Chapter 192 That child, the one who was young...
The backlash from this fake spiritual root came much faster than she had anticipated; she had guessed it the moment Si Yao saw her wanted poster.
A fake spiritual root can create the illusion of a rapid increase in cultivation, but as long as one is careful, something will eventually be noticed. The fact that it was exposed so quickly means that Wen Yin not only failed to notice it, but also absorbed too much spiritual energy, leading to the backlash she is now suffering.
Si Yao didn't quite understand what kind of backlash it would take to require the use of Bloodspot Grass.
"Senior, what kind of backlash will that fake spiritual root cause?"
[It has no cultivation; it's a fake thing from the start. I set a limit; if the spiritual power exceeds that standard, the fake spiritual root will lose its function, and all the spiritual energy absorbed before will dissipate.]
In other words, Wen Yin has lost her spiritual root once again. The blow must be huge; she thought she had received a mutated spiritual root, but it turned out she got a fake one.
Discovering the fake spiritual root would also mean they would know that Si Yao's mutated water spiritual root was still intact. In other words, Wen Yin should know that Si Yao survived the fall off the cliff.
I think you might be in big trouble.
Si Yao said calmly, "They want to capture Si Yao, what does that have to do with me, the rogue cultivator Yao Si?"
She's been hanging around the wanted poster for so long, and nobody seems to think there's anything wrong with her.
Xiang Bei looked at Si Yao, whose skin had become increasingly thick, clearly having inherited her skills, and patted her on the shoulder, "Not bad, keep it up."
The sounds from next door continued. Si Yao rested her chin on her hand, her eyes fixed on the auction items on the stage, while her ears listened to the commotion next door. With her current abilities, she had no problem clearly hearing what was happening next door.
The Bloodspotted Grass was so nourished by the spiritual spring that it was almost mutated. When it was taken out, you could still smell a faint fragrance.
Si Yao only learned when she handed it over to the people of Yunqi Pavilion that this blood-spotted grass, which is entirely red, is its final mature form.
It's true that Bloodspot Grass grows quickly and in large quantities, but its growth process is too slow and it needs a lot of spiritual energy to truly mature.
Many people harvest the Bloodspotted Grass before it's fully mature and has medicinal properties, thinking that all the effects are about the same. A fully mature Bloodspotted Grass like this would naturally have a high medicinal value, and the spiritual energy it contains would be enough to fetch an astronomical price at auction.
Si Yao only managed to cultivate this blood-spotted grass by accident, and she probably has many more of these in her storage bag.
There were other herbs in the storage bag. After being imbued with spiritual energy and watered with well water, they were all in different forms than the ones Si Yao knew.
Those medical and alchemy practitioners who specifically stayed here to guard the medicinal herbs naturally wouldn't let it go easily, and the bidding reached 100,000 taels.
Dan Xiu was not short of money at all, and even looked at the Bloodspotted Grass with infatuation. "A fully mature Bloodspotted Grass is too rare. The veins on the leaves are too perfect. I have only heard of it in rumors. No matter how much silver it costs, I have to get it. I want to try it myself and see what effects such a fully mature Bloodspotted Grass will have."
The bidding was so fierce that those people didn't care about the money at all, but it was clear that Liao Shuo and his group hadn't brought enough.
"How could this happen? No, I must bring the Bloodstain Grass back to my junior sister, even if I have to steal it," Liao Shuo said through gritted teeth.
From their conversation, we can infer that both Daoist Chongming and Wen Yin have come to Lin City. Moreover, Wen Yin is seriously injured; ordinary Bloodspot Grass is useless to her now, and she needs this fully mature Bloodspot Grass to stop the bleeding.
They had inquired along the way and learned that someone had this fully mature Bloodspotted Grass, but that person wasn't selling it, so they came here to try their luck. Unexpectedly, they actually found the Bloodspotted Grass they needed in the information released by the Cloud Artifact Pavilion.
But now, this blood-spotted grass has been bought by someone else.
The auctioneer was a pill cultivator. After acquiring the Bloodstain Grass, he wasn't very interested in the rest of the items and prepared to leave with them.
"Junior Brother Liao, what should we do now?"
"Take it back."
"But……"
"There are no buts. Junior Sister is in grave danger. Are we just going to stand by and watch her get hurt? We have to take her back to Junior Sister."
Si Yao thought Liao Shuo was crazy. He dared to steal the things of a pill cultivator. Wasn't he afraid that the pill cultivator would throw him into the alchemy furnace to be refined?
Don't risk getting yourself hurt before you even get hurt by the bloodstain plant.
They could still hear voices from next door, probably advising Liao Shuo to think it over carefully, as there might be more to come. If all else failed, they could inquire with the people at Yunqi Pavilion to find out who supplied the Bloodspotted Grass, and then they could find the person behind it and buy it.
Liao Shuo remained silent, and there was no sound from next door either.
Later, some other herbs were auctioned off, but not the bloodstain grass that Liao Shuo and his group needed. Behind the herbs were dried meats made by Si Yao herself.
The moment the dried meat appeared, it was recognized, and its price skyrocketed. Who could resist the temptation of dried meat that could improve one's cultivation level?
The cultivators below the stage could still hear Yao Si's name being mentioned. The legend of Yao Si's dried meat boosting cultivation had spread throughout the cultivation world.
Some people wanted to buy dried meat from her, but after that meeting, Fairy Yao disappeared without a trace. That's the downside of being a rogue cultivator; without sect or faction, they're unrestrained and don't know where to go when they're looking for someone.
When the people saw the jerky they had been searching for reappear, they went wild.
As a result, the competition for the later items weakened, and Si Yao took a liking to several and bought them directly, with hardly anyone competing with her.
Yunqi Pavilion will deduct the portion from the auction proceeds from the consignment sale, and the rest will all belong to Si Yao.
The money she spent on finding Bai Xiaosheng over the past few days has been recouped through this auction. Even after accounting for the items she bought, Si Yao has still made a considerable profit overall.
After counting the silver, Si Yao looked at the person in charge of Yunqi Pavilion and asked, "Isn't Bai Xiaosheng here?"
"I'm sorry, Master Bai is not here today."
Si Yao nodded. She had used her divine sense to search the area and indeed did not see anyone resembling Bai Xiaosheng. As she walked out of the Cloud Artifact Pavilion, Si Yao keenly noticed someone watching her. She turned her head to look, but did not see the person.
The feeling of being spied on seemed to disappear instantly.
Turning around, she saw an elderly man with a white beard, dressed in a black robe, standing there. Judging from his appearance, he seemed to have come here specifically to wait for her.
Their eyes met for a moment, then the other person walked towards Si Yao. "May I ask if you are Fairy Yao Si?"
"Who are you?"
"I heard you were looking for my master, so my master sent me to invite you here."
"Your master is Bai Xiaosheng?"
The other person didn't speak, but their attitude confirmed Si Yao's guess. She followed the person into the carriage.
In an instant, the two horses that were pulling the carriage sprouted wings and took the carriage into the sky.
"Dragon Horse Colt, what a grand gesture!" Si Yao exclaimed.
Even the carriage was quite expensive, emitting a faint, pleasant fragrance that was refreshing and invigorating.
This all-knowing scholar is no ordinary person.
Come to think of it, if his identity were ordinary, he probably wouldn't have been able to hide so well. And Si Yao isn't the only one in the cultivation world looking for him.
After traveling for a while, the carriage came to a stop in front of a grand gate.
"Fairy Yao, please."
Si Yao followed the other person into the house. The further they went in, the more eerie it felt. She could even feel some cool mats on her back. There were piles of white bones on both sides of the path, which at first glance looked like human skeletons.
Looking around, Si Yao raised her hand to dispel the chill that enveloped her; this was clearly a deliberate attempt to mislead her. Even the skeletons hanging on the walls weren't made of real human bones; they looked like the bones of some kind of animal, pieced together to resemble a human skeleton.
Reaching a large, dark door, the person who brought her there respectfully knocked on the door. "Master, she's here."
The door opened suddenly.
"Fairy Yao, please come in by yourself."
Si Yao nodded. "Thank you."
As soon as she stepped inside, the door closed again, and the candles on both walls lit up one by one, making the room much brighter.
Bai Xiaosheng sat in the head seat, just as rumored, wrapped in a black robe and wearing a mask.
Looking at each other face to face, even though the other person was very well disguised, Si Yao could still tell that Bai Xiaosheng was a woman.
There was a mirror in front of her, which looked a little strange.
The patterns around the frame were quite strange; Si Yao felt they resembled the legendary Rewind Mirror.
"Fairy Yao, should I call you Fairy Si Yao?" Bai Xiaosheng said, looking at Si Yao who was standing there examining herself in the mirror.
Si Yao withdrew her gaze and walked towards Bai Xiaosheng, standing opposite him. "And you? Should I call you Fairy Lin?"
Bai Xiaosheng looked up, seemingly looking at her, yet also seemingly looking through her at something else.
"This barrier can't even stop you. What is Fairy Si Yao's cultivation level now?" Bai Xiaosheng raised his hand, and a light blue barrier flashed past in front of him.
When Si Yao came over just now, the barrier couldn't stop her.
Si Yao laughed, "Aren't you the all-knowing scholar? You're known for saying that nothing in the cultivation world can be hidden from you, and you don't even know this?"
Bai Xiaosheng stood up and looked at Si Yao for a long while before taking off his black robe, removing his mask, and revealing a very heroic face.
The other person walked towards Si Yao, raised an eyebrow, and asked, "How did you know my identity?"
Si Yao looked at the other person and then reverted to her original appearance. She looked at the other person and said, "Gossip tabloid."
Lin Ye was still puzzled, so she handed over the gossip tabloid next to her. "You mean this?"
Si Yao nodded. "That's right. The information provided by those who came to offer information is a mix of truth and falsehood, but there's only one thing that's definitely true: Bai Xiaosheng has only ever appeared at the Yunqi Pavilion in Lin City."
After glancing at the gossip tabloid, Si Yao smiled and said, "Over the past few days, I've asked many people about Bai Xiaosheng. Although none of them know where Bai Xiaosheng is, whenever he is mentioned, they seem to only remember him appearing in Lincheng."
Lin Ye pressed the mechanism next to her, and the wall moved, revealing a table beside her. As she walked over, she gestured for Si Yao to enter, then reached for the teapot and poured Si Yao a cup of tea.
Si Yao looked at the tea in her teacup and said, "So I've made a bold guess: perhaps Bai Xiaosheng is from Lincheng? This Immortal Sect Gossip Bulletin is also based in Lincheng, so could it be related to Bai Xiaosheng?"
Si Yao put the gossip tabloid back and looked at Lin Ye with a smile, "The all-knowing scholar knows so many sect secrets and hasn't been found out yet, so his identity must be extraordinary. Since he appeared in Lin City, could he be a member of the Lin family? As for why he is Fairy Lin, I naturally figured it out; your disguise is not as good as mine."
“I admit that Fairy Si Yao’s disguise is indeed extraordinary. If it weren’t for this treasure of mine, I probably wouldn’t know Fairy Si Yao’s true identity. It’s just a pity that my abilities are limited and I can’t fully control this mirror to see Fairy Si Yao’s current cultivation level.” Lin Ye patted the mirror in front of him and said.
"A time-travel mirror?"
"This mirror is a treasure I found when I was training in the secret realm. I discovered its use by accident. This mirror is indeed very magical. It is because of this mirror that I was able to truly gain a foothold in the family." Lin Ye smiled at Si Yao.
"You were the one who spread the news that there was a Mirror of Reversal in that secret realm before."
"It's me. This mirror tells me that there's a treasure in that secret realm. It's just a pity that no one who entered the secret realm said what the treasure was. All I know is that a rogue cultivator named Yao Si has appeared in the cultivation world, selling jerky that increases cultivation level."
"You've told me so much, aren't you afraid I'll steal your mirror? You should know that I've been looking for you everywhere."
"No, I still trust Fairy Si Yao's character."
Lin Ye's frank attitude made Si Yao feel somewhat uncomfortable.
"This is only our first meeting, isn't it? How can Fairy Lin trust me so much?"
“Of course, if it weren’t so, I wouldn’t have admitted my identity to you. Fairy Siyao, I know you have left the Heavenly Sword Sect and I know you are different from others. I invited you here simply to make friends with you.”
Lin Ye looked at Si Yao and pushed the mirror directly in front of her. "I wonder if Fairy Si Yao would be willing to be my friend?"
"What do you want to do?" Si Yao looked at Lin Ye with confusion.
"I want to become the city lord of Lin City, and I need an ally who can stop me. I wonder if Fairy Si Yao can help me?"
Si Yao frowned. If she remembered correctly, the young city lord of Lin City was Lin Ye's younger brother, Lin Xie. According to rumors, the young city lord Lin Xie was virtuous and talented, and was the popular choice to succeed him as the next heir of Lin City.
It won't be easy for Lin Ye to replace Lin Xie now.
Si Yao didn't want to get involved in the messy affairs of the Heavenly Sword Sect, much less get involved in the struggle for the Lin City succession. She felt that she was doing fine as she was and didn't want to create trouble for herself.
She looked at Lin Ye, thinking that she would pay the normal price and would not reveal that Lin Ye was Bai Xiaosheng.
Seemingly noticing the confusion in Si Yao's eyes, Lin Ye laughed and looked at Si Yao, "Guess why my brother has such a good reputation in the cultivation world?"
Lin Ye brushed his hand across his cheek, and his facial features changed slightly. His expression became more firm, and his overall figure became taller.
In an instant, she completely transformed into a man.
Lin Ye leaned on the table and looked at Si Yao, "Because he's a good-for-nothing who only knows how to eat, drink, and have fun. I did all those things for him. In order to make a name for him, I need to learn a lot of things, but I'm destined to be his shadow for the rest of my life."
They had to kill monsters for that good-for-nothing to win people's hearts and build his reputation.
Lin Ye repeatedly questioned her father's decisions, and was repeatedly punished by being locked in a dark room by him, making her realize that in this life, she was just a sickly woman living in her boudoir.
Even after her younger brother Lin Xie took power, she arranged a plausible reason for her death, and from then on she was just Lin Xie's right-hand woman.
Looking at her hands, Lin Ye walked up to Si Yao and made her see them clearly. "I was even put under a puppet curse to avoid revealing my identity, so I had no choice but to obey him. The more my father forbade it, the more I wanted to do it. The more he didn't want to hand Lin City over to me, the more I wanted to fight for it."
Si Yao looked at Lin Ye without saying a word for a long time.
In some ways, Lin Ye is very similar to himself.
"You tell me all these things, do you trust me that much?"
“Of course, you are my chosen ally. When the Heavenly Sword Sect sent you the wanted poster, I secretly investigated you, Si Yao. The Mirror of Rewind tells you that you have broken free from your original fate. Your life is now in your own hands, and you are my best ally.”
Si Yao looked up at the sky. She knew that her senior was letting her make the decision herself.
"I'll help you."
Lin Ye looked at Si Yao and smiled, turning the Rewind Mirror over. He said with a smile, "Fairy Si Yao, I'm very happy to have you as a friend. Whether you're an ally or a friend, I should always repay you."
Lin Ye whispered a few incantations, and ripples appeared on the mirror surface.
"Close your eyes, think about what you want to ask, and be sincere."
"Thank you." Si Yao nodded, then closed her eyes, trying to recall the day the demons massacred the village.
When she opened her eyes again, the image in the mirror was the one she had been looking for. Lin Ye had disappeared sometime earlier, and Si Yao didn't have time to think about it. She felt as if she had been sucked in and returned to the home in her memory.
Those blurry figures, now clear again before her. It was just an ordinary day; who could have imagined such an unexpected disaster?
They clearly did nothing wrong, yet they died so tragically. Si Yao stood in the village, slowly walking towards her home.
Those people seemed not to see her; she walked past them, and they ignored her completely.
Si Yao saw a young girl running towards her, holding a windmill in her hand. Just as the girl was about to reach her, she suddenly tripped and fell, the windmill flying out of her hand and breaking on the ground.
She tried to reach out and help the little girl up, but her hand passed right through the child's body.
The little girl didn't cry when she fell, but when she looked up and saw the broken windmill, she couldn't help but cry.
"Mother, Father."
"Ayao, why are you crying?" A pair of hands reached out and picked up the little girl.
Si Yao looked at the two people walking towards her and instantly burst into tears.
"Mother, Father!"
That child was her when she was young.
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