After Dawn - Chapter 9

“Master, Suddenly I really want to go to Butterfly Valley to see the irises, can you take me there?”

At this moment, there are signs of invasion from the Devil World, and Luo Qing Han, as an elder of the Tian Yuan Sect, the number one sect in the Jiuzhou Continent, has endless things to do every day, so when Lin Qing Ran made this request, his first reaction was to refuse.

Before the words of his refusal could be uttered, Qing Ran’s tears fell, “If Master is busy with his affairs, I will go alone.”

Luo Qing Han changed his complexion instantly.

The Tian Yuan Clan is adjacent to the Hundred Thousand Demon Mountains because of the endless resources in the mountains, but also as a protective shield for the human world to prevent the demonic beasts in the mountains from coming out and causing harm to the world. As the name implies, the Hundred Thousand Demon Mountains are an unending mass of mountains that occupy more than half of the land area of the entire Jiuzhou Continent and contain countless demonic beasts.

The Butterfly Valley, however, lies deep within the 100,000 Great Mountains.

“Qing Ran, do not be capricious!” Luo Qing Han scolded with a frown.

An expressive look appeared on Qing Ran’s face, “Master, is it not even possible for Qing Ran to be capricious this one last time?”

” Now is the season when the irises are in bloom, and the irises in the Butterfly Valley, they must be blooming beautifully.”

“Qing Ran is going to receive a mission to fight the demons at the edge of the human realm in a few days, can’t Master grant me one last wish before I leave?”

Luo Qing Han sighed, thinking of Qing Ran’s fear and anxiety because this was her first time participating in such a mission, and said with some compassion, “You are only a little cultivator at the Foundation Stage, how could a mission to the edge of the human realm fall on you?”

“You should go out for some good training, and when you return Master will take you to Butterfly Valley.”

Qing Ran shook her head, her expression looking a little downcast, “Yes, Master.”

“If there is nothing else, I shall go first.”

“Mmm.” She answered, squeezing her eyes shut, forcing back the tears that had welled up in her eyes, the hands at her side involuntarily clenched into fists, “It was the disciple who was capricious, would it be alright for the disciple to see Master out of the house?”

“Well, you need to cultivate yourself.” Sensing a difference in Qing Ran’s mood, Luo Qing Han was only able to speak dryly, allowing Qing Ran to see him to the door.

Luo Qing Han had no hesitation to go away with his sword. Qing Ran looked at the direction he left with fascination, and tears fell from her eyes without warning.

Although Luo Qing Han left simply, he was still very uneasy about this little disciple of his. Had she insisted that he take her to Butterfly Valley to see the flowers, he would only have thought that it was just her little girl’s heart and would have been more at ease instead, but now that she had let herself go in such a well-behaved and understanding manner, Luo Qing Han felt that there must be something wrong here.

Therefore, although the Master disappeared in front of Qing Ran in a dashing manner, in fact, he only turned a corner and tapped an invisibility talisman onto his body after leaving her sight and returned to the vicinity of Qing Ran’s cave.

Maybe because there was no one around, Qing Ran’s face was unrestrained, she let the tears rage on her face, the emotions in her eyes bared plainly, and something hidden in them made Luo Qing Han feel alarmed.

She was already showing signs of demonization under Lin Ruo’s deliberate guidance, and now with the violent mood swings, the aura in her body that had been pacified under the effect of the Soul Calming Incense began to stir uneasily again, yet she allowed her internal body to be damaged as if she was unaware of it, and then spat out a mouthful of blood raw.

Luo Qing Han could naturally see that Qing Ran was on the verge of becoming a demon, if she didn’t get rid of it in time, her spiritual energy would definitely be violent and she would end up with her cultivation dissipated, only to fear that she wouldn’t be able to control her spiritual energy and expose herself to death.

When he was about to resist the urge to strike, Qing Ran suddenly suppressed the violent spiritual energy in her body. If it were the original owner, it would naturally be impossible to do so, but now Qing Ran, who had temporarily borrowed her body, her own spiritual energy far exceeded even Luo Qing Han’s divine sense, so it was not difficult to do so.

Qing Ran’s stay in each world is only twelve hours, once the time is up, she will automatically be drawn out of this world and the body she has used will die naturally, so for Qing Ran at this time, conditioning her body is just a waste of time, anyway, as long as it is within the mission time, even if she is given a dead shell, she will be able to make it look like a normal person.

A paper crane flew towards her with a flutter, the white paper crane had a bit of red vermilion on the top of its head, this is the paper crane specially used by the Tian Yuan Sect for issuing quests.

She stretched out her fingers to let the paper crane rest on them and cocked her head, as if listening to the words inside. Then, the corners of her lips slowly curled up, and her face looked sarcastic and sad.

The paper crane began to burn in her hands, and she stared blankly at the flames, the fire dancing in her eyes as well, blinking, but feeling her eyes dry and tight, as if all the tears had been shed.

And Luo Qing Han froze in place for a moment, because he clearly saw, in the corners of Qing Ran’s eyes, two lines of blood tears flowing out.

……

Luo Qing Han thought he was possessed, otherwise how could he have put aside the busy affairs in the Tian Yuan Sect and secretly followed Qing Ran after refusing her unreasonable request. But it wasn’t long before he felt that his decision had been wise.

It was because Qing Ran was flying in the direction of the Butterfly Valley in the Hundred Thousand Demon Mountain.

With Lin Qing Ran’s cultivation, it would have taken more than twelve hours to reach the Butterfly Valley even if she flew with her sword day and night, not to mention the ferocious demonic beasts on the way.

Luo Qing Han did not obstruct her at the beginning, thinking that he would wait for Qing Ran to suffer some hardships and then save her, which would be a lesson to her for her petty nature.

However, when he saw that Qing Ran had no reaction to the incoming demonic beast, his heart tightened and his hands moved faster than the thoughts in his head, and by the time he came back to his senses, he had already swept Qing Ran up in his arms, while the demonic beast had fallen straight down.

” Mas- Master?” It seemed that she didn’t expect Luo Qing Han to come, Qing Ran was a little taken back for a moment, but then her expression lowered, “Am I so useless that I can’t even handle a tiny demonic beast ……”

“What do you mean by a tiny demonic beast?” A sudden wave of anger rose up in Luo Qing Han’s heart, “Look at where you are yourself?”

The cultivation level of the demonic beasts in the Hundred Thousand Demon Mountains went up in order from the outside to the inside, he didn’t even know how Lin Qing Ran, a Foundation Establishment cultivator, had such good luck to be able to enter the range of Golden Dan Stage demonic beasts by herself safely and without incident.

Qing Ran blinked her eyes and looked around in some confusion, before she gave a faint “oh” for a long time.。

He wished to punish Qing Ran, but when he saw her tear-stained and bloodied face, he could not bear it, yet he felt angry at her for not caring about her life.

“Master, you should go and do your work, this disciple will not delay you.” She pushed Luo Qing Han, who was unprepared and pushed away from her by two steps, then she took off again in the direction of Butterfly Valley with her own sword.

Luo Qing Han had no idea why exactly she was so obsessed with Butterfly Valley, but knew that she was in a trance now, and that with her alone, she definitely wouldn’t be able to reach Butterfly Valley, so he sighed and chose to compromise in a helpless manner.

Once again, he caught up with Qing Ran’s flying sword and wrapped his arms around her waist, and together they disappeared into mid-air.

……

Inside Butterfly Valley there are no butterflies, but large blue iris flowers, and the blue iris is called the Blue Butterfly, hence the name Butterfly Valley.

The blue flowers swayed with the breeze, like countless blue butterflies ready to take off.

The two of them landed at the entrance of the Butterfly Valley, a place with a forbidden system left behind by the Higher Realm, where demonic beasts could not enter and cultivators could not enter by means of teleportation, but could only walk in step by step.

The two of them were silent for a long time before Qing Ran suddenly called out softly, “Master.” She stopped in her tracks and turned her head to look at Luo Qing Han.

She was dressed in white, her long hair was loosely pulled back, she was not wearing any powder, and the blue iris flowers were spread into a sea, but became her backdrop.

Lin Qing Ran was an extremely beautiful woman, there was no denying that. Unlike Lin Ru’s voluptuousness, she was more like a blue iris, silent and introspective but with her own unique beauty. Luo Qing Han had always treated her as an overgrown little girl, but today was the first time he noticed that the little girl who once needed to be held in his arms and coaxed had now become so beautiful.

He really didn’t know which boy she might win over.

Luo Qing Han was suddenly at a loss as to how to reply, and the words that he wanted to reproach Qing Ran could not be said, as a picture suddenly appeared in his mind, overlapping with the scene before him.

Qing Ran’s eyes were black and white, and at this moment, Luo Qing Han clearly felt that the world in her eyes was also black and white, because the gaze she was looking at herself seemed to be hiding deep feelings, yet it was as if there was nothing but a blank space.

It’s clearly not like this.

She is supposed to look at herself with a smile, she is supposed to look at herself with love, she is supposed to ……

–Rather than be so cold and overwhelming.

He wanted to speak and say, “Don’t you look at me like that.” The words were on his lips, but then he swallowed them.

How did he want her to look at himself?

Luo Qing Han, who had come back to his senses, repeatedly admonished himself that Qing Ran was his disciple and that he should not have those nasty thoughts, but inside it was as if a beast was struggling.

He thought he was mad.

The False God Technique, the Eye of Time, is activated.

——

Jiuzhou  九州 (Jiǔzhōu): division of China during earliest dynasties / fig. ancient China