Chapter 23: Little Qian

  The two of them sighed a few times, skirted around the main hall, and headed towards the monks' quarters. As expected, they saw only two monks' quarters, but both had their double doors slightly ajar. However, they noticed a small hut to the south with its door and windows looking brand new. The two of them suspected that there might still be monks here, so they didn't dare to enter, instead strolling around waiting for the monks to return.

  Also see the east hall, with bamboo handles and a huge pool under the steps, the fragrance of wild lotus flowers lingers, making it even more desolate.

  At dusk, a gentleman returned and opened the door of the small house on the south side. The two hastened to come forward and pay their respects, stating their intention.

  The gentleman was quite generous: "I am also a temporary resident here, and there is no distinction between host and guest. Living alone in solitude, it's already fortunate to meet the two of you. After putting away your luggage, come to my place for a small drink, may I?"

  Xu Xianxi said: "Just as I intended." Without needing to tidy up, the two of them simply used a mat as a bed and a board as a table, casually arranging things.

  It was a clear and bright moonlit night, with a gentle light like water. Three people sat together in the temple corridor, each stating their surname and given name. The scholar said his surname was Yan, and his given name was Chi Xia.

  Xu Xian was shocked and pale: "What? You're Yan Chixia?"

  Xu Xian felt that his head was very confused. He had seen "The Legend of the White Snake" countless times, and it should have been a Ming dynasty thing, but Pu Songling was a Qing dynasty person. Of course, these stories were all heard from others, passed down by word of mouth, but he didn't know exactly when or where they took place either.

  It was probably at this moment and in this place that Xu Xian suddenly realized something deeply.

  Yan Chixia asked in surprise: "Has this young master heard of my name?"

  Xu Xian reluctantly replied: "It seems vaguely familiar, but I've never actually heard it before. Whatever, let's just drink."

  Ning Caichen and Yan Chixia were both unconventional people who didn't stand on ceremony. The three of them sat down on the ground, drank wine and chatted, feeling extremely carefree.

  Some gods thought that Xu Xian glanced at Ning Caichen and thought: Big brother, you are the protagonist tonight! He had already figured it out, this should be a plot in the book, not in the movie. That night, he shouldn't have to fight any big BOSS like Hei Shan Lao Yao. In the end, with Yan Chi Xia's help, Ning Caichen easily escaped and took Nie Xiaoqian away, a very ordinary happy ending, but isn't it good?

  But whether it was fate or mere coincidence, as long as one just stood by and watched, they would pass by. To say that he had no thoughts about the little Qian at all was a lie, but since he already had Bai Suzhen, why bother destroying someone else's happiness?

  Xu Xian put down his thoughts, and the three of them chatted and laughed freely. They were all straightforward people, and their conversation was particularly pleasant. Ning Caichen suspected that Yan Chixia was a candidate, as it was the time of the Jinhua County children's examination, and students from the villages and towns had all gone to take the exam. However, hearing his accent was not from Zhejiang, he couldn't help but ask.

  "Where is Brother Yan from?"

  "I am a Qin person." In modern times, it refers to the Shaanxi-Gansu region. Those who have heard people from that area speak understand that their words come with a natural air of simplicity and sincerity, which is in line with Yan Chixia's style.

  Xu Xian asked him why he came here, but Yan Chixia just smiled and didn't answer.

  The night grew darker, and the three of them bid each other farewell, returning to their respective rooms to rest. Originally, Xu Xian was supposed to share a room with Ning Caichen, but in order not to affect his romantic luck, he voluntarily moved into another room.

  Xu Xian thought about everything that would happen tonight, tossing and turning restlessly in bed. The cold moonlight poured into the room through the broken window frame, while the autumn wind hummed as it swept across the corridor outside. This scene was even more cinematic than a movie itself.

  But he calmed down and thought carefully, today's events, he must have seen them somewhere. Ah, it was "Nie Xiaoqian" in "Liaozhai Zhiyi". Ning Caichen's sentence "I am not a second color in my life" is not the first sentence of the opening? He recalled carefully, muttering "Arrived at Jinhua, arrived at Beiguo, met Lanruo." Aren't these eleven words the experience of the two people in the past two days? He seemed to have plunged into that text like a dream.

  Xu Xian couldn't help but smile, if he himself had traveled through time to the present, wouldn't it be just like being in a dream? Profound and mysterious, strange and wonderful, if this were truly a dream, then one should make the most of it and have a good dream. He whispered to himself:

  "The west wind blows fiercely and breaks the window frame, the autumn grass is full of the empty courtyard, the moonlight shines through the flying eaves, illuminating the half-green moss on the wall."

  Just as he finished his humming, a sudden sound of footsteps came from outside the house. In this desolate and quiet mountain temple, it was especially eerie.

  Xu Xian stealthily peered through the broken window lattice, fortunately tonight's moonlight was bright, under the moon it was no different from daytime, but where the moonlight couldn't reach, it was pitch black, in this strange night, the boundary between light and darkness was exceptionally clear.

  Outside the corridor was a vacant lot filled with autumn grass, and at the end of the vacant lot was a low wall. On the other side of the low wall was a small courtyard. Xu Xian noticed that the courtyard was quiet and deserted during the day, but now there was a woman in her 40s standing there.

  The moonlight pours down, without shadows.

  Xu Xian held his breath and widened his eyes even more, what happened next was something he couldn't have seen in his past life.

  Sure, here is the translation:

  As expected, another stooping and hunchbacked old woman came along, wearing a faded red dress, but with a silver hairpin in her hair that shone brightly in the moonlight.

  Xu Xian stretched his ears and immediately heard it.

  The woman complained: "Why hasn't Xia Qian come yet?"

  The wife bowed her head and coughed twice, saying: "Soon, soon."

  The woman said with displeasure: "Hasn't she complained about her grandmother recently?"

  The old woman chuckled twice, and the sound was like a broken windbox, making Xu Xian's heart cold. All he heard was the old woman saying: "Since she came here, have you ever heard her complain to anyone?"

  The woman frowned and said: "This little girl's thoughts are too deep, she is not one of us."

  As soon as the words fell, she raised her head and saw a 17 or 18-year-old woman standing in the dark corner. The woman's heart skipped a beat, and her spiritual sense didn't detect any difference, this little girl's cultivation had improved again. The woman's eyes gazed over, it was unknown whether she heard what she said earlier or not, or if she had been listening all along.

  The woman forced a smile and said, "Oh, isn't this Xiao Qian? It seems that one really can't gossip about people behind their backs. Grandma and I were just talking about you, and then you little demon quietly appeared. Fortunately, we didn't say anything bad."

  The old lady said in a low and gloomy voice: "Little girl, you are as beautiful as a painting. If I were a man, I'm afraid I would have been captivated by you too."

  Xiao Qian said in a cold and calm voice: "Apart from Grandma, who else would speak well of Xiao Qian?"

  Xu Xian couldn't help but secretly praise her in the darkness. This little Qian was truly a stunning beauty, no less than the actress who played her in the movie. Her skin was even paler, her eyebrows slightly furrowed, and her beautiful eyes seemed to hold a thousand grievances. The kind of delicate, sickly beauty she possessed was something that no actor could ever express.

  But thinking that such a beauty would soon belong to Ning Caichen, as a man, he couldn't help but feel a little melancholy. Laozi said "Not seeing what is desirable, the heart is not disturbed." Xu Xian had seen what was desirable, and his heart naturally became a bit restless, but he wouldn't do anything about it. As he immersed himself in the Taoist practices he did every day, breathing in and out the power of the sun, all sorts of emotions dissipated, and his heart was filled with an endless calmness. There was no sorrow or joy, nor any worries.

  The dazzling sun in the divine soul also began to radiate light, and after cultivating for so long, it had grown to the size of a child's fist. The light became even more dazzling, especially on nights when the moon was full, a thread of cool energy would surge into the body, making the turbulent sun less violent, yet able to absorb even more light.

  At this time, the light in Shen Hun was even more intense, but of course, this light was invisible to ordinary people. But there is only one ordinary person in Lanruo Temple, Ning Cai Chen!

  The first to notice was Yan Chixia, who stared straight at the position where Xu Xian was resting through the wall, thinking: I didn't expect that Xu Xian would be a cultivator. Looking at his skills, his Taoist cultivation is probably not inferior to mine. I couldn't see it during the day, which is really strange.

  But he is a broad-minded person, others don't mention it, and he doesn't go into details. Practitioners have their own paths, although they are rarely seen, but they won't change their posts to worship and form gangs, that's what ordinary people in the Jianghu love to do, because of weakness, they need accomplices.

  Even if fellow travelers meet in this mundane world, a conversation and a smile, tonight will pass, tomorrow will also be a stranger. It's not that they are heartless, but when they set foot on this path, they have already destined to be lonely.

  Xiao Qian had just walked to the front of Ning Cai Chen's door, her slender hand reached out and lightly placed on the door, the door latch was already broken, she only needed a light push to walk into her own fate, but at this time, the courtyard next door emitted a golden glow.

  Xiao Qian gazed at the golden light, her eyes fixed for a moment, then withdrew her hand and walked slowly towards Xu Xian's room.

  Xu Xian, with his eyes closed, still didn't know what he had changed in his ignorance.

  Xiao Qian felt the scorching heat of the light as she approached Xu Xian's house, which had a natural restraining effect on her yin ghost body. If she hadn't cultivated to a certain level, she probably wouldn't have been able to get close at all.

  Xiao Qian's light footsteps became increasingly slow, but she still persisted in walking forward. Finally, her hand reached the door of Xu Xian's house and gently pushed it open, causing the door to creak with a strange noise.

  The door is open!

  The sudden surge of scorching heat gave Xiao Qian an illusion that she was burning, but with this golden intense light, a thread of warmth poured into her icy body.

  Xiao Qian suddenly had an epiphany, and her heart was shocked. Wasn't this the yang energy she needed?

  The cultivation of monsters and ghosts relies on the moon's glow. "Spitting pearls under the moon" refers to the fact that in the dead of night, monsters spit out their internal elixir to absorb the moon's glow, although ghosts do not have an internal elixir, but relying on the moon's glow for cultivation is the same.

  But the cultivation of ghost objects has a threshold, if it cannot be passed, at most it can only become a ghost fairy, but it is difficult to achieve great success. This threshold requires the yang energy of living people. However, the power of the sun is so scorching hot that even the orthodox cultivators who cultivate by absorbing star power in the Star Ocean find it difficult to utilize, let alone these demons and ghosts.

  The light emitted by Xū Xiān at this moment is extremely pure yang energy.

  Xiao Qian hesitated for a moment outside the door, but then heard a voice from inside asking "Who is it?" It turned out that Xu Xian had already woken up.