Li Niang’s demeanor, resembling a wronged young wife, truly made Lian Yueying feel a knot of unease.
Yet, the more Li Niang behaved this way, the more Lian Yueying sensed something amiss.
‘I hope it’s just my imagination.’
Realizing Lian Yueying wasn’t swayed by her act, Li Niang spun around, her fluttering skirt and sleeves shimmering with a pale, ethereal glow, before she instantly transformed back into the Tabby Cat, its fur like dark clouds treading snow.
“I know you don’t get along well with the disciples in the sect; I even suspect you dislike people.
So, isn’t this much better?”
The Tabby Cat padded over to Lian Yueying’s feet, rubbed against her, then flopped onto its side, exposing its pristine white belly as if inviting her to play.
Had this been earlier, Lian Yueying would undoubtedly have knelt down to stroke its head and caress its soft belly, but now, a stubborn knot of suspicion tightened in her heart.
‘I originally thought this cat came to me because it was cooler when I had my flare-ups in summer.
After I set up the Spirit Gathering Array, she came almost every night.
Back then, I couldn’t sense any cultivation from her, so I assumed she came because we had a good relationship.
Now, it seems that wasn’t the case at all.’
Lian Yueying mentally reviewed everything she had said in front of Li Niang, and, concluding she hadn’t revealed any secrets, she finally spoke, “If you tell me the truth, I might be able to help you.”
“Really?”
Li Niang transformed back into her human form, her words striking like a bolt from the blue: “Give me a drop of your essence blood, and I can exchange it for a Purple Jade Ganoderma that replenishes qi, guaranteeing you’ll suffer no loss.”
The moment these words left her lips, Lian Yueying instinctively recoiled, putting distance between herself and Li Niang.
‘What exactly does she know…
Thinking back, when I still had a bed, she used to lie on my wrist.
Could it be that a cat’s paw can also take a pulse and discern that I possess the Grand Yin Physique?’
Lian Yueying could vouch that today was the first time Li Niang had appeared before her in human form.
However, the current situation far exceeded Lian Yueying’s understanding, leaving her unable to guarantee that Li Niang, in her cat form, couldn’t have discerned it.
‘I can’t expose myself.
She might not fully know yet.’
“Since you’re not a demonic cultivator, why do you need human essence blood?”
“Spirit cultivators also have their uses, and I’m not like a demon, forcibly extracting it.
Instead, I’m trading with you like a human, so you won’t suffer any loss.”
As she spoke, Li Niang produced a ganoderma mushroom from seemingly nowhere.
Its cap, as large as a human face, glowed with a purple luminescence and possessed the translucent quality of jade, suggesting an age of several hundred years.
Although the Purple Jade Ganoderma primarily offered benefits for qi replenishment and longevity, with limited use in alchemy, a specimen of this quality would fetch at least several hundred spirit stones on the open market, more than enough to compensate for a single drop of essence blood.
Yet…
“Hmm… I trust you more than others.
Since it’s a transaction, you only need to explain its purpose, and I might consider it.”
Hearing this, Li Niang’s face lit up with joy, and she chuckled, “I need to mend a Heavenly Defect (TL Note: A profound spiritual flaw or deficiency in cultivation that prevents a spirit from fully manifesting or ascending) to truly manifest my spiritual form.
Your Grand Yin blood can save me a significant amount of spiritual herbs.”
‘As expected, she knows I possess the Grand Yin Physique.
No, I cannot let anyone else discover this secret.’
In the span of a breath, Lian Yueying’s heart stirred with murderous intent.
Li Niang, sensing this with keen intuition, quickly put away the ganoderma and retreated several steps, waving her hands.
“Don’t, don’t attack! I even helped you scare away those who tried to invade your home earlier today.
You can’t repay kindness with enmity!”
These words indeed caused Lian Yueying to hesitate.
Seizing the opportunity, Li Niang swiftly transformed back into her cat form and, in a blink, darted out of the bedroom, gracefully escaping the house.
Lian Yueying made no move to pursue her.
Instead, she placed a spirit talisman at the door, securing it tightly before returning inside, her brows furrowed in a deep frown.
‘I did hesitate.
Perhaps… I don’t actually dislike Li Niang.
At the very least, she laid her intentions bare, and what she said at the end should be true.’
The image of the young girl still lingered in Lian Yueying’s mind.
She sat down, poured herself a cup of water, and gazing at the desolate room, a pang of loneliness struck her.
Had there never been warmth or commotion, she wouldn’t feel this solitude now.
However, Lian Yueying didn’t dwell on it for long; she quickly immersed herself in thought.
‘Perhaps it’s a characteristic of cats, but Li Niang can conceal her cultivation.
While I can’t discern it, my master and the others surely can.
If she’s allowed to remain within the sect, she must be harmless.’
A measure of reassurance settled over Lian Yueying at this thought.
Just as she leaned back in her chair, she suddenly sprang upright.
‘Wait! I forgot to ask her who broke in today.’
Lian Yueying rose, surveyed her surroundings, and picked up a book on array formations, flipping through its pages.
She wished to use an array to prevent any future intrusions, but such arrays invariably required restrictions, which could only be imposed by cultivators who had reached the Foundation Establishment stage.
Consequently, she could only set these thoughts aside for the moment, make her bed, and prepare for sleep.
‘How long has it been since I last slept normally?
It seems ever since I embarked on the path of cultivation, my nights have been solely dedicated to qi absorption and circulating my cultivation techniques.’
Cultivating in a meditative posture was, naturally, less comfortable than lying down to sleep.
Her somewhat heavy heart found slight solace in the warmth of her blankets, and Lian Yueying gradually drifted into slumber.
****
The moon climbed high among the branches, and a spirit cat flicked its tail.
The Tabby Cat gazed idly at the herb garden below, extending its tiny tongue to lick its pink nose.
The next instant, it transformed into a delicate and beautiful young girl, lying prone on a tree branch, her long, brown hair cascading down.
“Sigh, I didn’t expect her to be so wary.
I even helped her guard her home, yet I couldn’t earn her trust.
What more does she want from me?”
Li Niang rolled over, shifting from lying prone to lying on her back, and lifted her legs, propping them against the branch above and swaying them gently.
One would expect trousers beneath her dress, but instead, her skirt revealed a pair of slender, jade-like legs.
Such a sight, if witnessed by another, would surely set hearts racing and minds wandering.
Of course, a closer look would reveal she was indeed wearing undergarments.
“She seemed unhappy when someone entered her home.
Hmm, humans must have a sense of territory.
So, my helping her guard her house should be enough to prove my sincerity, right?”
No matter how Li Niang thought about it, she found it peculiar.
Even after decades since gaining sentience, she still didn’t quite understand humans.
“Grand Yin Physique…” Li Niang murmured, recalling what she had read.
During her quest to collect spiritual herbs to mend her Heavenly Defect, she had come across mentions of the essence blood of a Grand Yin Physique.
Coincidentally, while seeking coolness in the summer, she had discovered the newly initiated Lian Yueying.
“Show sincerity to gain trust… Right, the Grand Yin Physique seems to be highly sought after in the cultivation world.
Is she afraid of being exposed?
But I never said I’d tell anyone.
Did I misunderstand?
Should I have explicitly stated that I would absolutely not reveal it?”
Li Niang sat up, troubled, and shook her head from side to side until she felt a little dizzy before stopping.
Then, yielding to the pull of gravity, she tipped sideways, transforming back into her cat form mid-fall and landing safely on the ground, vanishing into the night.
****
Whether from genuine exhaustion or a significant loss of qi and blood, Lian Yueying slept profoundly.
When her eyes opened, the sun was already high, its brilliant rays illuminating the room even through the window paper.
Lian Yueying rose and stretched luxuriantly, rubbing her eyes as she walked towards the window.
Her waist, however, bumped against the table corner, and the sudden pain made her gasp, her pretty face twitching as she opened the window just a three-finger-width crack.
This simple scene, in a fleeting moment, transported Lian Yueying back to her childhood.
She sat on a chair, poured herself water, and drank it, then went to the courtyard to draw and boil more water.
Along the way, she found the air remarkably fresh, so instead of waiting for the water to boil, she stepped into the courtyard, stretched once more under the sun, and exhaled a deep, turbid breath.
‘My qi and blood are still significantly depleted.
I should continue resting.
First, I’ll go up the mountain for a good meal.’
With this thought, Lian Yueying ascended the mountain to the cafeteria, using her recently acquired contribution points to purchase a meal.
She savored a dish with meat and two vegetable sides, feeling utterly content, before glancing at the dwindling spirit stones in her storage pouch and letting out an involuntary sigh.
Her despondency, however, lasted only a moment.
Touching her storage pouch, she suddenly remembered something crucial.
Immediately, she activated her full movement technique and descended the mountain, returning to her small hut.
She had collected the storage pouches of the two accomplices and Wang Zhi, but her time had been consumed by healing and escaping, causing her to completely forget about them.
“Let’s see, what good things are there?”
It was time for Lian Yueying’s favorite part: organizing her spoils.
Each time she opened someone else’s storage pouch, it felt like opening a treasure chest, brimming with the joy of the unknown.
So, humming a little tune, she started with the young man’s storage pouch.
It was surprisingly clean, and as expected, contained nothing particularly valuable—just over a hundred spirit stones.
The remaining cultivation techniques, spells, and weapons were all quite ordinary.
Next was the middle-aged man’s storage pouch, which was filled with a jumble of miscellaneous items.
It contained only a few dozen spirit stones, along with spare clothes, a portable bedroll, a very old longsword, and other sundries.
What truly captured her attention, however, were over a dozen letters and a single painting.
Lian Yueying took out the painting.
There was a visible seam in the middle where it had been mended, though it didn’t impede viewing.
The painting depicted a landscape of mountains and flying birds, but an inconspicuous spot on a mountainside had been circled with vermilion ink, drawing one’s gaze irresistibly.
‘The painting itself is quite ordinary, and there’s no accompanying poem.
Could this be a treasure map?’
Lian Yueying had a rough idea, but the mountains in the painting were too common, and clearly not from the vicinity.
She could only retrieve the dozen or so letters, hoping to unearth some clues from them.
As time slowly passed, the contents of the letters gradually pieced together half of the man’s life.
Just as Lian Yueying had surmised, the man had drifted through the martial world in his youth, only beginning cultivation after a chance encounter with immortal fortune.
However, the path of immortality proved less glorious than he imagined; his mediocre talent meant he was overlooked by sects, leaving him to become a lone cultivator.
As for why he became Wang Zhi’s lackey, that wasn’t revealed in the letters.
Lian Yueying surmised he might have wandered to this region and sought to attach himself to the Qinglin Sect.
The letters themselves were mostly exchanges with another martial artist, presumably a friend of his.
Yet, after reading all dozen-plus letters, Lian Yueying found no information regarding the painting.
Only one location piqued her considerable interest.
‘Front Gate Mountain…’
Having traveled little, Lian Yueying pulled out a map of Liang Kingdom and, without much effort, located Front Gate Mountain—a small place situated over two hundred li (TL Note: A traditional Chinese unit of distance, roughly equivalent to 500 meters or 0.3 miles) from Tuoshan Sect.
‘He once mentioned in a letter that there were immortals here, inviting his friend to go with him, but the friend dismissed it as a joke, not believing him at all…
It stands to reason that he must have obtained some kind of fortuitous encounter there to embark on the path of cultivation.’
In the final letter, his friend stated that his life was nearing its end.
The man likely kept the letters out of nostalgia for his friend.
However, Lian Yueying remained unmoved; her greater concern was whether anything else remained at that location.
‘If it was a fortuitous encounter, this man’s background is too meager.
At most, it would be a cave dwelling left by a Foundation Establishment cultivator…
No, if it truly was a cave dwelling left by a powerful individual, it should have restrictive spells and arrays protecting it.
Perhaps he wasn’t able to retrieve everything.’
Leftover cave dwellings typically saw their restrictions naturally dissipate upon the original owner’s death.
However, arrays would persist until their spirit stones were depleted, or indefinitely if the array was connected to a spirit vein.
A wave of profound interest washed over Lian Yueying at this thought.
She quickly consulted the map, realizing that two hundred li was merely a four-hour journey on foot for her.
She could rest for a night in a nearby town and explore the mountain the following day.
Forming a plan signified Lian Yueying’s decision to go.
Moreover, judging by the dates on the letters, the cave dwelling had been explored by this man nearly a decade ago.
With the restrictions gone, the arrays might not last much longer, and any delay risked someone else getting there first.
Nevertheless, Lian Yueying had no intention of departing immediately.
Lessons learned from yesterday’s events had significantly heightened her caution towards the unknown.
Knowing that arrays might be present within the cave dwelling, she resolved to first refine her array knowledge, enhance her cultivation, and boost her combat prowess before venturing forth.