Chapter 42: I Actually Know Your Master

"The archives of the Celestial Master Mansion cannot be given to outsiders just like that."

Jiu Jiu glanced at him and said, "My husband comes from Shushan."

The old man's voice came to an abrupt halt, falling into a long silence, and then the gates of the Celestial Master Mansion behind him swung open.

What exactly happened to Shushan hundreds of years ago, no one knows the full story even now; all that is known is that from that day on, Shushan and the cultivators of every sect and school vanished into the vast mountain ranges.

However, for some reason, the Shushan Disciples managed to survive that catastrophe, preserving the heritage that belonged to Shushan.

Some of them chose to hide their names, while others chose to wander the world alone in search of their own Dao; naturally, a group also chose to head to the Celestial Master Mansion on Longhu Mountain to seek refuge.

The current Celestial Master Mansion naturally possesses the Daoist lineage of the Shushan branch.

It has even become one of its important branches.

The old man took a deep breath.

If her husband came from Shushan, then what era did she belong to?

Or perhaps... she is a demon.

But if she were a demon, why did the Dengtian Stone Steps have absolutely no effect on her? This is truly unfathomable.

"Your Celestial Master Mansion has existed for a long time; I wonder if you have heard of reincarnation?" Jiu Jiu had visited the Celestial Master Mansion hundreds of years ago, but upon entering the mansion, she found that not much had changed from the past.

It was just that her arrival was sudden, and the disciples of the entire Celestial Master Mansion were startled awake by her alone.

"Come to think of it, which lineage are you a disciple of?" Jiu Jiu thought for a moment and asked.

"My master is Zhang Jiuchuan, and I am Zhang Xiaolin, the twenty-ninth generation successor of the Celestial Master Mansion." Zhang Xiaolin did not know what kind of sacred person the other party was, but there was no need to hide these matters.

Zhang Jiuchuan?

Jiu Jiu remembered that Zhang Tianze had a three-year-old little apprentice; it seemed to be this name. This Celestial Master Mansion had truly fallen into decline.

Just by glancing, Zhang Xiaolin's cultivation was on par with hers before she had entered Reincarnation.

After Reincarnation ended, the divine blood of Jingwei within Jiu Jiu awakened, and a massive amount of memories from Reincarnation flooded in; in a short time, with the help of the techniques left behind by Gu Jiangming, she had almost no cultivation bottlenecks.

Returning this time, the first reason was to seek the reincarnation of Gu Jiangming, and the second was to seek revenge.

In the interface of 【Mie Changsheng】, Jiu Jiu also showed that she possessed one, and only one, opportunity to change the past.

Yet, facing this sole opportunity, Jiu Jiu could not return to hundreds of years ago without any preparation and rely on brute force to change the outcome of the past.

She must explore the truth behind the destruction of Shushan hundreds of years ago in the present world; only by reverse-engineering the full picture of events could she ensure that when she returned to the past, she could clear the level in one go and end the Reincarnation without any regrets.

Therefore, Jiu Jiu wanted to come to the Celestial Master Mansion to look at the archives from hundreds of years ago; at the very least, she could discern some clues from those documents.

"I actually know your master," Jiu Jiu said.

She was not lying about this; she truly did know a three-year-old child, though whether that child knew her was another matter.

In her tone, Jiu Jiu also became much calmer; she was here to find a helper, certainly not to make things difficult for the Celestial Master Mansion.

Moreover, she glanced around the Celestial Master Mansion and discovered that many people had a familiar aura about them.

That was the technique practiced by Shushan Disciples.

It was also the 【Shushan Heart Scripture】, which was based on the Gu Family Heart Method 【Facing the Heavens】 and optimized or even derived from that heart method.

It was just that most Shushan Disciples were unaware of the past name of this cultivation technique.

Just from this situation, connecting the cause and effect, Jiu Jiu roughly understood what had happened; perhaps after the disciples left Shushan, they could not find a suitable place to settle down and eventually merged into the Celestial Master Mansion, continuing their lineage in another way.

"Is the senior looking for someone's reincarnation?" Upon hearing this, Zhang Xiaolin also understood the other party's intention.

Jiu Jiu nodded.

"However, given the nature of your Celestial Master Mansion, I fear you don't really approve of me doing this." Jiu Jiu just thought about it and blocked what Zhang Xiaolin was about to say.

"The past has its karma, and the future has its blessings." Zhang Xiaolin still continued, "The causality of a person's life is determined from birth; if a senior were to appear rashly, it would break the normal trajectory, which is interfering with a part of the cycle of Heavenly Principles."

"Then tell me, are the people who reincarnate the same person?" Jiu Jiu asked.

Zhang Xiaolin was silent for a moment, "Since it is the reincarnation of the same person, then naturally, it is the same person."

"I owe his past life, are you forbidding me from repaying his present life?" Jiu Jiu continued after the previous sentence.

"But he... may not remember you." Zhang Xiaolin sighed, "Even if you repay the kindness, Senior, if he does not remember you, then what?"

"To him, your appearance might just be a benefactor he never knew."

The speaker had no intention, but the listener took it to heart.

Jiu Jiu found it hard to imagine that she had truly found Gu Jiangming's reincarnation, yet he had a look of not knowing her, treating her like a stranger who was a benefactor.

She clenched her fists, her fingertips slightly embedding into the flesh of her palms, and the next second she said calmly, "It doesn't matter, I will just look at him... just looking at him is enough."

"One day, sooner or later, I will make him remember me." Jiu Jiu lowered her voice and said softly to herself.

"Actually, the Celestial Master Mansion has encountered this situation before, but when it comes to the final step... letting go is the most correct choice."

Speaking of this, Jiu Jiu's cold, piercing gaze fixed on Zhang Xiaolin's face, and a look of undisguised displeasure appeared in those eyes.

"I cannot let go."

"And it is impossible to let go."

"The fact that he doesn't remember me is his business, but I remember him; as long as I still remember him for one more day, I will absolutely never let go."

Hearing this, Zhang Xiaolin stopped speaking.

"Master—Master—."

"Seventh Junior Brother, Seventh Junior Brother is not going to make it..." A young disciple rushed out from a side room on the other side, his eyes red, "He vomited... he vomited blood all over the floor again."

Zhang Xiaolin waved his hand, "The archives of the Celestial Master Mansion are all in the library; since you are from Shushan, Senior, out of respect for that bond, you may read them, but you cannot take them away. Please excuse me."

His expression was heavy.

Jiu Jiu was not in a rush; she paused, then followed behind Zhang Xiaolin.

A side room.

On the cluttered bed, a person was coughing with a sallow complexion, and the entire room was filled with a foul, bloody stench.

As the vision of the Cave Heaven Eye opened slightly, Jiu Jiu could observe that not only was there chaotic Demon Power wreaking havoc in his body, but there were also many old, accumulated injuries and some strange, unrecognizable forces.

"Master." He reached out his hand.

Zhang Xiaolin immediately stepped forward and grasped it with one hand, "Chengjuan, healing your wounds is what matters, no need to say more."

"This disciple is incompetent and failed to protect the Ninth Junior Brother." As he spoke, he spat out another mouthful of viscous black blood foam, "I know my own body... clearly."

"Medicine and stones cannot heal this; I fear my time of death is near."

Zhang Xiaolin thought of something; he looked at Jiu Jiu behind him, seemingly wanting to speak.

Jiu Jiu silently shook her head; if it had been a little earlier, there might have been a chance, but now it was just a final struggle at the moment of death.

To be able to reach this point, his will was already strong.

Zhang Xiaolin suppressed the pain in his heart, continued to say a few words of comfort, and placed several pills on the table.

He raised his hand to place it on his wrist, slowly channeling Mana to dissolve his pain.

"Rest well." Zhang Xiaolin patted his shoulder.

Walking out of the room, he looked to the side, "Old Third, I must trouble you to take extra care of Old Seventh today."

"He likely won't live past the second watch tonight."

Jiu Jiu felt some doubts in her heart at this moment; having just ended Reincarnation and still digesting her previous experiences, she had been somewhat negligent of the changes in reality, "What is going on with him?"

"I don't know what's wrong with these evil spirits lately; they are running rampant everywhere." Zhang Xiaolin's words were full of hatred, "In the past, we would encounter at most a few strange incidents a year, but now they are everywhere. In just three months, my Celestial Master Mansion has already lost over a hundred disciples."

"Many are missing, and very few disciples have returned alive."

Impossible!

No matter what, Jiu Jiu was a Great Demon; if the demons really had any major movements and wanted to disturb the human world, she would definitely have been the first to know.

What exactly is the situation?

Jiu Jiu first calmed her heart.

Regardless of the situation, she now carried the blood of a god; no matter how chaotic or terrible the situation became, it should not affect her.

In fact, those who were truly affected were the mortals.

Therefore... the matter of finding Gu Jiangming must be put on the agenda as soon as possible; there can be no more mistakes.

Several hours later.

Above a stretch of river waves outside Leping County.

In the morning, a fisherman was exerting his strength to row.

But on the side of the stern.

A figure with a fish tail and human body, five or six feet long, emerged from the water. Its appearance was like a human—its brows, eyes, mouth, nose, hands, and feet were extremely fair, like a young and beautiful woman, and its true gender could not be distinguished. Beyond that... its face was dull, seemingly without many thoughts, acting purely on instinct.

When the fisherman approached the water's surface, it suddenly leaped out of the river and pounced on the fisherman, dragging him under the water.

After being well-fed, that dull and stiff expression improved slightly.

At the same time, Gu Jiangming, who had awakened in the yamen, clicked on 【Mie Changsheng】, deciding to welcome the great harvest of his completed cultivation.

This night of Custody cultivation should be enough for Gu Jiangming to blast open the rock wall of the seal.

Then, he would bury this sword art deduced with the help of the chessboard and this box of sword cases in Leping County ten thousand years ago, and finally return to the South Sea to fulfill his oath to the Dragon Princess.

Having completed the series of closed loops, Gu Jiangming could save his progress and check the gains.

Speaking of this sword art, it was also specifically deduced by Gu Jiangming according to his own needs. Leaving it in reality was undoubtedly practical; even if his Mana could not match the requirements of ten thousand years ago, it could still be executed.

Hopefully, nothing goes wrong at this stage.

Soon, the screen of 【Mie Changsheng】 opened in Gu Jiangming's mind.

"Ah?"

Gu Jiangming's brain crashed.

How could he have forgotten the possibility of a story development like Ice Fire Island?

I told you to risk your life cultivating in the safe house!

What the hell are you doing!?

(End of this chapter)