After Crossdressing and Provoking Long AoTian

After saying goodbye to Venerable Burning Gold, the group headed toward the entrance.

But after only a few steps, Ji Ruxue stopped.

Her gaze wavered slightly, and she looked apologetic. “I'm sorry, everyone. I still can't leave.”

“Hm?” Chi Yantian looked her up and down. “Come to think of it, I haven't even asked. Who are you?”

He turned toward Yu Qingtang.

“Another new friend you picked up?”

Yu Qingtang stared at him in shock. “Huh? Why would you assume it was me?”

Chi Yantian pointed disdainfully at Ye Chenyan. “You think she could've been his friend? Does he look like someone who knows how to make friends?”

“How do I not?” Ye Chenyan hooked an arm around Yu Qingtang. “Here's a friend I made.”

Yu Qingtang was still looking in Venerable Burning Gold's direction.

Ye Chenyan pinched his cheek and comforted him in a low voice. “Don't worry too much. Once we mend the heavens later, we'll be able to get him out.”

“Hey, hey, hey!” Tu Jiaojiao couldn't help clicking her tongue. “Could you sound any more casual? What do you mean, ‘once we mend the heavens later’? Do you even know how to mend them?”

“Nope.” Ye Chenyan answered with complete confidence. “I'm only Out-of-Body right now. Of course I don't know yet.”

“If I can't shoulder the heavens, that just means I'm not strong enough yet.”

“So I keep climbing.”

He raised his head.

“Someday.”

Tu Jiaojiao pursed her lips. “You're ridiculously arrogant too... but somehow not in an annoying way.”

She smacked Chi Yantian.

“She's the holy maiden of the Esoteric Sect. You didn't recognize her? We met her during the Golden Core Competition.”

“Huh?” Chi Yantian looked genuinely astonished. “That's her? How did you people end up hanging around with her too?”

“And she was wearing a veiled hat back then! I'd never even seen her face. Isn't it perfectly normal that I didn't recognize her?”

“You probably wouldn't remember her even without the hat.” Tu Jiaojiao rolled her eyes. “But if she'd been a Blazing Rhinoceros, you'd definitely remember... Hey, where's Flamelet? It's rare seeing the two of you apart.”

“This place is dangerous. How could I bring Flamelet inside?” Chi Yantian folded his arms as if that were self-evident, then turned to Ji Ruxue. “So if you're not leaving, what are you staying here for?”

He had no fondness for the Esoteric Sect and watched her suspiciously.

“Don't tell me you're planning something shady.”

“No...” Ji Ruxue shook her head slightly. “I...”

“We've already been through life and death together.” Tu Jiaojiao planted her hands on her hips. “You're not still going to hide things from us, are you?”

“You said before that you came here to save Qingtang. He's not in danger anymore. So do you have some other objective?”

Ji Ruxue lowered her eyes.

Finally, she spoke.

“Just as that senior said, the entire Mystic Music Sect was cast into the chaotic currents of space-time. For all these thousands upon thousands of years, we've searched everywhere and never been able to find it.”

Ye Chenyan raised an eyebrow. “Why was the Esoteric Sect looking for the Mystic Music Sect?”

“You can't mend that fissure right now anyway.”

“Mm.” Ji Ruxue's brows drew together. “Back then... the attempt to refine the Heaven-Mending Pill failed, and the Esoteric Sect's sacred artifact, the Heaven-Mending Furnace, shattered and fell from the sky.”

“Over the years, we've gradually recovered most of its fragments. The sacred artifact can now barely be used, but two final fragments are still missing.”

“One of them is here, within the Mystic Music Sect.”

“I... I have to recover it for my sect.”

Wariness appeared on Ye Chenyan's face.

“What are you planning to do with the Heaven-Mending Furnace once it's restored? Grab another batch of geniuses and refine them into pills?”

“No!” Ji Ruxue looked up at him and hurriedly explained, “The Esoteric Sect absolutely isn't some heretical cult that casually uses human lives to refine pills! And the Heaven-Mending Furnace has other uses!”

Her brows knitted tightly.

She clearly wanted to explain, but her lips opened and closed several times without anything coming out.

Yu Qingtang reassured her, “It's okay, it's okay. Take your time. You're already improving. At first you couldn't say anything at all.”

Ye Chenyan gave him a sidelong look. “Are you coaxing a child?”

Yu Qingtang bumped him lightly. “Then go easy on the kid.”

Ye Chenyan clicked his tongue and asked Ji Ruxue, “Do you at least know exactly where it landed?”

Ji Ruxue froze, then looked up at him and honestly nodded.

“I do.”

She raised a hand and pointed.

“It fell onto the sect's martial-practice platform...”

She paused.

“In the Mystic Music Sect, I believe they called it the Performance Stage.”

“Then let's go.” Ye Chenyan immediately took the lead. “We'll take a look at that fragment.”

Ji Ruxue's eyes widened slightly, apparently confused by his abrupt change of heart.

“You...”

“Don't misunderstand.” Ye Chenyan glanced back at her. “I still don't have a good impression of the Esoteric Sect.”

“But I know that even if we stop you from taking that fragment this time, your people will just find some other way to get in later.”

Yu Qingtang added with a smile, “Plus, we've fought side by side now, and you worked really hard back there.”

“This guy's too stubborn to admit it, but he actually thinks you're a decent person—”

“Tch.”

Ye Chenyan hooked an arm around Yu Qingtang's neck, dragged him closer, and pinched his cheek.

He lowered his voice.

“What are you doing?”

Yu Qingtang innocently widened his eyes.

“Didn't you say she's one of Hua Shimiao's heroines?” Ye Chenyan glanced toward Ji Ruxue, clearly warning Yu Qingtang to think carefully before answering. “And now you're still casually trying to connect the two of us. Aren't you worried at all?”

“Worried about what?” Yu Qingtang poked him. “Is there anything to worry about?”

Ye Chenyan narrowed his eyes. “If you're putting it that way—”

Yu Qingtang tilted his head. “Then what?”

Ye Chenyan's eyes curved with his smile.

“At least you've got some self-awareness. There really isn't anything to worry about.”

He affectionately slung an arm around Yu Qingtang.

“Come on. I'll take you scavenging for junk.”

“I don't want that junk.” Yu Qingtang answered before suddenly realizing what he'd said. “Wait, what junk? That's someone else's treasure.”

“Someone else's treasure, junk to me.” Ye Chenyan sounded entirely justified. “What's wrong with that?”

Yu Qingtang: “...”

Although they already knew there were probably no survivors left in the Mystic Music Sect, everyone remained on guard.

After all, they still had no idea where the otherworldly evil demon that had possessed Chang Yusheng had originally come from. There might be more hiding nearby.

And even without them, the Mystic Music Sect itself was riddled with deadly hazards. Its sect-protecting grand formation was still running.

Their journey was tense but uneventful, and before long they reached the Performance Stage.

There, embedded deep in the plaza, they found the bronze fragment.

“It's this huge?” Yu Qingtang stared in astonishment at the massive fragment towering over him. “How big is the actual Heaven-Mending Furnace supposed to be?”

Ji Ruxue let out a breath of relief.

“We found it. Thank you, everyone.”

She was about to step forward and retrieve it when Ye Chenyan moved in front of her.

Ji Ruxue froze and looked at him uneasily.

“What is it?”

“Promise me something first.” Ye Chenyan crossed his arms and looked down at her with his chin raised. “Once you fix that broken furnace, you won't use it to refine any more pills made from human lives.”

He reached out, pinched Yu Qingtang by the chin, and pulled him over.

“Especially him. You're not allowed to drag him into anything.”

“I know you don't speak for the entire Esoteric Sect, so I'm not asking for a promise from the whole sect.”

“I'm asking you.”

“Can you do that?”

Ji Ruxue's gaze flickered.

“The Esoteric Sect and I... have always been one.”

Ye Chenyan simply looked at her.

Ji Ruxue sighed softly.

“I promise. I will never use the Heaven-Mending Furnace to take another person's life, nor will I ever harm him.”

She seemed a little helpless. Her brows creased faintly, and an almost imperceptible smile appeared on her face.

“How strange. I should be of one heart with the Esoteric Sect and take the will of the Heavenly Dao as my duty, and yet...”

“Saying those words somehow makes me feel a little happy.”

Yu Qingtang's eyes curved into crescents.

“Then it's settled. That makes us one of the gang now.”

He patted Ye Chenyan.

“All right, quit blocking the road. Let her take it.”

Ye Chenyan stepped aside.

Ji Ruxue put away the bronze fragment, revealing an enormous crater in the jade-white paving stones beneath it.

Yu Qingtang curiously leaned over.

“How deep did that thing smash—”

His collar suddenly tightened.

Ye Chenyan yanked him backward just as a sound wave shot past, nearly grazing his neck.

“Careful!” Tu Jiaojiao exclaimed. “Why are there traps here too?”

Yu Qingtang raised the qin and blocked the next attack coming straight at him.

He patted his chest in lingering alarm.

“Good lord. Apparently even sightseeing can get you killed around here.”

Then he lowered his head toward the Dragon-Crane Zither and patted it on the head.

“Zither Bro, what's wrong with you? I just used you to block an attack and you didn't react at all. You're acting so normal that it's freaking me out...”

The Dragon-Crane Zither's light flickered weakly.

“Oh no.” Yu Qingtang looked worried. “I think it's grieving.”

Chi Yantian nodded along. “Obviously. A first-rank spiritual artifact developed intelligence ages ago. Immortal Lan Yin was its previous master, and she sent it away before choosing to fight to the death. They clearly had a very close bond.”

“Now that it's finally seen her again, of course it's going to feel something.”

Yu Qingtang scratched his head.

Then he handed the qin to Tu Jiaojiao.

“Jiaojiao, can you do me a favor? Hold it for a bit and praise it.”

“Huh?” Tu Jiaojiao stared at him. “Me?”

“Trust me. It'll work.” Yu Qingtang gave her a thumbs-up. “It likes beautiful women.”

Tu Jiaojiao's smile immediately became dazzling.

“Oh my. Since you're such a sweet talker, I'll help you this once.”

She took the Dragon-Crane Zither, held it in her arms, and gently patted it.

Her voice softened as she coaxed it.

“All right, don't be sad. Your former master wasn't just stunningly beautiful. She was also a great hero who stood tall beneath heaven and earth.”

“You should be proud of her.”

A faint light appeared over the Dragon-Crane Zither and flickered gently.

“Still not enough?” Yu Qingtang took it back and turned toward Girl in the Bamboo. “Miss Bamboo, you give it a little too.”

“Me?” Girl in the Bamboo frowned awkwardly. “I don't know how to comfort people, but...”

She accepted the Dragon-Crane Zither, rested it across her knees, and tried.

“Don't be sad.”

“Although you usually possess none of the dignity expected of a first-rank spiritual artifact, your feat of charging into the formation and suppressing the otherworldly evil demons earlier was genuinely impressive.”

“If Immortal Lan Yin knew, she would probably be pleased too.”

The Dragon-Crane Zither flashed rapidly, as though that had gotten through to it a little.

Yu Qingtang nodded knowingly.

“Got it, got it. Since we've started, we'll obviously let every pretty girl here hold you.”

He carried the qin over to Ji Ruxue.

“Please, Holy Maiden. Help me out.”

Ji Ruxue seemed slightly nervous.

She carefully accepted the qin, holding it rather stiffly in her arms. Lowering her head, she pressed her lips together.

“...All right.”

“In the past, I only read records of the Mystic Music Sect in the Esoteric Sect's scrolls. They said that Immortal Lan Yin, the Mystic Music Sect's peerless genius, had the grace of an orchid and a gentle temperament.”

“But when the Dragon-Crane Zither sounded, she could stand against enemies from all directions. At the Nine Provinces gathering of old, she overwhelmed every challenger and, dressed all in white, stood supreme beneath the heavens.”

“Now that I've seen her...”

Ji Ruxue extended a hand and gently stroked the Dragon-Crane Zither.

“And seen you as well, I know the records didn't exaggerate.”

The Dragon-Crane Zither let out a clear, ringing note.

Yu Qingtang chuckled and took it back.

“There. Better now? Feeling good?”

Then he froze.

His expression turned strange, somewhere between amusement and exasperation.

“I have to praise you too? Fine.”

He patted the qin.

“Even though you're girl-crazy, lazy, and usually have absolutely none of the dignity of a first-rank spiritual artifact, when it really matters, you're always dependable.”

“This is the world your beloved Immortal Lan Yin fought to the death to protect.”

“From now on, I'll stay with you and...”

He paused.

Then he turned toward Ye Chenyan and laughed softly.

“I'll stay with all of you and protect it.”

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