As the three were about to exit the city gates, Su Xinrou was captivated by a rabbit. Her two older brothers, noticing her fondness for the rabbit before them, decided to catch it. After chasing it for quite some time, the three Qi Refining Stage cultivators surprisingly failed to capture a single rabbit. Instead, they were led by the rabbit to this abandoned estate.
Deep within the estate, Su Xinrou discovered a small Fixed Teleportation Array.
On the other end of the teleportation array was a cave. Inside the cave lay a pile of spirit stones, while outside grew a patch of spirit herbs.
Moreover, the cave’s location was not far from the grave of the female protagonist’s birth mother. Not only did she gain this opportunity for free, but she could also take a shortcut to retrieve the jade pendant.
This was the reason Su Jin came here—truly killing two birds with one stone.
At the Su Family residence, inside the Liuli Pavilion.
"Crash—!" A teacup was violently smashed onto the floor, shattering upon impact, sending fragments and scalding tea splattering in all directions.
"Su Jin—! That rebellious daughter! That unfilial wretch!" After reading the message in the jade slip, the roar of Su Jing'an echoed from within the Liuli Pavilion, startling a flock of spirit birds from the trees.
Madam Su’s eyes darkened slightly as she glanced at Su Jing'an. "Jing'an, what matter is worth such anger? Xinrou has just fallen asleep; too much noise will wake her."
"Father, has that good-for-nothing Su Jin done something foolish again, to provoke your fury like this? Leave it to me; I will surely teach her a lesson!" Su Chen asked respectfully.
Su Ze chimed in, "Father, please calm down. Your health is what matters most. Don’t harm your body over someone insignificant."
Madam Su gently placed a cup of warm tea by Su Jing'an’s hand, lowering her voice slightly. "Jing'an, have a sip of tea to soothe your anger. What exactly has that rebellious daughter done this time?"
Su Jing'an picked up the teacup and took a sip, then slammed it back onto the table with another loud thud, his face frighteningly grim.
"That rebellious daughter! She had the audacity to injure the guards at the mansion gate, forge my orders, and then flee! She is utterly lawless!"
Upon hearing this, everyone in the room couldn’t help but frown.
Su Chen’s expression grew particularly complex. "Father, is this news true? Although we are not close to Su Jin,"
"her timid and cowardly nature is known throughout the mansion. This matter… could there be more to it?"
Su Jing'an’s mood had also calmed somewhat. "Chen'er, your thoughts are not unreasonable. This matter is indeed strange. Chen'er and Ze'er, you two…"
"Ah—!"
A terrified scream erupted from Su Xinrou’s boudoir within the Liuli Pavilion, cutting off Su Jing'an’s next words. Everyone turned toward the source of the sound, their faces paling.
Madam Su rushed in panic toward Su Xinrou’s boudoir, with Su Jing'an and the two young masters closely following behind.
"Ahhh! Mother, Xinrou is in so much pain, it hurts so much!" As soon as Madam Su entered Su Xinrou’s boudoir, she saw her clutching her chest tightly, tears streaming down her face as she cried out in agony.
Madam Su’s heart ached as she ran over and embraced Su Xinrou. "It’s alright, Xinrou. Mother is here. Tell me where it hurts."
"Mother, Xinrou feels terrible. My heart is racing terribly, as if I’ve lost something very important. Mother… it hurts so much…"
"Pfft!"
Su Xinrou spat out a large mouthful of blood, staining Madam Su’s dress with vivid, flower-like splatters.
Outside the door, the father and two sons, who had been waiting, heard Su Xinrou’s cries of pain and the sound of her vomiting blood. Their hearts ached so much they could barely restrain themselves from rushing in to check on her condition.
But hindered by the fact that this was Su Xinrou’s boudoir, the three of them forcibly halted their steps.
Su Ze was anxiously pacing at the doorway. "Mother, how is Xinrou? Where is she hurt? Ze'er has many Healing Pills here. Please take them and give them to Xinrou."
"Mother, Mother, I feel like Sister took something from me. Yes, it's… it's that egg."
"Mother, Xinrou feels that egg is very important to her. Mother, Xinrou begs you—"
"Can you ask Sister to give the spirit beast egg to me? Xinrou is willing to exchange anything for it."
"Alright! Alright! Alright! Mother promises you. Mother will have your eldest brother go and get the egg right away." Madam Su hurried to the doorway.
"Chen'er, hurry, go and take the spirit beast egg from Su Jin's hands. Xinrou is suffering terribly and senses that egg is very important to her. Go quickly!"
The last two words were almost shouted by Madam Su.
Her face, usually dignified and composed, was now filled with anxiety and worry, almost completely losing the composure befitting the mistress of the household.
Su Chen said nothing more. After quickly bowing, he infused Spiritual Power into his legs and swiftly headed toward Liuyun Pavilion.
Finding no trace of Su Jin at Liuyun Pavilion, he cursed under his breath, "Such a troublesome waste."
Without pausing, Su Chen turned and dashed out of the estate, leaving only a blurry afterimage in his wake.
After learning of Su Jin's whereabouts from the guards, he wasted no time and sped off in the direction she had disappeared, his figure vanishing in the blink of an eye.
Meanwhile, Su Jin, whom the Su family was searching for, was scavenging for usable items in an abandoned mansion.
"Achoo—!"
"Who's talking bad about me!"
Su Jin, who was dismantling a roof beam, rubbed her nose.
"This piece of wood feels icy cold—definitely something good. Take it!"
"This black pot surely isn't ordinary. Take it!"
…
"Huh? An illusion? Just now, it seemed like this mirror fragment… flickered."
"Forget it. If I can't figure it out, I'll just take it all anyway!"
"Ugh—!"
Suddenly, Su Jin felt a sharp pang in her heart, a strong sense of unease and impending danger enveloping her.
She instinctively pressed a hand to her chest. Su Jin knew that this palpitation only occurred when there was malice or danger approaching the Original Host within a hundred li.
This keen perception was over ten times that of an ordinary cultivator—it could be said this was a unique ability belonging to the Original Host.
The moment the palpitation appeared, Su Jin immediately dropped the items in her hands that were of little use to her and bolted toward a small teleportation Formation nearby.
Gritting her teeth, she took out ten low-grade spirit stones and tossed them into the slot of the Formation. The teleportation Formation instantly lit up. Su Jin leaped into the Formation.
Quickly retrieving all the offensive talismans from her storage pouch, she infused them with Spiritual Power and activated them all.
"Hum—!"
Space twisted, and an invisible force enveloped and pulled at her.
The scene before her began to blur—the abandoned mansion, the mottled walls, Biluo City under the night sky… everything transformed into streams of radiant light.
At the very moment her figure was about to vanish, Su Jin threw all the talismans in her hand toward the Array Core of the teleportation Formation.
With her final glance, she saw a figure in the distant night swiftly charging toward her direction.
It was the eldest son of the Su family, Su Chen.
"Hah! That guy's nose is really sharp!"
The Su family! They had caught on.
But, too late.
"Boom—!"
The instant Su Jin's figure completely disappeared from the spot, the several talismans she had thrown into the Array Core simultaneously exploded with a deafening roar!
A violent shockwave swept outward, shaking the ground violently. Su Chen, arriving a step too late, could only raise his arm to block.