Chapter 43: Piercing the Truth – Bo Xuenong Quickly Realized She Had Overthought It Part 1

Bo Xuenong quickly realized she had overthought it.

It was not difficult at all to deal with Si Xianling.

Wu Qingshu was a total pushover for her daughter. She appeared as aloof and distant as a pale moon, but Si Xianling could make her beam with joy with just a couple of coaxing words, the doting affection in her eyes washing away all traces of coldness. She did not like Zhu Ningfu, but as long as Si Xianling wanted to stay with Zhu Ningfu, she would not force them apart.

This sparked Bo Xuenong’s curiosity about Wu Qingshu’s story in the original book plot.

In a book, most characters were mere foils to the protagonist group. To claim significant page time, they had to be deeply entangled with the male and female protagonists—for instance, Shen Yanting was the male protagonist’s love at first sight, his white moonlight, and also the female protagonist’s master’s once most beloved disciple. Bo Xuenong had been inseparable from Shen Yanting, so she naturally occupied plenty of page time as well.

Wu Qingshu’s role made some sense; she was the Supreme Elder of the Cloud Smoke Sect and had some connection to the female protagonist. But what about Zhu Ningfu?

Bo Xuenong could not imagine what ties Zhu Ningfu had to the protagonist group.

Zhu Ningfu had not vied for the role of daughter for long. As the sect master of the Beast Taming Sect, she naturally had to go with Xiang Manyu and the others to deal with the Heavenly Feast Sect, while Wu Qingshu stayed behind with Si Xianling.

She now knew about the matters in Mistlongevity Village as well, so she naturally had to go take a look.

Wu Qingshu transferred all the beasts belonging to Si Xianling on Bo Xuenong’s body to herself. Then she scooped Si Xianling up into a horizontal carry and lightly flicked out an azure talisman. The purple talisman instantly transformed into a purple fox. She carried Si Xianling onto the fox’s back first, then beckoned to Hua Jinshi and Sect Master Wu Liangyi. The two of them floated over to the fox’s back as well. She beckoned to Bo Xuenong and Gui Nian’an: “Come on up. Leave the Heavenly Feast Sect to the Beast Taming Sect to handle. You’ve all been injured; we’ll go to Mistlongevity Village to recuperate.”

Si Xianling protested, “Mom! This lady hasn’t even seen that bunch of beasts from the Heavenly Feast Sect die horrible deaths yet!”

Wu Qingshu gave her a sidelong glance. “Aren’t you always the one who trusts your little mother the most? Are you afraid she won’t avenge you?”

Si Xianling immediately flashed a fawning smile. “Who said that? The one I trust most is definitely Mom. Mom treats me the best.”

If Bo Xuenong remembered correctly, Si Xianling had just been telling Xiang Manyu that her aunt was the best.

She truly had a knack for coaxing people, tailoring her words and approach to each one. Anyone else would never be able to learn it.

Bo Xuenong still had not figured out even how to properly coax Shen Yanting alone, worrying every day about how to make her master like her more.

Under Wu Qingshu’s watchful gaze, Gui Nian’an carried Liu Huairou onto the fox’s back, and Bo Xuenong tucked Shen Yanting away and climbed on as well.

Gui Nian’an instinctively stood a bit closer to the most familiar Bo Xuenong. “Don’t we need to go help?”

Bo Xuenong instinctively glanced toward Shen Yanting. The white porcelain doll gently shook her head on the swing. “The reason the Beast Taming Sect has stood unshaken is not the power of beast cultivators, but those high-rank demon beasts that have accompanied them generation after generation. Their core forces are mostly here now. Not to mention facing a Heavenly Feast Sect that had been caught off guard and severely crippled, even the Heavenly Feast Sect at its peak would have low odds of victory. Now that their sect-protecting grand array is gone, the Beast Taming Sect has the strength to annihilate the Heavenly Feast Sect.”

Since even Shen Yanting said there was no need to help, Bo Xuenong naturally stayed put.

She had been rushing about for so long that her body was already weary.

Bo Xuenong sat cross-legged on the fox’s back, lowering her head and staring unblinkingly at the white porcelain doll as she rested.

Wu Qingshu glanced at her and Shen Yanting before speaking to reassure the eager-to-help Gui Nian’an. “The Beast Taming Sect’s forces share the same origin, so they won’t easily harm their own. If you went to help, they’d have to hold back out of worry about injuring you.”

She did not get along with most of the Beast Taming Sect, but she still acknowledged their strength.

Si Xianling leaned into Wu Qingshu’s embrace, wriggling until Wu Qingshu turned her around so she could see Gui Nian’an and the others too. Once she spotted them, she spoke up. “Gui Nian’an, you can’t help anyway. And if you want to see those demonic cultivators, there’s no need. They’ve killed too many people, using others’ lives to fill their own spirit roots. Not everyone in a demonic sect would do such heinous deeds. The people in your village were all clinging to life for their children, yet they offered flattery to the Heavenly Feast Sect, tricking your grandmother into using contention petal talismans to enhance her spirit supplements’ appearance. They even said looking good would let her live a bit longer. In fact, the greatest use of contention petal talismans was just to make that bunch of beasts from the Heavenly Feast Sect have more fun. Those spirit supplements even contained their bloodline kin. They… even if forced, they don’t deserve forgiveness.”

Bo Xuenong had never seen Si Xianling so serious before and could not help lifting her eyes to look at her. Si Xianling’s face was full of fury.

Wu Qingshu’s expression remained indifferent, her gaze coldly profound.

She clearly agreed with Si Xianling’s words.

On the path of cultivation, one could only cultivate willingly. No matter how others pressured them, no one could cultivate in their place. No matter the reason, in the end, they had actively picked up demonic cultivation methods to seize others’ lives and fill their own spirit roots. Killing was commonplace in the cultivation world, but the people they killed were not great villains or evils. They had not been tricked out of cultivation resources; they were merely outer sect disciples with weak spirit roots who could hardly achieve anything great. Those outer sect disciples had not even harmed anyone, and they probably had never even left the Heavenly Feast Sect.

Moreover, after submitting to the Heavenly Feast Sect long ago, they had cooperated in putting on acts, occasionally returning to the village to dangle their own lives, making their loved ones willingly become spirit supplements for the Heavenly Feast Sect. Add in the contention petal talismans, and it was impossible that only the children sent with the talismans knew the talisman paper was a scam—yet not one of them was willing to tell Gui Nianqin the truth.

Every single matter was an unforgivable great sin.

Bo Xuenong lifted her head and looked toward the softly weeping Liu Huairou and the emotionally conflicted Gui Nian’an.

In the story Liu Huairou had imagined, this trip was supposed to end with her death, while Bo Xuenong and the others saved the children from Mistlongevity Village. She had not expected to survive while those children died.

Gui Nian’an’s thoughts were even more complicated. She had been trapped in the Heavenly Feast Sect for centuries, frustrated on one hand by the children’s betrayal of the village, and tormented on the other by her inability to bring the truth to Gui Nianqin. She resented almost everyone in the Heavenly Feast Sect, including the fellow villagers who had submitted to them. Now that they were all going to die, flashes of past scenes briefly flickered in her mind.

She gazed at the devastated Heavenly Feast Sect, no longer the prosperous powerhouse it once was, and felt as if she were still dreaming. To them, the Heavenly Feast Sect had been an oppressive towering mountain for over seven hundred years, yet in the blink of an eye, it was about to be destroyed. For a moment, she felt lost about the path ahead.

Gui Nian’an fell silent, and Si Xianling thought she had not taken her words to heart. She immediately fumed. “If you want to save those demonic cultivators, then go ahead. If you really save them, they might just devour your spirit root first.”

Si Xianling’s temper was no small thing.

Gui Nian’an shook her head. “I don’t want to save them. The moment they helped the Heavenly Feast Sect harm the villagers, they stopped being my friends. I just feel that the uncles and aunts in the village are still waiting for them to come home. We can’t bring the people back, but at least we should bring the bodies back. And seeing the Heavenly Feast Sect, which once seemed invincible in my eyes, collapse like this… I’m just a bit lost about where to go in the future.”

She paused, then added, “The cultivation world is full of powerhouses. Can I really protect myself and the people I care about?”

Gui Nian’an voiced the very question Bo Xuenong wanted to ask.

Back when she huddled in the Imperial Serenity Sect, her strength had ranked third in the sect.

Only after venturing out did she learn there were heavens beyond heavens, people beyond people.

This trip to the Heavenly Feast Sect made the gap in strength even clearer to her. She did not even have the qualification to probe Shen Yanting’s true cultivation. Wu Qingshu before her eyes was even more unfathomable. And someday, the one who wanted to kill her had become Wu Qingshu—how was she supposed to save herself then?

Spirit supplements and human talismans were merely coveted; her ferocious beast bloodline was something everyone wanted to kill on sight.

A flicker of confusion passed through Bo Xuenong’s heart, but it quickly hardened into resolve again. Shen Yanting did not want her to die, so she had to find a way to live.

The system was expensive, but useful.

Bo Xuenong pulled up the system panel again and suddenly noticed she had gained four hundred points, enough to reach two thousand.

【Assistant Bo Xuenong gained Silver Mark Zhu Ningfu’s gratitude points +200】

【Assistant Bo Xuenong gained Silver Mark Wu Qingshu’s gratitude points +200】

…

This was probably from saving Si Xianling.

Gaining points was not surprising, but what puzzled her was that Zhu Ningfu and Wu Qingshu had given her exactly the same amount. That meant they doted on Si Xianling equally. How was that possible?

One was the biological mother, the other the stepmother.

Even if both loved Si Xianling, their affection probably differed in depth.

Could it be that Zhu Ningfu’s feelings for Si Xianling’s deceased father were so deep that she extended her love equally to the child, matching even the biological mother?