Yan Jinzhou shrugged, “I’m used to being a rogue cultivator, I don’t like being constrained by others, can’t do this, can’t do that, becoming a little stick-in-the-mud with all these rules and regulations—”
She playfully bumped Mingsang’s shoulder, “Hey, little monk, don’t you agree?”
Mingsang fingered his prayer beads, eyes half-closed, “Amitabha, this poor monk’s dharma name is Mingsang.”
While Chu Linyuan was still talking with Ning Xingyuan about something, Yan Jinzhou focused only on teasing Mingsang, mischievously asking, “Then tell me, are you a little monk or not?”
Mingsang opened his eyes, looking somewhat annoyed but still firmly said, “This poor monk’s dharma name is Mingsang.”
Yan Jinzhou casually put her arm around his shoulders and laughed heartlessly. “Are you angry? Then I won’t call you little monk, how about I call you little baldy?”
Mingsang’s ears turned red, either from anger or embarrassment, and he tried to dodge her arm, “Men and women should maintain proper distance, Benefactor Yan, please show some restraint.”
However, since Yan Jinzhou’s cultivation level was higher than his, her arm seemed glued to his shoulder and couldn’t be shaken off. She teased, “If you call me Jinzhou, I’ll show restraint.”
Ming Sang glared at her angrily, and Yan Jinzhou laughed unsympathetically, before being pulled away by Sang Yun.
“Mingsang is a Buddhist cultivator, stop giving him a hard time,” Sang Yun whispered as she pulled her away.
“I just find him cute and want to tease him.” Yan Jinzhou smoothly moved her arm to Sang Yun’s shoulder instead, lounging lazily as if boneless, then turned her gaze to Ning Xingyuan, “Ning Xingyuan, did something happen? Why do you seem so preoccupied?”
Hearing this, Ning Xingyuan looked over and answered honestly, “There’s something I want to confirm when we return to the seventeen states.”
However, he clearly didn’t want to say more, so his companions didn’t press further. After some discussion, they decided to return to the seventeen states early the next morning.
That night, the five of them sat around a fire.
Yan Jinzhou sat next to Mingsang, resting her head on her hand while smiling at him, “Little monk, once we return to the seventeen states we’ll separate, and might never see each other again in this lifetime. Is there anything you want to tell me?”
Mingsang had been quietly reciting sutras, but hearing this, he turned to look at her. His pupils reflected the dancing flames and Yan Jinzhou’s smiling face as he said seriously, “Rogue cultivators lack the protection of sects and families, making cultivation particularly difficult. I hope Benefactor Yan will take care of herself.”
Yan Jinzhou was stunned for a moment, then burst out laughing. “That’s right, life is so hard for us rogue cultivators. Resources we find through blood and sweat can be stolen at any time. Little monk, if I can’t make it anymore, can I come find you at Jiting Sect?”
Mingsang froze, slowly furrowing his brows, his voice carrying confusion and bewilderment, “You want to… become a Buddhist monk?”
Yan Jinzhou choked, then burst into wild laughter, “Hahaha! How did you understand it that way? Hahaha! I don’t want to become a monk and make a pair of little baldies with you! Hahaha!”
Mingsang’s face turned bright red as he turned his back to her and silently recited Buddhist scriptures, resolutely refusing to speak no matter how much Yan Jinzhou teased him.
Yan Jinzhou rubbed her nose and asked Sang Yun seriously, “Is Mingsang angry?”
Sang Yun looked helpless, “Please, just stop talking. If you keep teasing him, Mingsang might try to capture you as a demon.”
“Ha, he can’t beat me anyway.” Yan Jinzhou said proudly, “Among you all, only Ning Xingyuan can barely fight me to a draw.”
Sang Yun didn’t contradict this, but said softly, “Xingyuan seems to be in a bad mood, don’t spar with him tonight.”
“Good point.” Yan Jinzhou nodded seriously, then grabbed Chu Linyuan for a spar instead. She thoroughly defeated the top disciple of the Wushi Sect, and satisfied, found a place to sleep.
Chu Linyuan complained indignantly, “Yan Jinzhou, did you deliberately aim for my face?”
“Ah, I’m asleep, I can’t hear you.” Yan Jinzhou yawned, perfunctorily covering her ears.
“One day I’ll defeat you!” Chu Linyuan’s voice buzzed in her ears, “What’s so great about being a celestial spirit body? When I become the sect leader later, Wushi Sect definitely won’t accept any celestial spirit body disciples! Xingyuan? Ning Xingyuan, where are you going?”
Yan Jinzhou lifted her eyelids to look, only catching sight of Ning Xingyuan’s hurriedly retreating figure, then crossed her arms and fell into deep sleep.
The next morning, the five of them arrived at the entrance back to the seventeen states, but encountered an unexpected situation – a huge monster was blocking the entrance, and upon seeing these young people, it roared at them angrily.
This monster had a mouth full of fangs, large ears and a green face, with six thick legs bound in iron chains. Its black skin was covered in strange blood-red curse marks, looking quite formidable. Its body was especially huge, completely blocking the entrance, making it impossible to even sneak through.
Ning Xingyuan summoned his Suzaku Knife and said to Chu Linyuan and the others, “Looks like we’ll have to subdue it to return to the seventeen states.”
Yan Jinzhou formed hand seals, countless arrays appearing before her, genuinely delighted, “Haven’t stretched my muscles in a while, bring it on!”
Although the five were young, being able to leave the seventeen states to explore the mortal realm meant their cultivation levels weren’t weak. Ning Xingyuan’s knife techniques were exquisite, Chu Linyuan’s swordsmanship was superb, and the two charged at the monster with coordinated blade and sword;
Yan Jinzhou rode her sword in the sky, using arrays to firmly control the monster’s movements, her destructive power no less than the two in front;
Mingsang chanted scriptures softly, his prayer beads flying out to solidly repel those rampaging blood-colored curse marks, while Sang Yun waited for the right moment beside him, her whip striking out with a crack to lock around the monster’s neck.
The monster didn’t expect such destructive power from these children. Its eyes turned blood-red as its six legs gripped the ground, violently breaking free from the restraints and sending everyone flying. It roared angrily at them, but before it could finish its roar, someone struck its forehead with a palm. The entire beast swayed and spun in place twice before crashing to the ground with a boom, kicking up dust everywhere.
As silence fell, someone hovered in the air on a sword – a figure in red robes fluttering in the wind, their sleeves like burning flames. Their outstanding grace drew attention, yet their brows and eyes carried a distant coldness that kept others at bay.
He gave a cool glance at those lying on the ground, and before they could react, went straight through the entrance.
As the dust settled.
Yan Jinzhou suddenly came to her senses and looked at Mingsang beside her with shining eyes, “Little monk, which family does that beautiful person in red belong to?”
“Don’t know,” Mingsang said stiffly, “And those weren’t red clothes, they were white clothes soaked through with blood.”
Chu Linyuan beside them wore an expression like he’d seen a ghost, “That person just now… seems to be our martial grand uncle.”
“Eh?” Sang Yun asked curiously, “Isn’t your martial grand uncle always traveling around? He even came to the mortal realm?”
Ning Xingyuan frowned, “The blood qi on him was very strong.”
Chu Linyuan rubbed his nose, “Our martial grand uncle is an elder who cultivates the Path of Slaughter.”
Yan Jinzhou asked with great interest, “Why do you call such a beauty ‘elder’? How rude. How old is he?”
“Four hundred something, close to five hundred years old?” Chu Linyuan said uncertainly.
“Oh, then he really is elder.” Yan Jinzhou immediately lost interest and pouted.
Mingsang interrupted their discussion, “What should we do with this monster?”
The huge monster had been knocked unconscious by the martial grand uncle’s palm strike, a large bump on its head. It held one paw to its forehead whimpering, with tears hanging in its small eyes.
Ning Xingyuan and others: “……”
“Such a monster shouldn’t stay in the mortal realm. Better to take it back to the seventeen states.” Ning Xingyuan took out a beast-binding ring from his storage ring and put it on one of the monster’s legs.
“Can you understand human speech?” Ning Xingyuan looked at it expressionlessly.
The monster held its forehead and nodded pitifully.
“Shrink smaller and come back to the seventeen states with us,” Ning Xingyuan said.
Due to the beast-binding ring, the monster reluctantly shrank its form.
Yan Jinzhou covered her eyes in pain and leaned on Mingsang’s shoulder, shouting, “No no, it’s too ugly! I’ve never seen anything this ugly in my life!”
Sang Yun said to the monster. “Try to look cuter!”
The monster bared its teeth at her and got punched on the head by Chu Linyuan.
Just then, a village mongrel happened to pass by. Seeing the six-legged monster, it yelped and ran away with its tail tucked.
The monster rolled its eyes and transformed into a large black dog copying the mongrel’s appearance.
“Dogs aren’t this big.” Yan Jinzhou was still leaning on Mingsang, but Mingsang stepped forward to avoid her and said seriously to the monster, “Shrink smaller.”
The monster snorted impatiently and shrank to normal dog size. Getting more and more angry, it barked at Ning Xingyuan, but the sound had lost all its majesty.
“Woof woof!”
Ning Xingyuan patted its head, “The Ning Mansion happens to need a gatekeeper. You’ll do.”
“Woof!” The monster became furious and bit Ning Xingyuan’s hand, refusing to let go.
“Xingyuan!”
“Let go quickly!”
“My, still so fierce even as a dog? Why don’t we eat it?”
“Amitabha, we must not.”
“Fine, let’s head back first.”
Some pulled Ning Xingyuan’s hand, some tugged the dog’s tail, some angrily hit the dog’s head, and one stood beside reciting sutras trying to enlighten the dog. As the group argued noisily over one dog, Ning Xingyuan looked helpless as he dragged both person and dog through the entrance back to the seventeen states.
“Ning Xingyuan!” A faint shout came from behind them, but the noisy crowd didn’t hear it clearly.
Yan Jinzhou, pulling the dog’s tail, was last in line. She turned back in confusion, but the entrance was already mostly closed, and she only saw half of a blurry figure.
