Chapter 214: I Came, I Saw (Added for the Christmas Alliance Leader in the Dark)

Returning to Xingde Mountain, which he had been away from for a long time, looking at the Xingde Temple covered with spider webs and dust, Liu Xiaolou was a bit trance-like for a while.

In the blink of an eye, it was two years again...

Amidst the "creaking" sound, he pushed open the door of the East Side Hall and stepped into the side room slowly. The copper cover over the Nine-Star Earth Fire was still as heavy as ever. After lifting it, he immediately felt a heat wave rushing towards his face.

Liu Xiaolou sat cross-legged in front of the fire cave, took out the array plate jade pendant with the runes etched, and suspended it above the fire mouth.

Well, it must be suspended higher. Qingzhu said back then that it should be one foot higher...

His eyes couldn't help but glance at the door. There was no one at the door, but Liu Xiaolou always felt that there was a figure there, slender, pointing to the fire cave mouth and saying to himself:

"The fire is a bit too fierce..."

"So high, about a foot, don't get too close..."

"Tell me, how are you and Xixi doing?"

"Liu Xiaolou, do you think Xixi will know?"

Shaking his head to drive this figure out of his mind, Liu Xiaolou focused his attention on the earth fire in front of him. The rune channels etched on the jade pendant gradually revealed fluorescent lights. So he held his breath and concentrated, and began to smelt the five metals and eight stones...

He refined the earth plate in front of the Nine-Star Earth Fire for nine days, completed the "Three Wonders" seal of the heavenly plate in nine days, and finally spent seven days fusing the heavenly plate and the earth plate together. The simplified version of the Lin Yuan Xuan Stone Array plate was completed, totaling thirty-two days.

At the moment of successful refining, he entered the array himself to perform a trial. That slender figure appeared again, leaning on the embroidered pillow by the bed curtain, staring at himself.

Liu Xiaolou looked at this figure blankly for a long time, then suddenly retreated from the array, covered the earth fire again, closed the temple door, descended Xingde Mountain, and headed straight for the east.

He rushed for a night to reach Dongting, bought a boat to enter the river, hoisted the sails, and went down. A day later, he abandoned the boat and went ashore, rushed southeast, and entered Shengzhou while inquiring, walking through the mountains and hills.

The scenery ahead became more and more beautiful, with strange mountains and clear water, layers of peaks. After detouring for several miles, he saw a stone archway at the foot of the mountain, with the four characters "Clouds Steaming and Mist Covering" written on it. Liu Xiaolou knew that this was Siming Mountain.

The great array sect—Siming Sect—was on the mountain.

Liu Xiaolou didn't dare to break in, so he stood respectfully in front of the mountain gate. Not long after, a housekeeper came down the mountain road and asked: "Where are you from?"

Liu Xiaolou replied: "I am Liu Xiaolou, I want to see Diao Gao in person, can you pass the message for me?"

The housekeeper asked: "Do you know Senior Brother Diao?"

Liu Xiaolou replied: "When I was on Jin Ting Mountain last year, I was fortunate enough to receive guidance from Senior Diao."

The housekeeper said: "Then you have come in vain. Senior Brother Diao went down the mountain last month and has not returned yet, and I don't know where he went. If there is anything urgent, you can leave a letter with me, and I will pass it on for you."

Liu Xiaolou's search for Diao Daoyi was mainly to inquire about Qingzhu's whereabouts. Since Diao Daoyi was not there, it didn't matter. After thinking about it, he asked: "Do you know where Qingzhu Garden is? The one from the Ouyang family in Lianxi Hall..."

The housekeeper really knew, indicating that Qingzhu's bragging at the time was actually not bragging. She was indeed very famous in this area.

After getting the location of Qingzhu Garden, Liu Xiaolou rushed there immediately. After leaving Siming Mountain, he turned northeast and saw a bamboo forest by a small stream sixty miles away.

The bamboo forest was not dense, three or five clusters, surrounding a circle of bamboo houses. In the open space in front of the bamboo houses, Qingzhu was hosting a banquet, sitting opposite a young lady and drinking.

Liu Xiaolou hid in the distance, quietly gazing at Qingzhu, only feeling that her flower-like face and moon-like appearance were like yesterday, and her demeanor and charm were even better than before.

There was also a group of geese pacing in the bamboo forest...

From noon to evening, Liu Xiaolou quietly left under the clouds and sunset.

He didn't know why he came, but he came, saw, and was satisfied.

Passing by a market town, he spent ten taels of silver to hire a donkey cart. Liu Xiaolou sat in the carriage, lifting the curtain to look at the autumn scenery of the south of the Yangtze River. A burst of melancholy struck him. He closed his eyes to rest, but unexpectedly broke through the Zhongdu acupuncture point.

Most cultivation is like this, bit by bit accumulation, bit by bit progress. Liu Xiaolou is not a genius in destiny. Being so down-to-earth makes him feel at ease.

The donkey cart did not rush, and the driver rarely whipped it. It went west all the way, slowly and freely. Liu Xiaolou watched the autumn scenery in the carriage, holding spirit stones in his palm, closing his eyes to rest from time to time.

After driving for a day and a night, a manor appeared in front, with white walls and red tiles, surrounded by green willows. The driver told Liu Xiaolou that he had arrived with a strong Wu-Yue accent.

Liu Xiaolou got off the cart, looked at the manor in front of him, and looked northeast. Dozens of miles away was Shenwu Mountain, and here was Bai Yun Manor.

Yun Ao was very surprised and happy about Liu Xiaolou's appearance. He introduced him to the manor and set up a banquet to treat guests in the rain pavilion surrounded by banana trees.

"Brother Yun Ao, this is the finished array plate, please accept it."

"What is Xiaolou doing? Didn't we agree that I would come to pick it up? Sending it here specially from so far away, oh my, really..."

"I went to visit an old friend and passed by."

"Ah, are you going to see Wuniang? I heard that she has been practicing on Weiyu Mountain. Eh? Could it be that Xiaolou hopes to return to the Su family?"

"Hehe, Brother Yun Ao, don't guess blindly. Wuniang and I have no fate, let's look at the array plate."

While drinking, he started the array plate and led Yun Ao into the array. After a while, he let him out again. Yun Ao bowed: "Xiaolou, wait a moment," and hurried away.

Liu Xiaolou drank alone for a long time, and Yun Ao hurried over again, returned to the banquet, smiling, and handed over a small purse: "Xiaolou, these are the agreed spirit stones, twenty, not one less, please check."

Liu Xiaolou put it into his arms and taught him the method of starting and closing the array plate on the spot.

After Yun Ao learned it, he tried it several times, confirmed it was correct, put away the array plate, suddenly glanced behind him, and asked in a low voice: "Xiaolou, do you really have no intention of returning to the Su family?"

Liu Xiaolou asked back: "What does Brother Yun Ao mean? Being divorced is being divorced, spilled water cannot be recovered."

Yun Ao said: "What spilled water cannot be recovered? As long as the cultivation level is reached, the spilled water can be recovered, and not a drop will leak!"

Liu Xiaolou smiled: "Two different things, drink."

Yun Ao said again: "Some time ago..." He looked behind him again and said in a lower voice: "Jiuniang came. At first, I thought she was looking for me, but it turned out she was asking about you."

Liu Xiaolou was stunned: "Asking about me?"

Yun Ao said: "Didn't our group go to Wulong Mountain to find you a few months ago? The news reached her ears, so she asked us what we were doing to find you. She asked for a long time. Looking at that meaning, she might also go to Wulong Mountain. Otherwise, why would I ask if you are going to return to the Su family? I thought, it should be for Wuniang's sake, but my wife said, she wants to go to Wulong Mountain herself, and it has nothing to do with Wuniang... Xiaolou, tell me the truth, what is between you and Jiuniang..."

He looked around again and said urgently: "Xiaolou, did Wuniang give you a divorce letter because of Jiuniang? Tell me the truth."

Liu Xiaolou suddenly smiled and raised his glass to invite him to drink: "Brother Yun Ao, oh Brother Yun Ao, I was in the Su family for three years, and I didn't see it. You actually have feelings for Jiuniang..."

Scaring Yun Ao to hurriedly raise his finger: "Shh, don't talk nonsense!"

Liu Xiaolou drank it himself and comforted him: "Don't worry, even if she goes to Wulong Mountain to find me, it's not because she has feelings for me."

Yun Ao was very nervous: "Swear?"

Liu Xiaolou pointed to the sky and swore: "If there is half a lie, heaven will strike me with lightning."

Yun Ao breathed a sigh of relief: "You can't lie to me."

Liu Xiaolou said: "How could I lie to you? Jiuniang's sweetheart is not me, it's Lord Jingzhao... Don't you and Jiao Hu communicate with each other? Haha..."

After this sentence, the banquet had no taste. Yun Ao sighed, and all the spiritual wine served was drunk by Liu Xiaolou alone.

Sending the drunk Liu Xiaolou to the donkey cart, Yun Ao felt melancholy, walking back and forth in the courtyard, his heart in a mess for a while.

Before he walked for a while, the sky became overcast, thunder rumbled, and autumn rain fell continuously.

In the sound of rain, a greeting came from the back house: "Husband, come quickly..."

Yun Ao sighed, walked through the hall into the room, and unexpectedly a lightning bolt struck, breaking several red tiles on the banana pavilion.

Yun Ao was stunned, and suddenly felt relieved, secretly thinking in his heart: "Heaven strikes with lightning, good for you, Liu Xiaolou, saying that Jiuniang's sweetheart is Lord Jingzhao, and you dare to swear? Isn't this fulfilled?"

Once the block in his heart was gone, his footsteps quickened by three points.

"Husband, come quickly..."

"Haha, coming, wife!" ===== CHAPTER 215 =====