Shen Qingci did not wait for her to speak, continuing, “Without any sect missions, Eldest Senior Sister has stayed on Wanjian Peak for long periods, constantly under the coverage of Master's divine sense. Where would she have found the opportunity to be pregnant for ten months?”
“If you claim the child wasn't carried by her but by you, that makes even less sense.” She dismantled the claims point by point. “You are only at the early Golden Core stage, while Eldest Senior Sister is at the peak Golden Core stage.”
“For female cultivators to have biological offspring, they must either use natural treasures to induce the birth or one must have a cultivation level at least one major realm higher to forcibly condense the embryo.”
“Of these two conditions, which one do you two meet?”
The female cultivator's lips turned deathly pale.
Shen Qingci gave her no room to breathe. “There is also another possibility: the child's origin is foul.”
“Did someone steal Eldest Senior Sister's essence blood and use a sinister secret art to gestate the child in your womb?”
The female cultivator suddenly raised her head, her pupils shrinking sharply.
This reaction was too genuine.
Her face showed no indignation from being falsely accused, only the panic of having her secret exposed.
The last trace of hope in Shen Qingci's heart dissolved.
Before coming, she had hoped this was all a misunderstanding, hoping the female cultivator would produce some token or explanation to confront them.
Hoping that her own deductions were wrong.
But this expression clearly said: You guessed right.
Shen Qingci rose from her chair.
She was half a head taller than the female cultivator, and the gentle demeanor on her face vanished instantly as she looked down.
Her gaze locked onto the female cultivator, cold and heavy.
“You insist that the child is Eldest Senior Sister's. Fine, let's assume for a moment that the essence blood provided by the person behind you indeed came from Eldest Senior Sister.”
“What is your purpose in coming here with the child?”
“To demand official status? To ask for spirit stones? Or are you waiting for Eldest Senior Sister to acknowledge the child?”
The female cultivator held the child even tighter, her body trembling.
“I only... wanted the child to see her.”
“See her?” Shen Qingci's voice rose. “And wait for Eldest Senior Sister to return from the Desolate Ancient Ruins so you can have a family reunion, is that it?”
Startled, the child burst into tears.
The little girl broke free from the female cultivator's embrace, stumbled over to Shen Qingci's legs, and tightly grabbed her hem. Looking up, she cried out, “Waaah, Mother, please don't abandon me...”
Shen Qingci froze on the spot.
The three-year-old child's face was covered in tears. Her voice was sharp and loud, and her cry of “Mother” was heard clearly both inside and outside the main hall.
...
The door of the main hall was pushed open from the outside.
Chi Yuan stood outside the threshold.
Her divine sense swept over Shen Qingci's face first, then moved to the little girl hugging A-Ci's leg, and finally glanced at the female cultivator cowering in the chair.
“Whose little girl is this? How can she just call anyone mother?”
Chi Yuan stepped inside.
She was already cold by nature, and with a trace of anger brewing in her eyes, the temperature of the entire main hall plummeted.
Chi Yuan walked up to the female cultivator and said bluntly, “Fellow Daoist, since the child is yours, you had better... keep a closer eye on her!”
Forced back half a step by her aura, the female cultivator hurriedly reached out to pull her daughter back.
But the little girl refused to let go, still clutching Shen Qingci's hem and sobbing out cries of “Mother.”
Shen Qingci looked down at the tiny tot by her leg, with only one thought remaining in her mind.
This trap was meant for Eldest Senior Sister. It didn't catch her, but I managed to trap myself first.
Senior Sister's gaze was clearly filled with jealousy.
But now was not the time to coax her.
Shen Qingci bent down, took the little girl's wrist, and pried her fingers open one by one.
She squatted down to look the child in the eyes. “I am not your mother. You have recognized the wrong person.”
The little girl stared at her blankly, tears still clinging to her cheeks.
Taking the opportunity, the female cultivator dragged the child back into her arms and held her tightly.
Shen Qingci stood up and turned to look at her senior sister. When their eyes met, the sour jealousy in Chi Yuan's eyes faded, replaced by a cold solemnity identical to her junior sister's.
Chi Yuan walked over to her side, standing shoulder-to-shoulder with her.
She didn't ask what was going on. Her gaze lingered on the little girl's facial features for two seconds, her brow furrowing slightly.
She looked like her!
She indeed looked like Eldest Senior Sister!!!
But this resemblance had an illicit origin.
During her years in the cultivation world, Chi Yuan had seen plenty of insidious methods like soul possession, surrogate gestation, and bloodline grafting.
A three-year-old girl's bone age could not be faked, but the mother who carried her for ten months might not be the actual source of the bloodline.
Someone had obtained Eldest Senior Sister's essence blood, used a secret art, and found a rogue cultivator to gestate it. The resulting child would naturally carry Ji Lanyi's bloodline aura.
When the time came, they would just have to kneel at the entrance of Wanjian Peak.
Having “Ji Lanyi's child” call her mother in front of the entire sect would leave Eldest Senior Sister unable to defend herself even if she had a hundred mouths.
Once this dirty water was splashed on her, Wanjian Peak's reputation and Master's arrangements would all be shaken.
Chi Yuan suppressed her killing intent. When she looked at the female cultivator again, there was not a trace of warmth left in her eyes.
Her killing intent was repeatedly tugged back by the thought that “the child is innocent”...
Shen Qingci was also harboring a fire of anger in her heart.
To think that Sect Master Martial Uncle could resort to such underhanded methods. It might not have been done by his own hands, but it was certainly done with his tacit consent.
Aside from him, who else had the ability to obtain Eldest Senior Sister's essence blood?
And who would choose this exact critical juncture to disgust Wanjian Peak?
She had originally thought that Master's arrangements were secure enough to facilitate a smooth transition at the upper levels of the sect without involving the low-level disciples.
Now it seemed that forbearance was merely coddling.
“Madam,” Shen Qingci said, getting straight to the point. “I can more or less guess who is behind you.”
“You are merely a rogue cultivator at the early Golden Core stage, yet you dare to bring a three-year-old child straight to the gates of the Azure Cloud Sect, demanding to see Master's eldest personal disciple by name!!!”
“Who gave you the audacity?”
The female cultivator hung her head, remaining silent.
“If you won't speak, I won't force you.” Shen Qingci remained standing, her sharp edge softening slightly.
“But since you've brought the child to our doorstep, there are some accounts we must settle clearly.”
“Falsely claiming a blood relation and slandering a personal disciple of the sect. According to the rules of the Azure Cloud Sect, the lighter punishment is having your cultivation crippled and being expelled from the sect, while the heavier punishment is soul-searching.”
“If this child indeed carries Eldest Senior Sister's bloodline, then it is a case of stealing a personal disciple's essence blood and secretly practicing a forbidden art. Whether you did it voluntarily or were forced, as the maternal host, your physical body is the primary evidence of this forbidden art.”
“According to the sect rules, anyone involved in a forbidden art is handed over to the Peak Master of the respective peak for punishment, and they can be subjected to the torture of soul-searching and soul-refining.”
The female cultivator cried out frantically, “No... No... You're lying...”
“You can't do this to me! Lanyi, yes, I want to find Lanyi...”
Hearing the name “Lanyi,” Shen Qingci's patience was completely exhausted, and she spoke in a cold voice, “Then do you know where Eldest Senior Sister's birthmark is?”
“On her back... no, on her waist... no, that's not right...” Intimidated by Shen Qingci, the female cultivator's tongue tied itself in knots, her gaze darting around erratically.
“On her back? On her waist?” Shen Qingci sneered.
“Below Senior Sister Ji's left shoulder blade, there is a scar left by an old sword qi injury, not a birthmark. She grew up on Wanjian Peak; Master knows exactly how many scars she has on her body.”
“You can't even distinguish a birthmark from a sword wound, yet you dare to claim you have a history with her?”
“And you keep calling her Lanyi... It seems the person who sent you didn't even bother to tell you these details, eager to push you forward as a pawn to die.”
Hearing the word “pawn,” the female cultivator's entire body shuddered slightly.
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