After Transmigrating Into a Pirated Novel to Teach Them a Lesson - Chapter 24.2

When Fu Chenxue heard this, she could not help frowning. Wait. If Xue Linglong disappeared, didn’t that mean that in the future, when Fu Chenxue cultivated the demonic path, no one would discover it?

So the system had anxiously called her back and said some side mission had started because an NPC had gone missing?

Fu Chenxue’s face darkened. Then she heard Pei Wuxia across from them speak. “Sect Master, regarding Junior Sister Linglong, I received news on my side saying that Junior Sister Linglong was actually abducted… er, captured, by a civet-cat spirit from Scarlet Moon Cave.”

Ci-vet-cat spirit.

When Fu Chenxue heard those three words, her right eyelid twitched.

Civet-cat spirits, rabbit spirits, and fox spirits in the cultivation world were not anything good. These spirits liked absorbing cultivators’ spiritual energy in order to stabilize their own cultivation.

“Captured by a civet-cat spirit?” When Hua Fengming heard this explanation, his face immediately darkened, both angry and helpless. “She is at least the peak master of Seeking Autumn Peak, yet she was actually captured by a civet-cat spirit…”

Pei Wuxia smoothed things over. “Junior Sister Linglong previously damaged all her spiritual meridians because she mistakenly ate a pill. Her cultivation dropped greatly, making her no different from a disciple at the early Foundation Establishment stage. Besides, the demon race is gifted by nature, let alone a civet-cat spirit that has cultivated for several hundred years. It’s also normal for Junior Sister Linglong to accidentally fall into a trap…”

After listening for a while, Fu Chenxue more or less understood the plot.

Simply put, Xue Linglong’s cultivation had greatly dropped, and she could not even beat a Foundation Establishment disciple. That was already tragic enough, but now she had also been captured by a civet-cat spirit, making things even worse.

And the Yubing Sect had found her whereabouts today and was planning to rescue her.

Hua Fengming complained, but he still asked, “Where is that civet-cat spirit’s cave residence?”

“The civet-cat spirit’s cave residence is in Dingbai Mountain. It has only been two days, so there is still time to save her,” Pei Wuxia said seriously.

Fu Chenxue had already guessed that the system had called her back because of Xue Linglong. So she stood up. “Sect Master, I’ll go find her.”

Xue Linglong was a very important character later on. She absolutely could not die. Otherwise, without anyone to discover that Fu Chenxue had cultivated the demonic path, it would become much harder to reach the plot where the female lead stabbed her to death with one sword.

Hua Fengming coughed lightly and pretended not to know anything. “You just finished closed-door cultivation. Forget it. Let Lu Tong go.”

Fu Chenxue said sincerely, “I’ll go. I haven’t seen Senior Sister Linglong in a long time.”

Pei Wuxia said, “Dingbai Mountain is quite far from here. I don’t know whether you’ll be able to find it.”

Fu Chenxue said, “It’s fine. When the time comes, the astrological compass will guide me. I will definitely bring her back.”

Seeing Fu Chenxue’s firm attitude, Pei Wuxia and Lu Tong did not say anything more. After the discussion ended, the two of them left, while Fu Chenxue stayed behind and briefly explained Liu Changning’s situation to Hua Fengming.

Hua Fengming said helplessly, “You pretended to be in closed-door cultivation, but actually ran out in secret. Why didn’t you tell your senior brother?”

Fu Chenxue complained inwardly. She wanted to tell him too, but when she transmigrated over, she was already standing at the edge of a cliff, all right?

“Forget it. You’ve always been willful. Back then, when you changed from the music path to the medical path, Senior Brother couldn’t persuade you either.” In private, Hua Fengming still addressed Fu Chenxue as his junior sister. He continued, “What did you say happened to your disciple just now?”

“Changning was taken away by people from the Demon Realm two years ago. I rescued her.”

Hearing this, Hua Fengming frowned tightly. “Then is your disciple all right now?”

Fu Chenxue said, “Her legs are healed, but her eyes were poisoned with Red-Twist Gu. They still haven’t recovered… Right, Senior Brother, I heard that Shaoqing Island has a spiritual herb that can cure Red-Twist Gu. Do you know the sect leader of Shaoqing Island?”

“Shaoqing Island… I do know them, but we’re not very close,” Hua Fengming said. “Don’t worry. Bring Linglong back first. I’ll help you handle the other matters.”

“There’s one more thing,” Fu Chenxue said. “Yu Tianji, the Ghost Altar Master. I want to investigate his whereabouts.”

“Yu Tianji?”

Fu Chenxue said, “Yu Tianji was the main culprit who brought Changning back to the Demon Realm. If he doesn’t die, Changning will probably continue suffering.”

Hua Fengming nodded. “All right. I’ll have people investigate.”

Fu Chenxue thanked Hua Fengming and turned to return to Winter Peak. She had to tell Liu Changning, then head to Dingbai Mountain to save someone.

When she returned, Liu Changning had taken off her long socks and was lying on the bed playing. Fu Chenxue walked over. Liu Changning noticed her and spoke with delight in her voice. “Master, you’re back.”

Fu Chenxue took the Qiankun pouch from her hand and went straight to the point. “Changning, Master needs to go to Dingbai Mountain.”

“Dingbai Mountain? What is Master going there for?” Liu Changning sounded puzzled.

Fu Chenxue said, “Do you remember Elder Xue? Something happened to her. She accidentally got captured by a civet-cat spirit. Master needs to go find her.”

Liu Changning knew Xue Linglong. She scratched her head. “How could Elder Xue be captured by a civet-cat spirit?”

Fu Chenxue said, “It’s a long story. Master also doesn’t know whether Dingbai Mountain is dangerous. If I bring you, something unexpected might happen, so you should stay at Winter Peak and wait for Master to return.”

The moment Liu Changning heard that Fu Chenxue wanted to leave her behind, she immediately clung tightly to Fu Chenxue’s hand and said pitifully, “Master, take me with you.”

Fu Chenxue knew Liu Changning was clingy, but she had not expected her to be this clingy. She could only pat her hand helplessly. “If I don’t go save her soon, Elder Xue might be gone.”

“Then Master should quickly take me and go.” Liu Changning was even more anxious than Fu Chenxue. She immediately jumped off the bed and put on her long socks and shoes. “Hurry, hurry.”

Fu Chenxue had just returned to Winter Peak and already received a mission to go out. She took out the astrological compass and, after some simple operation, found Dingbai Mountain.

Dingbai Mountain was quite far from here. Fu Chenxue hurried as quickly as possible and finally arrived at the foot of the mountain with Liu Changning. Liu Changning was very quiet along the way and did not cause trouble, which made Fu Chenxue breathe a sigh of relief.

As a Golden Core stage cultivator, Fu Chenxue had more than enough ability to deal with a civet-cat spirit. What she needed to do now was quickly find Scarlet Moon Cave and rescue this “future enemy,” Xue Linglong.

As the saying went, a cunning rabbit had three burrows, and a civet-cat spirit was no exception. Its cave residence was extremely hard to find, but Fu Chenxue had a method. She and Liu Changning went up the mountain. While walking along the mountain path, Liu Changning asked, “Master, why did the civet-cat spirit capture Elder Xue?”

“Probably to absorb her spiritual energy,” Fu Chenxue answered.

“Absorb spiritual energy?” Liu Changning suddenly remembered the Demon Realm’s Ghost Altar. She had once personally seen Yu Tianji use a cultivator as a cauldron and absorb his spiritual energy in a pool.

She gripped Fu Chenxue’s hand tightly and asked worriedly, “Master, could Elder Xue already have…”

“It shouldn’t be that fast. In the end, a civet-cat spirit is only part of the demon race. Xue Linglong only fell into the civet-cat spirit’s trap because she mistakenly took a pill and her cultivation dropped greatly.” Fu Chenxue knew that if Xue Linglong had really met with an accident, the system would have warned her long ago. But since she had received no message so far, that meant Xue Linglong was still fine.

At the top of Dingbai Mountain was a green bamboo forest. Water droplets hung from the leaf tips, trembling and falling whenever the breeze blew.

Fu Chenxue felt that this was the place. She planned to make it quick.

She took out a bronze lamp from her sleeve and placed it on the ground. Then she hooked strands of spiritual energy from her fingertip and drew out Cold Soul Incense.

This civet-cat spirit was strange. They loved the scent of Cold Soul Incense very much. Cold Soul Incense was made from Cold Soul Grass. Ordinary cultivators could not smell it, and only civet-cat spirits could detect the scent. They would even be tempted by it and carry it back to their cave residence.

This was all thanks to the original owner being a medical cultivator, and the system having already stuffed a huge pile of spiritual grass and spiritual herb settings into Fu Chenxue’s head. That was why she knew so clearly.

Fu Chenxue pulled Liu Changning behind a tree and quietly waited for the Cold Soul Incense to burn, releasing a scent that only civet-cat spirits could smell.

However, the two waited from dawn until night, and the civet-cat spirit still did not appear.

The moon rose into the sky and scattered gentle moonlight. Liu Changning was a little sleepy and leaned against Fu Chenxue’s shoulder, constantly dozing off.

“Master… has the civet-cat spirit come?” Liu Changning rubbed her ears.

“Not yet.” Fu Chenxue also found this somewhat strange. What was wrong with this civet-cat spirit? Could it be that Cold Soul Incense was no longer that attractive to it? If Fu Chenxue wanted, she could search through all of Dingbai Mountain and dig the civet-cat spirit out, but she was afraid that if she failed to catch it in one go, she would instead miss the opportunity.

Civet-cat spirits were very cunning. They were easiest to capture only when their guard was down, and Cold Soul Incense was the best bait.

“Sleep for a while. Master will wait a little longer.” Fu Chenxue told herself not to rush. The system had not prompted her yet, which meant there was still time.

After another short while, a faint rustling suddenly came from the quiet grass. Fu Chenxue heard it. She quietly summoned Twilight Sky Cold and watched for changes.

The Cold Soul Incense was still burning, while Fu Chenxue stared tightly at the unusual patch of grass. She could smell a faint trace of demonic aura. It should be the civet-cat spirit’s scent.

But even after smelling the Cold Soul Incense, the civet-cat spirit did not dare act rashly. It had endured for an entire day and only now could no longer hold back. It stayed quietly in the grass for a moment, then suddenly stretched out a snow-white paw—

In that split second, Fu Chenxue immediately made her move. The long sound of Twilight Sky Cold rang out, and the civet-cat spirit in the grass was directly blasted several meters away by powerful spiritual energy.

Fu Chenxue jumped out from behind the tree and saw the civet-cat spirit’s appearance clearly at a glance.

The civet-cat spirit was dark green all over, with four clean white paws. Its pupils glowed brightly, and each of its whiskers stood up. It looked a little bigger than an ordinary cat. At this moment, it was enduring the pain, baring its teeth at Fu Chenxue. Fu Chenxue did not waste words. She directly formed a seal with her hand. Under the urging of spiritual energy, Twilight Sky Cold transformed into a thin, long golden thread and bound the civet-cat spirit.

The civet-cat spirit was immediately tied up. It yowled chaotically and quickly tried to break free, but the more it struggled, the tighter the golden thread bound it, nearly sinking into its flesh.

Fu Chenxue said to the civet-cat spirit, “I’m holding the spell. You can’t escape.”

Liu Changning stood behind Fu Chenxue, silent.

Fu Chenxue knew that this kind of spirit had developed spiritual intelligence and could definitely understand her words. She asked, “Where did you take Xue Linglong?”

Bound by Twilight Sky Cold, the civet-cat spirit did not dare move, but it still dared to play dumb. “I don’t know what Immortal Master is talking about…”

Fu Chenxue said coldly, “Stop pretending. A few days ago, you captured a female cultivator and brought her back to your cave residence as a cauldron. That person is from the Yubing Sect. Hand her over, and I’ll spare your life.”

The moment the civet-cat spirit heard this, its green cat eyes instantly widened, as if it had been wronged. “Who said I took her as a cauldron? We were dual cultivating!”

What? Dual… dual cultivating?

Fu Chenxue froze on the spot.

When Liu Changning heard this, she was filled with confusion. In her impression, wasn’t dual cultivation when one person treated another as a cauldron and absorbed their spiritual energy? But from the civet-cat spirit’s mouth, it did not seem to be that way…

She asked somewhat strangely, “Is there a difference between dual cultivation and a cauldron?”

The civet-cat spirit immediately answered, “Dual cultivation is something both parties willingly agree to. I didn’t force her!”

Although demons and cultivators could indeed dual cultivate, this still shocked Fu Chenxue too much… And what dual cultivation or not? Saying this in front of Liu Changning—did this civet-cat spirit have no shame? Fu Chenxue quickly stopped it. “Where is your cave residence? Take us there.”

The civet-cat spirit was still bound by Twilight Sky Cold. Fu Chenxue only loosened its limbs. Its ears drooped as it led Fu Chenxue and Liu Changning toward Scarlet Moon Cave.

The civet-cat spirit turned left and right, finally finding Scarlet Moon Cave. Its round eyes looked toward the dark cave residence. “She’s inside.”

Fu Chenxue was not worried that the civet-cat spirit would trick her, because it was still bound by the golden thread formed by Twilight Sky Cold. She said to Liu Changning, “Changning, stay outside the cave and wait for Master. Master will go in and take a look.”

“I know, Master.” Liu Changning obediently sat at the cave entrance and waited for Fu Chenxue.

Fu Chenxue went inside.

The civet-cat spirit breathed a sigh of relief, then turned to size up this young girl with white silk covering her eyes. It could not help swishing its tail and licking its paw. “Little girl, how old are you? What’s your name? Was that person just now your master?”

Liu Changning did not speak. She simply sat there quietly by herself.

The civet-cat spirit, getting no reaction, could only play by itself.

Moss grew on the stone at the cave entrance, wet and soft. The civet-cat spirit placed its paw on it and played. After a while, Liu Changning beside it suddenly spoke.

“That dual cultivation you mentioned just now… what does it mean?”

The civet-cat spirit froze when it heard this, then swallowed. “What?”

“I asked what dual cultivation is.” Liu Changning repeated it again. “The thing you just mentioned.”