Chapter 72: Silly Sister
Chapter 72: Silly Sister
The Spirit Stones were nearly used up, and the leaves of the Soul Spirit Tree absolutely could not be touched.
According to the Demoness, using those two leaves last time had already harmed the Soul Spirit Tree a little and depleted some of its vitality.
Unless absolutely necessary, the Demoness would never have let him touch the leaves of the Soul Spirit Tree back then. Its value wasn’t there, but in its fruit—the Primordial Spirit Fruit. That was a treasure heavy enough to drive any Dao Enlightenment practitioner in the world mad!
Ling Yi planned to return to the Capital City to find Sister Zhao and retrieve the remaining Spirit Stones.
And at this moment, Qian Luoying, having kept track of the time, came looking for him.
“Ling Yi, are you in?”
Qian Luoying’s voice came from outside the Grotto Abode.
Ling Yi was slightly taken aback. Was this… had she convinced Lian Ziqing?
Thinking again, he felt it wasn’t very likely. The chance she had been fooled by the other party was much greater.
The Demoness, as if hearing Ling Yi’s thoughts, sneered, “It’s ten to one this Silly Sister of yours was fooled.”
Ling Yi nodded, “Yeah, I think so too. If they try to cheat us…”
The Demoness said matter-of-factly, “Then deal with them, of course!”
Ling Yi thought for a moment, “What if we’re outside?”
The Demoness immediately lectured, “Then run! Are you stupid? You didn’t think that me absorbing that tiny bit of Spirit Stone energy would be enough to help you take down a Peak Dao-Entry practitioner, did you?”
Ling Yi had dark lines on his forehead, “I didn’t think that!”
“Then why did you ask?”
“…”
My mouth ran ahead of me.
Ling Yi rolled his eyes.
Then, he silently recited an incantation, formed a hand-seal with his fingers, and directly appeared outside the Grotto Abode—Pah, what dynamic password? Liar!
Seeing Ling Yi, Qian Luoying smiled, “Let me tell you some good news. The Sect Leader has accepted my suggestion. From now on, we’ll be good neighbors!”
Ling Yi glanced at this Silly Sister and nodded, “That’s great!”
Qian Luoying looked very happy, “This way, Yunwu and Yun Tong can come to you for advice often in the future.”
Ling Yi said, “No problem.”
“Oh, by the way, is there really nothing inside your Grotto Abode? Didn’t you say before that everything had rotted? How did you get by this half month?” Qian Luoying asked Ling Yi.
“Mainly by cultivating. Managed to cope and get by,” Ling Yi answered with a smile.
“That won’t do,” Qian Luoying said. “I’ll have someone send some furniture and daily supplies over right now. You wait here…”
After saying that, she vanished with a whoosh.
She really was straightforward!
Ling Yi felt speechless. If anyone else made such a request, he would definitely suspect they wanted to spy on the inside of the Grotto Abode. But this one… forget it. She simply wouldn’t think of it.
Not long after, a group of people hurried over, carrying all sorts of furniture, led by Qian Luoying.
“Put them here, just put them all here!” Qian Luoying directed.
Ling Yi: “…”
He sighed. If he really let this Silly Sister take charge like this, it wasn’t a problem for him, but it would be strange if Lian Ziqing and the others didn’t become suspicious.
“Forget it, bring them inside. The Grotto Abode is empty, there’s nothing in it,” Ling Yi said, seemingly to Qian Luoying, but actually to the people carrying the furniture.
Among those people, there were definitely Lian Ziqing’s men!
If they could truly coexist peacefully, Ling Yi didn’t want to make enemies with them either.
So, taking this chance to let them see what the inside of this Grotto Abode was really like wasn’t a bad idea.
It was just a large hollowed-out mountain cave. The place where the Soul Spirit Tree was planted was completely inaccessible and undetectable to others.
Then, Ling Yi directly opened the Grotto Abode.
The group of people looked at each other, their eyes filled with excitement and curiosity.
This mysterious Grotto Abode, sealed for who knew how many years, had always been the place that Heaven’s Gate Sect disciples were most curious about.
Today, it was finally opening for them!
More than ten minutes later, the group came out disappointed.
What was this!
There actually wasn’t a single thing inside!
It was clean, very clean, but it was way too darn clean!
A stone bed, a stone table, a few stone stools, an obviously modern suitcase, and a large backpack.
Another room had a simple stove, looking like it was built not long ago.
Such a crummy place, no one would live here even if it was free!
How could this middle-aged man stay in here?
Even for secluded cultivation, this environment was too awful.
Many things were like this. Once the veil of mystery was lifted and it was no longer mysterious, its appeal instantly plummeted.
This was also Qian Luoying’s first time entering this Grotto Abode. Seeing the clean but extremely simple environment inside, she couldn’t help but feel a bit sorry for Ling Yi.
She knew Ling Yi’s identity and status in the secular world, so in her view, Ling Yi staying here was purely suffering.
“How about… you just come to the Heaven’s Gate Sect dining hall for meals from now on? We’re all friends now, one more pair of chopsticks won’t matter.”
Ling Yi smiled and thanked her, then refused.
The only link between him and the Heaven’s Gate Sect was this simple-minded Silly Sister. He didn’t have a good impression of the others.
If this open and honest approach today could make the Heaven’s Gate Sect completely lose interest in this Grotto Abode, and everyone could live in peace from now on, that would naturally be best.
As for more, Ling Yi never expected it.
Just like he never thought about joining a Sect and then enjoying their cultivation resources for free—
Pies don’t fall from the sky. To get something, you must pay an equal price.
He didn’t have the time, energy, or interest for that.
If he could kill Lu Qingming tomorrow, he would find a place to teach the day after.
In this lifetime, if you can lie down, don’t sit; if you can sit, don’t stand.
Why make life so hard for yourself, struggling while pointing at a peaceful life within reach and saying you envy it?
So Ling Yi’s laziness was completely ingrained in his bones, but it was often hidden by his excellence… making everyone think he was so diligent.
How sad.
Qian Luoying directed the group to arrange all the household items for him, and these people also thoroughly checked out the interior of the Grotto Abode.
After everyone left, Qian Luoying sat on a chair, blinked at Ling Yi, and said, “Now, they shouldn’t suspect anything about you anymore, right?”
Ling Yi: “…”
Sister, so you know how to play mind games too?
“Aren’t I smart?” Qian Luoying looked at Ling Yi with an expression that clearly said, “Hurry up and praise me.”
“Yeah, really smart!” Ling Yi’s expression was especially sincere, with no trace of perfunctory at all.
“They won’t give up until they see what’s inside the Grotto Abode. Since that’s the case, we might as well show it to them openly. There’s nothing there anyway. After they see it, they’ll stop thinking about it.” Silly Sister said with a confident face.
Ling Yi nodded. Let’s hope so… like hell!
They’d believe you? No way!
Heaven’s Gate Sect.
Lian Ziqing’s study.
Several informants came back to report.
The details of the process are omitted.
After all the informants left, a trace of anger slowly surfaced on Lian Ziqing’s calm face.
He muttered coldly to himself: “Luoying, oh Luoying, all these years I have treated you well, raising you like a younger sister. Otherwise, how could you have achieved Dao Enlightenment at such a young age? It was also I who insisted despite opposition, not only letting you become an Elder but even making an exception for you to enter the Council of Elders… Yet you ended up doing such a treacherous thing!”
“You secretly contacted your lover and started playing tricks on me?”
“They’ve stayed for half a month. Anything that needed to be hidden inside would have been hidden long ago. How could outsiders see it?”
“Now you deliberately open the Grotto Abode, letting anyone enter freely. Who is this act for?”
“Fine. If you show no loyalty, don’t blame me for showing no mercy!”
As he spoke, Lian Ziqing opened the drawer in front of him. Inside lay a pitch-black rope quietly. He reached out, took the rope, and murmured: “It’s been many years since I last used you. The last time… what was the fate of the person you bound? Seems like their heart and liver were dug out? Now I have to use you again, but I never thought… this time I would be dealing with one of our own!”
He then spoke again, as if convincing himself, looking up out the window: “No one can block my path to the Primordial Spirit! No one!”
…
Qian Luoying returned happily. She felt that this method had completely stripped the Grotto Abode of its previous mystery and allowed Ling Yi to openly appear in the sight of Heaven’s Gate Sect’s people.
Everyone could live in peace, be good neighbors, and watch out for each other if anything happened in the future. This feeling made her very comfortable.
Isn’t cultivation supposed to be like this?
As an Elder of Heaven’s Gate Sect, Qian Luoying had her own independent mountain within the Sect.
There were about a hundred disciples on the mountain. Among them, she only had two Personal Disciples: Mo Yunwu and Jiang Yuntong. The others were either Outer Sect Disciples or some servants and attendants.
In a Sect like Heaven’s Gate Sect, even servants and attendants needed to have some talent. Not just anyone could do it.
About dozens of miles from the Heaven’s Gate Sect Sect, there was a small town. Most of the residents were the families of those servants and attendants. It had existed for nearly a thousand years.
People lived and multiplied there, leading peaceful and content lives.
Qian Luoying was aloof, indifferent, and quite straightforward. Therefore, her mountain was also the one with the fewest people in the entire Heaven’s Gate Sect.
A mountain under an Elder like Feng Bubian had over a thousand people!
Personal Disciples numbered over two hundred!
Qian Luoying’s indifference also affected everyone on her mountain. Everyone usually spoke softly and didn’t interact much with each other.
After returning to her mountain, Qian Luoying immediately summoned her two disciples.
Mo Yunwu and Jiang Yuntong saw their master’s joyful expression and knew she must have persuaded the Sect Leader to coexist peacefully with Uncle.
“You can go ask Uncle for advice from now on!”
Qian Luoying announced this good news at once.
“Really? That’s great!” Mo Yunwu said excitedly. The young girl had long forgotten her past unhappiness with Ling Yi and had accepted this uncle who wasn’t much older than her in her heart.
Jiang Yuntong was also very happy. Since meeting Uncle, his cultivation level had improved rapidly.
In the past few days, when sparring with other disciples from the ‘Yun’ generation from other mountains, he had also gained the upper hand!
Even when facing those one or two minor realms higher than him, he felt no pressure at all.
As a result, many people looked at him completely differently than before.
This made Jiang Yuntong feel a bit of what it was like to be a “genius disciple.”
In the past, he had never experienced this feeling.
And all of this was brought to him by Uncle.
At that moment, an Envoy from the Sect Leader’s side arrived. With a polite face, he asked Qian Luoying to come, saying the Sect Leader had something to discuss with her.
Qian Luoying didn’t suspect anything and immediately followed the Envoy to the Sect Leader’s mountain.
Seeing her master had left, Mo Yunwu immediately said to Jiang Yuntong: “Senior brother, let’s go find Uncle to play?”
Jiang Yuntong was a little hesitant.
Mo Yunwu said: “Master said we can go find Uncle. What are you afraid of?”
“Then, alright!” Jiang Yuntong nodded. Not seeing Uncle for half a month, he missed him a little too.
Unlike Mo Yunwu who wanted to turn into an unleashed puppy, Jiang Yuntong was more steady.
He stopped her, then went to the kitchen, had some tasty dishes prepared, and brought a bottle of wine, packing them into a food box.
“If we go see Uncle, it would be impolite to go empty-handed,” Jiang Yuntong said to Mo Yunwu.
“Hehe, you think of everything,” Mo Yunwu said with a giggle. “Hurry up, let’s go. Honestly, others entered Uncle’s Grotto Abode first, and I haven’t even been inside yet!”
Meanwhile, Qian Luoying followed the Envoy sent by Lian Ziqing. But soon, she asked with some confusion: “This… isn’t the way to the Sect Leader’s mountain, is it?”
The Envoy smiled slightly: “The Sect Leader is waiting for you in another place.”
For some reason, a faint unease suddenly arose in Qian Luoying’s heart. She gently made a hand seal. A small paper crane slipped from her sleeve and dove into the grass beside the path.
After the two left, the small paper crane in the grass flew slowly toward her own mountain like a butterfly.
After walking a while longer, they arrived at a mountain stream. This place was already somewhat desolate. Usually, very few people came here.
The doubt in Qian Luoying’s heart grew stronger. Frowning, she looked at the Envoy: “Where exactly is the Sect Leader? Why did you bring me to this kind of place?”
Just then, Lian Ziqing’s calm voice suddenly sounded—
“You’ve changed after all. In the past, no matter where, you would never question anything if I summoned you.”
Along with Lian Ziqing’s voice, a pitch-black rope suddenly flew out from the Envoy’s body!
The distance between them was too close. Plus, Qian Luoying had never guarded against this Envoy beside her, who was only at the Meridian Unlocking realm. She was directly bound tightly by the rope!
Qian Luoying froze on the spot. Her eyes fell on the rope that bound her, and any thought of struggling instantly died out.