Gently Kissing Her
Grandmistress Qian actually didn't need a bodyguard at all. Qiu Qiu, too, had only suggested the option as an excuse. After staying guard for one night, she swallowed her pride and decided never to pay any more night visits.
She lived in the outer courtyard. Not many people wandered here, so her days were spent quite comfortably.
She remembered that in her previous life Grandmistress Qian would go on a trip to the cultivation world shortly after this. Naturally, Qiu Qiu would tag along as well. Conflict was unavoidable, so she spent this time looking for a suitable weapon to bring along.
In her previous life she had a "blood sword". This sword was cast out of the best quality black iron, and featured a small red river running through it refined from the blood pools. In its normal state, the sword was black and red. However, after it touched blood, it would emit a bloody red light, making it look like it was crafted entirely out of blood.
This sword was given to her by Grandmistress Qian. It was one of the finest demonic swords ever made. However, in her previous life she had not been able to receive the sword until far in the future.
Qiu Qiu didn't have the time to wait and receive that sword. However, she remembered that in the Back Mountains, there was an extremely good-quality piece of black iron.
That piece of iron had been shaped under the spiritual influence of the mountains. In another few years, it would gain its own consciousness. In the previous life, it was said that the iron had fled from the back of the mountains, never to be seen again.
Qiu Qiu decided to test her luck. She found an auspicious day to go searching in the mountains.
The Back Mountains bordered the Demonic Abyss, where countless numbers of the strongest demonic beasts resided. The Back Mountains could be considered the outer ring of the Demonic Abyss. Here, there were countless low-level demonic beasts.
In this area, there were innumerable rare treasures. However, few people dared to tread within the Demonic Abyss. According to legend, many demonic beasts from ancient times still existed within it.
The Back Mountains could not be considered to be too far away. With a flying sword, she arrived within a day's time.
Within the Demonic Realm, there were many places to buy and sell weapons. Qiu Qiu casually bought a sword, then flew off to continue her journey.
The entrance to the Back Mountains was made of over a hundred enormous boulders, a magnificent sight for the eyes.
It was currently the rainy season. Halfway through her journey, it had began drizzling. The rain had only recently stopped; however, as she landed to the ground, the rain quickly began to pick up again.
The humid air brought with it a fresh and clear feeling. Qiu Qiu looked at the sky, then walked through the entrance into the mountains.
Qiu Qiu didn't know the exact position of the black iron. However, it was said to appear in the territory of the ten elves.
The ten elves were a kind of extremely ugly mutant demonic beast. It was said that they were originally wood elves. However, after they devoured demonic energy, they mutated into grotesque creatures with ten heads. These deviant creatures were immediately driven out by the wood elves, where they henceforth took residence in the Back Mountains of the Demonic Realm, constantly devouring demonic energy ever since. Because of this, their natural spiritual energy disappeared and their entire bodies became filled with countless warts. Though Qiu Qiu had never seen one of these creatures for herself, just hearing the description was enough for her to be disgusted beyond belief.
Qiu Qiu quickly found the ten elves' territory. Here, the demonic energy was extremely rich. The naked eye could even see the wisps of red energy hanging in the air.
Qiu Qiu pursed her lips. The long sword in her hand twitched.
Suddenly, there was a sound in the distance.
That sound was extremely faint, but Qiu Qiu could hear it clearly.
Someone was calling for help.
At first, Qiu Qiu didn't want to get involved. However, that voice gradually grew closer and closer to her.
"Help me… anyone.. help…!"
Within a few seconds, the owner of that voice appeared within Qiu Qiu's line of sight.
It was a pale-faced young woman with an extremely weak and thin body. Though she ran quickly, she looked as if she was about to breathe her last at any moment.
Qiu Qiu suddenly paused, then leaped into the air. Meeting the other's terrified gaze, she pulled the woman up to safety.
As soon as she stopped, the woman gasped desperately for breath on the ground, unable to do anything except for cough and cry. Qiu Qiu pressed her lips together, then pulled out a red pill from her robes and stuffed it into the other's mouth. After this, the woman looked slightly better.
Qiu Qiu looked at the woman with a complicated gaze. This person was Hua Meng, the little wife Qing Ruo was unable to marry.
In her previous life, she had gotten to know Hua Meng extremely well. Although she hated demonic cultivation, Hua Meng was merely a mortal. She had been born with occluded meridians, making it impossible for her to cultivate, and had also been debilitated with many illnesses since childhood. As a result, she had lived to this age with the aid of many medicines.
Despite this, she was extremely lively and cheerful, pure and kindhearted, and taught others to be compassionate.
But in the end, Qiu Qiu had led to the other's death.
Qiu Qiu took a deep breath, then pulled away from her emotional recollections. Gently, she grabbed Hua Meng's arm and pulled her up from the ground.
Qiu Qiu: "What were you doing in a place like this?"
Hua Meng seemed to be undecided about something. Her eyes stared at Qiu Qiu for a long moment, until she finally asked, "Who are you?"
Qiu Qiu: "…"
Hua Meng felt that this question was a little rude. She quickly amended, "My name is Hua Meng. How about you?"
"Qiu Qiu," Qiu Qiu said.
Hearing the other's answer, Hua Meng's eyes crinkled into a smile. Then, thinking of something, she pointed to the spot where she had been before. "We should quickly leave this place. Over there is a demonic beast with ten heads, with an extremely terrifying appearance. But the magic weapon Qing Ruo gave me ran out."
Qiu Qiu did not intend to leave, as her original purpose was to find a ten elf. If the black iron had really appeared in this place, the ten elves should know something about it.
She pulled Hua Meng a little back, preparing to placate the other.
Though Qiu Qiu sighed emotionally at this reunion of old friends, she also smiled at the fact that this silly girl was still so naive. They had just met, but the other seemed to calm down with her encouragement.
Ten elves possessed extremely fast speed. Luckily, Qing Ruo had stuffed Hua Meng with all kinds of magic weapons. Otherwise, who knew what would have happened to this silly girl.
In a short while, the ten elf appeared. When they saw Qiu Qiu's smug, awaiting expression, it stopped about ten meters away, its ten heads roaring.
Qiu Qiu laughed, her gaze centering onto the beast. The long sword in her hand passed through one of the ten elf's heads, pinning it to the ground!
Her speed was extremely fast. The ten elf had barely even seen her throw the sword!
The ten elf roared even louder, emitting a hoarse, blood-curdling screech.
The ten elf's body trembled violently, wanting to pull out the sword Qiu Qiu had thrown. It was a pity that Qiu Qiu had used magic. No matter how hard the ten elf tried to pull the sword out, it did not budge.
Qiu Qiu thumbed her finger over her lips and laughed. As the ten elf's struggles lessened in movement, she walked over to the ten elf, pulling out the sword. However, she wasn't about to let the ten elf go.
As she pulled out the sword, her wrist moved slightly and a horizontal stroke quickly decapitated the head that had been pinned through. Afterwards, the sword landed to the side.
She tilted her chin as the smile on her face grew even deeper. Crinkling her eyes, she bared her teeth: "There's a piece of black iron with spiritual properties on it in your territory. Take me to it, and I'll spare the rest of your nine heads."
The ten elf gave another miserable cry. Qiu Qiu pursed her lips, then raised her hand and slashed her sword downwards. Another one of the ten elf's heads fell to the ground.
Qiu Qiu: "Eight. You're too noisy."
The ten elf immediately shut up, its entire body was covered with blood. It looked at her pitifully.
It was a pity the ten elf's appearance was too ugly. That wart-covered body was enough to make Qiu Qiu tremble in disgust. She nearly cut off another head as a gut reaction.
Qiu Qiu didn't immediately go. She was waiting for Qing Ruo to appear. The other had left a strand of her consciousness on Hua Meng; as Hua Meng used the magical weapons, it would leave a trail that Qing Ruo could follow.
As expected, Qing Ruo appeared not long after this. From the looks of it, she was extremely worried. Seeing Hua Meng, she hurriedly threw the other in her embrace, not relaxing until she realized that everything had turned out alright in the end.
After this, she turned to Qiu Qiu and gave a small nod. Then, carrying Hua Meng, she immediately left.
Qiu Qiu let the ten elf lead the way.
The ten elf knew that the difference in power between it and Qiu Qiu was too vast. Furthermore, the other party was vicious and ruthless. It didn't dare to hide anything, leading Qiu Qiu to the entrance of a small cave.
However, after leading her to the entrance, the ten elf refused to advance any further. Qiu Qiu contemplated for a moment, then decided to let the ten elf go and enter the cave by herself.
Inside, the demonic energy was even more concentrated. The more Qiu Qiu explored the cave, the more interesting she felt it was.
The four walls of the cave were smooth and glossy. As she continued to walk, countless fires suddenly ignited, illuminating the road. Further in, she saw a natural hot spring. In the periphery there were a series of stone steps that lead to a square table inside, which was covered with books and pills.
This place seemed to be a typical cultivation cave.
Qiu Qiu circled the area, then found a hidden door. She pressed her ear to the door, listening for movement; when she found none, she decided to push the door open and enter inside.
The space inside was not big. Inside the room, there was a stone bed. The person on the bed made Qiu Qiu feel astonished yet pleasantly surprised.
Grandmistress Qian.
The other was sitting in the middle of the stone bed, wearing only a thin robe. The collar of the robe was slightly opened, exposing the pale white skin inside.
Qiu Qiu's heart skipped a beat. She stared at Grandmistress Qian with a churning mood that was impossible to place.
She stepped forwards, covering about half the distance between her and Grandmistress Qian. However, the other was extremely cold. With those icy eyes, Grandmistress Qian ruthlessly lashed out her whip.
This lash stroke used at least six layers of force, directly landing on Qiu Qiu's shoulder. In a split second, the skin and flesh there was immediately lacerated. Black and red demonic energy lingered around the area.
However, Qiu Qiu did not stop. She stared directly at Grandmitress Qian. When the lash fell to the ground, she quickly leaped forward in front of Grandmistress Qian.
She had been here before in her previous life.
Grandmistress Qian had brought her here once. As she embraced Qiu Qiu, she had revealed a faint hint of emotion. In this room, she had gently kissed her.
However, Qiu Qiu had only felt humiliation. She had used a forbidden technique to forcibly seal her memories of that event. From then on, Grandmistress Qian had never done anything intimate to her again.
She had only remembered this moment now. She could finally remember that moment when their lips had met.
At this moment, she met Grandmistress Qian's cold eyes. Slightly bowing her body forwards, she placed her lips against Grandmistress Qian's.
She thought, her meeting here with Grandmistress Qian in this lifetime should be the same as the last.
She really wanted to chop the previous her's corpse into a thousand pieces…
a reference from the classical Chinese novel