Chapter 1219: Pah, Pah, Pah!

Aqing suddenly found this place unfamiliar.

Everything had changed.

So many people were gone.

The True Man of Qingxian Temple had passed away at some point. Qingshan City was no longer as it once was, retaining only a few lingering traces of the familiar. Ruyi had changed too, no longer the little girl from back then. Everyone she had ever met or known was different now...

Decades had passed since she left.

Aqing suddenly felt entirely out of place in this Mortal World.

She couldn't help but feel a sense of melancholy.

Yet, she harbored a quiet regret. She suspected she wouldn't get to see Changsheng on this trip.

As she was sitting there...

"Mhm..."

Aqing paused, then suddenly said, "Speaking of which, I discovered a few strange things on my way here..."

"Are you going to spit or what!"

She and Dong Chiyu watched her leave.

"Is that so?"

"What is it?"

"You mean to say, someone by the emperor's side is complying in public while opposing in secret, scheming for this world?"

"I know very little about the path of ancient characters and truly couldn't decipher them, but I've committed those characters to memory."

Ruyi winced in pain and gasped, saying, "You actually believe in that? What's so bad about saying it?"

At this, Ruyi also felt puzzled. "I can't figure it out either," she said. "If Uncle Chen had woken up, he definitely would have come looking for me. But I haven't seen him since that time."

"But Ruyi, don't you have a younger brother?"

"You know Fellow Daoist Xiao?"

"Mhm."

Ruyi blinked and said, "I do know someone who understands ancient characters very well. I heard him mention it before. He's a junior of Uncle Chen's. His surname is Xiao, named... named..."

Aqing paused. "Speaking of Changsheng, I always find it surprising. He doesn't seem like someone who would get sick, and it's very strange that he hasn't appeared at all over these years."

Aqing stared blankly for a moment, then said, "Nothing could have happened."

"She has other matters to attend to."

"The path of ancient characters is nearly lost. To think this Fellow Daoist Xiao actually knows of it..."

Aqing was truly a bit curious about that Formation, and she also wanted to know what its purpose was.

"Hidden circumstances?"

Noticing Ruyi looking a bit absentminded, Dong Chiyu asked, "Does Ruyi also want to pursue Cultivation?"

She let out a breath and said, "I just hope Auntie Aqing can find Uncle Chen. I feel more at ease now, without too many lingering desires. I only wish to see Uncle Chen one more time in this lifetime, and that will be enough."

He was also particularly isolated from news of the Mortal World. The Underworld locked him away like a cage, preventing him from going anywhere.

Ruyi paused and said, "I don't know, they seemed to be very good friends. I don't really understand it myself. When I was very young, she already knew Uncle Chen. The two of them always had a great relationship, but then Auntie Aqing left Qingshan City. I never expected that she had actually left the Mortal World entirely."

"It only looks fine on the surface."

After taking a seat, Ruyi said, "Is Auntie Aqing worried about Mister Chen, and that's why you can't sleep?"

"Hmph."

"Hard to say. I just felt something was odd at the time."

Resting at the Commandery Princess Manor that night, she found herself unable to sleep. She simply came out to sit in the courtyard pavilion, listening to the dead of night, pondering who-knows-what.

She remembered and said, "His name is Xiao Dongxu."

Ruyi said, "Actually, speaking of which, if you hadn't always been here, I reckon I wouldn't even know where I'd be. Maybe running all over the world, not even knowing where I'd end up when I died."

She asked with some worry, "Auntie Aqing, could something have happened to Uncle Chen?"

Before coming, she had asked her master what would happen if she made this trip back and never returned. Yet Lady Lingluo had told her, "You won't stay long, because that place will be very unfamiliar to you."

Aqing understood and immediately said, "It seems I ought to make a trip to Tianji Mountain."

"Now, I can't find Changsheng either, and since I currently have doubts, I really should take a trip to Tianji Mountain."

Unfortunately, he couldn't see anything now.

"From what you say, is she very familiar with Uncle Chen?"

Hearing this, Ruyi said, "I felt like Fox Lord and the others were hiding something from me back then, but I couldn't get a straight answer out of them. If Auntie Aqing goes to ask, maybe they will explain things clearly."

"Mhm. Back when I was at Tianji Mountain, he took very good care of me."

When Ruyi heard that the snow bird had flown into the Imperial Palace, she immediately frowned.

"My master, Lady Lingluo, told me that Changsheng is no ordinary cultivator. His abilities reach the heavens, and he can even command the Desolate Sea Water Demons. Those in this world who can match Changsheng can be counted on one hand. He certainly won't have any accidents."

That same day, Ruyi personally saw her out of the city.

If Chen Changsheng could see this, he would likely feel happy about it. As her uncle in name, he hadn't looked after Ruyi much; knowing someone was there to take care of her would naturally bring him joy.

Then Ruyi walked over and said, "Auntie Aqing, not resting in the middle of the night—are you here looking at the stars?"

Aqing said, "The most crucial point lies in the human dao qi fortune absorbed by that bizarre Formation. If someone uses it to cast a spell, the consequences would be unimaginable."

Ruyi, who had been arrogant for half her life, was subdued by the person in front of her.

"Not exactly..."

"He and I are no longer children. We can't mess around anymore."

Aqing subsequently told Ruyi everything she had seen and heard.

"How could someone like me, who clings to the mortal realm, ever attain immortality? In the end, I'd only be asking for suffering."

Ruyi snapped back to reality, but shook her head.

Dong Chiyu asked, "This aunt of yours is in such a hurry to leave?"

"Fine, fine, I'll spit, I'll spit, okay? Pah, pah, pah."

Hearing Aqing's words, Ruyi also breathed a sigh of relief.

Dong Chiyu blinked and said, "I feel like it's fine."

Ruyi's brow furrowed deeply as she asked, "Auntie Aqing couldn't recognize that Formation either?"

"All alone, what else could I do but run?"

Dong Chiyu's expression changed. She pinched Ruyi's shoulder and said, "You're not allowed to say such things. Hurry up and spit. Pah, pah, pah."

Aqing paused for a moment. Turning her head and seeing it was Ruyi approaching, she smiled. "No, I just couldn't sleep."

"This matter is no small thing."

Ruyi paused, then shook her head.

She had only been there a day before leaving again.

Ruyi let out a yawn and said, "Makes sense when you think about it. Auntie Aqing is a cultivator now, so you don't even need sleep."

But it didn't matter. She firmly believed that one day, she would meet him again.

"Why would you run all over the world?"

Aqing now believed those words. This Mortal World truly had become unfamiliar.

"Ping'an..."

Aqing was coming in a hurry, leaving in a hurry.

Aqing smiled and said, "Not exactly. Cultivators also need to rest sometimes."

At this moment, Chen Changsheng was trapped in a predicament.

He had been pulled from his dream by the Demon Sovereign.

Even so, it still couldn't change his disappointment in this world. Under the influence of the demonic qi, his breathing slowly grew chaotic, and his divine sense gradually became sluggish.