Meeting like frost
The palaces of district heads are usually extremely luxurious, encroaching on the interests of the people and being magnificent buildings built with the blood and sweat of the people. However, Chen Ziqiu claimed to serve the people, and his palace was simple and unadorned, without gorgeous carvings and decorations. It was just an ordinary house with many twists and turns, and one could easily get lost if not careful.
Qian Luo followed her memory and entered each house, but found no trace of Sun Rushuang.
Chen Ziqiu was very strict in keeping Sun Rushuang under his watch, often moving her to different places for custody.
Ordinary female cultivators would not receive such treatment. The sisters in the basement of District 8 once said that Sun Rushuang had a special physique, which was why she was favored by District 7 and they specially used treasures to exchange for her.
In order to advance to the Jindan stage, Chen Ziqiu took yin to replenish yang. When asked what physique was most suitable for him, Qianluo, who had read many novels about cultivating immortals, had a flash of inspiration in her mind.
As she dodged, she saw two girls in green dresses, holding food in their hands, with disdainful expressions on their faces: "Who does this Sun Rushuang think she is? She's putting on airs! She's throwing herself at me!"
"That's right!" the round-faced girl next to her echoed, pulling her arm. "If you ask me, our district chief is in his prime, highly accomplished, handsome, and gentle and considerate. What beauty could he want?"
She raised her eyes, revealing a sense of sarcasm. "Only the district chief is a lovelorn man. He comes over every day to ask about her meals and how she's feeling. If I were a man, I would have abandoned her long ago. Who is she showing such a displeasure every day?"
Her sisters also nodded, their voices sharp, "I've never seen a woman who asks for trouble like this! How dare she, who has only been practicing Qi training for five years and is only at the first level, order us around? We're at the fifth level of Qi training, having graduated from Qiuyu Academy. Our cultivation isn't top-tier, but it's not the bottom either. Why does she look down on us?"
So, these two girls actually graduated from Qiuyu College? They looked to be around 25 years old, and they were arrogant and proud. They were obviously pretty and pretty, but why did they talk so much like each other?
Qian Luo, who was eavesdropping on the side, frowned. This looked too much like a vicious cannon fodder female character, an NPC with low IQ.
And there is an indescribable sense of disobedience.
But... I can't say for sure.
Since coming to this world, she has rarely met female cultivators who speak so harshly, and she has a strange feeling in her heart.
The two people cursed and laughed at the same time, their tone full of belittlement and ridicule. It seemed that Sun Rushuang's life here was not easy. She was supervised and looked down upon by others.
Qianluo was very confused. If Chen Ziqiu was so good in their eyes, why did they still dislike him even though he imprisoned a girl? It was as if this girl was desperately trying to stay by Chen Qianqiu's side, rather than Chen Ziqiu imprisoning her.
"Ye Zi, I don't want to serve you food anymore." The round-faced girl was carrying the meal, indignant. "Sun Rushuang is so difficult to serve, I don't want to serve her for the rest of my life!"
"Yuanyuan, don't be discouraged." The tall girl patted her shoulder to comfort her. After looking around to make sure no one was around, she whispered in her ear, "Actually, Senior Sister Qin also started out as a maid."
"What!" Li Yuanyuan's eyes widened in shock, covering her mouth in disbelief. "Senior Qin Dong is such a proud person, but she would actually stoop to being Sun Rushuang's maid? The two of them together can't even say a word."
Ye Zi rolled her eyes at her: "Is this the point?"
Li Yuanyuan smiled awkwardly and sat in a pavilion not far away. She quickly put down her lunch box, wiped the food with a handkerchief, and called to Ye Zi: "Ye Zi, come here quickly and tell me what's going on."
Ye Zi laughed dumbly, looking at her anxious sister, and said, "Ten years ago, Qin Dong graduated at the age of 25, at the tenth level of Qi training. His three spiritual roots were not as good as the best, but better than the worst. However, his cultivation was already impressive compared to Qiuyu Academy."
"That's why she thinks she's lucky. Besides, she's not bad looking. Even though she looks cool, she's enough to charm the boys from the boys' academy across the street."
Li Yuanyuan was anxious and shook Ye Zi's arm: "Sister, is this the point?"
Ye Zi tapped her forehead. "Don't interrupt! It's because the man she met has spoiled her so much that she doesn't know how high the sky is and how deep the earth is. She thinks no man would fall at her feet. So, the moment she was assigned to the District Chief's Palace, she thought she could stand by his side and reach the pinnacle of her life."
Under Li Yuanyuan's puzzled gaze, she sighed, "Oh, who knew the district chief wouldn't even look at her and assign her to be Sun Rushuang's maid? Then she got jealous of Sun Rushuang, thinking that she wasn't as pretty as she was, and her cultivation wasn't as high as hers, so how could she possibly be favored by the district chief!"
"As time went on, her personality became increasingly distorted, and her eyes became increasingly darker, becoming as terrifying as a ghost!"
Li Yuanyuan remembered that she hadn't seen Qin Dong for a long time. Her scalp tingled and she swallowed hard. "My classmates said that she...seemed to have disappeared..."
"Right!" Ye Zi blew a breath into her ear, her voice sinister. "She was just maliciously seeking revenge against Sun Rushuang. The district chief was furious and destroyed her face and her cultivation. From then on, no one saw her again!"
Ye Zi's voice rose and fell, adding a touch of horror to the story: "Maybe her soul... is wandering somewhere..."
Li Yuanyuan covered her head and ears, her body trembling: "No... I can't... Aa ...
A sharp female voice rang in her ears, almost deafening Ye Zi. She covered her ears, speechless, "It's just a story, don't make a fuss, okay?"
Ye Zi rolled her eyes in disgust, looked up, and saw a "woman" without feet, hanging in the air.
He was dressed in white, floating unsteadily. There was not a single piece of intact skin on his face. When the wind blew, one could see the white bones. Blood was oozing from his mouth and nose. His hair was disheveled, and his facial features were so blurred that one could not see his appearance. He gave people the feeling that he was a ghost crawling out of hell, bloodthirsty and cruel.
The key is that this person looks like the "Qin Dong" in her memory!
Could it be her! She!
Her heart suddenly contracted, and her ears buzzed: "No... No way..."
She just told a ghost story, how could that be!
No way! No way!
Her eyes rolled up, closed, and she fainted.
Li Yuanyuan couldn't stand the horrific scene and fainted with Ye Zi.
Qianluo put away the Migu Powder. It was just a trick of the illusion. The two girls were not frightened. They smiled and said, "Have a good sleep."
She placed the two people in a hidden place, stripped Li Yuanyuan of her clothes, took away her lunch box, transformed herself into her appearance, walked on the bluestone slabs, and became a "maid" in the district chief's palace.
It’s really interesting that for a monk to be a “maid” is a job opportunity that many people are fighting for.
That’s right, graduates at the age of 25 are guaranteed jobs, and with such a large population there aren’t that many jobs, so they can only do these jobs, they are just cheap labor!
I originally wanted to hear more from the two of them, but I didn't expect them to talk about gossip about "Qin Dong". I guess they heard the rumors from somewhere and exaggerated them.
…
Qianluo walked back and looked around. There were high walls and large courtyards, black tiles and white walls. There were also long and thin ivy on the white walls, and the dense leaves blocked the view inside. The sky was gloomy, as if it was going to rain, and there was a hint of moisture from rain in the air.
"Boom boom" thunder sounded suddenly, and several white lightning flashed in the dark sky.
Qian Luo looked at the lightning and wondered: Could it be Chen Ziqiu's Dan-forming lightning tribulation? It hasn't arrived yet!
She withdrew her gaze and lowered her head to check the situation. There were many guards around, with girls serving as maids and boys as guards. Fortunately, there were no eunuchs now, otherwise it would be even worse.
She was just worrying about which room was Sun Rushuang's when a monk came over. Qianluo's heart skipped a beat, thinking she had been exposed.
Unexpectedly, the male cultivator looked puzzled: "Li Yuanyuan? Didn't you just send it?"
Qian Luo glanced at the room he was guarding, and she had a clue in her mind. She imitated Li Yuanyuan's tone: "Hmph... I don't want to serve her! If Ye Zi hadn't said that she would starve to death if she didn't eat, I wouldn't want to take care of her!"
The monk was used to her and Ye Zi's attitude and waved his hand: "Okay, okay, just put the food there. She can eat it if she wants."
"That's right, next time I won't carry such a heavy lunch box!" Qian Luo walked away angrily, imitating Li Yuanyuan's bad temper.
She looked at the house with three entrances and exits, which was winding. There were two monks guarding each door, and there were monks patrolling back and forth, a total of 20 people.
Chen Ziqiu is really...
With a creak, the door opened.
Just as Qianluo was about to step in, she heard the male cultivator's cold voice behind her: "Why isn't Ye Zi with you?"
The male cultivator was on guard. They had been inseparable, so how could Li Yuanyuan be alone? However, her cultivation level couldn't be faked.
Just as the male cultivator was feeling conflicted, the girl turned around with a pout and said in a delicate voice, "What else was I talking about? Ye Zi was lazy and ran away to listen to gossip. She said that our former senior sister was called Qin Dong and was very popular among you male cultivators!"
Hearing this, the male cultivator blushed and scratched his head. "No way, Li Yuanyuan, where did you hear that..." His doubts instantly disappeared, because this matter was indeed known only to the people in the academy. "But I haven't seen Senior Sister Qin for a long time..."
Qian Luo leaned over gossipingly: "I heard that Senior Qin lost her job because of her..." She curled her lips with disdain, "That's why."
The male cultivators on both sides glanced at each other and said, "Li Yuanyuan, you know a lot of information!"
Someone urged her: "Hurry up and go in!"
Qian Luo pouted and rolled her eyes at him, "Why are you pushing me so hard? You're not even interested in gossiping, you're so hard to please!"
The male cultivator is called Meng Ming, and he is the captain of the guard. He is usually bored at work. Ye Zi and Li Yuanyuan are lively, young, and cute. They often come to talk and laugh with him, and they have a good relationship. He is used to the two girls rolling their eyes at him.
Qian Luo pretended to be reluctant to go in, but she was actually very nervous, afraid of being exposed. After all, she had never seen how Ye Zi and Li Yuanyuan interacted with the male cultivators. However, seeing that their reactions were similar, it was almost the same.
As soon as she stepped in, the door closed.
The room was pitch black and so quiet that only the other person's breathing could be heard.
——
Neither of them spoke. Qian Luo thought she would be the first to break the deadlock, but she didn't expect it to be Sun Rushuang. Her voice was cold and low, as if she hadn't spoken for a long time. There was a silent sadness in her voice, and her attitude towards Li Yuanyuan was very cold.
"What are you doing here again?"
Qianluo walked into her with a lunch box. The room was pitch black, with only the large spirit stone next to her flashing with green light. No wonder the room was filled with spiritual energy as soon as she came in. So that's how it was.
Chen Ziqiu actually placed two spirit stones as tall as a person in her bedroom. They shone brightly, making the bedroom as bright as day. However, the color was light, and it looked pale and weak on the girl's face.
Her appearance is somewhat like Sun Peilan, gentle and melancholy, but her temperament is as cold as ice, like frost flowers in winter, cold, clear, aloof and beautiful, and can only be admired from a distance and not approached.
Perhaps because she hadn't seen the sun for many days, her skin was as thin as a piece of transparent jade, and her purple-blue veins could be vaguely seen.
Seeing that "Li Yuanyuan" was different from usual, and didn't say anything bad or show disdain, Sun Rushuang handed the food to her, wondering in her heart: "I don't want to eat."
The spiritual jade emitted a cold and light light, which fell into her eyes, reflecting a touching green color, like the Cuiwei Green Lake, which was beautiful beyond words. It added a bit of beauty that did not belong to human, and she looked like a monster in the mountains that transformed into a human form.
Qianluo looked straight into her eyes and took out the eye mask she had kept. There was an orchid on it, the elegant and beautiful orchid looked lifelike.
Sure enough, when Sun Rushuang saw the orchid pattern, her breathing quickened, a glint flashed in her eyes, and she reached out her hand impatiently: "Where did you get this from? This is my mother's..."
Qianluo took a step back and pointed at the food: "I'll tell you after we eat."
The girl was as thin as a piece of paper, with a pale face and few pieces of flesh on her body. Days of fasting had severely damaged her vitality. If it weren't for the spiritual energy that kept her alive and her Qi training level, she would have died long ago.
She ate mechanically, chewing quietly and alone. Her eyelashes were slightly curled, slender and thick, casting a small round shadow on her fair skin, making her nose look taller and her facial features more superior.
It wasn't that he was really hungry, but he was just following Qianluo's instructions, treating himself as a robot and eating as a task.
"I'm done, give it to me."
Sun Rushuang stretched out her hand, her fingers were slender and long, too thin, her eyes were slightly bright, looking at the eye mask in front of her, countless hopes rose in her heart.
It's mom's stuff!
My mother likes to embroider orchids on handkerchiefs the most because her name contains the word "Orchid" and she also likes orchids the most. So every time she mends something, she will leave a small orchid, and this has not changed over the years.
She couldn't remember the last time she saw her mother. Ever since they were separated in District 9, she had been locked up in this dark place, unable to step out. She could no longer tell the passage of time and could only see the sunset and moonrise outside, spring, summer, autumn and winter, year after year passing by.
At the beginning, she still had a rebellious mentality and counted the number of days every day. But as time went on, she felt a little confused. She didn't know how long she could hold on. If it weren't for her mother, she would have killed herself long ago.
Everyone despised, disdained and hated her. They treated her as Chen Ziqiu's canary, a bird in a cage, and never regarded her as a complete person.
They looked down on her and despised her, thinking that she was not worthy of Chen Ziqiu's "favor", but this was not what she wanted. All she wanted was freedom, to return to her hometown, reunite with her mother, and live a stable life.
Chen Ziqiu always threatened her with her mother, saying that if she couldn't draw the Qi into her body, she would have her mother humiliated. She didn't know whether this was true or not, so she could only seize this only possibility, desperately absorbing spiritual energy, striving to draw the Qi into her body, become a true cultivator, and make herself stronger.
Perhaps her spiritual roots were too poor, and her cultivation had not improved in a few years. Even though there were two pieces of spiritual jade with abundant spiritual energy next to her bedroom, she had not broken through the second level of Qi training.
The longer the time went on, the more anxious Chen Ziqiu looked at her. Like a hungry wolf seeing a skinny rabbit, he couldn't wait to devour her, wanting to exploit her and squeeze her in every way he could.
She never understood what was so unique about her that attracted Chen Ziqiu. She was clearly just an ordinary girl with five spiritual roots. There were countless girls like her in District 9, but why did Chen Ziqiu always keep an eye on her cultivation level? Whenever her cultivation level didn't increase, he would spend all his energy to find various solutions.
She has never figured out this question.
Growing up in District 9, she knew her hometown was poor and backward, where even 100 spirit beads were a rarity, let alone a spirit jade this large. She couldn't understand Chen Ziqiu's reasoning, but she knew her cultivation was closely tied to his; otherwise, he wouldn't be so concerned.
In Chen Ziqiu's heart, her value far exceeds that of Lingyu.
This is why she is fearless. These so-called "guards" and "maids" look down on her, so what?
She doesn't care and can completely ignore it.
But why is Li Yuanyuan different today?
Sometimes, after being lonely for a long time, she learned to silently observe their words and expressions. Listening to Li Yuanyuan and Ye Zi chatting, sometimes she would even feel envious.
I envy their friendship. There is a sister who can talk and laugh with you, take care of your emotions, and tolerate your shortcomings, while she can only be locked in a cage without seeing the sun, waiting to be slaughtered one day, like a domesticated pig.
Eat well, drink well, and keep yourself fat, just to be on the table and become someone else's meal.
An inexplicable green light flashed in Sun Rushuang's eyes. She stood up slightly, stared at the girl, and finally raised the corners of her mouth, feeling quite good.
With a firm tone: "You are not Li Yuanyuan."
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