Wen Zaiye didn’t want to talk to him too much, but after all, he was only sixteen years old, and young people always couldn’t keep their temper, “Chengfeng is impatient. This morning I heard Master and several elders talking, saying that Young Master Xingyuan fell, Xun Prefecture is full of strange arrays, vine demons are causing trouble, and there are countless deaths and injuries…A month and a half ago, Chengfeng said that he was about to reach Xun Prefecture, but now there is no news, I’m afraid–”
Wen Heshen thought for a while and said, “Isn’t Young Master Xingyuan Chengfeng’s elder brother?”
“Mm.” Wen Zaiye thought of Ning Chengfeng’s genius elder brother, and still couldn’t help but feel regretful, “Young Master Xingyuan was only ninety-nine years old, and he was already in the Great Perfection of Mahayana. The master had previously predicted that Young Master Xingyuan would ascend within two hundred years.”
Wen Heshen was still young, but he couldn’t help feeling sad because of his regretful tone, “But he’s dead.”
Wen Zaiye fell silent.
Because of Ning Chengfeng’s relationship, he had seen Ning Xingyuan several times. He was a gentle and modest young man who was kind to people. But it was such a good person who, in the world of cultivation where life spans were often hundreds or thousands of years, didn’t even live to be a hundred years old.
Even if one was only in the foundation-building stage, they could live up to three hundred years.
“Brother Chengfeng’s elder brother died, he must be very sad.” Wen Heshen nestled in his arms and said, “I once dreamed that you, brother, died, and I cried for a long time.”
“Dreams are always the opposite.” Wen Zaiye laughed, pinching his ear, “You’re so young, but you think a lot. Hurry up and sleep, or you won’t grow tall.”
Wen Heshen looked up at him, “Is it really the opposite?”
“Of course.” Wen Zaiye said seriously, “I’m going to live for a thousand years, and then I’ll take many disciples at the Thirteenth Peak, and they will all call you Martial Uncle.”
“Then if they can’t memorize the mantras like me, can I train them like Master trains me?” Wen Heshen asked.
“Of course.” Wen Zaiye laughed, “But you still have to be a good-tempered Martial Uncle, so that my disciples will like you.”
“Oh, then I won’t train them.” Wen Heshen muttered, “I have a good temper.”
Children have few worries, and once they speak them out, they forget them. But Wen Zaiye stayed awake until dawn.
A few days later, Wen Heshen was spanked by Wen Si for not memorizing the mental cultivation methods, and he hid on Changsheng Cliff, crying so hard that he couldn’t catch his breath.
Wen Zaiye found the crying little boy behind a sturdy maple tree, squatted down and wiped his tears with his sleeve, “Xiao He, Master is looking for you everywhere.”
“…Master is bad, he must want to spank me again.” Wen Heshen complained and was a little scared, sobbing, “Brother, I really can’t memorize it, it’s so long, why do I have to memorize these things I don’t understand?”
Wen Zaiye laughed, “You can practice and become powerful once you memorize it.”
“Will I be as powerful as you, Brother Chengfeng, and Brother Xiaoci?” Wen Heshen sniffed.
“You should be even more powerful.” Wen Zaiye coaxed him, “You’re much smarter than the three of us.”
Wen Heshen’s eyes lit up. For a ten-year-old child, the big brothers in their teens were his most admired role models. They were not as childish as his peers, nor as dull as their masters and uncles, they were always spirited.
“Then I will study hard.” Wen Heshen stood up, wiped his eyes, and was pulled by Wen Zaiye to walk down Changsheng Cliff. Halfway there, he smelled the aroma coming from the Meal Residence and couldn’t help swallowing, “Brother, I want to eat sugar-fried chestnuts.”
“I’ll buy it for you when you finish memorizing this chapter.”
“Okay!”
But that mental cultivation method was really too long. A ten-year-old child stumbled and stuttered for nearly half a month before he barely memorized it.
And the countless letters sent out by Wen Zaiye finally got a response.
He put the freshly bought sugar-fried chestnuts in his sleeve and hurried down the mountain.
He found Chengfeng in the town at the foot of Yunzhong Sect.
The little young master, who was always so precious that even his hair band had to be picked from the Jinyi Pavilion for a long time, was wearing a ragged cloth, holding a knife wrapped in cloth strips, standing in a narrow and cramped alley, hiding in the shadows with an indifferent expression, his cheeks were so thin that they were sunken, only his eyes were stubbornly bright.
But the moment he saw him, his eyes reddened, and then he tightened his jaw and lowered his eyes.
“Chengfeng!” Wen Zaiye ran over, looked him up and down, his eyes were sour, “Great, you’re okay, it’s really great!”
“I received all your letters.” Ning Chengfeng held the knife in his arms, the back of the thin young man’s hand showed blue veins because of excessive force, “It was inconvenient to reply before, I just came…to see you, and then I’m leaving.”
Wen Zaiye held his wrist and didn’t let go, “Where are you going?”
“I…” Ning Chengfeng choked, but couldn’t find a reason to lie, the whole person was like a tense blade, cold and silent.
Wen Zaiye said, “You come back to Yunzhong Sect with me.”
Wen Zaiye knew that it was not as he said that it was inconvenient to reply before. Now that everyone was shouting for the Ning family to be beaten, he must be afraid of dragging him down, so he was reluctant to reply.
He might really be at a dead end now, Wen Zaiye thought.
Ning Chengfeng stood silently in the shadows, not answering.
“Yunzhong Sect has not joined the Chongzheng Alliance, and it is far away from Xun Prefecture. Besides, my master is so powerful, those people dare not come to make trouble.” Wen Zaiye was confident, “The protective formation of the Thirteenth Peak is very powerful.”
Young people are always naive and reckless, with unrealistic expectations and confidence in themselves and others.
The masters who control them every day are so powerful in their eyes, otherwise how could they control them so obediently, and the names they carry out are all loud?
Ning Chengfeng pursed his lips, his eyes were dark blue, he had been running for these days, and he was already exhausted, he really wanted a place to have a good sleep.
Perhaps because Liu State was too far from Ning City, or perhaps because Wen Zaiye’s tone was too confident, or perhaps, he was really exhausted to the extreme, when Wen Zaiye pulled him up the mountain, he did not refuse.
The road up the mountain was still very long, and the red maple forest seemed to be burning, but this time they were all unusually silent.
Wen Zaiye didn’t ask anything about the Ning family, for fear of making his friend sad. He took out the chestnuts from his sleeve and handed them to Chengfeng, “Just bought, still hot.”
Ning Chengfeng didn’t have much appetite, but Wen Zaiye peeled a few for him and put them in his hand.
“Xiao He has been clamoring to eat for a long time, and I only bought it for him today.” Wen Zaiye said, “But it’s just right that you came.”
Ning Chengfeng smiled, but his face was full of reluctance. He ate a few hot chestnuts, “I ate his chestnuts, I’m afraid he will make a fuss with you.”
Seeing him smile, Wen Zaiye felt a bit relieved, “I’ll buy it for him again tomorrow.”
There were not a few people on the Thirteenth Peak, and after much thought, Wen Zaiye could only temporarily place him in the woodshed behind the Meal Residence.
“There are few people here, you’ll have to bear with it for one night. After I report to Master, he will arrange for you properly.” Wen Zaiye said with some guilt, “I should have gone down the mountain to find you earlier.”
Ning Chengfeng shook his head, “I’m already very grateful that you’re willing to take me in.”
“We’re good brothers, don’t be so polite or I’ll be annoyed.” Seeing his tired look, Wen Zaiye gave him all the elixirs and talismans he had on him, “I’ll go find more for you when I go back, I’m going to the peak to find my master first.”
Ning Chengfeng nodded, and when he walked to the door, he called out to him, “Zaiye, if your master disagrees, it’s okay, I will go down the mountain myself.”
Wen Zaiye shook his head, confidently saying, “Master will definitely not drive you away, don’t think too much.”
He hurried to Wen Si’s residence and explained the situation to him.
Wen Si, who was three hundred years old, was a strict and rigid master. After hearing his eldest disciple’s explanation, he pondered for a long time and said, “This is a big matter, it must be decided by the head of the sect,”
Wen Zaiye was stunned, “Master, can’t we just hide him? When the storm passes, I’ll send him to a safe place.”
Wen Si looked at him, his expression inexplicable, “The entire cultivation world, eight prefectures and seventeen states, the Ning family alone occupies Xun Prefecture, Shen Shang Two States, at its peak, not to mention the Wushi Sect, even all the sects and families combined have to give way to it. But now Xun Prefecture is barren…The huge Ning family can’t protect him, our Yunzhong Sect is not even in the top 200 in the cultivation world, Zaiye, things are not as simple as you think.”
“Where is there a safe place in these seventeen states.”
That was the first time Wen Zaiye saw such an expression on his master, and the first time he realized that the omnipotent master and sect he thought were just ordinary ones among countless people and sects.
He returned to his room in a daze, and Wen Heshen jumped into his arms happily, asking excitedly, “Brother, brother, where are my sugar-fried chestnuts?”
“I gave them to your Brother Chengfeng.” Wen Zaiye always told him the truth, “I’ll buy it for you again tomorrow.”
Wen Heshen didn’t make a fuss this time, probably because he saw that he was in a bad mood, and asked carefully, “Where is Brother Chengfeng?”
“In the woodshed…” Wen Zaiye thought that his master’s solemn expression was not right, put Wen Heshen down, and instructed, “You go to sleep, I’ll go out for a while, I’ll be back soon.”
Wen Heshen was put on the bed by him, “Brother, I want to eat sugar-fried chestnuts.”
“Mm, I’ll bring it back for you.” Wen Zaiye smiled and touched his little head, and left in a hurry.
Wen Heshen thought about his sugar-fried chestnuts for a while, and then thought about the difficult mental cultivation method, and fell asleep deeply.
Wen Zaiye went to the Meal Residence to buy chestnuts for his younger brother, and when he went to the woodshed and found no one, he knew something was wrong.
Ning Chengfeng was locked in the dungeon of the Punishment Hall.
Wen Zaiye couldn’t get in, his first reaction was to go to his master Wen Si to argue, he trusted his master so much, but turning around, his master locked his friend in the dungeon.
However he heard Wen Si’s deliberately lowered voice outside the door, “…I have already notified the people of the Chongzheng Alliance, they will be here by dawn…”
“…This is my lack of discipline, letting Zaiye do foolish things, I will teach him a good lesson…”
“…He is young and does not understand right from wrong…..Yes.”
Wen Zaiye was stunned, he staggered back two steps, only feeling that the omnipotent and tall image of his master in his heart collapsed with a bang, and he hurried to the Punishment Hall on his sword.
Relying on his familiarity with the gatekeeper, he sneaked into the Punishment Hall.
The Shiling array on the heavy lock emitted a cold light, and the cracked stone slab was covered with dark brown blood. Ning Chengfeng sat on a pile of straw, his face had a few more bloodstains, and when he saw him coming, he breathed a sigh of relief, “Did I get you involved?”
Wen Zaiye was stunned, his heart was mixed with all kinds of flavors, “Of course not, it was me…who exposed your whereabouts.”
“There are people outside guarding, I’ll go and lead them away later, you hurry up and take the opportunity to escape.” He said to Ning Chengfeng, “I’ll give you the waist token, use the waist token to open the mountain protection formation and you can get out of Yunzhong Sect, the farther you run, the better.”
Ning Chengfeng frowned, “What about you?”
“Don’t worry about me.” Wen Zaiye forcefully stuffed the jade token engraved with the crane and auspicious clouds into his palm, smiled at him, “Chengfeng, you must be fast, there is only one incense stick’s time.”
What happened next was extremely chaotic.
Perhaps it was because Ning Chengfeng, the unlucky egg, had too much bad luck. He hadn’t run for long before he ran into the people from the Chongzheng Alliance who had come to the Thirteenth Peak.
Wen Zaiye in the Punishment Hall dragged on for an incense stick’s time, but was eventually discovered. Wen Si led the people of Yunzhong Sect to chase after him. With wolves in front and tigers behind, Ning Chengfeng knew that he couldn’t escape. He could only hold the Suzaku knife tightly, staring fiercely at the people of the Chongzheng Alliance with his eyes, and if worse came to worst, he would die together with them.
He didn’t have much to live for anyway.
The Chongzheng Alliance originally intended to capture him alive, naturally they were cautious not to kill. This incident happened at the Yunzhong Sect, and people like Wen Si naturally had to make a statement. They activated the mountain protection formation, intending to trap Ning Chengfeng within.
