Techniques and Dao

Chapter 134 A Snowy Night
Midnight. Hanzhou.

The snowflakes, as fine as goose feathers, fell thicker and thicker.

Everywhere was silver and desolate.

In this blanket of white snow, the entire ground is covered. Even the once clear, winding roads are no longer discernible.

This expanse of white evokes a sense of suffocation, leaving you unsure of where to go.

Isn't life just like that?

It doesn't take a cataclysmic event. A simple snowstorm is enough to make even the most confident and goal-oriented person suddenly feel lost and disoriented.

Even, they lose themselves.

The unpredictable nature of life makes it impossible to foresee when this snowstorm will arrive.

It will never let you be truly and adequately prepared.

The only thing you can do is prepare something to face it.

The name of this thing is courage.

Ten miles outside Panxian Cave.

There was no road, no light, no direction.

A beautiful young girl dressed in colorful clothes was running desperately across the knee-deep snow.

The girl was breathing heavily, and the mist she exhaled was instantly blown away by the mountain wind.

She pressed her right hand hard against the pierced wound on her shoulder. Due to the intense pain, the girl's forehead was covered in beads of sweat the size of soybeans.

The beads of sweat slid down his forehead, past his temples, and dripped onto the snow, instantly freezing into ice.

The girl was so exhausted that she was on the verge of fainting in the snow, but she persevered.

She was holding a red oil-paper umbrella in her left hand.

The girl ran for her life, as if fleeing something extremely terrifying, or perhaps trying to protect something.

But they didn't even know where they were supposed to go.

Suddenly, the girl stumbled and fell in the snow.

The oil-paper umbrella flew out of the girl's arms and rolled into the snow in front of her, half-buried in it.

"This young lady..."

The girl wiped away the tears on her face with her right hand, the bloodstains on her right hand smudged the faint blush on her face.

She sat in the snow without getting up, muttering dejectedly:
"I fell down."

It's as if they have a bellyful of grievances to confide in someone.

The empty woods were covered in snow, and there wasn't a soul in sight.

The girl seemed to be talking to herself.

Then a strange scene unfolded: the oil-paper umbrella in front of the girl suddenly stood up as if it had a soul.

The umbrella transformed into a boy, who quickly flipped over and jumped up from the snow to help the girl.

The boy asked anxiously, "Mieying, Mieying, are you alright?"

The girl, called Shadow Destroyer, flung away the boy's hand that was trying to help her up, and sat down in the snow and burst into tears.

"Hua Sheng, you idiot! Fool! Fool! I trust you so much, you'd better not be a demon! You can't be a bad person either!"

Looking at this scene, Hua Sheng felt a pang of pain in his heart.

He had never seen the proud and stubborn Mieying Xiaoqi so aggrieved, so he could only say softly, "Perhaps the memories displayed by Panxian Cave are wrong. They may be somewhat confused."

Mieying immediately said, "Yes! It must be wrong! I say it's wrong, and that's it!"

Seeing Mieying's state, Hua Sheng didn't know what to say to comfort her. Thinking back to what she had just witnessed, she herself was equally astonished. The wound from when Mieying shielded her from the sword was still bleeding, and now her situation was...

Hanamori wanted to say something, but couldn't get the words out.

Mieying looked up at Huasheng's face and slowly reached out to take Huasheng's hand in his. Huasheng's hand was cold, just like his own, but when their hands were clasped together, they could feel a warmth.

The two knelt in the snow, hands clasped together, without saying a word.

"Shadowbreaker, look at what's happened today!"

Hua Sheng raised her head, breaking the silence.

"Upon closer examination, which of Lei Zhenzi, Erlang Shen, Xiaotianquan, Tianjizi, and Lü Dongbin seems like an ordinary person?"

He forced a smile and said, "But we're still fine. That means as long as I'm with you, I'm not afraid to fight any god."

Mieying pulled her hand away from Huasheng's palm, wiped her eyes with the back of her hand, and stopped the tears.

"You're making me sound like a tigress or a shrew."

Hua Sheng took a deep breath and said, "Fortunately, the Supreme Lord had already encountered me and insisted on following me as an oil-paper umbrella in case something went wrong. If it weren't for his thoughtfulness, I would definitely not have escaped Lü Dongbin's grasp this time."

"So didn't I tell you to remember the pattern of this oil-paper umbrella from the beginning? That way you could make it look real and not be discovered."

"Yes, yes, yes! It's all thanks to you, Miss." Mie Ying thought of what had just happened and said, "There must be some reason why Lü Dongbin said you were a phoenix demon."

When this topic came up, Hua Sheng became somewhat dejected and said, "I don't even understand what a Phoenix Demon is, and Lan Caihe also calls me a demon. When I came to Shengping Ning, I heard that there were no more demons in this world long ago."

“Indeed, there shouldn’t be. Things are different now than in ancient times. All the monsters in the world have long been wiped out by the immortals. Moreover, I have never heard of a monster called Phoenix Demon, but I have heard of a race called Phoenix Spirit from long ago. I wonder if Phoenix Spirit and Phoenix Demon are related.”

Hua Sheng pondered, "I've heard some legends about humans and spirits turning into demons. Could it be that the Phoenix Clan was originally a spirit clan, and later, due to evil thoughts, they transformed into demons?"

Mieying shook his head and said, "If we're talking about ancient stories of people transforming into monsters, a single monster might be possible. But I've never heard of an entire clan becoming monsters at the same time!"

"Then why?"

“I don’t know. But Lü Dongbin must have seen you unconsciously use some kind of spiritual energy absorption technique that can absorb Lingxiao-level spells. I think this seems to be a unique ability of the Phoenix Demon. That’s why he made that deduction.”

"It seems like the concepts of spirit and demon are getting closer and closer as we talk about them."

"The Spirit Race and demons may have some similarities, but the Spirit Race is definitely not a demon. I am a Spirit. If you are a demon, then I am a demon too!"

Mieying suddenly laughed at this point: "That's quite a good match."

Her smile aggravated the sword wound on her shoulder, and she groaned again.

While pressing his wound, Mieying said, "If that's the case, it at least proves that you, Huasheng, are no ordinary person. I wonder who your parents are."

Hua Sheng nodded repeatedly. But then she thought again, forget about finding out about her origins; right now, Lü Dongbin and Tianjizi must be chasing her. If she were caught again, given the way Tianjizi had looked at her earlier, he might really stab her to death with his sword.

Although this is understandable, Hua Sheng would not allow himself to lose his life in vain.

Whether they can escape this calamity is still uncertain, so why bother thinking about their origins?

"Oh right, that purple-gold thread..." Mieying suddenly remembered.

Reminded by Mieying, Hua Sheng felt a headache coming on again.

It's really a wave of unrest, a wave of another.

Originally, he wanted to prove his innocence in the theft of Suixing Silk by finding Lan Caihe's whereabouts, but who would have thought that the result would only make things worse and lead him to this desperate situation.

Hua Sheng felt a pang of sadness and said, "I'm afraid the matter of the purple-gold thread is even more hopeless. I don't know what to do. Lü Dongbin is one of the Seven Sages of Jianjing. With his power, I'm afraid I won't be able to stay in Shengping Ninghui in the future."

He looked at his snow-covered body and sighed, "Now, it's like adding insult to injury."

Mie Ying seemed to perk up a bit and comforted her, "What's there to be afraid of? In my eyes, all of these are auspicious omens, good fortune, and a bountiful year!"

Hua Sheng smiled, raised her sleeve, and helped Mie Ying wipe away the remaining tear stains on her cheeks.

"You're so optimistic. Now even I'm becoming optimistic."

"You're so kind-hearted. You must believe in yourself and you're definitely not a monster! I'm telling you not to be discouraged. Listen to me! Be more positive!" Mieying grabbed Huasheng's Taoist robe and wiped her nose.

"Thank you for your snot. With this blessing, I will definitely be invulnerable to swords and spears, and impervious to water and fire."

Both of them laughed, as if they had escaped the cold ice and snow and were now facing the early spring sunshine.

Hua Sheng asked, "What should we do now? Should we hide far away from each other?"

"Since the five states of Shengping and Ning are now united, this paradise is probably no longer a place to stay."

"You mean go to the human world?"

Mieying replied, "I'll go with you. Let's lay low for a while, and we'll find a solution."

Hua Sheng said, "That works too. I have some friends in the human world, so it shouldn't be difficult for me to find a place to hide for a while."

"Don't forget, Lan Caihe is someone you met in the mortal realm. Occasionally, there are immortals who travel around the mortal realm, and they will disguise themselves as mortals. So there is still a chance of being caught."

"Where should we go then?"

Mieying pondered, "Why don't we go to Klin Magic School first? Since the purple-gold thread on your body was found at the school, it's necessary to go there and take a look. We're sure to find some clues to prove your innocence."

Hanamori asked in surprise, "You mean France? Paris?"

Have you been to that place before?

Hua Sheng shook his head and said, "You're right. It is indeed necessary to go and see the Demon School, but the problem is that we have to leave Shengpingning first. And to leave Shengpingning, we have to go through the Hunyuan Path. There will probably be immortals guarding that place, so we may not be able to get through smoothly."

Mie Ying lowered her head and thought for a moment before saying, "I have an older brother who is very familiar with the Hunyuan Dao. As long as I ask him for help, he will definitely help us!"

"Brother? He's also from the Shadow Extinction Clan?"

Mieying shook his head and said, "No. We spirit race also have different levels of relationship. Beasts are close to each other because they are similar to each other. We birds get along better with the winged spirit race."

“Where does he live? Saint Pingning is so big, it’s impossible to walk without using magic. But if we use magic, we might be tracked down.”

Mieying waved her hand and said, "He lives in Hanzhou. He shouldn't be too far from here. I think it should only take me an hour or two to get there."

"So let's go now?"

But Mieying suddenly seemed at a loss, saying, "But it's snowing heavily now, and the scenery is the same everywhere. I can't tell which way to go. If I wander around blindly, I'll easily get lost in the snow. Taishang Xiaojun's disguise as you can only fool people for a while. Lü Dongbin and Tianjizi have probably already seen through it. They must be searching for us everywhere now."

Hua Sheng suddenly slapped his thigh and pointed to the hillside next to him, saying, "I've got it! When I first returned to Shengping Ning, I stayed at Daqian Temple, which is very close to Panxian Cave. I know their abbot. Let's go ask him where your brother's house is and ask him to give us directions!"

Mie Ying nodded repeatedly.

"Okay! Let's go now!"

(End of this chapter)