Chapter 878: Follow the Map to Save Me
"Ling Tianzun's hairpin was actually left for me, but it was taken by the senior brother."
Qin Mu quickly arrived at the spot where Wei Suifeng had vanished, the hairpin having disappeared along with him. He couldn't help but frown.
By the time he realized the hairpin was meant for him from Ling Tianzun, it was already too late. Wei Suifeng had already gone to the ancient times in his place.
"Senior brother will stay in the ancient Longhan Era for who knows how long, becoming the Right General of the Longhan Heavenly Court's Imperial Guard. He won't return until the Empress's assassination case and the Ghost Ship incident erupt."
Qin Mu placed the corpse of the Empress's younger sister back into the crystal coffin and waited silently, thinking to himself: "When he returns from the Longhan Heavenly Court, he should still appear here. I can wait for his return. Perhaps Ling Tianzun will tell him something before he comes back."
On the other side, there was no movement from the Dark Flower World. Dragon Qilin had gone to find Yan'er but hadn't returned yet. He didn't know how the battle was going.
Qin Mu stayed by the crystal coffin, took out his mirror, and continued organizing the ancient god runes, waiting for Wei Suifeng's return.
He waited for several days but never saw Dragon Qilin or Yan'er return to this place. Only then did he start to worry and stood up, intending to go find them.
He reached the edge of the Dark Flower World and was about to step into the darkness when he suddenly stopped, cold sweat breaking out on his forehead.
"The flower world of the Great Abyss has no cycle of day and night, yet the Red Flower World and the Dark Flower World have day and night!"
He looked toward the Dark Flower World, which had no light at all. Taking out a piece of jade, he let light flow from his fingertips and carved the words "Wait for me" onto it before tossing it into the Dark Flower World.
The jade fell into the Dark Flower World and instantly disappeared, without even the sound of it hitting the ground.
This disappearance was a complete vanishing from this era!
"The Red Flower World belongs to daytime, and the Dark Flower World belongs to nighttime. Walking from day into night stops the traversal and returns you to your original time. Dragon Fatty and Sister Yan'er both returned to the era we came from. Only I didn't step into the darkness, so I remain in senior brother's era."
Qin Mu withdrew his foot and sat back down by the crystal coffin. As long as he didn't actively step into the Dark Flower World, he wouldn't return to the era he came from.
But to be safe, he first organized the Great Sun Star Lord's dao runes and used his primal qi to form a sun, hanging it in the sky of the flower world.
Days passed one after another. Qin Mu had already recalculated the ancient god dao runes of the Zhou Tian Star Lords using the Taiwei Calculation Method, and the beard on his face had grown thicker.
The time he had stayed in this era was now longer than the time he had spent in the Longhan Era.
During this period, a few more remnant stars fell into the Great Abyss, causing undercurrents to erupt and the Great Abyss flowers to bloom. But this place seemed completely abandoned, with no one entering.
One day, he was immersed in research and calculations, ignoring everything else, when the female corpse in the crystal coffin slowly opened its eyes.
The female corpse silently turned its head, quietly observing Qin Mu.
The wound on the back of the female corpse's head had unknowingly healed over these past few months.
Suddenly, Qin Mu felt something and turned to look, but the female corpse was still lying there quietly, no different from before.
"Strange, I clearly felt a gaze on me."
Qin Mu shook his head and continued his research, but he set up the mirror to reflect the crystal coffin behind him.
He manipulated his calculation spirit weapons to continuously compute, immersing himself in studying those runes. After a long time, the female corpse in the coffin opened its eyes again.
The female corpse was lying in the coffin, but now its head silently twisted around, bending at an alarming angle, its eerie gaze fixed on Qin Mu's back.
The lid of the crystal coffin silently flew off, and the female corpse inside silently floated up flat.
Qin Mu was in the middle of his calculations when the corner of his eye suddenly twitched.
Behind him, the female corpse silently drifted down, its body floating in the air, its head lowered, and its hair cascading like a waterfall from its snow-white neck.
Its head slowly approached Qin Mu's neck.
Qin Mu still seemed unaware, but sweat was beading on his forehead. The sword pellet in his Taotie pouch flowed out like liquid mercury, silently moving to the back of the female corpse's head, slowly forming into a sword tip aimed at the wound that had only just healed.
At that moment, light swirled ahead, and a middle-aged man wearing only a white inner robe and pants stepped out of the radiance.
This middle-aged man had a dignified appearance. As soon as he appeared, he saw the female corpse floating behind Qin Mu. His eyes blazed with fury as his divine treasures leaped out one after another, and a heavenly palace rumbled into existence above the layers of divine treasures!
Within the heavenly palace, phantom images of gods and demons stood above the various halls, towering like a galaxy above the heavenly palace!
His primordial spirit, like an ancient god wielding the power of the starry river, appeared before the throne in the Lingxiao Hall. It reached out a hand, and the hand blasted through the heavenly palace, striking toward the female corpse behind Qin Mu!
"Madam Yumu, since you're dead, why cause trouble?"
The female corpse behind Qin Mu let out a shrill shriek upon hearing him call out her true name. Her cascading hair flew up, and the Guixu dao within her body seemed to awaken. The darkness of the Dark Flower World surged toward them!
Qin Mu immediately felt an immense pressure.
It was the power of an ancient god awakening within the female corpse, a terrifying force that seemed to devour everything in the world erupting behind him. But the middle-aged man's primordial spirit pressed its palm against her forehead, unleashing its power and forcing the surging darkness back into the Dark Flower World!
The female corpse stumbled backward involuntarily and fell with a thud into the crystal coffin. The coffin closed, sealing her inside.
The female corpse struggled and shrieked inside the coffin, her delicate features twisting into a ferocious expression, but she couldn't break free from the middle-aged man's suppression.
The middle-aged man walked toward Qin Mu and bowed in greeting: "Second junior brother, eight thousand years have passed since we last met. You've grown a beard. Madam Yumu, have you turned into a corpse?"
The female corpse flopped around in the coffin like a fish out of water.
Qin Mu returned the bow and said with a smile: "I missed old friends and forgot to shave. Senior brother, you've been gone for eight thousand years, but I've been here less than half a year. I saw the notes you wrote in the mist on the Ghost Ship. Senior brother, have you found your path to sagehood?"
This middle-aged man was Wei Suifeng. Upon hearing this, he laughed heartily, his expression radiant, and said: "I've roughly found it. But I couldn't achieve it in the Longhan Era; I need to return to my own era to do so. The Holy Teacher said that establishing virtue, achievement, and words makes one a sage. I only lack the achievement."
Qin Mu couldn't help but say: "Senior brother, the three establishments to become a sage was just a casual remark from the teacher. Don't take it too seriously. I don't know what you're planning to do, but the teacher told me you've gone astray. If you keep exploring this path, it's really dangerous. In my era, I've never even seen you!"
Wei Suifeng was momentarily stunned, then laughed: "The Holy Teacher's words can't be wrong. My whole life has been dedicated to becoming a sage through the three establishments. The sage I want to become is something the teacher never achieved. He assisted the Kaohuang Emperor but never built the achievements he wanted. His dao heart was never perfect. Junior brother, I want to become a sage who surpasses the teacher, to completely resolve the tragic fate of the world! Don't try to persuade me anymore. My mind is made up."
Qin Mu said nothing more.
Wei Suifeng smiled and said: "You once said you followed the geographical map I left for you to find this place. If I hadn't left you that map, you wouldn't have been able to find it, right? Giving you the map is a future event for me but a past event for you. So, if I don't give you the map in my future, can I change the future?"
Qin Mu was silent for a moment, then said: "Senior brother, in my era, I never saw you. The geographical map was something you showed me using your own divine weapon. I don't even know if you were alive or dead at that time."
Wei Suifeng laughed heartily: "I'm definitely still alive, you can rest assured! We, as fellow disciples, can meet across twenty thousand years—how wonderful! I have a way to keep you in this era. How about we go to the outside world together, explore the truth of history, and establish achievements that even the teacher never accomplished! I have enough strength now; I won't have to be as cautious as before."
Qin Mu shook his head and said: "I need to go back. I won't stay here."
Wei Suifeng frowned again and said: "Why are you so stubborn?"
He suddenly laughed: "It seems I'm just as stubborn. By the way, when I was returning, I met Ling Tianzun in the mist. She asked me to give this to you."
He took out a peachwood hairpin, his eyes glinting, and said with a smile: "This hairpin is Ling Tianzun's treasure. She seems to be trapped in the Heavenly River. She gave me the hairpin and asked me to pass it to you. Can I borrow it for a while?"
Qin Mu had been waiting for this. He reached out to grab the hairpin, but Wei Suifeng moved his hand and clenched it in his palm, saying: "Junior brother, let me borrow this hairpin for a while."
Qin Mu was furious and extended his hand: "Give it to me! Last time, Ling Tianzun stuck the hairpin in the back of Madam Yumu's head, leaving it for me, but you snatched it away!"
Wei Suifeng quickly said: "I really need this hairpin. Junior brother, I'll return it to you in the future. I'll leave it right here in this Guixu. Don't worry, let me borrow it!"
Qin Mu was about to fight for it when, at that moment, the Guixu undercurrent erupted.
Wei Suifeng shot into the sky and flew out of the flower as it bloomed, laughing: "Don't worry, I'll leave the hairpin here in the future!"
"Wei Suifeng, you bastard!"
Wei Suifeng's voice faded away: "When you return to your own era, go to the hall to find the hairpin. I'll leave a geographical map for you!"
Qin Mu stood there in a daze.
After a moment, the surging undercurrent subsided.
Qin Mu snapped back to reality and immediately hoisted the crystal coffin, walking toward the Dark Flower World.
Inside the coffin, the corpse of Madam Yumu giggled, looking eagerly at the Dark Flower World drawing closer.
Though she was a product of corpse transformation, the Dark Flower World was still her birthplace, holding a great attraction for her. Moreover, once she entered the Dark Flower World, she could mobilize its dao to break free from Wei Suifeng's suppression and this crystal coffin.
Qin Mu stopped in front of the Dark Flower World, set down the coffin, and untied the willow leaf from his brow. He said loudly: "Heavenly Duke, keep an eye on this female corpse for me. Don't let brother eat her!" With that, he stuffed the crystal coffin into the Qin Continent.
The female corpse was furious.
Qin Mu remained unmoved. He leaped into the Dark Flower World and vanished into the darkness.
When he landed and opened his eyes, he immediately found himself in the Dark Flower World. Dragon Qilin's voice came from the Red Flower World, scolding Yan'er: "...I told you not to eat like that, not to eat like that! But you still did it! See how you'll explain to the Sect Leader when we get back!"
Qin Mu rushed toward the two halls at the intersection of the two worlds. Dragon Qilin caught sight of him and exclaimed in surprise and joy, raising his voice: "Sect Leader, we received the jade token you carved and have been waiting here! Sister Yan'er ate the Beauty Snake and seems to have become..."
"Shut up!" Yan'er's voice came.
Qin Mu vaguely saw a round green sparrow standing on Dragon Qilin's head. He didn't have time to look closely and immediately charged into the Black Hall, searching frantically.
Suddenly, his gaze fell on an altar inside the Black Hall.
Around the altar, star sand flew, forming a starry river.
Qin Mu exclaimed in anger: "Again!"
He quickly calculated, found the flaw in the star river formation, and immediately charged into it. He reached out and grabbed a red cloth on the altar. Beneath the cloth was a peachwood hairpin.
Under the hairpin was a piece of parchment with a line of writing on it.
Qin Mu breathed a sigh of relief. Without looking at the writing, he quickly grabbed the peachwood hairpin, thinking: "Senior brother kept his word. But what was that round green sparrow just now?"
Then his eyes fell on the parchment. The handwriting was Wei Suifeng's, and there were only four words: "Follow the map to save me!"
——Every day, you can go to the page of The Legend of the Shepherd God and give love hearts to Qin Mu, Qin Fengqing, and the Village Chief!