Chapter 13: Searching for People (2)

So the villainess who kills without blinking actually likes rattle-drums.

When the carriage finally reached Transcendent Prefecture, after over half a month of quiet in the mountain forests, they at last felt the presence of civilization again.

They entered the city with the flow of people, the carriage’s curtains and screens all lifted. The two of them surveyed the outside.

The main street, dozens of yards wide, was bustling with noise, full of people coming and going, a scene of extraordinary liveliness.

Being in a city meant better living conditions, but Yun Jinxue couldn’t relax at all, thinking about the upcoming meeting with the female lead.

Jiang Yanyu leaned against the carriage wall, two fingers pinching the curtain aside. She glanced out, let the curtain drop, and smiled exceptionally brightly. “We’re here, Senior Sister. When do we go find that person?”

Yun Jinxue was sweating nervously. “Wait a bit… just wait a bit…”

After entering the city, they first needed to find a place to settle down.

Earlier, on the public notice board outside the city, Yun Jinxue had seen that this city had at least three Immortal Reception Gardens. By all accounts, the conditions would be excellent.

But after that underworldly experience in Ghost City, Yun Jinxue didn’t want to see the words “Immortal Reception Garden” again for a long, long time.

Otherwise, those three bloody, severed Beast Demon heads would jump into her vision, grinning horribly, and disturb her peace of mind.

She found an inn for simple rest. Yun Jinxue asked the innkeeper if there were any medical halls in the city catering to cultivators.

After getting the answer, she took Jiang Yanyu over for a visit.

The conditions on the road were rough, and her wounds had never received proper treatment. If she delayed any longer, other problems could easily arise.

Better to get them checked out sooner rather than later.

The medical hall was called Marvelous Hand Hall. It was quite crowded, but everyone seemed to be solitary rogue cultivators; there were no sect disciples.

A young attendant led the two of them to a private room, let down the bead curtain, and said, “Please wait a moment. My master will be here shortly to examine the Immortal Lord’s injuries.”

Yun Jinxue nodded lightly, watching the attendant leave.

When they came in earlier, she had deliberately concealed her face, so not many recognized her as the Senior Sister of Divine Zenith Sect.

But she’d already removed the concealment now, and the young attendant still had no reaction. Before coming in, he’d even casually asked for her name.

Yun Jinxue faintly felt something was off.

Her eyes flicked to the young girl leaning against the door frame with her arms crossed. Yun Jinxue realized what was wrong.

The attendant of a medical hall specifically serving immortals, meeting so many cultivators daily, couldn’t recognize who she was.

Then how did Jiang Yanyu—a mortal who grew up in a pigsty, who’d never left Cheng Prefecture—know her name and call it out accurately at first sight?

The scene was still clear in her mind: the young girl huddled at the end of the bed, her gaze icy, squeezing out the three words “Yun Jinxue” as if grinding her teeth.

Had the little villain seen the Senior Sister of Divine Zenith before? And under what circumstances?

Just as she was about to ask, a long-bearded old man lifted the curtain to enter. He was probably the master that the young attendant mentioned, here to diagnose her. But before he could step inside, he was stopped by Jiang Yanyu’s arm.

The old man said, “Why are you blocking me?”

Jiang Yanyu said, “Perhaps we should switch to a different healer.”

The old man immediately glared. “What? You doubt this old man’s skill?”

Jiang Yanyu said, “Not at all. It’s just that my Senior Sister’s injury isn’t that serious. No need for you to attend personally.”

The old man’s expression eased somewhat. “I was wondering what the issue was. But cultivators who wander the world encounter many strange ailments and difficult conditions. You can’t always judge your body’s state accurately yourself. Are you sure your Senior Sister doesn’t need my attention?”

Jiang Yanyu nodded. “Yes. What if you waste your time here and then an urgent patient arrives? Wouldn’t that cause you to miss them?”

The old man said, “Well, that is true…”

Jiang Yanyu cut him off. “My Senior Sister’s injuries are mostly superficial. She really doesn’t need you, Elder. Just send any healer, preferably a woman—women are more meticulous. Thank you.”

The old man said nothing more, nodded, and left.

Yun Jinxue didn’t understand the intention behind her action until a new, female healer arrived to examine her wounds. Only then did she grasp it.

One wound was on the lower abdomen, the other on the shoulder. For a woman of this ancient era, both locations were indeed quite private.

Yun Jinxue cast a grateful look at her. The young girl didn’t notice the gaze; she just leaned against the door, head turned to watch the outside, seemingly vigilant against any passersby who might mistakenly intrude, like a dutiful little watchdog.

The wound being probed and examined inevitably caused some stinging pain. Yun Jinxue frowned, answering the healer’s questions, but kept her eyes fixed on the young girl as a distraction.

Staring for too long naturally led to being discovered.

Jiang Yanyu turned her head, smiling sweetly. “Is Senior Sister alright?”

Yun Jinxue nodded. “Mm, very well.”

Jiang Yanyu said, “Good. Then let’s go find that Yan Guixing later.”

“…Ah,” Yun Jinxue paused. “Alright.”

She’d almost forgotten about that.

She needed to take this chance to quickly recall the original plot.

The Yan Family, the female lead’s family, could be considered quite well-known in the region. However, the way they were known was a bit different from others.

The Yan Family wasn’t particularly wealthy, didn’t love to scatter wealth for charity, and nobody in the family held an official post—after all, even the rats in their storehouse were smarter than these people. Yet they managed to maintain a high level of public discussion in Transcendent Prefecture. The main reason lay in the wife of the Yan Family.

The Yan Family’s wife, née Xu, named Yuexing, was obsessed with jewelry and precious hairpins. However, lacking the deep pockets to support this hobby, she could only pretend to lower herself and browse those cheap stalls possibly selling fakes, just to feast her eyes.

If it were only that, it wouldn’t be a big deal.

But she was also exceptionally stingy. Fine, she browsed, she looked, she didn’t even have to buy. But she insisted on using disgusting, underhanded tactics.

She always started haggling by slashing the price in half. A hairpin half a foot long would be found to have three yards’ worth of flaws. All kinds of excuses were trotted out one after another. If she couldn’t force the price down, she’d plant herself in front of the stall and refuse to leave!

And it didn’t stop there. This person was also incredibly quick to anger. After just a couple of unfavourable exchanges, she’d start cursing up a storm. Occasionally would’ve been tolerable, but unfortunately, she loved to swagger about in public, pointing fingers and nitpicking everything—the very picture of a sharp-tongued, miserably discontented shrew.

Therefore, as soon as any mobile vendor saw her from afar, they’d clap their hands, widen their eyes, and flee with their stall to set up shop elsewhere, just to avoid having their business wrecked by this shrewish woman.

From this, one could imagine the degree of bullying a young girl like Yan Guixing would face if such a person deliberately set out to exclude her.

The Yan family wife’s tyrannical and unreasonable nature was already infamous. This time, with the matter flaring up into a public court case, and the so-called criminal being a remarkably beautiful young girl, it quickly drew a crowd of commoners who loved a spectacle.

Word spread from one to ten to a hundred. By the time Yan Guixing was about to endure a round of finger-press torture, even the soldiers guarding the city gate knew about it.

Let alone Elder Yan He, who was right there in the bustling market.

The Elder couldn’t bear to see the young girl being subjected to such harsh interrogation, but it wasn’t appropriate for her to directly intervene. So she relied on a court official traveling with her to step forward, stating the matter was suspicious, thus buying time to reverse the situation.

But Yun Jinxue was fighting alone, and she was not acquainted with that court official. As a cultivator herself, it wasn’t proper for her to meddle in mortal legal cases. What was she to do?

After pondering for a moment, Yun Jinxue thought of a solution.

After her wounds were treated, the female healer explained some aftercare instructions and briefly described the condition of her injuries.

What surprised Yun Jinxue was that the wound on her shoulder, left directly by that monstrous creature, was actually healing faster than the one on her waist.

This was somewhat unexpected.

As for the healer’s mention of shallow binding marks on her wrists, she didn’t pay it much attention. Probably just accidentally got them.

Farewelling the medical hall, Yun Jinxue went and changed into a set of clothes that looked thoroughly ethereal and immortal. Standing before the mirror, the transcendent Immortal Lord she’d first glimpsed in the stream reappeared.

Only her lip color was still a bit pale, but paired with her fair skin, it washed away the coldness, making her entire presence as gentle as water. It suited her well.

She adjusted her jade crown and picked up Bright Star, ready to set out.

Originally, she planned to go by herself. But the little villain also very much wanted to help and actively volunteered to follow. Yun Jinxue figured there wouldn’t be any clash of plotlines right now and agreed.

They made their way all the way to the busiest main thoroughfare. Yun Jinxue walked slowly, observing the surrounding shops.

The dizzying array of stalls and vendors was dazzling, filled with novel playthings. Yet she seemed to pass them all by without interest, as if specifically looking for something.

Jiang Yanyu followed behind her with her hands clasped behind her back, walking lightly. Sometimes she turned around and walked backwards, looking left and right, even humming a little tune.

It was less like she was here to help find someone and more like she was on her way to a feast for fun and pleasure.

Being a larger city, there were more ingenious toys. Jiang Yanyu glanced over them all, seemingly uninterested, until her gaze suddenly halted at a specific stall, landing on a very inconspicuous corner.

There lay a rattle-drum. It was likely old, backlogged stock; it looked a little faded.

This kind of toy had long gone out of fashion, and its design was unremarkable. It was no surprise it hadn’t sold. The fact that it had survived this long on the stall was already a mercy; its final destination was likely the trash heap.

She stared at it for a good while, then withdrew her gaze.

Yun Jinxue noticed where her eyes had lingered and also spotted the rattle-drum.

According to a brief mention in the later original text, describing the villainess’s inner thoughts, her favorite toy as a child had been the rattle-drum. She’d been lucky enough to own a few, but unfortunately, her brothers had broken them all.

Just as she was about to ask if she wanted it, Yun Jinxue noticed the toy looked quite worn, likely unsellable stock, so she held her tongue.

Next time there’s a chance, I’ll buy her the newest and prettiest one.

The two continued on for another stretch, and Yun Jinxue stopped walking.

Before her was a candied fruit shop. The display shelves were neatly arranged with several varieties of preserved fruits and dried melon strips—a dazzling array, glossy and smooth, their sweet fragrance wafting through the air.

Yun Jinxue selected a few types, dividing them into two bags. One bag she stuffed into Jiang Yanyu’s hands; the other she kept in her own, continuing forward.

Jiang Yanyu held the bag of candied fruit, confused. “What is Senior Sister doing?”

Yun Jinxue’s pace slowed slightly. She realized that bringing her out here had actually been a mistake.

Wanting to find someone but not going directly to their home, instead wandering aimlessly on the streets—such behavior was indeed strange.

She couldn’t directly tell her that Yan Guixing was currently on trial at the yamen, and that she wanted to save her before the news spread all over Transcendent Prefecture, i.e., before she was tortured.

The two of them had come to Transcendent Prefecture inseparable, eating and lodging together. The information they could receive was exactly the same. If she knew in advance about something that hadn’t happened yet, this girl—sweet on the surface but actually sharp-witted and scheming—would definitely notice something was off.

Although the little villain had been smiling sweetly at her recently, even occasionally throwing in some coy acting spoiled, Yun Jinxue had never forgotten the matter of her hiding her surname to get her help in annihilating her family.

This little one was “Crazy,” after all. It was still better to be cautious in their interactions.

Yun Jinxue said, “Preparing… to buy a gift for the visit. After all, we’re going to someone else’s home. It’s not good to arrive empty-handed.”

She invoked the time-honored rule of etiquette since ancient times: one cannot visit someone’s home empty-handed!

The little villain didn’t suspect a thing, popping a salted plum into her mouth to chew.

Yun Jinxue seized the opportunity. “Oh, right. I just remembered passing a gift shop earlier. I think they had a pretty moon-shaped gift box. Could Windy go buy it for me? I’d like to keep browsing.”

Jiang Yanyu held the salted plum in her teeth and cupped her hands out. “I need money.”

Yun Jinxue chuckled lightly, counted out roughly the right amount of coins, and placed them in her palm. “Thank you for your hard work, Windy. I’ll wait for you here.”

Jiang Yanyu gave a slight bow and smiled. “For Senior Sister, I’d go through fire and water without hesitation!”

Yun Jinxue smiled and patted her head, watching her turn and disappear into the crowd. Only then did she let out a sigh of relief.

Glancing at the bag of candied fruit in her hand, Yun Jinxue walked another stretch, finally stopping in front of a dark, narrow alleyway and stepping inside.