4. Murdering one's wife (part 1)
◎"Qinghe, long time no see"◎
Lou Tinglan closed his eyes, stood up, bowed, and replied, "The punishment of all offenders shall be decided by Elder Lou and the other elders. Disciples like Tinglan are only responsible for supervising the prisoners."
Upon hearing this, Lou Yi realized that Ting Lan's words reminded him that even if he wanted to imprison Ran Qinghe on the sixth level of the Tower Prison, it would still violate the hall rules. Article 83 of the hall rules states that the imprisonment of all cultivators who violate the rules must be based on the cultivator's own cultivation level, and the punishment must not be too severe.
If he were to forcibly send Ran Qinghe to the sixth level of the tower prison, it would likely cause dissatisfaction among the other elders of the Discipline Hall.
But if he were to take her down to the seventh floor, she would already be adept at breaking through the tower gate's restrictions. Could it be that he would go and capture her every month for the past three years?
Lou Yi sat upright in the hall, and for a moment he was at a loss as to what to do with Ran Qinghe.
Ordinary cultivators who break the rules are imprisoned in the tower prison, and they are already overwhelmed just dealing with the evil spirits in the tower. Even if there are a few troublemakers, they dare not cause too much trouble for the sake of their parents and wives. But Ran Qinghe is different. She originally came to the Dao from the mortal world and entered this cultivation world. Unlike the cultivators in the cultivation world, she has no father or mother. Even if she breaks the sky, it will only affect herself.
At this moment, Lou Qiong, who was below the hall, interjected, "Elder, this disciple has a suggestion."
Lou Yi said, "Tell me about it."
Lou Qiong replied, "For cultivators who have violated the rules, some of their offenses are relatively minor. They are usually given the opportunity to make amends by handling some tricky sect tasks for the Discipline Hall or the other five sects."
"I think it's better to let Ran Qinghe atone for her crimes than to let her escape from prison again."
Lou Yu angrily retorted, "How can that be? This demon... Ran Qinghe has committed such crimes and escaped from prison several times. How can she be treated the same as those ordinary cultivators who break the law?"
Lou Qiong replied casually, "I've heard that at the foot of Dongji Mountain, where the Xuan Shui Sect is located, there is a secluded valley that was originally used for the sect's disciples to train. But recently, vengeful spirits have been lurking in that valley, causing this year's sect training to have to be postponed."
"The Xuan Shui Sect excels at weapon crafting, but not at slaying vengeful spirits. Therefore, the vengeful spirits still occupy the secluded valley. The Xuan Shui Sect has even sent a notice to our Discipline Hall. So, I think it would be better to entrust this task to Ran Qinghe. What does the Elder think?"
Upon hearing this, Lou Yu almost burst out laughing with schadenfreude. A vengeful spirit that can occupy a secluded valley must have accumulated resentment for hundreds or even thousands of years. Ran Qinghe is just a Golden Core cultivator. Going to deal with this vengeful spirit in the valley would be a pointless death. Even if he survives, he will probably lose half his life. Lou Qiong, who is usually silent, has really pulled a fast one at this crucial moment.
Lou Yi also said, "This approach is fair."
Ran Qinghe scoffed. Their plan was good, but it depended on her obediently following orders.
Lou Yi frowned upon hearing the sneer, thinking to himself, "Ran Qinghe is so unruly and disobedient. Sending her on a mission is like throwing a meat bun to a dog. It's like handing her the chance to escape."
Lou Qiong and Lou Yu are already outstanding among the younger generation of the Discipline Hall, yet they still cannot do anything to her. Sending a Nascent Soul stage cultivator from the hall to guard her would be a waste of talent, and it is unlikely that anyone would be willing to do so.
As Lou Yi hesitated, he caught a glimpse of Lou Tinglan standing below and said gently, "Lou Qiong's suggestion is good, but it lacks someone to supervise it. Tinglan, would it be convenient for you to go?"
Lou Tinglan said, "Elder, you are too kind. Since you have given the order, I will obey without question."
Ran Qinghe: ...Why is it him again? Is this guy here specifically to bring her bad luck?
She said with a forced smile, "When Fellow Daoist Lou went down the mountain last time, he had already lost most of his spiritual power. The vengeful spirits in the secluded valley are difficult to deal with. If Fellow Daoist Lou goes there, I'm afraid he himself will not be able to protect himself."
Lou Tinglan looked up at her, surprised that she was worried about her. She replied somewhat obliviously, "It's alright. It will take two days to travel to the Xuan Shui Sect by immortal boat. These two days will be enough for me to recuperate my spiritual power. Fellow Daoist Ran, you don't need to worry."
Ran Qinghe smiled: ...
*
The five major sects in the cultivation world are all located on Mount Ling, a place where spiritual veins converge. In addition to the Qingxiao Sect on the central Qingxiao Peak, there are the Xuanshui Sect in the east, the Foshou Sect in the west, the Feifeng Sect in the south, and the Baixu Sect in the north.
Among them, Qingxiao specializes in swordsmanship, Xuanshui in weapon forging, Foshou in talisman drawing, Feifeng in beast taming, and Baixu in medicine. Although the five sects are located in five different places, they have always been connected and exchanged resources due to their different areas of expertise.
The Discipline Hall, which stands above the Five Sects, not only intervenes in law enforcement matters within the Five Sects but also serves them. Therefore, since Xuan Shui has posted a request for assistance, the Discipline Hall should rightfully send its disciples to help.
Inside the celestial vessel, a cultivator dressed in a black and gold Daoist robe had been waiting for a long time. Ran Qinghe noticed that the robe was embroidered with gold thread and green bamboo, so he should be an inner disciple of the Xuan Shui Sect. Sending an inner disciple to pilot the celestial vessel to pick him up shows that the Xuan Shui Sect takes the matter of the vengeful spirit in the Nether Valley quite seriously.
The immortal boat of Xuan Shui Sect is different from the immortal boats of the Discipline Hall and Qing Xiao Sect. The cabin is about the size of a room. Inside the cabin, there are long benches on both sides connected to the cabin body, and a slightly larger square table in the middle with a set of celadon tea set on it. There are no other decorations.
After Lou Tinglan sat down, Ran Qinghe sat on the bench opposite him, as if she wanted to be as far away from him as possible.
Ran Qinghe glanced around casually, but the Xuan Shui Sect disciple smiled apologetically first: "We apologize to the two Immortal Lords. Our sect leader has ordered that, apart from refining weapons, everything else should be kept as simple as possible, so this immortal boat is a bit simple."
He suddenly remembered that the three of them had not yet exchanged names, so he took the lead in introducing himself: "I am Yuan Yao, a disciple of the Xuan Shui Sect Master. How shall we address you two Immortal Lords?"
Lou Tinglan nodded and replied, "Disciple of the Discipline Hall, Lou Tinglan."
"So you are the chief disciple of the Discipline Hall. My apologies for not recognizing you." Although Yuan Yao had never met Lou Tinglan, he had heard a lot about him.
Those who can form their core within the age of one hundred are few and far between in the entire cultivation world. Yuan Yao shifted his admiring gaze from Lou Tinglan to Ran Qinghe.
Ran Qinghe replied, "There's no need to call me Immortal Lord. I'm not an Immortal Lord. I'm... a prisoner from the Discipline Hall, Ran Qinghe."
Yuan Yao remained calm and did not show any disdain or contempt for Ran Qinghe's answer. He was already used to the Discipline Hall sending prisoners to carry out missions.
He then calmly poured a cup of the Xuan Shui Sect's special bamboo leaf tea for the two fellow Daoists and replied, "Fellow Daoist Lou, Fellow Daoist Ran, please have some. This is a bamboo leaf tea specially made by our sect."
While pouring tea, Ran Qinghe carefully observed that Yuan Yao's face and hands, both inside his robe sleeves, were dark and rough, but his forearms, which had been exposed while pouring tea, were quite fair.
Ran Qinghe took a sip of tea, finding it indeed uniquely flavorful, and then struck up a conversation with him, saying, "I see that Fellow Daoist Yuan's wrists are quite fair, but why are your face and hands... um... slightly dark?"
Could it be that the sun is too strong at Xuan Shui Sect, making it too hot?
Even though Yuan Yao's face was dark, it was now slightly flushed. He said embarrassedly, "Most of the people in our sect are weapon cultivators. They spend all their time around spiritual fire and alchemy furnaces. After a while, they become like this."
Oh, so it was blackened by smoke.
Ran Qinghe then thought of the resources required for refining weapons, which required a large amount of spirit stones. Since the Xuan Shui Sect had invested all its resources in refining weapons, it was normal that they didn't have the money to build this immortal boat.
She then asked, "So, what are the sect leader's instructions for this mission? Is it enough to simply slay the vengeful spirits?"
She spoke casually, as if she didn't care about the vengeful spirit.
Yuan Yao said solemnly, "That's how it is. The vengeful spirit dwells in a secluded valley at the foot of Dongji Mountain. That valley is located by the sea and is called Tianhai Valley. Originally, the spiritual energy was quite abundant, so the newly promoted disciples of Xuanshui Sect all trained here."
He hesitated for a moment and said, “Since you two fellow Daoists have come to help the Xuan Shui Sect, then Yuan Yao will not hide anything. Half a month ago, the scheduled disciple trials had already begun, but in the middle of the trials, for some reason, resentment suddenly filled the air, and even two disciples were abducted by the vengeful spirit. We sent people to search for them, but to no avail after several days, so we sent a letter to ask the Discipline Hall for help.”
Ran Qinghe asked, "Did those two disciples have some kind of grudge against others?" Otherwise, why would the vengeful spirit have kidnapped only those two out of so many new disciples?
Since there are vengeful spirits in Tianhai Valley, it means that cultivators have died there, and they must have died with their eyes wide open in resentment. The spiritual energy remaining in the bodies of such cultivators would transform into resentment, and only when the resentment soars to the sky would a vengeful spirit be formed. If a vengeful spirit lingers in a valley, then this resentment has probably remained for at least a hundred years.
Yuan Yao seemed to understand this as well, replying, "Those two new disciples are no more than fifty years old. They are a pair of Daoist partners who have already formed a sworn bond. The Xuan Shui Sect has also investigated the backgrounds of all new disciples and found nothing unusual. Therefore, there is no question of any enmity between them."
If there was no enmity between them, why were they dragged into the valley by this vengeful spirit?
Ran Qinghe looked up and saw that Lou Tinglan, who was sitting diagonally opposite her, seemed to care nothing about the affairs of the secluded valley. Seeing this, she couldn't help but tease him again. She took off her long whip and flicked it, lightly skimming his eyelids like a dragonfly skimming the water. After teasing him, she asked seriously, "What do you think of the vengeful spirits in the secluded valley, Fellow Daoist Lou?"
Lou Tinglan opened her eyes, looking puzzled, and shook her head: "I accompanied Fellow Daoist Ran to the Valley this time to fulfill my supervisory duties, so as to what happens to the vengeful spirits in the Valley, it is none of my business."
Ran Qinghe choked on her words for a moment. Then she wondered if this person was holding a grudge against her for watching the show from mid-air in the Nightmare Forest?
"Looking at this person's pure heart, I wonder if he's actually a black-hearted devil," Ran Qinghe speculated maliciously, and then, as if in a huff, ignored him completely.
The celestial boat traveled for two full days, and Lou Tinglan also meditated for two full days. He remained indifferent to the topics discussed by Ran Qinghe and Yuan Yao, keeping to himself and not saying a word.
Yuan Yao was quite talkative, and in just two days, Ran Qinghe had a general understanding of the Xuan Shui Sect.
For example, how many wild cats and rabbits are kept in the bamboo forest behind the Xuan Shui Sect? For example, in order to save spirit stones, the disciples of the Xuan Shui Sect often go to the East Sea to fetch water for refining weapons, and fall into the sea countless times. For example, when the disciples of the Xuan Shui Sect are short of spirit stones, they often go to the foot of the mountain to perform the act of breaking a large stone on their chest... And quite unexpectedly, the sect leader of the Xuan Shui Sect, Chang Nian, is a person who has attained enlightenment in the mortal world.
Ran Qinghe was clearly taken aback when she heard this. In the cultivation world, although they are all cultivators, they are also subtly divided into two factions. One faction consists of disciples from sects, who are born into sects, cultivate within sects, and have no shortage of resources or spirit stones. The other faction consists of disciples from the mortal realm, who are those who have attained enlightenment from the lower realms or the mortal realm.
Disciples from sects enjoy unparalleled resources and skip the process of enlightenment, allowing them to directly cultivate the Dao, resulting in rapid progress in their cultivation.
Disciples in the mortal realm first need to obtain an opportunity to comprehend the Dao before they can enter the cultivation world. Once they enter the cultivation world, not only are they a step behind the disciples of the sect, but their resources are also vastly inferior.
According to Yuan Yao, Chang Nian, the sect leader of Xuan Shui Sect, was originally a disciple of the mortal realm, but now he has become the sect leader. The hardships he endured are self-evident.
Ran Qinghe was also a disciple of the mortal realm. She understood the insurmountable gap between disciples from sects and disciples of the mortal realm, just as she had experienced when she was in Qingxiao.
Before long, the flying boat arrived at Tianhai Valley in the Eastern Pole Mountain. Coincidentally, the flying boat that Ran Qinghe was on, along with another flying boat from the Qingxiao Sect, anchored in front of the valley at the same time. Even more coincidentally, she encountered an old friend from Qingxiao.
She was about to leave when she was suddenly called back:
"Qinghe, it's been a long time."
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