Chi Yuan coordinated with her junior sister, leaving no room for the woman to struggle. She pointed her index and middle fingers, and a strand of sword intent condensed in midair, hovering three inches in front of the female cultivator's brow.
“Say the name ‘Lanyi’ one more time,” Chi Yuan said coldly, “and I won't mind letting it advance another half-inch.”
Her senior sister had not drawn her sword.
Frostchill was currently being nurtured in her dantian. Dealing with an early Golden Core rogue cultivator did not warrant the use of her natal sword.
The female cultivator only felt a chill at her brow. The cold seeped into her sea of consciousness; just a fraction deeper, and it would shred her soul to pieces.
Unable to hold out any longer, she broke down in tears and began to confess. “I'll talk... I'll talk...”
“I didn't want to come. Someone found me earlier, placed the child in my hands, and told me to raise her for three years before coming to the Azure Cloud Sect to claim kinship.”
“I never saw that person's true face. He masked his face, altered his voice, and even completely concealed his figure with spells.”
Chi Yuan asked, “There are plenty of early Golden Core rogue cultivators. Why choose you of all people?”
The female cultivator looked up, her face smeared with tears, a bitter smile tugging at the corner of her mouth. “Because I am easy to control. I have no sect, no faction, and no one to rely on. I'm the kind of rogue cultivator who could die in the wilderness and have no one to bury my corpse.”
“My aptitude isn't bad. I formed my core through a century of bitter cultivation, no worse than those disciples piled high with sect resources.”
“But so what? A rogue cultivator is just a rogue cultivator. Without a sect's protection or a family's backing, we are always looked down upon wherever we go.”
“When that person came to my door, I couldn't refuse. The reward he offered was a Nascent Soul Pill.”
Her eyes grew bloodshot. “A Nascent Soul Pill! A Golden Core rogue cultivator could struggle until death and never even catch a glimpse of its recipe's edge.”
“How many rogue cultivators are trapped in the Golden Core stage, never able to touch the threshold of the Nascent Soul before they die? I am the same...”
Chi Yuan remained silent.
Nascent Soul Pills were already incredibly scarce. The portions that leaked onto the market were quickly divided among the sects and great families. Even if a rogue cultivator had spirit stones, they had no way to acquire one.
“Weren't you afraid it was a fake?” Chi Yuan asked again.
“He let me inspect it,” the female cultivator said. “He peeled back the pill's coating right in front of me. The pill veins, the pill qi, the spiritual glow... they were all real.”
“I thought to myself back then, even if there was something fishy about this, as long as I raised the child for three years and brought her to the Azure Cloud Sect to make a scene and claim kinship, the Nascent Soul Pill would be mine.”
“But when I actually stood at the mountain gate, I grew afraid instead. Holding the child in my arms, my steps felt too heavy to move. I was afraid that if I stepped inside, I would never come out again.”
She lowered her head, her voice growing softer and softer. “I raised this child for three whole years. It's not an affection built over just a couple of days.”
“When she was an infant and had a persistent high fever, I stayed by her side for three days and three nights without closing my eyes. When she first learned to walk, she stumbled a few steps and threw herself straight into my arms.”
“I was afraid they would turn their backs on me once it was done, and even more afraid that the child and I would be silenced afterward.”
“I didn't dare go in, but I didn't dare leave either. Leaving meant breaking my word. That person said that if I went back on my promise, he would make me die a more wretched death than anyone. It doesn't matter if I die, but what about the child?”
“I wandered around three miles outside the mountain gate for several days, until the Young Proprietor Yin discovered me.”
Chi Yuan's brow twitched slightly, but she did not speak.
Standing quietly to the side, Shen Qingci fell silent for two breaths before changing her form of address.
“Fellow Daoist, if you had been willing to cooperate just now, why would you have been pushed to this point?”
The female cultivator stared at her blankly.
Shen Qingci softened her tone. “Wandering outside the mountain gate for those few days wasn't entirely out of fear, was it? You were also trying your luck, hoping to find another way out for yourself and the child.”
The female cultivator's lips trembled, and tears fell once more. “Yes! I was gambling. I was gambling that the people of Wanjian Peak would be more reasonable than the one who hired me.”
“In the eyes of those in high positions, whether a bloodline is real or fake is ultimately decided by whoever holds the power.”
“If they acknowledge it, the child is theirs. If they don't, neither I nor the child will ever leave the Azure Cloud Sect's territory alive. My life isn't worth much, but this child... she is only three years old.”
Shen Qingci and Chi Yuan exchanged a glance.
These words were harsh, but they were not wrong.
The cultivation world had always been this way. There was no absolute truth; whoever had the stronger fist made the rules.
“You won your gamble,” Shen Qingci said.
The female cultivator froze.
“Wanjian Peak is reasonable. Since you are willing to tell the truth, I will protect your life, and I will protect the child's life as well.” Shen Qingci squatted down in front of her. “But you must identify the person behind this.”
The female cultivator hurriedly pulled a storage bag from her bosom and raised it above her head with both hands. “I have evidence! The spirit stone bag that person gave me still has residual spiritual energy on the sealing clay. I also kept the transmission jade slip he used, which contains three transmission records.”
“And...”
Her tone grew urgent. “He sent a steward who would come to check on the child every half-year to confirm if her appearance resembled that person.”
“That steward's cultivation isn't high, only at the late Foundation Establishment stage, but he arrived via a teleportation array. The teleportation records can be found at the Great Yan Dynasty's Transit Bureau.”
Shen Qingci took the storage bag and swept her divine sense inside. The spirit stone bag, the jade slip, and several small items left by the steward were all preserved in perfect order.
Her gaze fell upon the female cultivator.
“Fellow Daoist, during your years as a rogue cultivator, you have certainly practiced many self-preservation methods.”
The female cultivator gave a miserable laugh. “If I hadn't kept my wits about me, I would have died eight hundred times over.”
Shen Qingci stood up and turned her head to instruct Shadow One. “Shadow One, check if there are any restrictions placed on this fellow Daoist and the child.”
Shadow One stepped forward, placing her fingertips on the female cultivator's wrist pulse and channeling a wisp of spiritual energy into her meridians.
After a long moment, Shadow One withdrew her hand, then squatted down to hold the little girl's hand to inspect her as well.
She stood up, her face darkening. “Eldest Young Lady, both of them have restrictions on them. They are hidden in the crevices of their heart meridians, concealed extremely deep. Unless one deliberately searches deep down, anyone below the Soul Transformation stage wouldn't be able to detect them at all.”
“What restriction is it?” Shen Qingci asked.
“The Soul-Severing Restriction,” Shadow One said. “The person who placed it is at least at the peak Nascent Soul stage. This restriction usually shows no abnormalities, does not flare up, and does not affect the circulation of spiritual energy. However, it has been set with a trigger date.”
“Once that day arrives, the restriction will detonate, simultaneously shredding the heart meridian, dantian, and sea of consciousness.”
“And that's not all—even after the physical body is completely dead, the soul will be torn to shreds.”
Hearing this, the female cultivator's body suddenly went limp, and she collapsed onto the ground.
Her lips trembled for a long time before she managed to squeeze out some words. “They... they never had any intention of letting me return alive...”
She looked at the child in her arms, tears silently streaming down.
“I thought it was a great opportunity.”
She raised her hand and fiercely slapped herself twice across the face.
“I was greedy for that Nascent Soul Pill! I was possessed! I nearly dragged this child down with me to die a senseless death shreds!”
The little girl was frightened and burst into tears. Breaking free from Shadow One's hand, she ran back and threw her arms around the female cultivator's neck, wailing loudly.
The female cultivator quickly held the child tightly, coaxing her, “Mumu, don't cry, don't cry...”
After comforting the child, she looked up at Shen Qingci, her face filled with lingering dread.
“If I had really done as they instructed and barged into the sect to claim kinship in public... once it was over, would Mumu and I have quietly vanished? Would there have been no one to even gather our bones after we died?”
“Yes.”
Shen Qingci replied solemnly, “Once the scene is made, you will have outlived your usefulness.”
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