Chapter 42 Marsh Gas She asked Fuling, "Could it be from your lover?"...

"Ling Feng, you're disgusting!"

Snap!

Ling Fu was slapped again.

"Take her away. Then go see Young Master Ning Bai."

Ling Fu struggled as she was taken away and locked in a side room.

Ning Bai... They are going to see Ning Bai. Now that the Yun Ning Grand Competition is approaching, they should also be going to the Cloud Candle Tower.

Zhou Fuling stayed behind and listened to everyone's conversation, quickly figuring out the identities of this group of people.

This is the second part of the Yun'er Department, a fifth-rank water-controlling household.

The official in charge is the person in charge of the external affairs of the sect.

The Water Master is responsible for the water management of a department. It's a minor official position, not as high as Zhou Fuling's position as the Junior Master of the Imperial Household in charge of finances at Bingjian Peak.

In this Ling family, there are two branches: the eldest and the second. The eldest uncle of the eldest branch married the goddaughter of a fourth-rank official in charge of merits and duties, and his entire family rose to prominence.

Ling Fu is the eldest daughter of the second wife. Her father was more talented, but died young.

Later, the second branch of the family had their magical treasures and property seized by their eldest uncle, who was a fifth-rank celestial official. Their mother and younger sister were also very weak, and the family was in a very bad situation.

During a banquet, the graceful Ling Fu caught the eye of Ning Bai, the young master of the second part, who wanted to take her as his concubine.

Ling Fu feigned illness to escape a disaster, but in the second part, the young master Ning Bai still couldn't forget her and asked for her again.

How could the first wife pass up the opportunity to squeeze every last drop of value out of her?

Just as Ling Fu was about to be forcibly sent there, Zhou Fuling killed the sect leader Ning Tingyue. Taking advantage of the internal strife, Ling Fu escaped with her mother and sister.

But now, she has been brought back.

The people who were tormenting Ling Fu just now were the eldest wife and eldest son of the main branch, the actual people in power in the Ling family.

It was late at night.

After figuring out how the people guarded the place, Zhou Fuling killed one of the lone cultivators, disguised herself as that cultivator, and went to guard the imprisoned Ling Fu.

This is Zhou Fuling's plan.

Send Ling Fu to Ning Bai, and after she blends in a bit, you can reach Ning Zhu Tower.

"Alright. Quickly bring this disobedient girl out."

The next morning, Zhou Fuling, disguised as a cultivator guarding Ling Fu, obeyed orders and put Ling Fu into the carriage.

Ling Fu slept on the ground all night, looking disheveled.

But for some reason, when Zhou Fuling helped her up, Ling Fu stared blankly at her with her bright almond-shaped eyes wide open.

Zhou Fuling wanted to find out the reason.

Ling Fu turned her head back.

"Xiao Fu, don't blame your eldest cousin."

The young master's eyes fell on Ling Fu's face, and he touched her cheek.

Ling Fu was so angry that she trembled all over.

Young Master: "You'd better know your place! In this situation, if it weren't for Young Master Ning Bai taking a liking to you, you and your whole family would be sold off as farmhands, understand? Don't repay kindness with enmity!"

Ling Fu: "Pah!"

She was slapped again.

Zhou Fuling looked at Ling Fu in silence.

She didn't quite understand this kind of person, just like Xu Qingning, who knew that obeying would mean less suffering, but still stubbornly insisted on going against the grain.

Why bother?

Halfway there, Zhou Fuling was ordered to fetch water.

Gazing at the shimmering water, she thought of the Immortal Imprisonment Mirror again and paused for a moment in a daze.

Upon returning, they suddenly heard Ling Fu, who was locked in the carriage, wailing and crying pitifully. They wondered what had happened.

Zhou Fuling turned around and inquired around before she learned the reason why Ling Fu was crying.

"It's all because the Second Madam came to Miss Ling and cried her eyes out, pretending to be sick and pitiful, and took away Miss Ling's token."

"A token?" Zhou Fuling asked. "What token?"

"The token from the fourth part. That was Miss Ling's only remaining possession after she went to the second part..."

The token for Part 4?

Is Ling Fu also related to the fourth part?

Zhou Fuling was puzzled and was about to ask when they set off.

As the group headed north, Ling Fu's cries gradually subsided. Even halfway there, she didn't stop her antics.

With a talisman, Ling Fu ran out, but when she was caught, she had already darted to the inn at the foot of the mountain.

The First Madam's pearl shoes were covered in mud, and her face was full of disgust.

The butler said, "Madam, please rest here for a while."

The First Madam snorted coldly and went into the inn to change her clothes.

Ling Fu was bound hand and foot and guarded on the rocks, silently shedding tears.

However, Zhou Fuling stood guard outside the carriage...

Suddenly, I heard the chirping of insects and saw them crawling all over the ground.

He couldn't help but frown.

Beside the mountain path at the foot of the mountain, there used to be a clear stream, but the water gradually became murky.

Zhou Fuling squatted down.

The underground river water level is abnormal.

A faint smell of rotten eggs lingered in the air, but it was dispelled by the aroma of wine and meat emanating from the inn.

The calls of bats also spread from the mountains and forests.

Zhou Fuling turned her head.

She seemed to have seen this situation before.

When they were in the mortal realm, Xu Qingning said to her while they were avoiding disaster: "The spring water is turbid, which means the water level is abnormal; the smell of rotten eggs means there is marsh gas. This means that a demon from afar is coming and will cause the ground to sink and the underground river to flow backward."

Zhou Fuling's fingers touched the murky water.

Suddenly, I became interested.

She walked to the roadside, where a tattered mustard seed bag lay on the mountain path.

The scent of the mustard seed sac was very familiar... Zhou Fuling turned to look at Ling Fu.

Looking back, Ling Fu stared at her with a pale face.

Her eyes were filled with tears.

Her eyes held a look as if she had already died at Zhou Fuling's hands, filled with dejection and resentment.

Zhou Fuling withdrew her hand.

Ling Fu was stunned, looked at her incredulously for a while, her eyes darting around before she looked away.

Before long, the lady changed her clothes, glanced at Ling Fu with disgust, and ordered someone to take Ling Fu away.

Unexpectedly, Ling Fu's gaze darted away, her eyes filled with tears, as if she had discovered something but was trying her best to hide it, and she staggered and fell down.

She hid a mustard seed bag under her skirt.

But what's the point of hiding it?

"What's this?"

Ling Fu said sadly, "This was given to me by the Miao Mountain Lord. It's the last thing I have. Madam, please don't touch it!"

The First Madam ignored her, and Ling Fu was forced to kneel down.

However, as soon as the old woman broke open the mustard seed bag, she cried out "Ouch!" and a low-grade talisman hit the ground.

This is just a low-level spell.

Pfft—

Simply because it hit the right spot.

The rock strata exploded, and the First Madam and others were swept away by the lava, screaming in agony.

Taking advantage of the chaos, Ling Fu shook off the crowd and leaped to a foothold.

He was completely unharmed, and even took advantage of the chaos to pick up a flint. Ignoring the burns on his hands and the corrosive effects of the demonic power, he painstakingly cut the rope.

After the rocks collapsed, there was another explosion, and the eldest son shouted and charged at Ling Fu.

Ling Fu was forced to sit under the tree. Suddenly, she looked up and called out to Zhou Fuling, who had somehow gotten up in the tree:

"Help me! I know it's you! The weirdo who threw me out of the hole!"

Zhou Fuling: "Who is the planter?"

"I am! I am!" Ling Fu knelt down. "I saw... that you also seem to be heading to the Cloud Candle Tower. If you need me for even a day, I will surely be of use. If I'm not useful, then you can kill me!"

Just as Young Master Ling was about to strike Ling Fu, Zhou Fuling jumped down.

The eldest son cursed, and Zhou Fuling slapped him so hard that he fell into the lava.

She also poked the young master several times to prevent him from getting up.

The eldest son sank.

Zhou Fuling turned around, and Ling Fu's eyes were as bright as lacquer, as if she was somewhat moved.

Without saying a word, Zhou Fuling snatched the horse, lifted Ling Fu onto it, and rode off.

Ling Fu breathed a sigh of relief after escaping danger.

Zhou Fuling found it strange, because while they were traveling, Ling Fu had been gazing at her with deep affection.

“You look like a delicate little girl even more fragile than me,” Ling Fu said, “yet your skill is so unorthodox.”

Zhou Fuling sneered: "Yes, I can kill you anytime."

"No, you're a good person. Don't worry, I would never harm you. Do you know how I recognized you?"

Ling Fu leaned against her back and said in a coquettish voice, "The people my disgusting older brother sent used to hold me hostage. They were all trying to touch me inappropriately, and I had no choice but to endure it."

"But you were the only one who didn't make a move as soon as we set off. You looked at my hand and it looked like you just wanted to break it off, the same look in your eyes as when you said in the cave, 'I'm going to break your hand.'"

"But there was no disgusting malice."

Zhou Fuling: "..."

Ling Fu said again, "I would never harm you. I can tell right from wrong. You clearly discovered the mustard seed sac, yet you helped me cover it up and even betrayed my damn cousin. I'm happy for you; you are my benefactor. I have no other relatives now. If you are good to me, I will do anything for you, even risk my life."

Zhou Fuling was not one to easily trust sweet talk, and she snorted coldly.

She paused for a moment, then asked, "What is your relationship with Master Miao and the Fourth Division?"

"..."

Ling Fu paused, seemingly surprised by Zhou Fuling's question, and stammered, "I was once favored by Master Miao and was to be accepted as an inner disciple. However, after my father died... my uncle always liked to humiliate my mother, and I was worried about leaving her alone in the Ling family, so I didn't go..."

"The Miao Mountain Master liked me, so he taught me some external martial arts."

"The Miao Mountain Lord is also..."

The wife of Minister Liang of the Fourth Division later visited me and also gave me a token.

Zhou Fuling was silent for a moment: "What a coincidence."

"What, you know Master Miao?" Ling Fu's voice rose a few notches. "Why do I feel like you're looking at me, plotting something?"

She shrugged again.

"You've got it wrong," Zhou Fuling chuckled dryly. "You could say we know each other."

...

Zhou Fuling then traveled three miles south, silently inquiring about the whereabouts of the Rain Master along the way.

Ling Fu wasn't idle either; she subtly probed along the way to find out how Zhou Fuling knew Master Miao.

However, when she was with Zhou Fuling, she was very well-behaved, unlike when she was being escorted by the Ling family and running around everywhere.

They even gave me directions multiple times.

“Don’t take this road,” Ling Fu said. “Beyond the Gen position hill is the abandoned Nine-Layer Cold Ladder, which is rarely visited by people from the Four Departments.”

To Zhou Fuling's surprise, Ling Fu seemed to have an exceptional knowledge of geography. She was familiar with everything from geology to mountain paths.

But Zhou Fuling was still worried.

She was worried that Ling Fu was playing tricks, so she tested her several times. Ling Fu did not set any traps.

Ling Fu said, "Don't worry, I won't hurt you!"

How do you know so much?

"Alas, my dream is to become a fifth-rank local official in the Southern Continent. However, that's impossible."

Zhou Fuling turned her head.

The two rested on the road, and Ling Fu fetched water.

"How could that be possible in the Southern Continent? They only value my beauty. If I stayed in the Southern Continent, I would be tortured to death."

Ling Fu sighed, "By the way, your geomantic map is top-notch. Who gave it to you? Can I borrow it and take a look?"

Zhou Fuling looked at it several times on the way, but only said, "I won't lend it."

"Everything, big and small, and even the handwriting, upright and elegant, spirited and vigorous... Could it be a gift from your lover?"

Zhou Fuling knew she was being tricked into revealing information, so she paused for a moment, but still said, "No. It's not anyone."

"Who exactly are you a disciple of?" Ling Fu whispered. "I actually figured it out. You might be a disciple of the first sect, but you ran away because you didn't want to be part of the same sect. Don't worry, I absolutely won't tell you."

Zhou Fuling rolled her eyes. "Do you think I'm stupid? If you try to trick me into saying anything more, I'll kill you."

Ling Fu dared not speak and lay on the ground.

She was crying in the middle of the night, muttering incoherently, seemingly lost in a dream.

"Mother, mother..."

"Why..."

Why are you doing this to me!

She woke up with a start and saw Zhou Fuling staring at her intently, without saying a word, as if she were thinking about something.

Ling Fu wiped her face and tears, awkwardly burying her head, hoping Zhou Fuling hadn't seen her. She then lay down and continued sleeping, oblivious to everyone else.

...

The Mirror that Imprisons Immortals.

In the chilling, desolate wind.

Xu Qingning opened her eyes in a daze.

There was only darkness.

Zhou Fuling is not here.

So be it.

He suddenly regained consciousness briefly.

Whether Zhou Fuling is here now or not, it won't make much difference.

That's no longer the past.

Now, he can say he's slowly repaying her for what she did back then. But she probably doesn't care, after all, she did so many resolute things to him.

[Host, you are awake...]

Xu Qingning watched the changes in favorability rating, remaining motionless for a long time, her eyelashes trembling slightly.

Just then, the Immortal Imprisoning Mirror opened.

The Rain Master walked in.

"I also checked the fourth volume, and there really is someone like you."

Yu Shi looked at Xu Qingning, who was imprisoned in the formation, and grinned maliciously, "But unfortunately, I will not let you go."

At a command, the cultivators of the first division held down Xu Qingning and pierced his pupils with needles.

Xu Qingning raised her head with icy eyes.

Rain Master: "Speak, the deployment of the fourth part."

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A note from the author: