Jia Xianren walked over to a small puddle and looked at his own reflection.
Single eyelids, eyes a bit small, face slightly asymmetrical—not exactly handsome, but not ugly either.
At that moment, he suddenly noticed a token lying on the ground.
Calling it a token was a bit of a stretch; it was more like an identity plaque, made from a special spiritual wood.
Special, yet not too special—at least, not something ordinary mortals would have.
Two large characters were carved on it: “Shenxiao.”
Hiss? Could it be the Shenxiao Sect?
……
“Qiao’er-jie, I can’t walk anymore!”
Wang Hao sat down on the ground after leaving the village.
The day after Lin Yin took Jiang Che away, Wang Hao accompanied Hu Qiao’er as they headed toward the Shenxiao Sect.
Both harbored their own hidden agendas.
But both were for Jiang Che.
Watching Jiang Che being taken away by that woman, they were powerless.
Yet she claimed to be from the Shenxiao Sect.
For Wang Hao, with his Strongest Master System, he had to find Jiang Che and bring him back.
To that end, he spent the entire night chatting with the system he had dealt with for over ten years.
Rather than chatting, it was more like one-sided interrogation, pushing the system to reveal everything.
Thus, a Snow White-like plot unfolded, with Wang Hao saying something like, “System, system, who is truly the strongest master in this world…”
A series of questions made even the system want to quit.
But the system still reluctantly revealed its findings, expressing that Jiang Che’s causality was extremely strong and his fate was unpredictable.
This excited Wang Hao immensely.
So he set off on his journey to find a master.
Hu Qiao’er, who also intended to find Jiang Che, had a different purpose.
“Haozi, how come you’re less useful than me, a girl? At this rate, when will we get to the Shenxiao Sect?”
Wang Hao was two years younger and a whole head shorter than Hu Qiao’er. Girls do tend to mature a little faster.
Besides, Qiao’er often accompanied her grandfather on trips—collecting herbs or visiting nearby towns.
Compared to Wang Hao, who spent all day dreaming of cultivation, she was definitely stronger.
“Qiao’er-jie, can you stop calling me Haozi? Sounds like ‘mouse,’ and besides, my name was praised by Master.”
Hu Qiao’er chuckled.
“Then hurry up and walk faster. But why do you call A Che ‘Master’ anyway?”
Qiao’er had been wondering about this all along, and Wang Hao had vented quite a bit on the road.
What puzzled Qiao’er most was why Wang Hao called Jiang Che “Master.”
“That’s a secret!”
Wang Hao raised a finger, acting mysterious.
“But Qiao’er-jie, I remember Master told me many things about the cultivation world. The Shenxiao Sect is the strongest sect around here. Do you really think they’d accept you as a disciple?”
“Sigh, but I can’t leave A Che there alone. What if someone bullies him? The person who took him away doesn’t look like a good person.”
“Hmm… but I don’t think that senior is bad! So pretty, and it seems like she has a special relationship with Master too.”
At that, Hu Qiao’er glared at Wang Hao.
“I said she’s not a good person—that’s a girl’s sixth sense.”
Just like Feng Yaqin, Qiao’er felt deeply uneasy around Lin Yin.
Her displeasure was directed at Lin Yin.
“And what do you mean ‘they won’t accept me as a disciple’? Are you really that confident?”
Wang Hao shrugged with a smug expression.
“Hehe, just wait and see. My talent will shock everyone.”
Qiao’er didn’t know where Wang Hao’s confidence came from.
But in truth, Wang Hao was just living a transmigrator’s fantasy.
After resting a while, the two continued on their way. Qiao’er occasionally thought about whether her grandfather would worry.
She had left a letter telling him not to.
But what they didn’t know was that the village no longer existed.
……
Jiang Che felt warmth.
When Yun Yan, the Yuyuan Sect Master, sent his spiritual power and divine sense probing into Jiang Che’s body.
Yun Yan was quietly repairing the originally damaged meridians.
At the same time, the sensation of rapidly fading spiritual power reminded Jiang Che of something.
It felt like he had been dreaming for a long time.
It was when he was close to death that Jiang Che left the Shenxiao Sect and Shenxiao Town.
He had no goal.
What was the point of living when he was like a walking corpse?
But just as he collapsed and gave up, someone appeared.
“Tsk tsk tsk! Senior Brother! So pathetic! I really didn’t expect Master to go this far.”
Jiang Che recognized the voice well—it was his junior apprentice brother, Zhao Zi’ang.
Jiang Che wasn’t stupid; he knew Zhao Zi’ang must have done quite a few things in this whole affair.
But he didn’t understand what he had done to provoke Zhao Zi’ang.
When Zhao Zi’ang first entered the sect, everyone knew his background was tragic—parents and family gone.
Maybe because of similar experiences, Jiang Che took good care of him.
At the same time, his two closest junior sisters also looked after him.
But why?
Jiang Che couldn’t figure it out and could barely recall what Zhao Zi’ang had said back then.
But he could smell the faint fragrance of medicine.
“Senior Brother, now everything you have will be mine! Just like this pill! The materials were personally gathered by Xu Qianlan Chief from Xuandan Peak for me to refine.
You, who have the best results in the Dan Hall, should know this is a top-tier Grade Four pill, the Yushan Dan! And you know I also have a single Water Attribute spirit root. You should understand how perfect this pill is for me…”
Blabbering on about something.
But Jiang Che was sure.
The last person he saw before losing consciousness was Zhao Zi’ang!
Maybe! The one who tossed him out to be fed to the dogs was also him!
……
Jiang Che woke from his dream.
He only felt his body enveloped in warmth.
It felt like he was soaking in a bath, inside a somewhat large tub.
The scent of medicine was strong but not pungent, and the water temperature was perfect.
But who did this?
He didn’t believe Lin Yin could do something like this.
In Jiang Che’s understanding, if Lin Yin gave a pet a bath, he doubted she would turn on warm water—more likely she’d just use cold water out of laziness.
Besides, Lin Yin didn’t keep pets.
Then who?
While Jiang Che was still wondering who had done this, the door to the room slowly opened.
“Creak—”
The wooden door groaned lazily as a fair hand gently pushed it open.
Xu Qianlan stepped inside.
She estimated Jiang Che should be awake, so she entered without hesitation.
She didn’t approach immediately but leaned casually against the doorframe, a long, snow-white leg casually extending from the slit of her robe.
This was Xu Qianlan’s usual way of teasing Jiang Che because she noticed he liked looking at legs, though she didn’t quite understand that.
She found it adorable how Jiang Che would avert his gaze.
Unfortunately, Jiang Che couldn’t see it now.
But he could imagine it clearly.
Out of habit, Jiang Che stood up and cupped his hands.
“Greetings, Chief Xu.”
Still unclear about the situation, Jiang Che stood.
Xu Qianlan didn’t mind; her eyes just became a bit more alert.
“Hm, you’re still the same as before. Although it seems you’ve become a bit bolder.”
Jiang Che didn’t understand what she meant at first, and Xu Qianlan simply let her gaze drop a little lower.