Translator: CinderTL
After a long silence, Mo Xianxian wiped the sweat from her forehead and quietly put her clothes back on, her expression devoid of anger or sorrow, only a serene calm.
The middle-aged man stood by the door, straightening his robes. He turned to Mo Xianxian and said, "I am Yuan Anping, the chief constable of this city. You may speak with the steward; he will see to your accommodations and any needs you have."
With that, he pushed open the door and strode out.
"Thank you, Master," Mo Xianxian replied.
Her demeanor had shifted remarkably quickly, as if she had accepted everything that had transpired. Yet her gaze drifted through the crack in the door toward the gloomy sky, her thoughts unreadable.
After tidying her appearance, she extended a slender, jade-like foot and stepped outside.
As for her veil, she no longer wore it.
West City,
Xu Sanyan wandered through the streets, clutching a fruit in his hand and taking large bites. As the flesh slid down his throat, his spirit jolted slightly.
Unwilling to waste anything, he chewed and swallowed even the pit, then licked his lips with lingering satisfaction.
The fruit was excellent, but far too expensive. This unknown variety cost a staggering two pounds of soul spirit each, and he'd bought two in one go, leaving him with just over four pounds remaining.
"My divine soul should have broken through the three-pound mark..." Xu Sanyan murmured to himself.
Now that his divine soul had reached this stage, he could clearly sense a growing resistance. Whether it was steamed buns, dumplings, or this fruit, the enhancement was far less pronounced than before, as if his body had developed antibodies.
But Xu Sanyan knew he was nearing the critical point.
His cultivation level was like a bottle, and his divine soul was the water within. Each advancement in cultivation expanded the bottle to hold more water, but there was still a limit.
At the Peak Stage of Dao Seeking, the bottle could hold roughly four pounds of "water." Having already poured in over three pounds, little space remained.
"Almost there..."
Xu Sanyan patted the storage pouch at his chest. He planned to completely fill the bottle, pushing his divine soul to its absolute limit, before refining the Nether Phoenix Divine Soul for maximum effect.
To fill the remaining "water," the four-plus kilograms of soul spirits he had left were clearly insufficient. He needed to earn more.
By his calculations, another ten-odd kilograms should be enough.
Just then, the mother-child stone in his robe warmed slightly, and a message appeared on its surface:
"I'm Xiang Tan. Senior Brother, save me!"
Xu Sanyan frowned, his "idiot allergy" flaring up. Why don't you tell me where you are or what happened? How am I supposed to save you otherwise?
He remembered Xiang Tan being smarter before. Could the Demonic Seed have affected her intelligence?
"Where are you?" Xu Sanyan asked.
After a moment, Xiang Tan replied, "I don't know."
"What happened?"
"I don't know either. I just woke up and found myself in a cramped room."
"Senior Brother, save me!"
Xu Sanyan rolled his eyes. Does she think I'm a god? Expecting me to save her when she knows nothing?
Go die!
Just as he was about to put the mother-child stone away, another message appeared:
"There are many crystals around me, and some other random stuff... and a corpse."
"What kind of crystals?"
"They look like spirit stones, completely transparent, but without any spiritual energy."
Soul crystals!
Xu Sanyan's spirits soared. Save her? Absolutely!
Xiang Tan was his dearest friend, who had tirelessly worked and worried for him. How could he abandon her now that she was in danger?
"This corpse is so strange," she wrote. "It's right beside me, but I can't touch it. It's like an illusion, and yet it looks so familiar... I feel like I've seen it somewhere before..."
Familiar?
Xu Sanyan frowned deeply. This was the Ghost Realm, where ghosts left no corpses upon death. Where could this corpse have come from?
After a long silence, Xiang Tan finally sent another message:
"I remember now! I saw her among the crowd when Senior Brother was fighting Fang Qingge and the others."
"Her?" Xu Sanyan murmured softly. That pronoun...
A female corpse?
"She seemed to be standing with the Zuoqiu Clan of Huai Lake. I don't know her name."
Xu Sanyan's pupils constricted sharply. A member of the Zuoqiu Clan of Huai Lake?
Could she be one of the Huai Lake Seven Heroes?
Suddenly, he recalled something. When he, Junior Sister Zhao, and the others had taken refuge in that pavilion to escape the fierce ghosts, the great elder had said,
"What can I get for you, six guests?"
At the time, he had wondered where the sixth person was, even speculating whether the old man hadn't died completely.
Now, looking back, perhaps the answer lay right there...
So, was the problem with Zuoqiu Hui or Zuoqiu Zhen?
"What color clothes is she wearing?" Xu Sanyan asked Xiang Tan, his brow furrowed deeply.
"She's not wearing any clothes."
"Hmm?"
Xu Sanyan inwardly lamented. If the mother-child stone could transmit images, he could have identified her immediately.
"Look around for anything that might help you escape. I don't know your location, so I can't rescue you directly. You need to determine where you are first."
"Understood, Senior Brother."
The connection went silent. Xu Sanyan closed his eyes slightly, his mind racing.
If either Zuoqiu Hui or Zuoqiu Zhen was compromised, Xu Sanyan believed Zuoqiu Zhen was the more likely candidate.
Because she... was too provocative!
The Zuoqiu Clan was a prominent family of the righteous dao, and the Huai Lake Seven Heroes were its most distinguished members. Their upbringing would undoubtedly be strict, forbidding any behavior that could disgrace the clan. How could she allow herself to be toyed with after only a few meetings?
Comparing her to the other six, Boss Zuoqiu Shu was gentle and caring towards her sisters. Second Sister Zuoqiu Chen was upright and principled. Third sister Zuoqiu Hui was exceptionally intelligent and acted with composure. Fourth sister Zuoqiu Xin was somewhat arrogant but also a bit naive. Fifth sister Zuoqiu Yu had only met him once, so his personality remained unclear. Sixth Sister was Zuoqiu Zhen, and Seventh Sister Zuoqiu Yi rarely spoke, perhaps due to her reserved nature.
While each of the seven had distinct personalities, they all shared one trait: impeccable manners. This reflected the clan's strict upbringing. But Zuoqiu Zhen...
Xu Sanyan recalled the moment Zuoqiu Zhen had deliberately raised her arm to meet his touch. Something felt deeply wrong. He hadn't noticed it at the time, but now, upon careful reflection, he realized there was a significant problem.
He had made it clear that he favored her eldest sister, Zuoqiu Shu. Yet Zuoqiu Zhen had still acted so boldly.
Could she simply crave the thrill of such forbidden behavior?
Though he himself enjoyed such sensations, Xu Sanyan was a member of the demonic path, acting on impulse. The Zuoqiu Clan, however, belonged to the righteous dao and had to consider appearances.
Moreover, Zuoqiu Zhen clearly respected her eldest sister. Even if she harbored feelings for Xu Sanyan, she wouldn't have been so forward.
Therefore, he suspected that Zuoqiu Zhen might have been influenced by something else.
Of course, these were merely his conjectures, and their accuracy remained uncertain.
Still, his guard was now raised. He would need to be more cautious when dealing with the Zuoqiu Clan in the future. Who knew what sinister secrets their family might be hiding?
And this secret realm itself felt deeply unsettling!
Xu Sanyan gazed at the bustling street, his eyes lowered slightly.
The inhabitants were too lifelike. Each possessed their own thoughts, intelligence, and even a unique sense of existence.
Take Lanlan from that night, for example. He had tasted her signature technique, "Phoenix Dance of the Nine Heavens."
The key word here was "signature," not "Phoenix Dance of the Nine Heavens."
(End of the Chapter)
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