Chapter 32
Inside the main hall of the Guiting Banquet, even during the daytime, there was singing and dancing, and the clinking of glasses.
Xie Wen got up unusually early today, intending to take advantage of Chu Xianyue's absence to enjoy the pleasures of luxury, beauty, and fine wine. However, as soon as he went downstairs, before he could even take a few glances, he suddenly met Chu Xianyue's gaze amidst the throng of people of all kinds.
Chu Xianyue narrowed his eyes, and Xie Wen had no choice but to obediently go over, sit down, pour himself a cup of tea, and said leisurely, "Tsk tsk, he wouldn't let me down last night, but he couldn't resist today."
Xie Wen, holding his teacup, was suddenly tapped on the head by Chu Xianyue. He said calmly, "The main hall has all sorts of people; it's the best place to gather information."
Xie Wen responded with an "oh," sounding rather serious. It made it seem like she, Xie Wen, only thought about having fun and neglected her duties. Tsk.
Xie Wen asked, "Did you find out any useful information?"
Chu Xianyue remained silent, only gazing at the stage in the center of the hall, draped with layers of curtains, where the storyteller's passionate voice emanated. Some listened, some cheered, and some were preoccupied with the fine wine and beautiful women.
"It is said that the young man of the Wei family and the young woman of the Qiao family were a perfect match, their love story spreading throughout Jianshui City. But now they are separated by death. It is rumored that someone saw the night the young man of the Wei family was murdered. The evil spirit originally wanted to harm the young woman of the Qiao family, but the young man of the Wei family risked his life to save his wife and stood up to her, thus dying at the hands of the evil spirit..."
Xie Wen listened for a while; it was another love story that was both earth-shattering and tear-jerking. However, the storyteller kept up with current events, incorporating several recent tragic cases involving evil spirits into his narrative, which did indeed cause quite a stir.
The storyteller concluded, "...But when the woman opened the door, her face paled instantly! To find out what happened next, meet her here and now tomorrow..."
A chorus of disdain erupted in the lobby, "What a letdown! So disappointing..."
Xie Wen rested his chin on his hand, thinking hard but unable to come up with any useful information. He asked, "Master, do you have any ideas?"
Chu Xianyue remained silent. At this moment, a man with a mustache and dressed in a Taoist robe approached, sat down, and said to the two in a low voice, "Young friends, have you come from afar? Would you like an Evil-Repelling Bead? It's very effective. As you know, Jianshui City has been plagued by evil spirits lately, causing widespread panic. This Evil-Repelling Bead is one of a kind, found only once in heaven and on earth. Have you heard of the Tianyan Sword Sect? Have you heard of Immortal Venerable Qingheng? He's my master."
Chu Xianyue's expression was complicated, and he couldn't help but feel disgusted. He didn't have such an old disciple.
Xie Wen was overjoyed, laughing so hard he was shaking with laughter. He said to the charlatan, "Oh, really? That's amazing. Could you tell me what the Immortal Venerable Qingheng looks like?"
The conman, without batting an eye, fabricated, "Of course, he has the bearing of a sage, with an extraordinary air about him."
Xie Wen chuckled to himself, thinking, given Chu Xianyue's status in the immortal sect, do people think he's just an old man with white hair who's about to ascend to immortality?
In this respect, Chu Xianyue is indeed quite wronged.
You wouldn't believe it, would you? He ages so remarkably well.
The charlatan was still rambling on, his demeanor already convinced he was the true chief disciple of Immortal Venerable Qingheng. Listening to his words and those extraordinary experiences, Xie Wen began to have doubts. Was he really Chu Xianyue's disciple? Perhaps he and this handsome young man beside him were the imposters?
Xie Wen was lost in thought when Chu Xianyue's patience ran out. Faced with the charlatan's relentless "sales pitch," Chu Xianyue said coldly, "I don't need any of that."
The swindler didn't give up. Suddenly, he leaned closer to Xie Wen with a mysterious look. Chu Xianyue immediately pulled Xie Wen away. The swindler pulled out a book that looked like a secret manual from his pocket and said mysteriously, "Palace secrets. Do you want to know them? All the palace secrets you don't know or can't even imagine are here. Not 888, just 88."
Xie Wen was about to take a look when another hand snatched it away. Chu Xianyue grabbed the book of palace secrets and gave him a silver ingot before finally sending him away.
Xie Wen: I didn't expect you to be interested in this, Master.
Chu Xianyue seemed to see through Xie Wen's expression and said speechlessly, "I just want him to get lost."
Xie Wen ignored Chu Xianyue's explanation, took the palace secrets from Chu Xianyue's hand, and started flipping through them. He'd already paid for them anyway; it would be a waste not to read them.
In just a few pages, Xie Wen's understanding was easily refreshed. "Wow, wow. So the Emperor of Jin married three empresses? Wow, was the former empress really that miserable?"
The Palace Secrets states: "In the 91st year of the Jin Dynasty, the evil concubine Li was imprisoned in the Cold Palace. She had just given birth to a son that year. Neither she nor her son were cared for in the Cold Palace. Ten years later, only her son was found, and Li's remains were nowhere to be found."
The text further states that the former Empress Li suffered inhuman abuse from the emperor and the current empress because of her reputation as a wicked concubine.
In truth, the title "femme fatale" was merely a pretext used to depose the empress. What demons are there in this world? Since ancient times, emperors have been ruthless. How devoted and loving the emperor and Lady Li were back then! Alas, the human heart is unpredictable; her sincere devotion resulted in a wrongful and tragic death.
Xie Wen read it like a storybook, and the sheer absurdity and shock value of each and every story was no less than that of reading a novel.
Yun Yan arrived at some point. He pulled up a chair and sat down, looking at Xie Wen with displeasure. He said sarcastically, "Oh, Senior Sister, someone else has died outside. Something big has happened. And you still have the leisure to read a storybook?"
Xie Wen put aside the palace secrets and asked, "What's going on outside?"
Yun Yan went out and presented the information he had received: "Last night, the evil spirit harmed another person. He died tragically at home."
Xie Wen suddenly exclaimed "Ah!" as she remembered something important. "Last night, I seemed to sense a wisp of evil energy. I followed it, but it disappeared. Then I went back to sleep."
"Did you sense it?" Xie Wen assumed they didn't. Given Chu Xianyue and Yun Yan's cultivation levels, if they had, they should have sensed it immediately.
Chu Xianyue and Yun Yan both shook their heads. So, only Xie Wen seemed to have noticed something amiss last night? Xie Wen couldn't help but doubt his intuition even more. Perhaps he had simply overreacted and misjudged the situation. Maybe no evil spirit had actually passed through his room at all?
Xie Wen didn't mention that she had met Jin Huaran last night. After all, it was just a small accident, and she didn't want Chu Xianyue and Yun Yan to think of her as a frivolous person who had trespassed into a man's boudoir.
The three of them immediately went to the crime scene to check for any clues.
They visited almost every home of the victims in Jianshui City, and finally found only one pattern: all the victims were married men. The evil spirit must have deeply disliked men in its lifetime. Perhaps it had been wronged by men, or perhaps it had been killed by men.
Xie Wen stroked her chin. She had just learned from the women buying vegetables on the street that Wei Jialang and Qiao Jianu were actually related by blood and were cousins.
But she had just left the home of another victim, the man who had also married his cousin. Oh, and by the way, that family had also lost a child.
The evil spirit killed both the father and son.
Xie Wen thought of a possibility, and his mind went blank for a moment. He immediately ran back to the homes of the other victims he had visited, asked around, and roughly confirmed his inner guess.
Chu Xianyue also guessed the general idea.
However, what is the motive of this evil spirit? What is its purpose in doing this? Why specifically target married couples who are related by blood?
Xie Wen stroked his chin, thinking to himself: This evil spirit is quite particular about ethics and morality? It doesn't allow pseudo-orthopedics? Was it a staunch opponent of orthopedic stories in its previous life?
Xie Wen said, "That makes things easier. We'll find someone in the city with those characteristics to lure out the evil spirits. Then we'll wipe them out in one fell swoop."
That night, in the vast square of Jianshui City, Xie Wen and Yun Yan abducted a man from somewhere, and the two of them descended from the sky with the terrified man in their arms.
Chu Xianyue had already set up a perfect magic array here, just waiting to lure the evil spirits here and wipe them out in one fell swoop.
Xie Wen and Yun Yan, carrying the man, leaped to Chu Xianyue's side. Xie Wen glanced at An Zhengqi's blazing magic array, which shone with golden light in the blue sky, and was quite awe-inspiring. "Master, the person has been brought."
Upon hearing this, Chu Xianyue glanced indifferently at the man beside Xie Wen. The man was already frightened, and Chu Xianyue's gaze made him tremble even more. He subconsciously blurted out, "Immortal Venerable, spare my life." This man was just an idle loafer in the city, and he only agreed to take the risk of becoming bait to lure evil spirits because of the generous reward promised by the city lord.
Xie Wen couldn't help but chuckle. She said crisply, "You don't need to be so afraid of him. You said he's a Celestial Venerable, not an evil spirit."
Xie Wen thought about it again and realized that, in some ways, Chu Xianyue was indeed more terrifying than evil spirits. With that thought, he could understand the man somewhat better.
Chu Xianyue gave Xie Wen a cold look. Xie Wen awkwardly turned his face away, pretending he hadn't thought of anything. Xie Wen: No, she didn't say anything this time, she didn't even look at him. How could he know what she was thinking!?
Chu Xianyue ordered the man to stand in the center of the magic array. Although the man was afraid, he was intimidated by Chu Xianyue's cold gaze every time he tried to escape, and finally stood tremblingly in the center of the array.
After the man stood there, he watched as the three immortals clapped their hands, turned around, and left. The man thought they were going to do something else and wouldn't go far or would return soon, but to his surprise, he watched the three of them swagger away in the moonlight and disappear from his sight, never to return for a long time.
The man then realized something was wrong and, in a panic, shouted and screamed, "Immortal Lord! Immortal Lord! Where are you?! Where are you?! Don't joke around, I'm scared!"
There was no response for a long time.
In the dim, eerie illusion, amplified by psychological factors, terror was amplified infinitely. Negative emotions spread like thick ink in the night, making the surrounding temperature seem even colder. Fear became food for evil spirits, who, drawn by the aroma, scurried over and silently appeared not far away.
The man wailing in the center of the formation sensed a chilling wind behind him, turned around, and almost instantly fainted.
Just as the evil spirit was only one meter away from the magic circle, suddenly, someone leaped down from a distance, their figure streaking across the night sky, breaking the silent darkness and the long silence.
The evil spirit sensed the cultivator's aura immediately and fled like a frightened bird. Li Jingyuan's longsword flashed with a sharp light and pierced towards the evil spirit.
At the same time, the three people hiding in the shadows suddenly exploded. They didn't have time to resent Li Jingyuan for ruining their plans. In this critical situation, the three of them had no choice but to rush towards each other in different directions to attack.
Four highly skilled cultivators have a good chance of defeating a high-level evil spirit if they coordinate well. The key is that Chu Xianyue is there; he is worth several people by himself.
The four men surrounded and attacked the evil spirit. In mid-air, four beams of spiritual light surrounded and fought the black energy from all directions, leaping and soaring like four stars piercing the sky.
Finally, Xie Wen severely injured the evil spirit and temporarily imprisoned it.
Chu Xianyue leaped into the air, and a string of copper coins appeared on his wrist at some unknown time. It gleamed brightly in the moonlight. With a flick of his long arm, his blue robes fluttered wildly, and the string of copper coins flew towards the evil creature, piercing it like sharp blades.
Immediately, the five copper coins were placed above the evil spirits, their spiritual light flashing and golden light flowing downwards, forming a barrier that imprisoned the evil spirits within the golden array.
No matter how much the black energy surged within, it could not budge it in the slightest.
Chu Xianyue landed lightly, and Xie Wen, arms crossed, smiled as she watched him. Her eyes held both pride in her own attack and approval of Chu Xianyue. "Well done! Even with our plans disrupted by these mere little evil spirits, they handled it all with ease!"
However, the feeling of having the plan disrupted was still unpleasant, especially for Yun Yan. Yun Yan and Li Jingyuan started arguing as soon as they landed. Yun Yan said to Li Jingyuan, "Who sent you? You've ruined our plans. You're more trouble than you're worth."
Holding his sword, Li Jingyuan showed no remorse for his wrongdoing and said confidently, "What's your rush? We've already caught the evil spirit, haven't we? Without my help, you might not have been able to catch it so easily."
Yun Yan: "Without you, we wouldn't have had to go through so much trouble to catch it. Besides, it was clearly my master who did the main work in catching the evil spirit first, how dare you claim credit for it? You have no shame. Your father was right to lock you up."
He became furious at the mention of Li Jingyuan's father, saying, "Who do you think you are? How dare you speak to this young master like that? Let me tell you, I'm here today to exorcise evil spirits, and I'll do my part no matter what."
Yun Yan was about to argue again when Xie Wen said leisurely, "You two stop arguing. Isn't it childish to argue over such a small matter? I was clearly the one who was the main force just now."
Yun Yan had grown accustomed to Xie Wen's daily banter, while Li Jingyuan looked at Xie Wen with a complicated expression, probably never expecting to encounter someone even more confident than himself.
While the three were arguing, Chu Xianyue activated the ancient bronze magic artifact. The ancient bronze magic artifact was specially designed to suppress evil spirits. Once it fell into the artifact, no matter what kind of evil spirit it was, it would be annihilated into dust and could not be found anywhere in the world.
Just then, the man who had fainted in the center of the huge array in the square suddenly opened his eyes, stood up stiffly, and then rushed to the bronze array. The bronze had no effect on ordinary people and could not stop the man's movements. The moment came too fast, and everyone watched in disbelief as the man, who was full of ferocity, rushed towards the evil spirit.
The evil spirit absorbed the man's fear, resentment, anger, and other resentful energy, invigorating its evil aura. At the same time, the bronze array was damaged by the man's impact, and in the blink of an eye, the evil spirit seized the opportunity to break out of the array again.
Before the four could even cry out, they rushed forward, only to see a figure leap towards them from the direction the evil spirit had fled. Jin Huaran's Envy Sword flashed, and he aimed it at the evil spirit. The Exorcising Sword barely grazed the evil spirit's "heart" before piercing it. The evil spirit let out a long howl, and the black mist scattered.
Jin Huaran raised his hand and used the evil-suppressing pouch to collect the evil spirits before leisurely landing. He then bowed slightly to the other four people and said, "I am Jin Huaran." After a short while, Jin Huaran's personal attendant followed and immediately checked on Jin Huaran's condition, "Your Highness, are you alright?"
"Your Highness?" Yun Yan looked Jin Huaran up and down.
Upon seeing that it was him, Xie Wen was delighted. They had met once the night before and had become friends. He greeted Jin Huaran happily, "We meet again. Do you remember me?"
Jin Huaran naturally remembered Xie Wen, smiled happily, and said gently, "Of course I remember."
After greeting Xie Wen, Jin Huaran turned his gaze to Chu Xianyue, "Immortal Venerable Qingheng, I have long admired your name."
Chu Xianyue narrowed his eyes, glanced at him with a somewhat arrogant expression, and did not respond.
Jin Huaran glanced at Li Jingyuan one last time, hesitated, and then said nothing more. Li Jingyuan's expression was also subtle, suggesting that the two knew each other.
Before long, the city lord of Jianshui City arrived late with a group of people. Seeing that the evil spirit had been subdued, his expression visibly relaxed. He was about to thank Chu Xianyue and the others when he noticed his son standing among them, and his expression immediately changed. He had clearly told this kid eight hundred times to stay in his room tonight and not to wander off!
Li Zhun maintained a calm demeanor and respectfully bowed to Chu Xianyue, saying, "It is truly thanks to the Immortal Venerable."
Chu Xianyue said calmly, "No need, it was this person who ultimately subdued the evil spirit."
Li Zhun followed the gaze and his expression suddenly became subtle. Jin Huaran's face appeared before him.
Jin Huaran stood upright, his face calm. Before Li Zhun could speak, he called out, "Uncle."
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