengxian River

“Dream?”

“Why do you always think you’re dreaming?”

The black-robed elder asked, somewhat helplessly.

Qiao Min replied, “If I told you I saw the Universal Immortal, would you believe me?”

“What!” The black-robed elder quickly flashed to Qiao Min’s side, placed a hand on her shoulder, and said seriously, “When did you see him, where did you see him? Quickly tell me!”

Seeing how excited the elder was, Qiao Min was startled.

Just now, when the black-robed elder rushed over, she hadn’t been able to react.

If the dream were true, she would have been able to avoid the rapid attacks from the lead wolf!

But now, with the black-robed elder rushing up, she couldn’t even respond at all.

This was enough to prove that the elder’s strength was far beyond that of the lead wolf.

Qiao Min took a step back, and the hand that had been resting on her shoulder slowly lowered. “Elder, before I tell you, please answer two questions truthfully.”

The black-robed elder paused and said, “Go ahead.”

Qiao Min asked, “May I ask, after leaving the village, did you receive any distress signals from us?”

“No… I was far away, and to come here, I had to use a medium to summon the deity. The medium had measures to prevent demons from getting close and damaging it, but before the wolf demons attacked the village, the medium was already destroyed.”

“I sensed it at the time, but I was dealing with other matters, so I couldn’t make it here… Of course, even with my speed, even if I had arrived, I probably could only avenge the villagers by collecting their bodies…”

The black-robed elder’s tone and expression were very sincere. Even when Qiao Min didn’t immediately answer his question but instead asked him questions, he didn’t show any displeasure.

After thinking for a moment, Qiao Min continued, “Then may I ask, do you have the ability to kill this group of wolf demons?”

The black-robed elder replied, “I do.”

Qiao Min asked, “Then why didn’t you clear out these wolf demons back then?”

“If I had done that, there might not have been the problems afterward…?”

“Of course, I don’t mean to question you, Elder. After all, you really did help our village… Though I’m small, I understand that helping is kindness, and not helping is a matter of duty.”

Upon hearing this, the black-robed elder replied, “Child, these wolf demons have a strong sense of territory… Even if I had killed them, new demons would still come…”

“Do you understand this?”

“I understand.” Qiao Min nodded, then changed the subject, recounting everything she had seen and heard earlier.

After hearing her, the black-robed elder’s expression became extremely excited, and he trembled as he said, “Master, the Master has arrived!”

“I never imagined that what I thought in my mind would be so similar to the appearance of the Master!”

“Wonderful! Truly wonderful!”

Seeing the elder’s attitude, Qiao Min asked in confusion, “Elder… you mean you had never seen Sir’s appearance before?”

“To be honest, that’s the case.” At this point, the black-robed elder’s tone shifted, and he continued, “Child, you have received the true teachings of the Master… What are you planning to do from now on?”

Qiao Min replied flatly, “Slay demons.”

For some reason, when Qiao Min uttered these two words, the black-robed elder inexplicably felt a chill at the back of his neck. “Child… the definition of demons isn’t necessarily black and white, just like people…”

“For example, take me… I’m just a yellow weasel who has cultivated into a demon.”

Qiao Min replied, “I know. My sword smelled the spiritual energy on you.”

“That…” The black-robed elder was momentarily speechless. “Then don’t you think you should slay me?”

Qiao Min shook her head, “Even if you’re a demon, you’re a good one. Otherwise, you wouldn’t have protected Stone Village, nor would you have rushed back when you heard that something had happened there.”

“Sir told me to stay true to my heart, distinguish right from wrong, recognize good and evil, and never kill demons for the sake of killing… I know what I should do and won’t target good demons like you, Elder.”

One word from the Master was enough to make a girl, whose entire family was killed by demons, understand all this.

The black-robed elder’s eyes shifted slightly, and he said solemnly, “Good! Since that’s the case, you should come with me… I have established another Universal Temple elsewhere, to help protect the lives of the people from evil demons…”

“Alright, I have nowhere else to go, so I’ll go with you, Elder.” As she said this, Qiao Min looked around and then continued, “But may I bury the villagers here before we leave?”

The black-robed elder nodded. “Good girl! Of course, you may!”

The sky was clear, with no clouds in sight. Gu Ning’an descended slowly from the air, landing under the shade of a tree.

He straightened his hair, which had been ruffled by the wind, and walked along a narrow river about five zhang wide,¹ heading toward the nearby village.

After leaving Stone Village, he had flown to three remote villages, finding the “Universal Temple” that had been built to offer incense to him.

After confirming that there had been no disasters like the one in Stone Village, he left a trace of his power on the statues in each place, so that if something similar were to happen after his departure, he could intervene.

This place in front of him appeared to be a region where several villages had merged together, and it was the final stop.

Since it was the last place, and he hadn’t sensed any demonic aura from the air, he decided to walk.

From his visits to the previous Universal Temples, he had seen the wooden carvings used by the “short old man” for spirit descent.

Upon seeing a complete carving, he was sure that the one who had established the temple and gathered incense offerings was actually the yellow weasel encountered by Old Ma many years ago.

It was a creature originally from Great Qian, but it had come to Great Wu.

And it was using his name to gather incense power… Was this out of gratitude, or was there something more to it?

While he was pondering, he glanced to the side and saw an old man fishing by the river, who had caught something.

With a splash, a grass carp, about the length of an arm, was pulled up from the water.

“Beautiful, beautiful!” The old man laughed, taking the hook out of the fish’s mouth and tossing it into a nearby wooden barrel. He then noticed Gu Ning’an standing not far behind him.

“Sir, would you like to buy some fish?”

“Freshly caught, freshly grilled, freshly sold, only one copper coin!”

“The fish from Shengxian River is really fresh!”

“The Emperor himself says it’s good!”

Hearing this, Gu Ning’an took a few steps forward and smiled. “Elder, is this river called the Immortal River² because immortals have passed through here?”

“Shengxian…” The fisherman furrowed his brow. “It’s not immortals (shenxian), it’s Shengxian… as in to remain (sheng) fresh (xian)…”

Shengxian River?

The old man’s accent made it sound just like Immortal River.

Gu Ning’an laughed and replied, “I’ll buy a fish. Elder, could you tell me what makes Shengxian River so special?”

“Alright, alright!”

Seeing a customer, the fisherman immediately started a fire to grill the fish.