“A ghostly creature!” Seeing the skeleton frame that suddenly appeared before his eyes, Qin Jianglan’s gaze turned sharp.

He had summoned Su Zhuyi, who bore his Zhuxin Curse. Why would a little skull appear now? If he couldn’t tell at a glance that this was a powerful boy, he would have suspected this was Su Zhuyi. After all, Su Zhuyi from over eleven hundred years ago was also just a five-year-old little girl.

The Liuguang Mirror had brought him back eleven hundred years.

His current bone age was exactly three hundred years, having just descended from the mountain not long ago. Along the way, he had been subduing demons and monsters. At this time, he hadn’t yet reached the northwestern Changning Village. The Liuguang Mirror had brought him back to the past, yet also to another realm entirely.

This skull must be beside Su Zhuyi, and might even be harming her. If he was harming her and had come into contact with the Zhuxin Curse, could he be digging out her heart? Thinking this, Qin Jianglan’s heart felt as if someone had severely squeezed it. Without time to consider anything else, his eyes became cold as frost, and the sharp sword in his hand swept out, striking the skull.

At three hundred years old, Qin Jianglan had already achieved some success in the Sword Dao. Though his current cultivation was somewhat low, his understanding of the Sword Dao remained, and his sword intent was naturally not to be underestimated. Pine welcomes snow, verdant green overflowing. Yet when the sword light fell on Little Skull, it didn’t even leave a single scratch.

However, after being struck by a sword, Little Skull stopped wailing. He stood there in a daze, looking up at Qin Jianglan with his pair of black hole eyes. After a long while, he came to his senses, then began crying sadly again, crying while shouting, “Daddy, big sister, big sister…”

Only then did Qin Jianglan realize that although this skull was a ghostly creature, there wasn’t a trace of a fierce aura about it. The aura emanating from him was very clean and pure, not at all like a vicious creature. Most importantly, this skull was very powerful – even his crying carried intimidating pressure. If he wanted to kill Su Zhuyi, Su Zhuyi wouldn’t be able to survive at all. Also, he had just called out “big sister.” Hearing this form of address, Qin Jianglan’s thoughts stirred. He sheathed his sword, his brow relaxing as he asked, “Who is your big sister?”

Little Skull answered while crying, “She’s my big sister.”

“Does she have a name?”

“Little Master.”

Qin Jianglan: “…”

“Who was just with you?” This skull looked extremely innocent – he didn’t know how it had been raised. If it went astray following Su Zhuyi and went around killing and setting fires, who knows how many people’s fates would be changed? At that time, the Heavenly Dao would tolerate her even less.

“It was big sister. After she woke up from sleep, her heart hurt.” Hearing this answer, Qin Jianglan became even more certain that Su Zhuyi had been together with Little Skull before. Could it be that because Little Skull’s strength was greater, this otherworldly summoning had grabbed him instead? And he called Su Zhuyi big sister, which was enough to show their relationship was good, and Little Skull’s strength was so powerful…

Could it be that Su Zhuyi had painstakingly obtained a powerful ghostly creature as her subordinate? The previous disturbances of the Zhuxin Curse were probably dangers she encountered while subduing it. This meant she had finally found a reliable helper, but he had inadvertently summoned it away.

Qin Jianglan: “…”

Su Zhuyi was probably jumping mad with rage right now. The image of her furious face floated before his eyes, and Qin Jianglan’s lips curved up slightly. That smile was like a flower’s reflection in water – as water waves cleared and ripples spread, the flower scattered in the water’s center. Qin Jianglan’s gaze gradually deepened, his eyes falling on the ancient scroll.

The current Su Zhuyi was too weak and could not protect herself, yet her ambitions were great. She was unwilling to be subordinate to others. Even before her rebirth, she had thought of becoming the world’s number one, killing anyone who stood in her way…

He had to send Su Zhuyi’s little skull back.

However, the ancient scroll didn’t record any method for sending things back.

What should he do now? Looking at Little Skull, who was still crying, crying while using his hand bones to support his jawbone, Qin Jianglan walked up to him. Looking at the little skull who didn’t even reach his waist, he crouched down to meet his eyes at the same level, lowering his voice somewhat. “Stop crying. I’m your big sister’s friend. For now, you’ll stay with me, and I’ll find a way to take you to her.”

His appearance was otherworldly, his voice cool and clear, yet his words carried a soothing power that could calm one’s heart.

Little Skull tilted his head to look at him, still unable to stop crying, though his voice was somewhat quieter, still sobbing intermittently.

Qin Jianglan had never coaxed a child. He had just struck Little Skull with his sword in a moment of urgency and felt somewhat guilty about it. Plus, he called Su Zhuyi big sister, so Qin Jianglan, loving the house and its crow, developed tolerance for this skeleton creature. After hesitating for a moment, he reached out and gently touched Little Skull’s head.

Little Skull looked up at him with his dark eye sockets, and after a long while said, “Hungry.”

Hungry, needed to eat spirit stones.

Qin Jianglan had spirit stones and quickly handed several over. If this little skull only ate spirit stones, it would be quite difficult for a five-year-old Su Zhuyi to support him, Qin Jianglan thought silently.

Little Skull finished eating but was still sobbing. He said, “Uncle, please sing me a song.”

He stood firm. “When daddy sings to me, I stop crying.”

Qin Jianglan: “…”

Su Zhuyi was the big sister, so he was an uncle. Although this form of address wasn’t problematic, there was still a faint trace of displeasure in his heart.

He focused his gaze on Little Skull, wondering in his heart how Su Zhuyi could tolerate this little skull. Crying and wailing, eating spirit stones, and wanting people to sing songs – with Su Zhuyi’s temperament, she might have kicked him to pieces long ago. Then, thinking that five-year-old Su Zhuyi was so weak, even if she had the intention, she probably couldn’t do anything to this little skull.

“I don’t know how.” He was a master of the Yunxiao Sect, an omnipotent master in his disciples’ eyes. He could recite incantations and perform hand seals, call wind and rain, and cut through mountains and rivers with his sword, but he had never opened his mouth to sing even one song. That demoness, however, would hum melodious and graceful little tunes in the bamboo house every day when he was reciting calming mantras.

“If you don’t know, you can learn. I’ll teach you.”

“Uncle, you sang it wrong.”

“Wrong again…”

Probably from reciting too many incantations, when Qin Jianglan sang songs, it was like reciting spells – there was no musical rise and fall at all, never landing on the proper tune. He had never known that he could be so, so clumsy and powerless. It was as if even his tongue wouldn’t straighten.

Unconsciously humming the little tune that Su Zhuyi hummed every day, Qin Jianglan discovered that probably only when humming this melody he had heard for six hundred years would his voice carry any fluctuation…

Stars filled the sky above, the night hazy and dim.

A sword cultivator in flowing robes traveled alongside a little skull that only reached his thigh. The sword cultivator wore black robes, only the emerald green hair tie standing out, like two green bamboo leaves that had fallen on his hair knot. Little Skull’s bones were like jade, his entire body shining brightly, emitting a lustrous glow in the night. Their footsteps were silent, only the rustling sound of wind responding.

“My daddy, daddy, daddy daddy…” Without a tongue, his speech didn’t get tangled, but his jaw rattled with clicking sounds.

“Mm?”

“Is accompanying me in the wind, hahaha.” Little Skull looked at Qin Jianglan’s hand, then suddenly raised his claw and gently grasped Qin Jianglan’s sleeve.

Qin Jianglan paused slightly, then his large palm opened and grasped a section of a small hand bone.

Walking forward together, they didn’t yet understand loneliness, while he was already full of longing.

…

The night in Changning Village was very quiet. After Hunter Zhang’s death, there weren’t even any dog barks anymore.

Su Zhuyi packed her things and prepared to leave. She brought two sets of clothes, some small gadgets she had made before, a stack of talismans she had drawn, and then there wasn’t much else to take. She had originally wanted to make another straw substitute before setting out, but firstly time was tight, and secondly she couldn’t gather all the materials.

The merchant caravan would arrive soon, and this time, there were even Righteous Path Feihong Sect cultivators coming to recruit disciples. Her female identity naturally couldn’t be hidden, and the lie about being a little monk would be exposed with one poke. Moreover, she had previously placed curse talismans in the villagers’ wells. Although they hadn’t been used, the well water had been tampered with after all. Even though there had been a heavy rainstorm, some traces would remain. Rather than bother dealing with it, she was too lazy to care and would just leave directly.

After a month, she would have fled to the ends of the earth. Even if those cultivators noticed something, they surely wouldn’t search everywhere for her. Besides, Feihong Sect wouldn’t be jumping around for many more days before being destroyed by Luo Ying’s disciple, so where would they find the opportunity to trouble her…

She hadn’t thought about saying goodbye to anyone. They were all going to die anyway, so why waste words? The Liuguang Mirror was originally a Dao artifact that Heaven wouldn’t tolerate. Her return was already going against Heaven. The more fates she changed, the deeper her tribulations would probably be. Su Zhuyi had no spirit of self-sacrifice for others – it was already good enough that she didn’t actively kill people. You must know that before her rebirth, she had no feelings for the Changning Village villagers who had bullied her and wanted nothing more than to raise her hand and destroy them. Now, she was too lazy to act.

Su Zhuyi lifted the curtain and went outside. She saw the willow branches of the old willow tree hanging down to the small temple’s entrance. As soon as she went out, her head bumped into a soft branch. It was now the end of February. Other plants in Changning Village were still bare, but the old willow tree had sprouted new buds. That fresh, tender green even glowed faintly in the night.

Su Zhuyi saw the willow branch that had touched her forehead, curled her lip, directly pinched off that willow branch and put it in her mouth to chew, muttering a couple of sentences, “New buds have more spiritual energy than old leaves. The spirit stones were absorbed quite well…”

There would be quite a few wild beasts along the way. If she couldn’t find spirit herbs, it would be quite troublesome. Better to dig up some old tree roots to take along for sustenance.

She pinched off leaves and also dug up some tree roots to stuff into her bundle. After doing all this, the old willow tree did not react. Su Zhuyi thought the old tree should have hit her, considering she had dug up so many tree roots. However, it didn’t do that…

Only when a breeze blew past, the whole tree’s tender leaves rustle and sway. Those leaves were like jade stones, glittering brilliantly under the starlight.

Su Zhuyi had no storage pouch. Carrying a heavy bundle, she had already walked more than ten feet away, yet those willow branches hung down like ten thousand silk ribbons, still suspended above her head, gently swaying, cutting through the night wind.

She thought about it, then returned to the base of the old tree, circling it once. Her gaze fell on the small holes in the old tree’s body. Those small holes had dark patterns on the outside, like growing ears. Su Zhuyi stuck her finger into a small hole to feel around, then took out her natal hoe. After shrinking it, she held the hoe in her hand and weighed it several times.

Now, at the third layer of Qi Refining, she could also shrink the hoe to palm size. Su Zhuyi clicked her tongue twice and, gripping the small hoe, began carving characters on the tree.

“If you don’t fly, that’s fine, but once you fly, soar to the sky; if you don’t cry out, that’s fine, but once you cry out, startle everyone. Su Zhuyi.”

After carving the characters, the old tree still rustled its leaves. Su Zhuyi then lowered her head and said quietly to the tree hole, “Seeing you’re sensible, I’ll tell you a secret.”

“In about a year and a half, evil people will harm you, burning you to ashes with a single fire.” After saying this, she patted the old tree’s trunk and said with a smile, “Cultivate well and become a spirit soon.”

No matter how powerful the old tree was, it couldn’t grow legs to run away in this year and a half.

Blood Asura Sect cultivators would come, so it definitely couldn’t escape. This way, even if she revealed heavenly secrets, she couldn’t change any fates.

After giving a perfunctory warning, Su Zhuyi cheerfully shouldered her bundle and left Changning Village in the dark. She walked along the small stream outside the village, channeling wisps of spiritual energy into her feet. By dawn, she had already reached Qilian Mountain.

Su Zhuyi didn’t choose to go to Yongan Town. If she remembered correctly, Suyue Sect would also recruit new disciples in the next year or two. After crossing Qilian Mountain and walking for about a month, she could reach Sufang City, where the Suyue Sect was located.

Suyue Sect was a female cultivator sect. Su Zhuyi chose this sect for no other reason than that the sect master was wealthy and had backing, and the disciples under her had good benefits.

It was just that simple!