Chapter 322: Packing Up and Heading Home

　　Looking at the young lady on the ground crying as if her world was growing dimmer and dimmer, Zhu Yao’s face darkened. Who are you?

　　“Don’t cry already?”

　　“Wuaahh…” She began to cry even louder.

　　“…” She’s the one who wanted to cry, alright? Comrade, you took the wrong set of scripts, right? “Who in the world are you?”

　　The young lady was startled for a moment, and then tears began to flow out even more violently than before. This was the first time Zhu Yao understood what “cry me a river” really meant. “Wuaah… Yaoyao has forgotten about me. So sad… So heart-aching…”

　　“D-don’t… Don’t cry!” The hell, there’s no way to persuade her, is there?

　　Her cries were filled with incredible sadness, and she had even begun to hiccup. The anxiety in Zhu Yao’s heart melted. Taking a few steps forward, she reached out her hand and stroke her head. “Don’t cry, alright? Tell me, who are you?”

　　Only then did the young girl sniffle and stop her heartbreaking cries. Her pouting lips could even be used to hang a piece of bacon right now. After a few hiccups, she finally managed to control her emotions. Raising her reddened eyes, she pitifully glanced at her and then let out a sound.

　　“Chick…”

　　“Eh?” Zhu Yao was startled. What does this mean?

　　The young lady instantly grew a little anxious again. Tugging onto Zhu Yao’s hand, she pointed at her own nose. “Chick… Chick chick!”

　　“The hell is Chick Chick?” Why did she suddenly start to use foreign language, when they were conversing fine just earlier? You’re bullying me for my poor education, aren’t you!?

　　“She’s the Wood Spirit!” Standing by her side, her master suddenly spoke up.

　　“What?” Zhu Yao quickly turned her head back, her face was filled with disbelief. “Master, she… she…”

　　Yu Yan nodded. “She is the Wood Spirit that you planted in the Desolate Ground back then.”

　　“This is the Desolated Ground?” Zhu Yao looked around. As expected, other than the tree right in front of them, the place was a desolate wasteland. She lowered her head and glanced at the young lady in front of her. She indeed possessed a body of wood spiritual energy, and her aura was extremely familiar as well. “You’re really Wood Spirit?”

　　“Chick…” The young lady pitifully called out again.

　　“ You cultivated a human form?” Zhu Yao was pleased. She never expected that she would still be able to meet the Wood Spirit here.

　　“Yaoyao…” She buried her head into Zhu Yao’s chest, her two arms hugging tightly onto her waist. “I really miss you… I really miss you. You said that you would come and see me. I waited for so, so long…”

　　“Uhh…” She couldn’t be blamed for this. Her work itinerary was always full. Furthermore, she wasn’t able to buy a travel ticket back either.

　　“I finally got to see you. As I thought, Realmspirit did not lie to me. You’re really here!”

　　“Realmspirit!” Zhu Yao was stunned. “You know him? Was he the one who said that I will be coming over?”

　　“Mn.” Wood Spirit nodded heavily. “He said that you’re in the vicinity, and that I will definitely get to see you this time around. Just as he had said, I got to see you.”

　　Zhu Yao’s heart sank, a strange feeling rose in her chest. “When did Realmspirit tell you this?”

　　Wood Spirit was startled for a moment, her beautiful brows furrowing. “He told me right after I woke up.”

　　“When did you get to know him?”

　　“I knew him right from the start!” She said with a matter-of-factly expression.

　　“When?”

　　“Mn…” She tilted her head as she pondered, yet she did not seem to be able to find a term or phrase to describe it. “In any case… I know him. I knew him when I began to understand things.”

　　Then when did she begin to understand things? Zhu Yao’s face darkened. Other than the River of Forgetfulness, this was the second time she heard of Realmspirit from someone else. However, his identity continued to grow even more mysterious, and she could not find a single lead about him at all.

　　She once again rubbed the Wood Spirit’s head. Zhu Yao used a lot of effort before she was able to bring down the arms that wrapped around her waist.

　　“Wood Spirit, I have something I wish to ask you!” Zhu Yao’s expression sank as she sternly said. “Tell me honestly. That Soul Assimilating Banner in the cultivation world, and the matters concerning the construction of puppets with people’s souls sealed inside them, were they all your doings?”

　　She tilted her head and pondered about this question, and then said with a curious look. “Yaoyao… What’s a Soul Assimilating Banner?”

　　“You don’t know?” Zhu Yao was shocked.

　　“Wood Spirit only wants Yaoyao!” Wood Spirit waved her arms at her. “Hug.”

　　“Then why did that ‘Wu Hua’ call you mistress?” Zhu Yao turned to look at ‘Wu Hua’, wanting to seek confirmation. “Where did he go?”

　　She looked around for a long while, and then raised her head, only to see a body hanging on a certain tree branch. The spiritual energy in her body had already completely scattered, whites showing from her eyes. Her face was facing the sky, and her mouth was like a small fountain spitting out blood.

　　“……”

　　“…”

　　When Wood Spirit sprinted towards her, she seemed… to have… indeed pushed a little something away?

　　Uhh… It seemed like she used quite a bit of force.

　　A sense of helplessness instantly overwhelmed Zhu Yao. It was as if she had prepared a bunch of equipment to defeat a boss, only to see him commit suicide before she could even raise her sword.

　　“Yaoyao, are you talking about Sesame?” Wood Spirit pointed at ‘Wu Hua’ on the tree branch and said.

　　“Sesame?” How was that thing like Sesame?

　　“He called me mistress, so he is Sesame.” Wood Spirit explained with a serious look.

　　“Uh…” So there was actually a relationship called ‘Mistress and Sesame’ in this world? Just what did you learn in the few years when you were in my divine sense? “How did you get to know… this Sesame?” Zhu Yao asked in another manner.

　　“She came in on her own and I knew her then.” Wood Spirit explained. “Realmspirit said Yaoyao will be coming, so I waited here. While I was waiting, she came in.”

　　Wood Spirit told her about their entire encounter, and Zhu Yao’s face darkened after hearing the entire story. In summary, this was a story of a naive young lady being tricked. Realmspirit said that Zhu Yao would appear in a world near the Desolate Ground. In order to meet her, Wood Spirit opened an entrance in the cultivation world – that stone wall in Tranquil Valley. She waited for Zhu Yao to come into the Desolate Ground to see her. In the end, before she got to meet her, she met this heretic practitioner who took over Wu Hua.

　　Wood Spirit was the manifestation of wood spiritual energy itself, and possessed the purest of heart. After a short chat, the heretic practitioner found out about her desire to look for someone. In order to leave this Desolate Ground, the heretic practitioner pretended to revere her as her mistress, and promised to head to the cultivation world to search for that person.

　　It would have been fine if that was all, but Wood Spirit had even split a part of her own source energy and gave it to the heretic practitioner. The consequences were thus imaginable. This heretic practitioner however sure possessed incredible technical talent, as she was capable of unleashing the source energy to its fullest potential and had actually discovered the arts of soul control. The puppets of human practitioners, Soul Assimilating Banner and even the heart demon grounds were all things she came up with.

　　However, her luck was just terrible. In the end, Zhu Yao saw through her, and coincidentally, she transferred her here.

　　“This Sesame sure is a good Sesame! As expected, she brought Yaoyao over to me!” Wood Spirit did not seemed to have realized that she was tricked, as she waved her hands at ‘Wu Hua’ with an incredibly brilliant smile. “Sesame, thank you so much.”

　　Wu Hua’s reply was: Puaah… She spat out even more blood than before.

　　Right at this moment, Zhu Yao did not know if Wood Spirit was the one she should be pitying, or ‘Wu Hua’.

　　——————————————

　　Zhu Yao did not stay in the Desolate Ground for too long and returned to Office Shell Sect. If she had stayed any longer, most likely, ‘Wu Hua’ would have surely died. Though she had done many evil deeds, Zhu Yao was still not the one who should decide her fate. No matter what, she should be handled by the members of Office Shell Sect, whose sect was destroyed by her hands.

　　She had Wood Spirit retrieve the source energy from her body, and then instructed Wood Spirit not to hand over such power to anyone else ever again. Not even Zhu Yao herself. Wood Spirit agreed with teary eyes. Then, she hugged onto Zhu Yao’s thigh and cried for a long time, not wanting her to leave.

　　Zhu Yao’s lips were even beginning to dry up from all the persuading she did, yet Wood Spirit was still unwilling to let go. She continued to cry her lungs out.

　　“Wood Spirit doesn’t want to be alone, wuaahh…”

　　“I will stay behind then!” Little Eighth suddenly spoke up. Then, he flapped his wings and flew towards Wood Spirit’s shoulder.

　　“Little EIghth!” Zhu Yao was stunned, immediately rejecting his proposal. “You can’t.” When did he become so kind-hearted?

　　“Seventh elder sister…”

　　“I’m telling you no, and it means no!” Zhu Yao frowned. “You’re presently still a fledgeling. I don’t feel at ease leaving you here.”

　　“Tch. You sound as if it’s really safe staying by your side.”

　　“Uh…” His reasoning made so much sense, she actually had no words to refute him with.

　　“Seventh elder sister, I’m no longer young. I even possess the memories of two lives, so nothing will happen.” Little Eighth said. “Furthermore, Wood Spirit here carries the scent of a parasol tree, and it’s really beneficial to us of the Phoenix race. Other than this place, I really have no idea where else I should go. There’s even a chance… that one day, other Phoenixes will sense this place and come over as well. When that time comes, I will no longer be alone.”

　　“…” Zhu Yao’s heart clenched, she had nothing to follow up with. In her heart, she faintly understood just how low the chances of two Godbeasts appearing in a single world were.

　　“Seventh elder sister, don’t worry. Nothing will happen to me.”

　　Even after Zhu Yao tried to persuade him for a long while, Little Eighth seemed to have made a resolution to stay here. He was right. Staying by her side was the most dangerous thing he could do. Who would know just how many bugs were there left for her to fix? In this Desolate Ground where only demonic beasts would roam, it was the safest place he could be in. Wood Spirit was the life force of this domain, and no creature could harm her. If a human practitioner were to barge in, as Little Eighth had already gotten tricked once, he would not get tricked so easily again.

　　In the end, she had no choice but to let him stay behind.

　　A tree and a bird stood there as they waved their hands (wings) goodbye. Only when Zhu Yao’s figure slowly disappear into the spatial tear, did they finally put them down.

　　They stood still for a long while.

　　“She’s gone…”

　　“Mn.”

　　“Will Yaoyao still come back?”

　　“… She will.”

　　“I really want to cry, what should I do?”

　　“Shut up!”

　　“That’s my Yaoyao…”

　　“That’s my seventh elder sister!”

　　“… Wuuwuu.”

　　“Stop crying, don’t you know tears are contagious!?”

　　“Wuaaah…”

　　“……”

　　“…”

　　A long while later…

　　“Little Eighth Eighth, are you going to make a nest on my body?”

　　“Not going to!”

　　“Then how are you going to sleep?”

　　“You’re annoying!”

　　——————————————

　　After returning to the cultivation world, Zhu Yao immediately handed ‘Wu Hua’ over to Sect Master Gu. As to how she was going to be dealt with, Zhu Yao was unaware of it.

　　However, the various clans and sects of the cultivation world conducted a meeting that lasted several days, their agenda being the investigation and study of this huge incident, and the drafting of a series of emergency deployment programmes. They had even summarised several of the experiences and lessons learnt.

　　Ness Cesary Sect received an immense blow from this incident, and even their base was crushed. Coincidentally, Office Shell Sect’s base was still present, yet they no longer had anyone occupying it. Zhu Yao did not know how the discussion between Qu Jiang and Sect Master Gu went, but the two sects actually merged in the end, taking up the name Officesary Sect! One provided the human resources, while the other provided the base! It was a rather harmonious move. Furthermore, the one to take up the title of Sect Master, was not Qu Jiang, but Sect Master Gu.

　　Because of Ye Qingcang’s exemplary performance in this campaign, he became the sect’s foremost target for nurturing, and his fame began to spread even more. Little tyrant had even more so became an idol. Not just Ness Cesary Sect, even the other sects and wandering practitioners were praising him to no end.

　　Initially, Sect Master Gu wanted little tyrant to stay in Officesary Sect, but he did not agree to it. Instead, he followed Hua Lin back to Wandering City. A choice like this was beloved by all. Ye Qingcang was already in Officesary Sect. A cave could not hold two tigers, unless one was gong (on top) and the other shou (bottom)… Ah pui, she meant male and female.

　　Zhu Yao recalled about the incident. The disappearance of the ‘bug’ on Ye Qingcang’s face was most likely related to the transformation of his self and thoughts. Even till today, she still could not figure out just which words of hers had stabbed right into his sore point, making him give up on the opportunity to become a brutal role model.

　　“Granny, are you going to return to Wandering City?” Ye Qingcang asked.

　　“Mn, maybe?” The bug was gone, and she suddenly felt she had nothing to do. “What about you? What are your plans?”

　　His smile was incredibly dazzling, as he showed a magnanimous look. “I created a new set of cultivation arts for penta spirit vein holders. I plan to teach this to all of the disciples in the sect who hold the penta spirit veins.”

　　Zhu Yao was stunned. She was aware that Ye Qingcang had a net set of cultivation arts, as the scenario had brought it up once. It was also the reason for his incredible growth as well. She never expected that he would take it out so easily and teach it to others.

　　“Just as granny had said, I must learn to trust someone with all my heart.”

　　“…” Zhu Yao blanked for a moment. After a long while, she patted on his shoulders. “Good luck!”

　　She suddenly felt a sense of achievement, as though her own son had all grown up!

　　“When are you planning to take in disciples?”

　　“When the mountain gate opens once more.”

　　“Not bad, fellow student Little Cang! You’re about to become a teacher. Then, in the future, should I call you…”

　　Aoi-sensei!

　　○|￣|_

　　“Little Cang, are you really going to take in disciples? There’s still time to go back on your word! Aoi-sensei isn’t someone that anyone can become. You must be cautious, young man!”

　　“……”

　　“…”

　　————————————————

　　Zhu Yao suddenly felt a clear aura coming from the sky above, and she could even faintly hear a crackling sound. The sky had even gotten a little brighter.

　　“The Heavenly Door has opened.” Yu Yan suddenly said.

　　Zhu Yao was startled. “Heavenly Door?” What did he mean?

　　White light flashed from her chest, and her master suddenly appeared above her sword. He raised his head and glanced at the sky. “The Heavenly Door of this world has just been opened.”

　　“Ah!? Has the Heavenly Door even been closed before?”

　　Yu Yan reached out his hand and stroked his stupid disciple’s head, sighing. “Do you know why not a single person has ascended from this world for so many years?”

　　“I don’t know.” Could it be because they all looked ugly?

　　“Presently, in the Higher Realm, the Heavenly Doors leading to the Lower Realm had all collapsed.”

　　“What!?” Zhu Yao was stunned. She was somewhat aware of the Heavenly Door collapse incident, as she saw it once in the Higher Realm herself. However, that was just one example. Just how long had it been since then, that all the Heavenly Doors of the Three Thousand Worlds were now closed?

　　“However, the Heavenly Door of this world has just been opened again.” Yu Yan frowned. He found it incomprehensible as well.

　　Before the two of them could even figure it out, the Light of Guidance broke through the skies and landed right on the two of them.

　　“Master!” Zhu Yao grew anxious, as she hurriedly grabbed onto his hand.

　　The lot which was just about to return to Wandering City was also shocked by the sudden appearance of the Light of Guidance.

　　“Grandma…” Little tyrant looked dumbfoundedly at the two people enveloped within the heavenly light.

　　Yu Yan sighed. He wrapped his arm around Zhu Yao’s waist, and held her in his embrace. Lowering his head, he pressed down on her forehead. “Yu… Yao. The matters concerning this world have been settled, you shall accompany me back to the Higher Realm.” It was best to bind his disciple to his side.

　　Zhu Yao nodded. The bug was already dealt with, and her master’s divine sense could not be away from its main body for a long period of time either. Furthermore, it’s been a long time since she broke into the late-stage Demigod level. She turned to face little tyrant and waved her hand. “Little tyrant, hurry and come up here to look for me, alright?”