Chapter 39 p1
After some thought, Xiao Xiao felt that the whirlpool in Luoyi City was too deep, and she did not wish to get entangled in it.
As they idled at the inn, Xiao Xiao noticed that many soldiers had appeared in the city, conducting house-to-house searches. Inns were a key target for inspection.
Their inn was also searched thoroughly.
The soldiers seemed focused on investigating women, as someone had seen a luxurious carriage stop at the inn. Thus, Xiao Xiao and her group became a key target for questioning.
Through the conversation, Xiao Xiao learned that they were searching for the songstress Si Ling from the prince’s manor.
Initially, on the city outskirts, Si Ling had instructed her carriage to return to the Drunken Joy Pavilion in the city while she went to seek shelter with a friend.
As for who this friend was, she did not say, only telling Wei Jie not to worry about her.
It seemed she still did not wish to become too deeply involved with her son, lest it affect Wei Jie.
Now it appeared that Prince Can had realized the femme fatale Si Ling had slipped from his control, hence the search within and outside the city.
Fortunately, Xiao Xiao had earned a reputation as a righteous demon-slayer serving the people of Luoyi City, so the officials did not give her too much trouble.
Xiao Xiao wondered what Prince Can’s intentions were in expending so much effort to search for Si Ling.
In her master’s secret text, Xiao Xiao did find some clues.
It seemed that after becoming the regent king assisting his son’s reign, this Prince Can maintained an ageless appearance, praised by the people as the “Immortal King.”
It was said to be evidence of his attainment of immortality.
However, in the secret text, her master mentioned this Immortal King with an inquisitive attitude.
After all, for someone so accustomed to luxury and intrigue, it would be difficult to cultivate true immortality without leaving the mundane world and focusing wholeheartedly.
Yet Prince Can was able to form his Golden Core and maintain a youthful appearance before the age of forty, which impressed even Xiao Xiao’s master Tang Youshu.
Reading this, Xiao Xiao made a bold conjecture: perhaps Prince Can had set a trap for Si Ling in order to obtain her heart’s blood tears!
Possessing the femme fatale’s heart’s blood tears could grant eternal youth, even to ordinary mortals without any cultivation base.
However, these heart’s blood tears had their requirements – they had to be shed from a femme fatale’s genuine sorrow and heartbreak. If one merely tortured a femme fatale into tears of physical pain, the precious heartfelt blood tears could not be obtained.
If Xiao Xiao’s guess was correct, and Prince Can had obtained Si Ling’s heart’s blood tears to maintain his everlasting youth in the previous life, then how had he moved Si Ling to tears of heartbreak?
No matter what method he used, just thinking about it sent chills down one’s spine.
Fortunately, Si Ling had already left Luoyi City, sparing Wei Jie the pain of losing his mother.
Xiao Xiao did not wish to investigate Prince Can any further. After all, he was a man from two hundred years ago, of imperial lineage with a destined fate – not someone she should meddle with.
The rumbling sounds of heavenly retribution echoed in her ears, reminding Xiao Xiao to carefully avoid such great pitfalls.
As for Prince Can’s schemes, the Wei Family would handle it, as was the trajectory of the previous life. She did not belong here, so the more she interfered, the more she would err.
Since staying was pointless, leaving Luoyi City immediately was the wisest choice!
After packing her belongings, Wei Jie returned. Seeing Xiao Xiao instructing Tang Youshu to buy and load food supplies onto the carriage, he inquired about the situation.
Xiao Xiao did not mention the invitation from the prince’s manor, only saying they were preparing to depart and asking Wei Jie to also pack his belongings.
Wei Jie’s gaze darkened, but he did not speak.
However, when they were ready to depart by carriage, Xiao Xiao noticed Wei Jie was nowhere to be found. After searching everywhere, she asked Tang Youshu, “Young Master Tang, have you seen your master?”
Tang Youshu scratched his head awkwardly and said in a low voice, “Grand-Master, I…inadvertently let slip to Master about Prince Can’s servants delivering the invitation. He has gone to attend the banquet alone… You…won’t blame me, will you?”
Xiao Xiao was stunned, but could only smile bitterly in resignation. Rarely had she made up her mind to separate from Wei Jie and take him away, yet she still could not divert his original fate.
In the previous trajectory, it was at Prince Can’s banquet that he reunited with his mother and clashed with the Four Great Sects.
She had thought that with Si Ling leaving the city, everything could change. But now it seemed human efforts could not alter destiny, as Wei Jie had secretly attended Prince Can’s birthday celebration behind her back.
Of course, she guessed his reason – he was likely acting on instructions from the Wei Family to investigate Prince Can’s true intentions.
Xiao Xiao pursed her lips, feeling she had done her utmost.
Although Wei Jie was currently a good person, his fate to turn demonic still lay ahead. Whether his future path would be righteous or evil depended on his own choices.
As his nominal master, having disrupted the flow of time, she was not meant to have any involvement with him in the first place. It seemed their chances had run out.
With this thought, she instructed, “Defying your master’s orders and acting alone is unacceptable! No need to wait for him, let’s depart!”
Tang Youshu was taken aback and pleaded in a low voice, “But it’s not right to abandon Master alone, is it? Grand-Master, please…please forgive Master, otherwise you go ahead and I’ll wait for him here to keep him company.”
Xiao Xiao looked at her young master with some reluctance. If circumstances allowed, she truly wished to accompany her master to the end.
Alas, their destined connection would not be renewed until two hundred years later, so she could only force a smile and pat Tang Youshu’s shoulder. “Naturally, you should wait for your master. But the city has been chaotic lately, and your master would certainly not wish any harm to befall you. You can wait for him at the long pavilion outside the city gates…”
If Wei Jie was fated to clash with the Four Great Sects, it would be safer for Tang Youshu to remain outside the city.
With this in mind, she solemnly instructed further, “Young Master Tang, when you eventually establish your own sect, do hire a cook on the mountain. You may be virtuous, but your culinary skills leave much to be desired… Additionally, your disciples are still young, so do not stint on their food and drink. If anything should happen to you, at least leave them some provisions. Malicious curses like the Soul-Devouring Incantation should also be used sparingly…”
Her rambling instructions left Tang Youshu utterly confused, unable to discern what exactly his grand-master was referring to.
Still, he was immensely grateful that the grand-master had kindly allowed him to remain and wait for his master.
After Xiao Xiao hastily wrote a letter for Tang Youshu to pass on to Wei Jie, she boarded the carriage with the little fox girl Yu Ling’er and departed.
Watching her master’s solitary figure at the pavilion grow smaller in the distance, Xiao Xiao slowly exhaled.
Now, the only burden she carried was the little fox girl. She decided to return to Mount Tuyun and see if the Fox King could persuade his daughter to alter her vow and stop following her.
If Yu Ling’er truly wished to repay her debt of gratitude, she could change her vow to follow Wei Jie instead.
That way, everything would return to its proper course. Xiao Xiao only needed to find a way to travel two hundred years into the future by herself, trying her best not to affect the present events and people any further.
After traveling for a day, they grew increasingly distant from Luoyi City.
Originally, Yu Ling’er had thought that Wei Jie and the others might catch up and apologize to Xiao Xiao.
After all, this ambiguous master-disciple pair was always bickering and making up – Yu Ling’er was used to their constant squabbles, which were merely petty bedroom affairs with nothing unforgivable.
But after a day passed with no sign of Wei Jie catching up, even Yu Ling’er began to worry about them.
However, Xiao Xiao calmly said, “As long as there is no thunder or rain from the heavens, they will be fine.”
Yu Ling’er did not understand this cryptic remark.
Xiao Xiao sighed slowly. It would not do to explain that if any misfortune befell Wei Jie, altering his destined fate, she would likely be struck by heavenly thunder!
Moreover, Yu Ling’er’s driving skills were poor, resulting in constant stops and starts along the way.
Indeed, halfway through, the carriage suddenly halted again.
Yu Ling’er excitedly called out, “Young Master Qin! Have you come to find me?”
The previously meditating Xiao Xiao poked her head out to see – sure enough, it was none other than the white-robed, jade-crowned young man Qin Lingxiao, whom she had not seen in a long time!
His expression was as frosty as if someone owed him a vast fortune.
The fox girl Yu Ling’er was overjoyed, leaping off the carriage and running over, delighted to the point of almost revealing her fox ears upon seeing her benefactor.
Qin Lingxiao did not expect to replace Wei Jie and become this fox girl’s life-saving benefactor in this lifetime. Seeing her still associating with Wei Jie and his group, his gaze could not help but show disappointment.
Yu Ling’er thought Qin Lingxiao might be mistaking her character, mingling with the unrestrained disciples of the Talisman Sect.
Without him asking, Yu Ling’er rushed to explain, lest he misunderstand. She recounted how after he left, that Cui Xiao Xiao had led the Talisman Sect’s disciples to shield the fox tribe from heavenly punishment, and how her mother had forced her to take a poisonous vow to serve Cui Xiao Xiao’s every need.
It was only then that Qin Lingxiao learned that Cui Xiao Xiao had actually taken Wei Jie’s place in suffering heavenly punishment, which was why she was the one injured in the arm while Wei Jie remained unscathed.
Faced with Yu Ling’er’s rambling greetings, he only replied indifferently, “Miss Yu, I have some private matters to discuss with Sect Master Cui. Please give us a moment…”
Yu Ling’er did not expect that despite her explanation, Qin Lingxiao still seemed to misunderstand her intentions, his attitude remaining cold.
But…what private matters did he need to discuss with Cui Xiao Xiao that required her to leave?
Could it be that this Cui Xiao Xiao was like Wei Jie, keeping one eye on the plate while ogling the wok, seducing others behind his back, even aiming to entice her beloved Young Master Qin?
The little fox was filled with anguish and turned to run away, wiping her tears.
With only Qin Lingxiao and Cui Xiao Xiao remaining, he glared coldly at the young girl before suddenly reaching out to snatch the “Defying the Heavens” sword from her hand.
This divine demon-slaying sword infused with heavenly punishment should be in the hands of one truly worthy of wielding it.
The lowly Talisman Sect’s Cui Xiao Xiao – what merit did she possess to be its bearer?
When he and Cui Xiao Xiao had first met two hundred years later, the gulf between their cultivation levels was like a vast chasm.
Qin Lingxiao had never taken Cui Xiao Xiao seriously.
Traveling back two hundred years, Qin Lingxiao’s cultivation had greatly diminished, while this Cui Xiao Xiao had continuously accumulated fortuitous encounters, steadily narrowing the gap between them – an intolerable situation.
Fortunately, after drinking from the spiritual springs of Mount Tuyun, Qin Lingxiao returned to Soaring Cloud Pavilion and devoted himself to diligent cultivation day and night, eventually recovering his abilities.
Since this was a path he had already trodden before, coupled with his newfound blessings, his progress was swift. He had already formed his Golden Core, even impressing his own father, who praised him as a “heaven-blessed genius”!
Now, taking advantage of Wei Jie’s absence and Cui Xiao Xiao being alone, Qin Lingxiao intended to seize back the sword that rightfully belonged to him.
This was no ordinary blade – only the strong were worthy of its allegiance. Its successive owners throughout history had all been peerless experts.
An insignificant girl like Cui Xiao Xiao who had stumbled into some fortuitous opportunities – what merit did she possess to wield this divine sword?
In Qin Lingxiao’s view, reclaiming what was rightfully his was completely justified.
However, Cui Xiao Xiao refused to return the sword.
As his qi-infused hand invaded to snatch it, Xiao Xiao naturally recited an incantation, extending two fingers to lightly wave, causing the precious sword at her waist to unsheathe itself in a whirling motion, evading Qin Lingxiao’s attempt.
During these past few days of meditation, as long as her spiritual sense was clear, she could resonate with the sword, causing it to hum with ringing chimes, allowing her to control it with a mere flick of her fingers – a skill she was becoming increasingly adept at.
If it were an ordinary sword, Qin Lingxiao might have silently praised Cui Xiao Xiao’s improving skills.
But the sword she now controlled was the divine “Defying the Heavens” infused with heavenly punishment!
Swords possessed spiritual essences, especially proud and unyielding ones that could not be tamed by mortals.
Throughout the ages, even top-tier sword practitioners who did not cultivate could automatically enter the Dao realm once their swordsmanship reached a certain pinnacle, transcending the mundane.
This demonstrated just how difficult it was to truly unite with a sword’s essence.
To control a divine sword like Defying the Heavens required not only profound cultivation, but also an exceptionally powerful spiritual force that could resonate with the blade.
Cultivation could be tempered over time, but spiritual force was innate and could not be forced.
After slaying Wei Jie, Qin Lingxiao had obtained this divine sword as an invaluable treasure, aspiring to reach Wei Jie’s level of freely commanding the spiritual blade.
However, despite secluding himself for ten full years to cultivate in resonance with the sword, it remained silent, as if its soul had departed along with its former master Wei Jie.
Qin Lingxiao refused to give up, eventually finding an alternative path by condensing his inner qi into sword forms.
Although he could subsequently wield multiple qi swords, none compared to this demon-subduing divine blade.
This was why he was reluctant to readily use this sword – each time he saw it, it silently reminded him of his inferiority to Wei Jie.
Initially, if not for the possessing demon empowered by the demon bead making it too difficult to handle, he might not have even used Defying the Heavens to slay it.
For only he knew that he had never truly become this sword’s master.
Yet the frail, delicate-looking girl before him possessed such tremendous spiritual force! In such a short time, she had already tamed Defying the Heavens, effortlessly resonating with its essence!
For the ever-proud and self-admiring Qin Lingxiao, this was an unbearable humiliation!
He cried out in disbelief, “What trick did you use? How is it possible for you to control this sword?”
Xiao Xiao did not fully comprehend Qin Lingxiao’s astonishment, only blinking her eyes and lightly replying, “What’s so difficult about it?”
