Chapter 58 It's not my place to be soft-hearted towards her
Yu Sui reached for the jade hairpin without stopping, picked out a jade magnolia hairpin, looked at it, felt it was not worthy of Li Jinshuang, and put it back, while waiting for Wei Ren's answer.
It seems that the person who took him away was indeed from a farming family.
Besides Wei Ren, there were other disciples in the academy who were also members of the peasant traitor organization.
Lu Haiye has been dead for a while, so why is Wei Ren suddenly being asked to verify this?
What do the farmers think is wrong?
That night, Yu Sui practiced to the third level of Soul Control in the Armor Formation and discovered that she could divide her soul to control the number of Five Elements Light Cores more accurately, even more accurately than when she used the Five Elements Qi to materialize the Nine Streams Technique.
At this moment, she focused her mind and could sense the location of the Five Elements Light Core placed with Wei Ren in the outer city.
Wei Ren was completely unaware of this and was bracing himself to face the problem before him when the man's questioning in the darkness carried a hint of threat, as if telling him: If you want to live, behave yourself. This is your last chance.
“I’ve already said everything I needed to say last time.” Wei Ren glanced around, his tone lazy. “That night, Mei Liangyu and the Nangong family arrived too quickly. I didn’t see anything before I was knocked out by Mei Liangyu’s Nine-Style Technique.”
"Is that so?" the man in the darkness whispered. "Why is he dead, but you are not?"
"I only wanted to check on how he was handling things, but I didn't actually do anything. Even so, I was still discovered. I was targeted because I'm from the Farmer's Clan. I didn't die because she didn't want to kill me and lose points, so she made me cripple my cultivation." Wei Ren said, a slight smirk playing on his lips, his expression a mixture of amusement and annoyance. "Otherwise... Master, why do you think I didn't die?"
His eyes had adjusted to the darkness in the room, which was not as pitch black as a shadow. In this dim light, he could vaguely see a figure standing on the steps leading to the second floor, a figure that Wei Ren knew all too well.
Wei Ren's master was Ji Shuyan, a farmer and a sorcerer from the Twelve Realms and Nine Schools.
In the darkness, the faint flow of the five elements was palpable. The man's figure appeared silent and cold, and a dark shadow swayed slowly on the ground connecting him and Wei Ren.
Wei Ren moved his eyes and recognized it as the phantom of a forbidden magical beast from the Farmer's Sect.
Ji Shuyan said coldly, "A person of ordinary skill, who has only been in Taiyi for two days, has developed a five-element light core and become a ninth-rate sorcerer who can cultivate. Is your observation of Nangong Sui limited to the four words 'nothing unusual'?"
Wei Ren, inside the room, was overwhelmed by the pressure of Ji Shuyan's Nine-Style Technique. He felt as if a heavy mountain was pressing down on his shoulders, making it hard to breathe. It took him half his strength just to stand still and not kneel down, and fine beads of sweat appeared on his forehead.
Wei Ren replied helplessly, "Master, you may not have been to Taiyi Academy and do not know that the Ghost Dao Family's Ghost Dao Holy Hall is inaccessible to disciples of other families. Only the personal disciples of Saint Chang Gen can enter."
"How would I know about the teaching between a master and his students? From the information I have and from my observations, there is really nothing about Nangong Sui that is worth paying attention to."
As soon as Wei Ren finished speaking, a dark shadow sprang out from the ground. A giant black python opened its mouth and roared angrily at him. The intimidation and pressure made Wei Ren's knees buckle and he knelt on the ground.
He gritted his teeth slightly.
The moonlight seemed to dangle from the dilapidated roof, shining just on the steps and briefly revealing the man hidden in the darkness.
Like his shadow, he was a cold-blooded person.
Ji Shuyan's deep voice carried obvious displeasure: "You can kill a tenth-realm sorcerer, but there's nothing noteworthy about you?"
Yu Sui picked out a pair of delicate earrings and set them aside for later use. As she told the maid to bring some more, she was also thinking about Wei Ren's situation.
Wei Ren's master, the man who liked Madam Su, disliked Nangong Ming, and also disliked her.
It seems that Madam Su really wanted to kill her, otherwise she wouldn't have summoned her confidante to Taiyi.
This was one of the few capable assistants that Madam Su had after being suppressed by Nangong Ming.
Thinking of this, Yu Sui rolled her eyes, opened the door and went outside to tell the black-bearded man who was guarding outside about the matter.
The assassination attempt by the peasants nearly cost Yu Sui his life, leaving Blackbeard with a deep psychological scar. He was terrified that something might happen to Yu Sui in his hands, and that Yu Sui would not only be unable to return to the capital to live with his family in his old age, but would also die in Taiyi and never be able to go back.
Upon hearing from Yu Sui that he had discovered the hideout of the farmers, he was immediately ordered to lead his men there.
Yu Sui said, "If we capture some traitors from the peasant families of Yan, we might be able to get some useful information from them for Father. Then Father will look at you and me with new respect."
Blackbeard led his men there to vent his anger. For so many years, he had been managing the Nangong family's businesses in Taiyi, and he had never encountered a troublemaker who dared to make a move under his nose. The princess had only been there a short time when something happened to her here. If he didn't do something to salvage the situation, wouldn't he seem useless?
Yu Sui returned to the house and continued to select jewelry for Li Jinshuang.
"Princess, Miss Li has changed." The maid behind the curtain said with a smile.
Yu Sui turned around and said, "Come out and take a look."
The maid lifted the curtain, stepped aside to let the person behind her out, and said with a smile, "Miss Li has a perfect figure and looks, and she looks good in anything."
Li Jinshuang slowly emerged from the changing room. She felt extremely uncomfortable in the beautiful dress she was wearing. The cross-collar revealed her slender, fair neck, and the soft, cool white undergarment clung to her skin. The waistband was also different from that of men, and the long dress made her appear even taller, with a slender waist like a willow branch, exuding a captivating charm.
As she walked, her long, snow-white legs could be vaguely seen beneath her skirt.
She had practiced swordsmanship for many years, and her physical fitness was better than that of ordinary women, which made her calves appear firm and toned, faintly visible through layers of gradient purple gauze.
Without makeup, her true face lacked the sharpness and coldness of a deliberately masculine appearance. Her black hair and snow-white skin were loosely scattered. Since she would be changing clothes later, her hair was simply gathered by the maid and tied with a red rope near her waist, so that it wouldn't come loose or look messy.
Li Jinshuang looked stiff and somewhat at a loss, unsure of how to move her body, as if her limbs didn't belong to her.
She stood in the room with her head down, unaware that she, who had seemed out of place before entering, had now blended into the room's exquisite beauty and become a striking sight.
Yu Sui walked towards Li Jinshuang with a smile, and once again reached out to cup Li Jinshuang's face, making her look up.
Li Jinshuang had a pair of phoenix eyes. Normally, after she turned into a man, her phoenix eyes were cold and indifferent, but at this moment they were filled with a few watery eyes. Her helpless gaze looked at Shang Yu Sui Shi as if she were a person who had been adrift at sea and had finally found a piece of driftwood to survive.
She was a completely different person from before she entered the house.
"You look so beautiful," Yu Sui said. "Relax, you're the prettiest girl in this room right now."
Li Jinshuang thought to herself that she wouldn't be able to relax for a while.
"Take a look for yourself." Yu Sui gestured for her to look at the long mirror placed to the side. "Remember who you are now."
Her voice was so soft it seemed to bewitch people, yet Li Jinshuang found courage and strength in her words, and slowly turned her head as she was guided.
The person in the mirror was completely unfamiliar.
It was so dazzling that she dared not look directly at it.
Aside from her slightly stiff limbs, this beautiful woman with a cool and aloof demeanor and delicate features has no flaws.
Li Jinshuang stared blankly at the person in the mirror, momentarily bewildered. Who was this? As her eyes met those of the person in the mirror, and she gazed at them for a long time, her heart pounded rapidly. The voices of the maids praising her seemed to fade into the distance, and only the heavy pounding of her heart remained in her ears.
What she had secretly longed for, she could one day obtain.
It's actually a perfectly normal thing, so why do we have to overcome so many awkward psychological barriers to accept it?
Will she become a person of peace if she wears such a dress?
No.
They did not lose their power.
There is no way to perceive or utilize the Qi of the Five Elements.
He did not forget the essentials of the swordsmanship he had learned.
They neither lost their talent to become strong, nor did they become weak.
What she lost was the self that had persevered and struggled for years.
But she didn't feel sad or reluctant.
"Do your makeup first, then change into the rest." Yu Sui placed the makeup box on the table and beckoned Li Jinshuang to sit down.
“…We still want to try?” Li Jinshuang was stunned.
“Yes, there are so many more.” Yu Sui pointed to the clothes rack behind her. “The outfit you’re wearing is just average. Start with the simple ones and then look at these. The styles, workmanship, embroidery, and accessories are becoming more and more intricate, exquisite, and beautiful.”
Li Jinshuang was led by a maid to sit down in front of the dressing table. She stiffly looked towards Yu Sui, but Yu Sui stepped forward to block her view, bent down slightly and smiled at her, saying, "When trying on clothes, you have to try on several sets to see which ones suit you best."
Yu Sui took Li Jinshuang's hand and put the delicate gold bracelet with carved patterns on her wrist, then asked, "Do you want it with bells and jade pendants, or not?"
Before Li Jinshuang could answer, Yu Sui had already taken all the gold bracelets she mentioned and put them on Li Jinshuang's wrists: "Try them on and let me see."
The maids did Li Jinshuang's hair and makeup, separating her long, shiny black hair into several strands that intertwined on both sides, and then securing them with carved gold and jade hairpins selected by Yu Sui.
Li Jinshuang couldn't help but look away, not daring to look in the mirror, and would turn to look at Yu Sui. Yu Sui would then gesture for her to look in the mirror, and Li Jinshuang would be pulled back to look in the mirror.
Yu Sui inserted a lily-inlaid gemstone butterfly hairpin diagonally into Li Jinshuang's dark hair from the side. The dark red gemstones embedded in the flower's stamen were not ostentatious, but they served as an embellishment. The golden butterfly wings behind the flower gently pressed against the coiled hair, holding the hair ornament in place so it wouldn't fall off.
While she was looking at Li Jinshuang, who was being dressed up by others, she was also looking at Wei Ren on the other side.
Li Jinshuang was being served softly and gently by several people, while Wei Ren was sent flying by a tail lash from the phantom giant python.
Wei Ren, who was kneeling on the ground, was sent flying by the tail of the phantom python and crashed heavily against the wall. The impact caused blood to well up in Wei Ren's throat, which he forcefully suppressed.
“Since I’m not in Taiyi Academy, I’ve seen more problems than you, Wei Ren. You’re not ignorant, yet you choose to hide it.” Ji Shuyan remained standing, his cold gaze fixed on Wei Ren, looking at the child he had raised. “You’ve softened your heart towards Nangong Sui?”
Wei Ren clutched his chest and staggered to his feet. Upon hearing this, he looked up with a strange expression, his dark eyes revealing a hint of mockery: "Soft-hearted? It's not my place to be soft-hearted towards her."
Yu Sui watched Li Jinshuang enter the changing room, then turned and leaned against the wall, standing in the shadows, where no one could see her expression.
After Wei Ren abandoned his cultivation, his light core was severely damaged. Although he retained the power of the first realm, it was completely insufficient in front of Ji Shuyan, who was at the twelfth realm.
At this moment, the mere pressure of the Five Elements Qi released by Ji Shuyan was enough to immobilize Wei Ren.
Wei Ren took a deep breath, leaned against the wall, his forehead hair damp with sweat and clinging to his skin. His gaze passed through the giant, illusory python blocking the two of them and looked at Ji Shuyan standing behind him in the moonlight.
“Master, even Nangong Ming couldn’t see through the tricks of Nangong Suiping. How do you think I, a mere fifth-realm peasant disciple, would have the ability to know the reason?” Wei Ren’s voice was hoarse from his injury, and he spoke with difficulty. “Besides, I didn’t have time to do anything that day. He was already dead when I arrived.”
"Is that so?"
Ji Shuyan's tone turned even colder, and his gaze toward Wei Ren was filled with obvious disappointment.
He has already given the child a chance.
Ji Shuyan raised his hand, and on the withered back of his hand was a small red scorpion, but it was already dead. Its originally bright color had become dull, and it was surrounded by the five elements of energy, which prevented it from rotting.
The Farmer's Voice Transmitter Beast is different from ordinary voice transmitter beasts.
The scorpion tail of the communication beast has no stinger, but this one does.
Because it is the companion communication beast of the Farmer Clan disciples, after the Farmer Clan disciples die, the companion communication beast can retain the memories of the disciple's life for seven days. After seven days, the companion communication beast will die.
Wei Ren's heart sank slightly when he saw the companion beast that transmits sound.
He tried to find it afterward, but couldn't. He also thought that seven days had passed, and Lu Haiye's companion beast had died, so no one should have seen it.
“I found it on the seventh day,” Ji Shuyan said in a deep voice, “but I’m only coming to find you now. Do you know what that means?”
He was giving Wei Ren a chance to tell him, but Wei Ren remained silent until today, when Ji Shuyan finally couldn't hold back any longer.
Upon hearing this, Wei Ren chuckled in a low voice, "Since Master has shown leniency towards me, why not continue to show leniency to the end?"
Ji Shuyan stared at him coldly, "I asked you to kill Nangong Sui, but you refused to do it and even secretly helped her by revealing information about Madam Su to her. For that alone, I will not be soft on you, and you will not be able to leave this door alive today."
"Does not killing Nangong Sui mean I have to die?" Wei Ren looked up, meeting his cold-hearted master's gaze without fear. "Or is the real reason I have to die because I harmed the interests of your beloved Lady Su?"
Ji Shuyan's demeanor grew increasingly cold and somber, and the anger hidden between his brows gradually became apparent as Wei Ren spoke.
The phantom python emitted a warning hissing sound.
Wei Ren showed no panic. He leaned against the cold wall, the chill emanating from his clothes making his mind race as he considered leaving. At the same time, he said, "Master, you once said that we should vindicate the forbidden magic beasts and wash away the shameful mark of being traitors to the Farmer Clan. But you knew that Nangong Sui only had half of the Breath Soil, and the other half was with Madam Su. Why did you never tell anyone else?"
"What good is knowing about only half of the Breath Soil?" Ji Shuyan said coldly. "Only by killing Nangong Sui and taking back the other half for her can we obtain the complete Breath Soil."
Wei Ren laughed and said, "Master, although I know you can't hide your feelings for Madam Su, don't talk about killing her own daughter so confidently."
"Even if it is Madam Su's request, we outsiders shouldn't take it too for granted."
The word "outsider" deeply stung Ji Shuyan's heart. As he withdrew his hand, the giant python roared at Wei Ren. The deafening sound made Wei Ren raise his hand to defend himself, which angered Ji Shuyan and caused him to lose control of his attack. When the giant python swung its tail and crashed down, Wei Ren was sent flying, but the door was also ripped open, and the entire wall collapsed. The two farm disciples guarding outside were both shocked.
Wei Ren tried his best to protect his heart, but when he fell into the ruins, he couldn't help but spit out blood. After a moment of dizziness, he immediately came to his senses and used the Wind Control Technique to escape from the sand and dust when the giant python came for a second chase.
He had barely run a hundred meters when a giant python emerged from the darkness, bit his shoulder, and knocked him down from the air with a loud crash, creating a deep crater.
Wei Ren heard the sound of bones breaking, felt a sharp pain in his chest, and was instantly covered in sweat, with blood splattering everywhere.
The giant python bit half of his body, lifting him up and suspending him in mid-air.
Ji Shuyan stood on the ground, looked up, and said expressionlessly, "You've crippled your cultivation, damaged your Five Elements Light Core, and are only at the first realm. How do you think you can escape?"
The python's venomous fangs pierced his flesh, struck his shoulder bone, and pressed down further. The sound of bones cracking made Wei Ren groan in pain, his face turning deathly pale. He gritted his teeth, but at the same time, he and the python's vertical pupils looked to the side.
A nearly transparent spider silk was hanging upside down from a corner of the eaves, with a small, barely visible red spider quietly dangling at its end.
[Author's Note]
Thank you so much for your support! I will continue to work hard!
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