Zhong Changyao endured the inner torment and took the treasure box. Suddenly, he felt a chill on his head, as if something sticky was dripping.
Yun Xian put Taiping away and quickly put the tiles back.
Liu Xu finally understood what the sticky substance in the tabloid was, and her face immediately turned pale: "...You are even more unrefined than me!"
Zhong Changyao looked up, but saw nothing.
He wasn't convinced by the emperor's words, nor was he moved by the Sishui Grass. This was merely a temporary solution. If it weren't for the constant urging of the mighty power within him, he would never have reached out. Now the first part of the storyline had been completely annihilated, it couldn't be further distorted. His current realm was still limited to the Half-Step Nascent Soul stage. This matter of Tang Ling Kingdom could not be messed up again.
This is just a stopgap measure.
Zhong Changyao repeated this thought in his mind three or five times, finally letting his burning face ease a little. The king remained seated on the throne, oblivious to his change of heart, his expression unmoved, a look of calm.
In his eyes, it was natural for Zhong Changyao to take it, and it would be strange if he didn't take it.
"The palace is quite large and employs many people. A single fire would be quickly extinguished if discovered. How could it have burned so easily for three days and three nights?" Zhong Changyao said sternly, "Where is that maid being held now? Let me see her."
The emperor waved his hand wearily, not wanting to say more, and had him taken to the dungeon.
Yun Xian and his group were on the roof, looked at each other, and secretly followed.
It's okay to fool ordinary people, but to fool Zhong Changyao, it's not a matter of using some spiritual power. In order to avoid being seen, Yun Xian only plans to go with Qiao Lingshan, and the other four will act according to the circumstances.
The Tangling Kingdom dungeon hadn't been burned down yet. The stone bricks were covered in moss, the darkness was so dim that it was difficult to distinguish the sun from the sky, and a fishy, cold odor emanated. As expected, Yun Xian made his way down and saw many spirits. They kept bumping into the walls in the dungeon, their heads bleeding, and their faces blank.
This group of spirits are probably Tang Lingren who died in prison. They were bound in shackles before their death. After death, they didn’t know that they were free. They were still trapped in this small place and couldn’t get out.
Qiao Lingshan transmitted a message: "There are so many spirits in this place, it's strange."
"I find it strange too." Yun Xian frowned and said, "If the heaven and earth can give birth to spiritual bodies, it means there must be spiritual energy. Now it seems that there must be no spiritual energy in the body of this person. I don't know the reason."
Could it be that the Heaven is unhappy with Tang Lingren, and is unwilling to give anything to humans, even a single spiritual root, as it gives everything to the Heaven and the Earth?
Is God really that boring? Is he trying to make things difficult for people?
It seems that Zhong Changyao was really injured. No wonder he valued the Si Shui grass so much. He was so depressed in the hall that he vomited all the way. Yun Xian didn't even have to bother to look for him. He could tell where he went by following the blood trail.
A man and two followers sneaked into the dungeon and walked straight to the end.
Princess Tang Wuke's personal maid was being held here. Her body was covered in blood and she was leaning against a pile of firewood, hugging her knees, looking very cold.
"Miss, my name is Zhong Changyao, and I've come here on the orders of the Emperor." Zhong Changyao gracefully bowed to her and said, "Could you tell me the details of what happened when the fire started that day? Did you see anything strange?"
The maid was utterly chilled, her reactions slow. After a long pause, she finally moved her cracked lips and said dryly, "No. I had no help, no insider information, no prior planning, and no grudges. I just felt like starting a fire on a whim, and the person on duty dozed off, so the fire got bigger. By the time we were discovered, it was too late to put out. Anything else?"
According to the emperor, Tang Wuke was probably trying on her wedding gown. Royal weddings were naturally extravagant, with layers and layers of fabric, all made of gauze and silk. It only took a moment for the gown to catch fire.
Zhong Changyao stared at the maid's face, only to find that beneath the blood, her face still retained its beauty. His voice softened, "Young lady, please don't misunderstand me. What I meant was that perhaps there was someone behind this, and you were wrongly accused."
The voice was extremely gentle, but the maid was quite unimpressed and said disdainfully, "What nonsense are you talking about? I saw it burning myself, and I didn't know it? Are you trying to say that the princess asked me to burn the palace so that she could escape? How could that be possible? You've wasted your time!"
Yun Xian and Qiao Lingshan were listening with bated breath when suddenly, a light came on in the dungeon. It turned out that Zhong Changyao stretched out his hand and a yellow talisman flew out from his fingertips.
The yellow talisman had mysterious words written on it and was placed directly on the maid's throat.
The mantra talisman is only effective against people whose cultivation is far lower than yours.
It seems that Zhong Changyao really did his homework for this trip.
"Girl, since you said you set fire to the palace, can you tell me why you did it?"
To everyone's surprise, they thought the mantra talisman would work and the maid would at least hesitate, but she didn't even think about it and said through gritted teeth, "I'm going after Tang Wuke."
There was a sudden silence all around.
"I just can't stand seeing her living a life of luxury, born with a silver spoon in her mouth, yet she's constantly complaining about herself. So many people out there can't even afford a meal, fighting with dogs for food, too exhausted to sleep on the streets. She's sitting above everyone else, living the life so many people only dream of, and yet she feels so unfortunate? So many people would want to trade places with her. Why? Why is she unhappy?! Why does she have the right?"
"In the past twenty years, she has enjoyed all the wealth and glory that others could never achieve in their entire lives." The maid raised her head, a hint of the madness she had experienced when she set the fire:
"If you really feel unfortunate, then get out and see for yourself what true misfortune is!!"
Yun Xiandu came out of the dungeon, and the maid's resentful words were still ringing in his ears.
She shared the news with everyone. Qiao Lingshan, beside her, was torn and said, "It's a difficult choice to choose between living a life of luxury and comfort, but only having to live for twenty years, or a life of hardship and suffering for the rest of your life—with the possibility of sudden death at any moment due to bad luck."
The maid's anger is understandable, but the princess's unhappiness is also understandable.
No matter who it was, seeing someone who lived much better than themselves and yet was constantly unhappy, as if the whole world owed her something, was bound to be somewhat irritating. Furthermore, the maid had grown up with her and was with her 24/7, so there was no way to hide. Judging from her tone just now, it seemed like she had finally reached the point of losing her temper and suddenly erupted.
It was natural for the princess to be unhappy. No one said that if you were living a good life, you couldn't be unhappy, especially since she was about to marry that eighty-year-old demon king. She had almost seen her own end long ago, so how could she be happy?
Zhong Changyao seemed to have changed his clothes and disappeared into the street quietly. He seemed to want to investigate thoroughly, but Yun Xian always felt that he was worried that Jimo Shu would accidentally see him and give him a beating.
Liu Xu looked at Zhong Changyao's back and wondered, "Was he very popular during the Four-way War?" Why couldn't she see anything likable about him?
"Not too high, but not too low either." Feng Ye said, "It's mainly because many female cultivators like his looks."
"Appearance?" Liu Xu was increasingly confused about people's aesthetic standards these days. What was so beautiful about a frail, sickly woman like that? "It looks like it might affect fertility."
Yun Xian: “…”
Qiao Lingshan: "There's something I usually don't tell others. Actually, after Zhong Changyao turned thirty..."
In order not to attract attention, Yun Xian and his group changed their clothes and hid their weapons and swords. Feng Ye's guqin was forced to be placed in the small thatched cottage. The little puppy got a new toy and lay on it to play happily, so he didn't think about biting anyone.
It was a mess, with no clue what to do. To make matters worse, when they were halfway there, a group of people came in from the city gate.
This troupe was far larger than Yun Xian's. It stretched to the horizon, and they didn't even bother to conceal themselves. Swords, spears, and knives were everywhere, and each one was dressed more strangely than the last. They were clearly cultivators. The guards couldn't stop them—they couldn't stop them anyway—so they quickly sent for someone to report to the emperor.
This group of cultivators came in with different levels of cultivation, all of which were quite high, almost all of them were above the eighth level of the Golden Core Realm. However, they were of no use in Tang Ling Country at the moment.
Yun Xian listened to their open conversation:
"Is this the Tang Ling Kingdom? I really can't feel a single trace of spiritual energy between heaven and earth. It's really strange!"
"Now that Xuanbao Pavilion is issuing tasks and offering rewards to the world, I don't know how many people will come after us."
"Did you come here because of the Xuanbao Pavilion mission? The sect elders told me to come and see the world."
"Whatever, we must be the first ones here, right? Let's search quickly. The leader of the Four-way War has been snatched away. We can't let this opportunity to become famous slip away."
"Is that Spirit Severing Stage Demon Cultivator really not here?"
"He's not here, definitely not here. Xuanbao Pavilion said that there's been trouble in his territory recently, and he's been clashing with another demon. He's so overwhelmed that he wouldn't have the energy to come here. Don't worry, don't worry."
There was a lot of chatter and noise, as if everyone was here for sightseeing.
Feng Ye said: "It seems that Xuanbao Pavilion has announced the mission to the public."
The release of a Heavenly Rank quest naturally caused a stir, and with so many people arriving, it was understandable. Yun Xian even saw quite a few familiar faces from the Four Directions Secret Realm, and thought to himself, "My aunt is truly thoughtful."
Since she came to the Eastern Realm, the Sword Sect's people might not give up just yet. They might come after her again. With so many cultivators in Tang Ling's country now, few of them didn't know Yun Xian. If the Sword Sect wanted to do anything shady again, they would have to think carefully before taking any action. It would be a double insurance policy and also a distraction.
Moreover, she arrived at Tangling Country several days earlier than these people, so she could take advantage of the situation.
Yun Xian: "..." Thinking about it this way, it seemed like he had come here a few days earlier, but apart from getting the hundred taels from Xue Lingxiu, he got nothing else.
How could the leader of the Four-Way War end up like this?
I don’t know if Xiao Yuan overestimated her intelligence. In any case, Yun Xian is now in a hurry and needs to act as soon as possible.
Of course, before taking action, Yun Xian found a secluded corner and took out the Yun Xian from the storage ring.
The spirit had been in the storage ring for who knows how long, unable to tell the difference between day and night. As soon as it emerged, it screamed like a pig: "What the hell are you doing in there?! Are you a part-time scavenger? Empty boxes, cardboard boxes, and broken cowhide. You're going to exchange these for money? Are sword cultivators that poor?"
When everyone heard this, they remembered that she used to take out apples every day, and their faces turned green again.
"Now that the contents have been taken out, wouldn't it be a shame to throw away the outer box? They're all in good condition and not broken." Yun Xian said confidently, "I didn't intend to sell it. I just thought it might be useful in the future."
Xue Lingxiu smiled: "So will it be useful in the future?"
"No. Not yet." Yun Xian said sincerely: "But I will pick it up next time."
Xue Lingxiu held his forehead and sighed.
The spirit howled and howled, and it was obvious that it knew its life was in danger. Yun Xian's ears were almost bleeding from the noise, so he said, "Stop howling, I'm not going to kill you!"
She looked at Su Chi, and Su Chi met her gaze. He seemed to understand, and without saying a word, he reached out his hand and touched the spirit's arm with his fingertips.
A tearing force came, and the spirit's right arm became illusory for a moment, and half of it was gone in an instant.
The spirit fainted from crying: "...At least change places, I don't want to look like Yang Guo."
Yun Xian: "You're so noisy, don't talk."
…It turned out that I could still hear Yun Xian talking about the noisy day of others. Everyone silently complained in their hearts, and then looked at Su Chi anxiously and asked, "Is it? Is there any spiritual energy?"
"Yes." Su Chi retracted his fingertips and said, "Very slight."
This was both good news and bad news. The good news was that she had finally found a way to replenish her spiritual energy. The bad news was that this method was extremely inefficient, and she didn't know if capturing all the spirits in the palace would be enough for Su Chi to strike a blow.
But no matter how small a mosquito leg is, it is still meat. Yun Xian put the small but precious spirit body back into the storage ring and said to everyone, "Okay, let's go our separate ways."
It's not a place full of dangers, and there's no need to worry about being defeated one by one. If you want to find Tang Wuke, acting separately is naturally the wisest choice.
The groups were the same as before, Yun Xian and Qiao Lingshan were in one group, Xue Lingxiu and Feng Ye were in one group, and the stranger Liu Xu was with Su Chi, so at least there wouldn't be any trouble.
Having said that, let’s go our separate ways.
Yun Xian and Qiao Lingshan, wrapped in the same black cloth, walked down the street, feeling sweltering with heat. The sun hadn't even set yet, and they were both terrified as they walked.
This Tangling Kingdom was truly bizarre. Even if one ignored everyone's attire, there were so many spirits here that they could wander the streets, yet everyone seemed completely oblivious, even discussing science with Yun Xian:
"Do you always feel like someone is blowing on the back of your neck? You must have rheumatism. It's easy to have this problem if you don't blow-dry your hair after washing it. My daughter is like that. She won't change no matter what I say!"
"Sometimes you're unlucky? Don't blame others for your own bad luck. Just bear with it. This is conservation. Lucky for a while, unlucky for a while. That's just how life is."
"You often get sleep paralysis? You need to exercise your legs more! I used to get cramps like this, but since I've been planting rice in ten acres of land every day, I haven't had this problem anymore. I sleep soundly like a pig. You can try it, too."
Yun Xian: “…” Why are you so optimistic at this time!
People were constantly climbing up and down the ore veins to mine. Logically, with such a high density of ore veins, there wouldn't be any at the foot of the mountain. Perhaps even a citizen could dig up a few pieces of ore while building a house or laying a foundation. But as Yun Xian looked along, he saw that everyone was equally poor, and they were quite content with their poverty.
They were all bungalows with thatched roofs, and the richest family only had three cows. The continuous bungalows set off the magnificent royal palace, which was bright and eye-catching, but people seemed to have long been accustomed to it, or numb to it, and had no reaction at all.
"Princess? I don't know."
"How dare we ask about the whereabouts of a royal relative? If you don't know, don't ask."
"It's okay for me to ask anything else, but when I ask the princess, her tone is different." Yun Xian turned around and said to Qiao Lingshan firmly, "They must know something."
"We still don't have any clues." Qiao Lingshan said angrily, "If the emperor's elite soldiers can't find them, how can we find them?"
The two were crossing a gurgling brook. The arched bridge over the river was made of stone bricks, uneven but sturdy, with a crude and rustic feel that had been in use for who knows how many years.
This was the western part of the city, well outside the downtown area. On the shore, a dozen women were washing clothes. Perhaps because there was no one around and it was too hot, they had taken off their black robes and laid them aside, legs exposed, using washing sticks to vigorously beat the scum off their clothes.
Yun Xian took a closer look and found that they looked no different from ordinary people, just like young girls in their twenties, with traces of labor on their hands and feet, but there was still a dark mass under the black cloth.
They did not wear makeup, but instead smeared soot on their faces, making each one darker and more blurry than the other.
Yun Xian and Qiao Lingshan looked at each other for a moment and became even more confused.
Noticing the two people's gazes, the girls didn't react at all, but continued to beat the clothes vigorously. They had to finish washing the clothes and return home before dark, and at this moment, Yun Xian noticed something in his peripheral vision.
The girl next to her immediately closed her legs uncomfortably the moment her gaze swept over her, and sat up straight with her hands on her knees. But she quickly remembered where she was and once again stiffly watched the other girls' actions, and silently sat down with her legs open.
I have to say that sitting open is not only convenient for washing clothes, but also much more comfortable. In short, it is definitely many times more comfortable than sitting dignified and virtuous.
It happened in just a split second, and it looked like he had just adjusted his sitting position.
Yun Xian slowly stopped and looked at the stiff girl, thinking that it was not that she was too lucky, but that the princess might have only been out for a few days and her disguise skills were still very weak.
Look, isn’t this obvious at a glance?
“…”
The other end.
Liu Xu was chilled by the cold air next to her. When they separated, she suddenly heard the long-lost voice coming from the sound transmission talisman she had placed close to her body: "Senior Sister, Senior Sister, are you still there?"
This sound transmission talisman hadn't been used in who knows how long, and Liu Xu had almost forgotten about it. He quickly took it out, blew away the ashes, and said, "Who?!"
"Ah! Senior Sister Liu! I finally got through to you!" The voice on the other end became excited, and cut to the chase: "Senior Sister, are you in Tangling Country now? Have you seen Yun Xian? The elder ordered me to come here, and also told me to tell you to try not to reveal your identity in front of Yun Xian."
Liu Xu: "... already, exposed."
Just introduce yourself directly.
The junior brother said, "If you've been exposed, then try not to walk with her anymore. It would be best if you stay in the dark while she stays in the light. Report your whereabouts to me and I'll take people to deal with it."
Willow Catkins: "...already, on the same path."
She now felt that the princess's affairs were much more important than the ore matter, and her mind had drifted away to who knows where else.
Junior Brother: "How could this be!... Then, Senior Sister Liu, please pay attention and see if there is a mysterious master beside Yun Xian who has not yet appeared. His cultivation level is above the Out-of-Body Stage, and it is hard to tell his exact level. If you know, please tell me everything you know about his moves and techniques."
"I know who this guy is." Liu Xu said, "Yun Xian calls him Big Brother."
"Big Brother?!" There was a flurry of activity, and after a moment, someone said, "You mean, Su Chi?!"
"Maybe...right." Liu Xu never paid attention to those tabloids. She only knew that Su Chi was really strong. Scratching her head, she said, "Otherwise, you guys shouldn't come. Yun Xian is busy right now. We'll talk about it later, there's no rush."
"What do you mean, talk about it later?!" Junior Brother's voice suddenly rose considerably, and he said in disbelief, "Do you know what she did?! She destroyed Senior Brother Liu's golden core! In front of everyone!! Elder Liu was there, and they still couldn't stop her! The Sword Sect lost all face because of her. Senior Sister, don't you have any—"
His words were still hanging in the air when a sword energy came towards him from a distance, pierced through his willow hair, and nailed the sound transmission note beside his ear to the corner of the wall.
The voice of the junior brother disappeared in an instant.
Su Chi still had that calm expression. He put down the hairpin he had just picked up from the stall and walked closer.
The hairpin was ice blue with a small crystal flower on it. Although the workmanship was not exquisite, it looked quite wild.
Although Liu Xu did nothing, he still felt guilty.
This guy... this senior brother, she had thought he was quite gentle, but after they walked in silence for a while, she realized it was a complete illusion. Where was he gentle? He was freezing to death!
The sound transmission talisman was nailed to the corner of the wall, so Liu Xu couldn't hear anything. She could only hear Su Chi leaning over slightly and saying, "Who are you calling?"
He didn't know what was being said, Su Chi just listened, his long eyebrows slightly furrowed. It seemed that he didn't hear anything useful, so he decided to interrupt directly.
"Even if I call Liu Feiran here, I'll still say the same thing."
He tore up the sound transmission note and said coldly, "Now, you can go back."
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