Yin Huizhi’s freedom of movement had been restored. He was initially suspicious, but one trip outside made everything clear.
Warrants for his arrest, bearing his likeness, had already been posted at the checkpoints outside the town. Locals crowded around them, pointing at his portrait with curious expressions. It was clearly the first time they had ever heard of such a person from the Guanlan Sect, the leader of the Immortal Alliance. To be honest, Yin Huizhi had not expected the sect to expend such effort on a bounty for a renegade disciple.
His cultivation was already destroyed. Was there any practical difference between being driven down the mountain and fleeing to avoid punishment? Yin Huizhi let out a faint, cynical smile and quietly withdrew from the crowd.
Upon returning to Shen Zhihui’s residence, a piece of fruit suddenly flew toward him as he passed the old tree in the courtyard. Yin Huizhi reached out to intercept it and looked up.
Sitting on a branch was a bored Xie Ling, toying with a leaf. He seemed to have been waiting there for a long time. Yin Huizhi could tell that Xie Ling was currently in a good mood. With a dull thud, Yin Huizhi threw the fruit back with force, aiming it accurately into Xie Ling’s lap. Xie Ling caught it easily as it bounced.
“I have seen what you wanted me to see,” Yin Huizhi said.
Xie Ling took a bite of the fruit, which was green enough to set one’s teeth on edge, and corrected him. “It was not I who wanted you to see that; it was your dear Martial Uncles.”
“There is little difference.” Yin Huizhi’s smile twitched, and his breath hitched slightly. “I have decided to accept your suggestion and your help.”
Xie Ling let out a soft huff of laughter. “And what if I have changed my mind?”
Yin Huizhi turned and began to walk away.
Unfortunately, after only a few steps, his legs stiffened and refused to move. He then began to walk back toward the tree against his will. Xie Ling leaped down from the branch, the gold-embroidered hem of his black robes fluttering in the wind as he landed directly in front of Yin Huizhi.
The scene suddenly triggered a memory of a certain night. On that cliff by the Cold Pool, had there not also been a branch stretching out like that?
Before he could finish the thought, Xie Ling hooked a finger. Yin Huizhi’s legs were wickedly driven to spin him in a circle on the spot, like a small dog trying to please its master.
“Xie Ling!” Yin Huizhi forced the words out, trying to stop him.
Xie Ling replied cheerfully, “Yes?”
“Release me,” Yin Huizhi said in annoyance.
Xie Ling generously withdrew the control as requested, saying without a shred of guilt, “Just a joke. Have you truly made up your mind?”
With the sharp, cold words of that wanted poster still fresh in his mind, Yin Huizhi said self-deprecatingly, “I seems I have no other choice.”
“Be more confident; remove the word ‘seems,'” Xie Ling said with a smile. “Since that is the case, we shall begin tonight.”
Yin Huizhi frowned slightly. “Beginning now?”
Xie Ling clapped his hands. “Before reconstructing your dantian, the toxins in your body must be completely purged. However, you are currently a mere mortal. Forcing spiritual energy into you to cleanse them would do more harm than good.”
“So I need to soak in spiritual liquid for a night,” Yin Huizhi followed up thoughtfully, “to increase my body’s tolerance before using external force for the purging.”
“Yes,” Xie Ling praised. “Your reading was not in vain.”
Yin Huizhi’s heart skipped a beat. That eerie feeling of being seen through resurfaced. While such information could indeed be found in medical texts on alchemy, how did Xie Ling know he had learned it from books? Xie Ling acted as though it were a casual remark, so Yin Huizhi was forced to suppress his doubts.
After a moment of hesitation, he asked a question that lacked any novelty. “What exactly is your purpose in helping me? If it is the same excuse as last time, do not bother mentioning it.”
The corners of Xie Ling’s mouth curled into a helpless, indulgent smile. “That truly is a pity, for I have only that one answer.”
Yin Huizhi frowned and switched to a more direct approach. “Do you know me?” He looked into Xie Ling’s eyes and added, “I mean, before that night at the Cold Pool.”
The smile on Xie Ling’s face faded. After a long silence, he finally spoke. “In a way.”
“It is,” Xie Ling lowered his head, staring back at Yin Huizhi. His own reflection was visible in the boy’s light brown pupils. He said softly, “The child of an old friend.”
The clouds were deep and the mist was thick, hiding the moon within.
A servant dozing outside the bathhouse suddenly jerked awake. Looking left and right, he hurriedly shook his companion, who was sleeping against the doorframe. Both quickly regained their senses and looked at the spiritual sundial in the corridor. Only half an hour had passed.
There was still a full fifteen minutes before their shift change. Their tense hearts eased, and they stood up straight, trying to look alert. It was not that the servants lacked suspicion, but there were guards strictly watching the perimeter. If something were wrong, there should have been some commotion by now. Since it was quiet, they assumed all was well. If they inquired pointlessly, they would only be punished.
Fifteen minutes later, they finally realized something was wrong because no one had come to relieve them. The two servants looked at each other, seeing panic in each other’s eyes, yet they still held a glimmer of hope as they knocked on the closed door.
There was no response. Their faces changed completely as they kicked the door open. Inside, the room was filled with steam, but the person was gone without a trace.
Yin Huizhi traveled day and night without rest, finally arriving in the Lower Realm.
He had never given up his plan to escape. Pretending to struggle and then softening his stance with Xie Ling was merely a way to find the perfect moment to leave. The Upper Realm was unparalleled in its scenery, and the great clans all marched under the banner of righteousness. Yet the Guanlan Sect, the leader among them, had branded him a murderer without distinguishing black from white. It was clear that what was said was not always what was done.
If the righteous clans were like this, how could a man of the Demonic Realm be trusted?
The regions directly controlled by the hundred immortal sects were known as the Upper Realm, the most spiritually blessed part of the continent. Those impoverished areas where immortal sects were few and far between were called the Lower Realm. While at the Guanlan Sect, Yin Huizhi would occasionally hear disciples talking about the Lower Realm, though usually with disdain.
There was no other reason than the thin spiritual energy there, which meant few talented cultivators were born. Consequently, even the lowliest chore disciples in the Guanlan Sect came from the Upper Realm.
The streets of the Lower Realm were not as prosperous as those in the Upper Realm, yet they possessed a unique sense of worldly life. Yin Huizhi wore indigo robes with narrow sleeves. Aside from the concealment artifact, he had used a disguise. Walking down the street, he looked like a perfectly ordinary youth. He could not remember the last time he had felt this relaxed.
He found a pharmacy and stepped inside. The shopkeeper poked his head out from behind the counter. After glancing at Yin Huizhi’s dirty hem, he squatted back down to his business without looking up. “Go next door for mortal medicine. This is a spiritual pharmacy.”
Yin Huizhi smiled faintly. “Do you buy spiritual herbs?”
“Spiritual herbs?” The shopkeeper immediately stretched his head out again. “What kind?”
Yin Huizhi unhooked a cloth bag from his waist and placed the herbs he had gathered along the way on the counter. The shopkeeper’s eyes widened, and he hurriedly picked up a magnifying glass.
“Is this Demon Bone Grass? Dry Yin Rhinoceros Vine, Golden Leaf Fragrance.” The shopkeeper was stunned. He had not expected the spiritual medicines Yin Huizhi mentioned to be rare items found only on the borders of the cultivation world. He looked at them for a moment before asking, “Young friend, how much are you looking to sell these for?”
Yin Huizhi seemed to think for a moment before saying slowly, “I do not actually know much about these things.”
“That is easy to settle!” The shopkeeper instinctively clapped his hands, but catching Yin Huizhi’s smiling eyes, he quickly corrected himself. “Let me tell you. In the market, these herbs are generally bought at this price.”
Yin Huizhi watched the shopkeeper hold up five fingers. “Five hundred spirit stones?”
The shopkeeper nodded vigorously. “That is right.”
Although Yin Huizhi had lived on Mount Guanlan for years, he was not such a fool that he could not tell when someone was lowballing him by two-thirds of the price. He looked at the shopkeeper with a knowing smile and repeated, “Five hundred?”
The shopkeeper cleared his throat and said seriously, “I am not cheating you. Look, these herbs are in decent condition, but from the time they were dug up until now, you have not even used a storage bag or spiritual energy to maintain them. Keeping them in a regular cloth bag affects their quality.”
The smile on Yin Huizhi’s lips faded, and his fingers curled slightly. The shopkeeper, perhaps feeling guilty, rubbed his hands together. “How about five hundred and fifty?”
There was no response. The shopkeeper let out a hiss of pain. “Six hundred. Six hundred, and that is my final offer!”
Yin Huizhi suddenly snapped back to reality. “No need. Five hundred is fine.”
The shopkeeper blinked, not expecting someone to negotiate the price downward. “Huh?”
Yin Huizhi hooked the bag of herbs with his finger. “I want to ask for some information.”
The shopkeeper understood, his gaze following the bag. “That is easy. Ask away.”
Yin Huizhi pondered for a moment. “What I want to ask might only be known to a local.”
The shopkeeper let out a confident laugh. “I grew up in Fortune City. My family has been here for three generations. Just ask.”
“Very well.” Yin Huizhi lowered his gaze. “Do you know where the survivors of the Ouyang clan massacre are now?”
The smile on the shopkeeper’s face froze, and a hint of scrutiny appeared in his shrewd eyes. “You are not a local, are you? Why do you ask?”
Yin Huizhi let out a sigh. “I am not. Truth be told, I am from the Nie family, distant relatives of the Ouyang clan. When the incident happened at the Ouyang manor, everyone inside and outside Fortune City was in fear for their lives. My family was far away in the north, so we only heard that the situation was tragic but never saw it with our own eyes. Now that I hear a survivor is still in Fortune City, I ran away from home to come here.”
His words were vague, but hearing the name Nie, the shopkeeper believed most of it. Seven years ago, the Ouyang family was the most prominent local immortal sect, nearly bringing Fortune City into the Upper Realm, and their relatives had basked in that glory. The Nie family had been close with the Ouyangs, but for some reason, the heads of the families had a falling out. For the next twenty years, the Nies never set foot in Fortune City.
The shopkeeper sighed. “When the Ouyang family was slaughtered by the Heavenly Night Gate, only one remained.” He lowered his voice, leaning toward Yin Huizhi’s ear. “Only the young master. After the immortals of the Upper Realm executed the demonic cultivators, they returned the Ouyang young master, who had lost a hand, to the Yang clan. Oh, you know the Yangs, right? Their old surname was also Ouyang, but after the massacre, they thought the name was unlucky and changed it to Yang.”
Yin Huizhi bit the inside of his cheek and pressed, “They were returned to the Yangs. And then?”
“What else could happen?” the shopkeeper scoffed. “The Yangs took all the remaining money, land, and treasures of the Ouyang family under the guise of caring for the young master. As a result, the Ouyang young master stayed with them for less than five years before going completely mad. Later, that young master accidentally killed someone and was kicked out by the Yang family. He is currently huddling in a ruined temple on Mount Fulin. I do not even know if he has starved to death.”
Seeing Yin Huizhi remain silent, the shopkeeper rolled his eyes and muttered, “Who knows if they drove him mad on purpose. Though it could be said that wicked people meet their match. That lunatic never treated people as humans. Back when their family was still around, my father and I went to deliver spiritual herbs and saw that lunatic riding a child who was not even as tall as my waist like a horse.”
Yin Huizhi’s mouth twitched as he handed the bag of herbs to the shopkeeper. “Thank you.”
The shopkeeper’s face transformed instantly as he took the bag. “Hahaha, you are too kind!”
Yin Huizhi used the spirit stones he received to buy a change of clothes and found an inn to stay for the night. To his surprise, the moment he entered, the waiter greeted him with an apologetic face. “Guest, it is quite unfortunate. The last room in our establishment was just taken by another guest.”
Yin Huizhi looked at the darkening sky and shook his head. “It is fine. I will look elsewhere.”
“I find that I have quite an affinity with this young friend. If you do not mind, how about sharing a room with me?”
A familiar, gentle voice came from upstairs. Upon hearing it, Yin Huizhi froze on the spot. He slowly turned his head and looked toward the second-floor corridor, meeting the smiling face of Ji Huixue.
Ji Huixue also looked at him quietly. After a long moment, he let out a soft sigh and said in a half-coaxing, half-persuading tone, “Come up, A-Hui.”