Jingxi smiled warmly and slowly stirred the medicinal broth with a spoon.
“Every time Young Miss has her period, her small face turns deathly pale and she becomes listless with no energy. When she returned yesterday, I saw it and prepared this in advance.”
Sang Ying was startled. Hearing that title, her ears tingled, and she buried her small face half into her pillow: “Don’t call me that. And…thanks.”
Unlike Lengmian, Jingxi had been brought into the household by Xie Lingyu after their marriage. These three years she had taken care of Sang Ying’s daily life.
The first time Jingxi called her “Young Madam,” Sang Ying had nearly fallen out of her chair. For three years, the most common thing Sang Ying had said to her was not to call her that, but Jingxi had never changed the title.
Watching the girl’s awkward expression, Jingxi’s smile deepened: “But you’ve already married the Sword Sovereign and are the mistress of this household. Shouldn’t you be called that? Why does Young Miss forbid it?”
The girl’s eyes curved like a half moon as she glanced at her: “…It’s aging.”
“The reason might be true, but don’t you feel that such a title gives the first impression of a woman in her thirties or forties?”
Sang Ying rested her chin and said softly: “That alone would be bad enough, but combined with my reputation outside these years, the rumors about me now have become that I’m a greedy, calculating, cruel, vicious, and sharp-tongued old woman.”
Jingxi couldn’t help but let out a muffled laugh, and Sang Ying raised her eyes to look at her.
Jingxi: “But I think these aren’t actually insults. When they call you greedy and calculating, it’s only because they haven’t profited from dealing with you. When they call you cruel, vicious, and sharp-tongued, it’s because you won’t be easily manipulated as they wish. Losing to you and unable to turn the tables, they can only slander you helplessly.”
“I already know that.”
Sang Ying hugged her pillow, buried her small face in it, and lowered her eyelashes to hide her emotions.
It was just that he was like a high mountain and clear moon, pristine and flawless. Sometimes she also wished…she could be more worthy of him.
Seeing her mood was low, Jingxi was about to speak when the girl suddenly raised her head, her small face crumpled: “What about ‘old woman’?”
Jingxi paused: “Then let me call you ‘Young Madam’ instead. How about that?”
Sang Ying thought for a few seconds and nodded: “Good idea. It sounds ten years younger just hearing it.”
Raising her head, she drained the warm medicinal broth in one gulp. Sang Ying sat up and took out a small square table from her storage ring: “Jingxi, bring me the account books from the merchant association branch that had trouble the other day. Also bring the transaction certificates and contracts from those three deals. And what did the branch people say? Have they found the merchant who fled?”
Jingxi’s brow furrowed slightly: “Young Madam, it’s not too late to handle these once your body feels better.”
Sang Ying waved her hand: “The pain is already gone, and I can’t do anything else anyway. Since I have nothing to do, I might as well look at the account books.”
Seeing there was no way to dissuade her, Jingxi sighed and went to get the account books and certificates from the study. She adjusted the light of the spirit lamp: “You burned the midnight oil over this matter the day before yesterday, Young Madam. If you feel unwell, do rest. Don’t push yourself.”
“Mm.”
Sang Ying flipped through the papers. This incident involving the merchant association branch was connected to a case.
Three transactions. The merchant association was transporting rare spirit fruits. Spirit fruits lose their spiritual energy once picked, and placing them in a storage ring would cause them to lose it. So they were sealed in cargo boxes and sent by escort service. To prevent loss of spiritual energy, they couldn’t be opened mid-journey.
One batch of cargo was intercepted by the Immortal Alliance during transport. An envoy from the Immortal Alliance disregarded the merchant association’s objections and forced it open. Before all eyes, the cargo box contained not spirit fruits but several young immortal maidens who had gone missing from Jade Pool.
The Cloud Water Merchant Association’s branch was sealed by the Immortal Alliance two days ago when the incident occurred, and all transactions halted.
The Immortal Alliance sent people to thoroughly investigate, but the other two batches of cargo had already been delivered and the buyers couldn’t be found. The merchant association official responsible for the spirit fruit transaction had already fled.
The Immortal Alliance found the suppliers of the spirit fruits. The suppliers’ statement was that they had been threatened by the Cloud Water Merchant Association with their lives and families, forced to help them do evil.
With that statement, rumors flew everywhere. Not just the branch, but the entire Cloud Water Merchant Association was implicated, and their reputation suffered. People spontaneously organized to boycott the black-hearted Cloud Water Merchant Association, no longer buying their goods. The merchant association’s revenue plummeted. Several suppliers also came to discuss terminating their contracts.
Jingxi said in a gentle voice: “The branch found a lead on the escaped official’s whereabouts last night. They should be able to locate them again soon.”
“Mm. Jingxi, I’m a bit drowsy. I want to sleep for a while.”
Sang Ying threw the materials aside and lay back into the quilt. Jingxi watched for a while, then acknowledged and left, closing the door as she went.
Sang Ying got out of bed and tapped on the window frame.
No response.
She tapped a second time, and the rear window was pulled open. Lengmian’s expressionless face appeared: “Young Miss.”
Sang Ying was curious: “Where did you go?”
“Preparing medicine.”
Lengmian neatly placed several prepared medicinal broths into her storage ring, conjured sword light, his tone flat: “There’s no stopping you from going out anyway. I was afraid I wouldn’t have time while handling business, so I prepared them in advance to bring along.”
…How did he remember every day’s medicine better than Jingxi?
Sang Ying put away her storage ring and stepped onto his sword light, applying disguise talismans to both of them: “Keep a low profile. Take us to the nearest transmission array.”
Lengmian: “Does Young Miss have leads on this matter?”
“Some, but not many.” Sang Ying rubbed her temples: “After all, there are far too many bastards [1]dog thing (gou dongxi, 狗東西) (Slang), a coarse insult calling someone worthless or contemptible jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_3389868_1_1').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_3389868_1_1', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], }); who can’t stand me.”
After landing, Sang Ying and Lengmian queued to pay and enter the transmission array. The two male cultivators ahead of them were wearing Wantong Merchant Association clothes and chatting with smiles.
“A friend who works in the Immortal Alliance told me that this case isn’t small at all. It’s not just Jade Pool, it involves multiple factions. To investigate, the Immortal Alliance even requested help from someone important in Wuwenzong.”
“Ha ha, that old woman is so arrogant isn’t she? I want to go see to Beiwan and watch how she turns this around.”
Sang Ying smiled: “See, they smell blood in the water and come running [2]smelling the scent, they come (wen zhe wei jiu lai, 聞着味就來了) (Idiom), said of people who show up the instant they catch wind of trouble or scandal jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_3389868_1_2').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_3389868_1_2', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], });.”
The transmission arrays were single-person. Lengmian went first, Sang Ying after.
The array activated, the surroundings filled with white light.
Transmission arrays had distance limits. Getting to Beiwan required several transmissions. Cultivators with low power felt a slight discomfort using transmission arrays. Sang Ying closed her eyes when she suddenly sensed the array’s fluctuation.
She hurried to open her eyes and just caught sight of a gray-brown and white furry ball crash into the transmission array.
…A cat?
And it seemed to be one with a condensed demon core.
Sang Ying was startled. The furry ball had nimbly leapt onto her shoulder. The tabby cat’s butt faced outward, twisting its head to look at the figures outside the array. Its amber cat eyes were full of contempt and provocation.
The next instant, the array flashed. The distorted array veered off course, transmitting Sang Ying to another location.
Sang Ying looked at the unfamiliar room: “…”
“Hmph. A few humans wanting to catch me as a spirit companion? That’s wishful thinking.” The tabby cat elegantly licked its paw, its voice utterly crude and rough, belying its cute appearance. “Let me borrow your transmission array. Thanks. I’ll treat you to mouse later.”
It jumped down from Sang Ying’s shoulder, about to leave when suddenly a male voice came from outside the door: “Immortal maiden, will Songbiao rest here these days?”
The tabby cat “fucking hell”‘d, emergency brakes, its tail stood on end, looked left and right unable to find an exit, then came back to stand before Sang Ying.
“Quick! Little girl, let me hide in your skirt!”
Sang Ying looked at the tabby cat, and a thought occurred to her. In that group chat she had accidentally joined last night, White Cat Swordsman was searching everywhere for a talking tabby cat.
Humans have realms, demons have grades. A demon with a condensed core had the strength of a high-level demon at least.
She crouched down: “I know White Cat Swordsman.”
The tabby cat suddenly widened its eyes, bristled defensively, ready to burn its bridges and bolt at any moment [3]smash the cauldrons, sink the boats (po fu chen zhou, 破釜沉舟) (Idiom), to commit fully to a desperate course of action with no way back jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_3389868_1_3').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_3389868_1_3', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], });.
Sang Ying spoke timely: “But I’m not here to bring you back.”
She pointed to the transmission array just now: “I’m just an innocent traveler passing through, going to Beiwan to handle business. You collided with my transmission array mid-journey, it went wrong, and based on your aura I got transmitted to where you’ve been staying—Jade Pool. And now I can’t get back.”
The tabby cat’s face turned red, embarrassment showing on its cat face. It swished its tail: “I didn’t do it on purpose either. Who knew this transmission array had such bad quality? I’ll pay you back.”
Hearing the footsteps outside growing closer, Sang Ying said leisurely: “I can help you hide. But in exchange, you have to agree to do something for me.”
“I’ve picked up the scent. Hide-and-seek game is over. Come out, Songbiao!”
White Cat Swordsman rubbed his hands together and suddenly pushed open the door, only to see a white-clad young girl sitting at the table with a rabbit in her arms.
The girl raised her eyes at the sound, her gaze clear and cold.
“What can this one do for you, immortal lord?”
White Cat Swordsman was startled. Under her gaze, his crude stance suddenly became restrained. Standing with his sword on his back, he straightened up.
“That is, excuse me, young lady. I’m looking for a cat, no wait, a gray-brown and white one. Have you seen it?”
The girl’s brow furrowed slightly, as if recalling: “I did see it the other day. It was occupying my little rabbit’s nest and sleeping. When it woke, it went off in that direction.”
That sounded exactly like something Songbiao would do. White Cat Swordsman believed it completely, gave his thanks, and bounded off in the direction she indicated. Soon he became a small black dot at the edge of the horizon.
“Ha ha ha Big Fool Wang, I’m right in front of you and you didn’t expect it! You can’t catch me even when I’m right here ha ha ha ha…”
The quiet rabbit suddenly jumped up, triumphant, its short tail raised high: “Little girl, what’s your name?”
“Sang Ying.”
“Good, I’m taking you on as a friend. You just call me Songbiao (roughly, ‘Gloomy Tiger’).”
The rabbit licked its paw: “What do you want me to help you with?”
Her lower belly ached slightly. Sang Ying put tea on the fire to heat: “First tell me, you were staying in Jade Pool a few days ago. Why are you somewhere else today, and being chased by others?”
Songbiao “tsk”‘d: “They set their sights on me. They had designs on me. After all, I’m so charming and handsome. Them wanting to get me isn’t strange.”
“What exactly happened?”
“Well, I was sleeping here the night before last. When I woke up this morning, I found myself on the road.”
“I figured those people didn’t look like good news. Plus they smelled like hell, so I ran when they weren’t paying attention. While being chased, I happened to see your transmission array and dived in.”
Sang Ying was thoughtful. Jade Pool…in the incident involved in the missing immortal maidens were from Jade Pool.
Counting the time, it matched, when Songbiao was taken, it was the same incident.
Pouring a cup of hot tea, Sang Ying looked at it, took out a pill, crushed it, and sprinkled it in the water. The tea changed color indeed.
This room had no immortal maiden residing in it, so the Immortal Alliance didn’t check it carefully.
Songbiao looked alarmed: “To get me, they even used poison? Such premeditation. Good thing I didn’t drink tea yesterday.”
“It’s just sleeping potion. Their target isn’t you, it’s the Jade Pool immortal maidens.”
Sang Ying explained the incident of the past two days. As she spoke, she suddenly paused and asked curiously: “You didn’t drink tea. How did you not notice you were taken? And you only woke up today?”
Songbiao froze and slowly turned its head away.
Sang Ying: “…” Was this a cat’s alertness while sleeping?
Calculating that Lengmian should have reached Beiwan by now, Sang Ying took out her glass mirror and messaged him about this unexpected situation.
No reply.
Sang Ying frowned. Songbiao lazily stretched: “You said trouble broke out over there, right? It’s probably been locked down. The Immortal Alliance’s usual tactic, only entry, no exit. Not even a bird can fly out.”
…It seemed those two from Wantong Merchant Association were right. This matter was indeed very serious.
Sang Ying checked the transmission array routes and found the previous stop was a remote, desolate wilderness. There wasn’t a city for four hundred li.
Those people’s target wasn’t Songbiao, it was the Jade Pool immortal maidens living in these rooms. Songbiao was just an unexpected bonus, so they took it along.
Sang Ying quickly made a decision and stood up.
“Can you find where you escaped from?”
Songbiao: “What are you planning to do? Oh, I get it. You want to find the enemy’s lair yourself, right? But those people are pretty capable. I had quite a hard time escaping. With your weak strength, can you manage?”
Sang Ying gave it a look: “Why would I need to go there?”
Songbiao tilted its head: “Meow meow meow?”
Pale moonlight streamed through the window panes. The girl’s brows and eyes curved slightly, a shallow smile.
Despite such bright and radiant smile, Songbiao inexplicably felt its spine chill, and its cat ears trembled.
“This good opportunity, plenty of people would want to snatch it.”
References[+]