Chapter 2: The First Task of the Outer Sect
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It was just dawn when Gu Changsheng went out with a broom.
The third section of stone steps at the back mountain, from the Halfway Pavilion to the Cloud-Gazing Terrace, has three hundred steps. He swept them rather slowly, one step at a time, gathering the fallen leaves and dust into the broom.
Halfway through the sweeping, Lin Qiuyu came up from below.
She was carrying a small bamboo basket in her hand. When she saw Gu Changsheng sweeping the floor, she stopped.
"So early?" Lin Qiuyu asked.
Gu Changsheng straightened up, leaning on the broom.
The task requires the cleaning to be completed before 7 a.m. It's better to come early to avoid trouble.
Lin Qiuyu nodded. She had changed into a clean set of outer disciple robes today and her hair was neatly tied up.
"I'm going to the herb field to weed. I have to finish before the fourth hour." She said, "How much longer will you be?"
"Almost there. Just another half an hour."
"All right, I'll go ahead then."
Lin Qiuyu was about to leave when Gu Changsheng suddenly spoke.
"Wait a moment."
Lin Qiuyu turned her head to look at him.
"Over at the medicinal herb field, do you need any help?" Gu Changsheng asked casually. "I've finished sweeping here. I can go and take a look."
Lin Qiuyu was stunned for a moment, then she smiled.
"No need. Weeding isn't that hard. But... if you really want to help, I have a gathering task this afternoon. I need to go to the back mountain to collect morning dew grass. Chief Su said it's a bit tough to do alone and asked me to find a partner."
Gu Changsheng nodded.
"All right, I'll go with you."
"Then it's a deal. I'll come to see you around the time of the fourth watch."
After Lin Qiuyu finished speaking, she carried the basket and headed towards the medicinal herb field.
Gu Changsheng continued sweeping the floor.
He swept very carefully, reaching every nook and cranny of each step. But in fact, the vast power within him, as boundless as a starry sea, could make the entire mountain spotless with not a speck of dust left with just a single thought.
But now, he's a newbie.
Newbies should act like newbies.
After sweeping the stone steps, Gu Changsheng put the tools back in the storage room and went to his own courtyard to have a drink of water. He had just sat down for a short while when the courtyard gate was knocked on.
Lin Qiuyu was standing outside, with a basket containing two small medicine hoes.
"Shall we go?" she said.
Gu Changsheng got up and went out.
The two of them walked along the mountain path towards the deep part of the back mountain. The morning dew and grass grew in the damp areas on the shady side of the mountain, so they had to go into the forest.
The road was quite quiet and nobody spoke.
After walking for about a quarter of an hour, Lin Qiuyu suddenly stopped.
She frowned slightly and pressed her hand to her chest.
"What's wrong?" Gu Changsheng asked.
"Nothing." Lin Qiuyu shook her head, her complexion a little pale. "It's just that I suddenly feel a bit stuffy."
Gu Changsheng said nothing.
The Heavenly Dao mission system within him quivered slightly once again at that very moment.
It was more obvious than the last time at the storage area yesterday.
He looked at Lin Qiuyu, his gaze lingering on her for two seconds.
The ancient seal within Lin Qiuyu's body was now emitting an extremely faint fluctuation. The fluctuation was very subtle; if it weren't for Gu Changsheng's exceptionally high cultivation level, he wouldn't have been able to detect it at all.
Moreover, this fluctuation seems to have been triggered by something.
Gu Changsheng raised his eyes and looked ahead.
Deep in the forest, the outline of a ruin can be faintly seen. It was a training ground abandoned by the Qinglan Sect many years ago. It is said that an array formation was set up there before, but it failed and the place was left to decay.
Now in that ruin, there still lingers some extremely faint traces of an array.
It was those auras that triggered the seal within Lin Qiuyu's body.
It's interesting.
Gu Changsheng withdrew his gaze and looked at Lin Qiuyu.
"Shall we take a break?"
"Never mind." Lin Qiuyu took a deep breath and her complexion improved a little. "Let's go. The mission is important."
The two continued walking forward.
The closer Lin Qiuyu got to the ruins, the more unnatural her complexion became. By the time she reached the edge of the ruins, a thin layer of sweat had already broken out on her forehead.
"Are you all right?" Gu Changsheng asked.
"I'm really fine," Lin Qiuyu forced a smile. "It's just that... this place seems a bit strange."
She said this, glancing into the ruins.
It was a scene of ruins and overgrown with weeds. A few broken stone pillars stood askew, with some indistinct runes carved on them.
Gu Changsheng also looked at those runes.
The array runes are very crude. They should be the spirit gathering array set up by a low-level cultivator many years ago. Now the array has long lost its effect and the runes are incomplete.
But within these incomplete runes, there still lingers a very faint trace of the rule's aura related to the Heavenly Dao.
Although it was so weak as to be negligible, to the seal within Lin Qiuyu's body, it was like a drop of water falling into a boiling oil pan.
"Let's... go somewhere else to pick them," Lin Qiuyu suddenly said. "I don't feel very comfortable here."
"OK."
Gu Changsheng didn't ask any more questions and followed Lin Qiuyu around the ruins.
The two found a damp depression deep in the woods where dewy grass grew in abundance. Lin Qiuyu squatted down and began to pick it. Her movements were very skilled, and it was obvious that she had done this before.
Gu Changsheng also squatted down and imitated her to pick.
It took about a quarter of an hour to pick, and the basket was covered with a layer.
Lin Qiuyu's complexion had returned to normal. As she picked, she said.
This kind of grass has to be picked up with its roots, otherwise it won't have enough medicinal effect. After picking it, it needs to be dried in the sun. Only when it is completely dry can it be handed in as a task.
"You know quite a lot," Gu Changsheng said.
Lin Qiuyu's hand movements paused for a moment.
"At home... we used to deal in medicinal herbs," she said softly. "But later on, the business declined."
Gu Changsheng didn't respond.
The two of them continued to gather grass.
Another half an hour passed and the basket was almost full. Lin Qiuyu stood up and dusted the dirt off her hands.
"Almost there. Let's go back."
Gu Changsheng also stood up.
The two walked back. When they passed by the ruins, Lin Qiuyu deliberately quickened her pace. Gu Changsheng followed behind her, his gaze sweeping over the broken runes.
He remembered the appearance of those runes.
Although incomplete, the original structure of the formation can still be discerned. It is a very ancie