Dark Blue Frost - Chapter 5
Chapter 5: Hua Wuyan
Under the dark moon and howling wind, a strange scene unfolded: a man in white, fanning himself with a sinister smile, and a human skin hanging from a bamboo pole.
The eerie combination was enough to send chills down anyone’s spine.
Although Qing Xuan had previously encountered tree demons, wandering spirits, and ghostly envoys in the Weeping Night forest, the sight before him still made cold sweat break out on his forehead.
The man in white was unmistakably the suspicious tea seller from earlier.
If what his master had said was true, then this man must be a fox demon in human form!
Qing Xuan had no idea how he had ended up in this place.
Everything felt hazy and confusing.
He glanced around, noticing that the dark surroundings seemed to both have a path and yet no path at all.
It was all a blur.
After forcing himself to calm down, he looked again at the human skin fluttering in the wind and suddenly recalled the rumors he had heard in the streets during the day.
Terrified, he pointed at the man in white and declared with certainty, “You’re a fox demon! How dare you harm people here!”
From what his chess-fanatic junior martial uncle had told him, demons and ghosts did not practice orthodox immortal techniques.
To achieve longevity, they often resorted to consuming human flesh and blood or devouring human souls.
This fox demon must be no different!
Hearing Qing Xuan call him a “fox demon,” the man in white immediately lost most of his smile, leaving only a faint, ambiguous smirk.
“What fox demon? I am Hua Wuyan, a noble of the fox clan!”
With a snap, he closed his folding fan and narrowed his eyes, his expression turning slightly sinister.
“You little brat, don’t go around accusing people. When have I ever harmed anyone?”
Seeing him deny everything, Qing Xuan grew furious.
“It was clearly you who disguised yourself as a tea seller and gave me that fox-scented robe with ill intentions! You even tricked me into taking a shortcut through the Weeping Night forest, hoping I’d be eaten by the tree demon. And now you’re still denying it?”
As he spoke, Qing Xuan pointed at the human skin hanging from the bamboo pole, becoming even more convinced that the man in white was up to no good.
“Now you’ve even killed someone, drained their flesh and blood! How can you not fear divine retribution for such heinous crimes?”
“At most, I lured you into the Weeping Night forest to draw your master out to save you,” Hua Wuyan sighed, then flicked open his fan again, smiling playfully.
“Now, your master has subdued the tree demon and saved hundreds of trapped souls. That’s quite a virtuous deed. And aren’t you standing here safe and sound? What great sin have I committed?”
He glanced at the skin devoid of flesh and bones, waving his sleeve dismissively as if to distance himself from the matter.
“As for this person, little brat, which eye of yours saw me kill him and drain his flesh and blood?”
Before he could finish, a bone-chilling voice echoed from the darkness, its tone cold and laced with faint mockery.
“Hua Wuyan, I knew it was you behind all this!”
Hearing the familiar voice, Qing Xuan turned in surprise to see Qian Se walking over, her crimson dress strikingly vivid even in the darkness.
Seeing her long-lost figure, Hua Wuyan’s eyes lit up, and his smile grew even more radiant.
“Miss Qian Se, this humble one, Hua Wuyan, pays his respects.”
He cleared his throat and bowed respectfully, deliberately speaking in a refined manner.
“I have tried several times to enter Dongji to share a quiet moment with you atop Mount Yan. Unfortunately, my powers are limited, and I cannot enter the realm where immortals gather. In my longing, I resorted to some… unconventional methods.”
“Your so-called unconventional methods are just these lowly tricks?”
Qian Se subtly positioned herself between Qing Xuan and Hua Wuyan, her voice cold as she interrupted his flowery speech.
A faint shadow flickered in the depths of her dark eyes.
Her words sent a shiver down Qing Xuan’s spine.
He could feel the anger in his master’s short question, the coldness in her tone like icy pellets hitting the ground with a resounding thud.
Admittedly, the fox demon had taken advantage of the situation, but if Qing Xuan hadn’t sneaked down the mountain in the first place, he wouldn’t have fallen into the fox demon’s trap.
Thinking about it, Qing Xuan grew increasingly ashamed, silently blaming himself.
“Miss Qian Se, you exaggerate. I was merely playing a small joke on your disciple,” Hua Wuyan continued to defend himself with a cheeky smile, emphasizing the word “small.”
Then, he sighed deliberately and shook his head.
“I just didn’t expect you to take it so seriously, going so far as to capture my soul and drag it into your disciple’s dream just to confront me. Do you know how much this has cost me? Ten years of cultivation, gone! My path to immortality has been set back by a small step…”
His voice trailed off as he recalled how Qian Se had captured his soul at the Zhao family dye workshop, leaving his body unconscious and vulnerable.
A few days ago, he had heard about a fierce demon appearing at the Zhao family dye workshop and had calculated that Qian Se and her disciple would come to the Hongchou Town. Posing as a powerful ghost-hunting Taoist priest, he had gone there to freeload and planned to capture the demon to earn some merit.
Who would have thought that tonight, just as he was closing in on the demon’s trail, Qian Se would capture his soul, causing him to miss his chance? Truly, this was an unlucky year.
Now, he had no idea if the Zhao family had taken good care of his body. If the flesh-devouring demon had swallowed it, that would be disastrous!
Thinking of this, Hua Wuyan’s brow twitched, and his once-smiling eyes now carried a hint of resentment.
If the Zhao family’s workers hadn’t guarded his body properly and the demon had indeed swallowed it, he would have to spend a hundred years of cultivation to rebuild his body.
In that case, his path to immortality wouldn’t just be set back by a small step—it would be a giant leap!
If he had known this would happen, he wouldn’t have provoked this little brat!
Hearing Hua Wuyan mention “capturing his soul and entering the dream,” Qing Xuan was suddenly struck with realization.
So, at this very moment, he was dreaming, and his master had captured the fox demon’s soul to bring it into his dream!
He had once heard his zither-fanatic martial uncle say that his master had inherited their master’s most extraordinary techniques, including the ability to enter others’ dreams and even capture souls to bring them into the dream realm.
At the time, Qing Xuan had been skeptical, but now he had witnessed this incredible power firsthand.
He couldn’t help but feel a surge of excitement.
Peeking out from behind Qian Se, he made faces at Hua Wuyan.
“Hua Wuyan, I don’t want to hear any more of your nonsense,” Qian Se said coldly, her eyes narrowing as a chilling light flashed in them.
She impatiently dismissed him.
“You can leave now.”
They say it’s easy to invite a god but hard to send one away.
This saying proved equally true for the thick-skinned and persistent fox demon Hua Wuyan.
“Miss Qian Se, are you feeling guilty for costing me ten years of cultivation and at a loss for words, which is why you’re in such a hurry to send me away?”
He deliberately ignored Qing Xuan’s antics, twisting Qian Se’s words as he elegantly fanned himself.
His pristine white robe fluttered in the wind, giving him an ethereal air.
“Don’t worry too much about it. It’s just ten years of cultivation. As long as you understand that I am sincere in my pursuit of the Dao, that’s enough. Although immortals and demons have always been at odds, I have always longed to shed my demonic form and ascend. I wonder if you would be willing to lend me a hand and cultivate with me…”
Cultivate together?!
Qing Xuan’s ears immediately caught the sensitive phrase, and he inexplicably flew into a rage!
This shameless fox demon had been harboring unrequited feelings for his master all along!
He had used Qing Xuan’s sneaking down the mountain as an opportunity to lure his master out, all for the sake of pestering her to “cultivate together” with him!
For some reason, the mention of “cultivating together” brought to Qing Xuan’s mind an image of himself and his master lying naked in bed.
Especially when he recalled how, just a few hours ago, his master had applied medicine to him, her slender hands gently brushing over his sensitive waist.
At the time, it hadn’t seemed like much, but now, thinking back, it stirred something in him.
As a young man full of vigor, he couldn’t help but swallow hard, only to accidentally choke on his own saliva!
It was all that fox demon’s fault, spouting nonsense without shame, corrupting morals, and spreading deceitful words!
Qing Xuan finally managed to stop coughing, cursing Hua Wuyan in his heart and blaming him for all the inappropriate thoughts and images that had arisen.
Then, to his horror, he realized that his master had been silent for a long time.
Was she actually considering cultivating with that fox demon?
This was bad.
If his master agreed to cultivate with that cunning fox demon Hua Wuyan, wouldn’t that mean— Once the fox demon achieved enlightenment, he would become Qing Xuan’s master’s husband?!
No, no, absolutely not!
Although Qing Xuan hadn’t yet figured out what kind of man, in terms of character, virtue, or appearance, would be worthy of being his master’s husband, one thing was certain: this fox demon in white, pretending to be refined, was absolutely unqualified!
“Master, don’t agree to it,” Qing Xuan secretly tugged at Qian Se’s sleeve, whispering nervously.
“Why not?”
Qian Se, who had been pondering how to permanently rid herself of the clingy Hua Wuyan, was slightly surprised by Qing Xuan’s sudden interjection.
“Uh—” Qingxuan hesitated, unable to come up with a suitable reason to disqualify Hua Wuyan on the spot.
After a moment of silence, an idea finally struck him, and he quickly leaned in to whisper in Qian Se’s ear, “Because he’s a fox demon, and he has a smell that you can’t stand!”
To be honest, Qing Xuan hadn’t noticed any particular smell on the robe he had changed out of earlier, but given how much his master seemed to despise it, he could guess that the fox demon’s scent must be anything but pleasant.
Combining this with other thoughts, he equated the so-called fox demon smell with something like body odor or the stench of a fox, which made him feel nauseous just thinking about it!
Qing Xuan was sure that his voice was very, very soft, audible only to himself and his master.
But as soon as he spoke, Qian Se couldn’t help but cough lightly to suppress a laugh, while Hua Wuyan, standing two meter away, turned livid!
“Little brat, you’re looking for death!”
He snapped his fan shut, finally dropping all pretense of a smile, and lunged forward, ready to resort to violence!
