CH 19.2

once inside the room, lin shuang opened her diary.

[december 17th

the finger bone obtained unexpectedly only has minimal spiritual energy attached, at most reaching the qi condensation stage, unlike those of a high-level foundation building cultivator. they may be related to this king, but the connection is limited.]

“your highness, please take care. i will inform you if there are any updates.”

“currently, in the black market, there are people secretly buying the remains of cultivators, and rongbao pavilion has also sent people to track down the information.”

lin shuang sat cross-legged on the bed and suddenly heard the sound of huangfu yuan speaking outside the corridor, just a wall away.

she quickly began to write.

[today’s information 2: someone is secretly buying remains at high prices.]

who could be doing this, and for what purpose?

lin shuang fell into contemplation, but her expression quickly changed.

“why didn’t huangfu yuan activate the sound suppression array? with his frail health, couldn’t he even perform a simple silencing spell? why did he go out to the corridor to talk?”

“is it because he believes this is common knowledge and doesn’t need to be kept secret, or does he think that… it’s necessary for me, zhou xuanwu and zhao keran to hear it?”

cultivators had keen ears and sharp eyes.

he didn’t seem to intend to hide it from them.

“wait a moment, why does he think we need to know?”

“no, i can’t continue thinking about this. there’s too little information, and it’s easy to draw wrong conclusions, which might even slow us down. the next schedule is practicing the music of joy for sound cultivation.”

lin shuang took a deep breath and marked the important clue and the phrase ‘rongbao pavilion is suspicious’ in her diary.

in an instant, she entered the schedule for today’s sound cultivation practice.

in the room, a joyful flute melody filled the air.

zhao keran also joined in happily.

as she was washing her face, she suddenly realized, “sister, did you help the prince complete his schedule early today so that you could cultivate the music of joy without any task pressure tonight?”

starting from three years ago, she gradually synchronized her cultivation with her sister. this way, she could enjoy various “buff” effects from her sister.

indeed, lin shuang blinked her eyelashes, and each one exuded a factor of happiness. even in the dim candlelight of the night, it sparkled with joy.

“yes,” lin shuang admitted. “it’s the joy of helping the prince, the joy of finishing work two days early, and the joy of getting a five-star rating.”

“ah!” zhao keran suddenly realized. “so, sister, did you plan how to do the next task while doing the previous one?”

zhao keran quickly calculated, feeling astonished. her sister had always been several steps ahead.

“doesn’t that mean today’s sound cultivation with the emotion of joy will be three times more effective?”

lin shuang smiled without saying a word.

“…”

“…”

in the corridor, huangfu yuan and bai yu deliberately revealed the information for lin shuang and zhou xuanwu to hear.

silence.

their nascent soul stage cultivation couldn’t hide anything from the two of them.

in less than a few breaths, lin shuang activated her sound suppression technique inside the room, but from within, faint joyful flute music could still be heard.

the musical notes leaped, conveying the exuberance of a bird soaring in the sky and the happiness of a fish swimming freely in the ocean.

“cough—”

huangfu yuan felt a surge of heat in his chest and a trace of blood rising in his throat.

“tomorrow, we’ll start heading back,” bai yu sighed.

“my lord, do you understand now?”

you don’t just become a man for no reason.

it was because he encountered her… a woman who could fly like a bird.

bai yu shook his head and sent a message outside about rongbao pavilion’s manager returning tomorrow after completing the transaction.

complete defeat.

their lord’s schemes.

—

“hmm? not going to the palace, but heading back to the mountain?”

meng zi and zhao ming, traveling halfway through the journey, met.

both of them frowned.

what’s going on? why change the order halfway?

“hmm? the transaction is complete, damn it!”

evil cultivators traveling halfway and those attempting to snatch treasures encountered each other.

they both frowned.

they’re playing with us!

at dawn, over hua ming city.

three assassins from the annihilation pavilion and several evil cultivators met by chance, cursing and grumbling, as they collided head-on.

“!”

“!”

in their eyes, they felt the excitement of seeing a fat sheep.

“brothers, let’s go! cancel the mission and kill these bounty-listed evil cultivators!”

“damn it! let’s go, and cut them down to snatch a few mustard seed bags!”

both sides immediately clashed.

slowly making their way back to the qingshui sect, lin shuang and her two companions sat on their wide swords, basking in the first rays of morning sunlight. they engaged in morning exercises, meditation, reading scriptures, and listening to the music of joy while watching the sunrise…

【ding, little ai is here to serve you on your journey.】

【we have successfully ascended to an altitude of two thousand meters and are flying steadily.】

lin shuang lay back, her face adorned with a chilled cucumber slice mask, gently raising her neck.

a massaging talisman on her scalp moved up and down amidst her jet-black hair.

“huangfu senior, bai senior, are you sure you don’t want to ride with us?” zhao keran looked at the frail huangfu yuan.

huangfu yuan stood behind bai yu, looking at the four flying swords lined up, each covered with runes.

not even a dog would like to ride on those swords.

“no need,” huangfu yuan tightened his grip on his hands and smiled. “thanks for your kindness, junior sister.”

zhao keran nodded regretfully.

more swords would mean a smoother and faster flight.

what a pity.

【ding! alert! there is a spiritual energy disturbance ahead, 15 degrees southwest, 309 steps away. there are more than five people involved, with spiritual energy fluctuations ranging from nascent soul stage third to seventh layer.】

zhao keran was shocked.

zhou xuanwu also looked serious.

【alert! quickly activate the double wings and tail wings for stable flight!】

zhao keran had grown, so she immediately cast vibration suppression and reinforcement charms on all four swords. then she opened the wings and tail wings of each sword.

zhou xuanwu stood on his sword, his face stern, and silently added a defensive charm to the tip of the sword.

【ding, activate automatic evasion mode. deviate from the disturbance, automatically veering away from the chaos…】

【deviation successful! please accelerate!】

huangfu yuan and bai yu watched in silence as they passed by the chaotic battlefield, which had been left behind in an instant.

could it be the group of people originally planning to surround them at the palace?

bai yu was dumbfounded. shouldn’t he slow down and capture an evil cultivator now?

“phew, we finally shook them off,” zhao keran sighed in relief.

huangfu yuan and bai yu remained silent.

in moments of hesitation, they were already a hundred miles away from the others.

however, in an instant, lin shuang, with mud smeared on her face, raised her neck from the sword and stood up, her robes billowing.

bai yu’s heart trembled.

he seemed to have forgotten something important.

lin shuang glanced at them and licked her lips.

“i’ll be back in a moment.”

“to take care of a physiological matter.”

“???”

author’s note:

【zhao sect master’s note 19: who says female cultivators don’t have physiological issues?】

– outer sect manager xu rui’s comment: …very well.

– zhou xuanwu: … very, very well.

– shanhai sect’s xiao qi: …i don’t know about other female cultivators… but lin shuang junior sister… once every two days…

– people who read this later: !!! spread the word… lin fairy, once every two days.

*

just a little side note: let me help clarify things for everyone.

the current goal of the female and male lead is actually the same, which is to deal with the ‘evil cultivator’ possessing the bones. however, in terms of investigation progress and the amount of information, the male lead is ahead at the moment (mainly because the female lead has been in the outer sect and is more focused on herself, rather than being dragged down by revenge).

due to these information gaps, the male lead will not tell her:

1. he’s not familiar with her and maintains suspicion towards everyone.

2. even if there’s no problem, whether she lives or dies, whether he lives or dies, he doesn’t care.

3. she’s a ‘human cultivator,’ and he dislikes human cultivators, so he wouldn’t consider cooperating with her.

so, the male lead won’t say anything for now. what he mentioned in the corridor was just his desire to obtain the bone from her – he hopes she’ll sell it on the black market, where he can catch a few ‘fish’ to trade with. of course, if she doesn’t sell it, that’s fine too. there are many others in the black-market trading bones, and they can all be used as bait.

for now, the female lead won’t ask about it. after all, she doesn’t know who her enemy is yet. she’ll just be asking randomly, which could easily lead her to step on a big landmine.