Cannon fodder and female supporting role, a match made in heaven

The sky above Jian'an City has recently been streaked with various kinds of spiritual light.

At first, only a few sword shadows cut through the clouds, and the people would point at the figures with fluttering sleeves and marvel at them, saying a few auspicious words such as "immortals are passing by."

But in the past few days, the scene has become increasingly different - green and golden spiritual lights intertwined and collided in the air. They were all flying magic tools full of monks, stepping on the thick clouds and rushing in the same direction. The strong wind they brought up made the flags above the city walls flutter.

Disciples from all sects received instructions from their own sect leaders to rush to Qingwei Sect immediately.

But most of them were full of doubts and had no idea what was going on.

To prevent the news from leaking out, the sect leaders only gave the order to "quickly assemble at Qingwei Sect" and never mentioned a word about the Demon Subduing Formation.

The cranes from Biyun Mountain were flapping their wings and flying over Jian'an City. Jiang Jinyan was sitting on the crane's back, and a corner of his green shirt was lifted by the wind, making a rustling sound.

He was originally following the crowd to Qingwei Sect. When his eyes swept over the familiar city walls below, he suddenly remembered that Yu Miaoyi was still there, so he raised his hand and patted the crane's neck, signaling it to slowly descend.

Yu Miaoyi was sorting the letters that Xie Yanshu had sent her earlier in the yard. Just as her fingertips touched the yellowed letter paper, she suddenly heard a clear crane cry outside the yard.

She leaned over to take a look and saw Jiang Jinyan staggering down from the crane's back, his clothes still wet with the mist.

"Brother Jiang?" She was surprised and delighted, and hurried to greet him, unable to hide the smile in her eyes, "Why are you here?"

Jiang Jinyan scratched his head, a somewhat embarrassed smile on his face: "I am on the orders of my master to rush to Qingwei Sect. I happened to be passing by Jian'an, and thought of you being here, so I came to say hello."

Yu Miaoyi looked at the sky behind him, where spiritual light kept flashing, and asked in confusion, "Is there any kind of conference being held in the immortal cultivation world recently? I've seen many immortal cultivators flying past here in the past few days. It's quite a big event."

The innocent smile on Jiang Jinyan's face faded a little. Thinking of the news that his master had sent back a few days ago, his expression gradually became serious: "By the way, Miss Yu, I have a few things to tell you... Don't be anxious after you finish listening."

Seeing his serious expression, Yu Miaoyi's heart skipped a beat. Her smile instantly vanished, and her fingertips tightened slightly. "Could it be that something happened to Brother Xie and Zhao Zhao?"

"Alas," Jiang Jinyan sighed heavily, his voice lowering. "A while ago... the leader of the Qingwei Sect discovered that Fellow Daoist Chu was a spy from the Demon Clan. In order to help him, Zhao Zhao even used a magical weapon to injure Fellow Daoist Xie. Now, Zhao Zhao has been imprisoned in the Qingwei Sect's Immortal Prison."

The color on Yu Miaoyi's face faded instantly, and the smile froze at the corner of her mouth, as if it was frozen.

She shook her head in disbelief, her voice trembling. "What did you say? How could Zhao Zhao hurt Brother Xie? And Chu Yu is... a demon? How is this possible? Is there some misunderstanding here?"

Jiang Jinyan lowered his eyes and sighed again, his tone filled with helplessness: "Qingwei Sect's Sect Master Xie has already summoned the Sect Masters of all the major sects to discuss this matter, it should... not be false.

He paused, as if he had made a great decision, and then spoke with difficulty, "There is one more thing, Brother Xie, I want to marry Qian... and the ghost who has occupied Qianmeng's body."

The letter in Yu Miaoyi's hand fell to the ground, and the corners were blown away by the wind.

But she seemed not to see it, her eyes fixed on the sky outside the yard where spiritual light kept passing by. Her fingertips trembled uncontrollably, and even her shoulders shook slightly.

marriage?

Impossible, she didn't believe it.

It was clear that Xie Yanshu had been writing to her every day some time ago, and the words between the lines were full of ordinary greetings and thoughts. How could he suddenly want to marry someone else?

Something must have happened, it must have.

She took a deep breath, and the trembling of her fingertips gradually subsided. Although her voice still trembled, it was more firm and unquestionable: "Brother Jiang, can you take me to Qingwei Sect?

Jiang Jinyan looked at her face which was as pale as paper, and her eyes which were clearly filled with water but were kept wide open.

He knew the torment she was going through—the news was so sudden and unexpected that anyone would be hard-pressed to recover. He didn't ask any further questions, but simply nodded firmly, his voice deep and steady, "Okay."

Each word landed with a loud sound, as if it had given Yu Miaoyi's wandering heart a temporary reef to rest on.

She bent down and picked up the letter on the ground that was curled up by the wind. Her fingertips stroked the familiar handwriting on the letter, and suddenly she clenched her fists.

The letter paper was folded into deep wrinkles, just like the surging emotions in her heart.

Jiang Jinyan had already jumped back onto the crane's back, turned around to look at her, and extended a hand: "Come on up, we'll hurry on our way."

After the two of them sat down, the crane flapped its wings and took off, breaking through the clear sky in the courtyard, merging into the endless spiritual light in the sky, and flew towards the direction of Qingwei Sect.

The wind whistled past her ears. Yu Miaoyi looked at the rapidly shrinking city below and felt as if a huge rock was pressing on her heart, heavy and making it difficult to breathe.

She had to go to Qingwei Sect and see with her own eyes what was going on.

Inside the mountain gate of Qingwei Sect, there was an endless stream of disciples coming and going, wearing green shirts, purple robes, white coats...all kinds of sect attire interwoven.

Yu Miaoyi stood in this crowd of people with intertwined spiritual energy, and her mortal clothes seemed out of place.

As soon as she stepped onto the last stone step, she was stopped by a Danxia Sect disciple: "How dare you, a mortal, trespass into the Qingwei Sect? Leave immediately, or I'll hurt you!"

"She is my companion. What advice do you have for me?" Jiang Jinyan stepped forward and protected Yu Miaoyi behind him. The Biyun Mountain token on his waist glowed slightly.

Seeing that it was a fellow practitioner, the disciple, although still dissatisfied, could only retreat angrily, muttering "Bringing a mortal here to get in the way", and turned to join the crowd.

Before Yu Miaoyi could say thank you, she caught a glimpse of a familiar figure walking towards the other end of the corridor out of the corner of her eye.

This is Xie Yanshu.

He was wearing the blue robe of the Qingwei Sect, and was as pale as paper. The look he gave her was indifferent and distant, not at all like the look he gave to a lover reunited after a long separation.

Yu Miaoyi's heart suddenly tightened.

"Thank you, big brother." She called out tentatively, a tremor in her voice.

Xie Yanshu nodded slightly, being very polite, but without any of the gentle smile he usually showed to her.

"Why is Miss Yu here?"

Such a distant name.

Yu Miaoyi stared into his eyes, a layer of ice in them: "I came to find you and Zhao Zhao."

Xie Yanshu frowned slightly, his tone becoming more serious and holding a sense of distance that brooked no room for questioning.

"Miss Yu, you are still a mortal, so it's best for you to return to Jian'an City as soon as possible. This place is a key location for the Immortal Sect, and it's not a place you should be. As for Zhao Zhao, she's involved in something that's going on at the Immortal Sect, so I'm afraid it's inconvenient for her to meet with guests."

Jiang Jinyan, listening from the side, was furious and couldn't help but say, "Thank you, fellow Daoist! Miss Yu came all the way here because she was worried about you. How could you speak like that? You're completely different from before!"

He paused, remembering that ridiculous marriage, and then asked, "Fellow Daoist Xie, what exactly happened? Why did you suddenly want to marry...Gu Qianmeng?"

Xie Yanshu's expression remained unchanged upon hearing this, and his tone was as calm as if he was talking about something quite ordinary: "Qian Meng is my Taoist partner, so naturally I should marry her."

"Your memory is confused, right?" Jiang Jinyan curled his lips, "Ms. Yu is your Taoist partner."

"Fellow Daoist Jiang, you're joking." Xie Yanshu frowned even tighter, his tone showing a hint of impatience, as if he believed that this was nonsense.

Yu Miaoyi felt that this scene was very similar, just like when they were on the top of the snow mountain and the Snow Girl had tricked Xie Yanshu into tampering with his memory.

At this moment, "Um..." a suppressed groan of pain came out of Xie Yanshu's throat.

He suddenly raised his hand and pressed it against his temple, his knuckles turning white from the force. Cold sweat trickled down his pale cheeks, and his body swayed, nearly falling to the ground.

It was as if two completely different forces were stirring up huge waves in my mind.

On one side is the cold cognition that is forcibly implanted, and on the other side is the vivid memory that is desperately trying to break free from the constraints.

The collision made his temples throb and even his vision began to blur.

Those deliberately covered images, like broken glass shards struck by a naughty child, suddenly and unexpectedly pierced into my mind with their sharp edges:

Under the apricot tree, she was wearing a light green dress and holding the wooden sword clumsily. He put his arms around her waist from behind, his warm fingertips covering the back of her hand, and patiently corrected her posture. The spring breeze blew the petals onto their shoulders, and the tips of her ears were as red as if they were dyed with rouge.

The Lantern Street was bustling with people during the Lantern Festival. He blocked the crowd for her. When she looked up at the lanterns, he suddenly leaned over and gently kissed her on the forehead. She was stunned and almost dropped the rabbit lantern in her hand.

And when he was leaving, he wrote the words "Wait for me to return" on a piece of letter paper, the tip of his pen hovering over the paper for a long time without moving, the ink droplets spread out in small circles on the rice paper, and finally fell, solemnly as if he was making a vow...

"Brother!" An anxious voice came from behind him. Shi Yu quickly stepped forward and supported the shaky Xie Yanshu, his face full of worry. "Are you having a headache again?"

He steadied Xie Yanshu and turned his gaze to Yu Miaoyi, a glint of understanding flashing in his eyes. "I remember you. You're the Taoist companion that Senior Brother met in the mortal world... and also a friend of Shen Zhaozhao. Come with me."