Chapter 371: Senior Brother, Stepping Back Behind the Scenes
The next day, just as dawn broke, the wind and snow had ceased.
In the snow pine forest behind Tianfeng Immortal City’s Youren Pavilion, a young girl with clear blue eyes, dressed in a cotton robe, was leisurely practicing a sword art with a long tree branch.
The tree branch whipped around her like a whip, stirring up vortices in the air and scattering snow from the ground.
Xu Xiyue had woken up early today. After quickly washing up, she put on her winter clothes and came to the place where she had practiced swordplay since childhood. She was exploring the two cultivation method jade slips that Senior Ye had given her yesterday.
The heart technique was called “Condensing Frost Heart Technique,” and the sword art was named “Jade Crystal Sword Art.”
When she was younger, her sister often took her to the Commander’s Mansion in Tianfeng Immortal City, where she had seen many cultivation method classics in the library. However, she had never heard of these two cultivation methods.
Moreover, when Senior Ye gave them to her yesterday, he seemed to have taken them out very casually.
Therefore, Xu Xiyue had very low expectations for these two cultivation methods, thinking they would be similar to, or perhaps just slightly better than, the ones her sister had given her.
However, after practicing for less than half an hour, she discovered that these two cultivation methods were much smoother to practice than the heart technique and sword art her sister had given her.
This wasn’t wishful thinking; she genuinely felt much more comfortable.
When she practiced swordplay before, after half an hour, her arms would be so tired she could barely lift them.
But now, after practicing for half an hour, she felt no fatigue at all. Instead, her mind felt clearer, as if she had undergone a purification.
Xu Xiyue looked at the two jade slips with some confusion, tilted her head slightly, and pouted. She suddenly felt like going to the Commander’s Mansion library to ask the scholars there about these two cultivation methods.
Just then, the sound of footsteps crunching on snow interrupted her thoughts.
She turned her head and saw Xu Mulan walking into the forest along the wooded path, dressed in a python robe.
Xu Xiyue was momentarily puzzled. Her sister was usually very busy with official duties and rarely came here. Why…
“Sister, aren’t you very busy with official duties? Why do you have time to come see me?”
Xu Mulan immediately felt a little awkward and smiled:
“Ah… I just came to see you, and by the way, I brought some specialties from Tianfeng Immortal City for Young Master Ye and Mansion Lord Li. They traveled a long way, so I should fulfill my duty as a host, right?”
As the saying goes, a sister knows her sister best.
Upon hearing this, Xu Xiyue guessed that her sister probably wanted to chat with Senior Ye but didn’t know how to find a reason…
“Sister, look at this…” Xu Xiyue handed over the two jade slips in her hand. “These are the two cultivation methods Senior Ye asked me to exchange for his hairpin yesterday.”
“Your hairpin… exchanged for two cultivation method jade slips?”
Xu Mulan was stunned for a moment, unable to snap back to reality for a long time. Her sister’s hairpin was just something from a street stall. Let alone exchanging it for cultivation method jade slips, it couldn’t even exchange for a jade slip to write a letter with…
After a moment of hesitation, she took the jade slips from Xu Xiyue and scanned them with her spiritual sense.
“Condensing Frost Heart Technique and Jade Crystal Sword Art…”
Xu Mulan had not heard of these cultivation methods before, but she was, after all, the Commander of the Snow-clothed Guard. She could tell the quality of a cultivation method at a glance.
These two cultivation methods were definitely not from some rogue sect…
As she saw the four characters recorded in the jade slips, Xu Mulan suddenly understood the origin of these two cultivation methods.
Below the jade slip were the words “Void Gate Sword Immortal.”
That was a sword cultivator who was once as famous as Nancheng City in the Central Domain. In order to contend for the Nine Dragon Heavenly Seal, he made a life-and-death blood oath under the witness of Yun Jian Shang Xian. He fought Nancheng City for hundreds of days on Huangqiong Mountain in the Central Domain, but he lost by a single move and perished.
According to legend, after being defeated by Nancheng City, the Void Gate Sword Immortal gave his heart technique and cultivation method to Nancheng City, hoping he would help find his descendants. However, Nancheng City only agreed on the surface and kept his spirit sword and cultivation method as spoils of war in his treasury.
Xu Mulan found it hard to believe and confirmed again:
“Hiss—Did Young Master Ye really exchange your hairpin for these two cultivation methods?”
“Mm…” Xu Xiyue nodded faintly, hesitated for a moment, and said, “Looking at your expression, Sister, do these two cultivation methods have an extraordinary origin?”
“…”
Xu Mulan was troubled. If it were a small favor, she would let her sister accept it, but this was too precious.
What were Young Master Ye’s intentions?
He had given her sister such a great opportunity…
Could it be that he wanted to take her sister as a disciple?
But how could a prodigy who had formed the Heavenly Dao Golden Core at the age of twenty-two be interested in her sister, an ordinary girl with dual spiritual roots?
Seeing her sister’s expression, Xu Xiyue understood that these two jade slips were probably far more valuable than she had imagined.
She frowned and pondered for a moment, then nodded seriously and said:
“Sister, I think Senior Ye is interested in you and probably wants you to be his cultivation partner.”
“?”
“… Ah?” Xu Mulan was stunned and tapped her head. “What nonsense are you spouting!!”
Xu Xiyue shook her head, raised her index finger, and analyzed:
“Otherwise, why would Senior Ye give me such a great opportunity? He must be coveting something from both of us. I’m just a Qi Refining stage cultivator with dual spiritual roots, so he wouldn’t covet anything from me, right? Therefore, he’s only after you, Sister.”
Xu Mulan suddenly became a little nervous. Indeed, apart from her appearance being decent, her sister had nothing else special about her.
“So, Young Master Ye is coveting my identity as the Commander of the Snow-clothed Guard?”
Xu Xiyue rested her chin on her hand and pondered for a moment:
“That doesn’t seem right… The Mansion Lord of Chi Long Mansion is Young Master Ye’s wife. Your identity as the Commander of the Snow-clothed Guard probably means nothing special to him.”
“Then…”
“He should be after you, Sister.”
“Ah… after me?”
Xu Mulan was suddenly startled, and her cheeks turned red. Her shoulders were squeezed out by her large watermelons by an extra three fen.
However, seeing this, Xu Xiyue immediately frowned and grabbed her sister’s face, scolding:
“Sister, why are you blushing? Sister, don’t tell me you’ve fallen for Senior Ye just because his first impression was good and he’s handsome?”
Xu Mulan was speechless and pursed her lips:
“Didn’t you say it yourself?”
“This matter needs to be considered in the long term. Sister, you’re too single-minded and only focus on cases; you can’t read people at all. Leave this to me. I’ll observe him. If Senior Ye is truly as good as he seems, it won’t be too late for you to agree to him then.”
“…”
Xu Mulan felt like she was the younger sister for a moment and was somewhat helpless. She tugged at her sister’s cheek and asked back:
“What do you know, little girl…”
“It’s a case of the bystander seeing more clearly than the person involved,” Xu Xiyue said, raising her index finger like a little adult. “You are the person involved, Sister, and I am the bystander. I can definitely understand Senior Ye’s character better than you can.”
Xu Mulan was a little helpless. She rubbed her sister’s head and said:
“In any case, let’s go thank Young Master Ye first. He gave you such a great opportunity.”
“… Mm.”
… …
————
Inside the private room of Youren Pavilion, it was silent. Li Longling lay on the bed, still in a deep sleep. The Fire Phoenix was placed by her pillow, vigilantly staring at Ye Anping, who was meditating on a futon beside her.
Feeling that it was already morning, Ye Anping gathered the spiritual energy dispersed throughout his body back into his Qi Sea, ending his night of Qi Cultivation.
He exhaled a breath of spiritual mist, glanced back at Li Longling with a wry smile, and then stood up. He walked to the window, pushed it open, and let the cold wind from outside blow in, dispelling the stale air in the room.
Although he had decided yesterday to leave the matters in Hantian Kingdom entirely to his junior sisters, he naturally wouldn’t do nothing and be idle here.
After all, this was the first time his junior sisters were facing enemies without him.
As their senior brother, he had to watch from the side.
If his junior sisters made a wrong move or a mistake, he would have to clean up the mess.
After a moment of thought, Ye Anping took out a case file from his Storage Bag, sat by the window, and began to read it.
This case file was given to him by Xu Mulan last night when she asked him to take care of Xiyue.
It contained the testimonies related to the case of the missing children.
The Snow-clothed Guard had interviewed the residents of the town where the incident occurred and had also found some scattered suspicious traces.
It was like piecing together a puzzle.
For Xu Mulan, because she didn’t know what the completed picture looked like, this case file was impossible to start with.
However, for Ye Anping, the situation was different.
Although the perpetrator was not “Wu You” from the game, it was still a case of kidnapping children. Therefore, even if the details of the case differed from the game, the general direction should not be too different.
In other words, he had a rough completed picture in his mind, and by piecing it together with the case file in his hand, it would be much easier than for Xu Mulan.
Ye Anping read the contents of the case file carefully, lamenting inwardly that many parts deviated from the mission in the game that he had in mind.
The most obvious one was…
The demonic cultivator who was currently kidnapping young boys and girls had a much cruder method of operation than “Wu You.”
He felt as if someone was clumsily imitating Wu You’s modus operandi, and their actions were too reckless.
Suddenly, two light knocks came from outside the door.
Bang, bang—
Because Li Longling was still asleep, Ye Anping made a sword finger gesture and pulled down the gauze curtain by the bed before saying:
“Please come in.”
Xu Mulan entered the room with Xu Xiyue. Ye Anping quickly got up and cupped his hands in greeting:
“Why has Commander Xu come?”
After the conversation with her sister earlier, Xu Mulan felt strange seeing Ye Anping now. Her gaze drifted slightly.
“Young Master Ye and Mansion Lord Li are honored guests, so I just came to check on you, lest you feel uncomfortable staying here.”
“There’s no need to trouble Commander Xu.”
Ye Anping noticed Xu Xiyue staring at him. After a moment, he narrowed his eyes and gave her a smile. Then, he picked up the case file he had been reading and prepared to offer Xu Mulan some advice:
“Commander Xu, I briefly looked at this case file last night. May I offer a humble suggestion or two?”
Hearing that they were going to discuss the case, Xu Mulan’s spirits immediately lifted. She quickly gestured for him to proceed and followed him to the round table in the room to take their seats.
“Does Young Master Ye have any insights? I’ve been looking at this case for several days with no progress.”
Ye Anping smiled politely:
“I can only offer a guess, as the clues recorded in this case file are too fragmented.”
“Please speak.”
Ye Anping paused and said:
“I feel that the person kidnapping these children might be a Gu Cultivator from a demonic sect.”
“…” Xu Mulan frowned slightly upon hearing this. “You say it’s the work of a demonic cultivator?”
“Most of these missing children are not orphans; they all live with their parents or relatives, without exception.”
Ye Anping pointed to a line in the case file and said:
“Look here. All the people who reported the cases have the same story, saying their children suddenly disappeared overnight for no reason, and the neighbors clearly saw the children with their families before they went missing.”
“Yes, that’s what puzzles me,” Xu Mulan nodded. “No one knows when those children disappeared; they just vanished overnight… There were no suspicious people in the town.”
“So, I was thinking, could it be that the children’s relatives willingly sent their children out of town and handed them over to that villain?”
Xu Mulan found this line of thinking a bit too unconventional and shook her head, her brows furrowed:
“You’re suggesting that…”
“Yes, I have no evidence,” Ye Anping shrugged slightly with a bitter smile. “So, I can only give you a possibility.”
“By casting a Gu on the children’s relatives, they are then made to take their children to the forest outside the town and hand them over. Afterward, the Gu worms send the children’s relatives back to their homes. This way, no one would be suspicious, and the Snow-clothed Guard wouldn’t be able to investigate.”
Xu Mulan listened. Although Ye Anping’s words had no loopholes, she felt it was unlikely.
“But if that were the case, it’s also possible that it was just a cultivator with superb escape techniques who took the children without anyone noticing. And why would a demonic cultivator go to such trouble? Those children are mostly from Qi Refining stage cultivators…”
“I can’t answer that,” Ye Anping spread his hands and replied. “Since I have no evidence, I can only tell you my guess. If you believe me, you can try investigating along these lines…”
“Gu worms…”
Xu Mulan pondered for a moment with her chin resting on her hand. She nodded:
“I’ll make a note of it, but I don’t think it’s likely to be a demonic cultivator. This is the heartland of the Northern Region.”
Just then, a white-robed Snow-clothed Guard rushed in from outside, looking very anxious:
“Commander Xu! We have a guest at the Commander’s Mansion. Please hurry…”
Xu Mulan listened with annoyance, thinking it was another suitor for Xiyue. She glanced over:
“Who is it?”
“Young Master Xiao of Xuan Xing Sect.”
Xu Mulan paused slightly:
“Ah? Who?!”
“It’s Young Master Xiao of Xuan Xing Sect. He said he encountered a demonic cultivator in Yulu Town earlier, which is related to the recent disappearances of children in the surrounding areas… He also brought two cultivators from Yulu Town with him.”
“Hiss—” Xu Mulan took a deep breath, glanced at Ye Anping, and quickly got up and cupped her hands: “I’m sorry, Young Master Ye.”
Ye Anping smiled helplessly:
“It’s alright. After all, he’s the young master of Xuan Xing Sect.”
“Then I must take my leave. Xiyue, listen to Young Master Ye, understand?”
After instructing Xu Xiyue, Xu Mulan got up and, along with the Snow-clothed Guard who delivered the message, flew away from Youren Pavilion on her sword.
After watching them leave, Xu Xiyue turned her head and asked:
“Senior Ye…”
“Mm?”
“You said yesterday… that Young Master Xiao of Xuan Xing Sect is your wife. Aren’t you going with them?”
“… Mm, I won’t get involved.” Ye Anping shrugged slightly and pondered for a moment. “Xiyue, could you help me check out of these two rooms? Mansion Lord Li and I will be moving to the inn across the street shortly.”
Is he trying to avoid his wife?
Xu Xiyue was a little confused but said nothing, nodding her head:
“Yes, Senior Ye.”
“Oh, and also. If they come here later, don’t tell them that Mansion Lord Li and I are staying across the street.”
“… Mm.”
Xu Xiyue hesitated for a moment, then her brows furrowed slightly. Could it be that Senior Ye eloped with Mansion Lord Li?
It was somewhat suspicious. She’d make a note of it later…
Thinking so, Xu Xiyue nodded and went downstairs to check out for the two of them.
… …
