Chapter 7 A New Identity (First Release on Jinjiang Literature City)

She was nestled in a tree branch, so lush and covered by the rainy night, that it's unclear how she was discovered.

Yao Sisi dodged extremely quickly, but she didn't completely avoid it. Something grazed her arm, and she groaned in pain. The cold touch drew a line of blood. With a thought, she stored the hidden weapon in her spatial storage and moved through the forest at an extremely fast speed.

However, the pursuers were close behind, and she would be caught sooner or later. She was like a lamb being toyed with by a cheetah, and speed, running, panic, blood and cold sweat intertwined to create a desolate scene.

But as my gaze swept across her face, I saw a mixture of excitement and intensity. She seemed to be enjoying the chase of life until she was panting heavily, her life force drained away. Only then did she turn her head, revealing a half-smile beneath the wide brim of her hat, which blended into the night.

With a swift movement, she entered the space from the shadows of the trees.

The people outside searched for a while but lost sight of her, wandering around like headless flies, wishing they could turn the ground upside down to find her. There are some secret methods of escape in this world. The person waited for a while, did not leave immediately, and lingered nearby for a while before leaving.

Yao Sisi licked her lips: "It's only from a distance that it's this serious. If they actually go inside, ha, they'll be riddled with arrows."

The spirit said, "Master, don't worry, let's outsmart each other!"

Yao Sisi thought to herself: I never intended to force it.

She may not be a good person, but she wouldn't repay kindness with enmity.

Her top was gently removed, revealing a scratch on her arm with a little blood seeping out. She applied some medicine, changed her clothes, and her demeanor easily shifted between alluring and indifferent. At this moment, she resembled a Taoist nun who was detached from worldly affairs, her aura serene and pure, as she sat cross-legged in the space, cultivating.

Since it's inconvenient for her to go out right now, she should use this time to improve her cultivation.

Because the space was more advanced, bringing the storage bag in had no impact. She took out a spirit-gathering talisman from inside and used it, circulating her cultivation technique to absorb a continuous stream of immortal spiritual energy. As it slowly gathered in her meridians, it was guided and channeled into her dantian.

After cultivating for a whole night, the spiritual energy in her dantian had become slightly more solid. If the previous energy was like a few loose strands of thread, so thin that it seemed like it would break at the slightest touch, the current energy was more substantial, the lines were thicker, and there were no longer such large gaps between them. She felt that her body was fuller than before.

I did a quick check on the wound; it's already scabbed over, and it should heal completely in no time.

She let out a soft sigh of relief and left before dawn.

Not long after she left, someone found the spot where she had left and lingered there as if searching for something.

Those people haven't given up at all.

The village within the city was located in a remote area, nestled against a mountain, and some distance from her residence. She hurried as fast as she could and arrived near the village before dawn. Finding a busy intersection, she suddenly produced the hidden weapon, which resembled a delicate arrowhead. She casually stuffed it into a pile of straw in the corner of the wall.

When he got back to his lodgings, feeling guilty for having secretly explored the place the night before, he didn't come in through the main entrance but instead climbed over a wall.

That one accidental encounter almost led to her running into Qi Mu.

What's that young master who doesn't often come to my private residence doing here?

She glanced at the sky; it was still early. Ordinary people would just be getting up at this time. Why was he not enjoying the servants' service at the old house, but rushing to the private residence so early in the morning? Did he suspect her?

As the saying goes, "If you have a clear conscience, you have nothing to fear." But she... has done something wrong, so everyone looks like a ghost knocking on her door.

Her once light and quick steps now carried an eerie quality; she drifted back to her room like a fallen leaf.

Last night's rain extinguished the summer heat, and when she opened the door, she felt a bit cold. What made her even more uncomfortable was that the wet mud under her feet was even more difficult to explain, as if it were clearly telling people that she had been out last night.

She quickly flipped through the talisman book, found the cleansing talisman that she had previously overlooked, and drew it in a few strokes.

Cleaning talismans is simpler than cleaning spirit-gathering talismans, but almost no one spends money to buy them. Those who buy talismans can hire an ordinary person to clean them, which is much cheaper than talismans and is not disposable.

Moreover, once one's cultivation level is higher and one's control over spiritual energy becomes more refined, one can then use the Cleansing Spell.

She activated the talisman she had just created, and in an instant, all the dirt on the ground and on her boots disappeared, and even the whole house was cleaner than before.

To my shame, since she moved in, almost no one has come to this room, and no one has cleaned it. She's been left to her own devices, and she's been busy cultivating every day, so she hasn't had time to clean the room at all, resulting in a thin layer of dust on the floor...

Fortunately, she also knows how to draw talismans, otherwise she would have had to set aside half a day for a thorough cleaning.

The thought of wasting time on such trivial matters made her feel uncomfortable.

She stood in front of the table and drew a few more cleansing talismans for later use. After feeling that there was more spiritual energy in her dantian, the spiritual energy was less likely to break when drawing the talismans, making it easier to control than before, and she could persist for longer until she was a little tired before putting down her pen.

She took off her boots and got into bed. She took out the Refining God Manual from her storage bag, and yawned as she flipped through the book, just like a slacker who gets sleepy as soon as she starts reading.

Feeling mentally exhausted and unable to concentrate on anything, she simply put away her book, closed her eyes, and lay down on the bed to rest.

People were coming and going outside, making it even more lively. She said to the spirit, "I'm going to sleep for a while. Keep an eye on things and wake me up if anything happens."

She slept soundly and woke up at noon. She took out a bowl of delicious food from her storage bag and enjoyed it slowly.

As she stepped out of the room, a group of young men, mostly around seventeen or eighteen years old and about the same age as Qi Mu, appeared outside. They were probably his friends. She sensed the fluctuations of profound energy emanating from them. They all seemed to be unmarried and full of youthful vigor, though there were also some ordinary people among them.

No wonder he came to the private residence this morning; he was there to prepare to welcome them, not to suspect her as she had thought.

Last night, the sky was pitch black. She was wearing a black cloak, and the wide brim of the hood covered most of her face. It would be strange if she recognized those people, since they were complete strangers to her.

There were many more people inside the private residence, so she avoided the crowd and walked along the path.

As the young master of the Yunxi family, Qi Mu possessed some treasures. He invited so many young masters from the city to come here, firstly to appreciate the treasures, and secondly to spread some news about pharmaceutical manufacturing.

In the main hall of the main courtyard, there is a display stand that is ten meters long and wide. Several jade basins are arranged in a staggered manner on it. Various herbs are planted on the jade basins. These herbs are not yet mature, and some are just seedlings.

His family's outstanding pharmaceutical skills are inseparable from their ability to cultivate and collect medicinal herbs. Others only know that his family's forbidden area is heavily guarded because it contains countless medicinal herbs, but in reality, they are guarding that spring.

The herbs in the hall were still young, but they already showed their extraordinary qualities. Some were plants, some were small vines, and some had medicinal flowers, while others had medicinal stems and leaves. At this moment, Qi Mu spoke eloquently, demonstrating the social skills of a scion of a large family.

"Both the roots and fruits of the Dragon Scale Flower can be used in medicine. However, this branch has only grown for ten years and is only flowering for the first time recently. It will take another ten years before it bears fruit. We martial artists are most prone to injuries that leave hidden wounds. It can both regenerate tendons and heal bones. However, what many people do not know is that its effects are separate: the fruit regenerates tendons, and the root heals bones."

At this moment, a young man in crimson robes chuckled and nodded, “I have heard of people who have been deceived. They wanted to buy dragon scale flowers to treat bone injuries, but they only bought plants that had been used by others and no longer had roots.”

Qi Mu: "That's true. Herbs are hard to find, and if you're not familiar with them, it's easy to get scammed. In this case, it's better to buy from a long-established shop, at least you won't get cheated."

As for the old-established shop he mentioned, he was obviously referring to his own family business, though he didn't say it outright.

The main hall of the house was quite large, with two rows of about a dozen young men sitting around the viewing platform, along with three or four young ladies. If you count the attendants and servants they brought with them, there were about forty or fifty people in the house.

Since the herbs are all immature, there's no need to worry about anyone hearing the news and trying to steal them. Besides, there's a circle of martial artists outside the house, so not even a fly could get in.

When Yao Sisi reached the middle gate between the front and back yards, she saw that there were too many people, including many unfamiliar faces dressed in fine clothes. She looked at her own clothes and realized that the material seemed to be of poor quality for the sake of hunting.

Normally it would be fine, there aren't many bright and cheerful people in the manor, but now that someone has come, they seem out of place in comparison.

She glanced at the martial arts master standing outside the main hall from afar, holding a sword in his arms; he looked much more dashing than her.

"Tsk, after all these days, I've really become lazy!"

She chose a direction, preparing to jump over the wall, but as soon as she poked her head up a little, she saw a group of martial arts masters standing at the base of the wall, one every two meters on average...

Yao Sisi: "???"

That young master did something secret, which is why so many people are guarding him.

The martial artists outside were mainly focused on preventing anyone from sneaking in, so they were all watching the street warily. No one really noticed a head peeking out from the wall, especially since she was very fast and retreated as soon as she peeked out.

Across the street, Gong Yichen, the young master of the Gong family, sat in his carriage and looked out. His gaze swept over Qi Mu's residence, but he unexpectedly spotted Yao Sisi peeking out. He was only a few dozen meters away from her, and this time he saw her clearly. A flash of amazement crossed his eyes.

"This person looks like the one with the umbrella yesterday. What's her relationship with Qi Mu?"

He lifted the carriage door and urged, "Hurry up, don't take detours."

Yao Sisi didn't plan to go out today. She went back to her room, rummaged through her clothes, and found a tattered piece to put on. Who told her to be so hasty in buying clothes? No matter what, it was shabby, so she might as well go all out. At least this was the battle robe she wore when she killed the mystical beasts...

It's kind of cool, isn't it...?

She straightened her clothes. The dark red inner shirt was fitted at the waist and sleeves, making her figure look slender and beautiful. The outer garment was light ink blue, with no special tailoring or exquisite details, except for a few maple leaves that matched the inner shirt.

Although it's not glamorous, the color scheme is wonderful and makes her complexion look good. There's just a small scratch on the upper body, revealing a little bit of her collarbone.

It's not a big deal if it's slightly torn; no one would dare ask about it in this location. Besides, showing a bit of collarbone is no challenge for someone like her who loves off-the-shoulder clothing.

Hmm, I wonder if the kitchen will prepare any special spiritual foods for the banquet later...

She walked to the desk, picked up the brush, concentrated, and with each stroke of her brush, one spirit-gathering talisman was formed. Once she finished drawing one, she placed it aside and stacked it up.

Gong Yichen arrived late to the front hall. He was dressed in gorgeous clothes and loved to show off. He walked with his head slightly raised, giving people a feeling of disdain for everyone.

Qi Mu disliked him the most, but tolerated him because they were both from aristocratic families. They believed in making money through harmony in business, so they couldn't openly kick him out. They always managed to keep things polite on the surface.

Qi Mu replied as usual, "Brother Gong, you're too late. We've already served half of the food."

Gong Yichen smiled enigmatically: "That's not necessarily true. It's better to arrive at the right time than late. Guess what I just saw?"

As soon as he finished speaking, the curiosity of everyone in the room suddenly arose, but no one asked any questions. Their eyes secretly scanned between the host and the guests, as if they had discovered something was wrong.

Seeing that the visitor was not friendly, Qi Mu refused, saying, "Brother Gong, why are you interested in other things? Don't you want to admire the rare orchid I brought?"

As everyone knows, Qilan grass is the main ingredient for cleansing the marrow and rejuvenating the body, and no martial artist can resist its temptation.

Gong Yichen paused, glanced at the central platform, and said with a smile, "I didn't expect you to be so willing to bring it out, Qi Mu. But judging from its quality, it's still a long way from being fully mature!"

Moreover, even if there were mature, rare things like these, our own family wouldn't have enough, so why would we kindly sell them to him?

Qi Mu was about to say something when he was rudely interrupted, "Qi Mu, aren't you curious about what I just saw?" He then looked around and said, "If he's not curious, aren't you all curious too?"

No one spoke, which was a way of giving Qi Mu face by not responding, but the curiosity in their eyes was impossible to hide.

Qi Mu's heart sank slightly, not expecting him to be so determined to sabotage things: "What exactly do you want to do?"

Gong Yichen, however, was in no hurry to speak. Seeing that he had asked, he kept him in suspense, "I didn't mean anything by it. Look how nervous you are. It's just a strange thing. By the way, I heard that your family has been pressuring you to go on blind dates again recently. How is it going? Have you met any suitable ladies?"

Qi Mu stood in front of a medicinal herb, his hands clenched tightly in his sleeves, wishing he could shove the herb over his head. Everyone knew he hated this the most!

This person is so annoying for reopening old wounds in public!

He slightly parted his lips and raised his voice a little more seriously: "I don't need Brother Gong to worry, but I've heard that the lady of your betrothal since childhood hasn't come to visit you yet!"

He took a few steps forward and said earnestly, "If you ask me, Brother Gong, you are a man of great appearance and good family background and talent. It's just that you like to argue, which lowers your status. You might bump into someone while arguing outside and not even know it."

Gong Yichen stopped smiling. His marriage was excellent, but the other party had their eye on his older brother and had been trying to find someone else recently. He gritted his teeth inwardly. This matter was kept very well hidden, and almost no one knew about it.

"Qi Mu, don't talk nonsense."

Qi Mu only vaguely felt that his marriage was not right, but he did not know the inside story. If it weren't for Gong Yichen's tendency to oppose him, he would not have bothered to pay attention to this matter.

"I was just reminding Brother Gong!"

Gong Yichen glanced at his expression, a few names flashed through his mind, then shook his head. He probably didn't know anything; it was just a lucky coincidence.

His confident smile returned. "Yesterday I saw a woman holding your umbrella, and I was thinking you'd had a successful blind date, after all..."

He found a seat, arrogantly crossed his legs, and even leaned back. "Everyone here knows you're very careful with your belongings. Most girls probably can't get their hands on your things, right?"

As expected, everyone's interest was piqued. Although they gave Qi Mu some face, not all of them were on good terms with him. They preferred to avoid trouble, but if there was a good show to watch, they wouldn't mind watching it.

Besides, their family backgrounds are similar, so they can speak more casually.

One of the boys, standing on the innermost side, seemed to be speaking on behalf of Qi Mu, but this only spurred Gong Yichen to continue talking.

"Brother Gong, are you seeing things?"

Gong Yichen: "How could that be? Even if I was seeing things yesterday, I shouldn't be seeing things today. That girl looks pretty. Qi Mu... You're not keeping a mistress hidden away from us, are you? Oh dear, no wonder all your blind dates have failed. You probably already have someone you like?"

He didn't say the last part, but he thought to himself: Maybe your sweetheart dislikes you and is unwilling to be a live-in wife!

The phrase "keeping a mistress in a golden house" really stimulated the nerves of the young man, and even Qi Mu himself was frightened.

Damn it, this person actually dared to publicly slander his reputation!

The others didn't care about such things; their inner gossip was burning fiercely. They were usually very careful about themselves, afraid that a bad reputation would affect their future. Among them, Qi Mu was the most old-fashioned and serious, and it was hard to imagine that he would be involved in such things.

Qi Mu: "Nonsense! How can you assume I have a secret relationship just because someone took my umbrella? You, the young master of the Gong family, have given gifts to others before. Does that mean every gift you receive is a secret relationship?"

Gong Yichen: "I was just curious. Where did I say you two had a secret affair? But... Qi Mu, do you admit to giving someone the umbrella?"

Qi Mu: "An umbrella isn't a private item, so why can't I give it away? Even if it's a complete stranger on the street, it's not a big deal to lend a hand when someone is in the rain!"

Gong Yichen: "Since that's the case, don't hide it anymore, just bring it out and let us see it!"

Qi Mu hadn't expected the other party to be so aggressive. He didn't want Sisi to be here at all. Everyone present had their own agendas and complicated relationships. It wasn't a good occasion either. But if he didn't let her appear, who knew what kind of rumors would spread after today's events had been exposed.

He gave Liu Yuan a wink and said, "Go and call Junior Sister over."

Liu Yuan lowered his head and paused, thinking about the form of address...

He glanced at his young master subtly, received a signal, and then left the room.

Yao Sisi had just finished drawing a spirit-gathering talisman and stacked it on the table. She twisted her wrist and heard footsteps gradually becoming clearer.

She quickly put away the talisman, and then there was a knock on the door.

Liu Yuan: "Young lady, my young master has sent you to a rescue!"

Yao Sisi opened the door, puzzled, and asked, "What's going on?"

Liu Yuan said with a bitter face, "I don't have time to explain it to you in detail. I can only say it briefly. When you get to the front hall, try to cooperate with the young master and speak as little as possible to avoid being exposed. By the way, since your identity is unclear, the young master has made one up for you and will call you Junior Sister."

Yao Sisi asked, "How old is your son?"

Liu Yuan rolled her eyes at her, openly and without any attempt to hide it. "What time is it? Why are you still asking about his age? You women are really something. Do you think you can just tell someone's husband's age like that?"

Yao Sisi touched her nose. "I was just afraid of giving myself away. I'm twenty this year, about the same age as your young master, right?"

Liu Yuan: "We're about the same age. My young master is nineteen, so it's fine for him to call you 'Junior Sister.' Don't you have any other questions?"

Yao Sisi: "No, didn't you already assign me a quiet personality? I'll just be aloof and try not to talk much."

Liu Yuan rolled her eyes inwardly. She didn't know why, but even though she hadn't done anything, she still had this lecherous air about her...

That's really strange...

Soon, the two arrived at the front hall, where they saw a group of people sitting on both sides of the room, glancing outside from time to time, their eagerness to watch the drama unfold was obvious.

Before half a cup of tea had been brewed, a tall woman appeared in their sight. She was dressed neatly and her hair was simply styled. She walked as if stepping on a breeze, her steps steady and quick. Her long legs took her to the front in just a few steps. Only when she got closer did they realize that she was quite beautiful. Even in such ordinary clothes, she could bring out her charm. If she were dressed differently, she would be stunningly beautiful.

However, although this woman was beautiful, her temperament was even more outstanding. She had an aloof and noble air about her, and her gaze was tinged with a faint chill, as if nothing in the world mattered to her. However, when she glanced at Qi Mu, everyone could feel that her expression softened slightly.

Yao Sisi said calmly, "I heard my junior brother call me here. Is someone wanting to see me?"

Qi Muyi paused: Not to mention the others who were intimidated, even he himself was taken aback.

A note from the author:

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