Chapter 27: He was put in solitary confinement but escaped by jumping off a cliff.
The moment Ji Mingran stepped onto the suspension bridge, Yaofeng Peak Master Zhu Huo's left foot just stepped across the threshold of Quanfeng Yujing Hall.
The hall was filled with noise.
"Am I the last one?" Zhu Huo asked casually. Then, remembering something, she frowned slightly and asked again, "Is that true?"
"Uncle-Master Zhu has arrived at just the right time." The woman in the light blue robe stood outside the door, seemingly having waited there for a long time. Her gaze shifted from Zhu Huo, who had rushed over, to the night sky. "If Uncle-Master is asking about the competition, you can verify it with the Sect Leader yourself."
"Okay." Zhu Huo was about to walk inside when he stopped, asking in confusion, "Aren't you coming in, Donglu?"
"A little while later," Donglu replied, remaining motionless with her gaze still fixed on the dark night.
Upon hearing this, Zhu Huo stopped asking questions and entered the hall.
Yujingtang has not been as lively as it is tonight in a long time.
The three patriarchs of Dingsheng Sect, Kuang, Quan, and Yaofeng each have two personal disciples. Apart from Yuan, who remains as the sect leader, the others each hold the position of left and right steward of their respective peaks. They usually manage affairs within their respective main peaks and rarely gather together, but now they are all present.
Yuan Liu, as the sect leader, stood at the head, while the others surrounded their respective masters, each with a different expression.
Wen Yunyun, the Left Deacon of Yaofeng, had only just arrived. Upon meeting her master's gaze, she stepped forward and coldly questioned, "Master, your arrival is just in time. I was about to ask the sect leader about the betrayal of Grandmaster Xiaoyi. Her whereabouts are still unknown, yet her disciple has brazenly entered the sect to cultivate. What do the other disciples think of this?"
Feng Wenyin, the Right Deacon of Yaofeng beside her, stepped forward to greet Zhu Huo and said in a calm tone, "Master and Senior Sister do not know, but Sect Leader Yuan Liu explained a moment ago that she is a junior sister personally recognized by Venerable Hongyan."
"Oh? Venerable Hongyan?" Wen Yunyun's tone changed abruptly, her attitude shifting completely. She took a step back and quickly accepted the offer: "Since it was Venerable Hongyan who acknowledged it, I am naturally convinced."
Standing opposite her, Qiu Qingting, the Left Deacon of Quanfeng, smiled but didn't smile: "Why does Yaofeng have to put on a show by using Venerable Hongyan to intimidate us? It's a fact that Luanfeng caused a great disaster back then. How can we convince the public if we turn the page so easily now?"
“Yaofeng has always revered strength. No one in Yaofeng dares to challenge Venerable Hongyan’s Mahayana cultivation.” Wen Yunyun said with an icy expression, “Why don’t you consider your own strength?”
Qiu Qingting disagreed: "Within the sect, there are more than just your Luanfeng... If Senior Sister wants to spar with me, there's no need to provoke me; I'm happy to do so anyway." He raised an eyebrow and added casually, "If no one here objects."
Sure enough, some people present objected.
“What my sister says makes perfect sense. Venerable Hongyan once saved our sect from dire straits. Since he has spoken, none of the disciples will disobey.” Wen Congcong, the right deacon of Kuangfeng, stared intently at Qiu Qingting, her face ashen: “You deliberately provoked this, wanting to compete with my sister. Did you ask me first?”
"This is your personal opinion," Qiu Qingting said with a smile, skillfully pulling Chu Yunfei, the Left Deacon of Kuangfeng, off the stage: "Or is this Kuangfeng's opinion, Yunfei?"
Chu Yunfei, the Left Deacon of Kuangfeng, calmly stepped to the side, using his broad and sturdy body to block his junior brother who was about to draw his sword: "Kuangfeng does not object to this matter. It is best for everyone to keep the peace." He also skillfully and quickly pulled Yuan Liu, the sect leader: "Sect leader, what do you say?"
"Stop arguing, stop arguing." Faced with the 108th deafening argument erupting among the fellow disciples under the ancestor's instruction, Yuan Liusheng offered a dry and resigned plea.
However, this single stone stirred up a thousand waves, and the clamor grew even louder.
“We were just discussing, we didn’t argue,” Wen Yunyun denied.
Feng Wenyin nodded: "However, the tone was a bit too intense."
Qiu Qingting continued to argue: "You dare to contradict the sect leader? You're just deliberately stirring up trouble."
Wen Congcong continued to defend her sister: "I think you have a problem with my sister!"
Chu Yunfei: "Calm down, calm down."
Yuan Liu: "..." None of them could give him any peace of mind.
Every word of the noise inside reached Donglu's ears, but she remained motionless, her gaze fixed on the night sky.
In the distance, only the outlines of the mountains are visible. The outlines are of varying heights but are connected, except for one abrupt break where a peak, like a sword, points straight to the sky, and starlight shines on the sharp peak.
Just then, Yuan Liu let out a long, helpless sigh: "It's time, Dong Lu, come in and talk."
Dong Lu remained silent, withdrawing his gaze from the night sky, and turned to enter the hall, the wooden door slowly closing behind him.
As the wooden door closed, a refreshing fragrance filled the room, calming restless minds.
The arguing group suddenly lowered their voices and all turned their attention to Dong Lu.
Although Donglu was of the same generation as them, she already controlled a peak, and her words carried weight no less than anyone else's, comparable to those of the Ancestor.
Dong Lu calmly walked into the center of the hall, stood still, and announced: "She has passed the Luanfeng Trial."
The room fell silent for a moment.
"Ha!" Peak Master Qi Qingling clapped his hands, breaking the silence and speaking first: "Since she has passed both the sect competition and the Luan Peak trial, it's a done deal for the little girl to become an inner disciple. There's no need for everyone to argue about her identity anymore."
“The things on her might endanger the sect again if we’re not careful.” Liu Zhiqing, the usually drunken peak master of Quanfeng Peak, was unusually clear-headed at this moment. His eyes, which had been clouded by the past, were sharp as knives and pointed directly at the person standing in the center. “Yaofeng Peak and Linfeng Peak will be the first to be affected.”
"This concerns the return of our lineage; this little disturbance is nothing to Yaofeng." Zhu Huo frowned, his eyes fixed on the same person: "And you, Donglu?"
Kuangfeng and Yaofeng agreed, Quanfeng opposed, and only Linfeng expressed his opinion.
Dong Lu's eyes were calm, and his voice was clear and calm: "Lin Feng adhered to the rules and originally disagreed with her joining the sect in order to avoid further controversy and causing the disciples to be disturbed. But now that she has passed the trial, she is a disciple of the sect."
"And as the sect leader said, she carries some items that were lost from the sect, so it is only right that she return them now. Venerable Hongyan has already set up a restriction on the suspension bridge and made proper arrangements, so she cannot leave Luanfeng. If anything goes wrong, it will only be within the Luanfeng peak area."
Zhu Huo's brows relaxed, and he smiled, "You are the peak master of Lin Peak. Since you don't mind, I advise the other peaks to keep quiet."
Liu Zhiqing smiled and asked, "Who are you talking about?"
Zhu Huo snorted: "Someone who usually pretends to be crazy and stupid, but hides his head and doesn't show up when it matters."
"..." Master Yuanliu had already mediated the disputes that had lasted most of the night, but seeing that the quarrel between his uncles was about to start again, his temples began to bulge again.
"Since the various peaks have expressed their opinions, then..." He closed his eyes, suppressed his throbbing temples, and waved his hand to conclude:
"Send over more paper and pens."
Meeting adjourned.
*
As the morning sun shines, the ancient trees in Luanfeng Courtyard cast swaying shadows.
A man was writing furiously under a tree, then suddenly stopped.
"Phew..." Ji Mingran let out a breath.
A sudden wave of dizziness washed over me, and my hand, which I was about to raise to support my head, trembled uncontrollably.
A fine, tingling sensation, like ants biting, spread from the bottom up, instantly covering the entire body from the legs.
Ji Mingran's face scrunched up in a frown.
My legs are numb.
She endured the numbness and moved her legs little by little.
"Thud." The bamboo pen in my hand fell onto the table by accident, the ink spreading and staining the already copied scroll into a blob of dark ink, which gradually seeped into the paper.
"Ouch!" Ji Mingran gasped, ignoring the soreness and numbness all over his body. He picked up the pen in one hand and the book in the other, keeping them far apart.
Don't copy it all over again.
Since she entered the school, she has been working day and night to memorize and pass on the books.
"What day is it today..." Ji Mingran murmured. She put down her pen and paper, leaned back, and then slowly began to lift her numb and immobile leg with both hands.
What he leaned on was nothing other than a pile of blank books that filled the courtyard and were taller than a person.
They vary in thickness, and upon careful counting, there are more than thirty books.
From the night she entered Luanfeng, she never stopped.
Her mind contained a powerful inheritance capable of leveling an entire mountain. The only way to keep her safe was to write it down from memory and then have her senior brother erase her memories.
Why can't it be erased directly?
The price is that the Dingsheng Sect's millennia-old heritage will be lost again, which goes against the boss's purpose and is unacceptable.
Why can't we separate inherited memories?
The power of the inheritance is so great that it is forcibly separated from the body, which not only causes serious harm to the caster, but also has a devastating effect on her already weak body, causing her soul to dissipate.
Her nominal second senior brother immediately turned grim and hurriedly led Li Xiaosen away.
So she was left alone inside Luanfeng.
Ji Mingran touched his stomach; he was hungry.
The bundle on one side was spread out, revealing that the food inside had been eaten.
She stood up, stretched her limbs, and scanned the courtyard. The layout was exactly the same as the coffin shop's backyard, except that it was completely empty, with no food available. It seemed that Senior Brother Sanyang had long since abstained from grains and no longer needed food, and had also forgotten that ordinary people needed to eat.
The sect leader only sent over pen, ink, and paper from a distance; nothing else.
Ji Mingran stood up and carried the books he had memorized back to his room one by one.
For several days, she focused on writing from memory and entered a state of flow, which actually helped her to draw in and refine spiritual energy.
After being cleansed and purified by a large amount of spiritual energy, one's energy does not diminish but instead becomes more abundant.
But spiritual power cannot replace food, and she was starving and needed to find something to eat.
Ji Mingran closed the door, walked through the courtyard, pushed open the gate, and stepped out of the threshold.
The intense sunlight stung his eyes, and Ji Mingran squinted as he looked up at the sky.
Inside the door, a gentle breeze and bright sunshine prevailed; outside, the sun shone brightly.
Although the weather was not exactly the same, thankfully it stopped raining.
Ji Mingran was starving, so he started from the suspension bridge and slowly explored the entire mountain.
Luanfeng is an isolated cliff. After crossing the suspension bridge, walk for about one kilometer to reach Guancai Garden. Behind Guancai Garden is a small bamboo grove, and beyond the bamboo grove is the edge of the cliff.
After circling the bridge once, Ji Mingran squatted down in front of it, drenched in sweat.
It truly is a place where even birds wouldn't lay their eggs.
There wasn't even a single fruit.
Ji Mingran tilted his head to avoid the pebble, and out of the corner of his eye, he saw that the pebble had turned completely black.
No wonder the air above the suspension bridge seemed subtly distorted.
Something really isn't right.
She sighed and slowly moved toward the suspension bridge, stopping just one step away.
Before leaving, Senior Brother Sanyang turned back and left her with a cryptic remark: "Junior Sister, the sect is not just about Luan Peak."
"The sect is not limited to Luanfeng." Ji Mingran sighed with his hands behind his back, then changed the direction of his raised right foot and took a step to the right.
Hunger gave her an epiphany.
"So you're telling me to go to other peaks?"
Ji Mingran lifted his toes, took a step forward, and let his body lean forward, falling off the cliff.
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