Mid-Autumn Festival

He was helping her…

Chu Changqing told her the detailed methods.

Chang Wan felt a knot in her heart, inexplicably feeling indebted.

She hadn’t helped him at all; it was he who…

Thinking this, she steadied her mind, “For the sake of safety, I should send you to the spiritual mountain as soon as possible. It’s almost Mid-Autumn Festival—”

“Mid-Autumn Festival?”

Chu Changqing raised his eyes to look at her.

Chang Wan’s voice hitched. She suddenly remembered that the cultivation world in the novel “Against the Gods” did not celebrate mortal festivals. Those who cultivated the Dao were meant to transcend worldly affairs. Some would even kill their own families to embark on the path of immortality, so naturally they would not seek reunion or togetherness.

Therefore, some cultivators weren’t even familiar with human festivals.

It was just that she had grown accustomed to them in the orphanage. Every Mid-Autumn Festival and New Year, she and everyone around her would feel listless, so she remembered those dates very clearly.

“It’s a mortal festival?” Chu Changqing picked up her thread, his voice soft and gentle, “What happens during Mid-Autumn Festival? What do you do?”

Chang Wan looked at him. The youth’s black hair cascaded behind him, casually tied with a black hair ribbon. His loose black undergarments revealed his beautiful collarbones. Peach blossom eyes were filled with flickering candlelight, pleasing to the eye.

Seeing the young girl didn’t answer, Chu Changqing lightly tapped the small table by the bed and looked at her sideways.

“……During Mid-Autumn Festival, you eat mooncakes,” Chang Wan said blankly, forgetting to maintain her cold demeanor, “Watch the moon, be with family.”

Chu Changqing was silent.

He had always disdained mortal festivals because only ephemeral creatures valued the newly risen sun’s dazzling brilliance, finding meaning in every moment.

But now, he looked at the young girl’s eyes.

He felt that these dry, boring days had become a bit more colorful because of her.

His voice could not help but soften, “What are mooncakes?”

He was born in Liangzhou, the northwestmost province of the Nine Provinces.

The north was desolate, frozen for thousands of miles. Later, he wandered restlessly and entered the Demonic Cult.

Although he knew mortals had such festivals, those days held no meaning for him.

Naturally, he wouldn’t elaborately prepare mooncakes for such a day.

“They’re pastries made especially for Mid-Autumn Festival.” When it came to food, Chang Wan perked up, “Inside, there are Five-Kernel Mooncakes made with walnuts, almonds, peanuts, melon seeds, and sesame seeds. There are also various fruit fillings. Ice-skin mooncakes are the best—”

She didn’t seem to realize she was smiling, her beautiful eyes curving, and the dimples on her cheeks seemed filled with sweet wine, “You set up a small table, with newly made mooncakes on it, and the family is together. The moon on Mid-Autumn Festival is also round…”

Before she could finish speaking, a segment of orange was shoved into her mouth. The youth’s voice was casual, seemingly unconcerned: “Indeed, a mortal festival.”

Chu Changqing looked at the young girl, who seemed to have forgotten to keep up her guard. Her fair cheeks were flushed with a beautiful pink color, and her eyes held a faint anticipation. Hearing him say that, she didn’t get angry, and her eyes quietly curved, “Yes, a mortal festival.”

She was just an ordinary mortal, not seeking immortality, only hoping for a smooth life. The cultivation world was strange and cold to her.

She didn’t like it.

“By the time Mid-Autumn Festival arrives, you should be at that spiritual mountain,” Chang Wan said. “Recuperate well there. If…”

Chang Wan didn’t know if she was doing the right thing; she hesitated for a moment, but still said, “If you want to leave after your injuries heal, I won’t stop you.”

“I feel… that you won’t do bad things.”

Chu Changqing seemed to have heard a joke; a cold, thin smile tugged at the corner of his lips.

But it slowly faded.

In all these years.

This ridiculous statement.

He had only ever heard it this one time.

= =

The next day.

Chang Wan went to the back mountain, following the scent to find the youth’s trace. Soon, she found him.

She had inquired about the youth’s name with Qiu Hu. It was Shen Cong. He was said to be a servant of the Shen family, and after his spiritual roots were discovered, he was sent to the Fire Red Sect for training. He didn’t disappoint them, as at a young age, he cultivated to the peak of the Heart Movement stage. The head of the Shen family even said that if he could successfully break through the Heart Movement stage and enter the Spirit Solitude stage, he would be made his foster son, the eldest son.

As a result, before he could be recognized as a foster son, he suffered Qi deviation and became a fool, a foolish son. So, the affairs of the world are truly hard to predict.

When Chang Wan saw him, that foolish son was lying on a branch, with a half-peeled green orange in his hand. The juice had stained his fair hand, making him look somewhat disheveled.

Seeing Chang Wan arrive, he smiled, his eyes curving, and threw the orange at her: “Eat…”

The orange, which had been peeled messily, was not that lethal. But for a fool at the peak of the Heart Movement stage, who didn’t know how to control his power, an orange could easily be turned into a bomb.

Chang Wan’s true essence moved, and she caught the “TNT” with one hand. The immense force was skillfully deflected by her wind spiritual energy, and by the time it reached her, it had become soft and without any force.

Chang Wan had no intention of eating this rotten orange and did not intend to be polite with him. She leaped onto the tree and pressed down on him. He didn’t resist, only looked at her and giggled, “More…”

Chang Wan ignored it. She was about to treat the youth’s brain according to Chu Changqing’s words, but suddenly, the wind whistled behind her head, and she dodged to the side. The object swerved, heading straight for her face. The youth, not knowing, quickly reached out a hand and grasped the attacking object for her.

Immediately, the smell of blood became thick.

Chang Wan took a closer look and saw a green leaf. The leaf was undamaged, but the force with which it was thrown was aimed to kill!

The youth’s hand, gripping the leaf, was still bleeding. However, it seemed he felt no pain. His eyes were curved in a smile, staring at the blood. “Red.”

The vivid red blood stained the leaf, turning the green leaf crimson.

Chang Wan’s heart clenched; without speaking, she wanted to turn around and find out who was ambushing her. But she heard a sneer, “I never thought Elder Chang of the Qingfeng Sect would have such a vicious mind. Unable to find a way openly, you would resort to assassination?”

Then, in the shadows of the deep forest, several figures appeared. Chang Wan took a closer look and realized that it was none other than Shen Lan, who saw her as an enemy, Elder Xia, and a group of purple-robed disciples.

The purple-robed disciples were all under Elder Xia’s command.

Such blatant framing.

Chang Wan calmed herself first and took out bandages and Jinchuangyao from her bracelet. Due to her experience in treating Chu Changqing’s wounds, she handled the injuries in her palm with practiced ease.

She tied a bow on his wound and then said casually, “Well, this is quite the coincidence. I haven’t done anything yet, but you’re already staging an assassination. If I truly did something, wouldn’t I be like a minister who committed a heinous crime, to be punished by having my nine generations exterminated by that arrogant emperor?”

She was now on the tree, and Elder Xia and the others were looking up at her.

They were looking at her in such a way; she may as well be a tyrant.

Shen Lan wasn’t angered, but sneered, “It’s just strange that Elder Chang is here, not assassinating, but playing at some secret affair?”

“…” Chang Wan looked at her, thinking that Shen Lan might have some problem with her brain.

In “Against the Gods,” strength was always respected, and therefore, those with more power had more say. Let alone her, a Spirit Solitude master, and if she had an “affair” with a Heart Movement stage cultivator, or even if she kept a hundred small gigolos below the Spirit Solitude stage, no one would dare to criticize her for her conduct.

She just thought that the young lady of the Shen family must have stayed in the mortal world for too long, and her brain had spoiled.

Chang Wan was too lazy to bother with her jeers and merely smiled. She pressed on the youth’s vital points, according to Chu Changqing’s instructions, to guide his chaotic true energy and break through the disrupted meridians!

—”As long as that meridian is broken through, his intellect will naturally clear.”

Immediately, a change came! The sky was overcast, and there was the flash of lightning and the rumble of thunder!!

Elder Xia and Shen Lan’s faces both changed sharply. Shen Lan screamed, “What did you do??!!”

Chang Wan was also very surprised, as the youth continued to look at her. His hand with the bandages gently caressed her cheek; his eyes, filled with lightning, suddenly became soft.

Elder Xia immediately restrained Shen Lan.

His face was grim.

Chang Wan’s eyes widened. The scene was unfolding… this must be a breakthrough?