Chapter 5 Ling Shu felt nothing but bitter hatred for her.

The sword steadied her, and the early-stage Golden Core cultivator opposite her chuckled, "Goodness, your stance is quite stable, take this!" She used a move called Xuanzhen Chuilu, catching Ling Shu off guard and causing him to suffer a setback.

Ling Shu intended to thrust upwards, but as he drew his sword, his elbow was struck downwards by a force. As it fell, the same force struck upwards from below. Just as Ling Shu was wondering what this meant, his opponent launched an attack from above, leaving his lower body vulnerable!

Following the guidance of this unknown force, a single strike pierced the vital point in the abdomen, and the early-stage Golden Core cultivator was immediately at a disadvantage!

She retreated several steps, and the remaining cultivators, seeing her defeat, immediately lost half their fighting spirit. Their sword movements slowed for a moment. Ling Shu wanted to see what other tricks she had up her sleeve, but her wrist was once again lifted by an unknown force, and her body was pushed from behind.

That's it! The defeat of the Golden Core cultivator is the perfect opportunity to attack and escape!

Taking advantage of the opponent's weak cohesion, they pressed their advantage, took down two people, tore open a breakthrough, and ran away!

The late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator took charge, issuing the order: "What are you standing there for! Chase after them! This is the person the patriarch wants; there's a hefty reward for capturing him!"

Relying on her childhood skills of petty theft, Ling Shu quickly found a small shop, scaled the wall, and sneaked in, hiding behind the door.

The cultivator's footsteps grew closer and closer, finally stopping in front of the door. Ling Shu unconsciously held her breath.

"Here! Open the door." The door was slammed shut, then a flash of magic broke the lock, and the door was kicked open with a bang.

Ling Shu was about to rush forward and make a big splash when she was stopped by a force at her waist. Ling Shu stopped in her tracks as the cultivator who had entered the room walked towards her.

The head of the little red fox in the palm of the early Golden Core cultivator pointed towards the darkness where Ling Shu was. She walked over with a face full of anger. Ling Shu swung her sword and tried to move forward, but the force at her waist blocked her way. The force was about to stop her.

Suddenly, the early-stage Golden Core cultivator stopped in front of her, and the red fox in his hand vanished, turning into a ball of red spiritual energy.

Ling Shu was stunned.

"Sigh, that's strange. My demon-hunting technique has never failed me..." The early-stage Golden Core cultivator chanted an illumination incantation, and several luminous pearls flew in front of him, illuminating the darkness. The luminous pearls, flashing with white light, swirled and swayed above Ling Shu's head before returning to the cultivator's hand.

"Quickly go out and find her." The cultivators hurried out, their footsteps fading into the distance.

Ling Shu was bewildered in the darkness.

The force with which the person pointed was neither too light nor too heavy. Judging from the touch on her skin, the thing that hit her elbow was a hard, cold object, and the thing blocking her waist was a long, straight one.

Sword sheath.

Ling Shu opened the door and went out. After taking a few steps, she stopped and asked the air beside her, "Who are you?"

Only the wind responded to her.

She had no choice but to go with the flow.

The sound of the clapper rang three times, marking the third watch of the night. The city gates opened at dawn. The night was still long. The snow had stopped, but the snow on both sides of the road was more than two feet deep. There were no homeless children on the streets. The cultivators were still searching for her whereabouts throughout the city. Patrol guards passed by from time to time, and Ling Shu avoided them.

As she walked, she thought, as if she had nowhere to go. She remembered her home and the kind owner of the tavern.

Going back would be foolish, and might even bring her trouble. The streets were deserted, and she had to hide everywhere.

"Woof woof woof!" Ling Shu had just hidden in front of a lumber shop when a yellow dog suddenly barked at her.

The sound alerted the nearby cultivators. Ling Shu crouched under a basket in the woodpile and saw the cultivator flying on a sword through the basket. The cultivator watched for a long time in the air before finally flying away on his sword.

"Xiao Hu?" a woman called out softly.

Xiao Hu was the pseudonym Ling Shu used when she applied for a job as a waiter.

"Woof!" The yellow dog walked towards Ling Shu from the front and squatted down opposite her basket.

"Xiao Hu, are you here?" A plump woman dressed in red and wearing a cloak stood outside the basket.

Ling Shu lifted the basket and poked her head out: "Boss, what are you doing here?"

"You have nowhere to go, don't you?"

"Hmm... I'll leave the city at dawn."

"You can't just stand outside freezing all night! Come to my house, hurry up! Don't nag me!"

"Who's over there?!" The guards on curfew patrol heard the noise.

Boss Zhang lifted the basket, grabbed the atractylodes, and ran away.

The force didn't stop her, and Ling Shu actually felt somewhat relieved.

She ran after Boss Zhang, with the yellow dog following behind them.

Boss Zhang's room wasn't far from the tavern. As she entered, a yellow dog wagged its tail against her leg. The charcoal fire inside was burning brightly, and a little girl was asleep on a daybed. The noise of the door opening woke her up. She woke up and asked, "Is this the older sister from Aunt Wen's family that Mother mentioned?"

The little girl, with her round eyes, exclaimed happily, "So pretty!"

"Aunt Wen?" Ling Shu asked.

“I recognized you the moment I saw you,” said Boss Zhang, as he placed the clothes Ling Shu wore when she first came to the tavern on a piece of silk and then took out some spirit stones and placed them next to the clothes. “Wen Ji’s daughter, little Ling Shu, that’s you.”

Mr. Zhang's youngest daughter jumped off the daybed and grabbed a bag of naan bread from the table for her mother.

"You...know us?"

“I know you. You have done my mother and me a great favor.” Boss Zhang smiled, stuffed the naan bread into the package, and then went to the dressing table, took out two gold hairpins, three silver hairpins, and a pair of jade bracelets, and placed them next to Ling Shu’s clothes.

"But we are demons..."

"I, Zhang Yunjin, only recognize my benefactors."

Ling Shu was speechless for a moment. This was the first time someone had greeted her with a smile after hearing that she was a demon.

"Not long ago, just three years ago, I had just lost my husband and came to Wuyang City alone with my daughter, Yaoyao, intending to start a business. Unfortunately, I was unlucky and had all my money stolen. Then, I encountered a slave trader who wanted to kidnap my daughter and sell her. I was so anxious that I fainted in the suburbs. It was you who saved me, got my daughter back for me, and gave me a large sum of money to start a business. With this money, I started from a small home-style restaurant and saved up for three years before opening this tavern."

"Without you, I would not have the peaceful life I have today."

Ling Shu thought carefully for a moment and said, "I remember now. There was a poor aunt who was lying under a tree by the roadside, covered in injuries. My mother and I saw her and took you home."

"Hey, it's me," Mr. Zhang said with a smile. "By the way, how's your mother doing lately?"

“My mother… she’s gone.” Ling Shu couldn’t help but feel heartbroken as she said this.

Boss Zhang came over, put his arm around her, and patted her shoulder: "In the future, if you can't go on, come to me. My business may be small, but it's enough to support you and Yao Yao." Ling Shu held her hand: "Thank you, Boss Zhang."

As Ling Shu spoke, she took out her clothes from her bundle, intending to pack them herself. Boss Zhang stopped her hand and forcibly took the clothes from her, saying, "Let me do it. Consider it repaying your kindness, okay?"

"Mr. Zhang! I don't need the jewelry, I don't need it."

Mr. Zhang insisted on packing her things: "Don't worry about it, let me pack, you go to sleep! Yaoyao, take your sister to sleep!"

Yao Yao got off the chair, took Ling Shu's right hand in both hands, looked at Ling Shu with her big, bright eyes, and said softly, "Big sister, will you go to sleep with Yao Yao?"

The child was so cute, it was really hard to refuse. Ling Shu didn't insist anymore, took off her coat and climbed into bed. Yao Yao also climbed in, saying she wanted to sleep with her older sister.

"Sister, you're so sweet!"

"Big sister, can you please not leave? Stay and be my big sister, okay?"

Mr. Zhang walked over with a smile, patted Yao Yao's head, tucked Ling Shu in, and said kindly, "Yao Yao, don't disturb your older sister. Your older sister needs to get going as it's dawn."

Her gentle words to her daughter were just like a mother's.

Yao Yao asked Boss Zhang to sing to her to sleep, and Boss Zhang wouldn't refuse. She patted Yao Yao's blanket and softly sang, "Sleep, sleep, good baby..." Ling Shu drifted off to sleep in the gentle voice.

The next day, we set off smoothly. After leaving Wuyang City, we headed east and stopped at a roadside teahouse to rest. There, we overheard people discussing something.

A woman with pockmarked face said, "A major incident happened in Wuyang City this morning. The Li family arrested a mother and daughter, saying they were harboring a fugitive who murdered the second young lady of the Li family. They are now posting notices all over the city offering a reward of three hundred taels of gold plus ten thousand spirit stones."

Another woman, leaning on a cane, exclaimed, "Three hundred taels of gold plus ten thousand spirit stones? My goodness! That's enough for my whole family to live on for two lifetimes!"

Ling Shu kept her face half-covered on the way, and no one noticed her. When she heard the news, she hurriedly returned to Wuyang City and found her portrait posted on the city's notice board.

Her home and the tavern were sealed off, so she secretly climbed over the wall into Mr. Zhang's house. The house was empty, and just as she was about to leave, someone called out to her.

A voice came from above: "Haha! This trick really works on you."

Looking up, she saw the female cultivator in the early stage of the Golden Core realm who had sparred with her earlier standing on the wall, her face beaming with the satisfaction of avenging her previous humiliation.

Ling Shu pointed at her and cursed, "Go to hell! I didn't kill any of your second young ladies! Release them, mother and daughter!"

The cultivator said, "If you surrender and come back to the Li family with us, I will release them; otherwise..."

Ling Shu drew her sword, and the force in her waist returned. Did this mean... she shouldn't attack?

Ling Shu sheathed her sword, swallowed her anger, and said, "I'll go with you."

Ling Shu's second time flying on her sword resulted in her being tied up and taken back to the so-called Li family. It was truly... disgraceful.

Zimu Mountain, Lijiazhuang, Sanshui Pavilion.

Inside the pavilion were alchemy furnaces of various sizes. In front of the north wall, there was a seven-foot-tall bronze alchemy furnace. Through the round hole in the furnace, one could see flames burning inside. Inside the room, a woman in fine clothes stood with her back to her.

"Patriarch, I have brought the person to you," the Golden Core cultivator reported, bowing.

"Okay, you can go now."

The woman in the fine clothes slowly turned around, and when Ling Shu saw her face, he instantly flew into a rage.

"You really want to kill me?"

The woman in the fine clothes had clearly anticipated Ling Shu's attitude. She chuckled and said, "Let me formally introduce myself. My surname is Li, and my given name is Qiao Yan. I am the head of the Li family, the number one family in the Shangqing Realm. According to etiquette, you should call me Mother."

"I have a mother!" Ling Shu cried out like a cat with its fur standing on end. "I'm here! Release them, mother and daughter! They are innocent."

“I know,” Li Qiaoyan said with a polite smile. “Dianyun, take her to see the people. Make sure our young lady sees us release them with her own eyes.”

"Pah!" Ling Shu spat at her, then followed the early Golden Core cultivator out. She saw with her own eyes that they released Boss Zhang and her daughter. Ling Shu wanted to rush out after them, but Dian Yun stopped her and escorted her back to the Sanshui Pavilion.

Li Qiaoyan sat in the middle of the pavilion, with candles hanging from the eight corners, their golden light illuminating her, making her appear noble and beautiful. She crossed her legs and said in a languid voice, "My dear daughter, I just want to know what happened to you the night before last."

What happened to me is none of your business!

Li Qiaoyan stood up from the chair and walked towards her: "Did you kill my second sister?"

"That kind of person is your second sister? She was the one who coveted my demon core! She and her subordinates killed each other while fighting for the demon core!"

After she finished speaking, Li Qiaoyan nodded and pondered for a long time before slowly saying, "Okay, I believe you."

"?" His own sister is dead, and he's just going to let everyone present go so easily? He went through all that trouble just to ask one question? Ling Shu rolled her eyes. "Are you crazy?"

"You can leave now, I won't pursue this matter further." Li Qiaoyan waved his hand, signaling her to leave.

Ling Shu turned to leave speechlessly, but as soon as she turned around, she was stopped by several cultivators dressed in flame-patterned robes. They cleared a path between them, and then a tall and handsome woman walked in from outside the door. She was nearly seven feet tall, wearing a floral blue cloak, and her hair was styled in a simple bun with a single phoenix-headed gold hairpin. Her face was like frost, and her eyes were sharp, making people fear her.

Her voice was clear and gentle yet carried a hint of authority: "If you won't pursue this matter, I will!" She stared intently at Ling Shu and said, "It's my fault for not disciplining my daughter, which led to this disaster. You don't need to let this brat get away with it because of my feelings!"

Wang Lifu and Ling Shu felt nothing but hatred and resentment towards her.