Chapter 71 071 "He will never steal again!"...
Jiang Ling'er was stunned, then her brows furrowed:
"What did you say?"
“I said he was a liar, and you.”
Pei Xuan paused for a moment, then suddenly released the reins, patted Chunhua's back, and let her play on her own.
He walked step by step to her, staring at her intently. He was much taller than her, and when he looked down at her, his gaze naturally carried a hint of condescending scrutiny, as well as a trace of barely perceptible pity.
Every word he uttered revealed a hint of aggression in the usually jovial and gentle Taoist priest.
"And you, you're a fool who got completely fooled by that brat."
The word "idiot" was emphasized.
Jiang Ling'er was taken aback, then flew into a rage, glaring defiantly at Pei Xuan, her fists clenched tightly:
"What right do you have to insult me!"
The two were extremely close, so close that when Jiang Ling'er took a sniff, she could smell not only the usual scent of trumpet creeper on the young man, but also an even stronger, unmistakable smell of alcohol.
“I know you hate him because of the theft of the trumpet creeper three years ago, but... but he was also forced into it! You have no idea what the old poisoner did to him! Stealing the trumpet creeper was not his intention; he was coerced by the old poisoner! Three years ago, he was just a child. The person you should be looking for is the old poisoner, not him!”
"Just a child?"
The young Taoist priest pondered her words and chuckled softly.
Jiang Ling'er: "..."
Jiang Ling'er was instantly so angry that her back teeth clenched tightly. However, thinking that she still needed this man to take her to the Lingxiao Sect and to lead her to the Little Immortal, Jiang Ling'er took a deep breath, suppressed her anger, and gave the young man a forced smile. "Yes, I'm just an outsider. How can I interfere in the feud between your Lingxiao Sect and that old poisoner? But I can tell right from wrong, and you don't need to interfere! I think you're drunk and starting to talk nonsense. This young lady is magnanimous and won't hold it against you! I'll come back tomorrow when you're sober!"
After Jiang Ling'er finished speaking, she turned and left, thinking to herself, "Did this scoundrel Taoist priest eat firecrackers today and come here to vent his anger on me?"
"What a ridiculous claim! He stole the Lingxiao Flower not by his own intention, but he severely injured many of my Lingxiao disciples. The most seriously injured was a Daoist boy who was only fourteen or fifteen years old. That child may be bedridden for life and unable to practice martial arts... You say he did it unintentionally?"
Jiang Ling'er's hurried figure froze, and after a long while she turned around, looking as if she had done something wrong, quite hesitant, uneasy, and embarrassed.
“That was…that was three years ago, the little poisoner from three years ago…” Jiang Ling’er’s hands clenched tightly, then loosened, then clenched again. So tightly that the veins on the back of her slender, white hands bulged like mountains. She took a deep breath, as if trying to prove something, and said urgently, “But he’s different now! He…”
Pei Xuan interrupted her coldly before she could finish speaking: "What happened three years ago? I was telling you about what happened three days ago."
Jiang Ling'er paused, stunned: "Three days ago?"
"Three days ago, the Lingxiao Sect was robbed again, with the same victim. The injured boy pointed out that it was the same person who committed the robbery three years ago. Don't you know? Who in the martial arts world doesn't know that the Big and Little Poisons are eccentric and ruthless? Those who fall into their hands are either reduced to ashes or made into medicine, becoming like corpses, unable to live or die..."
The young Taoist priest spoke, a slight smile playing on his lips, though the smile didn't reach his eyes. "Do you expect this humble Taoist to be grateful to the little poisoner for showing mercy and sparing the boy's life?"
Jiang Ling'er choked, her face turning slightly pale, and her voice lowered unconsciously due to her guilt: "He didn't tell me..."
……No.
In an instant, the image of our two fingers intertwined under the candlelight last night flashed into my mind.
After a long silence, Jiang Ling'er suddenly moved.
Pei Xuan watched her walk away slowly with her head down, but not in the direction she was going back, and his brows furrowed almost imperceptibly.
My gaze followed her and saw her stop in front of his small stall selling "Daily Divination" and remain motionless.
Suddenly, with a loud "bang," the stall was overturned!
Jiang Ling'er smashed his stall, turned around, and glared at him with eyes that seemed to be burning with fire:
"He promised me, he would never... he would never steal again!"
It was less a speech to Pei Xuan and more a speech to himself.
Her hands were clenched so tightly that her whole body trembled slightly, and she almost roared:
He will never steal again!
After yelling, he strode away, leaving Pei Xuan alone to stare at the mess for a long time...
She rubbed her forehead and chuckled softly.
"To plot against a tiger for its skin, to collude with wolves, to join forces with the corrupt, to be in cahoots. This is your daughter, Brother Jiang."
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Late at night, at the inn.
The little poisonous creature, who had been holding Jiang Ling'er as she slept, suddenly opened its eyes.
He carefully took Jiang Ling'er's hand from his waist and put it under the covers.
After settling into his lodgings, he straightened his clothes and was about to leave when a familiar voice came from behind him:
"where did you go?"
The little poisonous creature paused slightly, then stopped.
Jiang Ling'er's face was not visible in the darkness, but she was heard asking again, "Going to collect morning dew again?"
The little poisonous creature paused for only a moment before laughing, "Just getting up to use the restroom, did I wake you up?"
He hurriedly went outside to relieve himself, washed his hands, rubbed them together to warm them, and then climbed back onto the bed. He pulled Jiang Ling'er into his arms, his thin lips gently stroking her warm forehead. As if extremely sleepy, he murmured indistinctly:
"It's getting late, go back to sleep."
Jiang Ling'er found a comfortable position in his arms and let out a very soft "hmm," followed by two even breaths.
The night grew deeper.
Soon, even breathing could not be heard.
...
I don't know how much time passed—
Jiang Ling'er broke free of her acupoints and suddenly opened her eyes, breathing heavily.
She glanced at her side; it was empty. The person who had been holding her just moments before was nowhere to be seen.
She touched the bedding; it was still warm, so she didn't go far.
Jiang Ling'er put on her coat, took her bamboo flute, and went out. She saw the footprints outside the door that were not yet completely covered by snow... She stared intently at the footprints, her fingernails digging deep into her flesh without her noticing.
She took a deep breath, as if she had inhaled countless frosts and cold rains, which chilled her to the bone. Her breath carried a strong, sweet, metallic smell, as if it had been scraped by ice.
She wiped her face hard, braved the wind and frost, and followed the footprints.
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In a dark alley in the ghost market, the faint sounds of arguing could be heard.
The weather was bad tonight, with frost mixed with icicles and raindrops, which made the argument in the dark alley less clear.
"I...I've already been expelled from the sect, and I've delivered my message. Please, please let me go..."
Under the cover of the raging snow and wind, the people in the alley did not notice that Jiang Ling'er was observing them in secret.
To her surprise, besides the little poisoner, there were two other teenagers in the alley.
She had seen one of the short boys yesterday; he seemed to be a Lingxiao disciple named Xue Sangui. At this moment, he was kneeling between the two, begging them to let him go.
What she didn't know was that when she and Little Poison left yesterday, they brushed past this young man, a Lingxiao disciple named Xue San Gui, who subtly mouthed "Ghost Market" to Little Poison.
She was completely focused on the little poison and Pei Xuan at the time and didn't notice anything amiss.
The boy standing to Xue Sangui's left with his back to her, though not showing any of his face, was unmistakably Little Poisonous just by looking at his back.
As for the slightly shorter boy on the right... he seemed to have suffered a serious injury some time ago, as there were still visible scars on his exposed skin.
who is he?
However, Jiang Ling'er soon found out who he was.
"Senior brother, have you finally thought it through? Things have gotten to this point without benefiting either of us. Whether or not the trumpet creeper exists, neither of us can escape Master's control. Have you obtained what Master wanted?"
His name is Little Poison, Senior Brother.
Jiang Ling'er was stunned, especially when she saw the little poisoner hand the "Longevity Manual" to the boy in the next second. Her pupils contracted and her hand gripped the cold stone wall tightly!
Jiang Ling'er recognized it at a glance. It wasn't the "Longevity Manual" that came from Yang Dalang. It was the "Longevity Manual" that had been missing for a long time and taken from Di Qing!
As expected, the boy's eyes lit up when he saw the "Longevity Manual," but unfortunately he failed to get his hands on it. Neither of them paid any attention to Xue Sangui, who was kneeling on the ground, and they both held one end of the "Longevity Manual" in mid-air in a stalemate.
The little poisonous creature spoke in a deep voice:
"I have only one condition: let her go. She knows nothing."
"I thought it was something..." the young man scoffed. "If the Jiang family's only daughter truly knew nothing, as Senior Brother claims, Master would naturally let her go. But Senior Brother approached the Jiang family's only daughter on Master's orders, not only failing to bring her to Master but also attempting to keep her for himself, and even disobeying Master multiple times for the sake of a mere woman... I think Master won't forgive him easily..."
Jiang Ling'er could no longer hear or see anything else. Her eyes were fixed on the "Longevity Manual" in the hands of the two men, her eyes filled with bloodshot veins like spider webs. Seeing that the young man was about to put the "Longevity Manual" into his arms, she could no longer hold back and was about to rush in to snatch it back when suddenly someone grabbed her left shoulder from behind.
Jiang Ling'er slapped him backhand!
The palm struck the newcomer squarely in the chest!
The newcomer grunted but did not retaliate, instead seizing her right wrist. Jiang Ling'er, as if enraged, used elbows and kicks, seemingly to vent all her sadness, disappointment, and anger, employing every move she could muster, almost resorting to biting.
In that small space, the two exchanged over a hundred blows in a short time.
Strangely, the newcomer did not fight back, but took all the blows. He even seized the opportunity when Jiang Ling'er raised her leg to kick him, and knelt down on her groin with one knee, subduing her. With a beautiful grappling move, he grabbed Jiang Ling'er's left and right wrists and pinned them against the cold bluestone wall!
Fortunately, the blizzard and strong winds buried everything that happened here.
Jiang Ling'er's hands and feet were restrained. The newcomer pressed almost his entire weight on her, as if she were bound by black iron or covered by a boulder, unable to move. Their breaths mingled, but Jiang Ling'er was not one to give up easily. Her bloodshot eyes reflected the clearly defined lines of her Adam's apple. She was about to bite off the throat in front of her when she suddenly heard a cold, mocking laugh from above, like jade stones clashing:
"Is martial arts for beating up others? Is that how the old镖头 (bodyguard/escort) taught you?"
Upon hearing the old镖头's name, Jiang Ling'er froze, slowly raising her eyes. Their eyes met just inches apart...
Pei Xuan, who had been beaten black and blue, looked down at her and blinked.
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Author's Note: Please interact and chat with me more, it's so lonely writing alone, sob sob sob...
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