The years I was in the human world

Wisps of mist lingered in the mountains. In the lush forests, fallen leaves were piled up in layers. The dead leaves on the bottom layer had not yet completely rotted, but another layer had accumulated on the top. The moisture was filled with the smell of pine wood. Birds flew among the branches and leaves. There were no steps on the mountain road, only a deserted path that stretched all the way to the top of the mountain. Quiet and elegant pavilions, houses, and bridges were connected to each other, silently in the mist.

The steaming tea poured from the pot into the cup, and the slightly bitter tea aroma diffused. Lu Zhouxue picked up the teacup and took a sip. It was very fragrant, and the tea was full of spiritual energy. It was a rare good tea.

"Yu Zhao doesn't like to drink tea. I used to have so much good tea that I couldn't even serve it to him." Baili Changqing's hands can hold a sword, and pouring tea is also pleasing to the eye. His slender fingers holding the thin white handle of the pot look like a work of art. "You are different from her. It's rare for someone to accompany me to drink tea."

"Old friends are gone, strangers are no longer friends." Lu Zhouxue said as he gently put down the tea bowl, raised his eyes and looked out the window at the mountains in a trance with some sadness.

"That's right." Baili Changqing lowered his head to drink tea, all his emotions were covered under his cold face. He was silent for a while, then raised his head again, "Tell me, what do you want to talk to me about?"

"You want to investigate the old case at Dongshan, and so do I." Lu Zhouxue said. He pulled up the sleeve of his right hand so that Baili Changqing could clearly see the blood-red marks on his arm. "I think you are familiar with this thing. Someone wants me to shut up and took Kong Qing away."

"Since you know all this, why do you still dare to come to me?" Although Baili Changqing wanted to investigate Dongshan's past, he was not someone who could be easily fooled. Even though Lu Zhouxue was the successor of the Phoenix and had a close connection with Yu Zhao, he did not mistake the two. "What did you know from Yu Zhao's memory?"

"Some things are not something I can avoid just by staying out of them." Lu Zhouxue said. Even if it didn't involve cause and effect, he didn't want to get involved in Yu Zhao's grudges, but now the demon-suppressing mark had been placed on him, and he couldn't ignore it. "I might as well tell the truth. Yu Zhao's memory contains very limited useful information about Dongshan's past. The disaster at Dongshan was actually framed by Yaoguang and Yu Zhao, and Ye Yunzhou was an accomplice. There is nothing else."

"But if you think about it carefully, can such a big event like Dongshan really be accomplished by Yaoguang alone?" Lu Zhouxue said while playing with the teacup. Even when facing the current number one swordsman, he did not show any inferiority. "The means of blaming others is actually very clumsy, isn't it? But Master Lingzhong and Venerable Mingjing turned a blind eye to it? What do you think is the reason, Grand Elder?"

"I thought you came here today to ask me to remove the Demon-Suppressing Mark for you." As soon as Lu Zhouxue arrived, Baili Changqing felt the aura of the Demon-Suppressing Mark on the former. The reason why he talked about other things was because he wanted to wait for Lu Zhouxue to speak first, and also because he wanted to observe him.

However, he didn't expect that after talking so much, Lu Zhouxue didn't ask for his help to solve the demon-suppressing mark. Instead, he kept talking about the old case in Dongshan. This made Baili Changqing curious about him. He changed his casual attitude and poured him another cup of tea.

"The reason I came to visit you today is because of an old case at Dongshan." Lu Zhouxue said frankly. He glanced at the demon-suppressing scar on his hand. The blood-red scar was always surrounded by evil spirits that others could not see, and the skin around it felt slightly burned. "As for this scar, there is no need to undo it. You can't undo it either."

Lu Zhouxue's words were quite arrogant, as if he didn't take Baili Changqing seriously, but there was no contempt in his tone, as if he was simply stating a fact.

"I haven't tried it yet, how do you know that it cannot be solved?" Baili Changqing raised an eyebrow, thinking that this little phoenix looked mature and steady, but in fact, he was the same as those genius disciples in the sect, proud, flamboyant, and high-spirited. It was a good thing.

"Why don't you try it..." Lu Zhouxue said helplessly. It was difficult for him to explain the evil spirit to Baili Changqing. The evil spirit would only parasitize on the body of a god. Even though he had lost his divine body now, his soul was still a real god.

Perhaps if this demon-suppressing mark was placed on any other demon, it would be easy for a powerful person like Baili Changqing to remove it. But when it came to Lu Zhouxue, the two elements of a demon body and a divine spirit were mixed together. Even Xiao Jin, who had been converted by the evil spirit, would not be able to remove it in one go.

Baili Changqing was choked by Lu Zhouxue's weird attitude. For the first time, he felt like he could neither go up nor down. As if to convince Lu Zhouxue, he actually mobilized his spiritual power on the spot to remove the Demon-Suppressing Mark for him. However, he did not expect that the surging spiritual power poured into the Demon-Suppressing Mark only made the mark fade a little, and failed to remove it as he imagined.

The Sword Sect's Grandmaster was stunned on the spot, then frowned and looked at Lu Zhouxue: "How could this be?"

As he said this, he raised his hand to mobilize his spiritual power and tried again.

Lu Zhouxue retracted his right hand and spoke out to stop him, "Grand Elder, don't waste your time. If you can't solve it, then you can't solve it."

"I have never seen such a situation before." Baili Changqing withdrew his magic power, looked at Lu Zhouxue seriously and asked, "Do you know why?"

Lu Zhouxue shook her head and changed the subject, "I came here today to ask the Grand Elder for an important favor."

"Because of the old case at Dongshan, Ye Yunzhou took Kong Qing away to silence me." Lu Zhouxue said. In his eyes, Ye Yunzhou's act of taking Kong Qing away was really a bad move. Kong Qing was not his daughter, and it was ridiculous to use her to hinder him. Moreover, Baili Changqing, his own master, had already come out of retreat, which gave him an excuse to visit the Supreme Elder. "I will investigate the old case at Dongshan thoroughly. I am only worried that Kong Qing will suffer."

Baili Changqing: "Ye Yunzhou? I seem to remember that he is the father of the little peacock."

"He never even looked at Yu Zhao when he was imprisoned in Phoenix Tower for decades, so how can we expect him to treat Kong Qing well?" Lu Zhouxue did not refute, but just said, "Even if he would not do anything to his own daughter, would Yaoguang let Kong Qing go?"

Seeing Baili Changqing was silent, Lu Zhouxue didn't say anything either. He understood that the other party didn't want to tear his face with Ye Yunzhou and others directly, but he shouldn't be asked to do all the evil things. Lu Zhouxue stood up with the help of the table, and was actually planning to say goodbye and leave: "Since the elder doesn't want to care more, then I will take my leave first. Just one thing, it's understandable that you don't want to care about Kong Qing, but if we talk about closeness, that girl has nothing to do with me."

What he meant was that the little peacock was the orphan of the previous phoenix. As your own master, you don't care about him. So, as a grown man, he has no obligation to meddle in the affairs of a non-relative.

These words were not only spoken to Baili Changqing, but also to those who were hiding in the dark and spying on him. It was impossible to threaten him with Kong Qing.

"Wait a minute, I will take Kong Qing away from Ye Yunzhou." When Lu Zhouxue was about to step out of the door, Baili Changqing called him, "But I have a condition."

"What?" Lu Zhouxue turned around and looked at him in confusion.

"I know what you are thinking, but the matter of Yu Zhao involves too many people. You should not interfere in the old case of Dongshan." Baili Changqing said. From the incident of Zhen Yaohen, it can be seen how much the people behind the scenes fear that he will reopen the old case. He is powerful and is not afraid of open or hidden attacks, but Lu Zhouxue is different. He is neither powerful enough to be feared, nor does he have a prominent background.

"Then do you know that she and I have a karmic bond?" Lu Zhouxue replied. It was not that he wanted to meddle in other people's business, but he had to repay the favor after borrowing someone's body.

Cultivators are most afraid of being bound by karma. If it is not resolved in time, it may even affect the improvement of their realm. Therefore, after hearing what Lu Zhouxue said, Baili Changqing could not stop him from intervening in the investigation of the Dongshan old case. However, since they knew each other, he still wanted to help him to the best of his ability: "You have a good aptitude, are you willing to practice swordsmanship with me?"

How many people would dream of becoming a disciple of Baili Changqing? Now that he cherishes talent and takes the initiative to accept him as a disciple, Lu Zhouxue has no reason to refuse. However, he thanked him respectfully but refused: "Thank you for your kindness, but I am not good at swordsmanship, otherwise I would not have wasted so many years."

"Why not give it a try?" Baili Changqing frowned. He wanted to teach Lu Zhouxue the way of swordsmanship because of his friendship with Yu Zhao. One of the reasons was that Lu Zhouxue's physique was indeed very good and his character was very suitable for swordsmanship. Baili Changqing couldn't bear to see such a genius being delayed.

Lu Zhouxue still shook his head: "I am used to using hundreds of weapons, but I am not good at swordsmanship. Elder, please don't persuade me anymore. Besides, there is no sword for me to use here."

Of course he had a sword, it was the ancient vicious sword Killing the Moon, but he didn't dare to say it out loud. He couldn't even lift a sword, let alone control a vicious sword.

Unexpectedly, Baili Changqing hated it most when others gave up their ambition before they took action, so he immediately threw a sword to Lu Zhouxue, and then used his sword energy to attack him: "This is the sword of the old days, Zhaoyang, which I found specially, and now it is just right for you to use."

Lu Zhouxue took the Zhaoyang sword, but before he could draw the sword from its sheath, Baili Changqing's attack was already at his face. He dodged quickly by walking on the snow without leaving any trace.

Seeing that his attack missed, Baili Changqing continued to attack, saying, "Why don't you draw your sword? How long are you going to hide?"

Lu Zhouxue laughed bitterly in his heart. Why did they all want to force him to use the sword? He continued to dodge with his feet moving quickly, and a thin icicle condensed in the palm of his empty left hand.

Lu Zhouxue raised his hand holding an icicle to block a whistling sword energy, then casually threw dozens of icicles at Baili Changqing. They seemed extremely dangerous, but because he had no intention of killing the other person when he attacked, they were easily resolved by Baili Changqing.

"You are not a pure magic practitioner." Baili Changqing found the problem as soon as he saw his moves. The ice spikes thrown by Lu Zhouxue were indeed magic, but the blocking action of holding the ice spikes in his hands was pure swordsmanship. "Since you can turn ice and snow into swords, why can't you just use the sword?"

After saying that, the sharp sword energy fell like a storm, and Baili Changqing's attack became more and more fierce. He could see that Lu Zhouxue did not want to use the sword, but was afraid of holding the sword.

Although he concealed it well, the hesitation and trembling when he received the Zhaoyang Sword still betrayed him.

Baili Changqing: "What are you afraid of? Is this the only courage a man has? You don't even dare to draw your sword?"

Lu Zhouxue didn't want to use the sword, and didn't want to waste time with Baili Changqing because of this matter. However, the latter insisted on forcing him to use sword moves, and his magic skills were simply useless at such a close distance and without hurting Baili Changqing. He dodged, occasionally pinching out a shield with ice to block Baili Changqing's sword moves, and hesitated as he looked at the Zhaoyang Sword in his hand.

If he only drew his sword for a moment, he should be able to overcome it, right? Thinking so, he suddenly drew his sword and wanted to cut the Gordian knot and beat Baili Changqing back, but he didn't expect that the other party was waiting for this moment and directly drew his sword to block his move.

"You are indeed suitable for sword practice. Your moves are crisp and decisive without any delay." Baili Changqing praised generously.

However, he didn't expect that Lu Zhouxue could no longer hear a word he said. The spiritual power flowed into the sword body and produced a resonance, which directly awakened his most horrible and unbearable memories. His head rolled to the ground, his hands with severed tendons, and he was in darkness forever. In an instant, the long sword in his hand lost its power and was picked up by Baili Changqing's sword and flew out diagonally, falling to the ground with a clang.

Lu Zhouxue's hands were shaking uncontrollably, and his face was pale, making him particularly lovable. Unfortunately, Baili Changqing, who had no sympathy for women, frowned when he saw this. He walked over, picked up the Zhaoyang Sword, and handed it back to him, saying sternly, "Take it, try again!"

Lu Zhouxue looked panicked, and his fingers were twitching slightly, as if it was the aftereffect of some kind of pain.

Baili Changqing was furious when he saw his useless appearance. He said angrily, "For cultivators, it's a competition of winners and losers. How can you be so timid? The more you fear and dread something, the more you have to face it."

Baili Changqing knew very well that Lu Zhouxue was a good sword with hidden edge. If it was sharpened well, he might replace him as the number one swordsman one day. So he inserted the Zhaoyang sword in front of Lu Zhouxue and said, "Pick it up." Then he continued to swing the sword to force Lu Zhouxue to hold the sword.

Lu Zhouxue watched him approach with a pale face, raised his shield to block, but Baili Changqing increased his offensive this time. The ice and snow shield was shattered, but the energy on the sword did not decrease in the slightest. Lu Zhouxue's eyes widened slightly, and when he was about to dodge, there was a crisp sound of metal collision, and the crescent-shaped scimitar bounced off Baili Changqing's sword. The curvature of the blade looked like a smile on a person's face.

"He doesn't want to pull it out, why are you forcing him to do so?" Xiao Fengzhuo sheathed the knife with a smile, and stood in front of Lu Zhouxue forcefully and without compromise.

"If I don't force him, should I just let him be as cowardly as a mouse and waste his energy?" Baili Changqing said.

"It's just that he doesn't practice swordsmanship, how can it be considered as ruining his physique?" Xiao Fengzhuo said without giving in, "It's his business what path our Mianmian wants to practice. Why should the elder force him to do anything? Zhu Huang Yuzhao is your disciple, but he is not."

"Demon clan? Why are they here?" Xiao Fengzhuo was eloquent. Baili Changqing couldn't argue with him, so he turned his attention to his identity. However, seeing that his cultivation was not high, he didn't guard him too much.

When Xiao Fengzhuo appeared, he was in direct conflict with Baili Changqing, but now when the other party asked about his identity, he still had to respectfully call him "Grand Elder".

"I have heard of your great name for a long time. Now I see that your reputation is well-deserved. I am just a nobody under the Demon King's throne. I am here to take back the Phoenix bloodline to my clan on the orders of the Demon King." Xiao Fengzhuo explained the whole story in a few words. Knowing that he was visiting normally, Baili Changqing did not embarrass him. However, seeing that he was protecting Lu Zhouxue, he could not help but ask again: "What is the relationship between you two?"

Just as Lu Zhouxue was about to answer, Xiao Fengzhuo said with a playful smile, "The relationship between the young master of a wealthy family and the homeless man he took in."

Lu Zhouxue: “…”

Baili Changqing: “???”

"Just a joke. The king ordered me not to go back until I get Fenghuang back. Mianmian refused to go with me, so I'm just staying at his place." Xiao Fengzhuo said.

"Why don't you want to go back?" Upon hearing this, Baili Changqing looked at Lu Zhouxue. Although human-demon hybrids are not popular on both sides, human cultivators will discriminate against hybrids more after all. If he can return to the demon clan, why should he endure criticism in the Final Court?

"Why do you want to go back? The Phoenix bloodline has existed in Zhongting for a long time, why do you say you are willing to accept it now?" Lu Zhouxue asked back. In fact, he just didn't want to move.

Baili Changqing remained silent after hearing this. After a moment, he sighed, and a hint of helplessness appeared on his cold and ruthless face: "After all, it is the fault of our fathers. What is your fault? What is Yu Zhao's fault?"

"Elder, if there's nothing else, we'll go back first." Xiao Fengzhuo was not interested in his melancholy. After saying goodbye, he took Lu Zhouxue's hand and walked back. As he walked, he looked back and said, "I'll leave the matter of the little peacock to you." He did not treat Baili Changqing as an outsider at all.