Chapter 59: Shocking News

Kaiyuan Peak stood at the boundary between the inner and outer sects. Jiang Ying had investigated the place long ago. Since she needed to familiarize herself with Yonglu Mountain more thoroughly, she naturally had to visit it in person.

A great sect truly lived up to its reputation. Even though Yonglu Mountain ranked last among the Five Great Sects, its immense scale and profound foundations still far exceeded Jiang Ying’s imagination. In a small sect, someone at the eighth level of the Qi Refining Realm would be a personal disciple of the sect master. At Yonglu Mountain, however, an ordinary eighth-level Qi Refining cultivator was nothing.

Never mind the inner disciples—even among the outer disciples, they were everywhere. If she wanted to advance into the inner sect, she would need to employ certain methods.

Jiang Ying’s gaze darkened. She had already exhausted every means at her disposal to come this far. She absolutely could not make a mistake. She had to rise above everyone else.

Jiang Ying observed the entrance to Kaiyuan Peak for a while, then copied the other disciples by taking out her identity jade token and swiping it to enter. Once inside the peak, she began exploring it with meticulous care.

Kaiyuan Peak handled Yonglu Mountain’s miscellaneous affairs, so it had the greatest number of low-level disciples. Countless low-level assignments covered the peak’s walls, carefully arranged by rank. Jiang Ying became absorbed in reading them—until—

She saw a missing-person assignment.

Its description had been recorded on a shadow-recording stone. She casually activated the beginning, only to recognize the voice as belonging to…the real Jiang Ying.

“Jiang Ying” was instantly consumed by terror.

How could this be? How could something like this have been left behind?!

No. She could not panic. Since the assignment was still hanging there, no one had discovered anything yet. She had to deal with it immediately. Ideally—

“Jiang Ying” did not dare ask the disciples of Kaiyuan Peak about the assignment. That would make it far too easy to expose herself. So…should she accept the assignment herself?

No. That would be too deliberate.

She should not do something so foolish. The assignment was not particularly conspicuous in the first place. She should leave it hanging there. She could not accept it, but she could change her voice.

Fortunately, Jiang Ying had always been a solitary loner.

Yes. That was right. That was exactly what she should do. Then she needed to return home as soon as possible and eliminate this hidden danger once and for all.

A person truly could not afford to be too softhearted, especially toward others. Anyone who stood in the way of her advancement should become a stepping stone beneath her feet.

Once “Jiang Ying” reached this conclusion, she hurriedly requested leave and descended the mountain. She even had a ready-made excuse: she needed to return home for a funeral.

It was time for the name Jiang Baozhu to disappear.

Although she did not like the name Jiang Ying, it did not matter. Once she became powerful enough, she could reclaim her former name. She could endure a temporary period of concealment and change.

“Jiang Ying” acted with astonishing efficiency. By the time she secured leave, descended the mountain, and returned home, it was only a little past noon.

Mother Jiang was delighted to see her daughter and immediately hurried forward to greet her.

“Bao—Ying, why did you come back today? You should have told me in advance so I could have the kitchen prepare your favorite dishes. Chunhua, quickly give the order to—”

“Jiang Ying” hurriedly caught hold of her and lowered her voice. “Mother, the mourning hall is still set up outside. It would look bad if anyone saw.”

At the mention of the mourning hall, Mother Jiang looked displeased.

She did not understand why they had to hold a funeral for Baozhu. It was terribly inauspicious. Could they not simply have said she was ill or had gone away to seek treatment? Why insist that she was dead when her daughter was clearly alive and well?

The heavens were truly unfair. Her Baozhu was obviously the best child in the entire world.

Seeing her mother’s unhappy expression, “Jiang Ying” could not be bothered to comfort her. She had been favored for so long that she had long since forgotten respect and gratitude.

Of course, she had never denied that she was selfish. But who in this world was not selfish? Had she been born with a single spiritual root, why would she have needed to scheme so much?

“Mother, that person…where is she?”

Mother Jiang’s brow twitched.

In truth, she did not particularly want to take a life. After all…that was Baozhu’s body. It was the body she herself had given birth to.

“What are you planning to do?”

“Eliminate the problem at its root, of course.”

No one understood a child better than her own mother. The moment Mother Jiang saw her daughter’s expression, she had already guessed what she intended to do. Yet for some reason, she felt intensely resistant to it.

“Didn’t you say we should keep her alive to serve as your—”

“The situation has changed. I had no idea that she asked her fellow disciples for help that day. The missing-person assignment is still hanging on the task wall at Kaiyuan Peak. Mother, please have some pity for me. I cannot afford for anything to go wrong.”

Mother Jiang was persuaded. She had never been able to withstand her daughter’s pleas.

“But your father took her away. I don’t know where she is.”

“So the coffin in the mourning hall is empty?”

Mother Jiang nodded. She was just about to ask how her daughter was adapting to life at Yonglu Mountain when the girl turned around and went straight to find her father.

Her daughter’s hand slipped from her grasp. For some inexplicable reason, a faint panic rose in Mother Jiang’s heart.

She was only an ordinary mortal. In this family, her husband was a cultivator and her daughter was a cultivator. She alone had to rely on Beauty-Preserving Pills just to remain barely suited to stand beside her husband.

“First Madam, the immortals from Yunxia Sect have arrived.”

Mother Jiang gathered her emotions and hurried outside.

“Quickly invite them in. No—forget it. I’ll greet them myself.”

Bian Chunzhou and the other two had come with the people from Yunxia Sect.

It was difficult to explain. The entire situation simply felt too strange. They had the sense that unless they came to take a look, they would not even be able to cultivate peacefully that night.

Since that was the case, they had decided to visit.

The Jiang residence was exceedingly wealthy. Since it belonged to a cultivation family, it was built in a rather “secluded” location. At the very least, there were no other households anywhere nearby.

It was a genuine grand estate, even more imposing than Listening Crane Manor.

“I asked around just now. Senior Sister Jiang’s father is named Jiang Fengnian. He is at the early stage of the Foundation Establishment Realm. In his younger years, he was a rogue cultivator. After settling in Langyuan City, he married the daughter of the wealthy Sui family in the city. She is the current Madam Jiang.

“Madam Jiang gave birth to two daughters. The elder daughter has already passed away, while the younger is Senior Sister Jiang.”

After listening, Wen Xu asked, “Were both daughters born to Madam Jiang?”

“I don’t know, but Jiang Fengnian has no concubines. Everyone who knows the Jiang family says Madam Jiang is lucky. Even though she never gave birth to a son, she still firmly… Ahem. You know.”

Wen Xu, however, seemed to understand far too well.

“Chunzhou, generally speaking, the more loving a couple is rumored to be, the more likely it is to be false.”

“Huh? Why?”

Wen Xu smiled but did not explain. Instead, he said, “Junior Sister Jiang Ying is twenty-nine this year. What about her elder sister, Jiang Baozhu?”

Bian Chunzhou froze at the question.

“How would I know? Are you conducting a household registration check?”

“No. I just find it a little curious.”

“What’s curious about it?”

Wen Xu was about to answer when fierce arguing suddenly erupted from inside the Jiang residence.

All three of them were cultivators with exceptional hearing. Upon listening closely, they discovered that the people from Yunxia Sect were arguing with Mother Jiang.

More precisely, they were confronting the Jiang family.

“Why won’t you let us see Senior Sister Baozhu one last time? Her injuries clearly weren’t fatal. Why did she die as soon as she returned home?”

“Exactly! How did you take care of Senior Sister? You even arranged the funeral rites for a cultivator incorrectly! If Senior Sister wasn’t welcome at home, you should have simply said so. Yunxia Sect may be small, but we still had room for her!”

“Madam Jiang, our request is hardly unreasonable, is it? This Beauty-Preserving Pearl was incredibly difficult for Eldest Senior Brother to obtain. He entered a small secret realm specifically for it and suffered severe injuries before managing to bring it back.

“He is still lying unconscious in his cave abode. Before he passed out, he urgently instructed us to deliver it here. Even if you try to stop us today, we will still—”

Whoa. They had started fighting just like that?!

Come to think of it, a cultivator’s funeral was indeed different from that of an ordinary mortal.

Bian Chunzhou could not resist craning his neck to glance toward the Jiang residence. Hmm. There really were no spirit-banners in sight.

If the Jiang family loved their eldest daughter, then the funeral had been arranged far too carelessly. Yet if they favored Senior Sister Jiang Ying, it did not seem that way either.

Bian Chunzhou was now thoroughly confused.

Still, Yunxia Sect’s request was perfectly reasonable. Madam Jiang had no reason to refuse them.

The thought had barely entered his mind when Madam Jiang spoke.

“No. This coffin cannot be opened. Baozhu cared about her appearance more than anything while she was alive. As her parents, we naturally knew that. We obtained a Beauty-Preserving Pearl long ago, so there is no need to trouble you three immortals—”

“Impossible! If there had been a readily available Beauty-Preserving Pearl in Langyuan City, Eldest Senior Brother would never have risked entering a secret realm!

“Madam Jiang, what exactly are you trying to conceal? Or is there truly something suspicious about Senior Sister’s death?”

Good grief. Her explanation had only made matters worse.

Madam Jiang was definitely lying, Bian Chunzhou concluded inwardly. More and more melodramatic possibilities began appearing in his mind.

Could this be some ridiculous fake-death scheme? A tangled mess of love and hatred?

“An empty coffin! Third Senior Brother, this coffin is empty!”

No way. Was that true?!

Bian Chunzhou nearly stuck his head inside the Jiang residence to see it with his own eyes.

How could the coffin be empty? Could Jiang Baozhu still be alive?

“Tell us! Where have you hidden my senior sister? If you do not hand her over today, Yunxia Sect will—”

At that exact moment, a powerful wave of Foundation Establishment spiritual pressure swept across the entire Jiang residence.

Even Bian Chunzhou and the others outside were affected.

There was only one Foundation Establishment cultivator who would appear at the Jiang residence at this moment: Jiang Fengnian, the head of the Jiang family.

Among the three disciples from Yunxia Sect, the strongest was only at the fifth level of the Qi Refining Realm. Forget drawing their swords—not one of them could even remain standing.

“If the three of you did not come in good faith to pay respects to my daughter, then please leave. As for the Beauty-Preserving Pearl, take it back with you.

“My daughter was injured because of him, and even her spiritual root was damaged. He did not dare come himself, yet he sent you here to cause trouble. Even if I killed all three of you today and the matter was brought before the City Lord’s Manor, the Jiang family would still be in the right.”

He used his cultivation to suppress them, then invoked the City Lord’s Manor as a threat. After this combination of intimidation and pressure, the three young Qi Refining cultivators from Yunxia Sect were so furious that they left on the spot.

“And the three friends outside—are you allies or enemies?”

Bian Chunzhou’s heart tightened.

He turned his head and happened to meet the strange looks from the three Yunxia Sect disciples. His mind raced as he tried to invent a reasonable explanation for why they were there.

Before he could think of one, Wen Xu spoke.

“May I ask whether Junior Sister Jiang Ying is at home? I am Wen Xu, a disciple of Yonglu Mountain. I accepted an assignment and would like to ask Junior Sister Jiang for a small favor.”

Bian Chunzhou immediately raised a thumb.

My friend, you really can make things up without even blinking.

The moment Jiang Fengnian heard this, the spiritual pressure vanished.

He even came out personally to welcome them.

After all, the words “disciple of Yonglu Mountain” carried far more weight than Yunxia Sect. Even setting aside the power of the teachers behind such a disciple, a mere Foundation Establishment cultivator like Jiang Fengnian was hardly significant before them.

Moreover, he had heard the name Wen Xu before.

His daughter Jiang Ying had told him about it herself.

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