The Wheel-Turning Master.

Chapter 118 Listening to Cicadas
There was a gentle breeze.

Lin Bai and Qu Ruyi looked at each other, neither of them saying a word.

People were coming and going in a hurry on the streets of Fangshi. When Lin Bai suddenly heard the name "Zhuanlun", he felt as if he had returned to Huaxi County in a dream.

At that time, everyone called it the Wheel-Turning Buddha, and everyone envied it.

Qu Ruyi looked up at Lin Bai. She didn't take any precautions. She straightened her bamboo hat, put down her black veil, and said, "This is not the place to talk. Follow me!"

She walked out of the market.

Lin Bai glanced at her back, looked around, and seeing that no one was paying attention, he followed her.

The vague opportunity became more and more obvious, and it seemed that it was indeed related to her.

I heard from Yao Qianyuan that Qu Ruyi was visiting a friend. Why did she come here?
To the east across the sea is the Jiuyin Mountain which has a grudge against the Yunxia Sect, and to the north is a place of chaos and war. She is a Jindan descendant of the Yunxia Sect, a spoiled child. Did she come here to suffer?

Besides, she hasn't established her foundation yet, so even if she goes on a mission, she shouldn't go alone.

Thinking of this, Lin Bai could only come up with one explanation: her revelation had arrived, and she came to find an opportunity to build her foundation.

Lin Bai didn't ask any more questions and walked out with her, still thinking about something.

I felt before that if I didn’t make this trip, I would lose something extremely important.

Could it be that she would be in danger of her life during the foundation building revelation? But even if so, this wouldn't be considered losing something extremely important, right?

Lin Bai is very clear-headed. The most important people in his heart are Xiuxiu and Sister Pei.

To be frank, if Qu Ruyi died, she would certainly miss the girl who wore men's clothes and rode a tall horse, but she would not be heartbroken. Xiuxiu was good friends with her, so she would definitely cry... But no matter how sad Xiuxiu was, she would not be sadder than when Doctor Bai died.

Besides, once you start practicing, this kind of thing is inevitable. Due to different aptitudes, talents, and mental states, your progress in practice will inevitably be different, and your lifespan will also be different.

The road ahead is not to ride a horse and whip, to stop when you are going too fast, etc. It is to be ruthless and affectionate, and naturally you can't avoid watching your old friends and relatives gradually fall behind, and even turn into a pile of dry bones.

Thinking in this way, what may be lost may not be Qu Ruyi, but the opportunities she brings.

Since Qu Ruyi came to seek revelation, the elusive opportunity should most likely be above her revelation.

After leaving the market, Qu Ruyi took out the purple bamboo boat, took Lin Bai on it, and the two headed north.

After walking for half a day, there was no sign of anyone.

This is a plain with tall trees, green and yellow, stretching as far as the eye can see.

The two of them fell to the ground, stepping on the dead leaves. Qu Ruyi looked around first, and only breathed a sigh of relief when she saw nothing unusual.

She took off her bamboo hat and black veil, put them in her storage ring, leaned against a tall tree, crossed her arms, and said with a smile, "I thought you were dead."

"God doesn't want me to die." Lin Bai replied.

"Where is Pei Ning?" Qu Ruyi asked again.

What do you mean? Lin Bai frowned, looked at Qu Ruyi, and said, "Is Xiuxiu okay?"

"Of course everything is fine." Qu Ruyi smiled happily, "Before we separated, you kept nagging her, and the girl remembered it all. She is obedient and sensible, studious and curious, and has a tenacious spirit. The ancestor treats her as a personal disciple, the uncles and uncles also love her, and none of the brothers and sisters bully her. She is just a little thinner than when she was in Huaxi County." When she said this, seeing that Lin Bai was listening seriously, she smiled mischievously and added: "It's all because of my thoughts. You don't know, every day she..."

The conversation suddenly stopped.

"What's going on Tiantian?" Lin Bai asked anxiously.

Qu Ruyi smiled but said nothing.

Lin Bai discovered that women are good at controlling others. If they reveal a flaw, they will bleed!

"Fellow Daoist Qu, it is a great honor to meet you this time." Lin Bai bowed, "But I have important tasks to do. Since you don't want to talk more, let's say goodbye for now! See you later!"

After saying that, Lin Bai bowed again and turned to leave.

This tactic is a tactic of playing hard to get. Lin Bai uses it on Pei Ning all the time. As long as he stops moving, she will definitely strangle him even if she won't say anything.

Sure enough, after counting to three, he heard Qu Ruyi calling from behind him: "Don't go! I still have something to ask you!"

She hurried forward and grabbed Lin Bai.

"What does Xiuxiu do every day?" Lin Bai asked.

"What else can you do? Didn't you return the wooden hairpin you always wore to her when we separated?" Qu Ruyi sighed, as if she was helpless. "She learned a deduction method from the ancestor, and she would use the wooden hairpin to do deduction when she was free." She looked resentful. "In the end, she couldn't calculate anything. She thought it was because of her low level of cultivation, but she didn't know that your realm was higher than hers."

"I see." Lin Bai nodded.

"Where is Pei Ning?" Qu Ruyi asked again.

Lin Bai had a headache. Qu Ruyi didn't ask about the old things in Huaxi County, nor did he ask why he came here, but only asked about Sister Pei!

"She has important matters to attend to and it is inconvenient for her to show up." Lin Bai said seriously.

"I still want to talk to her." Qu Ruyi sighed, looked at Lin Bai again, and asked: "What happened between you and Song Qing? Why did he die, and you are fine? Why was he hit by the dead wood cicada secret technique?"

Finally remembered the important matter?
"There was another adventure." Lin Bai didn't intend to tell her the details.

"You..." Qu Ruyi took two steps back and took precautions, "You didn't enter Jiuyin Mountain?"

Are you just remembering to be on guard now?

"I have no sect or school." Lin Bai said with a smile.

"Then why don't you come to Yunxia Sect to find Xiuxiu? She misses you very much, and the ancestor has agreed to accept you. When Pei Ning comes, we can get together all the time, isn't that great?" Qu Ruyi asked with a smile again.

Lin Bai smiled.

Qu Ruyi thought Lin Bai didn't want to say more. She hesitated for a while, with a look of disbelief on her face, but then she said sadly, "I will help you take good care of Xiuxiu." She looked up at Lin Bai and asked, "Do you want to tell her?"

"No need." Lin Bai said.

Qu Ruyi nodded, "I won't let the ancestor know." She smiled and asked, "Can you tell me what you are doing here now?"

"I was touched by something, so I just went out for a walk and happened to meet you." Lin Bai was telling the truth, but not quite honestly.

"Sure enough!" Qu Ruyi actually believed it. She crossed one hand over her chest and touched her chin with the other. "I also felt something, so I went to the market. I thought I could pick up something that suits my destiny! I didn't expect to meet you." She looked at Lin Bai carefully, thinking, could he also be part of my apocalypse opportunity? It would be great if Pei Ning came instead!

The chance of revelation is mysterious and may come from meeting people or events, or from seeing objects and scenes.

Usually they complete it alone. If there are elders accompanying and guarding, the opportunity to build the foundation will often disappear, or the difficulty will increase sharply, which is not worth the loss.

"Where are you going?" Lin Bai asked with a smile.

"Are you planning to follow me?" Qu Ruyi also smiled.

"When we were in Huaxi County, it was Pei Ning who followed you. I was so envious of you for going into the brothel! Now it's my turn." Lin Bai smiled.

Qu Ruyi stared at Lin Bai and examined him. "I've seen that you two are having an affair! It's a pity for Xiuxiu, she still can't forget you!"

After saying that, she turned and left.

Lin Bai followed immediately.

The two men did not take the purple bamboo boat, but walked forward.

This is a flat land with tall trees and thick dead leaves on the ground.

Lin Bai stood side by side with her, guarding the surroundings while asking, "I heard that your Yunxia Sect and Jiuyin Mountain have Nascent Souls going to Qiaoshan Sect. What's the matter?"

His tone was relaxed, as if he was asking casually.

"I don't know either." Qu Ruyi was not on guard and said casually, "The ancestor mentioned it to me. It seems that Jiuyin Mountain has stolen something from Qiaoshan Sect. It seems to be very precious."

I see. No wonder your ancestor and Gao Yuanyuan had time to visit Tianchi Sect. It turns out they don’t care about Yunxia Sect’s affairs!
Lin Bai didn't ask any more questions.

After they walked for a while, Qu Ruyi seemed to come to her senses and began to ask Lin Bai questions, asking him what he did for a living, who he learned from, and where he and Pei Ning often slept.

Lin Bai just laughed it off and refused to tell the truth.

After walking for another day, the trees became denser, but there were more dead trees.

From time to time, birds and beasts would dart out, and snakes and insects would attack people, but they were all ordinary creatures, not monsters.

The two walked along the stream, hearing only the sound of the rushing water and the chirping of cicadas, and the forest became even quieter.

Lin Bai did not dare to harbor the slightest contempt. Although he had no feelings about avoiding danger and seeking good fortune, he still took out the Fire Scale Sword to protect himself.

Qu Ruyi was still the same. Although she was alert, she was not as overly cautious as Lin Bai.

After walking another mile forward, there were even more dead branches and fallen trees, which made a crackling sound when stepped on.

Amid the chirping of cicadas, there were occasional clear bird calls, and the wind rustled the trees. But the more this happened, the more peaceful the forest seemed.

As the saying goes, the chirping of cicadas makes the forest even quieter.

But Lin Bai always felt a buzzing in his ears, as if his heart was in turmoil.

It was as if I had returned to that summer in Huaxi County. The black cicadas on the jujube tree at home were chirping tirelessly; people were talking outside on the street and steam was billowing from the bun shop.

Qu Ruyi seemed to sense something and suddenly quickened her pace.

Lin Bai fell behind by more than ten feet, falling far away.

After just a cup of tea, Qu Ruyi stopped in front of a withered jujube tree.

The jujube tree was who knows how many years old it was. Its bark was cracked, its branches were dry and rotten, and it was full of insect holes.

There is not a single leaf on it, and it seems like it will fall apart if the wind blows or the rain falls.

The surroundings of the jujube tree are full of greenery and thriving trees. The contrast between the two is quite strange.

The cicadas' chirping became more shrill, but they were all crouching on the withered jujube tree, seemingly unable to see the green trees around them.

Lin Bai and Qu Ruyi looked at each other, and both thought of the Taoist wood demon.

Although the wood demon was a golden elixir, it was very famous because of its strange methods, especially the dead wood cicada magic, which could rob people of time, take away their lifespans, and make them old and decayed.

Monks seek immortality, and are very wary of this secret method that suddenly makes people age.

When Lin Bai was in Xinyifang, he had asked people about the Wood Demon. But very few people had seen the Wood Demon, but many had heard of it. Moreover, Sister Zhen had said that she was a junior of the Wood Demon, but Lin Bai had never heard anyone talk about the origin of the Wood Demon.

Looking at Qu Ruyi again, she frowned and looked depressed.

Lin Bai didn't dare to move, for fear that he would become like Song Qing.

"Is this the residence of Senior Wood Demon?" Lin Bai's tone became much more respectful.

"Maybe." Qu Ruyi's tone was also very weak, "I heard that Senior Wood Demon once imitated the method of cicada pupa because of his poor cultivation, and sat in the ground for decades. Then he broke out of the ground, and then his golden elixir was perfected, and he got the opportunity to prove the Tao Yuanying."

"Have you achieved the Nascent Soul stage?" Lin Bai asked.

"I don't know." Qu Ruyi shook her head. She stared at the withered jujube tree and said softly, "This tree is not an ancient tree. It is at most a hundred years old. The black cicada on it is also an ordinary creature. It does not have any spiritual energy."

Lin Bai nodded, he was unaware of the danger and he could not see any clues.

"Should what you are referring to be here?" Lin Bai asked.

"Yes." Qu Ruyi replied casually. She glanced at Lin Bai again and said with a smile, "Whether I can build my foundation depends on this!" She did not hide it.

As she spoke, she waved her sleeves, calling for a gust of wind that blew away the mud and dead leaves under the jujube tree.

There was a hole under the jujube tree, about the length and width of an arm, dark and bottomless.

"The chance of apocalypse is inside!"

Qu Ruyi was full of confidence. He took off a bag from his waist and released a mole.

"Good baby, help me find the way." Qu Ruyi's voice was very soft, as if she was coaxing a child.

The mole turned in a circle and then stopped moving.

"Is it afraid?" Some wild animals have a very keen sense of danger, so Lin Bai asked this question.

"No."

Qu Ruyi denied it. She sighed, took out a small cloth bag from her storage ring, put it on the ground, opened it, and found dried fruits inside.

"Eat." Qu Ruyi seemed a little tired.

The mole chirped excitedly, then buried his head in his eating.

Lin Bai and Qu Ruyi sat nearby and watched the mole eat for nearly half an hour.

"Start working after you're full." Qu Ruyi urged.

The mole was very particular. He stroked his whiskers and then went to sharpen his teeth on the dead date tree.

Lin Bai looked at Qu Ruyi, but Qu Ruyi blushed and didn't dare to look at him.

After the mole had finished grinding its teeth, it finally started to work. It crawled down the hole, but after climbing a few feet, it seemed to have eaten too much and rolled down.

After a long time, a dull sound was heard, accompanied by some squeaking sounds, which meant that the person was not dead.

After working so hard for so long, this is it?
Lin Bai pretended not to see it, thinking to himself that none of the descendants of your sect family are reliable!

"This is lent to me by my brother from the family. It's not mine," said Qu Ruyi.

"I believe it." Lin Bai said.

The two stopped talking.

After waiting for more than half an hour, the mole still didn't come back.

"Did your friend die in there?" Lin Bai asked.

"No."

Qu Ruyi shook her head with certainty, but she also seemed to be getting anxious and kept pacing back and forth around the cave.

After another half an hour, Qu Ruyi finally lost patience and cursed, "You can eat but not work!"

"..."Lin Bai had no sense of good or bad, but the vague opportunity still existed.

"I'm going downstairs, do you want to go too?" She looked at Lin Bai angrily, as if it was Lin Bai who killed her mole.

"Now that we are here," said Lin Bai.

"it is good!"

Qu Ruyi took out a small green jade Ruyi with his backhand, which emitted a faint green light. With his other hand, he made a seal, his eyes were serious, as if he was ready to die.

"I'll go first." Qu Ruyi said, and jumped into the dark cave.

After a while, a subtle voice came from inside, "Come in, slowly, it's very slippery inside."

Lin Bai closed his eyes, emptied his mind, and came to the stone plate.

The mist outside had a light moon-white color, which was left by Xiuxiu. There was also a trace of yellow spiritual energy flowing in, which was earth-attributed spiritual energy.

"There is nothing unusual, and I don't feel anything."

Lin Bai opened his eyes, holding the Huo Lin Sword in his hand, and jumped into the cave.

The Fire Scale Sword was stimulated by spiritual power and emitted a red light. This cave went straight down, with no rocks, only wet soil.

Lin Bai slowed down every time he went down more than ten feet, and did this seven or eight times before he finally landed on the ground.

The ground is extremely soft and very damp.

In front of him was a semicircular path as high as a person, going diagonally downwards. It was dark and deep, without a single ray of light.

"This place really looks like the home of cicada pupa." Qu Ruyi held the jade ruyi in her hand, without a trace of relief on her face.

"Did Qu Chengjia say anything before you came? What kind of magic weapon did he give you to protect yourself?" Lin Bai was worried about encountering danger, so he wanted to know the strength of his companions.

"Don't worry." Qu Ruyi straightened his back, "I won't be afraid if I encounter two or three foundation building people."

This is a talisman in hand, and not just one!
"What if it's a golden elixir?" Lin Bai asked again.

"..." Qu Ruyi was stunned for a moment, and said: "How can a mere Qigong cultivator's foundation-building opportunity encounter a golden elixir? Do you think that I am a child of destiny and need to endure many hardships before I can achieve enlightenment?"

After she finished speaking, she stepped forward, "Lin Zhuanlun! Follow closely! Haha, Pei Ning can't protect you, but I can!"

Qu Ruyi's words were very arrogant and heroic, but they were slightly trembling.

Lin Bai said nothing, still feeling nothing in his heart, and followed.

The ground and the walls of the cave were unusually damp, with a strange smell, and cicada pupae were swarming from time to time, which was eerie and terrifying.

The road sloped downward, and the two men walked carefully for about three hundred feet, when they saw a wide, open road and a cave about ten to fifty feet in radius.

Lin Bai estimated that he had gone about two hundred feet underground. There was no dampness here, and it was unusually warm.

The cave is round in shape, like a pot cover on the ground.

It is very spacious, with a few fluorite lamps on the ceiling emitting soft yellow light.

There were eight more caves, and no one knew where they led to. They were deep and dark. Including the cave that Lin Bai and Qu Ruyi walked through, there were nine in total.

Nine is the maximum number, and I don’t know what its meaning is here.

There was a dead tree stump in the middle of the cave, on top of which lay a black jade cicada the size of a baby's fist.

Next to the stake, there was a corpse lying on its stomach. Its clothes were dirty and its hair was gray. It was unknown how long it had been dead.

Next to the corpse was another small mole lying, seemingly not yet dead. Its belly was rising and falling slightly, but for some reason it was motionless.

"That's it." Qu Ruyi looked at the jade cicada on the dead tree stump, her voice trembling slightly.

Just as she was about to take a step forward, Lin Bai grabbed her wrist.

"What's wrong?" Qu Ruyi saw Lin Bai's serious expression and she didn't dare to move.

"Something is wrong." Lin Bai looked around with the Fire Scale Sword across his body.

I didn't feel anything in my heart. The magical power that could help me avoid danger and seek good fortune didn't give me any reminder. But I just felt inexplicably panicked.

Qu Ruyi frowned slightly and looked at the jade cicada on the dead tree stump.

Inside the deep cave, the jade cicada actually made a chirping sound.

The two men immediately retreated to the cave entrance and checked themselves carefully, finding no injuries at all.

Qu Ruyi looked horrified and reached into her chest.

Then he took out a pendant, which was a small black turtle.

"What's the use of this?" Lin Bai asked with a frown.

"This is a gift from my ancestor. She can find me with this." After Qu Ruyi finished speaking, she threw the black tortoise pendant to Lin Bai.

The effect of this thing is similar to that of Zhu Jianshui's broken bronze mirror.

It was slightly warm to the touch. Lin Bai looked closely and saw that the tortoise shell had cracks and was dull.

"Has it lost its effectiveness?" Lin Bai asked.

Qu Ruyi nodded slightly, "I have severed the connection between me and the ancestor."

"Qu Chengjia is the golden elixir..." Lin Bai said.

"The wood demon has at least reached the perfect golden elixir state, and has even achieved the Nascent Soul stage... If the jade cicada was left by him, it could indeed easily break the ancestor's Taoism." Qu Ruyi sighed.

Lin Bai still had no feelings, and did not give any reminders to avoid danger and seek good fortune. I don't know if it was because of the power of the jade cicada or some other reason.

"No!" Lin Bai's expression finally became serious, "We have entered the battle array."

(End of this chapter)