Chapter 13
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Chapter 13: An Lan Can Always Find Bai Lian!
The darkness of the night deepened.
The clouds looming over An Lan’s head were as troubling as the darkness of the night.
If Bai Lian really had to leave, more than a day has passed already, is she still in the Land of Immortals now?
If Bai Lian is no longer there, aren’t all their current efforts in vain?
An Lan involuntarily began to ponder this question.
The more she thought of her, the more she felt despair.
Fortunately, this situation didn’t last long. Around the time of the ninth hour, An Lan received a message from Yu Ying.
[Elder Martial Sister left a letter for Elder Martial Sister Qing Luan before leaving Mount Sanwei.]
An Lan stood frozen in place.
After several breaths had passed, she suddenly sprang to life, using all her strength to tear through the space in front of her, struggling and wriggling like a pitiful wet chick until she finally broke through.
A letter!
That letter surely explained Bai Lian’s whereabouts!
Otherwise, if it was just a short departure, Bai Lian would never have deliberately left a letter for Qing Luan.
In the courtyard at the top of Qiongming Peak.
The crowd that came back from all directions was surrounding each other.
Just then, a huge black crack suddenly ripped open in the sky to the west, and in an instant, the crooked-necked tree leaning against the edge of the crack was shattered.
A fearful aura flowed out of the crack, causing Xiao Jinse and the others’ faces to change drastically.
"Enemy attack!"
She exclaimed in surprise, and a crimson flame spurted out from within her like a tide, followed immediately by a large and ferocious-looking sword that appeared out of nowhere in her hand.
Su Youwei, Hong Yi, Yu Ying, and the others standing by her side also quickly took action, all looking as if they were about to give it their all.
But the next moment, they all froze in place.
Emerging from the crack was none other than An Lan!
"Master, what are you doing?"
Xiao Jinse held the sword, at a loss.
An Lan at this moment appeared very dishevelled, like just crawled out of the water, and several strands of hair stuck to her forehead, and you could still see the beads of sweat on the tip of her nose.
Seeing An Lan approaching, Xiao Jinse hastily put the sword away.
"I’m fine." An Lan walked as if she was swaying, but she didn’t fall on her way, "What about the letter? The one Bai Lian left, show me quickly?"
She reached out her hand, staring at Xiao Jinse with an anxious look.
"Master, please don’t worry."
Xiao Jinse quickly took out the Jade Message Slip.
Her hand was only halfway out when An Lan snatched the Jade Slip from her.
Xiao Jinse wasn’t angry, in fact when she met with Yu Ying earlier, her behavior wasn’t any better than her master’s.
Although An Lan didn’t say it, her care for Elder Martial Sister Bai Lian was evident, and she was certainly not worse than them!
An Lan quickly flipped through the letter in the Jade Message Slip, like a drowning person catching a life-saving straw.
This letter was not long.
Bai Lian apologized to Qing Luan and explained that she had important matters to attend to and couldn’t say goodbye in person.
She then asked Qing Luan to convey her message to others, informing them that she would be embarking on a long journey with an uncertain return date.
The "others" mentioned include fellow members of the Duxian sect, as well as Si Yunshang and the eldest princess.
An Lan held the Jade Slip tightly in her palm, making a crisp cracking sound.
If it were just a simple journey, Bai Lian would only say a brief goodbye to those around her.
However, by listing out the names of every person, anyone with a discerning eye can see that this letter carries a sense of farewell.
"Master."
Xiao Jinse called softly.
The master’s expression changed constantly, and she seemed extremely angry.
As expected, immediately after she shouted, An Lan fiercely threw the crushed Jade Slip onto the ground.
"Traitor!"
A sharp scream pierced the night sky, and a large pit was directly smashed into the ground of the small courtyard.
Xiao Jinse and others were all startled by An Lan’s actions.
This, this isn’t quite good, is it?
It seems we should advise the Master, otherwise, if Elder Martial Sister Bai Lian is found, given the Master’s present angry appearance, the two of them might end up fighting each other.
The few exchanged glances and quickly reached a consensus.
Yu Ying will handle it!
After all, Yu Ying was born with a pitiful appearance, and her speech was as gentle as a spring breeze and soft as a drizzle.
Even if she angered her master, her master would not bear to punish her.
After pondering on the words she was about to say next, Yu Ying walked out of the crowd.
"Master…"
In fact, she didn’t even finish saying the word "master", just as she had lifted her tongue and pressed it against her palate, An Lan burst out laughing.
"Extremely ridiculous!"
Yu Ying’s body trembled.
It’s done, the master’s anger has reached a new level, this is the rhythm of madness!
But An Lan’s next move surprised everyone.
She instantly removed all unnecessary expressions from her face, then filled the big pit on the ground and restored the broken neck tree to its original state.
"I will take this as your provocation towards me, and I will definitely capture you before you meet Red Dust, otherwise I will commit suicide directly!"
"Huh?"
Yu Ying and the others looked at each other in confusion.
With a wave of her hand, An Lan said,"You don’t need to comfort me, I’m doing fine."
Xiao Jinse did see the burning flames in An Lan’s eyes.
Whether it was an illusion or not, she also felt that her master was taller and even her chest became firmer than before.
An Lan didn’t know what others were thinking, all she knew was that now she felt high-spirited.
All the emotions such as fear, despair, worry, and nervousness were all swept out of her mind.
Begone!
How could the Immortal Heavenly Lord, in all her grandeur, be bound by such emotions?
Ganlu asked a good question: ‘Are you truly the Immortal Heavenly Lord, or is it Bai Lian who holds that title?’
Of course it’s her!
She was able to get to this point, thanks not only to Bai Lian’s guidance, but also her own efforts.
Before arriving at the Land of Immortals, she had never touched Bai Lian. Her comprehension of the eight tenets of the Great Tao was entirely self-realized.
Without the ambition to soar high, how could one catch up with or even surpass Bai Lian?
An Lan now only wants to charge ahead fiercely, even if it means shedding blood and breaking bones!
So she set out again, this time heading to Mount Sanwei.
"We must follow as well, we cannot let the master do something foolish."
Xiao Jinse and the others immediately followed.
The jade rabbit and Ling Xuan also wanted to go, but due to their weaker abilities, they were ultimately left behind.
The distance from the Duxian Sect to Mount Sanwei was extremely far, but for An Lan, it was nothing at all.
Isn’t it just a matter of tearing the space apart?
An Lan was swift, and in just a few breaths, she arrived at Mount Sanwei.
What a coincidence.
As soon as she arrived, she saw a demonic beast clamoring to retaliate against Mount Sanwei and eradicate all the monsters and traitors in it.
"Oh?" The demonic beast who was shouting turned his head and looked at An Lan. After looking up and down a few times, he suddenly opened his big mouth and said, "You actually brought a few women to help you out. Interesting. Today, I will kill all of these women outside of the formation, so that you can know the fate of disobeying the commands of the Crimson Feather Demon Saint!"
The demonic beast’s eyes flashed, not concealing his desire for killing and greed.
Only saw An Lan raise her hand to block several disciples who were following her.
"No need, to save time, I’ll do it."
"Hmm."
Xiao Jinse and the others immediately stepped back a few steps.
An Lan frowned.
Retreat? Retreat from what!
However, she remained silent and only cast a faint glance at the demonic beast.
"Noisy."
As soon as the words fell, there were two crisp sounds that suddenly came from the void.
The crowd had no idea what had just happened.
It wasn’t until the hideous demonic beast took a step forward that the mutation appeared before everyone’s eyes.
Two dark red light circles appeared at the root of the demonic beast’s arm, and the next moment, blood spurted out. The two hands of the demonic beast, which were as hard as premium Spirit Tools, fell straight into the boundless sea below.
The demonic beast stared blankly at its injured body.
"Howl–"
A roar was squeezed out of its throat, stirring up endless dark clouds and causing thunder to rumble through the sky.
Its ferocious posture seemed as if it could devour everything near Mount Sanwei.
An Lan remained calm and made no unnecessary movements, asking, "Do you want to become a moving corpse?"
As if someone had pressed the pause button, the previously fierce and aggressive demonic beast suddenly ceased all of its movements.
Its head held high, the creature had to make an effort to lower its gaze to observe An Lan’s expression.
However, An Lan remained expressionless.
"Go inform that Crimson Feather Demon Saint, I am An Lan. If they are not content, they can come find me at any time."
The demonic beast nodded readily in response to An Lan’s eye gesture, and without a second thought, took off running at lightning speed.
Silent and reserved, An Lan flew towards Mount Sanwei.
At any other time, she would have undoubtedly taken no hesitation in slaying the demonic beast along with the Crimson Feathered Demon Saint.
But now she had no time to spare, as her "duel" with Bai Lian had just begun. She could only make the opponent hesitate and not act rashly, until after she and Bai Lian had decided the winner. Then, it would not be too late to deal with these demonic beasts.
An Lan went straight to Qing Luan and asked if Bai Lian had said anything worth noting during their time together.
She didn’t get any useful information from Qing Luan, but she learned from Qing Luan’s servant Niyaka that Bai Lian wanted to "go home".
"Bai Lian didn’t return to the Qiongming Peak, so her ‘home’ must be…"
The Void Domain!
An Lan acted immediately, "You investigate the area nearby and see if you can find Bai Lian’s trace, and I will go to the Void Domain to take a look."
After giving the command, she quickly set off.
The result was disappointing: An Lan didn’t find Bai Lian in the Void Domain, and the Void Domain was even very resistant to her entering.
"Isn’t it just taking Bai Lian for a walk outside? Is it necessary to be so petty?"
After swearing fiercely for a few moments, An Lan’s restless heart became a little calmer.
Bai Lian was nowhere to be found at Qiongming Peak or in the Void Domain. So where exactly was the home she mentioned?
An Lan flew towards the East Divine Land while contemplating.
At this very moment, she gradually received news that someone had seen a person resembling Bai Lian.
Someone spotted "Bai Lian" in North Luzhou.
A sighting of "Bai Lian" took place on the East Sea Coast.
Someone saw "Bai Lian" in Gray Wind Town.
Additionally, there was a reported sighting of "Bai Lian" at a Taoist temple.
"Bai Lian" appeared in all sorts of strange places, and even on the painted boat, someone saw a person who looked seven or eight points similar to Bai Lian playing and singing.
It was only after a thorough investigation that they discovered the woman was actually a devoted fan of Bai Lian, intentionally disguising herself to look like her.
"How can this be discerned?"
As she watched all the incoming information flurry like snowflakes, An Lan painfully grasped at her hair, while Xiao Jinse and the others remained silent.
Some of the news they held in their hands could no longer be verified for authenticity, while others could, but the results always seemed to resemble that of a certain songstress; who was not Bai Lian at all, but rather one of her fanatical followers.
There was no solution.
Bai Lian’s reputation had already been large, but with the added publicity from the Bai Sect, it overshadowed even the sovereigns of many other sects.
Her followers were everywhere, from the Eastern Sea to the Western Sea, from the Northern Wastelands to the Southern Mountains.
Among these followers, women were particularly numerous. They loved nothing more than to imitate Bai Lian’s makeup and fashion. Whenever Bai Lian appeared in a new outfit, it would only be a matter of time before identical garments appeared in all the major clothing stores.
"…"
An Lan held the Jade Message Slip tightly.
The longer she waited, the less likely she was to see Bai Lian again.
If Bai Lian had truly left the Land of Immortals, there would be no turning back once she saw Red Dust.
She must come up with a solution; aimlessly searching is pointless.
"Home."
Where is exactly the home that Bai Lian talked about?
Is it beside Red Dust?
Impossible.
Red Dust may be Bai Lian’s family, but being beside Red Dust cannot be Bai Lian’s home!
An Lan repeatedly browsed through the messages sent by others, and after thinking until her head was hot, her gaze suddenly fell on the two place names, Castle Peak City and Gray Wind Town.
"Castle Peak City is Jingse’s hometown, right?" She asked.
"Ah, yes."
Xiao Jinse hurriedly nodded.
An Lan asked again, "Gray Wind Town is the hometown of Youwei and Hong Yi, isn’t it?"
"Hmm."
"Go and have a look at these two places!"
An Lan made a decision immediately.
For some reason, after uttering these words, her heart suddenly hung in the air, as if there was something unpredictable waiting for her ahead.
For a moment, she even had the thought of "maybe I shouldn’t go after all".
But she eventually overcame all the doubts.
Let’s go.
Go now!
In the midst of a night shower, An Lan bravely entered the Castle Peak City alone.
Suddenly, ripples spread across the dark night in the entire city.
Stepping on the wet bluestones, An Lan’s body couldn’t help but tremble involuntarily.
She could feel it, without a doubt, that it was definitely Bai Lian’s breath!
After a brief moment, An Lan stopped at the street corner.
She spotted a little girl crouching under the eaves, feeding what seemed to be a plump little dog, and Bai Lian’s scent emanated from the little girl and the top of the dog’s head.
An Lan knew that Bai Lian liked to pretend to be a grown-up and touch other people’s heads!
She took a deep breath, took one step, two steps, and finally reached the little girl after thirteen steps.
"Sister?"
Before An Lan could say a word, the little girl suddenly turned around.
Upon seeing An Lan’s figure, the little girl’s disappointed expression appeared.
"So you’re not my big sister."
An Lan’s heart beats harder, "Little girl, is that big sister you mentioned somewhat similar to me in appearance?"
The little girl hesitated for a moment and nodded.
She could sense no malice from An Lan, only warmth similar to Bai Lian.
Finally found it!
A great joy surged up in her heart.
An Lan’s breath had already stopped, her mind was blank, and she almost fell down.
She made a great effort to pull herself together and asked, "Did the big sister tell you where she was going?"
The little girl shook her head and replied, "She only told me to go home quickly and not to stay outside anymore."
Hearing this, An Lan didn’t feel disappointed.
She took a step forward and hugged the little girl, saying, "Thank you, thank you."
That was enough.
She released the little girl and stuffed a talisman into her hand.
"Nowadays, it’s not peaceful, please go back home quickly if you have nothing else to do, don’t let your family worry."
The little girl nodded, "You and the older sister look very alike."
An Lan’s face displayed a gentle smile, "I will come back to thank you when I have time."
"Goodbye, sister."
"Goodbye."
An Lan immediately set off and happened to meet Xiao Jinse and the others who were chasing after her on the way.
"I will explain to you all when I have the time."
In fact, there’s no need for her to explain.
After contacting the child who had contacted Bai Lian, Xiao Jinse and the others also completely understood.
The place where Elder Martial Sister Bai Lian went was their hometown.
The next place is –
"Canglong Garden!"
The group rushed quickly toward Canglong Garden.
Unfortunately, Canglong Garden was already a wasteland, and they neither met Bai Lian there nor found anyone to ask questions.
"The place where Fifth Martial Sister met Elder Martial Sister is Gucheng City," said Xiao Jinse.
Su Youwei added, "Could Yao Xia Bay also be considered as the place where Elder Martial Sister met the Fifth Martial Sister?"
"If you all go take a look, you’ll know."
An Lan immediately agreed.
They rushed excitedly towards Gucheng City and Yao Xia Bay without stopping.
Disappointingly, they still couldn’t find Bai Lian, and there were no eyewitnesses of her in the area either.
Xiao Jinse frowned, "We’ve searched all these places, where else could Elder Martial Sister Bai Lian be?"
Yu Ying suggested, "The jade rabbit’s hometown?"
Su Youwei shook her head, "Impossible. If Elder Martial Sister had gone to the Flying Fog, Senior Qiong Zhi would have informed us."
"Well…"
"There’s one more place!"
Suddenly, An Lan spoke, her expression becoming grave like never before.
"Master~"
Xiao Jinse’s mouth hung open slightly.
An Lan slowly closed her eyes.
The conversation with Bai Lian flashed through her mind once again.
"Wherever you go, whatever happens to you, I will definitely find you!"
Since the day she uttered those words, there has been an invisible thread connecting them.
In the thousands of cycles that have passed, even if she forgot what had happened in the previous cycle, she unfailingly found Bai Lian, who had also lost her memory.
This was their understanding.
It was an understanding that not even the way of the Great Tao could erase.
[If you are still you and I am still me, then I believe that I will certainly see you there!]
"Go to Tianfang Town!"
"Where is Tianfang Town?"
Xiao Jinse and others were puzzled.
Tianfang Town, the place where the dream began, is also the place where new dreams are woven!
That small town, that street, that fruit stall – no matter how many times they are reincarnated, An Lan can always find Bai Lian there.
This time…
An Lan no longer hesitated and ran towards Tianfang Town with all her expectations.
She crossed mountains and rivers, crossed wilderness, crossed the darkness, and crossed the distance between hearts.
Finally, she arrived at the now uninhabited Tianfang Town after midnight.
Outside the town, a blue wind was howling.
That wind was not an ordinary wind, but called a "Guafeng" wind.
In the wind, there wasn’t nobody; there stood a woman in white clothes, elegant and beautiful.
However, the Guafeng Disaster had already begun at this time.
As soon as the Guafeng Disaster was over, it would led the woman to the Immortal World.
"Rebel, cease what you’re doing!"
An Lan shouted at Bai Lian.
