Chapter 165 Golden Fur, White Shadow in an Instant
A few days later—
The sunlight sprinkled on the building rooftops, shining brilliantly, very lively.
The streets of the Chi Long Outer Mansion were bustling with people’s footsteps, their shouts continuous:
“Freshly baked Spirit Gathering Pills~~~”
“Roasted chicken!! Roasted chicken!! Secret sauce, exclusive recipe…”
… …
Yun Xi, holding an elegant umbrella and wearing an expensive golden silk embroidered long dress, strolled along the street.
Behind her, her junior brother, who had accompanied her from the Moon Shadow Sword Sect, scanned their surroundings with vigilance, as if guarding against suspicious cultivators trying to strike up a conversation, while also observing the Chi Long Mansion, which had seemingly regained its vitality.
“Young Miss, how long do you think Young Master Li can hold on? It’s been so long since she replied to us. Could the Xuan Xing Sect have gotten ahead of us?”
Yun Xi glanced at him, frowning slightly with disdain, and replied:
“The Chi Long Mansion is her father’s legacy. She’s not some naive little girl. She knows that agreeing to our terms is equivalent to handing over a large portion of her family business to the Moon Shadow Sword Sect. She won’t agree easily, especially with Sister Xiao helping her now.”
“Young Master Xiao can’t stay at the Chi Long Mansion forever, can he?”
The junior brother raised an eyebrow and shook his head, adding:
“How about we go and talk to them again? If this matter can be settled, the Sect Master will definitely not be too harsh on you regarding the matter of Senior Brother and Senior Sister’s demise.”
“Mm…”
Yun Xi’s brows furrowed even deeper. Recalling the events of a few days ago, she felt inexplicably agitated.
She had heard that Li Feng was offering the Sky-Splitting Sword as the grand prize for the Chi Long Convention, and the Moon Shadow Sword Sect happened to be discussing some trade cooperation with Li Feng, so she had proactively taken on this task and brought people here.
As a result, the night before she was about to talk to Li Feng, the incident with Scarlet Snow and the demonic cultivator occurred.
Out of the twelve disciples who had come along from the Moon Shadow Sword Sect, eleven had died, leaving only the one following her now.
Although the path of an immortal is a matter of fate, she still had to take responsibility for the deaths of those eleven fellow disciples.
“No matter what, I won’t force it. If Sister Li really won’t agree, then we’ll just leave. I won’t use what’s most precious to others to atone for my own mistakes. Even if she agrees, I’ll have to take care of her. That girl is indeed lonely and helpless…”
“That’s what you say,” the junior brother beside her shook his head and said, “Young Miss, I think you need to be more ruthless. If you return empty-handed, Eldest Miss and Second Miss will most likely…”
“…I know!!”
Yun Xi interrupted loudly, indicating she didn’t want to discuss this topic anymore. She clicked her tongue forcefully and cursed:
“Damn it, who told that old geezer to have so many children? If he had married fewer women, would I, your姑奶奶, be living such a stifled life?! Look at Sister Xiao, she was born a jewel in everyone’s palm, doted on by the entire sect. How carefree is she? And look at me?”
“… …”
“As soon as I was born, those two silly elder sisters ran over and poisoned the rice porridge I was drinking. When I was four years old, I woke up in the middle of the night to go to the outhouse, only to find two Fire Element talismans stuck underneath. Fortunately, I reacted quickly and used my body-protecting magical artifact to block the talismans, but that damn magical artifact could block spells, it couldn’t stop shit. The outhouse overflowed with feces, and for three days I stank, and then I had a fever for a week that wouldn’t break, almost kicking the bucket. Do you want to hear more? I can tell you all day about these things, and that’s not even the worst of it.”
“This…” The junior brother looked embarrassed and said, “Didn’t the Sect Master also set rules before…”
“Yes, he only set the rules when I was six years old. But after the rules were set, my two rotten sisters just became less blatant. The hidden arrows are even harder to guard against, damn it!”
“… …”
“Tsk… My mother should have castrated that old geezer back then! Ptoo —”
Yun Xi spat into a ditch by the street, casting away her inner dissatisfaction, and then sighed helplessly, “Alas—forget it, what’s the use of complaining.”
Who told her to be born into this family?
Who told her mother to be deceived into that old geezer’s bed?
There was no turning back from this. All she could do now was accept it and then overturn it all.
Yun Xi shook her head, took a breath of fresh air, and suddenly saw a white-haired girl ahead on the street suddenly rush out of a gambling house, clutching the back of her head.
Following her out were two stools and four or five eggs.
The white-haired girl skillfully dodged them and yelled out at the gambling house:
“You gambling house owners, can’t you just accept your losses?! Don’t you have any public morality? You can’t just throw me out because I haven’t lost, I didn’t do anything…”
Her voice drew many cultivators around to discuss.
However, soon several thugs rushed out of the gambling house, armed with iron rods and swords, and attacked her head-on.
Seeing this, she ducked her head, remembering that Xiao Yunluo had told her that if she was caught by the Mansion Guards again, she wouldn’t come to bail her out. Thus, she summoned the scabbard of her Spirit Sword from her Storage Bag.
With a flash of the scabbard’s light, those thugs were directly sent flying back into the gambling house.
She slung the scabbard over her back and, with drooping eyelids, stuck her tongue out at the gambling house:
“Nyah~~”
Then, she turned and darted away through the crowd, disappearing without a trace.
Yun Xi frowned, showing a trace of surprise:
“That person’s Sword Art…”
“Hm?” Her junior brother tilted his head, “She just swung her sword, didn’t she? Did Young Miss figure something out?”
“… …”
Yun Xi shook her head slightly. With her many years of experience observing swordsmanship, she could generally discern the foundation of a person’s Sword Art from a single swing—how they exerted force, how they channeled spiritual energy, how they stored power, how they wielded the sword…
After all, all variations originate from the same source. The Sword Arts of the Moon Shadow Sword Sect were derived from the accumulated wisdom of all great Sword Arts, created by the ancestor Yun Jian Shang Xian.
Most Sword Arts can be categorized into twelve schools, but she couldn’t discern which school the white-haired girl’s Sword Art belonged to.
Perhaps if she saw it a few more times, she could figure it out. It was indeed too fast just now.
Yun Xi shrugged slightly, then looked at the sky. Seeing that it was already afternoon, she led her junior brother towards the inner mansion, intending to talk business with Li Longling again, and also to ask if her younger brother and sister had been found.
After informing the guards at the entrance of the inner mansion of their purpose and showing their Identity Tokens, she and her junior brother smoothly arrived before the Main Hall.
A maidservant turned around with a smile, bowed, and said:
“Please wait here, honored guests. I will go in to announce your arrival.”
“Mm…”
Yun Xi nodded hesitantly. After the maidservant went in, her junior brother suddenly leaned in and whispered:
“Young Miss, don’t you feel something is off? I have a feeling that the maids and guards of the Chi Long Mansion are all smiling. Last time we were here, they looked worried.”
“I’m not blind.”
… …
