Chapter 113: Chapter 79: Demonic Spirits Entwine Buddhist Incense, Drinking with the Commandery Princess over Idle Sorrows
This is also one of the reasons she resolved to return to the Yu Sect.
"What’s wrong, son?"
After Rose realized it was a Buddha and seemed to be the one the Yu Sect worshipped, she decisively acknowledged this son.
The Headless Buddha glanced around and said, "A Tier One demon is lingering around, but today is not suitable for a prolonged fight, so we won’t pursue it."
"A Tier One demon?"
Rose had no concept of this.
As the Headless Buddha spoke, he lit three sticks of incense early on.
The incense he held was different from what the other monks and nuns lit; it endured persistently, continuously.
In the moonlight, the incense smoke flowed into a faint golden "mist river."
Rose muttered, craned her neck curiously to look, and suddenly screamed, for she saw a White Bone Demon staring at her right beside her carriage.
Its deep, hollow eyes were fixed directly on her.
But the White Bone Demon did not rush to attack her.
Rose blinked, lost in thought.
But before she could say anything, the golden mist river separated her.
The incense mist river enveloped the seven carriages, as well as the monks and nuns outside, then meandered forward, quickly passing through the skeleton sea of the White Bone Demons, forming a winding, narrow golden path like a sheep’s intestine trail.
If the sea of skeletons could block the carriages, how could it stop the incense?
In the next instant...
The seven carriages suddenly transformed into a rainbow light and disappeared from the spot.
The White Bone Demons lost their target and stood dumbfounded, looking left and right.
In the sky, the bone birds spread their wings, flying swiftly, but could no longer find any trace of the seven carriages.
And the seven carriages had already appeared directly dozens of miles away, escaping the search range of the White Bone Demons.
The driver, the Headless Buddha’s head, rotted away swiftly once more.
Yet, the incense in his hand did not extinguish.
From the incense, he took a woman’s head from who knows where, placed it on his neck, and gazed into the distance with a haunting look.
Rose looked around curiously, then stared at the Buddha who had become a woman, and, for a moment...she didn’t know whether to call it a son or a daughter.
However, the head thrown aside and rotting quickly was horrifying to look at, no matter how many times she saw it.
...
...
In the wild forest.
Shiii...
The roots and tentacles retracted, transforming back into legs.
The young man plopped down under a tree in the forest, leaning his head back against the tree trunk, the scene of him and Rose making eye contact flashing through his mind.
"Even food is left on the corner of the mouth..."
Li Xuan didn’t know what to say for a moment.
At this moment, he felt both exhausted and dejected, with a certain emptiness in his heart.
The image of the incense-formed golden path still floated in his mind.
"I’m still too weak."
...
...
After quietly returning to State City in Cyan Wood Province, Li Xuan slept for a full day at Green Willow Pavilion, then subconsciously called out, "Rose, the young master is hungry."
However, no one responded.
Li Xuan was momentarily stunned, then he remembered Rose was no longer there; she had truly gone to the Yu Sect to become their Saintess.
For a moment, he just lay there on the bed, gazing at the high autumn sky outside the window and the gradually dimming sun.
Evening arrived.
A carriage escorted by six horsemen approached from afar and stopped at Green Willow Pavilion.
In the carriage, a big boy was the first to hop out, followed closely by a gracefully walking noblewoman.
This was Commandery Princess Chunyang and Zhou Jihai.
The two, curious and worried because Li Xuan hadn’t visited the Governor’s Mansion today, decided to come after much thought and concern.
"Brother, brother!" Zhou Jihai ran and shouted.
When the mother and son came to the courtyard gate of Li Xuan’s residence and knocked, Li Xuan got up from the bed quickly, opened the door, and then darted back under the covers.
Commandery Princess Chunyang looked into the room, slightly taken aback seeing Li Xuan’s appearance.
Because, at this time, Li Xuan’s face was not too good, lacking his usual vitality.
"Brother, what’s wrong with you?" Zhou Jihai asked.
Commandery Princess Chunyang looked around, then gently patted Zhou Jihai’s shoulder and said, "Jihai, go to the carriage. Mother has something to discuss with your Brother Xuan."
Uncharacteristically, Zhou Jihai didn’t act up and turned to run off.
Commandery Princess Chunyang then entered the room, softly shut the door, tidied her vermilion dress, and sat naturally at the edge of the bed, about to speak when she suddenly felt a touch of inexplicable unease.
Even though the boy before her had a poor complexion, he exuded the charm of a mature man.
And she... how did she end up sitting on his bed?
Commandery Princess Chunyang felt a strange itch in her heart; she quietly took a deep breath, suppressing the bizarre feeling that arose, thinking to herself: ’Yunshang, oh Yunshang, he’s your son’s sworn brother, who usually calls you Aunt Yun. Even if he’s a young man now, he’s still your junior generation. There’s no need to overthink it.’
As these thoughts ran through her mind, Commandery Princess Chunyang calmed herself.
On her way here, she already noticed: Li Xuan’s close maid was gone.
And thinking of how people had gone missing in the city since yesterday, with a few bodies found, all headless, strangely untraceable.
Thus, she had some suspicions.
Li Xuan’s maid might have unfortunately disappeared in this incident.
Commandery Princess Chunyang took a deep breath, her eyes gentle, and said softly, "Xiaoxuan, come back to the Governor’s Mansion with Auntie. Auntie will help you vacate your room at the Green Willow Pavilion, shall we?"
Out of sight, out of mind, so Commandery Princess Chunyang wanted to take Li Xuan away.
