Unparalleled Evildoer

Chapter 18: Unintentional and Helpless

When Wuzhan heard this, he opened his eyes involuntarily and looked at the girl who was holding his wrist. He never thought that the fox he rescued eight years ago had turned into a human. He said hoarsely: "You are..."

Wanjiao retracted her soft hand and said in surprise, "You're awake!"

Wuzhan's voice finally recovered a little, and he said in surprise: "How is it possible, how could you become..."

Wanjiao chuckled and said with a pretty face, "How is it impossible? As long as one has spirituality, one can practice and transform into a human form. At that time, Wanjiao was in the period of 'transformation and transformation'. When her body was weak, she was found and bitten by the centipede. If it weren't for the young master risking his life to save her, she would have been sucked and refined by the centipede. Wanjiao will always remember your life-saving grace and will repay you in this life!" Seeing Wuzhan gently shaking his head, he continued, "The young master gave Wanjiao a name that will never be changed, but I don't know your surname. All I can remember is the smell of your body."

Wuzhan said, "Daoist name, Wuzhan." He thought to himself, "It turns out that she smelled the scent on me and discovered me, not the smell of chicken shit."

Wan Jiao smiled and said, "Young Master, you have no cultivation skills, so how can you become a Taoist priest? Isn't that just a fake Taoist priest wearing a Taoist robe? It's better to look better in Wan Jiao's clothes!"

Wuzhan only noticed his clothes at this moment. It turned out that Wanjiao had put on a woman's white dress for him. His cheeks blushed with shame and he said, "This is..."

"Your Taoist robe has rotted, so I have no choice but to ask you to wear Wanjiao's clothes."

Wuzhan thought to himself, "My clothes are already in tatters to begin with, and after being soaked in mud, they're bound to get rotten. There really is no difference whether I wear them or not." But the thought of exposing his body to a woman was really embarrassing, and seeing Wanjiao having no reservations about it, he guessed that maybe she didn't know much about love between men and women. The more he thought about it, the more ashamed he felt.

Seeing Wuzhan was ashamed and silent, Wanjiao smiled and said, "Sir, you will definitely not be recognized as a man when you wear this clothes." When Wuzhan heard this, his face turned even redder.

Wan Jiao asked with a smile, "Young Master, why are you wrapped in mud?"

Wuzhan sighed and said, "It's hard to explain. My master was killed by a Taoist priest in green robes. Now he is chasing me. I have no way to go. I can only hide here and dare not expose myself. After a long time, my body can't move. If it weren't for...you...you, I would have died here. I am extremely grateful for your life-saving grace!"

"Sir, you don't have to be grateful. Besides, don't call me Miss, how could you have forgotten the name you gave Wan Jiao? That Taoist priest in green robe is so abominable. Where is he? I'm going to kill him right now!"

Wuzhan shook his head and said, "You can't kill him. My master was killed by him. You will die in vain if you go."

"Is your master very powerful?"

"Yes, that centipede was killed by my master. He rescued me and brought me to this Cangyan Mountain."

"So that's how it is. When I left, I hid myself. After my injuries healed, I returned to the banyan tree to look for the young master, but I only saw the corpse of the centipede, but not the young master. I guessed that the young master had sacrificed his life to poison the centipede. I was sad for a long time before leaving. I remember the young master once asked Wanjiao to come back and bury him. I couldn't see the young master, so I had to go to the banyan tree to worship him at this time every year. I was going there today and happened to pass by here. I saw a clear pond at the foot of the mountain and wanted to bathe and calm myself to show respect. I never thought that I would find the young master here. It seems that God really showed up." After she finished speaking, she smiled again.

Wuzhan recalled the scene eight years ago and said softly, "If it weren't for the girl's rescue, I would have frozen to death under the tree. Now I have to be rescued again. To be honest, I should thank the girl for saving my life."

Wan Jiao said, "Back then, Wan Jiao was poisoned and had a cold body. If it weren't for the young master's body temperature, Wan Jiao would have died of the poison. Today, it's just a small effort, how can it be compared with the young master risking his life to save Wan Jiao? You saved Wan Jiao's life, and I will definitely repay you in this life." She said lightly, "Also, young master, don't call me girl anymore, call me Wan Jiao!"

Wuzhan's body gradually felt relaxed and he felt his strength had recovered a lot. He knew it must be related to the pill Wanjiao gave him. He tried to stand up, but Wanjiao hurried to help him and asked, "Master, what are you doing?"

Wuzhan said with difficulty: "I guess that Taoist priest will never come back. I have to get up and bury my master. His body has been there for eight days." He still felt pain all over his body, and leaned against the tree trunk, gasping for breath.

Wanjiao supported Wuzhe's arm and said, "Where is it? Leave it to Wanjiao. Sir, you can rest here."

"I'll just take a break. I must do this myself. No one else can replace me."

Wanjiao said, "Okay, then Wanjiao will help the young master go."

"Then it's hard work!"

Wanjiao supported Wuzhan and walked to the bottom of the cliff. The cliff was too steep and Wanjiao could not help. In the past, Wuzhan would have climbed up quickly, but his body was sore and weak, and it took him a long time to climb each section. The sun was about to set when they arrived at the cave entrance. On the edge of the cliff, Zitan's hollow and smelly corpse was covered with maggots and flies. Although they had expected this, it was still heartbreaking to see.

After seeing this, Wanjiao ran away and vomited. The body had already rotted. Wuzhan chose to cremate his master. This was when he was at Yanmen Pass. He heard that the Xiongnu would cremate the bodies, so that the soul could ascend to heaven. Wuzhan didn't know whether there was a soul or not. He only knew that the dead could not be resurrected. Wuzhan wore the white clothes bought by his master and knelt on the ground. The blazing fire reflected his indifferent eyes. He watched the master's body turn into ashes, and the stench of the corpse dissipated, leaving only bones.

Wuzhan picked up the bones, wrapped them in his master's bag, and buried them on the cliff. It was already late at night.

The two of them rested in the cave. Wanjiao found several inner elixirs left by Zitan. She was overjoyed and spent almost the entire night refining them in the cave. Wuzhan did not disturb her. He leaned against the stone wall alone, staring blankly. The night passed like this.

The golden light of the morning sun shone into the cave entrance. After Wuzhan swallowed Wanjiao's pills, he did not feel hungry all night and his strength was restored a lot. He collected his thoughts and saw Wanjiao lying on his straw mat, sleeping lazily. Not wanting to disturb her, he got up and packed his bag. In fact, it was not a bag, but a sword. It was his master's sword. He took the long sword and walked out of the cave gently. He was going to Huashan, hand over the chess piece to the head of Huashan, fulfill his master's wish, and then come back here to live out his life. As for the "Soul-Resting Stone", he did not want to carry it with him now. First, he was afraid of meeting the Taoist priest in green robe on the way, and second, his master only asked Wuzhan to keep it and did not ask him to do anything.

……

This was the first time Wuzhan had gone down the mountain in the past eight years. After climbing down the mountain, he walked through the sandalwood forest and headed southwest, because that direction was roughly the direction to Mount Huashan. Although he had never been there, he had read many books when he was young and had some knowledge of geography. When it was almost noon, he discovered the banyan tree. Indeed, as Wanjiao had said, there was a bronze incense burner under the tree. He remembered the scene of the past, and also thought of the fox who had cultivated into an adult and was sleeping in the cave. He didn't know whether he had woken up or not, and whether he blamed him for leaving without saying goodbye.

Just as I was thinking this, I heard the girl behind me scolding, "Why didn't you wake me up and sneak away by yourself!"

Wuzhan turned around and saw Wanjiao had caught up with him without him noticing. She was looking at Wuzhan with a pouty face and said angrily, "I have something important to do and I left in a hurry. I am sorry to bother you, young lady. Please forgive me."

"Girl, call me girl. Whoever gave me this name under this tree, I will punish you by calling my name a hundred times so that you will remember it forever."

Wuzhan was also lonely at the time, and it was inappropriate to call a white fox a white fox, so he casually called her Wanjiao. When a fox turned into a girl, Wuzhan felt that this name was even more inappropriate. "I was just talking casually at the time, girl, you don't have to do this."

"No, a real man cannot break his promise. If you don't scream, I will tie you to this tree. I mean what I say."

Wuzhan pleaded, "I do have something important to attend to..." Before he could finish his words, a white ribbon had entangled him.

Wan Jiao said coquettishly: "I don't care, nothing is more important than this right now, I won't let you go unless you tell me!"

Wuzhan didn't know why he felt helpless in front of Wanjiao. He had no choice but to open his mouth and said awkwardly, "Wanjiao."

Wanjiao raised her pretty face and said with a sweet smile: "That's right. If you call me girl again, I will tie you up and hang you for a whole day!" She loosened the ribbon, came closer, opened her watery eyes, and asked: "Hey, where are you going? You should go kill that Taoist priest with your sword, Wanjiao will go with you!"

Wuzhan said calmly: "I'm not going to kill anyone. I can't possibly kill him. I'm going to Huashan to fulfill my master's request."

"Go to Huashan... I'm familiar with Huashan. Wanjiao will lead the way for you, but I can only take you to the foot of the mountain. You need to go up the mountain by yourself. I don't want to see Xuanqing and his disciples."

"Thank you, Auntie... Wanjiao, it's so kind of me. I can do it on my own." Wuzhan thought that since she was a demon, she must be afraid of seeing the Taoist priest. Besides, it would be inconvenient for a man and a woman to be together on the road.

"No, you are so weak and penniless, how can you go so far? You might die of exhaustion or starvation before you even arrive. I am worried about you going, and I can smell your scent, so I can find you wherever you go, don't think about getting rid of me!"

Wuzhan had never walked alone before and lacked experience. It was indeed as Wanjiao said. It was difficult for him to walk alone. He was penniless and could not beg all the way to Huashan. He asked, "Aren't you afraid of seeing Taoist priests on the difficult road?"

"Wan Jiao has now 'transformed into bones'. I am not afraid of a few Taoists who can recognize me. The reason why I don't accompany you up the mountain is because... because I often steal their elixirs. The 'tendon-strengthening pills' that you gave the young master were just stolen from there, so they are all looking for me."

After Wuzhan heard this, a smile appeared on his face. Wanjiao immediately pretended to be angry and said, "Don't laugh. You won't look good when you laugh. I've told you everything. You should be relieved now."

Wuzhan said: "Then I am even more worried. If you go with me, wouldn't that be like a sheep walking into a tiger's mouth?"

Wanjiao said happily, "Since you said that, I will definitely accompany you. Isn't this called 'sacrificing one's life to accompany a gentleman'? Anyway, I need to give you a life, and I won't go up the mountain. Let's go quickly. We will get out of this forest soon. After passing a deserted village, we will see an official road. There will be a post station along the official road. I will steal two fast horses and we can reach Huashan within seven days."

Wuzhan had never stolen anything before, and felt a little guilty when he thought about Wanjiao trying to steal someone else's horse. However, this guilt was immediately dispelled by Wanjiao's "natural" look. Thinking that he had to rely on Wanjiao to go to Huashan, he felt grateful but helpless.

(End of this chapter)