Don’t Mess with that Turtle
Chapter 122 - 122 121 True Person_1

122: Chapter 121 True Person_1 122: Chapter 121 True Person_1 Su He knew he couldn’t hold out any longer; he had to hibernate for the winter.

This year, he hadn’t dug a hole, and now the ground had started to freeze, rendering it unyielding—alright!

Su Huanian didn’t like people lying, and neither did turtles.

He still had the strength to dig; after a year of cultivation, his achievements were significant, and the mere frozen ground couldn’t stop him.

But Su He simply wanted to hibernate in Su Huanian’s house.

They had been neighbors for almost a year, and this was the only excessive request Su He had ever made.

Su Huanian agreed.

The turtle was going to hibernate, and she might never return after leaving.

What did it matter about a thatched cottage?

She considerately enlarged the doorway of the cottage to make it easier for Su He to enter and exit.

Su He was overjoyed and happily caught another grass carp from the lake to give to Su Huanian.

He also carried water buckets with great effort, using his mouth to pour water bucket by bucket outside the cottage door, hoping to freeze a small ice mountain.

Unfortunately, the temperature wasn’t low enough; the ice that formed was too weak to become a mountain.

Was it to block the wind during winter?

With a flick of her finger, Su Huanian made the ice mountain solidify.

Su He looked at the ice mountain with satisfaction.

Having given up the house, Su Huanian no longer entered it, but went to meditate on a rock by the lake instead.

With her level of Tao cultivation, she didn’t fear the severe cold.

The news of a turtle demon in the lake had spread, and no one dared to come near since, making the place extremely peaceful.

Su Huanian immersed herself in deep cultivation, completing a Grand Circulation, and slowly opened her eyes.

She saw a fire torch lit near the cottage alongside clinking sounds.

Looking up, she was taken aback.

The turtle’s foreclaws moved swiftly, displaying a set of exquisite swordsmanship, carving her likeness out of the ice mountain before the door.

Though it was an ice sculpture, it stood gracefully as if alive, leaning against the railing outside the door, waiting for the moon, its head slightly raised revealing a slender jade neck, with brows like distant hills and eyes brimming with autumn waters, shoulders carving a slim waist, delicate hands half-hidden in the folds of her sleeves.

It captured her cool demeanor, emanating a purity and loftiness akin to a blooming snow lotus.

Lowering her head and contemplating quietly for a moment, Su Huanian’s fingers twitched, and she smiled softly, her voice carrying over the distance, “You’re a turtle, and I’m human, don’t harbor inappropriate thoughts that can only bring pain.”

This turtle probably met her first and didn’t know the difference between closeness and affection.

Having cultivated and met more people, he would naturally understand his own feelings.

How could a turtle fall in love with a human?

It’s just that he hadn’t seen a truly beautiful turtle yet.

Su He chuckled and turned to crawl into the cottage.

This was his second lifetime as a celibate from birth, and he had never chased after girls.

In his previous life, he was too shy even to speak to them.

This life, finally no longer human, he could let go.

But he didn’t know how, so he resorted to whatever crude methods he had.

The clumsy ways of his past life would surely serve him well here.

Too bad, he was a turtle.

Cultivate well, and strive to transform early.

Su He felt that his talent for cultivation must be quite good.

While carving the ice block, he devised a sword technique.

Wasn’t it proof of his cultivation talent that he, a turtle who had never encountered swordsmanship before, could create his technique?

Su He returned to the cottage, lay down on the ground, retreated into his shell, and slowly closed his eyes.

Here, every time he awoke, he could see the ice sculpture of Su Huanian through the crack of the door.

Wouldn’t an ice statue, however small, touch something deep in her heart?

Thus, slowly, very slowly, he would touch her heart, and when he transformed into human form, he would launch his final effort.

Su Huanian shook her head and chuckled lightly: “There’s a leopard demon in the east forest; don’t associate with it.”

A leopard surrounded by countless female leopards, trying to act like a lion, was surely not a good leopard and would be a bad influence on a turtle.

Su Huanian couldn’t possibly entertain thoughts for a turtle, but this turtle had good character and talent.

In the future, she could bring him into her sect as a junior brother.

Su Huanian flew away on her sword, but moments later, she descended back down.

It was as though a heavy shadow cloaked her, gradually merging with her.

Her closed eyes slowly opened to reveal a wisp of white hair at her temples.

In her eyes, there was shock, and a trace of panic flashed by.

This illusion realm of the Dragon Turtle was somewhat… somewhat…

Su Huanian’s intention penetrated it, and in an instant, she merged with her self within the illusion realm, memories spanning over a year flooding into her mind like a tidal wave.

It all seemed so real, as if she truly had spent more than a year here accompanying Su He.

Su Huanian took several deep breaths to suppress the stirring in her heart.

The Dragon Turtle had entered the Illusion Realm, forgetting everything—forgetting the sect, forgetting her master, forgetting Ya Ya—remembering only her.

Had it mistaken this feeling for romantic affection?

When she looked up, she saw her ice sculpture leaning against the door.

Perhaps it was the way it was crafted, but the ice sculpture didn’t resemble the youthful her from the illusion; instead, it bore a closer likeness to her current self, cold, silent, mature.

Su Huanian’s fingers twitched slightly.

Perhaps it wasn’t entirely an illusion; there might have been a hint of naive affection.

Su Huanian gazed towards the town ahead and then at the leopard in the forest.

Were these Xuanqing Temple Qinghe Taoist and Uncle Ge who had entered the Illusion Realm to help the Dragon Turtle cut off its emotional ties?

Such an emotional trial was indeed detrimental to one’s Tao cultivation; it certainly needed to be severed.

Su Huanian spoke softly to Su He, hibernating in the grass hut, “I will help you sever your affections.

In return, when we get out, you shall protect Ya Ya for three months.

Is that agreeable?”

Just three months, and she would be able to return from the Yao Guang World.

The Dragon Turtle was a Divine God Beast and would surely attract attention.

With Ya Ya by its side, constantly watched over by others, she would be much safer.

As long as Feng Yi Ju still wished to be Sect Leader, he wouldn’t dare to ignore his reputation.

In the Illusion Realm, it continued to snow day after day.

The grass hut, courtyard, and ice sculpture were all covered with thick snow.

Su Huanian stood outside the hut, letting the heavy snow drift down, covering her entire body.

She was slowly adjusting her mental state, cutting away hatred and worry, and aligning her state of mind to what it was before merging with the Illusion Realm—back to the state of Su Huanian within the illusion.

The trials of Xuanqing Temple were indeed mysterious, subtly making one unconsciously forget the outside world and merge into this illusion.

But her Tao cultivation was too profound, requiring her to actively cooperate.

Time passed, and eventually, the snow stopped.

The mountains, rivers, and lakes everywhere were wrapped in a silver cloak.

Su Huanian opened her eyes, the cold sharpness in them fading away, replaced by a pure chill.

She glanced at the hibernating turtle in the hut, a light smile blossoming on her lips.

Perhaps due to a year of companionship, she now found the sight of the turtle inexplicably comforting.

When she looked back, she saw the leopard curled up in a cave napping, and in the small town—

Su Huanian’s eyes sharpened.

Outside the “Su’s Martial Arts Center” in the town, a crowd had gathered, and the gates of the martial arts center were shattered, bodies strewn everywhere inside.

While she had been adjusting her state, the Su’s Martial Arts Center had been massacred.

Su Huanian became a streak of Sword Light and sped away, halting abruptly above the martial arts center.

Inside the center were countless corpses, all disciples of the center, and among them—a white-bearded old man.

“Dang!” A gong sounded, and a procession adorned with red and green approached from the street, led by a man on a tall horse with a red flower on his chest.

“The Lanflower Scholar is visiting home!”

Su Huanian looked over sharply.

The Lanflower Scholar, faced with the crowded martial arts center and the bodies on the ground, showed a look of utter astonishment.

…

As winter gave way to spring, Su He slowly awoke.

Pushing open the door, she saw the ice sculpture outside was now in ruins.

Melted and riddled with holes, its beauty was still discernible amidst its disfigured form.

Yet looking around, the beautiful lady was nowhere to be seen.

A trace of emptiness filled his heart.

Su He stepped out, and by the lakeside, the green grass had begun to sprout new shoots, exuding the fresh fragrance of early spring.

A leopard was drinking by the lake and then lifted its gaze to Su He.

It seemed about to speak.

Su He paused for a moment, then turned and walked away.

He vividly remembered the message from Su Huanian before hibernation.

This leopard was no good; keep your distance.

The leopard paused and called out, “Hey!

Don’t you want to know where your little sweetheart went?”