From Qi Wan's brow burst forth a Heart Demon Worm, which shot straight towards Yu Qing!
He quickly turned to avoid it, the strong wind brought by his rapid speed rustling the green skirt around his waist, and the crystal ball at his waist swayed.
The scene shifted, focusing on the Heart Demon Worm.
The red-clad woman gradually became a distant figure in the painting, her body falling backward, her flesh starting to melt into black mist from her head.
When Yu Qing returned after slaying the Heart Demon Worm, only a puddle of black water remained.
Jian Huan sighed softly in her heart.
It wasn't that she felt pity; dying so cleanly and neatly was probably the greatest fortune in Qi Wan's life.
But the mess she left behind, the children born in the new home, the families that lost their children, were all unsolvable.
Elder Liu sneered, "A sinner of a thousand years, not worth dying!"
With that, he flicked his sleeve and left, and the surrounding disciples bowed in respect.
However, the scene did not stop there. Yu Qing left the torn space and headed towards the battlefield.
Outside the old mansion in the battlefield, Jian Huan and Shen Jizhi lay on the ground, unconscious.
A wall away in the mansion, there was a large pit, and the tree had mysteriously disappeared.
Jian Huan: "!!!"
No wonder Elder Yu Qing had her watch it first.
According to the scenes shown by the crystal ball, Elder Yu Qing was late and saw nothing, just picking up her and Shen Jizhi one by one.
Jian Huan looked up, gritted her teeth, her expression solemn, and she refused to leave for a long time.
She watched it over and over again, but found no trace of any hidden figure.
Until someone gently poked her.
Jian Huan turned her head.
It was a girl in a light blue dress, with delicate features, a delicate figure, and innocent eyes.
The girl pointed to the light screen of the crystal ball and asked in a soft voice, "Is that you up there?"
Jian Huan nodded, "Yes."
The girl smiled gently, looked around, and got very close to Jian Huan, bringing with her a faint fragrance, "I know that male cultivator, he's Shen Jizhi from Jade Clarity Sect. So you are the one they talk about in Xuantian Garden, Shen Jizhi's partner?"
In the world of cultivation, a partner is a fellow cultivator who practices dual cultivation together.
Jian Huan's tone faltered, "…If I say no, would you believe me?"
The girl didn't say she believed or not, just gave Jian Huan a suggestive wink, her breath fragrant, "Sword cultivators are all strong, especially in explosive power in the waist and abdomen…"
She glanced up and down at Jian Huan, then said, "It's okay, you'll know after you try it."
Jian Huan wanted to say something but stopped, looking at the girl with suspicion.
The girl stood up shyly, gently touching the black hair hanging over her collarbone, as if she hadn't said those words.
Jian Huan couldn't help but asked her, "How do you… know that? Have you tried it?"
The girl coughed softly, whispered in her ear, "Yeah, sword cultivators, blade cultivators, qin cultivators, talisman cultivators, Buddhist cultivators, male disciples from Harmony Union Sect, basically all of them. Harmony Union Sect disciples have more variety, but their stamina isn't that good, sword and blade cultivators are both good, but I prefer Buddhist cultivators…"
Jian Huan was amazed, "!!!"
She extended a thumb, showing her admiration.
The girl covered her mouth and giggled, "I'm Ran Mu'er from Harmony Union Sect, let's add each other on Xuantian Garden. If you ever need anything, you can find me. I've been researching a dual cultivation secret technique recently, I can teach it to you. But after you try it, you have to give me feedback so I can see if there's anything to improve…"
"…" Jian Huan took out her Xuantian Mirror, and also advertised herself, "I can also draw talismans, if you need talismans or anything forged, you can also find me."
Ran Mu'er: "Sure, sure."
Ran Mu'er: "Ah, you don't know the wonders of dual cultivation, I'm eager to teach you my new technique."
Jian Huan's mouth twitched slightly, "…There's no need to be so hasty, I'm still young."
Ran Mu'er looked down, "Ah? It's obviously very good…"
"…" Jian Huan's face turned red, she kept a straight face, "I meant my age."
...
Grass, who said that!
Ran Mu'er: "……"
When they were unconscious before, they didn't know why they were placed on the same bed.
There were plenty of rooms in the Jiang Mansion, all of them empty.
After Shen Jizhi fixed the carriage and returned, he moved to the next room.
He held a needlework basket he had found somewhere.
It had threads of all colors, even pink ones!
Jian Huan didn't hesitate, took out her pink dress with several holes from her spatial pouch, and followed him to his room.
Shen Jizhi moved the teapot and cups on the table aside, placed the needlework basket on it, along with the half-torn water green Taoist robe.
Besides that, he also took out a pair of white cloth boots from a wide-bottomed vase in his spatial pouch.
These were things he had stuffed into the vase to clear space before, including this pair of slightly worn boots.
In the Jade Clarity Sect, Shen Jizhi often ran up and down the mountains, wearing out shoes quickly.
These cloth boots were only newly made last New Year, but after a few months, the outer layer had been scratched by bushes and rocks.
After preparing everything, Shen Jizhi sat down at the table, and Jian Huan sat next to him.
Jian Huan had no experience with needlework, she used to like playing with dolls as a child, but instead of dressing them up, she would draw directly on the dolls…
For these three days, they couldn't use spiritual power, and Jian Huan and Shen Jizhi were very obedient to the doctor's orders.
After all, if they didn't listen and something went wrong, they would have to spend more on medicine!
The healer currently treating them was brought by the Imperial Pacification Office, so they didn't need to pay, the Imperial Pacification Office would cover it.
If anything went wrong later, they would have to find a healer themselves, which would be expensive. No matter where you are, medical expenses are always the most costly.
They had to take this opportunity to heal their dantian well.
Unable to use spiritual power, Shen Jizhi took out the tools from the needlework basket and began to separate the sole from the upper part of the boot.
The sole was still good, no need to change it. He would carefully remove the damaged parts of the upper and then stitch the water green Taoist robe onto it.
In this way, a pair of white cloth boots could become a pair of water green boots with bamboo patterns. Such boots were popular among noble sons and were not cheap.
Jian Huan took a needle from the needlework basket and threaded it with pink thread.
However, the pink thread was darker than the clothes' light pink, and the clothes were not a uniform light pink but had a gradient effect and embroidery.
But Jian Huan thought it didn't matter, clothes were just to cover up the holes and be wearable.
No one would get close to her and stare at her clothes.
So she began to sew boldly.
Shen Jizhi, who was holding the boots and carefully tearing off the fabric, couldn't help but glance over, his hand pausing, he commented indifferently, "It's better not to sew."
Jian Huan glared, "…I like it, mind your own business!"
Shen Jizhi: "……"
He shook his head lightly and continued with his work.
Who would dare to mind her?
Jian Huan sewed while asking, "Did you fix the carriage?"
"Yes," Shen Jizhi was very particular about aesthetics, so he was very cautious before starting, thinking about how to make it look good, "But it was delayed for ten days, only got back eighty percent."
Jian Huan: "That's okay, what about Baili Dao?"
Shen Jizhi: "He said he's going to have dinner with a friend."
"Uh, a friend he made while cleaning night soil?" Jian Huan asked.
Shen Jizhi: "Yeah."
"Baili Dao is still amazing, people like him, everyone likes to make friends with him," Jian Huan said, hinting at Shen Jizhi, "Unlike some people…"
Shen Jizhi didn't look up, "Oh."
The two fell silent for a moment.
At the time of the day, the sun on the horizon was about to set, casting golden light far…
Far into this room by the window.
Early August, only a dozen days away from the Mid-Autumn Festival, the weather was not as hot as before, bringing a hint of early autumn coolness.
"Brother Shen, Sister Jian," someone suddenly called at the door.
The two immersed in needlework looked up and saw it was Su Tian, the one who came with Sister Bai Ying and the others in the morning.
Su Tian stepped into the room and closed the door, "I've come to deliver some utensils."
Jian Huan quickly stopped, stuck the needle into her clothes, and stood up with a smile, "Thank you, Brother Su!"
Su Tian took out the utensils from his spatial pouch and placed them on the ground.
Shen Jizhi held a shoe in one hand, while the other hand made a circular motion. With a flick of his wrist, the spell of remote object manipulation activated, and his half of the utensils floated over to him one by one, neatly stowed away in his spatial pouch.
Jian Huan crouched on the ground, just picking up a golden bowl when she reminded him, "You can't use spiritual energy."
Shen Jizhi: "..."
Shen Jizhi: "Forgot."
"It's fine," he said, resuming his needlework, "I only used it once, no big deal."
Jian Huan: "..."
Su Tian watched the oblivious couple and cleared his throat lightly.
Jian Huan, attracted by the sound, put away her things while asking, "Is there anything else, Senior Brother Su?"
With no one to entertain him, Su Tian had to walk to the table, finding an empty spot to sit down.
Seeing the needle and thread on the table, he looked puzzled, "Why are you sewing shoes and clothes yourselves?"
Shen Jizhi glanced at him and calmly retorted, "Why not?"
"Well, it's not that..." Su Tian paused, realizing this must be Shen Jizhi, the direct disciple of Elder Gu, renowned for his strong presence. He turned to Jian Huan, "Junior Sister Jian, I have a few more questions for you two."
Jian Huan was eager to know the origins of that tree, so she smiled, "Please ask, Senior Brother Su. I will tell you everything I know."
Su Tian hesitated for a moment before asking, "Do you know what kind of tree that was?"
"No," Jian Huan shook her head honestly, then asked back, "Do you know, Senior Brother Su?"
Su Tian hesitated: "I'm not entirely sure, but generally speaking, such intricate and sophisticated formations that can revert children to their spiritual root state, that tree must be extraordinary."
"Yes, I mentioned this morning that when we left, we could see the tree glowing with a phosphorescent light, and the spiritual energy was very dense," Jian Huan sighed, "To be honest, we wanted to dig up that tree, but everything that happened was visible in Elder Yu Qing's crystal ball. We were knocked out, and the tree disappeared without a trace."
Su Tian was taken aback: "That's not a crystal ball, it's a retrospective orb."
"Close enough, close enough," Jian Huan squinted slightly, "Senior Brother Su, since you're not entirely sure, you must have some guesses. Could you tell us what you suspect the tree to be? To be honest, I'm really curious."
Su Tian remained silent for a moment before uttering three words: "Earth Fruit Tree."
After all, the tree is gone now, so telling them won't hurt.
Most importantly, by tomorrow, someone else will likely figure out what the tree was.
South Dust Immortal Island is the foremost medical cultivation sanctuary in the Nine Provinces, but other sects also have skilled medical cultivators who will eventually come to the same conclusion.
Shen Jizhi's needle in his right hand suddenly veered and pierced his left index finger.
A small droplet of bright red blood emerged, but Shen Jizhi seemed unaware, his head slightly lowered, motionless as if in a trance.
Jian Huan sensed Shen Jizhi's unusual state; he must have heard of the Earth Fruit Tree!
But she hadn't, and Jian Huan couldn't help but press further, "What is an Earth Fruit Tree?"
"As the name suggests, the fruits of the Earth Fruit Tree grow underground," Su Tian's eyes filled with longing, "It's said that eating the Earth Fruit raw can ensure you survive a thunder tribulation unscathed."
Jian Huan's eyes lit up instantly: "!"
"But the Earth Fruit Tree is very fast, and over the centuries, many high-level cultivators have sought it, only for the tree to escape. To be honest—" Su Tian paused, "I think what knocked you out might not have been a person, but the Earth Fruit Tree..."
...
Jian Huan: "???"
Jian Huan was baffled: "Can trees really knock people out?"
Su Tian nodded: "The Earth Fruit Tree has a tree spirit that likes to knock people out. You're not the only ones who've been hit. I've heard of many cultivators who've experienced the same."
Jian Huan: "!!!"
A tree spirit?
She instinctively held her breath. Could the green jelly-like substance in her spatial pouch be the tree spirit of the Earth Fruit Tree?
If she nurtured it well and it bore more fruits, wouldn't she have a lifetime of abundance, with plenty of spirit stones?
But that didn't make sense.
If the Earth Fruit Tree had knocked them out, it must have escaped.
Yet the jelly-like substance was still safely in her spatial pouch, not running away.
Could the jelly not be the tree spirit of the Earth Fruit Tree? Then what was it?
Jian Huan was bewildered in the setting sun.
Su Tian shared some more information about the Earth Fruit Tree before regretfully taking his leave.
After all, even if the tree hadn't escaped, many powerful cultivators would surely vie for it, and it wouldn't be his turn as a mere apothecary.
After Su Tian left, Jian Huan quickly pushed aside the sewing basket on the table and wrote on the table with her fingertip.
Regarding the jelly-like substance, it was better not to speak of it aloud, lest someone eavesdrop.
She wrote: I feel this doesn't make sense.
Shen Jizhi followed up: Let's check it out after we leave.
Jian Huan: That's the only way.
Shen Jizhi was confident: In any case, it can't be ordinary.
That was true, and Jian Huan couldn't help but chuckle.
Shen Jizhi glanced at her, then wiped the table a few times with his sleeve, resuming his shoe-making.
Jian Huan watched his progress; his needlework was quick, his fingers moving rapidly, already sewing new fabric onto the boot.
She looked away and continued sewing her clothes.
But suddenly, Jian Huan paused with the needle in her hand.
Just now, it didn't seem like anything was wrong.
But now, with Shen Jizhi's work as a comparison, she realized her sewing was indeed not very good.
The stitches were too rough, the placement seemed off.
And Shen Jizhi's shoe, the stitches were almost invisible, as if the fabric was just attached.
Jian Huan: "..."
Why would a sword cultivator have such good needlework skills?
The Jiang Mansion now hosted cultivators from various sects.
The lord of Yujiang City had self-destructed during the incident, and the Imperial Pacification Office of Azure Dragon City took over all affairs in Yujiang City, including providing meals for the cultivators helping at the Jiang Mansion.
Three meals a day, Jian Huan and Shen Jizhi never missed any.
The next morning, after breakfast, Shen Jizhi returned to his room alone, sitting at the table to start sewing the other boot.
He hadn't continued after nightfall the previous day, switching to practicing sword techniques instead.
Without using spiritual energy, just pure swordsmanship.
Shen Jizhi first admired the finished boot.
Hmm, perfect stitches, perfect appearance, not bad.
He carefully placed it on the table, picked up the other boot, and then reached for the remaining water-green robe.
As soon as he lifted the robe, Shen Jizhi noticed something amiss.
Beneath it was a carefully hidden pink dress.
To avoid revealing the fabric, the dress was tightly bound into a small bundle.
Shen Jizhi: "..."
No wonder Jian Huan, who usually arrived at the dining hall with him, was a full incense stick late today.
Shen Jizhi's gaze fell on the pink dress.
If she were willing to pay, she wouldn't hide it like this.
But since she hadn't paid for the dress, she certainly wouldn't want to spend money on sewing.
This was her way of asking him to help sew it without paying.
Shen Jizhi lightly pulled the corners of his mouth, reached out with his thumb and index finger, and threw the bundle onto a nearby cabinet.
Dream on.
Night fell.
...
In the bedroom, Jian Huan, dressed in a moon-white nightgown, lay on the bed, one hand propping her chin, the other pressing on a thick tome of incantations.
Her head bobbed up and down, her eyelids somehow sticking together, but her lips continued to mumble incantations by habit.
The candle in the room burned silently, and Jian Huan's lips gradually stopped.
With a thud, her head fell forward.
Jian Huan suddenly woke up.
She rubbed her aching temples, closed the incantation book.
After a day of memorizing, her brain just couldn't take it anymore.
Jian Huan decided to spare it tonight.
She jumped off the bed, thought for a moment, wrote two notes, and climbed out the window.
The window of the next room was half-open, the candle already out.
In the dark night, Jian Huan tiptoed closer, propped her hand on the windowsill, and peeked inside.
Inside was quiet, the moonlight from behind her outlining the vague shapes of the room.
Shen Jizhi seemed to be asleep, lying facing the wall.
Jian Huan shifted her gaze to the table.
The boot and water-green robe were gone, only leaving the sewing basket and her pink dress.
Jian Huan pushed hard with her hand, lifted her foot, and climbed onto the windowsill.
She took off her shoes, placed them on the windowsill, and lightly jumped down to the floor.
Jian Huan quickly approached the table, the moonlight on the floor flickering like someone playing a moonlight melody.
Shen Jizhi lay motionless on the bed, his beautifully drawn eyebrows seemingly in a deep sleep.
Jian Huan reached out to pick up her skirt, feeling a tinge of disappointment.
The skirt was still tied up with a rope, looking as if it had never been touched.
Well, she had guessed as much.
Jian Huan bit her lip and pulled out two notes from her bosom, examining them before placing one of the notes in the neatly arranged sewing basket, where even the threads were sorted by color from red to violet.
Then, she left with the skirt, feeling something was off.
What was it?
Jian Huan stood by the window, examining the skirt under the moonlight.
After a moment, her large, grape-like eyes sparkled with joy, brighter than the moon in the sky.
Previously, the skirt had been tied in a way that exposed the tears, but now they were nowhere to be seen.
Jian Huan glanced at the person on the bed, quickly untied the rope, and shook the skirt.
The elegant pale pink dress shimmered beautifully under the moonlight, the tears completely gone, as if they had never existed.
Jian Huan: "!!!"
She quickly returned to the table, swapped the note that said 'Drink more cold water' with the other one, and placed it down.
A moment after Jian Huan left,
Shen Jizhi opened his eyes, pushed back the quilt, and got out of bed.
He stopped by the table, picked up the note from the sewing basket, and slowly unfolded it with slender fingers.
Inside were a few bold, flowing characters—
A good person will live a life of wealth and fortune.
Outside the room, the moon hung high, and the stars shone brightly.
Inside, the man stood quietly, his tall figure and eyes as radiant as the night sky.
