Chapter 19 Chestnuts Right, Yin'er, your friend's friend, Zhou Fu…

Beneath the blue mist, there are green mountains and clear waters.

Zhou Fuling sat in the oxcart, staring at the talismans on the cart wall, and then took out the jade tablet.

[Senior brother, I've eaten some grass cake. I'll wait for you to come to Yu Miao Mountain so we can eat together.]

Xu Qingning did not reply.

Very well, it seems Xu Qingning is too busy to spare any time.

She's going to find Ning Tingyue.

Zhou Fuling walked lightly to the outside of the oxcart and slowly lifted the curtain, just in time to see the cultivator who had been making things difficult for her talking enthusiastically with two other cultivators.

At this moment, a female cultivator sitting beside the cultivator said coquettishly:

"Brother Luo, after we finish escorting Miss Zhou, could you tell me more about the secrets of cultivating the Shadow Technique?"

The two were extremely close, almost inseparable.

Seeing this, a fat male cultivator couldn't help but speak out indignantly:

"Junior Sister, how...how could you be so reckless?!"

Luo Xiushi gently put his arm around the female cultivator's waist and turned to the male cultivator to advise him:

"Sigh, junior brother, you and your junior sister are about to get married, you should cherish her even more. Why are you so angry?"

Then, he changed the subject and continued:

"Our junior sister has always been reliable, unlike some people who lack ability but are full of scheming yet were exposed and banished from the Immortal Realm to the Mortal Realm..."

Zhou Fuling suddenly lifted the curtain: "What are you talking about?"

Brother Luo raised his eyes.

Zhou Fuling had a smile in her almond-shaped eyes, her skin was as white as snow, and the green ribbon tied to her black hair danced lightly in the wind. Her green dress made her look charming and bright. She was gazing at them with a smile.

"We, we..."

Bang!

The oxcart suddenly leaped into the air and crashed violently into the sheer cliff face.

With a nimble leap, Zhou Fuling grabbed the cultivator's head and slipped her hand down his throat.

puff--

A muffled and indistinct scream pierced the sky as she ripped off Luo Xiushi's tongue and threw it into the wilderness.

Those who cannot speak do not need a tongue.

...

A short while later, beside the wrecked oxcart, Zhou Fuling stood in a pool of blood, arranging the corpses.

The female cultivator quietly collapsed to one side.

The two male cultivators were devoured by the demonic snakes that crawled down from the valley, a truly gruesome sight.

She further added muscle-softening powder to the fat man's mustard seed talisman and everyone's water pouches, disguised as:

The fat cultivator harbored resentment because the cultivator Luo had stolen his love, so he secretly poisoned him. When the cultivator Luo, who had the highest cultivation level, was powerless, the oxcart was attacked by a snake demon, which led to a great disaster.

Zhou Fuling placed her hand on Luo Xiushi's eyelids, and after a while, she withdrew her hand.

Oh well. People's preferences change as they grow up.

For example, she didn't like cilantro when she was little, but now she loves it.

...

Elong Cave.

The newcomer moved like a shadow, his techniques were like those of a ghost, and the oppressive aura he exuded made Xu Qingning realize that he was no match for him, so he drew his sword and retreated quickly.

The man struck out with his palm, and a silver needle pierced his body.

Xu Qingning felt a sudden pain in his eight extraordinary meridians.

He collapsed.

...

Xu Qingning lay down on the pebbles and closed her eyes tightly.

Amidst the rising flames, the ghostly figure silently approached Xu Qingning, raised his hand, its fingertips as cold as ice, gripped the Changming Sword, unleashed sword energy, and fiercely thrust it towards Ning Chaoxue in the water—

Boom—

A thunderbolt struck the ghostly figure, and Changming returned to Xu Qingning's hands.

His eyes were clear, he held his sword high, and stared coldly at the person in front of him.

Although he was weak, he was clearly conscious; what he had just done was merely a pretense.

The divine talisman flew up in front of him, and he said in a cold voice:

"You want to use me to kill Ning Chaoxue? Why?"

The ghostly image was startled and vanished.

Xu Qingning wanted to give chase, but a sharp pain in his meridians held him back.

In an instant, the divine fire shot up the stone wall, the fiery clouds blazed through the cave, and golden flames blazed—

Xu Qingning leaped into the Demon Pool.

Thinking of the strange man from earlier, he used his sword sheath to slingshot Ning Chaoxue and stealthily approached.

E'long sank to the bottom amidst its miserable howls. Xu Qingning lurked for a while, but his meridians were in excruciating pain.

Suddenly realizing that he had escaped the demon pool by a mile and was in a mountain stream covered by a protective array, Xu Qingning put Ning Chaoxue down and fed her a poison pill.

[Host, Ning Chaoxue has a tracking talisman!]

A system voice suddenly appeared.

The system notifications have been becoming more and more frequent lately.

Xu Qingning tried to undo Ning Chaoxue's tracking talisman, but to no avail. He had no choice but to abandon her and continue fleeing outwards.

Now he is delirious and weak, and it is unknown what will happen if he encounters someone with ill intentions.

Only when he reached the realm of green mountains, where he found the surroundings deserted and secluded, did he sit cross-legged on the rocks to regulate his breathing.

He felt a sharp pain in his mind, as if something was tearing at his soul.

He closed his eyes, and after a short while, a silver needle was forced out of his body and fell to the ground, gleaming with a bluish light and exuding the stench of decaying corpses.

Xu Qingning suddenly opened her eyes wide.

This is……

Puppet needle.

At the same time, three other objects floated into the air.

A golden pill, a Qi-seeking talisman, a snake talisman... and these silver needles surrounding him.

A system voice announced:

[Congratulations, host! You have obtained the fourth quest item for the "Only Because I'm in the Mountain" quest: "Puppet Needle".]

[The host has completed the prerequisite task "Because I am in the midst of this mountain."]

[Friendly Reminder: The owners of these four items are connected to the villain's past; please keep them safe.]

[Host has unlocked the official mission: "Conquer the Major Villain"]

[The villain's information is unlocked below...]

-

The mountain stream murmured, and the strange rocks on the mountain walls were shrouded in mountain mist.

Xu Qingning sat upright on a rock, his hand revealing prominent veins.

His phoenix eyes were tinged with a blue hue, as if they were shrouded in a misty haze.

He held his breath, waiting for the system to unlock.

He was waiting for an answer.

I waited for a long time.

In the silence, the wind whistled.

system:

[Strategy Target: The main villain of this world, the guardian of the Zishijian Formation in Tianjuejian—"Wu"]

Gender: Female

Age: 120 years old

Cultivation level: Varies between the fifth rank and the peak of the first rank.

Danger level: Extremely dangerous

Please complete the following objectives:

First, complete and repair the main storyline related to the villains. The system will provide task prompts at each stage.

Second, make the main villain's goodwill value reach 100%;

Third, raise the villain's favorability towards you to 100%.

A moment of silence.

The cold wind was biting, and Xu Qingning's long sleeves fluttered in the wind, his eyes reflecting the ice and snow in the ravine.

"The 'nothingness' of Zi Shi Jian?" He murmured the name, his lips pale, and slowly said, "...It really is her."

"But you gave me a clear hint earlier by the Immortal Fish Pond, and I guessed it too." Xu Qingning's gaze deepened. "Why do we need a fourth task? Just to confirm?"

No. The villain has a hidden identity. You are unaware of her hidden identity.

What is her hidden identity?

[Sorry. The system cannot inform the host that her hidden identity has been discovered. You need to complete another main storyline quest.]

Main Quest: "The Calamity of Qingxiu Mountain" Begins

The system announced: [Mission Description: Ten miles south of Longtan in Qingxiu Mountain, the villain has encountered an old acquaintance and is wreaking havoc. Please proceed to Qingxiu Mountain immediately to find clues about the villain's identity.]

[Please note: In this main quest, the host only needs to verify her identity. There is no need to stop her from going on a killing spree.]

[Please confirm her identity within three days. Also, due to subsequent requirements of the main storyline, the host must travel alone.]

[Friendly reminder: Please remain calm throughout the process.]

In silence, Xu Qingning slowly furrowed her brows.

...Qingxiu Mountain?

Xu Qingning knew this place. The path to heaven connects the mortal realm and the immortal realm.

Qingxiu Mountain, located near the Tongtian Path, also has a protective array for immortals, specifically designed to vanquish demons.

However, that is also... the only way for the Immortal Realm to reach Yu Miao Mountain!

Xu Qingning suddenly looked up, her face pale.

...

Zhou Fuling stepped onto the green cliff, walking on the rocks. The mythical birds and beasts flew away, and her green skirt seemed to blend into the vines.

Suddenly, something appeared behind her—

A snake's tail!

It was as thick as a vat, and as long as thirty-six feet, shimmering with golden light, dripping with viscous liquid, and cracked by soil erosion.

Three more snake tails emerged and lazily rested on the ground.

Zhou Fuling stared down the cliff. Suddenly, she heard a strange noise, and several carriages draped in red robes appeared in the forest. Against the backdrop of green, the carriages looked like bright red fruits.

A man was brought out. Dressed in a crane-feather robe, he was handsome and refined, an unparalleled beauty. He was none other than Ning Tingyue, the sect leader of Yun Ning Sect.

One person was thrown onto the dusty ground.

...He Yin.

She was bound with the Spirit-Binding Rope, blood trickling from the corner of her mouth, and brought before Ning Tingyue.

Ning Tingyue said, "You all go out. I have something to ask her alone."

"yes."

He Yin glared at Ning Tingyue with hatred.

Ning Tingyue lowered his head and sighed, "You're still alive, He Yin."

He Yin: "I haven't avenged my mother or the matchmaker Lu yet, how could I die?!"

She screamed hoarsely, her face contorted in rage, a far cry from the lackey who used to follow Zhou Fuling around.

"Oh, so this is what you've been trying to do—find clues to expose my murder of my relatives?"

Ning Tingyue sneered, "Unfortunately, your return to Kanghuang Village and your attempt to awaken the matchmaker is futile. As a vengeful ghost, how could she possibly recreate the events of that year? You've also revealed a flaw..."

He smiled. "So, I've got you."

Ning Tingyue pressed his hand on He Yin's hair, and He Yin angrily turned her head away, almost frantically shouting, "Don't touch me!"

"Why can't I touch you? Don't forget, Yin'er, I am your biological father."

“I have no father! I have no father!” He Yin cursed.

Zhou Fuling suddenly looked up.

Father……

He was also a father.

...

In fact, everything was foreshadowed.

Regarding He Yin and Ning Tingyue.

Zhou Fuling had inquired about what had happened at Kanghuangzhai.

He Yin encounters a matchmaker ghost at Kanghuangzhai and falls into a mental demon, in which she kills her own relatives.

She also inquired about the death of that matchmaker ghost from the Tianji Sect. It turned out that she had arranged a strange marriage, and the man and woman were dissatisfied, so she was tortured to death.

As for He Yin... Zhou Fuling had also noticed that He Yin's accent was not the accent of Tianji Sect or the mortal realm she mentioned. Her natural accent was actually very similar to the accent near Kanghuangzhai. It was a childhood habit, and although it was disguised, it would still give her away.

As for the origin of Ning Tingyue...

Zhou Fuling also checked, and it was indeed Kanghuang Village.

"Have you heard about another incident involving Sect Master Ning Tingyue? He forgot his roots and killed his wife..."

"Sect Leader Ning Tingyue came from a poor farming family and used to have a wife..."

Zhou Fuling suddenly looked up.

The eerie, puppet-like face on the cloud platform where the trial was being observed reappeared before her.

Why did that person appear?

...

He Yin was dragged forward, blood welling up from the corner of her mouth. Even though she couldn't resist Ning Tingyue's oppressive aura, she was still struggling to resist.

"Is this your plan?" Ning Tingyue looked at He Yin coldly. "Have the Hua siblings from Hualing Mountain help you find the ghost of Matchmaker He at Kanghuangzhai to get a confession. There is evidence there that I bribed her to frame your mother. Then observe when the demon disaster will occur, and lure your young sect leader to help you clean up the traces."

"..." He Yin's teeth chattered.

Ning Tingyue: "But unfortunately, I also sent Ning Chaoxue, and she found clues about your mischief."

He Yin trembled, but spat out a "Pah!" and said in a mournful voice, "Ning Tingyue, it's just bad luck of mine, but one day you will get your retribution!"

"ah!"

He Yin screamed in agony.

She had a bloody wound on her face.

It was Ning Tingyue who made the move.

He stared at her injury, slowly withdrew his hand, and a faint smile appeared on his lips.

Ning Tingyue looked down at him condescendingly: "Is that so? Then let me tell you, Yin'er—"

"When a person is weak, the more they do, the more miserable their situation becomes."

"Look, you're the one who's angry, and in the end, you're the one who's hurt and powerless to get out of the predicament."

"And I was completely unharmed."

He was nonchalant and unperturbed.

He Yin trembled all over in pain, her hands were also bound, like a little bird unable to move.

However, she suddenly looked up, her eyes filled with resolute rage: "Ning Tingyue, you are too arrogant! You are ungrateful, heartless and cruel! I probably won't survive if I fall into your hands. But I curse you, one day you will be punished by heaven and die a horrible death!"

I curse someone to kill you cruelly!

"If someone were to kill my father for me, I would gladly die for that person, whether as a human or a ghost!"

A chilling palm wind suddenly struck!

He Yin closed her eyes; despite her burning anger, fear still made her cower.

However, Ning Tingyue only left behind a cold sneer, his icy voice, which instilled despair, rang out:

“Child, you’re over a hundred years old. How can you still believe in such naive things as retribution?”

She patted He Yin's head, as if she were petting a kitten or puppy.

He Yin was dragged forward in anger.

Zhou Fuling frowned: ...What are they going to do?

...

He Yin hung her head, her hands were bound behind her back, and her powerless legs dragged on the cold rocks, feeling both cold and painful.

She hated it so much, she really hated it!

Hatred and pain lingered in her heart; the smell of rust filled He Yin's chest as she glared at the person in front of her with loathing.

In fact, He Yin's real name is Ning Yin.

Her true identity is the daughter of Ning Tingyue and Song Lanrou, a village girl from Kanghuang Village.

He Yin knew from a very young age that her father was a Taoist with exceptional talent.

For miles around, everyone adored her father, this genius. Her grandparents constantly praised their own contribution in giving birth to him. Neighbors and villagers alike were eager to curry favor with her father, believing he had a bright future ahead of him.

Her mother was the village chief's daughter and the gentlest and most skilled embroiderer in the entire village.

Before her maternal grandfather died, He Yin often saw her father.

But after her maternal grandfather passed away, He Yin rarely saw her father.

Later, her mother would cry every night. When He Yin asked why, her mother said it was nothing, that her father had gone to the immortal sect to cultivate, and that he would protect her and her mother when he returned.

The reason I say "protect" is because after my mother lost both her parents, she was always being criticized and scolded by my grandmother.

Grandma said the family was in financial straits, and all the money had been used for Dad's cultivation. She forced Mom to do embroidery all day long, but didn't leave them any money. She said their current impoverished state was a burden on Dad.

He Yin then chopped firewood every day and secretly learned martial arts from the martial arts practitioners by the roadside. She thought to herself that she would not wait for her father anymore; once she was able to support herself, she would leave with her mother.

However... before that day came, her mother died.

The matchmaker He, who loved her the most, protected her, and occasionally taught her some martial arts experience, also died.

Grandparents, uncles, and aunts were all burned to death.

On that day, He Yin drank the potion of feigned death and hid under the scalding rubble. There she saw a female cultivator in a crimson robe appear in Kanghuang Village like a goddess or fairy.

The mother rushed towards her father beside her. The female cultivator in crimson robes whispered, "Ning Tingyue."

Her father, dressed in a crimson brocade robe, stood beside her and slapped her mother away, then stepped on her dying mother's hand.

Father slapped Mother's face.

Finally, just as he was about to raise his sword to kill his mother, the woman in the crimson robe's eyes flickered, and she stopped him, "Ning Tingyue, are you willing to do that?"

"Senior Sister Chenghan—I hate everyone here!" Father said calmly. "They all abused me, trying to clip my wings and trap me at the bottom of a well!"

"Senior sister, after tonight, I will forget Kang Huangzhai! I was born in the Yunyi tribe, and I will die in the Yunyi tribe."

He Yin was stunned. She knew that her grandparents had scolded her father when he was young and before he became successful, and she had heard that they had a very unpleasant argument. But her mother... how could her mother have ever bullied or abused her father?

On that day, He Yin witnessed firsthand the tragic deaths of everyone in Kanghuang Village.

Years later, when I returned, this place had become a demon land, a gathering place for vengeful spirits, but everything vanished in the light of righteousness.

She and the Hua siblings went there in an attempt to awaken the matchmaker so that she could use the recording bead to record Ning Tingyue's evidence and set a trap to make Tianji Sect and Yun Ning Sect fight each other.

However, what happened by the Fairy Fish Pond led to her being caught!

He Yin vomited blood.

She hated it so much, she hated it so much!

She needs someone to help her kill Ning Tingyue!

...

The cliff face was rugged with strange rocks and covered with dense vines. Zhou Fuling retracted her snake tail and silently climbed the cliff, following the two forward.

Ning Tingyue led He Yin to a stone slab and tore off He Yin's jade tablet.

The other Yun Ning Sect members also returned, and shook their heads at Ning Tingyue.

Ning Tingyue smiled at He Yin:

"By the way, Yin'er, where is your friend Zhou Fuling?"