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In the late winter of last year, Jing Jiu left Aoyama with the other young people and moved to a courtyard outside Cloudy Town. Everything was a bit messy, so they spent the New Year's Day in a casual manner and had a hotpot. Zhao Layue was the only one who hugged him earnestly.
Scenery Garden was peaceful this year. The students' Cultivation went well, and the troublesome issues were solved. As a result, they decided to spend the New Year's Day in earnest, except for Jing Jiu, who was still lying on the bamboo chair in a daze, thinking about something.
Gu Qing, Zhuo Rusui, and Yuan Qu came to the front of the roofed corridor and knelt down in front of the bamboo chair. They kowtowed to it and stood up to leave, ready to continue their Cultivation.
They had been cultivating diligently this year, because they knew that Scenery Garden would be very dangerous in the future even though it looked peaceful and beautiful at the moment.
As they were about to walk out of the courtyard, Zhuo Rusui couldn't stand it anymore. He stopped and asked Jing Jiu, "Senior Grandmaster, we've kowtowed to him. Even if you don't give him a red packet, when will you start cultivating?"
As soon as he said this, Gu Qing, Yuan Qü, Ada and Cold Cicada on his head all looked in his direction, full of anticipation and desire.
Jing Jiu asked, "Is the Spirit Gathering Formation not easy to use?"
Zhuo Rusui admitted that the formation in Scenery Garden was the most impressive one he had ever seen. It could attract the spiritual energy of the same density as that of Tianguang Peak in Cloudy Town, where there was no spiritual source. But … no matter how effective the formation was, it was not as effective as using it yourself.
Zhao Layue knew what they were thinking and said, "It's too noisy, and the Spiritual Qi is too violent. It will hurt us."
As Jing Jiu's cultivation grew higher and higher, the moment he began to absorb the spiritual energy of the world, he would be able to form a vortex that would draw in an unimaginable amount of spiritual energy. However, it was completely useless to him.
Zhuo Rusui, Gu Qing, and Yuan Qu now know the reason. They leave with regret.
Ada glanced at Jing Jiu bitterly, thinking, "If they can't stand it, I can … You're just lazy!"
When night fell, Zhao Layue returned to the courtyard and celebrated the new year as usual.
Jing Jiu patted her head as a way of assuring her that he was safe.
The next day was the first day of the new year. Outside the fog, which had been quiet for a long time, there was a sudden movement.
Gu Qing raised his eyebrows, wondering what had happened. Then, he walked out with the Sword of the Universe in his arms.
Zhuo Rusui followed behind him while yawning.
The Swallowing Boat Sword followed behind him listlessly.
The two of them came to the front of the garden and found that it was not what they had expected. They knew all the visitors.
Lei Il-kyung and Yao Songshan kneeled on the ground and bowed to the Scenery Garden, saying, "Greetings, Senior Grandmaster."
Gu Qing and Zhuo Rusui stepped aside hurriedly.
Lei Il-kyung and Yao Songshan stood up and bowed to them again.
In the past year, none of the disciples of Aoyama had come to the Scenery Garden. They were the first ones.
They had come here under the pressure of the Masters of Aoyama. Perhaps, they would be punished by the school rules when they returned.
Gu Qing knew how much courage it took to do this, so he said earnestly, "Please come in and have a cup of tea."
Lei Il-kyung and Yao Songshan said with a smile, "No need. We're just here to visit Senior Grandmaster. We're leaving now."
After saying that, they left Cloudy Town on their swords.
"I hope they'll be fine," Gu Qing said worriedly as he watched the two sword lights disappear among the mountains.
"The law doesn't punish the majority. They should be fine," Zhuo Rusui said, pointing to the sky.
Another few sword lights came from the sky. They were the disciples of Aoyama led by Lin Yingliang.
Just like Lei Il-kyung and Yao Songshan, these disciples of Aoyama kowtowed to the Scenery Garden a few times and left.
Not long after, another young disciple of Aoyama that Gu Qing and Zhuo Rusui didn't know arrived on his sword.
This disciple of Aoyama should have just joined the school a few years ago. When he saw Gu Qing and Zhuo Rusui, he blushed and kowtowed to the Scenery Garden. He was so excited that his body trembled.
Then, more sword lights lit up the sky.
More and more young disciples of Aoyama arrived on their swords. They must have noticed that the masters of Aoyama didn't stop them.
The sky above Cloudy Town was filled with endless sword lights. Flying swords landed outside the fog from time to time.
In just half a day, at least a hundred disciples of Aoyama came to pay their respects to Jing Jiu.
…
…
"One hundred and sixty-four people."
Gu Qing said to Jing Jiu, "I've memorized all their names."
Zhuo Rusui was listening at the side. He felt a great pressure. He thought that he had counted in his heart and there were indeed one hundred and sixty-four people. But … did he still need to memorize all their names?
Yuan Qu didn't feel any pressure. He didn't want to be the Sect Master anyway. He just wondered if he should go to the Shangde Peak to kowtow to the Great Ancestor and talk to Junior Sister Yushan.
Zhao Layue looked at Jing Jiu sitting on the bamboo chair and thought that some things were worth it.
Jing Jiu said while looking at the sky, "The weather is good today."
Zhuo Rusui followed his line of sight and found that the clouds and fog were still hanging in the sky. The scenery was as beautiful as ever, but it couldn't be said that the weather was good.
Jing Jiu continued, "We can have a hotpot."
By now, everybody realized that it wasn't the weather that was good, but the mood that was good.
…
…
It didn't take long before a large double-duck pot appeared by the stream under the flowering trees.
It was impossible for Shiyue Peak to send them freshly cut beef and mutton, but the Gu Clan and the Precious-Tree House were good at this kind of business.
Zhao Layue scooped a bowl of bone soup for Jing Jiu. Jing Jiu picked up the bowl and clinked it with the others like the others did. Everybody was stunned.
Jing Jiu went to lie under the eave after eating two green vegetables.
The flowing stream formed a small pond at a bend, and the koi carps were swimming slowly in the pond. The color of the koi carps was similar to the color of the flowering trees by the bank.
Lying on the bamboo chair, Jing Jiu looked at the koi carps, thinking of the King of Fire Carps at the bottom of the Cold Mountain, the Green Sky Mirror, and Qing 'er.
She was the true spirit of the heavenly state, but she didn't have much fighting prowess. And she was still a little child, so she could be deceived easily.
She had been deceived by Liu Ci to travel to the Alien Land for three years.
Thinking of Liu Ci, Jing Jiu thought of Yuan Qijing and the Emperor in Zhaoge City. Jing Jiu's eyelashes quivered slightly as he thought of the King Of The Underworld.
He didn't have many friends, but the King Of The Underworld was one of them.
Jing Jiu suddenly asked, "How is he?"
Yuan Qu was staring at Zhuo Rusui's shoulder, and was about to snatch the bowl from him. Hearing this, he put down the chopsticks and bowl in his hands hastily, saying, "He's still being stubborn."
Jing Jiu uttered "hmm", and said, "Put him out."
The word "put out" was usually used to describe objects, utensils and antiques, but not a person.
Yet, that person was inside a blue ice cube.
The blue ice cube was placed in the middle of the courtyard.
It had been a while since they left the Shanghai Peak, but the blue ice cube didn't melt completely. Instead, one third of the ice cube melted neatly, exposing Apiao's head.
It was Cold Cicada's ability to do it so precisely.
Apiao's small face was exposed outside the ice, and the lower part of her black hair was in the ice. As she turned her head, she looked a bit comical, but also a bit adorable.
"I do want the Seal of the King Of The Underworld, but I won't betray my Teacher!"
Staring at Jing Jiu on the bamboo chair, he continued angrily, "No matter how you humiliate and tempt me, I won't agree to take you as my Teacher!"
Gu Qing and the others looked at Jing Jiu, and found that he had no intention of paying any attention to this child of the Underworld; so they looked at the hotpot again.
"Master, the meat is ready," Yuan Qu said to Zhao Layue respectfully.
Zhao Layue picked up the chopsticks and picked up some meat, saying, "Let's eat."
No sooner had she finished saying this than the sword wills arose in the courtyard. The gentle wind ruffled the flowering trees and the stream water, and the sword sounds could be vaguely heard.
Apiao found it odd that nobody paid any attention to him. He turned his head in that direction and saw the hotpot and those people eating it.
Zhuo Rusui's chopsticks fell down like the wind, and the meat rose up like a forest.
Gu Qing's chopsticks moved very steadily, and he never missed anything.
The chopsticks in Yuan Qu's hands seemed to have some kind of twist and turn, and he could always find a gap between the other two pairs of chopsticks and insert them into the hotpot.
Seeing the residual shadows created by the chopsticks, Apiao was stunned, thinking that this sword style was truly formidable!
The disciples of Aoyama actually practiced their swordsmanship even when they were eating. No wonder they were so strong!
At this time, Zhao Layue finished eating the meat on her plate, and raised her chopsticks towards the hotpot.
Thus, the chopsticks' shadows that were like the wind, and the sword sounds that were incessant, all disappeared.
Zhuo Rusui and the others held their chopsticks, quietly waiting for her to go first.
Apiao came back to her senses, and looked at Jing Jiu, continuing, "A teacher for a day, a father for a lifetime. I appreciate your appreciation of me, but if you want me to betray my teacher and go to another school, that won't do."
Hearing this, Zhuo Rusui clicked his tongue a few times, and said to Yuan Qu, "This little fellow really belongs to your school. Look at how thick his skin is."
Yuan Qu smiled, and said, "In terms of skin thickness … other than Master … no, who can compare to you?"
Zhuo Rusui knocked Yuan Qu's chopsticks with his chopsticks, and said, "I admire you. You dare to think of it, and you almost said it out loud."
Gu Qing said with a small smile, "We are a family now; there is no need to distinguish between you and me."
Hearing what Apiao said, Jing Jiu said, "I'm good at persuading your Master's students and disciples to betray him."
He had said this to the Underworld Master many years ago, but Apiao hadn't heard it before, and she didn't know the story of how he led the two most outstanding disciples of Taiping Zhenren, Yuan and Liu, to kill his Master more than three hundred years ago. She couldn't help but be taken aback.
Apiao suddenly smelled a delicious smell, and looked in that direction again. Looking at the boiling soup in the copper pot and those oddly-shaped ingredients, the glows in her small face began to flow vaguely, as she exclaimed in a trembling voice, "Is … is this the rumored hotpot of Yizhou?"
Gu Qing picked up a piece of black tripe and swung it slowly in the red soup. His movements were slow and graceful, and his voice was as gentle as a zither. "Yes, it's from the House of Nine Fragrances."
Hearing what he said, Apiao stared at his chopsticks, and the expression on her face suddenly changed, as she exclaimed, "… it's sixteen times!"
As the disciples of the royal family of the Underworld, the change in their expressions was too obvious to be concealed, just like their moods.
Gu Qing picked up the piece of black tripe and put it in Yuan Qu's bowl. "Do you want to try it?" he asked Yuan Qu with a small smile.
Apiao was frozen in the ice cube, and she couldn't even raise her hands; how could she eat the hotpot?
If she wanted to come out of the ice cube, she had to agree to Jing Jiu's conditions.
"Humph! You guys can't entice me! I can even give up the Seal of the King Of The Underworld, let alone a hotpot! "
Apiao angrily turned her face away, determined not to look at him again, but she couldn't help but slowly turn her face back.
Gu Qing smiled and didn't say anything, and everyone continued to eat the hotpot.
Apiao watched them finish the tripe and yellow aorta, and the beef and mutton were almost gone. Her eyes gradually became resentful, and she painfully swallowed a few mouthfuls of saliva. She shouted with grief and indignation, "Stop! I surrender! "
…
…
Surrendering without hesitation was not trustworthy. Apiao was very clear that she had to agree to Jing Jiu's conditions and make a Blood Oath of the Styx River. After the Blood Oath of the Styx River was made, she could no longer resist Jing Jiu's orders, unless she chose death or endured endless pain and changed all the blood in her body into the Sacred Water of the Styx River.
Thinking of the bleak future, although Apiao had decided to surrender, she still hesitated for a while before closing her eyes. Her lips trembled slightly, and she seemed to be very afraid.
Jing Jiu clenched his right fist and stretched out his index finger to touch the space between Apiao's eyebrows.
The Seal of the King Of The Underworld was in his hand, emitting two rays of black and gold light, giving off an extremely solemn yet sacred feeling.
Apiao's bangs rose without any wind, revealing a small slit between her eyebrows. A wisp of soul fire floated out and entered his palm along Jing Jiu's index finger. Finally, it merged with the Seal of the King Of The Underworld.
After putting the Seal of the King Of The Underworld back, Jing Jiu's left hand stroked the surface of the ice. The extremely hard and cold ice instantly broke into hundreds of small pieces, and then was burned into mist by the sword fire, merging with the mist in the hotpot and the mist on the surface of the stream.
Apiao lay on the ground. Her face was pale, and her body was drenched. She looked extremely weak.
Her sapphire blue robe was torn in many places, revealing her jade-like skin.
"She's quite white," commented Yuan Qu while holding a plate and shoveling shrimp into his mouth.
Zhuo Rusui chewed the chili rings and cured meat at the same time and said, "There's no sun in the Underworld. How can she not be white?"
Zhao Layue felt something was wrong. She was slightly startled. She grabbed the back of Apiao's neck and dashed to the backyard.
Squatting on Jing Jiu's shoulder, Ada was about to see what the Seal of the King Of The Underworld looked like. Suddenly, he saw Zhao Layue's movement, and he couldn't help but feel nervous.
It didn't take long for Zhao Layue to bring the Drifter back to the field.
Apiao had taken a bath and changed into a clean set of clothes. She even combed her hair into a ponytail, which matched with her delicate eyes and brows. She looked really cute.
Zhuo Rusui was shocked and said, "How come you've become a little girl?"
Gu Qing and Yuan Qu were also very surprised.
The Drifter pouted her small mouth and said indignantly, "I'm a girl!"
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