Lantern Festival · Wei Fengniang

  Yu Qing dragged on for nearly a month before finally bringing out the Wu Yin Mo Fan that he had long since mastered, and handed it over to Dong Xiu.

  That banner is made of crystal jade, with a gold inlaid hoop. The entire surface of the banner is woven from fire silkworm silk. With just a gentle flutter, it seems as if a flame is burning, with countless sparks jumping up along with the waving of the banner. Twelve talismans hide the fire kindling, sometimes visible and sometimes invisible.

  Dong Xiu held the magic flag, reluctant to let go, and suddenly pointed at Wu Fan. She silently recited the magic spell that Yue Qing had taught her, and Wu Fan immediately became paralyzed, unable to move. He was so frightened that his face turned pale and he cried out: "Miss Dong, spare my life!"

  Dong Xiu remained unmoved, and with a flick of his sleeve, Wu Fan knelt on the ground, sometimes acting like a tiger pouncing, sometimes like a dog crawling. Later, he even imitated a snake, moving only his body without using his hands or feet, crawling up and down the steps.

  Dong Xiu tried for about a quarter of an hour before rolling up the banner, withdrawing his magic, and Wu Fan collapsed to the ground, unable to get up for half a day.

  Yue Qing helped Wu Fan up, letting him lean against the pillar to catch his breath. Then he said to Dong Xiu: "The yin demon comes without a shadow and leaves without a trace, even the heavenly immortal can't defend against them. I heard that in over ten years, you will face the Great Tribulation of the Scattered Immortals. You can use this treasure to control demons with demons and safely pass through the demonic tribulation of the three tribulations."

  Dong Xiu was overjoyed: "Thank you, young master, for your hard work these past few days. You know that I'm a poor person and don't have much to repay you with. Originally, I wanted to give you a copy of the Tianmo Secret Manual that I obtained from Moon Island, but Sister Xu said that you only like the orthodox methods of the Xuanmen and don't like the cunning ways of the demonic path, so I gave up on it. After some thought, I realized that there's only one thing that might be worthy of your attention." She then took out the Golden Linked Ring from her sleeve: "This Dragon Bird Ring is a treasure refined by Lian Shan Da Shi, one of the three old masters of Emei. It must have some special properties. This treasure has been with me for many years, but I've never been able to fully master it. Having it here with me is like having a precious gem covered in dust. Giving it to you, a master of refining treasures, would be like letting it see the light of day again. Please, young master, don't decline my offer!"

  "That's what I mean, if I don't accept it, it would be looking down on you." Yue Qing took the Dragon Bird Ring with an attitude as if he didn't put it in his eyes and casually received it into his treasure pouch.

  Dong Xiu watched him act like this, and was even more convinced that the Long Que ring was not as good as the Yin Mo banner. Moreover, the other half of the ring was in the hands of the two old men on Mount Song, and who knows when they would come to ask for it back? It was more like the purple and blue double swords hanging over her head, ready to drop at any moment. Now that she had given the Long Que ring to Yue Qing, she had not only exchanged a favor but also sent away the root of trouble, and thought she had gained a huge advantage, almost laughing with her mouth wide open.

  Yue Qing took out the Longque Ring and handed it to Xu Fei Niang: "Sister insisted on refining the Tianmo Zhuxian Sword, and I couldn't stop her. However, that sword is not ordinary, and if one is not careful, the demonic energy on the sword will backlash. This Longque Ring was one of the four treasures used by Master Lianshan to suppress the mountain, although it's only half a set, but using it to protect your primordial spirit and resist demonic invasion should be enough."

  Xu Fei hesitated for a moment before taking it: "Now that the Dragon Bird Ring is in hand, shouldn't the next one be the Xuan Guang ruler?"

  "Hmm, judging from San Feng's expression today, there shouldn't be a big problem. She'll probably come to us on her own initiative before long."

  "After the Xuan Guang ruler comes the Tianyi True Water, doesn't your junior brother Taizhen Qingning want it?"

  "One must not be too greedy, besides, once we've gathered enough materials, we'll return to Wutai Mountain and refine our own treasure. The Wutai Sect is also a renowned sect, it's not good to always use others' things. Moreover, Jin Xu Nu is also a cunning person, it's really not easy to make a move."

  The two of them thought about the current situation again, and Yue Qing said: "We will still have to rely on the Purple Cloud Palace to resist Emei in the future, so we can't weaken them too much, let alone make enemies with them. San Feng and Dong Xiu are both narrow-minded and greedy, so we must be careful in everything we do, and not give them any excuses to turn against us in the future. I plan to use a tactic of 'loosening the reins to tighten them later', and leave for a few days first, to tease her appetite."

  Xu Fei's wife said, "That's fine, but you killed two elders of the Emei School. Bai Yuanjing and his three men are now in a group, searching for revenge everywhere. In the past few days, they also killed two of our former fellow disciples, all of whom were ruthless door-destroyers. You go out alone, but be extremely careful. If anything happens, send a flying sword message to me immediately."

  Yue Qing bid farewell, saying he was going to the Western Kunlun Mountains to visit a friend. San Feng secretly became anxious and repeatedly tried to persuade him to stay, but Yue Qing's mind was made up. Fortunately, Xu Fei Niang was still in the palace as a guest, so she felt at ease. She brought a group of people to personally escort Yue Qing to Yingxian Island.

  Yue Qing flew out of the South Sea and back to the mainland, heading southwest towards the edge of a river. He rose above the clouds, accelerating his sword light to incredible speeds, like a silver shooting star. In just over half a day, he flew from the Purple Cloud Palace to the Green Spiral Mountain, passing over the Clear Far Temple at the crossroads. He paused for a moment, seeing in the distance a large warm valley with lush green trees and vibrant flowers, surrounded by glazed golden tiles that contrasted sharply with the snow-capped mountains around it. Certain that this was the Green Spiral Valley, he descended diagonally on his sword light.

  "Halt, who goes there? How dare you spy on Qingxiao Gorge!" Just as Yue Qing arrived at the entrance of the valley, a man with all his hair tied up in small braids came forward to block him, using his flying sword to counter Yue Qing's sword light.

  "Go tell Wei Fengniang that Wutai Pai's Yue Qinyin has arrived."

  "What's the Five Elements Sect?" The man was taken aback. "You wait here, don't dare to enter the valley casually, otherwise you'll stir up the killing array and be torn to pieces. Don't go crying to King Yama later!" After finishing speaking, he adjusted his sword light and flew into the valley.

  Yue Qing followed behind him, walking into the valley. However, this valley was secretly a Heaven's End Killing Array. One wrong step would trigger icy air and dark thunder, freezing people solid and blasting them to pieces. But Yue Qing was quite familiar with this array, so he turned left and right, circling around several times. The scenery in front of him suddenly changed; what seemed like a fake mountain became the entrance to a palace after just one step. He stepped up onto the stairs, pushed open the door, and saw that on the thick carpet inside, a young woman was embracing a robust youth. Both were completely naked, rolling around on the carpet, kissing passionately. Suddenly, the door opened, and they were startled. The woman's face turned red with anger: "Didn't I tell you not to disturb us?! You can't even endure your daily cultivation, always so impatient and jealous. Do you think I'm afraid to kill you?!" As she spoke, a yellow sword light shot out, filling the entire room with a golden glow.

  Yue Qing saw her flying sword coming with evil intentions, and she actually really tried to kill him. Not daring to be slow, she released her own flying sword to resist: "Wei Xiaomei, do you want to use your flying sword to kill me?"

  Wei Fengniang heard his voice, and her body shook suddenly, both surprised and delighted. She quickly recalled the flying sword and wrapped a piece of gauze from the side rack around her body. Standing up, she looked towards the door and saw Yue Qing, even more joyful: "Yue Xiaoge! It's really you!" Thinking about her current situation, her face turned red again: "Yue Xiaoge, please rest in the side hall for a while, let me take a bath and change clothes before we meet." Then she grabbed some clothes and threw them at the man on the ground: "Hurry up and put on your clothes, prepare a good wine table, and send it to the side hall!"

  That man was his disciple, named Di Xiang. He was putting on his clothes while looking at Wei Fengniang and Yue Qing with a surprised expression. This was because Wei Fengniang had an extremely promiscuous nature, often not hesitating to flirt openly with men she liked in broad daylight. However, she was also very domineering, only allowing the man she fancied to have her in his heart, forbidding him from finding another woman. Therefore, she wouldn't go outside to seduce others; if there was someone she fancied, she would wait for them to come to Qingluo Gorge and bestow upon them a palace house to raise them up, just like an emperor's harem. Those she especially loved would even be taught a few magical spells.

  At first, Di was just her apprentice, but because of his good looks and physique, he was forced to become her lover. Such things were common in Qingluo Valley, and they had been caught by others many times, including her friends like Buluoyin and Du Long. She didn't mind at all, and would simply continue with what she was doing after being interrupted, getting dressed and talking to people as if nothing had happened. But today, she looked shy and flustered, which made him think that the newcomer must be someone special in Wei Fengniang's eyes. He quickly got dressed and went out to order wine and food, because although Wei Fengniang treated them like servants, she was ruthless when angry, as seen from how she had beaten even her favorite, Xu Renlong, with 500 cowhide whips just two days ago.

  Yue Qing walked into the side hall and sat down, looking at the furnishings in the room, which were still quite elegant. There was a luohan bed, a taishi chair, a crystal lamp, a jade ruyi, an "Autumn Frost Mountain Dwelling" painting on the east wall, and a jiaotou fenghuang qin placed beside it on the west wall. At first glance, it seemed just like the refined study of a noble family in the mortal world. He walked over to the west wall and plucked a few strings with his fingers, producing a clear and crisp sound that was surprisingly good.