The Temptation of The World

"It's been over ten days, and Master's pulse is gradually stabilizing. He seems to be out of danger, but why hasn't he woken up at all?" Mi Xingzhe muttered as he walked through the marketplace.

"If this continues, we'll starve to death in that cabin before anything happens." Mi Xingzhe looked at the medicine pouch in his hand, shaking his head helplessly. To buy medicine for his master, he had pawned everything he had. With his money running low, there was still no sign of his master waking up.

"I don't have any skills to make a living. If Master doesn't wake up soon, I might have to go back to stealing. If Qingyi finds out, he'll kill me." Mi Xingzhe spoke to himself, feeling a pang of sadness at the thought of Yun Qingyi.

Taking care of the master had always been Yun Qingyi's responsibility. Thinking about this, Mi Xingzhe couldn't help but blame himself. "If I had obediently learned more about medicine from Master before, I wouldn't be so helpless now."

"Have mercy, please, have mercy." 

An old blind beggar woman tapped her broken bowl, begging from the passersby. Her hunched figure and dirty, emaciated body emitted a foul smell, causing people to avoid her.

Seeing the beggar woman, Mi Xingzhe was reminded of the days when Grandpa Mi took him begging from house to house.

He looked at the steamed bun in his hand. Though his stomach growled with hunger, he swallowed his saliva and walked over.

"Grandma, here you go." 

He gently placed the steamed bun into the blind woman's hands and patted them.

"Thank you, thank you. It's a bun!" The blind woman sniffed it. She hadn't eaten in days, and after a few bites, she began to choke.

"Slow down, Grandma." Mi Xingzhe patted her back, helping her breathe, and handed her his water bottle.

"Thank you, thank you. I haven't eaten in days. I had forgotten the taste of buns," the blind woman said with a self-deprecating smile. She then picked up the remaining piece of the bun and called out, "Duoduo, come here. This is for you. Duoduo? Where are you?"

When there was no response, the blind woman panicked, her withered hands groping around on the ground.

"Grandma, don't worry. Who is Duoduo? Is it your granddaughter?" Mi Xingzhe asked as he helped her up.

"Duoduo is my dog. We've been dependent on each other. Usually, it stays by my side when I beg. Today it's gone. Without it, how can an old woman like me survive?" The blind woman started to cry anxiously.

"Don't worry, Grandma. Maybe it's just playing and will be back soon," Mi Xingzhe comforted her.

"Where could it have gone? If it's caught by dog traders, what will I do? My Duoduo!" the blind woman cried out in distress.

Mi Xingzhe was in a dilemma. He needed to go back and make medicine for his master, but he couldn't leave the old woman alone. "Grandma, why don't you describe Duoduo to me? I'll help you look for it," he suggested gently.

"Thank you, thank you. You're such a good person," the blind woman agreed.

At the Nan Zhe Residence, Nan Zhe looked at the still-unconscious Hua Ruoying. His purple eyes burned with jealous anger.

[I did so much for you, but you always think about him. Am I worth less to you than that once-ethereal waste?]

His gaze turned icy as he slowly fanned himself. He cast a spell of intermingling purple and silver light, which slowly entered Hua Ruoying's body.

"If you want to think of him, I won't let you remember him," Nan Zhe said coldly, intensifying the magic around Hua Ruoying.

Mi Xingzhe had been walking with the blind woman for hours, still unable to find any trace of Duoduo. "Grandma, maybe Duoduo went home. Where do you live? I'll take you there, and we can continue searching tomorrow when it's light," he suggested kindly.

"Child, day or night makes no difference to a blind old woman like me. But you're right. Maybe Duoduo went home. I live in a shabby hut on the east side of town. Please take me there. You must be tired too," the blind woman said, patting Mi Xingzhe's hand gratefully.

As they approached her hut, they heard a few barks, and a furry little dog ran out.

"Duoduo! Oh, I've found you!" The blind woman joyfully crouched down to hug her dog.

"See, Grandma, Duoduo is back," Mi Xingzhe said, relieved.

After settling the blind woman back in her room, Mi Xingzhe was about to leave when she called him back.

"Young hero, wait. Today, thanks to you, my dog and I are safe. This is some mugwort incense I made. In the mountains, there are many mosquitoes. This incense can help you sleep better. Please take it," the blind woman said, handing him a paper packet.

"Grandma, I can't accept this. You need to sell it for money," Mi Xingzhe declined.

"It's not much, just some herbs I collected. It won't fetch much. Please take it," she insisted, pushing the packet into his hands.

"Thank you, Grandma," Mi Xingzhe said, tucking the packet away. He discreetly left his last silver coins on the table.

After Mi Xingzhe left, the old woman suddenly regained her sight. Watching him leave, she nodded and smiled deeply.

"Such a good child."

Returning to the cabin late at night, Mi Xingzhe found Li Luoning lying quietly as always.

"Master, I'm back."

He entered, speaking to himself. "I was late because I met a grandmother who needed help."

"Master, when will you wake up? Qingyi is gone, and we were expelled from the Liao Yin Immortal Realm. I don't know what happened to Senior Sister Ruling after she let us go. Now, I only have you. Please, don't let anything happen to you." Mi Xingzhe knelt by the bed, watching his sleeping master. The mugwort incense fell from his arms.

Picking it up, he said, "I wonder if Grandma's incense works. There are a lot of mosquitoes here. I'll light it for Master, so he doesn't get bitten."

Mi Xingzhe found a lotus leaf and placed it under the incense, lighting the mugwort at Li Luoning's bedside. As the smoke wafted through the room, Mi Xingzhe felt drowsy and soon drifted into a dream.

"Where am I?" 

Mi Xingzhe looked around, bewildered, at the boundless cloud-covered land. In the distance, he saw a shadowy figure. Taking a few steps closer, he realized he was trapped in an invisible barrier, unable to move.

"Yun Wan Nian, if you hand over Li Luoning, you will be spared," a voice echoed, but he couldn't see who was speaking.

Mi Xingzhe became alert, looking around cautiously but finding no one.

"I will never hand over my master, even if it means my death!" Mi Xingzhe shouted angrily.

"The Moonshadow Core in his body can dominate the three realms. Aren't you tempted? With it, you'll no longer be at anyone's mercy. Combined with your Floating Light Seal, you could rule the entire three realms. Don't you want that?" The voice continued to tempt him.

"I don't care about that. As long as Master is safe, I don't need any of it, and I won't let anyone harm him," Mi Xingzhe declared to the unseen speaker.

"Yun Wan Nian, you killed your fellow disciple Yun Qingyi. Aren't you afraid that when your master wakes up, the first person he'll kill will be you?" The voice asked again.

This question made Mi Xingzhe pause, his defensive stance faltering. His head lowered, his eyes stinging with tears as he spoke,

"Killing Qingyi wasn't my intention. Master saved me many times. My life belongs to him. If my death can ease his pain, I accept it without complaint." Mi Xingzhe's voice grew calm, tinged with sorrow.

As soon as he finished speaking, the barrier around him silently disappeared, and the distant figure approached.

A woman with a serene expression, dressed in a cloud-colored white robe, walked toward him with a gentle smile.

"Who are you?" 

Mi Xingzhe found the woman familiar. After a closer look, he suddenly realized,

"You're the old woman from today!"

It dawned on him that the person before him was the blind beggar woman he had helped, now exuding an ethereal aura.

The woman nodded with a smile and spoke,

"Having a compassionate heart is no easy feat," she said approvingly.

"Grandma, you're not blind?" Mi Xingzhe asked, waving his hand in front of her face.

Realizing she had been pretending, Mi Xingzhe felt a bit annoyed,

"Grandma, you were toying with me today, weren't you?"

"Do you want to save your master?" The woman's voice was as clear as a tranquil mountain spring.

"Yes! Do you have a way?" Mi Xingzhe asked eagerly.

The woman summoned an ice-blue jade cauldron and handed it to him, explaining,

"Your master may have the Moonshadow Core to protect him, but the techniques he practiced clash with the core. You need to refine his original powers in this Purifying Jade Cauldron."

"The Purifying Jade Cauldron?" Mi Xingzhe asked, holding the cool jade cauldron.

"The process of cleansing and purifying will be extremely painful, involving both yin and yang energies clashing within his meridians. The pain is like having one's bones extracted," the woman said with some reluctance.

"Isn't there any other way?" Mi Xingzhe asked, worried after hearing about the pain.

"That depends on your willingness," the woman suddenly looked at Mi Xingzhe intently.

"I'm willing! Do you have a solution, Grandma?" Mi Xingzhe agreed without hesitation. To him, saving his master was worth any sacrifice.

"The only thing that can protect his heart meridian is your Floating Light Seal. But..." The woman paused.

"But what?" Mi Xingzhe asked urgently.

"If you use the Floating Light Seal to protect his heart meridian, you'll need to extract your own inner core and transfer it to him. Are you willing?"

"Yes, I'm willing. If it saves my master, I'll even trade my life," Mi Xingzhe responded without hesitation.

"Very well, I grant you this Purifying Jade Cauldron. If you ever face great peril, the cauldron will hold the answer," the woman said. Before Mi Xingzhe could respond, she vanished.

"Thank you, Grandma. Grandma, may I know your name? So I can properly thank you once my master recovers," Mi Xingzhe asked, looking around, but the woman was gone. He called out loudly.

"Xī Xí Róng Yī, mí mì liǎo yīn."

Mi Xingzhe repeated the phrase, then suddenly realized and knelt, bowing deeply.

"Yun Wan Nian thanks you, Grandmaster."

A few days earlier, Jiagu Qing was leisurely preparing herbs in his courtyard. The wisteria vine beside him gently tapped his shoulder, signaling some commotion inside his house.

"Hmm?" 

Jiagu Qing acknowledged and walked into the house. As he approached, he smelled something burning.

He saw a steaming medicine pot on the stove near the door.

"How many times have I said to watch the fire while brewing medicine? How did it burn again?" 

Jiagu Qing thought it was the tree spirit who had forgotten about the medicine.

However, when he lifted the pot lid and sniffed, he realized the burning smell wasn't coming from there. He followed the scent into the inner room, searching everywhere.

"Oh dear, how can a jade pendant catch fire?" 

Jiagu Qing exclaimed, rushing to extinguish the flames on the pendant. No matter how much water he poured, the blue flames on the jade didn't diminish.

Suddenly, he recalled what Li Luoning had told him when leaving the pendant.

"Senior Jiagu, I've split the seal on the Moonshadow Core into two. One half is with me, and the other is here with you as a warning. The Moonshadow Core concerns the safety of the three realms. If it ever breaks free, it means something has happened to me. This pendant will ignite. Please ensure it doesn't fall into the wrong hands."

"Could it be... something happened to that little herb addict?" Jiagu Qing felt a surge of dread as he looked at the burning blue jade pendant.