Case 22: “Not Necessarily Bad.”

Duan Gen stared at Liu Meifeng from where he stood, his long white-beard twitched and he closed his eyes calmly, "Rather than intervene with someone else's affairs, why don't you focus more on yourself? Are their personal problems more important than your own life?"

Liu Meifeng smiled and said, "I just want to ask a few things about my training the other day."

Duan Gen was a bit surprised, he thought Liu Meifeng wanted to inquire more about the matter between the Oak demon and princess Gu Zhuxuan. It turns out she just wants to ask about her training. Duan Gen pretended to cough and sat on the opposite, Liu Meifeng poured him the Chrysanthemum tea on his cup with a smile on her face, completely magnanimous.

"What do you want to ask exactly?" Duan Gen held the cup in his hand and drank the tea calmly, his eyebrows which were originally wrinkled now eased slightly.

Still smiling Liu Meifeng also poured herself a cup of tea and said casually, "I'm still having trouble dealing with the wraith in the mountain, their presence hindered my practice to learn the Spiritual sight." Liu Meifeng deliberately sighed distressfully and leaned on the table while supporting her chin, then she continued, "Not only did this wraith keep loitering around me, it also let out a faint shrill which is quite an ordeal for me to remain focused. I'm afraid the more I ignore it I'd be in great peril, especially when I'm meditating at the mountain peak."

Hearing this, Duan Gen laughed and sneered, "You're able to laugh and mingle with the ancient demon in the forest, why can't you do the same with those wraths." Duan Gen drank the tea in one gulp and poured another tea by himself.

Liu Meifeng snorted and said jokingly, "Ah, the demon looks beautiful and all her features are in the right place; even her real body is more pleasant to look at. Not like those wraths with the face like a dreadful witchery crone at the peak."

Duan Gen was amused by Liu Meifeng's farce, he chuckled and flicked her forehead, then explained casually, "Hey, even if those wraiths were ugly now. They used to be a mortal too, it's just they chose to go astray and ended up in such situations." Duan Gen held the cup and continued, "Besides, those wraths could only disturb your mind and try to change your mentality to persuade you to stop cultivating. In any case, you don't have to worry about your physical body, the wrath may look like that, but they can't do anything deplorable to your body. Although not all wraths are despicable beings, some are kind enough to help you with your training. It just happens that the wraths on this mountain is not a good one, and that is part of your trial to go through this obstacle."

"Then, doesn't that also apply to demons?"

Once Liu Meifeng uttered those words, Duan Gen stopped the movement of his hand and the cup nearly touched his mouth. He furrowed his eyebrows again and said sternly, "No, demons are different. All of their races are horrendous and despicable. Don't be fooled by their charming appearance, it is exactly because of their otherworldly beauty that often bewitch mortals to become their prey. You must never trust a demon much less fraternizing with them."

Liu Meifeng also frowned but still maintained her posture and asked back, "What makes you hate them so? As far as I've seen, the Oak demon never hurt or maliciously tried to cause harm to the princess. In fact, it was you who was empirically throw some disdainful words and randomly accused her."

Before Liu Meifeng could finish her words, Duan Gen slammed the table, his face was red and teeming with unspeakable rage, even so, there's no trace of murderous intent in those wrinkled eyes. Seeing this, Liu Meifeng was secretly relieved, she did admit she had said too much and should have used a subtle way to indirectly inquire about the past of those two beauties.

Before Liu Meifeng could say anything, Duan Gen had already stood abruptly and intended to leave the cottage. Fortunately, while having a pleasant conversation earlier, Liu Meifeng was stealthily casting a barrier talisman in this cottage which prevents outsiders to come in and insiders to come out. Seeing this, Duan Gen was even angrier and wanted to beat Liu Meifeng. But he remembered the real identity of this handsome beauty behind him, Duan Gen can only turn his back and stared at Liu Meifeng in indignation,

"What do you want to do?"

Liu Meifeng remained unfazed by the obvious anger in Duan Gen's face, she simply said, "I just want to know the truth and bring justice to those who deserve it."

Liu Meifeng in the previous life was a genius detective and this was her principle she lived up to, naturally those principles are still instilled in her mind. That's why, she can't just set aside this matter, especially when it is related to her friends.

Liu Meifeng stood up and walked over to Duan Gen, when Duan Gen saw this, he immediately knew what Liu Meifeng was about to do. He deliberately keeps a safe distance from Liu Meifeng to avoid physical contact with her. Liu Meifeng knew that touching her Shifu won't be easy, which is why she had prepared a reasonable argument to convince her Shifu.

"Shifu, didn't you say that whether to trust the demon or not was part of my training? Based on what I've seen, the Oak demon is a very trustworthy person but since Shifu said otherwise, Shifu must have known something that I don't. So, let me see the truth and after that, I'll make my own judgment." Liu Meifeng said with a discerning look while saying that she slowly got closer to Duan Gen.

Duan Gen who's still perturbed by Liu Meifeng's persuasion didn't notice her sly movements. In the end, Liu Meifeng successfully grabbed Duan Gen's wrinkled hand and immediately forced a linked connection to his heart.

Duan Gen was taken aback and couldn't avoid in time, hence his consciousness was forcefully dragged by Liu Meifeng to repeat the memories inside his heart.

...

...

......

After the sudden bleakness, Liu Meifeng opened her eyes and found herself laying on a verdant hill. She rose from the ground and observed her surroundings, the sky was blue with the blinding light from the scorching sun, below the hill she saw several shanties built at the meadow with iridescent flower fields. Liu Meifeng was in a trance for a while, but she quickly regained her mind after hearing a scream from behind.

"Grandpa! How many times did I tell you to clean the cauldron after using it!"

Liu Meifeng turned back and saw a six years old girl with the same appearance as her trotting angrily towards a small wooden cottage not far from where she's standing.

She was taken aback, she didn't remember ever coming here with her Shifu, and besides, she rarely calls him grandpa. Curiosity piqued her interest, she walked over to take a good look at this little girl who looks identical to her. When Liu Meifeng got closer, she realized the girl was actually shorter than her, she was only around the height of her shoulder and she has an eye like a Jet. With this, Liu Meifeng was convinced that this girl is not her. Liu Meifeng couldn't help wondering if she secretly had a twin sister or something, but she remembered correctly how she was born. Back then it was only her and her royal family, they haven't associated with her Shifu yet, with this kind of logic, Liu Meifeng assumed this girl in front of her might be her Shifu's biological granddaughter.

While Liu Meifeng was focusing on her own thoughts, she heard a familiar lazy hoarse tone from her left ear, "Ah, you're so noisy. Besides, I have my Lin'er here to take care of things, hahaha!"

The girl puffed her cheeks and stomped the ground angrily,

"I'm your granddaughter not your servant!",

Duan Gen pretended to be upset and said in parlance,

"Ai.. isn't granddaughter also have an obligation to take care of her family?",

"Then, isn't Grandpa also obligated to take care of me?" The girl said proudly while crossing her arms.

Duan Gen pretended to be a frail old man and said pitifully, "Aiya, my beloved granddaughter Duan Lin, I'm already more than a hundred years old. How can this weak old man still have the power to take care of you?"

Duan Lin ignored Duan Gen's charade and took an empty bucket beside her, then she shoved it to Duan Gen, "Said the man who gluttonously gulped five jars of wine last night. Anyway, here grandpa go fetch some water while I cook lunch." After saying that, without waiting for Duan Gen's response, Duan Lin had already left for the kitchen. Duan Gen had no choice but to fetch the water just as he was told. When did the role of the guardian change? He was supposed to be responsible for Duan Lin when his son Duan Feng and his wife Yang Si went to the north for the war of the three kingdoms.

Originally, Duan Gen was repeatedly asked by the leader of the sects in Zuguo kingdom to participate in the war. But as the grandmaster of cultivators who has traveled and mingled with many kinds of races, he decided to be neutral and not willing to pick a side. Since Duan Gen had reached the level of Dasheng - Diji, he was considered to be the first one who reached the Dasheng level in mortal history. Hence, nobody dared to persuade him anymore...

Now, since he isn't participating in the on-going war, he was given the responsibility for taking care of his six years old granddaughter, Duan Lin. But as the only invisible witnesses, Liu Meifeng could see that the role has been reversed and she can already guess that this Shifu of hers had never changed. She shook her head and felt funny, now she finally understood why Duan Gen could make her his granddaughter without any hesitation, turns out not only she looked identical to Duan Lin, but she also has the same personality as her.

Before she knew it, the scene had changed again. But unlike the previous one which was beautiful and serene, this one was hazardous because Liu Meifeng was suddenly standing at the burned village and a horde of demon armies swarmed the whole village while besieging everything that moved.

Liu Meifeng couldn't see clearly due to the smoke permeating from the burned shanties, but she still could hear clearly the screams of terror and those who beseeching for their lives. But the demon pays no mind to their cry and executes them within seconds, Liu Meifeng was horrified to see such brutal scenes. Isn't the one at war were the three kingdoms? Why is the demon race attacking now?

Without thinking any further, Liu Meifeng rushed to the verdant hill where her Shifu and his granddaughter lived. Unfortunately, when she arrived their home was also scorched with fire there was almost no way to go in and out. Since Liu Meifeng is only a shadow entity, the fire couldn't burn her so she could easily go inside the burned house. However, when she goes inside the scenery before her was even worse than the demon besieging the villagers outside. Inside the house, she saw Duan Lin was trapped between the burned pillar. Her complexion was ghastly pale, she was horrified and her body trembling all over. Liu Meifeng wanted to help Duan Lin, but she couldn't touch anything as she's only a 'shadow' entity. So, she can only watch her being burned alive and muttered in a low voice, "…Daddy… Mommy…Grandpa… I'm… hurt… pain…"

After that, Duan Lin was being cooked alive until her whole body turned into charcoal. Liu Meifeng couldn't help crying when she saw this, where has she ever been this useless? She could only watch a person being burned alive in front of her!

"Lin'er! Lin'er!"

Shortly, a familiar voice shouted from outside the house. Liu Meifeng stepped outside and saw Duan Gen running over to the burned house which was almost extinguished. Duan Gen rushed inside the house ignoring the remaining fire that still ignited on every corner of the house. The house itself was already turned black, the fire only left a few pieces of burned woods, ashes, and the corpse of Duan Lin which was also burned.

Duan Gen picked Duan Lin's corpse, he didn't shed any tears but Liu Meifeng could still see the lament expression on his wrinkled face. After a few moments, Duan Gen stood up while holding Duan Lin's corpse and went to his backyard. He personally buried Duan Lin's corpse and preserved her tombstone with magic so as not to be destroyed either by the wild animals or age. Liu Meifeng saw anger and vengeance surfaced in Duan Gen's eyes, she had never seen Duan Gen make such a hostile expression. Only by witnessing this, Liu Meifeng knew why Duan Gen despised demons so much. However, the scene didn't end here…

The next scene was where Duan Gen silently drank his wine at the White Wolf's banquet. It was a banquet to represent his friendship with the White Wolf tribe.

At the same time, Liu Meifeng saw the little Gu Zhuxuan secretly sneak out from the banquet. Duan Gen saw her and followed her silently, this was the same scene in Gu Zhuxuan's memories, the difference is right now, this was more focused on Duan Gen's perspective.

Once Duan Gen reached the village's gate, he saw the Oak demon gave Gu Zhuxuan a wooden animal mannequin, Duan Gen could see the overflowing happiness in Gu Zhuxuan's Spessartine eyes. Due to his past experience where the demon army took the advantage of the war of the three kingdoms, Duan Gen concluded that all demons are evil and treacherous. Which is why he won't let this girl be deceived by the beautiful demon.

"Fiendish demon! Let go of the princess right now!"

To what happened next was something beyond what Liu Meifeng could guess…