The Yin Yang School?
Qingnu blinked, thinking hard for a good while before remembering that sect.
"By Huangdi's grandfather!"
Qingnu slammed the table, her eyes wide with indignation. "Unbelievable! It's been hundreds of years since the transition from Zhou to Han, and you people are still obsessing over snakes! When Ying Zhu built that temple back then, your lot was partly to blame. Just you wait..."
Before Qingnu could finish, Xu Fu hurriedly interjected, "Please stay your anger, My Lady. I have long since parted ways with them."
The snake girl stared at her for a long time. Seeing that Qingnu was still skeptical, Xu Fu made a solemn vow.
If Qingnu were still just a jiao demon, it might have been different, but she was now a deity—the Jade Maiden of the Azure Heavens who protected Guanzhong. Xu Fu did not have the courage to cross a goddess.
Qingnu tapped the table lightly. After a long silence, she asked, "If that is so, what are you looking for me for?"
Xu Fu hesitated for a moment, then suddenly stood up and performed a deep, formal bow to Qingnu.
"I am aware that My Lady has already obtained the Seal of the Jade Maiden. I humbly beg My Lady to grant me a seal mark. I would be eternally grateful!"
Grant a seal?
Qingnu took out the Seal of the Jade Maiden, tossed it upward, and asked, "How did you know I had the seal?"
Xu Fu did not hide anything and replied truthfully, "I once met Emperor Gao and calculated this matter. If My Lady were to return to Chang'an, it would certainly be to retrieve the seal!"
Qingnu looked Xu Fu up and down, then glanced at the food on the table. She waved her hand and shook the jade seal, saying, "You are quite talented! Very well! Since you prepared so much food for me, I shall grant you a seal mark! Bring some silk."
Xu Fu was overjoyed. She quickly brought out a sheet of silk and invited Qingnu to use the seal.
A seal from an immortal was incredibly precious to a cultivator like her!
"Focus on your cultivation and dedicate yourself to doing good!"
Qingnu instructed in a gentle voice, and Xu Fu nodded repeatedly in agreement.
Once the seal was applied, it meant that from then on, Xu Fu was under Qingnu's protection. Accepting that protection naturally meant being bound by Qingnu's rules.
After eating and drinking her fill, Qingnu stretched lazily.
Xu Fu stared in astonishment at Qingnu's flat stomach, then back at the empty bowls on the table.
Truly the way of an immortal!
Just as Qingnu was about to leave, Xu Fu snapped out of it and hurriedly called out to her.
Qingnu turned back and asked, "Is there something else?"
"Though I no longer associate with the Yin Yang School, they have remained dedicated to finding Your Ladyship's whereabouts. Furthermore, their methods have changed!"
Xu Fu sighed and said, "Please be careful, My Lady."
Qingnu, however, looked unconcerned. She said slowly, "This snake is not the same as before. If they want to come, let them follow their ancestors and go feed the wolves in Mt. Xiao! My brother wolves haven't tasted high-quality meat in several centuries."
Xu Fu gave an awkward smile and nodded. "Quite so. My Lady is kind; feeding the wolves is indeed a fitting fate for them..."
After parting with Xu Fu, Qingnu left the city of Chang'an and headed east.
She hadn't gone far when a large crowd emerged from the woods ahead. At a rough count, there were at least a hundred of them, all from the Yin Yang School.
Qingnu stopped in her tracks and watched as they approached. She rubbed her brow helplessly.
Brother wolves, your lucky day has arrived!
One man held up a bronze mirror and talisman, shouting, "Snake demon, let's see where you escape to today!"
"Oh? You've actually cultivated some skills!"
Sensing the aura of these people, Qingnu curled her lips into a smirk, but soon shook her head with a sigh. "A pity it's useless against this snake!"
The man waved his talisman and shouted, "Attack!"
The crowd lunged at Qingnu.
Azure scales flared at the corners of Qingnu's eyes, and her pupils turned into fierce vertical slits. "Courting death!"
Her black hair flew upward, and the dark azure jiao horns nestled in her hair were no longer hidden. As the group rushed before her, a flash of azure light erupted, and the beautiful jiao-snake girl vanished. From the rolling dust, a dark azure jiao-snake dozens of meters long soared into the air!
When had these people ever seen such a colossal beast? They retreated in terror.
The jiao-snake swam through the clouds like a dragon. With a whip of her spined tail, a violent gale swept forth, scooping up every single one of them!
The dark azure figure flew toward the Xiao-Han region, scattering the people into Mt. Xiao from the sky.
The wolves of Mt. Xiao looked up at the heavens. It was raining people!
The horizon was vast, and the clouds churned.
The dark azure jiao-snake rode the clouds eastward!
"Yahoo!"
Qingnu shouted loudly as she soared through the sky.
Hongluan clung to the jagged protrusions on her head and scolded, "Stupid snake! I'm still here! Slow down!"
Rebuked by Hongluan, Qingnu slowed her speed and apologized. "It's been so long since I've used my true form; I got a bit excited! Sister Bird, was I cool just now?"
Hongluan rolled her eyes, but before she could speak, the Seal of the Jade Maiden floated out.
"Eh? Why did this suddenly appear?"
Hongluan's pupils shrank as she saw the seal rise.
Qingnu couldn't see what was happening, but she felt a warm, gentle aura gradually merging into her body.
The Seal of the Jade Maiden floated and came to a stop right between the two small jiao horns on Qingnu's head.
Then, a beam of light wrapped around it, transforming it into a small sphere of light.
The sphere was as round and smooth as a pearl.
A beam of azure-white light shot forward, pulling both Qingnu and Hongluan into a space of pure color.
All around them, clouds churned without end; there was no boundary and no sky.
Before Qingnu and Hongluan could react, the space vanished, and they returned to the sky. By then, Qingnu had reverted to her human form. The two of them were stunned for a moment before falling straight out of the sky, crashing into the ground and creating a crater about ten feet wide.
"Ouch... what was that about?"
Qingnu rubbed her head and shook it, only to find Hongluan staring at her in shock.
She tilted her head and suddenly covered her cheeks, asking hurriedly, "Sister Bird, my face isn't ruined from the fall, is it?"
"Your snake skin is so thick, how could that happen!"
Hongluan rolled her eyes and said, "Feel your head!"
"My head?"
The snake girl blinked and reached up to touch it.
The Seal of the Jade Maiden was hovering perfectly between her two dark azure jiao horns. Since the horns weren't very large yet, it looked from a distance like she had a ball balanced on her head.
With a thought, Qingnu established a connection with the seal, and her eyes instantly lit up!
This was...
A jiao-snake pearl?
It even had an internal space for storing things!
How convenient!
Not only that, she saw the vast, boundless destiny of the world gathering into the jiao-snake pearl in small droplets.
But Qingnu was cautious. She used her techniques to temporarily isolate this destiny. After sensing it carefully, she couldn't help but punch the ground and curse, "That damn Old Three Liu! He actually dared to plot against this snake with this thing! I almost let this destiny bind me again!"
She spent a long time sorting through the destiny, stripping away the fate accumulated from decades of offerings by the Han court. Only then did she put away both the Seal of the Jade Maiden and her jiao horns.
It was a good thing she took it early. If she had waited another century or so, the weight of the Han court's fate would have been terrifying.
"Sister Bird, where did we crash?"
Hongluan shook her head and said, "How should I know? You're a goddess who can crash while flying..."
As soon as she said this, Qingnu tilted her head and stared at her blankly. "Sister Bird, you're a bird, right?"
"Yes, what of it?"
Hongluan frowned at her.
Qingnu said, "Didn't you fall down with me?"
Hongluan: "..."
As they were talking, they caught a glimpse of something out of the corner of their eyes. A young man was lying at the edge of the crater, his eyes bright as he gazed down at the two of them.
Seeing that they had noticed him, the youth smiled and waved at them.
"I am Liu An, Marquis of Fuling. Are you two fairies?"
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