Chapter 34

When Ye Zhenzhen returned to the inn, Liuli was just coming out of her room.

Lin Mengxian had already told her about the little girl they’d picked up.

Ye Zhenzhen found it strange. “Why bring her back? If you’re annoyed, just hand her over to the guards.”

Liuli replied, “I brought her back because when she tried to scam Little Meng, something felt off around us.”

“What do you mean?”

“It felt like someone was watching us.” Liuli touched her chin, recalling the moment. “On the way back here, we picked up a few little tails, too. Could it be they thought three weak women were easy targets and were setting a trap to rob us?”

After she finished, she laughed at her own words and added, “I asked her just now. Her meager cultivation is all self-taught. With dual spiritual roots and her comprehension, she’s a decent seedling. It’s a pity for her to live here by scamming people. I plan to send her to the nearest branch of the Heavenly Martial Sect to see if we can help her.”

“You certainly don’t mind the trouble.” Ye Zhenzhen figured it was no big deal, and the three of them quickly agreed on the plan.

Late at night, Liuli sat by the window, yawning. “Why haven’t your accomplices come yet?”

Little Qing, who had just been aggressively scrubbed clean by her, was sitting on the bed in a bad mood.

With nothing else to do, Liuli told Little Qing her plan.

Little Qing froze for a moment. “You’re that kind-hearted?”

Liuli looked surprised. “Have you really never met a beautiful and kind sister like me before?”

“Gag—” Little Qing made an exaggerated disgusted face at her. “Do you even know who I am to want to help me?”

Liuli laughed. “Then do you know who I am, to dare scam my people?”

Little Qing turned away, grabbed a bun from the table, and gnawed on it sullenly, ignoring her.

Finally, the guests Liuli had been waiting for arrived.

Counting on her fingers, there were about one, two, three… thirteen or fourteen small heads of varying sizes standing beneath the window outside. They looked up at Liuli with pitiful faces.

“Immortal Sister, please let Qingmei go!”

Liuli clicked her tongue in amazement. “Wow, your little friends are much sweeter talkers than you are.”

Little Qing rushed to the window, grabbing the frame and yelling down at her friends, “Go away!”

A slightly taller boy among the little turnips timidly stepped to the front and said to Little Qing, “Qingmei, don’t be stubborn. Apologize to Immortal Sister and beg her to let you go.”

Liuli grabbed the back of Little Qing’s collar with one hand to stop her from jumping out the window, smiling down at them. “An apology alone won’t cut it. How about some practical action?”

The boy said, “Immortal Sister, we usually live by begging. We really have no money.”

So they were a bunch of little beggars.

Just then, the windows on both sides were pushed open. Ye Zhenzhen and Lin Mengxian looked down at the group of children, then at Liuli, speechless. “Enough, it’s the middle of the night. Just explain things to them and let’s get some rest.”

Liuli reluctantly stopped teasing the kids and asked, “The sisters here don’t want to eat your Little Qingmei. We just want to send her to a sect to learn skills. The trip isn’t too far—do you all want to go together and give it a try?”

Another little chubby boy said weakly, “Only Sister Qingmei has the talent among us.”

Before he could finish, a companion nudged him: stop talking so much.

At that moment, Little Qing threw a tantrum. “I’m not going! Let me go! I don’t need your fake kindness!”

Tsk, this kid had quite the temper. Liuli looked at Ye Zhenzhen. “Zhenzhen, you’re up!”

Ye Zhenzhen: “?”

“Right now, only you,” Liuli said seriously, “can match her temper.”

Ye Zhenzhen suddenly raised her hand and sent a whirlwind crashing into Liuli, messing her hair up completely.

Down below, the little turnips started chattering over each other. “Immortal Sister, we’re sorry! Please, we beg you, let Qingmei go! Qingmei can’t leave with you.”

“Sisters, Qingmei didn’t mean it, she has her reasons!”

“Ah, right, we can ask the Immortal Sisters for help! The sisters are so kind-hearted, they’ll surely be willing to help us!” After saying this to each other, the children immediately looked up at the three women with hopeful expectation.

Qingmei realized something and was about to shout at them to stop, but Liuli was quicker, clamping a hand over her mouth. “Speak, speak! Take your time.”

The same boy then explained the whole story.

It turned out their group of little beggars, over ten of them, relied on each other for warmth. Qingmei was their little leader. Qingmei also had a twin sister named Qingxing. A few days ago, Qingxing fell seriously ill with a high fever that wouldn’t break. They had no money for a doctor, so Qingmei had been forced to go out and scam people.

The youngest child in the group sobbed, “It was Sister Qingmei’s first time doing something like this. She did it all alone so she wouldn’t get us involved.”

“You’re quite loyal to your friends,” Liuli said, releasing Little Qing.

The truth was already out, and it was too late for Little Qing to stop it. The children below tearfully begged the Immortal Sisters to save Qingxing. Qingmei bit her lower lip, staring intently at Liuli, her expression complicated.

“You’re so young, don’t be so proud.” Liuli patted her head. “If you’re in trouble, you should ask for help.”

Ye Zhenzhen had already made the decision. “In that case, let’s help them out, so we don’t have to listen to all this noise.”

She took out a small porcelain bottle containing the most common type of pill. “Here, for an ordinary minor illness, one pill should do it.”

But the children refused to take it.

“Sister, Qingxing doesn’t have a minor illness. A kind person checked on her and said it looks like she’s been poisoned,” the child cried. “We gave her a fever-reducing medicine once before, and she only got worse.”

The children begged the sisters to come see for themselves.

The situation was sounding a bit tricky. With her fiery temper, Ye Zhenzhen decided immediately, “Fine, lead the way.”

Liuli and Lin Mengxian exchanged a glance, suppressing the strange feeling in their hearts. They said nothing more, grabbed Little Qing, and headed downstairs.

On the way, Little Qing only spoke once. At a corner in an alley, she suddenly grabbed Liuli’s arm and said, “Don’t get involved in this!”

Liuli held her hand and replied, “If I don’t, what will you do?”

……

The place where the little beggars lived was very remote. The environment around them was clearly desolate and dilapidated, with low, small houses and garbage everywhere—it looked like a slum.

It was surprising that such a place existed in the bustling and lively Mulberry City.

Liuli and the other two weren’t dressed extravagantly, just in their usual clean and tidy dresses. But even so, in this place, they stood out so much they truly looked like “Immortal Sisters.”

Because the three of them were so out of place, they drew countless gazes, both open and hidden, the moment they entered the area. Suppressing the discomfort of being watched, the group arrived at a large, weed-filled, dirty, and dilapidated courtyard.

The doors and windows of the row of houses were broken, and the wind howled through. The little beggars led the three into one of the houses. In a corner sheltered from the wind, a thick layer of straw was laid on the ground. Lying there was a tiny, skinny girl, just like Qingmei.

Two other children were there, dozing off to the side.

Hearing the noise, they scrambled to their feet, rubbing their sleepy eyes and looking toward the newcomers. “They’re here?”

Qingmei stood at the doorway, turning her face slightly to look outside.

Outside was a world of pitch black.

Liuli and the other two were ushered to the straw pile where Qingxing lay.

The boy wiped his eyes and cried, “Immortal Sisters, please check on her, quickly.”

Qingxing was lying with her back to them, her breathing weak. She did indeed look seriously ill.

Of the three, Liuli had the highest cultivation and was also the gentlest, with her pure water spiritual root. She took the lead naturally, half-kneeling beside Qingxing and reaching out her hand…

…

Liuli, wake up. Liuli… Liuli…

In a daze, a familiar voice gently called out to Liuli. By the time Liuli struggled to wake up from the heavy fog of her mind, the voice had vanished.

Liuli had a splitting headache. She thumped her head with her hand.

Clank, clank…

Liuli froze.

Cold, hard iron chains hung beside her face; she could even smell the metallic tang of raw iron. Liuli opened her eyes to find only dimness around her. She tried to cast a Light Illumination Technique, but found her body was numb and she couldn’t perform any magic.

And the spiritual energy in the environment around her was exceptionally thin.

She squinted, taking a long moment to get her bearings and fully realize her situation.

Liuli was now bound at the wrists by iron chains, locked inside a large iron cage. The cage was covered by a thick curtain, making the light dim and making it impossible to tell day from night.

Liuli looked at the heavy chains on her wrists, then at the large iron cage. Her face went blank.

What the %￥#&… I still got played!

She remembered what happened before she passed out. When Liuli knelt at the straw pile and reached for Qingxing, a centipede had suddenly crawled out from Qingxing’s collar and bitten her fingertip. Liuli had completely freaked out, leaping backwards in an instant, startling Ye Zhenzhen and Lin Mengxian.

The two women didn’t know Liuli was afraid of bugs and rushed over to see what had happened. Right at that moment, several incredibly fast centipedes crawled out from the straw pile beneath Qingxing and bit Ye Zhenzhen and Lin Mengxian as well.

Moments after being bitten, their bodies went numb. Liuli crashed to the ground with a thud, her eyes still open, watching the centipedes slither towards her in despair—and then she fainted from terror.

That group of kids, aside from Qingmei and one suspicious Qingxing, were all weak mortals. To scheme against three Foundation Establishment cultivators, there had to be a mastermind behind it!

Liuli sighed softly. She should have trusted her gut feeling and been more careful.

And now here she was, captured. She had no idea what had happened to Ye Zhenzhen and Lin Mengxian.