I Have Him Now Part 1

Ruyi naturally knew about Qingliang Valley.

Originally, there were four major sects leading the righteous path, not the three that exist today.

- Fengling Mountain, where Chang Boning and Feng Rugu hailed from.

- Yingtian River, where Jing Sanchai came from.

- Danyang Peak, the origin of Han Jing.

In addition, there was a sect called "Qingliang Valley".

...But that history has turned to ashes.

Decades ago, the demonic path invaded the righteous sects.

Qingliang Valley, as the sect that most detested the evil demons and heretics, bore the brunt.

Wen Xuechen, the head disciple of Qingliang Valley, betrayed them at a critical moment and defected to the demonic path, becoming a lackey under the demons.

The entire Qingliang Valley was massacred overnight. The fresh blood of two thousand wronged souls dyed the verdant valley, consecrating the demons' war flag.

Ghostly green flames rose from the emerald blood.

From that day on, the two thousand wronged souls lingered in the valley, their ghostly wails heard night after night, unbearable to the ears.

Twenty-six years ago, the righteous disciples imprisoned in the barbaric lands by the demonic path who refused to surrender finally managed to escape. Among them were Feng Rugu's master Lord Xiaoyao, Jing Sanchai's master Lord Yingxu, and Han Jing's master Lord Zhiyue.

At the same time, Lu Yujiu, the sole surviving disciple of Qingliang Valley, also walked out from that place of no return, his body covered in blood and fire.

He was a ghost cultivator, with half the bloodline of the Crying Crow Ghost Nation flowing in his veins.

No one knew why Qingliang Valley, which had always abhorred the unorthodox, would produce a ghost cultivator. They only knew that this ghost cultivator had a heart of utmost sincerity. Imprisoned for thirteen years, his will remained unchanged. After returning, with a wave of his sleeve, he took the two thousand wronged souls of Qingliang Valley under his command.

With a flip of his sleeve, the name Ghost King shook the world.

After the battle with the demonic path, Lu Yujiu was determined to revive the glory of Qingliang Valley.

However, he encountered unimaginable resistance.

...This resistance came from within the righteous sects, and also due to his identity.

Before the Crow Ghost Nation was eradicated, it had brought calamity to the world. There were still victims from those years alive.

The current Valley Master of Qingliang Valley, Lu Yujiu, possessed the bloodline of the Crow Ghost Nation. He was a remnant of that evil nation. How could he lead the righteous sects?

If word got out, wouldn't it make the righteous sects a laughingstock, that they had no one else and had to let a ghost cultivator prosper?

In order to preserve the reputation of the righteous path, when Lord Zhiyue and Lord Xiaoyao were still around, the sect leaders of the newly risen small sects would go to them and whisper in their ears, trying to make Qingliang Valley draw a clear line with the righteous sects.

Lord Zhiyue of Danyang Peak had a good temper. He would just smile and look at them. After they finished expressing their views, he would pass them a cup of tea, as if he hadn't heard their earnest words: "Are you thirsty?"

Those with more guts went up to Fengling to find Lord Xiaoyao and his Daoist partner, expressing their thoughts in a similar manner.

Lord Xiaoyao also smiled, but was far less amiable than Lord Zhiyue: "You want to kick Little Lu out of the righteous sects, do you think I'm dead?"

Some were still unconvinced and wanted to persuade him with talk of gains and losses.

Lord Xiaoyao couldn't be bothered to waste words. He flicked open his folding fan and called out: "Chongguang."

His Daoist partner immediately threw those people down the mountain in a most undignified manner.

As for Yingtian River, everyone knew Lord Yingxu had the temper of a spoiled young master, and his close relationship with Lu Yujiu. More than a dozen sects really didn't dare to go to him. They pushed the responsibility onto each other and ended up waiting until news came that Lu Yujiu had led Qingliang Valley to voluntarily leave the righteous sects.

Lu Yujiu knew the waves he had caused, and also knew how the three sects would protect him.

The righteous path had just revived with great difficulty. He didn't want to cause discord within the sects because of himself.

Moreover, Qingliang Valley had long become Ghost Valley. He really didn't need to be active on the surface.

Since this was Lu Yujiu's decision, the other three sects, after discussing it, let him be.

From then on, the four sects became three. Qingliang Valley became the hidden branch of the Daoist sects, specializing in searching for the lingering souls of those from the righteous path who had yet to disperse, bringing them back to Qingliang Valley, giving them a place to rest their souls.

Those who wanted to stay could stay. Those who wanted to enter the cycle of reincarnation, Qingliang Valley would help them resolve their last wishes, letting their souls find peace and return to the three realms and six paths.

...

Hai Jing had also heard the story of Qingliang Valley.

Therefore, when he heard they were going to Qingliang Valley, Hai Jing mentally prepared himself, thinking he would see a desolate scene of gloomy woods and ancient cypresses, with ghostly wails in between, making one's teeth chatter.

However, when they arrived at Qingliang Valley at night, the weather there was actually very nice.

The breeze gently lifted the clouds, not letting the sky darken. The stars glittered like golden dust across the heavens. Under the moonlight, a youth was playing the xun flute at the valley entrance.

The sound of the xun was known as the "earthly music". The tones were low and deep, with a world-weary quality. Hearing it from afar, it was as if the wind was singing.

Hai Jing knew their late night visit was quite a disturbance, so he took the initiative to go forward and greet the baby-faced youth: "This patron, please inform the Valley Master that Fengling's Lord Yunzhong and Hanshan Temple's Master Ruyi have come to visit."

The baby-faced youth looked past his shoulder and saw Feng Rugu first. His eyes lit up like stars before he nodded at Hai Jing: "I understand."

With that said, the youth jumped down from the green rock he was sitting on.

Only then did Hai Jing realize that the youth was a bit shorter than himself.

He couldn't help but be puzzled.

Logically speaking, the disciple guarding the valley was the face of the entire valley. Even in their Hanshan Temple, the disciples in charge of guarding the main gate would be chosen for their imposing appearance and tall, sturdy stature...

Before he could finish his thought, he watched in shock as the youth went up to greet Feng Rugu.

Feng Rugu grinned mischievously and hugged the youth's waist, directly lifting him up: "Uncle Lu!"

Hai Jing: "..."

Hai Jing was very shocked. For a moment, he couldn't figure out if he was more shocked that the short, baby-faced youth was the legendary Ghost King Lu Yujiu, or that Feng Rugu was manhandling a senior.

Lu Yujiu reached out to pat Feng Rugu's shoulder, reprimanding him without much seriousness: "How improper! No manners!"

Although Lu Yujiu was light, Feng Rugu couldn't hold him for long. He quickly put the person down, at least preserving some of Lu Yujiu's dignity: "Uncle Lu, it's so late, why are you still outside?"

"Sanchai is inside." Lu Yujiu raised the xun, looking quite helpless. "They're arguing again, so I came out to avoid them for a bit."

Hai Jing blinked his eyes as he listened, not daring to imagine that a ghost king who had cultivated to this level still had to be troubled by family matters.

...

Lu Yujiu was indeed worrying about his Daoist partner Lord Yingxu.

Back then, when Lord Yingxu saw Lord Xiaoyao successively take Chang Boning and Feng Rugu as disciples, one gentle and considerate, the other clever and lively, he was really envious.

Lord Xiaoyao gave him an idea: "Young Master Zhou envies them so much, why not give birth to one yourself?"

Lord Yingxu spat at him a couple of times. Afterward, he took to going down the mountain every day and eventually picked up a runaway, Jing Sanchai.

However, it's unclear whether Lord Yingxu's luck is good or bad. In terms of personality, Jing Sanchai might as well have been his biological son.

With the two young masters' tempers together, they quarrel every three days and fight every five days. Even after Jing Sanchai left the Dao sect, he would still come to find Lord Yingxu every few days, as if he couldn't feel at ease without arguing.

One time when he went, Jing Sanchai came up empty.

Upon learning that Lord Yingxu had married Lu Yujiu, the valley master of Qingliang Valley, handed over Yingtian River to his niece Zhou Wang to manage, and moved to Qingliang Valley himself, Jing Sanchai immediately ran to Qingliang Valley. The first thing he said when meeting his master was an indignant accusation: "Why didn't you tell me?! You made me unable to deliver a wedding gift! And made me take a trip for nothing!"

The master and disciple must periodically have an argument, as if for them, arguing is how they embed each other into their lives and fuse into their bones and blood.

Lu Yujiu once suspected that based on how they argue, there will surely come a day when they have a falling out.

Unexpectedly, they argue until the sky darkens and the earth dims, fight until the heavens collapse and the earth splits, but in the end they both snort at each other, then go down the mountain together to eat noodles, and finally argue again over what flavor of noodles to eat.

Lu Yujiu has seen it all. Seeing the two about to start up again, he comes out to avoid it for a bit.