Chapter 150: Everyone Turns into a Star When They Die

"Re—really...?" Fan Zifan sat limply on the ground.

In the past, he used to think that if Wen Jinge were to die, he would probably be very happy. From then on, no one would be able to wreak havoc on his medicine mountain, and no one would constantly plot against him...

But right now, his heart ached so much!

With Wang Xi's previous buildup, his heart ached even more. He looked at Shan Hongxing and demanded, "What were you doing at that time?!"

"Master Uncle Shan hadn't crossed paths with us yet." Ling Yi spread his hands in dissatisfaction. "Senior Sister hasn't given me my greeting gift yet. Is Master Uncle Fan trying to bully a child? My hands are very tired."

Fan Zifan looked as though he had been laughed into anger by the boy.

Thinking of how this child had just been taken in as a disciple only to witness his own master slash her own throat and die, he must have suffered immense trauma, which was why he could utter such heartless words!

With a heart full of distress, Fan Zifan pulled Ling Yi into his arms, rubbed his little head, and gently patted his back. "Cry, go ahead and cry! Child, cry if you want to!"

Ling Yi turned his head, his small eyes filled with profound confusion as he looked at Yang Wennan.

Ever since their master and eldest senior brother had left, the second senior brother had been going about all day listless, like an addict deprived of his fix. The little senior sister acted wildly as a mood-maker, while the fourth senior brother and that golden crow frequently lagged behind, busy with goodness knows what. Only the third senior brother was as steady and respectable as an old monk in meditation, giving him a sense of security.

"Senior Brother Yang, was this Master Uncle always such a stingy person?"

A buzzing sound echoed inside Yang Wennan's tilted head, as if something was about to burst open.

"...I suppose so!" he offered a fair and balanced evaluation.

Fan Zifan took a deep breath, his intuition telling him that this child would become an extraordinary figure when he grew up; this demeanor was simply the spitting image of a young Wen Jinge.

The spitting image!

He suddenly remembered that she, much like their master, was fond of divination. Back on Xuanjun Sect, she had insisted on descending the mountain for trial training—could this have been foreseen in her calculations all along?

He suddenly smiled, scooped up Ling Yi, and bolted out the door.

Shan Hongxing's hand holding the teacup paused. He looked bewilderedly at the open door, then at the remaining disciples in the room. Only Yang Wennan followed them out with a limp; he had been the one taking care of the little fellow these past days. Shan Hongxing didn't make much of it and continued sipping his tea.

"Let's go out and take a look too!" Perhaps because the room was too quiet, Qiao Yu could no longer stay put.

Throughout this entire journey, the one who could least sit still had always been Yuan Qingling. Whenever that happened, he and the golden crow would vanish for a while, and after calming down a few days later, he would be brought back by the golden crow.

But now, with everything laid bare, he could no longer stay inside either.

"Master Uncle Sect Master, please accept my condolences regarding the Master," Qiao Yu bowed to him.

The representatives sent by Xuanjun Sect this time were few: only Sect Master Huo Yongfei, Fan Zifan of Qinghong Peak, and Song Huan of Xumi Peak, while Shan Hongxing had caught up much later.

Song Huan had eyes only for his array diagrams and was single-mindedly devoted to them. Even after leaving Xuanjun Sect and arriving at Qinghe Mountain, he still locked himself away in a gloomy room and refused to step outside.

This room had been prepared for Shan Hongxing. After word was sent that Shan Hongxing was approaching, servants came to tidy up the courtyard, and Huo Yongfei had been waiting ever since.

Like Fan Zifan, he had never imagined that the outcome he waited for would be this.

"Go on then!" Huo Yongfei waved a hand.

"Master, this disciple will keep watch outside the courtyard," Lu Feiyu announced before heading out with the still-yawning Blue Yehuan.

"Senior Sister," once the two of them found a safe spot, Blue Yehuan's sleepiness vanished entirely, "don't you even want to know what Master and Master Uncle Sect Master are talking about inside?"

"I don't. Isn't cultivating properly far better than engaging in those unorthodox tricks?" With that, Lu Feiyu shoved a sword into his hands. "How long has it been since you practiced your sword forms?"

"I'm almost at the fourth rank." Blue Yehuan tilted his head. Seeing her look of disbelief, he muttered, "Really, Mogan City is a strange place. Once we left that area, that weird feeling vanished. I was just a hair's breadth away from breaking through to the fourth rank there, but thankfully I managed to suppress it."

"Why on earth did you suppress it?" Lu Feiyu stared at him with exasperated disappointment. If she had possessed the capability to reach the fourth rank, she would have advanced long ago.

"I've already surpassed Senior Sister by a lot. If I surpassed you even further, wouldn't Senior Sister get scolded by Master?" Blue Yehuan protested. "Though Master's temper has improved quite a bit, who knows when she'll revert to her old ways?"

Lu Feiyu fell silent.

In a mere half-year, Blue Yehuan had transformed into someone she hardly recognized.

"Xiaozhou, you..."

"Senior Sister, why are you frowning? Uncle Bai told me that frowning too much makes you look ugly. Stop frowning and cheer up."

"Xiaozhou, you've really grown up. You're completely different from before," Lu Feiyu smiled.

The old Blue Yehuan would only ever stand behind her, waiting for her to go pick fights on his behalf. Since when had her little Xiaozhou learned to be so considerate of others?

"Xiaozhou would never have been like this in the past!"

"Well, that's because I got beaten up for it." Blue Yehuan gave a light hum of grievance. "And don't you mention it, Immortal Wen's disciples might look completely unreliable, but they are extremely reasonable when they beat people up—they're particularly fond of lecturing on Buddhist scriptures."

"Oh?" Lu Feiyu stopped urging him to practice his sword, completely unaware that she had been led astray by the conversation.

"How do they lecture?"

"Right after that time we fought with Senior Sister, Master said we had to win back the dignity we lost ourselves, so we took turns going to find Yang Wennan to fight. But we ended up getting beaten by a few disciples from Wanzhang Peak instead."

"While they beat us, they recited Buddhist scriptures and asked if we understood. If we pretended to understand when we didn't, the beating would be even more ruthless. Often, they'd mix in all sorts of other grand principles as well."

Blue Yehuan touched the back of his head, a simple and honest smile spreading across his face. "At the time, I thought some of their arguments were quite interesting, so I kept them in mind and applied them to my own actions. Fortunately, Wind and Thunder Peak is genuinely changing for the better."

"Still..." Lu Feiyu sighed. "I used to think Immortal Wen was thoroughly detestable, but now that she's gone, I somehow feel it would have been better if she had stayed alive."

"Yeah, how wonderful would it be if she were still alive!"

"Master Uncle, even if you're poor, you shouldn't be abducting me!" Ling Yi looked with absolute despair at Yang Wennan, who was hot on their heels, and said with a hint of distress, "My senior brother has trouble with his legs, and my senior sister is entirely consumed with plotting how to extort money from people—they definitely don't have enough cash to ransom me back."

"Why is a child like you so noisy?" Fan Zifan felt quite helpless, yet he couldn't help wanting to laugh.

This child really was just as unlikable as a young Wen Jinge.

No, she probably only ever cared to please one person, and later on, that person nearly became her mortal enemy.

"It's not being noisy! When Master was still around, she said that children loving to talk is just their nature, and that not talking is what's abnormal. I'm just slowly becoming normal."

"You talk too much." Fan Zifan raised his eyes to look at the sky.

At this moment, he was standing right outside the mountain gates of Qinghe Mountain.

It was the hour of *shen*, and the shadows under the setting sun were drawn out long. The sun in the sky was still blazing fiercely, and no one dared to gaze directly at the heavens.

"Let me tell you, if your master is still alive, the most likely way she'll return is by dropping straight out of the sky. Do you believe me?"

"People turn into stars when they die—that's what the bunch who claimed I was a deity told me to fool me, too."