“Big Sister, they tied me up so tightly. It hurts.” Nangong Yu’s eyes brimmed with tears.
Xie Jinyue’s heart immediately softened. She took out a handful of spirit fruit. “Don’t cry, good girl. I’ll make them apologize to you later.”
Could cultivators really apologize to mortals? Nangong Yu’s eyes lit up. In all the time since she had transmigrated, she had never seen anything like it.
“Junior Sister Xie!” Chen Zhi frowned, clearly displeased by Xie Jinyue’s decision to act on her own.
He glanced at the rogue cultivators not far away and said coolly, “We haven’t figured out the truth yet. Releasing her just like that is rather careless.”
Xie Jinyue tossed the Binding Immortal Rope back to him. “Senior Brother Chen, if her identity is truly suspicious, a mere Binding Immortal Rope wouldn’t be enough to restrain her.”
“But if there’s nothing wrong with her identity, then the way we treated her would amount to bullying.”
Her words made sense. Chen Zhi pressed his lips together, accepted the Binding Immortal Rope, and put it into his storage bag.
With one hand gripping his sword, he walked toward Nangong Yu. “Just now, when Junior Brother and I looked at you, why did our eyes hurt?”
The stabbing pain still hadn’t completely faded. Even after taking a Rejuvenation Pill, Chen Zhi found himself wanting to squint as he approached the girl.
“If you’re sick, go see a doctor,” Nangong Yu said softly. “If you’ve encountered a difficult problem, find someone clever. Why are you asking me?”
Chen Zhi was momentarily speechless.
The rogue cultivators watching from nearby found her answer rather sharp as well.
“Isn’t that exactly how it was?”
“I think it’s her.”
“That female demoness spoke in the same astonishing manner back then.”
The rogue cultivators exchanged information among themselves, but not one of them thought to inform the people from the Ziyang Sect.
Chen Zhi had no idea that some of the people here might know Nangong Yu’s origins—and that there was more than one of them.
He was left speechless by Nangong Yu, but Wang Hezheng was furious. He raised his sword again. “Would an ordinary mortal be this insolent? Let me slash her once!”
One slash—to test how deep her waters ran!
Chen Zhi quite approved of the idea, but Xie Jinyue raised her sword to block him. “She may be guilty, and then Junior Brother Wang can slash her.”
In other words, since they could not find any crime Nangong Yu had committed, he had no right to attack her.
“Wow.” Nangong Yu stood behind Xie Jinyue, her eyes shining. “This Big Sister is so fair-minded, wise, and clever. Standing next to her, you look like a clown.”
Xie Jinyue: “…”
She stumbled, then turned around and stared at the girl behind her in disbelief.
“You! You’re courting death!” Wang Hezheng was so enraged that he lost all reason. Spiritual energy surged wildly around him, and killing intent flooded the air.
He had gone berserk.
Xie Jinyue struggled to hold him back and snapped, “Little Yu, stop talking!”
She was innocent.
But that mouth of hers really did make people want to strangle her.
“I was only joking.” Nangong Yu moved to the side of the road and gnawed on a chicken leg. “Immortal Wang, why can’t you take a joke? You look pretty old to me—well, you should be, right? You can’t possibly be younger than I am, can you? I’m only sixteen.”
“How old are you, Immortal Wang? Have you reached the age where you can’t take a joke?”
Wang Hezheng’s mind was filled with thoughts of killing her. Without thinking, he shouted, “What are you, to think you’re worthy of joking with me?”
“I’m your future junior sister.” Nangong Yu feigned surprise. “Didn’t you all say I have three spiritual roots? It shouldn’t be a problem for me to join the Ziyang Sect as an outer disciple, right?”
“What? Are outer disciples not worthy of calling you Senior Brother and Junior Sister?”
“If that’s the case, then I apologize, Immortal Wang. I was being rash and shouldn’t have joked around with you.”
Wang Hezheng was practically on fire with rage!
He had never been this angry in his life. Worse yet, it was the sort of anger he had no idea how to vent. Usually, the things that struck at his pride were other people’s talents, sects, or cultivation levels, but today it seemed…
“Hmph!” Chen Zhi snorted at that moment. “You haven’t joined the Ziyang Sect yet. Never mind that you haven’t even had your spiritual roots tested—even if you are found to possess spiritual roots, it doesn’t mean you’ll necessarily be accepted into the Ziyang Sect.”
With such a disposition, such a foul temperament, and such a talent for sowing discord with her tongue, the Ziyang Sect would never accept her even if she were an ordinary mortal rather than a wicked cultivator!
“If I’m not accepted, then so be it.” Nangong Yu pouted, looking thoroughly bored. “It’s not as if I have to join your Ziyang Sect.”
What she really wanted was to find Zhao You.
The two senior and junior brothers, Zhou Yun and Zhao You, had knocked over a box of her precious self-heating hotpot. She was merely going to the Ziyang Sect to demand compensation.
Once she got her compensation, she would leave. Who cared about their second-rate sect?
That was right. After hearing so much about the Five Great Sects and Eight Great Schools in the teahouse, Nangong Yu had realized that the Ziyang Sect was clearly one of the Eight Great Schools. Since it did not even rank among the Five Great Sects, in her eyes, it belonged squarely in the second tier.
Anyone who had experienced an infinite-flow scenario knew that second- and third-tier factions were nothing more than waystations for gathering clues and picking up supplies.
Her disdain was so genuine, so utterly free of pretense, that Chen Zhi felt as if someone had set a fire in his chest.
“Heh!” Wang Hezheng spoke first. “Then leave! Why are you still hanging around here?”
Xie Jinyue sighed, sheathed her sword, and stood in front of Nangong Yu. “Why do you insist on talking?”
Even if she wanted to defend her, there was no way she could do so anymore.
“The Ziyang Sect isn’t your family’s private property,” Nangong Yu said, looking at Wang Hezheng in confusion. “I have spiritual roots, so of course I’m going to find a master.”
“Didn’t you say you disdained joining our Ziyang Sect?” Wang Hezheng shot back.
Nangong Yu replied, “I never said that. I said that if everyone in the Ziyang Sect is like you, then I don’t have to join.”
She suddenly looked horrified. “Wait, don’t tell me the entire Ziyang Sect is full of petty, brainless cultivators like you who try to kill people at the drop of a hat?”
“Then I’m not joining! I’m not joining!”
She waved her hands frantically, shaking her head like a rattle drum.
Not only Wang Hezheng, but even Chen Zhi was so angry that his spiritual energy faltered. He had the urge to grit his teeth.
Xie Jinyue’s eyes, however, lit up. She put an arm around Nangong Yu and said delightedly, “Senior Brother Chen, Junior Brother Wang, this little girl is quick-witted and sharp-tongued. She’d be perfect for the External Affairs Peak!”
She desperately signaled to the two men with her eyes.
More and more cultivators were gathering around. They were clearly no match for Little Yu. Why invite further humiliation? Not only would they become a laughingstock, but they would also damage the sect’s reputation.
Wang Hezheng, however, only wanted to kill her. “Hmph!”
If Xie Jinyue had not been protecting Nangong Yu, he would have already stabbed her a hundred and eight times.
As the senior disciple in charge of recruitment, Chen Zhi took Xie Jinyue’s hint and forcibly swallowed his anger. “Whether you’re accepted into the sect depends first on your spiritual roots, and second on your temperament. In a few days, when the spirit-root testing array is activated, we’ll know the answer.”
So what if she proved to have spiritual roots? To enter the sect, she would still have to climb the nine hundred and ninety-nine steps of the Heavenly Stairway. Anyone whose temperament failed to meet the requirements would be stopped there.
Wang Hezheng wanted to kill someone but couldn’t, so he flew away in a fury and went into the grass to slaughter wild beasts.
Seeing that there was no more excitement to watch, the rogue cultivators clasped their hands in farewell and left one after another.
Xie Jinyue let out a sigh of relief and pinched Nangong Yu’s cheek. “You really are fearless!”
She liked this mortal girl, who was both daring and quick-witted. Taking out a handkerchief, she wiped the grease from the corner of Nangong Yu’s mouth.
“It’s a shame about my bowl of soup,” she said, her heart aching.
When she had first woken up and seen Little Yu in danger, she had thrown the bowl without a second thought. The soup and fried egg had spilled all over the ground and were no longer edible.
“There’s more, Sister Xie.” Nangong Yu pulled her over and served her another bowl.
Xie Jinyue had prepared plenty of bowls and plates, while Nangong Yu cut up chicken wings, chicken legs, and rabbit legs, arranged them on a plate, and brought it over to her.
“Thank you, Little Yu!” Xie Jinyue exclaimed, both surprised and delighted. Taking the plate, she paid no heed to a cultivator’s dignity, crouched down, grabbed a piece with her bare hand, and began eating.
Wang Hezheng wasn’t around at the moment. Otherwise, he would surely have muttered, “Aren’t you afraid of being poisoned to death?”
“Mmm~”
“Delicious.”
The two of them ate bite after bite, thoroughly satisfied.
Xie Jinyue had not touched ordinary mortal food in ages, and now her heart and mouth were filled with nostalgia.
Since it was made by Nangong Yu herself, Nangong Yu’s rose-colored glasses were turned up to the highest setting. Naturally, it had to be the most delicious food in the world. She devoured the entire meal, leaving not a scrap behind.
“You ate all that?” Xie Jinyue asked in surprise, looking at her stomach.
Before Nangong Yu could answer, someone called from nearby, “Junior Sister Xie.”
“Coming.” Xie Jinyue rose and walked toward the admissions desk. “Senior Brother Chen, did you call me?”
Chen Zhi transmitted his voice directly to her. “That mortal girl isn’t as simple as she appears.”
His eyes had already recovered, but they still felt faintly uncomfortable. “You should know that Junior Brother Wang and I aren’t the sort of people who would deliberately make things difficult for mortals.”
He solemnly recounted how he and Wang Hezheng had suffered consecutive injuries to their eyes after seeing the girl.
Only then did Xie Jinyue learn what had happened. After pondering for a moment, she said, “If her identity is suspect, then she should be kept right under our noses so we can watch her carefully.”
If the other party had come for the Ziyang Sect, and they scared her off, she might disguise herself and return with a different method. By then, they might not be able to detect her.
Chen Zhi could not refute that reasoning.
“Besides, I don’t think she necessarily bears any ill will,” Xie Jinyue added.
Chen Zhi disagreed this time. “She sowed discord between me and Junior Brother Wang, provoked Junior Brother Wang several times, and even caused the two of you to quarrel. If that doesn’t count as harboring malicious intentions, what does?”
Xie Jinyue smiled faintly. “The moment Junior Brother Wang saw her, he started ordering her around and treating her abominably.”
Chen Zhi frowned, understanding her meaning. “She’s only a mortal.”
Xie Jinyue smiled, then wiped the hilt of her sword. “You’re the senior brother, so it’s your call. If anything happens, let me know. I’m going to play with Little Yu.”
A mortal?
Yes, mortals were not worthy of getting angry. Even less were they worthy of fighting back.
“You—” Chen Zhi’s expression darkened, anger flickering between his brows.
“What did Senior Brother say to her?” Wang Hezheng returned just then, having gone off to vent his anger. Landing nearby, he sneered, “I think she’s been bewitched by that heretical cultivator.”
Chen Zhi also felt that Xie Jinyue’s attitude was unusual. Gone was the respect and amiability she had shown throughout the journey; instead, she seemed to have adopted the reckless abandon of a heretical cultivator.
His heart grew heavy as he took out the sect token.
The Ruins of the Lin Residence.
“Elder, what is this place?” The dense stench of blood in the hidden chamber made several disciples nearly vomit.
Elder Lu walked ahead, holding a silver mirror in her hand. Her brows drew together slightly. “There are formations here concealing things as well.”
“What on earth was the Lin family doing?”
“This place doesn’t look like the residence of proper cultivators. It looks more like the lair of heretical cultivators.”
“Hiss! There’s actually blood-mud beneath us!”
“What? No wonder the smell of blood is so strong. Just how many people must have died to leave behind blood-mud this deep?”
Upon hearing this, Elder Lu glanced down at the ground, frowned, and cast a Lightness Technique before continuing onward.
She was searching for a place where the retrospection mirror could function.
The sect had sent her to Luoxia City to investigate the extermination of the Lin family precisely because she possessed a retrospection mirror, which could replay scenes from the past.
Elder Lu had initially paid little attention to the matter. It was only after arriving at the Lin residence and discovering that the retrospection mirror worked intermittently—sometimes producing images, sometimes not—that she realized the situation was far from simple.
