Chapter 64: Peace

Jiang Ying dreamed of several very strange scenes.

In them, her father was kind and her mother gentle. They stroked her softly and coaxed her with tender words, as though they truly loved her.

It was as though she were their biological daughter, receiving the same privileged treatment as Jiang Baozhu.

But how could that be possible?

It was absolutely impossible.

Ever since she could remember, Jiang Ying had known that she should really have been named Jiang Buying—Jiang Unwelcome.

No one in this family welcomed her.

Her father ignored her because she was not obedient or well-behaved enough. Her mother despised her because she was the product of her father’s affair. Jiang Baozhu hated her even more, resenting Jiang Ying and her biological mother for appearing and destroying her perfect family.

Her father was clearly a cultivator, yet her life was worse than that of Little Ling, whose family sold tofu two streets away.

Jiang Ying knew she was unwelcome in this family, but she refused to simply wither away.

At last, fate showed her favor once. She actually possessed a spiritual root. She had received an opportunity that even Jiang Baozhu could not obtain.

She became an outer disciple of Yonglu Mountain. As long as she cultivated diligently and successfully reached the Foundation Establishment Realm, her family would no longer be the ancient shackles binding her.

And so she cultivated with all her might.

When others cultivated, she cultivated. When others rested, she still cultivated.

She knew her spiritual root was poor, so she put in twice the effort. She did not demand that she someday form a Golden Core or reach the Nascent Soul Realm. Foundation Establishment was enough. Her sole goal was to reach the Foundation Establishment Realm.

As long as she became stronger than her father, she would no longer have to live in fear that one day, a family member would stab her in the back.

She had thought herself cautious enough, yet she had never expected—

Jiang Baozhu had suffered the consequences of her own evil and damaged her spiritual root. But Jiang Ying had never imagined that they hated her so deeply that they would rather destroy her cultivation and use it to forge Jiang Baozhu a road to the heavens.

Pain.

It hurt too much.

Boundless agony swept through her entire mind, yet it only made her more lucid.

Jiang Ying, you can’t fall asleep like this.

You have to wake up. Wake up and call for help. Wake up and expose everything!

Even if not for your own sake, you cannot let Jiang Baozhu enter Yonglu Mountain.

Yonglu Mountain was the best place she had ever stayed. She loved it there. It was the only place she treasured.

She would never give it to Jiang Baozhu!

Clinging to that conviction, she successfully escaped.

The gates of Yonglu Mountain were already drawing close, but once again, the door of fate slammed shut before her.

“Help—”

“Help… someone… please… save…”

Me—

Her thoughts sank into the depths of the sea.

Everything before Jiang Ying turned pitch-black, just like her life—an abyss so deep that its bottom could never be seen.

She had tried so hard.

But it was no use.

It seemed this was as far as her efforts could take her.

The heavens had never shown her mercy. Her so-called five spiritual roots, her so-called Yonglu Mountain—they were always right before her eyes, yet remained as unreachable as the distant horizon.

Jiang Ying. About to win.

Her name was like the most vicious curse imaginable. It gave her hope, only to make her fall at the place closest to it.

Always about to win.

And so she had never won.

It was over.

Everything was over.

Jiang Ying truly was unwelcome.

Perhaps she should accept her fate.

At that instant, she felt her soul drift lightly out of her body. Then a powerful force dragged her into another body.

That body was ruined beyond measure. World-shattering pain nearly swallowed her whole in an instant.

Yet before she lost consciousness, she still struggled to raise her head.

Why was there no one willing to pity her or listen to her?

She had family too. Why couldn’t they spare even the smallest fraction of their affection for her?

She had never asked for much.

Yet they had been too miserly to give her anything. They had even acted like bandits, stealing the few things she already possessed.

In the darkness, Jiang Ying walked alone for a very long time.

Just as she sank completely into despair, a faint, hazy glow suddenly appeared at the edge of the sky.

It was not even very bright.

But people were born to pursue the light, like moths drawn to flame.

She ran toward it without stopping. Her mind was a muddled haze, and the ground beneath her feet was a sticky swamp, but she did not care in the slightest.

She ran forward with all her strength.

The light drew closer and closer.

Overjoyed, she threw herself toward it and finally…

Landed amid a blaze of radiance.

“Junior Sister Jiang, can you hear me?”

The silent world suddenly rang with sound.

Jiang Ying raised her head blankly and saw an unfamiliar face.

She had never met this person, but she recognized his robes. He was a disciple of Yonglu Mountain.

Joy filled her eyes, and her voice trembled.

“Did you… save me? But right now, I…”

Her body should already have been taken by Jiang Baozhu.

Why was this person still calling her Junior Sister Jiang?

Bian Chunzhou took a large bottle of Blood-Replenishing Pills and Qi-Replenishing Pills from his robes and handed it to her.

“You’re safe now, Junior Sister Jiang. That night, I heard you calling for help. Take some pills first. As for exactly what happened, I…”

Jiang Ying suddenly began to cry.

Large tears rolled down her cheeks.

She had never cried so freely before. Perhaps she had once, but that must have been when she was very, very young and still knew nothing.

But now, she no longer cared.

She wanted to cry her heart out.

So someone really had heard her voice!

She was not a solitary boat abandoned by the entire world.

Jiang Ying was so happy that once she started crying, she could not stop.

Bian Chunzhou froze.

Holding the pill bottle, he was completely at a loss.

“Junior Sister, don’t cry. I… How about I apologize? I’m sorry. I should have walked faster back then…”

“Senior Brother, thank you! Truly, thank you!”

For the first time, she sobbed uncontrollably in front of a complete stranger.

It was as though… she had spent her whole life waiting for a chance to cry like this as an adult.

“Oh, there’s no need for that. Besides, I wasn’t the only one who saved you. There were three of us. The other two are at the Jiang residence. I came here first to rescue you.

“As for what happened to you, the truth may be rather cruel, but… I believe you deserve to know. Junior Sister Jiang, prepare yourself.”

Jiang Ying had nearly finished crying, and her emotions gradually settled.

“Tell me. I can bear it.”

She had long since stopped expecting anything from the Jiang family. No matter what they had done, she would never again—

Jiang Ying discovered that she had still underestimated the sinister depths of the human heart.

“Is… everything you said true?”

Her hand clenched tightly around her clothes. Her nails dug into her flesh, but she did not notice at all.

She had once thought…

So that was why Jiang Fengnian had looked at her with guilt in his eyes.

What a joke.

What an enormous joke.

Then who exactly was she?

Was she Jiang Baozhu, the child whose birth had been eagerly anticipated?

Or was she Jiang Ying, the unwanted daughter?

It seemed she was neither.

After all, whether she was Jiang Baozhu or Jiang Ying, she was always the first one to be abandoned.

“Junior Sister Jiang.”

Jiang Ying raised her head blankly. Her eyes were unfocused, and she responded only out of instinct.

Bian Chunzhou was not particularly skilled at comforting people, but he keenly sensed that Junior Sister Jiang might need some outside support at this moment.

And so he said, “Junior Sister Jiang, no matter what happens, you are an outer disciple of Yonglu Mountain. Yonglu Mountain recognizes only your soul.”

That was right.

She still had Yonglu Mountain.

She was not a wandering soul without a home.

Jiang Ying’s heart suddenly cleared.

At that moment, she felt immeasurably grateful to her past self for saving that old man. Had she not done so, she might already be dead.

People often said that home was a cultivator’s final harbor.

But for Jiang Ying, that harbor was Yonglu Mountain.

The Jiang family was more like a battlefield she had to confront.

“I want to see Jiang Fengnian.”

Bian Chunzhou looked at Junior Sister Jiang’s clear, resolute eyes and nodded.

“All right. I’ll take you there. But take the pills first.”

Jiang Ying stuffed a handful of pills into her mouth.

This body was even more ruined than she had imagined. Its spiritual root had been damaged, and its cultivation had regressed.

This was her original body.

Only after someone had used it until it was a complete wreck had they finally deigned to return it to her like an act of charity.

She should have been a cultivator with three spiritual roots.

She should have…

There were no longer so many “should haves.”

Perhaps after this, she would not even be able to cultivate.

…

Wen Xu used a communication talisman to notify the Yonglu Mountain disciples stationed in Langyuan City.

Not long afterward, a senior brother in the Foundation Establishment Realm arrived with several others.

Coincidentally, it was the same Senior Brother Huang they had dealt with before.

“Junior Granduncle-Master?”

Senior Brother Huang could not help grumbling inwardly.

Was the path of every prodigy’s growth this eventful?

Other people spent the Qi Refining Realm laboriously cultivating in seclusion. This one, meanwhile…

Fine.

It seemed he had already started challenging Foundation Establishment cultivators while still in the Qi Refining Realm.

There was simply no comparison.

Senior Brother Huang composed himself.

“What happened? And these people are…”

Wen Xu briefly explained everything Jiang Fengnian had done.

“Someone has already gone to rescue Junior Sister Jiang. They should arrive soon. I’ll leave the rest to you, Senior Brother.”

Wen Xu called him Senior Brother, but Senior Brother Huang did not truly dare to call him Junior Brother.

Besides, Jiang Fengnian’s actions were truly despicable.

What did he think Yonglu Mountain was, to dare employ such an evil cultivator’s technique?

“Please rest assured, Junior Granduncle-Master. I will investigate this matter thoroughly.”

The three members of the Yunxia Sect were already scared witless.

The Second Senior Brother leading them also knew the situation was far too serious. He had already notified the elders of his sect, who would presumably arrive before long.

Senior Brother Huang ordered someone to seal Jiang Fengnian’s cultivation, intending to take him back to the mountain for interrogation.

But just after they finished binding him with talismans, they saw Junior Brother Bian approaching from afar with a physically weakened female cultivator.

Of course, Madam Jiang was even more agitated than he was.

Madam Jiang was an ordinary mortal, and Yonglu Mountain would not lightly punish an ordinary person.

She had violated the laws of Langyuan City, so the City Lord’s Manor would naturally send people to arrest her. However, she had not personally taken action, so her crimes would probably not warrant death.

Yet the truth she had just learned was more painful than being flayed alive.

Damn that Jiang Fengnian!

How could he dare do such a thing?

That wretched little bastard was not even his child, so how could he bear to sacrifice his own daughter?

He had no heart at all!

What kind of monster had she married?

“My Baozhu…”

Madam Jiang tried to run toward her daughter, but the instant she met those cold eyes, she froze in place.

At that moment, every trace of malice she had deliberately or carelessly cast at the girl in the past turned around and pierced her own body.

What had she done?!

“I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I’m sorry…”

Jiang Ying looked at the nearly hysterical Madam Jiang without the slightest ripple in her heart.

She spoke coldly.

“Who are you saying that to?”

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