Su Qing continued to forge ahead, clearing paths through the thorns. She only paused for a brief rest at night, never stopping on the road otherwise.
After traveling like this for another day or two, they finally emerged from the Thorny Ridge.
Stepping out of Thorny Ridge and seeing the wide road…
The sky had already grown somewhat dim…
Chaoyan couldn't help but say, "Godmother, since it's getting late and we've already left Thorn Ridge, why don't we find a place to rest for a day before continuing? And Sister Yudie has been hacking at those thorns for days; she must be exhausted."
Hearing this, Yudie quickly nodded and said, "I'm absolutely exhausted! I never thought Thorny Ridge would actually be over eight hundred li long."
Yudie couldn't help but stretch her wrists.
She had initially intended to just move around a bit, but she didn't expect to be moving for so many days.
It had truly worn her out.
Next time, she wouldn't try to be so capable on her own…
She'd at least drag someone along with her.
Su Qing glanced at Yudie and Chaoyan, then turned to look at Jingyue for her opinion.
Seeing that Jingyue had no objections, she nodded and said,
"Since you want to rest, then rest. There's no rush to set off tomorrow. After all, we've come this far, there's no need to rush this moment."
Hearing this, Yudie happily gave Su Qing a big bear hug. She had wanted to rest for a long time.
Su Qing, a little helpless, patted Yudie's shoulder and said, "Alright, you stinky girl, you're heavy. And you're not a child anymore, stop acting like one."
Yudie chuckled, completely ignoring Su Qing's teasing.
After all, in her eyes, she was always a child.
Su Qing saw how shameless this girl was and had no way to deal with her, so she could only smile helplessly.
After the group made their decision,
They didn't rest on the spot.
Instead, they walked a bit further, searching for any houses or abandoned Earth God Temples to stay in.
This time, their luck was quite good.
They hadn't walked far when they came across a derelict Earth God Temple.
Although the Earth God Temple was abandoned, it was still habitable…
So, the group temporarily settled down in the Earth God Temple.
Su Qing wasn't idle today; she gathered firewood and started a fire… and also set up a pot to cook.
Su Qing's cooking skills were decent. Even with terrible conditions, making edible food wasn't difficult.
As she cooked, Chaoyan helped by tending the fire and adding wood.
Suddenly, Chaoyan seemed to remember something.
She couldn't help but ask Su Qing, "Speaking of which, Godmother, now that we've left Thorny Ridge, are you going to find the Eighteen Elders?"
Hearing Chaoyan's words…
Su Qing paused for half a second before remembering the Eighteen Elders who had sought her out before.
She pondered for a moment, an idea forming in her mind. She smiled faintly and said, "Of course I'll go, but I only plan to ask a few questions, so I won't take everyone with me."
Chaoyan pouted and asked, "Then, Godmother, if you leave, what should we do? Where should we wait for you?"
Su Qing stroked her chin and said with a smile, "Actually, you don't have to wait for me; you can walk and wait… After all, I can't say much about other things, but I'm quite skilled in the Cloud Soaring Technique. Even if you go ahead, I can catch up later!"
Hearing Su Qing's words, Chaoyan shook her head and said, "Then I'll just wait for you, Godmother! Although your Cloud Soaring Technique is amazing, I'd still rather set off with you! Just thinking about it, I'd feel extra unaccustomed to the journey without you, Godmother. I don't want to be without you even for a little while."
Su Qing smiled at Chaoyan, surprised. She hadn't expected…
This girl to be so clingy.
However, Su Qing didn't refuse; she just nodded with a chuckle and said, "Since that's the case, then we'll do as you wish! But back to the original question, where you should wait for me… why don't you wait here? I'm just going to ask a few questions; at most, it'll take an hour, or even half an hour."
Of course, in reality, it would definitely take less time.
After all, it was just a few pleasantries and some questions.
Saying an hour or half an hour was purely an exaggeration, giving herself plenty of leeway.
It was just her habit.
Seeing Su Qing say this, Chen Chaoyan naturally didn't say anything more…
Although they had to travel, there was no immediate rush…
"Since Godmother has already made a decision, I will naturally listen to you," Chen Chaoyan said with a smile.
Seeing this, Su Qing nodded slightly and continued to make the pot of vegetable soup.
Although Su Qing was a mundane person, someone who loved meat, occasionally eating vegetarian dishes with this girl was fine…
Though, in fact, they had eaten a lot of vegetables on this journey.
Time passed slowly.
In the blink of an eye, the moonlight appeared.
Su Qing and the others simply tidied up and went to sleep.
After so much time roughing it, they had long grown accustomed to it.
It was fortunate that Su Qing and the others all possessed magic.
Otherwise, living in the wilderness like this for a month or so, they would probably be no different from savages.
The next day.
After Su Qing simply made breakfast for everyone,
She said goodbye to Chaoyan and left the group.
She headed to Muxian Nunnery.
Muxian Nunnery was not difficult to find, and calculating its location was exceptionally simple.
This was just an ordinary place, without any heavenly secrets obscuring it, so Su Qing easily found it.
Su Qing descended from the clouds and landed…
However, she didn't see any houses or dwellings, only a stone cliff with "Muxian Nunnery" written on it.
And there, there was an old cypress tree, an old juniper, an old pine, an old bamboo, and behind the bamboo, a red maple. Looking at the cliff edge, there was also an old apricot tree, two winter plum blossoms, and two osmanthus trees.
Su Qing looked at this scene, and recalling the descriptions in her memory, she naturally deduced that this was indeed Muxian Nunnery.
And that old pine tree was none other than the Eighteen Elders from before.
Su Qing curled her lips into a smile and said, "It seems this is Muxian Nunnery. I didn't expect it to be full of tree demons!"
She had naturally anticipated the situation here long ago.
Her words were merely a pretense.
No sooner had she spoken than figures emerged from the old trees.
Among them was the Eighteen Elders whom she had met yesterday.
The Eighteen Elders, leaning on his staff, hurried to Su Qing's front and said, "Yuanjun, I apologize for not coming out to greet you! This is Muxian Nunnery. It is humble, and I hope Yuanjun will not find it amusing."
Su Qing shook her head and said, "Amusing, no, but a little surprised. After all, it's not easy for trees to become spirits, and for a group of them to become spirits is even rarer!"
There was truth in Su Qing's words; it was much harder for trees to become spirits than for animals.
After all… there were so many trees in the world, but only a few became spirits.
So, Su Qing felt some pity for these demons.
Of course, there was also some influence from Leng Xiang.
After all, Leng Xiang was once a plum blossom!
As she spoke, the others also came forward to introduce themselves.
The juniper called himself Guzhi Gong, the cypress called himself Lingkong Zi, and the old bamboo called himself Fuyun Sou.
As for the apricot tree, she called herself Apricot Immortal. And the osmanthus and winter plum blossoms were her servants.
Su Qing nodded slightly, then stopped the pleasantries.
She cut straight to the chase.
She asked, "Eighteen Elders, you invited me here… for what purpose?"
Hearing this, the Eighteen Elders merely said he admired Su Qing and wanted to invite her for a drink and to appreciate poetry.
Su Qing just chuckled and shook her head; she naturally didn't believe that.
She only said, "I see… Speaking of which, how did you all learn about me? I've thought about it, I've never been to Thorny Ridge before, so you shouldn't have seen me, right?"
"As for hearing about me from elsewhere, in your current state, it's impossible for you to leave Thorny Ridge too far! I'm also self-aware enough to know that it's impossible for me to be known by mountain and wilderness demons like yourselves."
Hearing Su Qing's words, the group exchanged glances.
They all seemed to see a hint of panic in each other's eyes.
Clearly, none of them had expected Su Qing to ask this…
Su Qing didn't press them, but merely observed their reactions, lost in thought.
After a while, Apricot Immortal spoke, "Yuanjun, you are too modest; your reputation travels far… The local Earth Gods also told us about you, so we naturally know your name."
Su Qing nodded slightly and said:
"I see… I see, it seems you all can't tell me the truth. But it's alright, I have a general idea in my heart… If you don't speak, I suppose you have your reasons."
Apricot Immortal looked at Su Qing, sighed slightly, and said, "It's best if Yuanjun thinks that way…"
Seeing Apricot Immortal's expression, Su Qing felt certain.
Then she nodded faintly and said, "Alright, alright, I won't chat with you all any further. I won't drink the wine, and as for poetry, I'm not good at it. But before I leave, I'll give you a piece of advice: be very careful in your actions, lest you lose your thousand years of cultivation."
Hearing Su Qing's words, they all looked at each other… and read a hint of confusion in each other's eyes.
But after a brief moment of confusion, they thanked Su Qing.
Regardless of what she was saying…
Or whether they understood it.
Just thank her first!
That way, it would seem like they had actually taken her words to heart.
And wouldn't displease her.
Seeing their reaction, Su Qing didn't bother to care whether they had listened to her words.
She just nodded and said, "Alright, I'm leaving! Take care, everyone!"
With that, Su Qing indeed formed a hand seal and left Muxian Nunnery.
After Su Qing left, the tree demons also returned to their tree forms, no longer emerging.
They communicated only in their tree forms.
On the way back.
Su Qing's thoughts gradually cleared…
At the same time, she felt a little helpless.
However, although she had figured out some things, this journey to the West still had to be made.
But after reaching the destination…
She would still have to properly question the Buddha!
In a moment.
Su Qing quickly sorted out her thoughts, and her expression returned to normal.
No hint of abnormality was visible.
Nor any trace of sorrow.
Not long after.
Su Qing brought down her cloud and landed beside Chaoyan.
Seeing Su Qing return, Chaoyan quickly asked, "Godmother, you're back! What exactly did you go to ask?"
"Nothing special, just asked them why they sought me out," Su Qing replied with a smile. "It turned out they really just wanted to talk poetry and drink with me, so I came straight back."
Chaoyan heard this, a little puzzled, and said, "Isn't that good? Don't you like to drink, Godmother?"
"But you were all waiting for me here! How could I forget about you?" Su Qing replied.
Chaoyan smiled, seemingly quite happy to hear this.
As for the rest, Chaoyan didn't intend to ask.
After all, it was more about her Godmother's own affairs.
If she wanted to talk about it, she would naturally do so.
After a brief chat,
The group set off again towards the Western Heaven.
They walked without stopping.
In a blink, winter turned to spring, and it was early spring.
Now, the winter snow had melted from the world.
New shoots covered the mountains, and vitality was everywhere…
Looking out, the view was entirely green, a superb spring scene.
The group walked along the wide road, with wild flowers blooming everywhere beside them, and butterflies fluttering…
In the distant mountains, kingfishers chirped, their songs melodious and pleasant.
The group slowly advanced, enjoying the spring scenery as they walked.
This day.
As they were walking,
They suddenly saw a tall mountain.
The mountain was so high, it seemed to touch the sky…
Chaoyan looked at the tall mountain blocking their path and couldn't help but exclaim, "This mountain is so high, it's like it's propping up the sky."
Chaoyan's exclamation made Jingyue laugh, saying, "How can this mountain prop up the sky? Even Kunlun Mountain can't prop up the sky!"
Chaoyan pouted and said, "It's just a metaphor, just a metaphor!"
Su Qing smiled helplessly at their chatter and said, "Alright, let's keep going! This mountain will be quite a climb!"
Chaoyan scratched her head, leaning on her staff, and said, "It's alright, as long as I'm with Godmother, Sister Yudie, and Sister Jingyue, this mountain won't be hard to climb."
Su Qing shook her head and said, "Since you don't think it's hard to climb, let's go."
After a short pause,
They continued their ascent.
The scenery in the mountain forest was also extremely beautiful, especially in this spring season, it was breathtaking.
The group walked on.
Before long, they had crossed the mountain peak.
As they were descending, they saw distant pavilions and palaces.
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