Chapter 164 Old News of the Sect: Master Killed Master
Qin Danniang shrank back, her expression terrified, large tears streaming down her face, but she bit her lip tightly and refused to speak.
"Tell your master, or not? Is it because you're afraid?" Nanmen Hong lowered his head and leaned closer. As the pill pressed against Qin Danniang's lips melted, a strange, faint fragrance spread out along with the dangerous aura emanating from the person who administered the medicine. "Or is it because you're unwilling?"
Dong Lu's expression tightened: "This pill is poisonous, Nanmen Hong. This is Dingsheng Sect. We will not allow you to harm people here!"
At the same time, Qin Danniang's lips turned bluish-black, her breath became faint, her body swayed, and she collapsed to her knees, spitting out a mouthful of blood. The pill that had been pressed against her lips had completely dissolved.
“Disobeying your master’s orders deserves punishment. I’m in charge of disciplining my students; it’s not your place to tell them what to do.” Nanmen Hong kicked Qin Danniang aside, took out a handkerchief, and wiped his fingers one by one. His eyes flashed with impatience: “But there are more people around, and you don’t even dare to speak. You’re so useless. If you’re not punished, how will you learn your lesson?”
Dong Lu hurriedly stepped forward to help Qin Danniang up and check her condition. He then took out a pill and tried to feed it to her.
Nanmen Hong sneered, "Donglu, you've never been more than a half-baked medicine cultivator. You know nothing about alchemy. You think you can decipher my pills just because you've become a peak master? Wishful thinking."
Seeing that Qin Danniang's bleeding had stopped after taking the pill he fed her, but the signs of poisoning had not subsided, Dong Lu's heart sank. He raised his eyes and looked coldly at Nanmen Hong: "Only you know the effects of the pill you gave her. How can the cultivators believe what she said after taking the pill?"
“Donglu, I’m not as foolish as you to dig my own grave. This pill is merely a minor punishment; it won’t affect her consciousness. You think I’m coercing her to lie? That’s easy to handle.” Nanmen Hong turned to Zhu Shengli and said, “Master Zhu, may I borrow the Zhu family’s Spirit-Recognizing Pearl?”
The Spirit Pearl can discern the truthfulness of a speaker's words. With it, every word Qin Danniang utters can be considered true.
Zhu Shengli nodded, took out the Spirit-Sensing Pearl, and handed it to Qin Danniang.
Qin Danniang lowered her head and did not move.
“You know better than anyone how effective my pill is,” Nanmen Hong said. “The more you resist, the more you will suffer. If you cooperate, the poison will end after fifteen days. Do you really want your master to bear the reputation of being harsh and heartless?”
Upon hearing this, Qin Danniang, who had been bowing her head, shook her head repeatedly. She moved hastily, and her body, which had been suffering from the poison pill, staggered and fell to the ground, her head hitting the ground. Her hair, wet with cold sweat, was disheveled, and her curled fingers opened up, revealing her fingernails, which were stained with blood from digging into her palms.
After a long pause, Qin Danniang finally managed to say what she had been trying to say in her haste: "No, Master is fine, it's your disciple who is wrong."
She lay sprawled on the ground, writhing in waves of pain as she endured the agony within her body.
For a cultivator from a prestigious sect to be in such a sorry state, so utterly pathetic.
"How dare he humiliate her like this!" Guan Wangzhen clenched her fists, trembling with anger. "Just because she's a good friend of ours?"
Shen Qingluo stared intently ahead, her five fingers gripping the hilt of the knife tightly, the handle creaking.
Zhu Shibai almost whispered, "Stay calm, don't act impulsively."
Zhu Shibai's words were not only addressed to Guan Wangzhen and Shen Qingluo, but also to Ji Mingran.
Qin Danniang was on the same boat with them, so she might not have noticed Yu Tianxing, but she certainly knew that Ji Xingyang was on good terms with them.
Every word she utters puts Ji Mingran in the spotlight.
If she doesn't speak up, Nanmen Hong won't let her off the hook.
She said that Nanmen Hong might not let her go either.
Nanmen Hong's aggressive approach was aimed at forcing Ji Mingran out, then finding Yu Tianxing, and thus completely discrediting Dingsheng Sect.
If Ji Mingran were to appear, it would be exactly what they wanted, creating a situation that would be difficult to manage.
After reading Zhu Shibai's analysis, Ji Mingran lowered his eyes and gazed at the chessboard in front of him.
The once bustling Guancai Garden returned to tranquility after everyone left. Under the ancient locust tree, Ji Mingran and Yu Tianxing continued their unfinished game of chess.
However, the images of the sect's realm transmitted back by Shen Qingluo and the other two made the girl holding the chessboard even more hesitant.
She was not good at this game to begin with, and because she was distracted, she played even worse than usual.
No matter how you look at it, every move she made was a mistake.
Yu Tianxing's chess moves have her completely trapped.
"You said you didn't do well." Ji Mingran seemed to be thinking about the game to himself, but also seemed to be talking to Yu Tianxing. "Then how can I do it well enough? You did it well enough."
"It's me." Ji Mingran exhaled, and the white piece that had been left untouched for a long time was tossed back into the chess box. With a flick of his slender fingers, he scattered all the pieces on the chessboard.
The chess game that Jingxin had carefully set up was shattered without a word, and the person who set up the game remained calm, showing no anger.
Ji Mingran lifted his eyelashes, his eyes calm: "I was the one who recruited you all onto the ship, and I was the one who took the initiative to approach you. If it weren't for me, they would only have followed your plan and targeted the Nameless Sect, without associating it with the Prosperous Sect, and they certainly wouldn't have dragged Dan Niang and Jin Le into it."
Yu Tianxing didn't even glance at the scattered chess pieces; he just stared at her intently.
Ji Mingran turned to look at the image projected back from the projection stone: "Boss Jiang taught me back then that I need to consider everything before acting, and not implicate my companions. It was my oversight that caused trouble for the sect and Dan Niang. The sect can still protect itself, but Dan Niang..."
Yu Tianxing: "You want to save her?"
Ji Mingran shook his head: "Unless Dan Niang agrees."
The current Danniang is willing to speak up for her, but she wouldn't be willing to appear and save her herself.
She still remembered what Dan Niang had told her. The Valley of Illusions had given Dan Niang a new lease on life, for which Dan Niang was deeply grateful. If she were to appear, it would be tantamount to announcing to the world that she was indeed on good terms with Dan Niang, which would only push Dan Niang, who was determined to stay in the Valley of Illusions, further into utter ruin.
Ji Mingran raised the jade pendant tied to his waist again, stared at the unresponsive communication interface, and sighed, "Yu Tianxing."
Yu Tianxing's eyelashes fluttered slightly, and he leaned forward.
The usually cheerful girl looked bewildered and said to him, "Human emotions are so complicated."
"If Dan Niang agrees, if she agrees, that would be great."
On the other end of the screen, Qin Danniang finally extended her ten fingers and accepted the Spirit Pearl, saying in a low voice, "Thank you for your trouble, Master Zhu."
Nanmen Hong smiled with satisfaction: "Go ahead and speak."
Qin Danniang remained face down, her voice weak: "She gets along very well with Ji Xingyang."
Dong Lu's eyes showed reluctance, and Nan Men Hong caught this moment, his lips curving up even higher.
“Not only Ji Xingyang, but I also get along very well with her. She gets along well with everyone.”
Nanmen Hong's raised lips froze.
"I don't know if Yu Tianxing is among the disciples participating in the Unnamed Sect's examination, and I don't know why Ji Xingyang defected to the enemy. But I do know..."
Recalling her past experiences, Qin Danniang smiled slightly, tears falling to the ground: "How could someone as good as her be a demonic cultivator?"
Nanmen Hong stared at Qin Danniang and said, word by word, "Is this how you treat your master, huh?"
The Spirit Pearl burned like a bright fire. Zhu Shengli said, "She is telling the truth."
Nanmen Hong ignored him and walked closer to Qin Danniang step by step: "I raised you, taught you alchemy, thought of your loneliness and helplessness, and even had my most outstanding disciple Dongbai promise to marry you and become your support. Is this how you treat me?"
With each word Nanmen Hong spoke, Dan Niang's body, which was prostrate on the ground, would violently curl up.
He laughed in fury: "After teaching you alchemy for so long, all you can produce is extremely poor quality stuff. You only stole it from Dingsheng Sect once, and you've already learned all their treacherous and backstabbing ways?!"
The girl who fell to the ground screamed, as if she had completely lost consciousness, and collapsed to the ground.
Dong Lu, unable to contain himself any longer, roared in anger, "Nanmen Hong!"
Nanmen Hong: "Shut up!"
For the first time, he couldn't control his expression. His mocking smile vanished completely, replaced by rage. He kicked Qin Danniang hard: "You really think she's a good person? Do you know whose disciple she is? Jiang Xiaoyi, as the sect leader, abandoned his post, stole the inheritance, betrayed his fellow disciples, and killed my master, your grandmaster, when the sect faced a great calamity! What kind of good person could a disciple of such a person be?!"
“Nanmen Hong, Dingsheng Sect will not tolerate your nonsense and slander against our sect’s ancestor again.” Yuan Liu appeared beside Dong Lu and pulled her back, saying solemnly, “Uncle Ming Ran has brought back the entire inheritance of Dingsheng Sect, without losing a single piece. This was also arranged by Ancestor Xiao Yi.”
These words caused an uproar among the cultivators of the six sects at the sect level.
"The rumors are true!"
"Has the entire legacy of the Dingsheng Sect truly returned?"
"It was actually on Ji Mingran."
"She brought it back all by herself? How is that possible! That's a legacy of 100,000."
“Jiang Xiaoyi had a way to take the inheritance away back then, and she also has a way to have her little apprentice bring it back.”
The cultivators present began to waver: "What's the point of all this trouble just to move the inheritance once? Could it be that the rumor that Jiang Xiaoyi stole the inheritance is really true?"
"Ridiculous!" Nanmen Hong flung his sleeve, pointing his index finger directly at Yuan Liu: "So what if Ji Mingran brought the inheritance back? It's an indisputable fact that Jiang Xiaoyi stole the inheritance. I saw it with my own eyes; my master, Jing Yaoyao, died at her hands! This is an irreconcilable enmity!"
Shi Jinle's heart tightened, and he gripped Ziyan Zhenren's sleeve tightly: "Master."
"..." Master Ziyan's voice was hoarse: "Wait a little longer."
Liu Zhiqing, who had remained silent since arriving at the sect's territory, suddenly said in a deep voice, "Nanmen Hong!"
"What are you trying to prove to me?" Nanmen Hong's eyes were bloodshot. "You! Cowardly and incompetent! You used to claim to love my master, but where were you when she was all alone and helpless? What did you do for her after she died? You did nothing, just drinking and getting drunk every day, shamelessly staying in this place that caused her so much pain!"
In the image transmitted back by the sect's jade token, Ji Mingran heard Shen Qingluo whisper, "Is this true?"
Guan Wangzhen's voice came from off-screen: "It is said that three hundred years ago, Uncle Liu was also a first-rate romantic and dashing figure, humorous and witty, with excellent aptitude. Back then, he fell in love at first sight with Uncle Jing when he first entered the sect, and they became lovers again when they met again. The once-prodigal son completely settled down. He became the way he is now after Uncle Jing had an accident."
Liu Zhiqing stared at Nanmen Hong with a gloomy expression, remaining silent.
"You're not the only one who has wronged her." Nanmen Hong turned his finger and pointed at Donglu: "You, you have the ambition of a wolf. You are Master's last disciple, but you have long coveted the position of Peak Master. After she left, you couldn't wait to take her place!"
Dong Lu had regained his composure: "Our master has been gone for three hundred years. Senior brother, you should be more clear-headed."
"Sober? Good, you're really something." Nanmen Hong's fingertips trembled, as if he wanted to stab Dong Lu's eyes: "I hate this expression of yours the most. Even when Master fell, you had the same expression. Dong Lu, are you even human?!"
"Nanmen Hong!" Qi Qingling: "No one knows the truth of what happened back then. Is your account the whole truth?"
"You old codger, still trying to deny it? When the Dingsheng Sect was in great turmoil, you hid in your cave and didn't come out. If it weren't for your cowardice and incompetence, which forced my master to use all her cultivation to resist the natural disaster, she might not have died," Nanmen Hong said hatefully.
"Back then, Jiang Xiaoyi preserved his strength, killed my master, and then killed Li Xiaosen. None of the witnesses survived. I was seriously injured and on the verge of death, which made Jiang Xiaoyi too lazy to make a move. That's how I managed to survive and remember the images."
Nanmen Hong angrily took out a projection stone, "Since you are all still denying it, I don't mind showing it to all the cultivators in the world again! And showing it to these young disciples as well! Let's see what Jiang Xiaoyi of Dingsheng Sect did back then! Let's also judge what kind of good people the disciples that such a person would take in would be!"
As Nanmen Hong tossed it with his hand, the projection stone in mid-air instantly emitted a fluorescent glow.
Through the jade tablet of the sect, Ji Mingran saw the face of her boss, her master, Jiang Xiaoyi.
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