Chapter 57 A Storm is Brewing. They truly are a perfect match, their madness a match made in heaven. ...
The next morning, smoke rose from the inn's chimney, and the noise from downstairs carried up to the upstairs room, waking the people inside.
"What's this smell...?"
"I only added a handful of spices, while Fellow Daoist Yan Shen added a whole spoonful of chili powder..."
"I can't believe it! You turned something perfectly edible into something else with such a brilliant idea!?"
"How biased! Why only mention me—"
Qin Shiying turned over on the couch, covered her ears to clear her mind for a while, and then got up and got out of bed. She changed her clothes, sat in front of the mirror, and raised her hand to comb her hair, but froze when she saw the image in the mirror.
On the mirror, the boy's originally handsome and dashing features were now covered with black eye circles, three smudges on each cheek, and a small ink stain on the tip of his nose, turning him into a cat-like face.
I don't have the habit of drawing on my face while asleep, so it must have been done by someone else. An assassin wouldn't have such a perverse hobby, so...
Qin Shiying struggled to recall. She was actually a fairly good drinker, but last night, while the others had talked animatedly, her life experience was limited, and she couldn't think of anything to say. So she drank silently, and before she knew it, she had drunk too much. Fragments of her memories floated in her hazy consciousness, forcing her to pour herself a glass of water before slowly piecing these pieces together.
It seemed as if he had drawn his sword.
Thinking of this, she unconsciously moved her fingers. There was no stinging sensation, so she hadn't been in a fight. Besides, there was another reason she drew her sword—
The hazy memories finally surfaced, and Qin Shiying closed her eyes, covering her face in despair.
After getting drunk, she seemed to feel neglected, so she let her childish nature take over and drew a sword and danced it in front of everyone.
The snowy plains were desolate, and there wasn't much for the cavalry to do, so sword and saber dances became one of the ways to relieve boredom.
The primary purpose is not to perform or please others, but to enjoy themselves. Thus, they gradually incorporate their own understanding of movement techniques into the process. After completing a routine, they are not only drenched in sweat and feeling warm all over, but their familiarity with their weapons also improves. Such disciplined movements are naturally pleasing to the eye.
Qin Shiying sighed deeply, her face flushing. She used to be praised often in the camp, but now she only felt embarrassed.
After that, she seemed to have fallen asleep from the alcohol and was helped back to her room, where someone performed a ritual to cleanse her body. Later, she woke up for a while, her speech was incoherent, and her vision was very blurry. She only heard a low voice with a laugh saying, "You really have some nerve, trying to steal my senior sister?"
Then, the coolness spread across my face, leaving several streaks.
Thinking about this, Qin Shiying finally came to her senses a bit more. She felt a strange mix of emotions – half amusement, half sudden realization. No wonder she tried to snatch the wine glass yesterday; no wonder she interrupted her the first time they met.
Yet, it was as if there was nothing between the two of them, which was really strange.
After washing up, the ink stains faded a bit, but she didn't care. She went out with her face covered in graffiti, wanting to see how Shen Lixia would react.
Several sets of tables and chairs were set up in the lobby for people to talk and drink. At this moment, several dishes were laid out on one of the tables, and Shen Lixia and her friends were sitting around it.
The first person to notice Qin Shiying approaching was Xi Mengsi. She looked at the graffiti on Qin Shiying's face, hesitated, and reached out to poke Chen Lixia to remind her, but unexpectedly bumped into Qiao Yanshen as well, causing the two of them to turn around together.
Suddenly, the ink smeared on the boy's face disappeared in the blink of an eye.
Simmons blinked again, glanced at Shen Lixia, and seeing that the other party seemed unaffected, called Qin Shiying over to have breakfast.
She felt that in this world, at this moment, there was no one faster than Shen Lixia in making hand seals.
Qin Shiying noticed the subtle change in their expressions, raised his hand to touch his face, and then looked at the reflection in the side, only to find that the ink stains had disappeared.
“I made a hangover soup. The two dishes next to it were made by them.” Shen Lixia pointed to the table. Qin Shiying looked over and found that there were only three dishes in total. One of them looked light and fresh, with green leaves floating on the soup, a color that would make people feel refreshed.
The other two dishes were quite different. One bowl had a strong aroma of spices that immediately filled the nostrils, while the other was fiery red. In comparison, the hangover soup next to it seemed exceptionally mild.
"You won't die from it." Simmons patted her shoulder hard.
Qiao Yanshen, standing beside her, was also looking on with great anticipation and nervousness.
“Although I’m fasting, I still want to cook, so I’ll have to trouble you to try it.” Shen Lixia’s voice suddenly lowered. “At least my senior sister’s cooking is still delicious, right?”
The implication was that she had a premonition that something would happen if she said no.
Qin Shiying:......
She finished her breakfast in front of three people who seemed to be completely oblivious to the fact that she didn't need to eat. After the hangover soup, she felt much better.
"Thank you for your hospitality, all three of you." After saying that, Qin Shiying moved closer to Shen Lixia and lowered his voice, "Thank you for taking care of me, Immortal Master Shen."
If only they wouldn't draw cat whiskers on her face next time, she is, after all, a princess...
She took out two letters and placed them on the tidied table.
"I kept some things from you before, thinking you shouldn't delve too deeply into this matter, so I didn't tell you. But last night I happened to meet a celestial master who asked me to deliver this letter to you..."
Shen Lixia opened the letter and laid it out on the table. The letter was old, but its contents made her frown.
Another letter further lent credibility to its contents.
"Young friends, since you are the ones escorting His Highness back to the city, you must know the secrets of the Southern Kingdom's royal family. Without further ado, I have a request..."
The letter explained that after Yue Qifeng and Yun Zhixiao decided to hold the marriage ceremony in the Southern Kingdom, they came here in person to discuss it with the current Queen Mother. However, they witnessed a bizarre situation in the royal family - in the palace where women had always been in charge, men were now sitting in high positions.
The group of people were not afraid of them and their attitude was neither warm nor cold. Until one time, the emperor seemed to hear something, and suddenly his whole body stiffened. Then he smiled and said that he would warmly welcome the two of them and make good preparations for the occasion.
Yue Qifeng only felt something was strange at the time, while Yun knew that perhaps because she was a woman from the Southern Kingdom, she was indeed blessed by the legend, and thus her spiritual root also contained a trace of righteousness, which allowed her to detect the black aura that flashed across the male emperor's body for a moment. She confirmed that there was evil spirit here, and judging from the other party's attitude, its strength was probably not weak.
As for why their attitudes changed, they guessed the reason—it was because of the contract.
There are many kinds of contracts between cultivators, but the most common one is the heart contract between Daoist partners. After the vow is made, the two are completely honest with each other, exchanging their purest and most genuine souls, with their bodies and minds completely unguarded, returning to their most vulnerable moments, and entrusting each other to one another.
From then on, they were bound together in life and death, their souls bearing each other's imprints, never to be separated, until the River Styx cleansed everything.
The evil spirit would suddenly send someone to fawn over them, surely with the intention of ambushing and devouring their cultivation when they form a pact.
Unexpectedly, they did not choose to end the covenant ceremony. Instead, they used the covenant as bait to lure out this cautious evil spirit.
"It is very cautious in its actions, and we have tried to probe it many times without success. If we call our masters, it might alert it. Therefore, we hope that you young friends can help us keep an eye out and catch it when the evil spirit appears. If anything unexpected happens, Ah Xiao and I have one last method."
The more she looked, the more subtle Shen Lixia's expression became.
It turns out that the senior sister of the Wuji Sword Sect had noticed them long ago and knew about the current situation in the Southern Kingdom before they did.
Therefore, the Chunmian they encountered that day must have been one of these two people.
They risked their vows, using their lives as a bargaining chip, facing a near-death experience, yet they said the worst that could happen was dying on the same day and entering the River Styx together.
They truly are a perfect match, their madness is a match made in heaven.
It was clearly absurd, yet she found it somewhat romantic. Had she really lost her mind from cultivating immortality...?
After everyone finished reading, Shen Lixia produced a flame from her hand and burned the letter. There was something left in the envelope; she took it out and saw it was a talisman.
“It’s a demon-sealing formation,” Qiao Yanshen said after examining it for a moment. “It’s said that as long as you have enough spiritual power, you can even control demons at the Nascent Soul stage.”
She picked up the talisman. "Based on these two letters, we can be certain that what's in the palace is probably not a demonic cultivator, but an evil spirit... and it's even very likely that it's a demonic creature that's also at the Golden Core stage."
The two of them took a gamble, concluding that the evil spirit was around the Golden Core stage and could be sealed by the combined spiritual power of the group.
What if it's the Nascent Soul stage...?
Qiao Yanshen's expression became more serious, and he shook his head slightly, suppressing his guess.
Xihe Palace is located in the Fifth Domain. Although it is only one domain away from Taihui, the Fifth and Sixth Domains are vast, and cultivators mostly live in seclusion, so there are naturally few opportunities to meet. She didn't know much about Yun, but Yue Qifeng's reputation always reached her ears—everyone said she was the best among sword cultivators and had a very high chance of becoming the youngest sword immortal in the Nine Domains.
Such a senior person probably has a lot of experience in this area and will not act rashly.
Qin Shiying then recounted in detail his meeting with the stronghold leader the previous night, and indicated that he would be visiting various strongholds in the next few days.
The group quickly devised a plan: in the days leading up to the covenant ceremony, Simmons and Shen Lixia would first learn the Demon-Sealing Array in case of emergency; Qiao Yanshen would go and investigate the strange statue; and Qin Shiying would meet with the leaders of various strongholds to arrange the troops.
Time flew by like water as they traveled and worked, heading straight for the capital. Suddenly, Qin Shiying received a letter from a royal guard, informing her of a banquet to welcome her elder sister after the betrothal.
Shen Lixia sneered at this—what a trap! They weren't even trying to hide it, indirectly telling Qin Shiying that they were absolutely confident and had no fear of her coup.
She couldn't help but wonder what kind of expressions those people would have if they really caught the evil spirit.
As for the guards, they were killed on the spot, and their bodies were destroyed by fire.
Before she knew it, it was the night before the covenant ceremony. Shen Lixia wrote the last line on the letter, packed it up, and handed it to the messenger who was pecking at the crumbs next to her.
Once Yan Xueya receives the letter, she will see the contents above—
“Master, your disciples are going to help someone betray the country! Although it is very likely that we will not return, you will be proud of us after it is done!”
"And by the way, tell the Wuji Sword Sect they owe us a huge favor!"
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