Chapter 296: Guests Arrive at the Return to Yuanqing

A hairpin was placed into Lingxiang's hand. Looking at it, it appeared no different than before; if one had to say what was different, perhaps the silver of the hairpin body was brighter than it had been.

Long Qi was very curious. Could it be that Lingxiang had come to Linxiang specifically to repair jewelry? But this jewelry had merely been stolen from Sutong, and it didn't look very valuable. If she liked it, wouldn't it be better for him to polish it? It would save her from having to beg others.

Lingxiang examined the hairpin in her hand from head to tail carefully; it was indeed a bit more refined than before. Just as she was about to pin it into her hair, Yue Niang held her hand down.

The two looked at each other, but neither spoke. Seeing Lingxiang's determined expression, Yue Niang could only sigh.

Having tried to stop her and failed, she could only leave it at that. This child truly had the same temperament as Tumi; once she set her mind on something, she would never turn back.

Lingxiang smiled: "Don't worry, I know what I'm doing." As she spoke, she inserted the hairpin into her hair bun.

The two were truly a bit strange. To Banxia, it sounded as if they were speaking in riddles. Just as she was about to ask, she heard a child's loud shout.

"Master!"

A little ball of flesh bounced and jumped, springing out from behind Yue Niang, and threw itself into Lingxiang's embrace.

It was Adao!

Only this time, Adao no longer had the beast ears and beast tail from before; he was dressed in fluffy clothes, his hair tied in little buns, looking entirely like a human child.

Seeing him transformed like this, Lingxiang was filled with joy and hugged him, giving him a good ruffling; that chubby little face was pinched out of shape.

This angered Long Qi, who hurriedly stepped forward and lifted Adao up: "Now that your Demon Body is formed, you must be more steady. Could it be you've forgotten what I told you earlier?"

Adao looked displeased. Lingxiang, his master, hadn't said anything, yet this Long Qi had to go meddling—what a buzzkill!

While Adao and Long Qi were bickering heatedly, Lingxiang asked Yue Niang with great curiosity: "How did you make Adao take human form?"

According to Lingxiang's thinking, the first time was because the Spirit Qi in Yunmeng Marsh was abundant, and the second was because Adao was worried about her safety, which led him to force a transformation, resulting in the Demon Root later on. She had thought that since Yue Niang was a Great Demon, she would surely know how to treat Adao, but she hadn't expected her to help him take human form.

"Since the order was wrong, wherever it was wrong, you just fill it in." Yue Niang fanned herself quite deliberately and said with a smug face, "We Demon race are different from you humans; we don't have so many tedious, step-by-step requirements. As long as the final result is reached, the process doesn't matter." After finishing, she looked provocatively toward Chengxin Zhenren in the distance.

Chengxin Zhenren seemed to sense Yue Niang's provocation; he merely let out a cold snort, flicked his wide sleeves, and turned his back.

This little old Daoist, he really is interesting, truly interesting!

Just as Yue Niang withdrew her gaze, she saw Lingxiang bow gracefully: "Today I have received a great favor from Yue Niang's help. If there is an opportunity in the future, I will certainly bring heavy gifts to express my gratitude."

Gratitude for what? And she wants to bring heavy gifts?

Long Qi was left completely bewildered, but he saw Yue Niang reach out and help Lingxiang up, though the expression on her face was extremely arrogant.

"Enough, enough. Your gifts are nothing more than some pills and medicines," she said, pulling a pouch from her bosom—it was the Seven Treasures Fragrant Pill—"I, for one, am satisfied with just this."

"Go! Be careful in everything."

Lingxiang nodded, and immediately turned to leave with the others, leaving Yue Niang alone where she stood.

Tumi, oh Tumi, if your spirit is in heaven, you must protect her!

As for this group, except for Chengxin Zhenren, everyone was laughing, talking, and playing around. After only three or four days, they arrived at the foot of Jiuque Mountain.

At the mountain gate, the young acolytes had already spotted the group walking from afar and hurried up the mountain to report to Qianyuan Zhenren.

Not until they reached the sect gate did Banxia remember that her Uncle-Master Chengxin had quite profound cultivation; why hadn't he used his sword to carry them, instead walking step by step back to Yuanqing?

Since she couldn't figure it out, she had to ask.

Hearing this, Lingxiang smiled and said: "Your Uncle-Master Chengxin could naturally carry me on his sword, but you are different. You Inner Sect Disciples were ordered to go down the mountain for training. Since it is training, you must follow the rules of the mortal world. If you use your sword at every turn, what kind of training would that be?"

So that was it. Banxia patted her head, suddenly enlightened. Just as she wanted to say something more, she saw the gate-keeping acolyte hurriedly step forward and bow.

"Third Elder, Junior Aunt, please hurry up the mountain. Guests have arrived, and they have been waiting for two or three days."

This made Lingxiang curious. Could it be that these guests had some special background?

"Guests are just guests, is there any need to be so panicked? Which day does Banshan Temple not have pilgrims coming and going? I've never seen you this solemn."

The little Daoist was a bit anxious; he scratched his head and stammered for a long time, but couldn't stammer out any reason.

This couldn't be blamed on him; after all, he was only a gate-keeping acolyte. By status, he was merely an Outer Disciple, not even qualified to call them Uncle-Master or Aunt-Master, only Elder. It was just that Lingxiang's position was special, which was why the whole sect called her Junior Aunt.

"This disciple doesn't quite understand either. I only heard it was some sect, and a whole crowd of people came. The Managing Elder specifically instructed that if the two Elders returned, we should urge you to hurry up the mountain to see the guests."

Whoa! A whole crowd of people? And from some sect? Could they be here to pick a fight?

Lingxiang was suddenly interested. Ignoring Chengxin Zhenren behind her, she hopped and skipped as she hurried up the mountain.

There's a show to watch, why not hurry?

Watching Lingxiang hopping along, Chengxin Zhenren smiled helplessly.

He had thought that after the Grandmaster underwent the tribulation and ascended, Lingxiang would be sad for a few days, but he hadn't expected her to still be this temperament—carefree and thoughtless. It was a waste of his worrying for so many days; it turned out he had overthought it.

Forget it, forget it. This is also good. Their Junior Aunt should be this carefree, shouldn't she?

Chengxin Zhenren shook his head, instructed Long Qi to follow Lingxiang quickly, gave Liu Xia and Banxia a few words of advice, and then pinched a hand seal, disappearing with an escape technique.

Lingxiang, after all, had not undergone body tempering and had an injury on her leg. She huffed and puffed for a long time before finally reaching Banshan Temple. As soon as she entered the mountain, she let out a long sigh—it's still best at home! The mortal world often says, a golden nest or a silver nest is not as good as one's own dog kennel; this saying is truly correct.

It was called Banshan Temple, but it hadn't even reached halfway up the mountain. It was only named so to cater to the pilgrims of the world; otherwise, wouldn't those pilgrims be exhausted to death just to burn incense and make a wish?

Lingxiang truly couldn't climb anymore. She leaned against a stone pillar and panted incessantly. Just then, someone walked out of the temple—it was Shoucheng.

"Haven't seen you in many days, Junior Aunt, your footwork has regressed!" Shoucheng said with a grin.

Lingxiang rolled her eyes at him but didn't answer.

She couldn't even catch her breath; she had no time to bicker with this kid.

Seeing this, Shoucheng's face blossomed with a smile—could this still be the flamboyant Junior Aunt who ran to his sleeping quarters in the middle of the night?

Forget it, forget it, he still had orders from his master; he couldn't delay.

"This disciple has been waiting here for a long time. Third Uncle-Master ordered me to take Junior Aunt to the Deliberation Hall."

That's right! Shoucheng was skilled in Earth Escape; this would save her some effort.

Just as she placed her hand on Shoucheng's shoulder, she felt something was wrong. At the moment Shoucheng performed the technique, Lingxiang remembered that her Third Senior Brother also knew escape techniques.

Lingxiang was just about to open her mouth to complain when a cloud of dust rose, and the two disappeared. Just then, Long Qi happened to arrive. Seeing the two disappear, he was instantly dumbfounded.

This... this...

He was still here! What was he supposed to do?