Upon hearing this, Gu Xianyu lowered her eyes, her expression tinged with faint sorrow.
It was a moment before she lifted her gaze:
“Senior…do you believe me?”
“Speak first.”
Jiang Tong wouldn’t side with someone just because they looked good. If she really made a mistake, ending up in this predicament was partly her own doing.
Gu Xianyu bit her rosy lips lightly, then began slowly:
“This is what happened…”
She explained everything, one thing at a time, and Jiang Tong got the general idea.
Gu Xianyu had only entered the immortal sect for a month.
Because of her Sanxi Zalinggen, none of the outer elders favored her, and so the sect assigned her to the Zayibu, making her a Zayiyu Disciple.
She’d thought she could cut ties with her past, but then a debt collector from Zhuxian Lou found her here, demanding that she pay off her mother’s gambling debt of thirty top-grade Lingshi within three days, or else be forced to become the leading courtesan of Zhuxian Lou.
Gu Xianyu was utterly crushed when she heard that amount.
Thirty top-grade Lingshi…when converted, that’s three hundred thousand low-grade Lingshi. A Zayiyu Disciple’s monthly allowance is ten low-grade Lingshi. If she worked without eating or drinking for thirty thousand months, she’d barely be able to fill that hole.
How much had that woman borrowed, and how much had she gambled away?
When the three-day deadline passed, the man in black did not show up. Gu Xianyu spent the next few days in constant anxiety, and just as she began to relax, something unexpected happened.
A fifty-year-old Qingyuan Fruit from the outer sect’s Lingyao Garden went missing, and since she was on duty there that day, she became the prime suspect.
Several Zayiyu Disciples came forward together to accuse her of being the thief. Although she’d never even seen those disciples before, under the weight of their accusations, Zhifa Tang captured her and whipped her without even asking for her explanation, confiscating her monthly allowance, not leaving her a single coin.
“I thought that just dying quietly in this shabby hut would be fine, at least I wouldn’t have to become the leading courtesan of Zhuxian Lou and sell myself for a few scraps of gold and jade…”
Gu Xianyu looked up, her voice soft, “That’s when you, Senior, appeared.”
Her gaze was mournful and fragile, stirring compassion in the onlooker.
Jiang Tong actually believed her. From an objective perspective, Gu Xianyu had no motive to steal the Qingyuan Fruit.
It was simple: Qingyuan Fruit has healing properties. Most commonly, it’s used as an ingredient for healing pills, but it can also be used for other types of pills.
A fifty-year-old Qingyuan Fruit was potent, with excellent healing effects. If Gu Xianyu had really stolen it, why didn’t she use it on herself after being whipped?
That logic would mean, “I steal a healing herb just to get caught, get whipped, and then use the herb to heal myself?”
“Where was the Zhifa Tang elder? Didn’t she show up? She didn’t even listen to your explanation?” Jiang Tong frowned. This matter wasn’t simple.
Gu Xianyu sighed, her fingertip brushing over her smooth, unblemished skin. Not long ago, this area was covered in whip marks.
“She did show up, but…she simply listened to the statements of those three Zayiyu Disciples and declared me guilty. As for the whereabouts of the Qingyuan Fruit, nothing more was said.”
At this, Jiang Tong felt most of his suspicions confirmed.
How could a conclusion be drawn so hastily based on just three Zayiyu Disciples’ testimony? Unless there were more complicated interests at play behind the scenes, he absolutely couldn’t believe it.
The worst-case scenario was that it was all an orchestrated setup. Gu Xianyu was being forced into a dead end with only two options left in front of her.
One: die. Two: yield to the threats of that man in black.
After a few moments of thought, he warned, “You’d best be careful. Those three Zayiyu Disciples wouldn’t have the guts to pull this off. There must be someone else behind it all.”
“Zhuxian Lou?” Gu Xianyu had already thought of this.
Jiang Tong said, “Perhaps…it’s even more complicated.”
The girl’s face paled slightly. More complicated? Then, in the worst case…
Immortal sect, immortal sect…is it really like this? Just like the mortal world, filled with intrigue everywhere.
Gu Xianyu looked lost, giving a melancholy smile, and said, “Then…what can I do? If Zhuxian Lou is in league with Shangyuan Sect, given my status as a Zayiyu Disciple, I can’t possibly fight them.”
“Wait.” Jiang Tong was a little taken aback. “What’s the name of this sect?”
“Shang…Shangyuan Sect…” Gu Xianyu looked at the bell in her palm, her eyes full of confusion.
Why did Senior react so strongly?
“Nanyu, Qingyang Prefecture, Shangyuan Sect?”
“That’s right.”
Jiang Tong’s head ached. He wanted to raise his hand to rub his temples, only to realize he was but a strand of Shen Nian.
This shabby wooden hut…since when did Shangyuan Sect have such rundown houses? When was Zhifa Tang so foul and murky? Even Zayiyu Disciples were treated well; it was impossible for them to suffer in the cold or be wronged like this.
A parallel world? Simulated illusion? Or…
“Senior, Senior?” Gu Xianyu tried to call out, “Are you still there?”
Her heart was uneasy. For some reason, Senior suddenly fell silent, as if he’d heard something unbelievable.
After a few seconds, Jiang Tong finally spoke slowly, “What year is it now in the Yuan Calendar?”
Gu Xianyu quietly breathed a sigh of relief. It was good that Senior was still there.
She bowed her head respectfully and answered, “Senior, it is now the 279th year of the Yuan Calendar.”
Exactly two hundred years ago.
Jiang Tong’s expression became complicated.
He looked around the wooden hut: the decaying tables and chairs, everything inside, all fell back upon this poorly dressed, somewhat familiar yet pitiful girl.
How could it be like this?
For the girl before him, this “Senior” came from two hundred years in the future, the 479th year of the Yuan Calendar.
The people he knew might not have been born yet in this era, or might still be nameless; the world he knew didn’t even exist in this era.
This wasn’t a game, nor was it a pocket world. Everything he did now was intricately connected to what would happen two hundred years later.
“Senior, are you…alright?” The girl asked cautiously, pulling Jiang Tong’s thoughts back to the present.
“It’s nothing, I was just thinking. I understand now.”
“Oh…”
Gu Xianyu tactfully didn’t ask further. Jiang Tong let out a light breath, lifted his gaze again to the girl before him.
Suddenly, a wild idea arose in his mind.
If he continued to help her, to cultivate her, would this girl before him one day become a peerless powerhouse two hundred years later, available for his use?
Just as he was about to speak, his sea of consciousness began to tremble. An invisible force pressed in from all sides, as if trying to push this wisp of Shen Nian back into the Chunqiu Bell.
Jiang Tong was caught off guard, but clearly sensed: he was about to leave this place.
Three streaks of golden light flashed in the air. At the last moment, Jiang Tong squeezed out every last bit of spiritual energy from his Dan Tian, passing on three items.
Gu Xianyu stood there stunned, clutching the bell, her mouth open in astonishment as she stared at the burst of golden light.
Could Senior be about to reveal himself?
But soon after, she felt a trace of disappointment.
The golden light lasted for three seconds. In the room, there suddenly appeared a sword, a scroll, and a small bulging pouch.
A voice rang in her ears:
“My soul force is insufficient. I am about to fall asleep. These three items I give you. Make good use of them. When next I awaken…”
The voice faded, growing quieter and quieter until it disappeared.
Gu Xianyu glanced at the bell, bowed her head in a small, formal salute, and solemnly put it away in her pouch.
She stepped forward to gently touch the sword’s blade, the cold steel sending a chill through her fingertips.
She opened the scroll, wild and powerful handwriting leaping off the page. Reading carefully, she found it was a personally written sword technique.
Its name—“Xiliu Sword Art”
Could it be Senior’s own handwriting…
Her delicate fingers brushed the characters. The girl closed her eyes, quietly feeling the texture of the brushstrokes, her breath calm and peaceful.
Senior wanted her to use the sword?
Even if she didn’t fully understand, she trusted in Senior’s arrangements—she would never, ever let Senior down.
Opening the pouch, Gu Xianyu counted. Not one more, not one less—exactly thirty Lingshi.
And all of them top-grade, perfect for repaying the debt to Zhuxian Lou.
But there was little joy on the girl’s face. She quietly tied the pouch, set the Lingshi aside.
She looked up at the sky and murmured:
“Senior, are you…testing me?”
……
Before the vision within the Chunqiu Bell, Jiang Tong showed a pleased smile.
Ah, she actually saw through me.
If Gu Xianyu had been overjoyed and chose to pay off the debt with the thirty Lingshi, Jiang Tong would likely have given up cultivating her.
Someone who’s willing to bow and scrape, to suffer calamity for no reason—no matter how much help they have, they won’t survive long in the cultivation world.
What he wanted to nurture was a ruthless person, not a layabout like himself and Shifu…
Speaking of Shifu, Jiang Tong could never quite figure him out. He thought he was laid-back, but Jiang Yueliu was even more indifferent much of the time.
If you had to blame someone, blame that so-called Shizu. Heh, probably the most hopelessly lazy person of all.
Just then, a surging energy flowed out from within the Chunqiu Bell, flooding rapidly into his body.
What the—what’s happening?
Jiang Tong was caught off guard, only to feel that energy circulating through his body for several cycles.
With a few surges, it was as if clouds parted, clarity breaking through as though the sky had been cleared.
Jiang Tong hurriedly sent his spiritual sense into his body, then stood there, utterly stunned.
Jingmai…he actually had four meridians opened all at once!