March 14th, Sunny.
Yu Suisui woke up early. After delivering the items to Xie Rongjing yesterday, she had been contemplating whether to visit him again.
Although slacking off was enjoyable, according to the plot, she had less than a year before she would meet her end and exit the stage. Thus, she felt she ought to cultivate some sense of urgency.
To be fair, Yu Suisui was generally a conscientious person. The main issue was that the target of her mission was rather unsettling, making her hesitant to fully commit to her duties. She had to reserve some energy to stay wary of him, which left her somewhat passive—only intervening when she happened to see something amiss, and letting things slide otherwise.
If she were playing the role of a pure, idealized love interest for a righteous male lead, she would definitely be more proactive.
That said, since she was already here, she might as well see things through to the end.
Yu Suisui picked out a pink dress with a white outer layer from her wardrobe. With her current face—that of an innocent young beauty—this type of clothing suited her perfectly, fitting the “righteous little white flower” persona flawlessly.
As she was hesitating over which pair of shoes to wear, a young maid announced from outside the door, “Young Mistress, there is a steward who wishes to see you.”
This personal maid was newly assigned by Yu Suisui just yesterday. She was honest and diligent, and more importantly, she had never even spoken to Yu Suisui’s father, the sect leader. Yu Suisui was quite pleased with her.
Outside the courtyard gate stood a middle-aged cultivator dressed in white steward robes. With his round face and broad shoulders, he looked somewhat familiar.
Yu Suisui remembered—he was the one she and Xie Rongjing had encountered at North Peak. Come to think of it, the Flying Sword they used had been provided by him.
She did have other airships, such as flying sedans or floating clouds. While they were impressive, they were rather inconvenient to maneuver. She preferred simple airships that were easy to board and operate without drawing too much attention. The Flying Swords used by the stewards and inner sect disciples fit the bill perfectly.
Out of gratitude for the Flying Sword, Yu Suisui treated him politely. “Steward Niu, what brings you here?”
The steward in white: “…My surname is Ma.”
Steward Ma bowed and deliberately built suspense. “Young Mistress, two people have returned from outside the mountain gate today. Can you guess who they are?”
Yu Suisui blinked, not understanding why she was being involved in what seemed like a census of the Tian Zhao Sect’s population.
“It’s Lu Sheng and Zhao Lei!” Despite the lack of a straight man to play off, Steward Ma continued mysteriously.
Yu Suisui: “Um… what does that have to do with me?”
“They’re the two outer sect disciples that Xie Rongjing killed!” Steward Ma explained.
Yu Suisui: !?
She was genuinely shocked. If she remembered correctly, this was a xianxia world, not a horror-thriller one.
“They never died! They’re at North Peak right now. I just went to confirm—it’s really them.” Steward Ma spoke while carefully observing Yu Suisui’s expression.
Ever since he had offended the young mistress a few days ago, he had been on edge, looking for an opportunity to make amends. When this matter arose, recalling how the young mistress had protected the Devil Seed, he guessed she might be interested. So, he immediately rushed over like an eager lackey to share the gossip with Yu Suisui.
“It was all a misunderstanding, a misunderstanding, haha.” Steward Ma grinned obsequiously.
No way, this is possible?
Yu Suisui was stunned for a moment and instinctively asked, “Then what about Xie Rongjing? What happens to him now?”
That stumped Steward Ma. What could be done?… Since no one actually died, things would probably just carry on as usual.
The North Peak was teeming with disciples, and news traveled fast among them. When it was initially believed that the Devil Seed had killed someone, many disciples were outraged. Now that the victim was alive, the Outer Sect Disciples were all quite pleased.
During his patrol, Affairs Manager Ma overheard several groups talking about holding some kind of celebration banquet. He warned each of them individually that excessive drinking was not permitted within the sect.
…No one even mentioned the Devil Seed.
Not only did the disciples not bring it up, but even the Law Enforcement Hall avoided the topic—though this was certainly not something to be said in front of the young lady.
“It seems there was a misunderstanding earlier,” Affairs Manager Ma forced a dry laugh. “What do you think should be done, according to your opinion?”
Yu Sui Sui wasn’t sure what to do at the moment either. “Let’s ask those two first.”
“We already did!”
“What did they say?”
“It seems… it seems they stayed down the mountain drinking and making merry.” Affairs Manager Ma paused, then feigned indignation. “These two are truly outrageous! They didn’t follow sect rules and lingered outside. Now look, they’ve caused a misunderstanding!”
Was it really just a misunderstanding? Yu Sui Sui sorted through the sequence of events and found it hard to believe.
Coincidentally, the two had gone down the mountain with Xie Rong Jing;
Coincidentally, after their disappearance, rumors spread within the sect that they had been murdered;
Coincidentally, neither of them contacted any of their fellow disciples, allowing the rumors to fester;
Coincidentally, they returned neither early nor late—just under a week after Xie Rong Jing’s meridians were shattered.
As everyone knows: a series of coincidences is no coincidence at all.
Staring blankly at the steward wouldn’t solve anything, so she decided to see the situation for herself.
The Moonfrost Bridge was beautiful at any time of day. Today, under a cloudless sky, sunlight refracted off the ice into a rainbow-like halo, accompanied by a faint, rising mist. It made the already snow-white, crystalline bridge appear as if it were a scene from a celestial realm.
Despite such splendid scenery, Yu Sui Sui paid little attention.
Hmm… Xie Rong Jing hadn’t killed anyone. Should she be happy about that?
To be honest, she wasn’t particularly fond of this mission—if he were to become a villain later, it wouldn’t matter since she wouldn’t be around to see it. But if he already had blood on his hands now, interacting with him would feel somewhat uncomfortable.
Yet, for some reason, she didn’t feel particularly happy either.
With this indescribable mood, she flew over the Moonfrost Bridge and made her way to the North Peak. Following Steward Niu into the Law Enforcement Hall, she saw two Outer Sect Disciples—one tall, one short—standing in the second interrogation room on the left.
Yu Sui Sui glanced at them briefly. Both had ruddy complexions, bright and spirited eyes, and no visible injuries.
It seemed Steward Niu was right; they really had been enjoying themselves down the mountain for three months.
The Law Enforcement Hall had clearly coordinated with Steward Niu. As soon as she entered the room, one of the stewards raised his voice sharply: “Outer Sect Disciples must report if they cannot return to the sect on time. Did you know that?”
Lu Sheng and Zhao Lei trembled at the steward’s sudden scolding. “Sir, we admit our mistake.”
“Good that you know.” The steward in charge of the interrogation snorted. “Case closed! According to sect rules, you will be confined for three months and receive ten lashes—”
“Wait.”
Yu Sui Sui spoke up.
That’s too lenient.
Even she could tell these two were suspicious. She refused to believe that the stewards, who specialized in this kind of work, hadn’t noticed.
The interrogator’s verdict was interrupted as he turned to look pleadingly at a young male cultivator dressed in blue robes.
“That’s correct, Young Miss,” the blue-robed cultivator, clearly more advanced in cultivation than the stewards, spoke to Yu Sui Sui with neither humility nor arrogance. “They only violated the sect rule of ‘Not Lingering Outside for Extended Periods.'”
Hearing the words “Young Miss,” Lu Sheng and Zhao Lei grew even more terrified, trembling like two oversized quails.
“Don’t you think this is all too coincidental?” she laid out her earlier analysis point by point. “It’s necessary to conduct a thorough investigation.”
The blue-robed cultivator adopted a posture of attentive listening, nodding slightly. “That makes sense.”
“But this is merely your conjecture.”
“There’s a saying: ‘Boldly speculate, carefully verify,'” Yu Sui Sui suggested. “You could start by investigating the Outer Sect Disciples they’ve had contact with.”
“The case is already closed, Young Miss.”
So that meant they weren’t willing to investigate?
She prepared to argue further when someone suddenly nudged her foot.
Yu Sui Sui turned to see Steward Niu, who was vigorously winking and making faces at her.
Ever since bringing the Young Miss to the Law Enforcement Hall, his mood had been as unstable as when he first practiced flying on a sword—soaring one moment, plummeting the next.
Initially, Steward Niu had thought the Young Miss was merely momentarily curious, combined with a young female cultivator’s overflowing sympathy, which led her to protect the injured Devil Seed.
It wasn’t until just now that he realized: this young lady wasn’t just speaking casually—if the Devil Seed was in trouble, she would genuinely help…
Didn’t she consider whether this was something that could be investigated further?
Never mind how troublesome it would be to investigate each Outer Sect Disciple acquainted with Lu Sheng and Zhao Lei to see if any had behaved unusually over the past three months—was a Devil Seed even worth deploying so many resources? Taking it a step further, even if something were uncovered in the end, what could be done about it?
If it weren’t a Devil Seed whose Meridians had been crippled, the Law Enforcement Hall could simply cripple Lu Sheng and Zhao Lei in return to appease the Young Miss—after all, Outer Sect Disciples’ lives were cheap, and their deaths wouldn’t matter.
But the crucial point was that the victim happened to be a Devil Seed.
The Devil Seed’s misfortune was universally welcomed.
When it came to Demons, which cultivator didn’t grit their teeth in hatred? Regardless of the truth, if the Law Enforcement Hall actually pursued this matter for the sake of a Devil Seed, or severely punished Lu and Zhao because of the Devil Seed, it would cause a major incident—it could incite a riot.
The Law Enforcement Hall didn’t care about one or two Outer Sect Disciples, but if it were a large group… they’d truly have to weigh the consequences carefully.
Steward Niu regretted his actions: if he had known, he shouldn’t have brought this little ancestor to the Law Enforcement Hall.
But regret was useless now; he had already been labeled by the other stewards as 【the Young Miss’s person】… Although his original intention had indeed been to borrow Yu Sui Sui’s authority to intimidate others, who could have predicted she would make such strange statements!
To ensure this thick thigh could provide him long-term protection, Steward Niu had no choice but to secretly remind the Young Miss, urging her not to do anything foolish.
…
Yu Sui Sui tilted her head, looking at Steward Niu whose expression was a complete mess, then at the blue-robed cultivator holding a folding fan, his face unreadable.
She seemed to understand something.
Only now did she fully comprehend the source of her earlier unsettled feelings.
That day with Xie Rong Jing at North Peak, she could tell that people here didn’t like him—it could even be called loathing. Just like how school bullying existed in her world, this should be considered a more extreme form of sect bullying.
“If you’re bullied, fight back. If you can’t fight back, tell your teacher. Tell your parents. If all else fails, call the police.” This was the education Yu Sui Sui had received since childhood—so here’s the question: if a person is disliked by everyone, including the teacher, has no parents, and even if they call the police, the police never side with them…
What should they do then?
Even if they’re framed, aside from Yu Sui Sui, the transmigrator, who accidentally comforted him with a few words earlier, no one speaks up for justice.
In a bad mood, Yu Sui Sui stomped on Steward Niu’s foot—the one he had used to touch her.
Ouch, ouch, ouch!
Steward Niu’s expression twisted even more grotesquely.
“The Law Enforcement Hall will compensate Xie Rong Jing,” the blue-robed cultivator spoke again, his tone breezy and detached.
He raised his hand and materialized two golden talismans out of thin air, imprinting them onto Lu Sheng and Zhao Lei.
“Starting from the day your confinement ends, all the spirit stones and cultivation resources you two obtain will be compensated to Xie Rong Jing for one year.”
The blue-robed cultivator turned to Yu Sui Sui: “You needn’t worry. These two spells can bind them; they will certainly fulfill the agreement.”
Oh, so he’s a talisman cultivator.
What a brilliant idea.
His meridians are severed—what use are cultivation resources to him?
Yu Sui Sui felt the lump of cotton clogging her chest grow even larger. “Yes, with these compensations, Xie Rong Jing will surely advance to the ninth level in no time.”
“Let’s hope so.” The blue-robed talisman cultivator dismissed her sarcasm with a laugh, utterly unbothered. “But did you know? Only medical cultivators above the sixth level have the ability to reconstruct meridians.”
Medical cultivators are one of the two branches of medicine cultivators. Currently, the most powerful medical cultivator in the world is only at the seventh level, and those at the sixth level are as rare as phoenix feathers. Even a major sect like the Tian Zhao Sect has only recruited one fifth-level medical cultivator.
Yu Sui Sui curled her lip: So you do know his meridians are severed. I thought you were clueless.
“If the young lady finds this arrangement unsuitable, I can also have them refrain from providing cultivation resources.”
Yu Sui Sui: ?
She detested this hypocritical, infuriating talisman cultivator. Compared to him, even Xie Rong Jing was better.
Just as she thought this, a young steward knocked on the door and said, “The Devil Seed has been brought.”
“Don’t call him that.”
“This is our young lady, Yu Sui Sui,” the blue-robed talisman cultivator introduced to the new steward. “Don’t give people nicknames; the young lady doesn’t like it.”
“Greetings, young lady.” The young steward didn’t overthink it. “Lord Gongsun, I’ve brought Xie Rong Jing. He’s right outside the door.”
Yu Sui Sui looked at Xie Rong Jing. Unlike his previous disheveled appearance, he now wore a white robe, his ink-black hair loosely tied back with a ribbon, resembling an elegant young noble from a storybook.
He had been wearing a slightly mocking, world-weary expression, but upon seeing her, his indifferent eyes instantly lit up with a peculiar brilliance.
It was hard to describe that look—at first glance, it was like parched earth meeting sweet rain, or sunlight spilling into a dark world. But upon closer reflection, it wasn’t quite like that. If she had to give an example, it was somewhat like a child who had been alone at home finally seeing a beloved toy.
He looked so overjoyed that even the young steward beside him noticed his odd behavior and barked sharply, “Hey, what are you doing!”
Xie Rong Jing paid no attention to anyone. The corners of his lips silently curled higher and higher, finally settling into a radiant smile.
“Long time no see, young lady.”