Zhang Wei’s face turned pale, and he tried to run, but what greeted him was Xiao Hua’s gaping maw. In the face of that majestic beast, he could only retreat two steps before collapsing weakly onto the ground.
Jinshu rummaged through her pockets, but unfortunately, despite buying so many things, she didn’t have anything that could tie him up.
She slowly unfolded the pile of things she had bought, and inside were a few brand-new hair ribbons with exquisite patterns that could be used.
Jinshu sighed. They were newly bought—after tying up this stinky guy, they would definitely have to be thrown away. She felt a bit reluctant.
Picking out these hair ribbons, Jinshu held them up to her eyes and examined them carefully for a long time, unable to decide which one was uglier.
Just as she was in a dilemma, a hair ribbon was handed to her. Chen Fuzhou, ever considerate, said, “Senior Sister, use mine. This one is old.”
Jinshu examined the jade-colored hair ribbon. Though it was just a hair ribbon, it was embroidered with a beautiful lotus pattern, and at the bottom, it was adorned with several delicate little lotus beads.
“No,” Jinshu firmly shook her head. “How can such a beautiful hair ribbon of yours be wasted on him? Besides, I really can’t accept using your ethereal personal item, Junior Brother, to tie up such a stinky man.”
She took two steps and patted Chen An Ran with a smile. “Lend me yours.”
Chen An Ran glared angrily, retreating several steps in resistance, but since she couldn’t speak, she could only puff up her cheeks.
Jinshu spread her hands. “Can you accept me using your brother’s hair ribbon…”
Before she could finish, Chen An Ran raised her hand, signaling her to stop. Then, with a determined look, she untied her ponytail.
Jinshu happily handed the hair ribbon to Xiong Qi, who quickly tied Zhang Wei up, patted her hands clean, and strode over to Jinshu’s side. “It’s getting late. Let’s hurry back. This Zhang Wei is a traitor to our Sect. I originally planned to report to my father to capture him, but I didn’t expect him to be so weak. I don’t know how he managed to escape from the Sect back then. I need to take him back quickly to prevent any accidents. Oh, and that… Junior Brother of Sister Jinshu.”
Seeing the troubled look on her face, Jinshu quickly added, “Chen Fuzhou. His name is Chen Fuzhou.”
“Oh, Brother Chen Fuzhou, do you have any talisman that can gag him? I’m afraid he might pull some tricks like humming songs later.”
Chen Fuzhou seemed to have anticipated this. He pulled out a blank talisman paper from his pocket, then drew a line on his long sword with his finger and began drawing carefully.
Jinshu curiously leaned over to look. Seeing him using his own blood to draw the talisman, she couldn’t help but frown, her face full of worry. “Won’t you get anemic like this?”
Chen Fuzhou didn’t seem to mind, explaining, “Using my blood to draw talismans doubles their effectiveness.”
Jinshu, having been seriously ill in her previous life, knew all too well the misery of poor health. Seeing him treat his body so carelessly, a surge of anger welled up in her heart. “Talismans are nowhere near as important as people.”
Chen Fuzhou paused his hand, gently lifted his eyelids to look at her, and smiled reassuringly. “Senior Sister, that’s not what I meant. I just think that if these things can be made more effective, then my blood has served some purpose.”
These words were quite rebellious. This guy now seemed like a completely different person from the obedient image he had shown earlier. What kind of thought process was this? Jinshu couldn’t figure it out no matter how hard she tried. But after thinking for a moment, she realized that, after all, she held the title of senior sister. How could she just stand by and watch her junior brother go astray?
She calmed her emotions, carefully crafted appropriate words in her mind, and spoke in a tone tinged with persuasion: “That’s not the right way to think. You are a person—no amount of magical artifacts can compare to your own importance. If you don’t cherish your own body, your parents will be heartbroken too.”
Chen Fuzhou froze completely. He raised his head and stared at the serious-looking girl, then lowered it again after a long pause. In a voice so soft that only he could hear it, he murmured, “No one would be heartbroken for me.”
Seeing that he had done nothing but stare at her inexplicably for a moment without any other reaction, Jinshu grew somewhat angry. “Anyway, I’ll keep an eye on you from now on.”
The boy’s slender shoulders trembled slightly, and he let out an almost imperceptible chuckle. Then, he stood up and handed the talisman to Xiong Qi before turning around. His beautiful peach blossom eyes seemed to hold countless emotions, but in the end, they all condensed into a simple sentence: “Little senior sister… you’re really too kind.”
Suddenly, a rustling sound came from the quiet forest, and Jinshu warily looked around.
“Young master, we finally found you! Please come back with us!” At that moment, a group of guards anxiously emerged from the dense trees, surrounding Chen An Ran.
Recognizing them as the Chen family guards she had seen earlier at the inn, Jinshu finally relaxed.
“I was just about to ask where you idiots had all gone! Don’t ask questions now—just give me a rope first.” Chen An Ran reverted to his previous arrogant young master demeanor, raising his eyebrows and speaking in a loud, demanding tone.
Then, softening his voice, he pleaded with Chen Fuzhou, “Brother, let’s go together. With so many people here, we can keep an eye on this Zhang Wei. What if he causes trouble again?”
What a master of changing expressions, Jinshu thought with a click of her tongue.
Chen Fuzhou’s expression was dark and unreadable as he replied coldly, “It’s none of your concern.”
Chen An Ran bit his lower lip in frustration, treating it as a last-ditch effort. He shot Jinshu a meaningful look, hoping she could help persuade him.
Jinshu shrugged helplessly, spreading her hands to indicate she was powerless to help.
Chen An Ran knew Chen Fuzhou wouldn’t come with him, so he could only follow the group of guards, looking back every few steps as he left.
Jinshu and the other two also headed toward the city with Zhang Wei. Earlier, in the urgent situation, Xiong Qi had Xiao Hua fly high into the sky. Now that things had settled down, they were afraid of frightening ordinary people, so they obediently walked on the ground. It was then that Jinshu suddenly slapped her forehead, remembering something she had forgotten for a long time.
“Oh no, I forgot to ask your brother what that thing he kept talking about was!”
Hearing her words, the other two looked utterly confused. Xiong Qi asked, “What thing?”
“He told me earlier that many disciples from sects and clans have been coming here lately to obtain something.”
“Oh, you mean that,” Xiong Qi said, looking as if a lightbulb had gone off in his head. “It’s a very mysterious spiritual object that will be auctioned here in a few days. I heard it’s called something like Withered Love Vine.”
Lowering her voice mysteriously, she added, “Do you know why so many people want it? I heard it can reforge the physical body.”
Jinshu was somewhat shocked. Why hadn’t the book mentioned such a spiritual object? Reforging the physical body seemed tailor-made for the male protagonist Long Aotian.
Xiong Qi waved her hand again. “But I’m only here to join in the fun this time. I was recently placed in seclusion and finally got a chance to breathe some fresh air. Hearing it was lively here, I came. No one in our family needs to reforge their physical body. After all, whether it’s life, death, or cultivation, it all depends on fate. Even if such external things can help temporarily, how can they help for a lifetime?”
Jinshu nodded in agreement. That reasoning was quite sound.
“But there are still many people eyeing this thing covetously. Even if they don’t use it now, they might need it in the future.”
Jinshu strongly disagreed with this. “What’s the point? These things sound like heaven-defying objects. Forget about science—using them will definitely bring retribution.”
Just as Xiong Qi was about to agree with her, distant shouts came one after another: “Young Sect Leader, Young Sect Leader!”
She widened her eyes. “Damn, why are they coming to find me?”
A group riding all sorts of strange spirit beasts orderly stopped before the few of them. Leading them was the old man with a long beard, his expression stern. Seeing Xiong Qi, he scolded, “Young Sect Leader, how could you sneak out alone? Do you know how dangerous this is?”
Xiong Qi pouted, pointing at Zhang Wei on the tiger’s back as she argued, “Grandpa Guan, see, nothing happened. And we even caught this traitor. We’ll take him back to the Sect in a few days to deal with him properly.”
The old man called Grandpa Guan looked at Zhang Wei, then sized up Jinshu and the other person. Smiling, he said to the two, “You two are disciples of the Tianxuan Sect, right?”
Jinshu quickly confirmed it was so.
“Thank you both for looking after our Young Sect Leader. However, she sneaked out this time and still has to go back to receive punishment, so we’ll take our leave first.”
Xiong Qi’s face fell, displeased. “Didn’t I help share the Sect’s burdens? Why do I still have to be punished?”
But seeing the old man’s unhappy expression, she wisely shut her mouth and obediently climbed onto Xiao Hua’s sturdy back.
“We bid you farewell.” After the two returned the courtesy, this “army” riding spirit beasts left in a grand procession.
Xiong Qi didn’t forget to turn back and shout to Jinshu, “Sister Jinshu, you’ll go to the Immortal Sect Grand Competition, right? Let’s meet then.”
Jinshu smiled and waved at her. “Yes, see you next time.”
Not far after leaving, Xiong Qi seemed to remember something. Under the moonlight, Jinshu vaguely saw her rummaging for something on her person. Sure enough, she turned back and threw a dark object toward Jinshu.
“This is for you.” With that, she turned around and urged Xiao Hua to catch up with the main group.
Jinshu hurriedly went to catch the object falling from the sky. She took a couple of quick steps, tilting her head back and reaching out to catch it.
“Ouch!” This was the wilderness, after all, with uneven and bumpy paths. With her head tilted back, how could she watch her feet? She didn’t know what happened but was tripped hard by a stone from somewhere.
Chen Fuzhou was also startled by her. Seeing her fall awkwardly to the ground, looking like she wanted to cry but had no tears, he felt a bit like laughing. He walked over and extended a hand. “Senior Sister.”
Jinshu’s eyes welled up with tears from the pain, a few drops streaming uncontrollably down her cheeks. Chen Fuzhou finally crouched down in a fluster, asking, “What’s wrong?”
Her voice choked with sobs, she replied, “It’s nothing, I just fell really hard. Next time I see Xiong Qi, I’m definitely going to make her treat me to a meal!”
As she spoke, she raised her hand to show Chen Fuzhou what had caused her to trip—a string of pure white ivory whistle pendants. Jinshu sighed as she looked at the small trinket, asking, “What is this?”
Seeing that she wasn’t seriously hurt, Chen Fuzhou breathed a sigh of relief. “This is something from the Beast Control Sect. The people there are warm and hospitable. If they meet a friend they like, they give them this. With it, if you’re in danger elsewhere and blow the whistle, a gentle spirit beast will come to help you.”
Jinshu carefully hung the ivory whistle pendant on her waist. Leaning against a nearby tree, she struggled to get up, but as soon as she rose halfway, she plopped back down onto the ground.