Chapter 51: Jia Xianren’s Frustration

Yun Yan didn’t probe any further.

He merely glanced past Xu Qianlan and walked straight up to Jiang Che’s side.

It seemed this child was indeed Jiang Che.

If Xu Qianlan hadn’t gone through the trouble, even she might not have suspected a thing.

This was a classic case of “hiding the silver in plain sight”~

Xu Qianlan’s heart tightened.

Everyone, except Lin Yin, knew well about Jiang Che’s talent.

If the Sect Master shamelessly took the boy away, what was she supposed to do?

Yun Yan paid no mind to Xu Qianlan’s thoughts. His gaze grew heavy as he looked at the boy.

Although reversing aging went against Heaven’s Will, he trusted Lin Yin’s judgment.

“Poor child…”

Though unaware of what exactly had happened to Jiang Che, he pressed his hand against Jiang Che’s chest.

Seeing this, Xu Qianlan grew anxious immediately.

“Just look, why’s he touching him?”

But Yun Yan didn’t do anything untoward.

Instead, he did what both Lin Yin and Xu Qianlan had done before.

He directly probed into Jiang Che’s body, feeling the state of his physical condition.

Yun Yan closed his eyes, immersing his entire consciousness into this internal inspection.

In no time, he saw through the entire body and discovered that strange bug inside Jiang Che.

The insect seemed full and was asleep, yet it was very alert.

Sensing Yun Yan’s spiritual awareness, it immediately became vigilant.

But Yun Yan merely willed it, and a far more overwhelming and profound aura suppressed the Shi Ling Gu directly.

The Shi Ling Gu trembled as if it wanted to retreat, but since it controlled Jiang Che’s life, Yun Yan quickly understood its predicament.

After simply subduing it, he withdrew his divine sense.

Xu Qianlan, watching beside him, was stunned.

She hadn’t expected that thing could be suppressed by the Sect Master!

This usually laid-back Sect Master wasn’t so simple after all!

The reason Xu Qianlan thought this way was because Yun Yan rarely showed his true strength.

He usually just wandered around the sect like an old grandfather enjoying leisure time.

She had only heard that he even mastered the Shenxiao Sect’s strongest Divination Technique, capable of glimpsing the secrets of Heaven.

After retracting his divine sense, Yun Yan sighed deeply over Jiang Che’s condition.

Xu Qianlan couldn’t sit still any longer.

“Sect Master, why are you sighing?”

“Nothing. Since this child is not Jiang Che, then take good care of him. I have urgent matters and must leave.”

With that, Yun Yan vanished from sight, leaving Xu Qianlan behind.

Above the mist, Yun Yan stroked his beard in self-pity.

He lamented Jiang Che’s condition—his cultivation was shattered, his spiritual root severed.

Now, not only was his spiritual root gone, but he was also burdened with a strange parasite.

But Yun Yan knew what that thing was. Where it came from, however, remained a mystery.

His expression no longer casual, he quietly gazed at the six peaks of the Shenxiao Sect.

“Sigh, Lin Yin’s mistake was hers alone…

But how was I without fault? I knew Jiang Che’s nature but still stood by and did nothing.

Yet all of this was for the sect…”

……

The cool night breeze blew through.

This was the moon from a few days ago. Autumn was near, and even the moon was full.

The Spring in Shuiquan Village originally resembled a round moon, its crystal-clear water reflecting the lunar image.

At this season, it was a picturesque sight.

But now, the shape of the Spring was destroyed, and the water was no longer clear.

The village that once had crisscrossing paths and the sounds of chickens and dogs now lay in ruins.

Wooden houses had turned to charcoal.

“Damn it! That was such a big village of mine!”

Jia Xianren wore the same robe, his face still as sly as ever.

Yet his expression was filled with rage.

He had rushed out from Su Qinghan’s Linyue Pavilion and was now speeding toward the village.

On the way here, he had thought up dozens of reasonable ways to take that little blind boy away.

But as he passed through the forest, he saw this scene.

The village was devoid of any life.

Everything was destroyed, so thoroughly that it could easily have been a massacre by fire. Not a single person was in sight.

But why?

He had only been gone about five days. What could have caused such devastation?

“Damn it, leave me at least one survivor of this village! What a curse!”

Jia Xianren cursed loudly. Civilized people’s manners were only skin-deep; curses were the real soul.

But now, just as he had some leads, they were gone. Plus, he was poisoned…

Faced with life and death, the Qi Refining Initial Stage Jia Xianren felt he hadn’t lived enough yet.

Just as he pondered where to search next, he heard a strange sound.

Were there still survivors here? Could it be some man-eating monster?

He recalled the village’s He Shen, unsure of the details.

Could that guy have slaughtered the village out of anger?

Jia Xianren’s heart skipped a beat, his scalp tingling.

Having traveled far and wide, pulling tricks for years, he still had enough courage to sneak a look.

He swallowed hard and tiptoed toward the sound.

Bypassing a pile of huge debris that smelled of ember and burnt wood, the area ahead suddenly opened up.

Then, he saw it.

Amidst the blackened charcoal and collapsed earthen walls, a figure stood upright.

The pale moonlight shone coldly upon the person.

They stood sideways to Jia Xianren, hair long and tangled into filthy clumps, like withered wild grass, hanging loosely to cover the back of their head and neck, completely hiding the face.

Not particularly tall or short, about 1.6 meters.

Their clothes were in tatters, patched and patched again like a beggar’s rags.

The entire person looked gray and filthy, even more wretched than the poorest beggar.

A living person? Or just a passing beggar?

Jia Xianren pondered.

Suddenly, the person shouted loudly.

“Damn! How the hell did my whole village disappear! Where the hell am I supposed to find people now!?”

The voice was female.

And she sounded furious, her tone similar to Jia Xianren’s, though without stealing the spotlight.

She even sounded pissed off enough to have an accent.

“Crack~”

At that moment, Jia Xianren accidentally crushed a piece of charcoal beneath his foot.

The person instantly whipped their head around and looked toward him.

Jia Xianren wasn’t flustered upon being spotted.

He intended to greet her, since seeing a living person here felt incredibly comforting.

But the other party paused, as if unreactive.

“Ah! Ghost!!”

She immediately turned and fled without hesitation.

Jia Xianren reached out a hand, watching her retreating back, not even daring to glance back.

He was instantly irritated to the point of grinding his teeth.

“What the hell! Just because I look a bit sleazy doesn’t mean I’m a ghost.”

Jia Xianren felt deeply disappointed. He thought they shared a goal, but this girl’s courage was just too small.

He had wanted to say that the Linyue Pavilion’s Sect Master might have hired more than one person to help her search.

If that were true, the other person might still hold clues.