Chapter 500 Yun Family, Zhang Yihe, You Shut Up!
Near Seven Star Pass in the Eastern Frontier of the Southern Domain.
At dusk, countless flying swords came and went around the city walls.
A black-feathered carrier pigeon arrived from the direction of the Eastern Domain. It seemed lost, circling in the sky for a long time before spotting the golden-haired woman sitting at a desk in a pavilion. It then landed on the windowsill of the pavilion.
Inside the pavilion, Yun Yiyi sat before the desk, looking exhausted as she dealt with the small mountain of jade slips piled in front of her.
Seven days had passed since the Immortal Families of the Southern Domain occupied Seven Star Pass.
The disciples of various sects who had entered the Eastern Domain as vanguards had sent back all sorts of news, adding many markers to the geographical map now hanging on the pavilion wall.
Among them, one place was circled in red ink.
— Tian Bei City.
Tian Bei City, located in the Eastern Domain, was surrounded by several spirit脉s, making it quite resource-rich. Its terrain was also rugged and difficult to attack and easy to defend. Therefore, if the Immortal Families were to advance further into the Eastern Domain, they would inevitably need to conquer that city.
However, thus far, very few disciples of the Immortal Families sent into the Eastern Domain had managed to gather any information about the situation within Tian Bei City.
They did not know the cultivation levels of the demonic cultivators inside the city, nor did they know what formations were set up outside the city. Therefore, the Immortal Families could not rashly march on the city.
Yun Yiyi propped her cheek with her hand, looking at the words “Tian Bei City” on the map. A look of frustration crossed her face. She pinched the bridge of her nose and couldn’t help but sigh, “Sigh… If only Anping were here.”
Yun Xi, who was assisting her, looked up slightly.
Seeing her older sister’s frustrated expression, Yun Xi mistook it for longing. After a moment of silence, she suggested, “Big Sis, I heard that Taibai Sect disciples sell ‘Jade Turtles’ in the city. Why don’t I buy one for you later? You can make do with it?”
“What?” Yun Yiyi was taken aback and then shot her a look. “What kind of nonsense is in your head? Do you think your eldest sister is that kind of person?”
“… Big Sis, aren’t you missing your lover?”
“I mean, if Anping were here, the matter of Tian Bei City would be easily resolved. We wouldn’t be so at a loss as we are now…”
Yun Xi raised an eyebrow and replied somewhat dramatically, “… Oh~~”
Yun Yiyi glanced at her again. “Oh, what?”
“You don’t miss him at all? It’s been quite a while since you were intimate with Young Master Ye last time.”
Yun Yiyi figured they were sisters and there was nothing they couldn’t talk about, so she nodded slightly and admitted, “… A little.”
“Then I’ll have Zhang Yihe bring you one later…”
“No!” Yun Yiyi interrupted with a frown and reprimanded, “What do you know, a girl who hasn’t even left her chambers? Shut up and go back to looking at your jade slips.”
“Heh~”
Yun Yiyi had, after all, experienced Anping’s delights. During the day, she was fine, but every evening after sunset, she felt an emptiness, a desire for something.
She couldn’t help but turn her head to look out the window, secretly wondering who Ye Anping had spent the night with yesterday. Sister Pei, or Young Master Xiao? Or perhaps… both of them?
Just as Yun Yiyi was contemplating her husband, a black-feathered carrier pigeon poked its head in below the windowsill. It shook its claws, dropping a jade slip it was holding onto the back of Yun Xi’s head.
“Bang—”
“Ouch!!”
Yun Xi, struck by the unexpected jade slip, buried her head. Then, with a face full of anger, she turned to look out the window, “Who the hell…”
Yun Yiyi was stunned for a moment before coming back to her senses. She had never seen that black-feathered carrier pigeon before. Although Li Longling usually used a black-feathered carrier pigeon to send her messages, the pigeon just now had a completely different aura and gaze from Li Longling’s.
Ignoring Yun Xi, she immediately got up and picked up the jade slip that had fallen to the ground. Seeing the imprint of “Young Master of Hundred Lotus Sect” on the jade slip, her eyes lit up. “It’s from Anping…”
“Ah?”
Without a word, Yun Yiyi quickly sent her spiritual sense into it. After reading just a few lines of the content carved inside the jade slip, a hint of surprise surfaced in her eyes. She quickly instructed Yun Xi, “Yun Xi, give me the map.”
Though still somewhat confused, Yun Xi quickly maneuvered her wheelchair to the wall and retrieved the geographical map of the Eastern Domain hanging there, spreading it out on the desk.
Holding the jade slip in her left hand and a brush in her right, Yun Yiyi began to sketch on the map without hesitation. In just a moment, the entire map was transformed. Many of the sects originally marked on the map were erased, and numerous demonic sect names that Yun Xi and she had never heard of were added. The black-feathered carrier pigeon had delivered a complete map of the Eastern Domain. It had taken the Immortal Families over sixty years and the lives of countless disciples to map the Eastern Domain during the last great battle between the Immortal and Demonic cultivators. Yet, now, in just seven days, the Immortal Families had obtained a detailed map of the Eastern Domain.
“Anping actually managed this so quickly…” Yun Yiyi rejoiced, wanting to send the revised map to the Tian Ge of Taibai Sect. However, after seeing the words below the map within the jade slip, she quickly abandoned the thought.
The jade slip not only contained a map of the Eastern Domain but also a list of hundreds of names. According to the accompanying annotation, these were the names of the spies the demonic cultivators had planted within the various Immortal Sects. After glancing at it, Yun Yiyi felt a chill run down her spine and quickly shouted, “Yun Xi, close all the windows and set up anti-peeping talismans and restrictions…”
Yun Xi was surprised. Although she didn’t understand why, she quickly complied, taking several golden talismans from her storage bag and placing them in the four corners of the room before asking, “Ah? What’s wrong?”
“The jade slip contains the names of demonic cultivator spies. I just took a look, and several people in the first column are high-ranking inner disciples of the Southern Domain’s Immortal Sects, and there’s even an elder from one sect.”
Hearing this, Yun Xi could no longer hide her shock and asked in disbelief, “Really?”
“The jade slip has the imprint of Young Master of Hundred Lotus Sect, Anping. This is news from Anping, so it can’t be fake…”
“Then we’ll send the jade slip to the Grand Elder of Taibai Sect later and have him deal with all these people…”
Yun Yiyi pondered for a moment, then shook her head slightly. “That’s not appropriate. If Anping was able to find out this information, it means he has infiltrated deep into the demonic sects. If we suddenly eliminate all the spies planted by the demonic cultivators, he will be in danger.”
“Then what should we do?”
“Hmm…” Yun Yiyi stroked her chin and murmured, “… Play along with their plan. We’ll pretend we don’t know anything and eliminate these people on the list from the jade slip at a crucial moment. This will be our trump card.”
Yun Xi also thought it made sense and did not object. It was not surprising that demonic cultivators had planted spies among the Immortal cultivators. The Immortal cultivators also had many spies in the Eastern Domain, but they had rarely gotten past the outer territories of the demonic sects, with almost no one managing to probe the core of the demonic sects. Hearing Yun Yiyi say that the demonic cultivators’ spies had even infiltrated to the level of sect elders, Yun Xi couldn’t help but feel ashamed.
However, she then started to feel curious and asked, “Big Sis, is Zhang Yihe’s name on the jade slip?”
Yun Yiyi scanned the jade slip again with her spiritual sense and replied, shaking her head, “No…”
“No…” Yun Xi pondered for a moment, resting her chin, and pouted. “That’s strange, I think he’s quite suspicious.”
Yun Yiyi was speechless and didn’t know how to respond. She then looked at the list on the jade slip again. Although Zhang Yihe was not on it, the Sword Sect did have demonic cultivator spies. She recalled for a moment and then looked at Yun Xi, reciting a few names: “Chang Long, Hu Renyi, Guo Zhiruo… Yun Xi, these three are disciples from your Xi Ri Peak, right?”
Yun Xi blinked blankly. After a long while, she finally reacted and asked in disbelief, “… Ah? Big Sis… these three names are on the jade slip.”
“Yes, Chang Long is a spy for the Tian Mo Sect, Hu Renyi is a spy for the Yue Mei Sect, and Guo Zhiruo is from the Hehuan Sect… according to the jade slip.”
“Hiss—” Yun Xi took a deep breath. Suddenly, as if she remembered something, she spun her wheelchair to the desk and frantically searched through a roster. Immediately, Yun Xi’s face turned pale.
Yun Yiyi didn’t know what she had seen, so she quickly went over and took the booklet from her hand, asking, “What…” Her words stopped abruptly. Upon seeing the contents of the roster, Yun Yiyi’s expression also turned pale.
Immortal disciples entering the Eastern Domain usually traveled in groups of four to six for mutual support. If they encountered demonic cultivators, they could either deal with them or delay them to escape. The roster Yun Yiyi held now recorded the dates of Sword Sect disciples entering and exiting Seven Star Pass, along with their reported destinations. One page recorded about ten teams. In the second row, Yun Jiujiu’s writing, resembling insect tracks, was clearly visible. Following the name “Yun Jiujiu” were the names of the three people Yun Yiyi had just mentioned: “Chang Long,” “Hu Renyi,” and “Guo Zhiruo,” with their destination listed as Tian Bei City. In other words, Yun Jiujiu was currently accompanied by three demonic cultivator spies, completely unaware, and had already ventured deep into the Eastern Domain, likely approaching Tian Bei City.
Utter silence fell upon the room. Yun Yiyi took a deep breath and asked, “Who arranged this?”
Yun Xi swallowed and shook her head, indicating she didn’t know either. She had been confined to bed these past few days and had only managed to get out of bed yesterday.
Just then, two knocks sounded from outside.
“Bang bang—”
Yun Yiyi and Yun Xi both stiffened. Yun Yiyi quickly put away the jade slip in her hand and the Eastern Domain map she had just revised, then returned to the desk. She raised her hand and used her spiritual power to unlatch the door, commanding, “Please come in.”
The pavilion door was pushed open, and Yun Tianchong, his body wrapped in bandages, and Zhang Yihe stepped across the threshold together. He had been injured by a counter-shock technique from a spell along with Yun Xi while attacking Seven Star Pass, and then his kidneys were pierced by a Deity Transformation stage demonic cultivator. He had been recuperating in bed like Yun Xi these past few days and was only able to get out of bed today.
Yun Tianchong entered the room and saw that the windows and doors were tightly closed, with anti-peeping talismans pasted in the corners. He asked, “Yi’er, Xi’er, what are you two up to, being so secretive?”
“…” Yun Yiyi and Yun Xi breathed a sigh of relief upon seeing their father.
“Hoo—”
Zhang Yihe saw the pale faces of Yun Yiyi and Yun Xi and said with a smile, “Eldest Miss, have you been cooped up with the Third Miss for too long? Why is your complexion the same as hers? Shall this disciple chant a sutra for you…”
Yun Yiyi rubbed her forehead, remained silent for a moment, and then asked, “Zhang Yihe, who arranged for Chang Long, Hu Renyi, and Guo Zhiruo to follow Jiujiu?”
“Hmm?” Zhang Yihe’s usual cheerful smile appeared as he replied, “I arranged it. The disciples of Eldest Miss’s Jian Jiu Peak are all rough and tough. I picked three disciples from the Third Miss’s peak to accompany her into the Eastern Domain. One of them is proficient in formations, one in alchemy, and one is a Law Cultivator… Having a Sword Cultivator like the Second Miss leading the team, providing mutual support, is quite good.”
As soon as he said this, Yun Xi, sitting in her wheelchair, took a deep breath, stood up abruptly, and with a flash, appeared before Zhang Yihe, grabbing him by the collar. “Zhang Yihe!! You really are a spy sent by the demonic cultivators, aren’t you?! Huh!!!”
Zhang Yihe shrank his head, looking slightly bewildered, but his usual smile remained on his face. “Ah? What’s wrong?”
At this moment, Yun Tianchong also realized something must have happened. He quickly pulled them apart, then used his spiritual power to close the door behind them and asked, “Yi’er, what’s wrong?”
Yun Yiyi deliberated for a moment and threw the jade slip from Ye Anping over. “My husband sent it.”
“…” Yun Tianchong was stunned. He lowered his head and looked at the jade slip. Then, his expression became identical to Yun Yiyi’s earlier one; first, one of surprise, then solemnity, and in a moment, it turned pale.
“Yi’er, then why aren’t you sending someone to call Jiujiu back immediately? How many days have they been gone…”
“Six days. They are likely near Tian Bei City by now. The place has too much killing aura, and there’s a large formation set up by the demonic cultivators to block spiritual sense. Even if a carrier pigeon goes there, it won’t be able to find her, and might even be intercepted by the demonic cultivators.”
“…” Yun Tianchong took a deep breath, found a chair, and sat down, rubbing his face with his hands. Yun Xi also hobbled back to her wheelchair and sat down.
For a moment, the room fell silent again.
Zhang Yihe, not knowing exactly what had happened, looked at the three members of the Yun family, shrank his neck, and sensing the unusual atmosphere, asked, “Eldest Miss, Sect Master Yun… what is this…”
Yun Tianchong, Yun Yiyi, and Yun Xi said in unison:
” ” “Zhang Yihe, you shut up!!” ”
“… Oh.”
…
…
