Chapter 221 You Don't Need to Fear Freedom
"Yes." Lu Shaocheng nodded slightly, but his expression still showed that he hadn't let go of his emotions from just now, and he looked extremely unwilling.
"Hello, Miss Fang Lanrong, I would like to ask you for a favor." As soon as Mu Jianjian said this, she noticed the short woman in front of her scanning her face up and down with disdain in her eyes.
Her delicate eyelashes trembled.
"Who are you? Sister Fang, do you know them?" the short woman asked.
“This is an acquaintance from before, this… I don’t know,” Fang Lanrong glanced at the two people standing side by side, trying to figure out their intentions. “If this young lady has anything to say, just tell me. If it’s within my ability, I will do my best to help you.”
It was Xiao Cheng who brought them...
Looking at the woman, Lu Shaocheng couldn't help but recall the time when she was timid, weak, and had no one to rely on in the sand cave. He glanced at her and remained silent.
"Could this lady please leave first?" Mu Jianjian looked at the other woman, her voice indifferent, seemingly without any intention of discussing it with her.
The short woman snorted, "You people who came here from outside the East District, barging into the backyard of the Steward's Mansion for no reason, why should I leave? Believe me, I can just shout and someone will come and arrest you?"
“Everyone in the East District is in danger right now. You can shout a few times and see if anyone comes to save you,” Mu Jianjian’s few words left the other person speechless. “Besides, I’m not asking you for advice.”
"What if you lay a hand on Sister Fang if I leave?"
Seeing that the other woman still hadn't left, Mu Jianjian immediately raised her hand and attacked the back of her neck, knocking the woman unconscious.
Fang Lanrong looked surprised, and then heard the person opposite her get straight to the point, "I would like to ask you to come with me to break the array core in the head of the courtyard."
The core of the formation?
These words struck her like a thunderbolt. Fang Lanrong looked up sharply and met the other person's gaze. "Although some people in the management office say there is a key to the formation that leads to the outside world, we don't know if it's true or not. Besides, how could I possibly know how to break it?"
Furthermore, if she lets me solve the problem, isn't she afraid that I might become an inside informant and betray her?
In any case, this decision doesn't seem like something a smart person would make.
“The information I heard with my own ears can’t be faked. You can’t find the array’s core and break it, but I can,” Mu Jianjian had already anticipated the other party’s surprise. She reached into her sleeve and took out a bag of medium-grade spirit stones. “After it’s done, these spirit stones are yours.”
Fang Lanrong was somewhat dazed by the barrage of information from the other party. She glanced at the bulging brocade ribbon in the girl's hand and said, "It's obvious that you're new to the Sand Cave and inexperienced. Spirit stones are useless in the Sand Cave. The only things that matter in the Sand Cave are strength, status, and ruthlessness."
“It’s useless in the sand cave, but it becomes useful outside.”
Fang Lanrong found it amusing, "How can you be so sure you can succeed?"
Even if they find the core of the formation and the people in the sand cave can get out, how can they guarantee that Duyunfang won't take action to rectify the situation?
Even if everyone in the East District were wiped out, it would only attract people from Duyunfang to re-infiltrate the area.
“You don’t need to be afraid of freedom.” Mu Jianjian said calmly, looking up at the brightly lit front courtyard of the mansion. “It’s only a matter of time before the head of Duyun Workshop falls. Besides, even if you help my manager, the investigation won’t trace it back to you.”
There's no need to fear freedom?
These words truly resonated with Fang Lanrong.
Although she has pledged allegiance to the steward, she can only maintain her beauty by relying on her meager Qi Condensation cultivation. If her beauty fades, it means that everything she currently possesses in the Sand Cave will be gone.
Who would willingly remain a caged plaything for someone else forever?
Once outside, women like her needed spirit stones to survive.
Seeing that the two had exchanged a few words and Fang Lanrong had agreed to work with Miss Mu to break the array's core, Lu Shaocheng felt an overwhelming sense of worry.
Even though he recommended this person, he never thought he could actually persuade her.
After all, Fang Lanrong could betray Shiya in the past, and now she can turn around and tell the steward the news, thus betraying Miss Mu.
"Xiao Cheng, let's go." Mu Jianjian turned around and reminded Lu Shaocheng, who was still standing.
"Okay." Lu Shaocheng nodded slightly and followed in their footsteps.
——
"There's a killing formation near the inner courtyard of the steward, which you need to break with your true energy." Mu Jianjian's right pupil flickered with a slight fluorescent light, and under the moonlight, she could see shimmering illusory butterflies fluttering among the dark walls.
“Miss, I don’t know how to break formations, and I only have a little Qi Condensation level true Qi,” Fang Lanrong hurriedly added. “Why did Xiao Cheng send you to find me?”
She finally asked the question that had been weighing on her mind.
“I know you won’t,” Mu Jianjian explained patiently after being interrupted while searching for the array’s core, “because all the other cultivators I know are busy, and it just so happens that Xiao Cheng knows you.”
So... casual?
Fang Lanrong saw the three of them secretly hiding among the walls and bushes. The girl in the lead had a disfigured face but showed no signs of weakness. She had no true energy, yet she possessed the composure to remain calm even if Mount Tai collapsed before her.
"Don't worry about the guards here, they've all been sent by the manager to fight monsters. Come with me." Mu Jianjian suddenly spoke up in the silence, startling the other two.
In the courtyard, paper lanterns hanging on the wall provided illumination, and candlelight shone faintly through the paper onto the ground. The five-cornered pavilion in the artificial lake was extremely elegant, connected to a stone bridge leading to a path on the shore. The path was lined with lush trees, giving people a sense of coolness despite it being the height of summer.
Following the direction indicated by the illusory butterfly, Mu Jianjian walked to a tree and probed inside with her divine sense.
"Try channeling your inner energy into it," she said, placing Fang Lanrong's hand on the tree and guiding her step by step on how to break the formation. "Divide your inner energy into five strands and channel them into the tree..."
Lu Shaocheng watched as the girl's clear voice echoed in the courtyard, feeling both admiration and curiosity.
Miss Mu is clearly not a cultivator... yet she understands even formations that few people know?
"...Alright, let's wait another quarter of an hour and see." Mu Jianjian took a few steps back, but still kept observing the movement of the illusory butterfly in her right pupil, not daring to relax in the slightest.
She was once imprisoned by her senior brother using an array in Yingzhou. She was able to get out then, and now she can break this kind of small array that can be seen through at a glance with the help of other cultivators.
“Miss Mu, you…” Lu Shaocheng wanted to praise her, but he didn’t know how to start.
"Hmm?" Mu Jianjian turned around and spoke.
"I feel like you can do everything, you're really amazing," Lu Shaocheng praised sincerely. "I want to be like you too."
In battle, she could predict the opponent's next move and knew how to break formations... More importantly, after they attacked and injured her first, she did not put her feelings first, but rationally analyzed the situation to help them and find a way out for herself.
Such people are almost terrifying... yet they are also exceptionally pitiful.
Mu Jianjian was somewhat dazed. She recalled the embarrassing memory of being chased by Qu You in the Xuan Tian Secret Realm, a memory that seemed so distant now.
"The path to immortality is long and uncertain; no one knows whether the next moment will bring opportunity or death," she said with deep feeling.
"Does Miss Mu cultivate immortality?" Lu Shaocheng's eyes widened suddenly.
"Um."
"What is the highest Qi Condensation level that Miss Mu has reached?" Lu Shaocheng had a guess in his mind from the beginning, and after his guess was confirmed, he couldn't wait to ask.
"Core Formation." Mu Jianjian lowered her eyes and glanced at the illusory butterflies leading to the courtyard. Finally, a path emerged, indicating that the killing formation had been broken and the path was clear. "The formation is broken, let's go in."
Unfortunately, he had only just reached the Core Formation stage when he was kicked down by that dog Jin Hongze.
Core Formation?
Upon hearing the girl utter such a casual remark, the other two were startled and stood frozen in place.
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