Su Qing held Ruan Shuxiang in her hand, feeling much like she was carrying a giant cat.
Caught in Su Qing's grasp, Ruan Shuxiang covered her face, not daring to look up. For one, it was incredibly embarrassing. For another, she was genuinely terrified of this woman.
Although Ruan Shuxiang wasn't powerful, she had a modicum of discernment. The great master who had caught her was absolutely not someone she could oppose. The mere pressure of the spiritual aura emanating from the woman was enough to make it difficult for her to breathe. This was someone far, far more formidable than the spear-wielding woman from the day before.
So... how could she dare to look around? She only prayed the woman didn't intend to chop her down.
"I'm asking you a question! Don't pretend you can't hear me!" Su Qing spoke again when Ruan Shuxiang failed to answer.
Hearing this, Ruan Shuxiang didn't dare remain silent. She hurriedly said, "I... I haven't done anything bad."
"I don't know if you've done anything bad or not. I'm just curious why you ran the moment you saw me."
"You... you are so powerful. I was scared when I saw you, so I ran." Ruan Shuxiang was quite honest, answering Su Qing's question with a dejected expression.
Su Qing chuckled. "What are you afraid of? I'm not some villain. Do I really look like a bad person to you?"
"I... I-I-I naturally know Senior is not a bad person." Ruan Shuxiang shook her head frantically, fearing Su Qing might take offense and end her life with a squeeze of her hand. "Senior looks so beautiful, h-h-how could you possibly be a bad person?"
Seeing her timid, stuttering state, Su Qing couldn't help but find it amusing. Although it wasn't the first time she had seen her like this, it was still funny.
However, she could understand why the girl felt this way.
"Alright, alright, stop stuttering," Su Qing said with a beaming smile. "Rest assured, I won't do anything to you! I'm not the type to kill every demon I come across."
After saying this, Su Qing set her back down.
Hearing those words, Ruan Shuxiang clearly breathed a sigh of relief. The poor thing had obviously been scared out of her wits.
"I-I-I'm sorry, Senior. I... I'm a bit nervous." Ruan Shuxiang wanted to say she was still terrified, but to avoid displeasing Su Qing, she changed it to being nervous.
Indeed, 'nervous' was a fair description.
Su Qing chuckled. "Nervous? Forget it... what is your name?"
Since Su Qing hadn't met her in this form before, she naturally had to introduce herself to the girl all over again. After all, if she was going to act, she had to go all the way. And when it came to acting... Su Qing had plenty of confidence. Combined with what she already knew about the girl, tricking Ruan Shuxiang would be no trouble at all.
Sure enough, in just a short while, Su Qing had become familiar with Ruan Shuxiang once more.
Ruan Shuxiang finally managed to calm down. Although she still looked at Su Qing with the deference a junior shows an elder, she was at least no longer trembling in fear. Given Ruan Shuxiang's personality, Su Qing was quite satisfied she could even reach this level of composure.
After all, Su Qing couldn't expect to change the girl's entire personality just by talking to her.
"By the way, Senior, why did you suddenly come here?" Once she had calmed down and realized Su Qing wasn't the type to strike without reason, Ruan Shuxiang asked about her purpose. "It's not that I don't welcome Senior... I-I'm just a bit curious."
Su Qing didn't mind her cautious attitude and simply made up an excuse. "I was just passing by... I sensed a demon here, so I came over to say hello."
"I-Is that all?" Ruan Shuxiang blinked, seemingly not expecting such a simple possibility.
However, she didn't ask further.
Seeing this, Su Qing said with a smile, "It really is that simple! I usually wander around, and if I encounter a demon who shares an affinitive affinity with me, I lend them a hand."
Hearing this, Ruan Shuxiang couldn't help but say, "I... I see!"
Su Qing nodded with a smile and then began fishing for information, prompting Ruan Shuxiang to tell the story of her and her master. It wasn't difficult to steer the conversation that way, and Ruan Shuxiang was easy to read. Without much effort, Su Qing successfully got her to tell the whole tale.
"So... I didn't expect you to have such a history." Su Qing feigned a sigh of admiration. "By the way, would you like to see your master's descendants with your own eyes?"
Hearing this, Ruan Shuxiang naturally nodded. "I want to, of course. It's just a pity that I am a tree demon and cannot leave the land where I live..."
If Ruan Shuxiang could have left to see her master's descendants herself, she wouldn't have asked others for help. It was precisely because she knew she couldn't leave—at least not before her master's descendants passed away—that she had sought assistance. Unfortunately, she had waited many years just for someone else to pass through.
Hearing her words, Su Qing smiled slightly. "I actually... have a way."
"But... I've already given the items to someone else to deliver for me," Ruan Shuxiang said, momentarily stunned.
"What does that matter? You want to see your master's descendants with your own eyes... it's not like you have to be the one delivering the items. Besides, you can catch up to those people, can't you? Didn't you say they only left a short while ago?"
Su Qing spoke with persuasive charm. "Tell me, doesn't that make sense?"
Ruan Shuxiang was already getting confused... but it did seem to make sense. So she nodded and asked, "Then... Senior, what should I do?"
Seeing that the girl had completely taken the bait, Su Qing said, "Just achieve human transformation."
"Huh?" Ruan Shuxiang was startled. "But I still have a long way to go before I can transform!"
"I know that, of course... I can give you a Transformation Pill. With it, you'll be able to successfully transform in about a day or two," Su Qing explained with a smile.
"A Transformation Pill? What... what is that?"
"As the name suggests, it's something that helps a demon transform," Su Qing said calmly.
"But... that must be very precious, right? I... I have no money."
"I don't want your money..." Su Qing shook her head and said indifferently, "A Transformation Pill isn't anything precious to me. I've refined a whole bunch of them."
"No... that won't do. Master said I shouldn't accept things from others for no reason."
"Does that mean... you don't want it?"
"I... I want it," Ruan Shuxiang said, shaking her head.
"Since you want it, then take it," Su Qing said nonchalantly.
"..." After a moment of silence, Ruan Shuxiang took a deep breath and said, "I-I will repay Senior."
Su Qing smiled. "It doesn't matter. It's just an insignificant item."
"No, it's not. Although I don't know how long it will take to repay Senior's kindness, I must do it," Ruan Shuxiang said seriously. "By the way, I haven't asked for Senior's name yet!"
"Just call me Azure Spirit Sovereign." Su Qing waved her hand and handed the Transformation Pill to Ruan Shuxiang. "I don't care about your reward. If you must repay me, then do your own tasks well and don't leave yourself with any regrets. And of course, don't go around harming people!"
"I understand, Senior," Ruan Shuxiang nodded solemnly. "I... I wouldn't dare harm anyone... I'm so weak, I'd probably be slaughtered by Daoists the moment I tried."
Su Qing chuckled. "Alright, I won't say any more... I've talked with you long enough, and it's time for me to go!"
Su Qing had achieved her goal, so there was no need for her to stay any longer. She already knew what Ruan Shuxiang would do next, so there was no need to keep watch.
Seeing Su Qing about to leave, Ruan Shuxiang hurriedly said, "Thank you, Senior... Safe travels, Senior."
Su Qing waved her hand, performed a hand seal, and departed on her Somersault Cloud.
However, just after leaving the courtyard, Su Qing suddenly remembered something. Floating in mid-air, she took a piece of paper from her Sleeve Universe and began sketching. In a short while, she had drawn a map and the direction her clones were heading.
Once finished, she performed a hand seal and placed it outside the courtyard. When Ruan Shuxiang stepped out, she would naturally find it.
"That was close... I almost worked for nothing." Having finished, Su Qing breathed a sigh of relief.
She truly admired what a silly girl Ruan Shuxiang was. She wanted to catch up to the clones but had forgotten to ask which way they went. If Su Qing hadn't remembered, the girl would have had to rely on pure luck.
"She's truly lucky to have met me." Su Qing shook her head and then flew back to the Changbai Mountains on her cloud.
Ruan Shuxiang knew nothing of Su Qing's final actions. After Su Qing left, she stared at the pill bottle in her hand, lost in thought.
She felt that she truly might be blessed by her master. If she weren't, how could she have met such kind people two days in a row?
However, after a moment of silence, she sighed again.
"It's just... Senior's kindness is so great, how can I ever repay it?" Ruan Shuxiang thought with a headache.
She was just a minor demon... she had no idea what she could use to repay that senior. Perhaps the pill was truly unimportant and useless to the senior, but for a demon like her who was still far from transformation, it was precious beyond measure. Its importance was obvious.
And precisely because of that, she had no idea how she could ever repay the senior's kindness. Although... perhaps that senior didn't care about her repayment. But she cared!
From the moment of her birth, her master had told her that whether one was a human or a demon, one must show gratitude for kindness received.
After thinking for a long time, Ruan Shuxiang finally clenched her fists and decided to transform first. She had other things to do right now. She forced herself to calm her heart.
Then, she absorbed the Transformation Pill and returned to the plum tree to begin her transformation.
With the help of the Transformation Pill, Ruan Shuxiang's transformation went exceptionally smoothly. Naturally, there was no lightning tribulation to strike her. In the blink of an eye, two days passed.
Ruan Shuxiang finally succeeded in her transformation. The plum tree that had stood in the courtyard completely vanished. In its place stood a woman in a red dress—Ruan Shuxiang.
After her transformation, Ruan Shuxiang's appearance hadn't changed much; she was simply more beautiful than before.
"Is this what it feels like to have a physical form? It doesn't seem... particularly special." Ruan Shuxiang looked at her hands and tilted her head, talking to herself.
She had thought there would be some extraordinary sensation after transforming, but it didn't seem that different. It just... felt like she was more real.
But soon, she shook her head.
"Forget it, now is not the time to think about this... I should hurry and catch up to them."
"But... which way did they go?"
Ruan Shuxiang didn't know the destination of Chen Mei and Su Qing's group, nor did she know which direction on the main road they had taken. And now that two days had passed, she didn't know how to find them.
"Do I have to rely on luck?" Ruan Shuxiang shook her head, feeling that luck alone wouldn't be enough. But staying here doing nothing wouldn't work either.
After a moment of thought, she decided to ask the animals or plants along the way. Although they lacked intelligence, they had a slight perception of their surroundings. As a tree demon, Ruan Shuxiang could naturally attempt to communicate with them. Even if they couldn't speak, she could roughly understand them.
Having made her decision, Ruan Shuxiang dug out the painting, placed it carefully in a box, and slung it onto her back, ready to head out.
However, just as she stepped out the door, she nearly tripped over something. Fortunately, she steadied herself, avoiding an embarrassing fall.
She looked down at the object that had almost tripped her, feeling a bit frustrated. She saw it was a bamboo tube, and there seemed to be something inside.
Curious, Ruan Shuxiang took it out. She found it contained a letter left by the senior from before. Besides some words addressed to her, the letter included the direction Su Qing and Chen Mei had taken, along with a simple map.
Upon seeing this, she didn't wonder how Su Qing knew she was going to chase after Chen Mei and the others, nor did she feel any dissatisfaction at being teased by Su Qing. Instead, she felt a wave of emotion.
She never expected the senior would do so much for her. For a moment, she was even more at a loss as to how to repay her.
"I wonder where Senior Azure Spirit Sovereign is... Once I find Master's descendants and finish my task... I must go see her again."
Ruan Shuxiang thought to herself, then set off with the map.
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