Inside the Spring and Autumn Bell.
“Ugh—ahhh!”
A flash of sword light swept by, and a pig-slaughtering scream echoed halfway up the mountain.
Dong Fan clutched his shoulder with his left hand, stumbling and collapsing to the ground, his terrified gaze fixed on the figure wielding the sword.
She… she actually dared to strike?!
“Senior…” Gu Xianyu stared at Dong Fan, who was wailing over his severed arm, her body trembling slightly.
“Senior, I really did it, I really did it…” The girl murmured in her heart, “I can wield my sword to defeat my enemies now too.”
Threatened, slandered, framed… Even when she knelt before the Hall of Enforcement, pleading bitterly and defending herself with all her strength, no one listened!
They beat her without caring for right or wrong, then threw her back out to fend for herself.
They called her useless, trash, a disgrace to the sect for stealing spirit herbs!
In the end, all she wanted—wasn’t it just a little fairness?
“If none of you care for fairness…” Gu Xianyu’s gaze flashed with determination, and the sword’s tip pointed straight at Dong Fan. “Then let my sword teach you what fairness truly is!”
“Spare, spare me, Fairy, please spare me!”
Seeing the tables turn, Dong Fan dared not posture anymore and groveled on the ground like a dog, begging for mercy.
His heart was in turmoil.
Gu Xianyu wasn’t at the second level of Qi Refining at all—she was clearly at the third!
Not only that, the speed of her sword light was so fast he couldn’t see it at all. Even with his fifth-level Qi Refining cultivation, he couldn’t react before his arm was cut off.
A fortuitous encounter—this piece of trash must have stumbled into something extraordinary!
The thought made Dong Fan’s greed and resentment surge, though on the surface, he appeared utterly submissive and trembling with fear.
“Fairy Gu, I was wrong, I was truly wrong! I’ll cancel all your debts, and I’ll never bother you again. Look, how about…”
Dong Fan carefully lifted his head, looking up at the girl with an expression that seemed genuinely pitiful.
He was well-versed in adapting to the situation. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have become the vice steward of Drunken Immortal Pavilion at such a young age.
Gu Xianyu gripped the sword hilt tighter. She truly wanted to skewer this trash Dong Fan with one strike.
But thinking of the Hall of Enforcement, and the power behind Drunken Immortal Pavilion, she immediately felt isolated and helpless.
“Just kill him.”
At that moment, Jiang Tong’s calm voice echoed in her mind. “Don’t be afraid. You still have me as your cheat, don’t you?”
Gu Xianyu didn’t know what a cheat was, but she chose to trust her senior.
Looking at Dong Fan, who lowered his brows and kept his gaze submissive, Gu Xianyu’s lips curled into a cold smile. She spoke.
“Very well.”
Dong Fan brightened, just about to say something when a cold light flashed before his eyes.
The world spun. Thud—his head hit the ground, and he saw a headless body gushing blood.
As his vision dimmed, he saw the girl flick the blood off her sword and softly ask,
“Senior, am I a qualified sword cultivator now?”
……
At the same time.
At the foot of Servant’s Peak.
A young girl in a black dress, her features striking, was ascending the mountain. Though she was clearly of tender years, her eyes carried a faint, alluring charm.
But if one looked carefully, a few people nearby were bowing and scraping with utmost caution. From their terrified expressions, it was obvious this black-dressed girl’s identity was anything but ordinary.
“Little Sect Master…” Elder Yan from the Servant Department asked carefully, “What brings you to visit the Servant Department today?”
The girl in the black dress ignored him, strolling leisurely through a few houses before finally speaking coldly, “So this is where the servant disciples live?”
“You jest, Little Sect Master. For hundreds of years, the servant disciples have always lived in these houses. After all, they’re the lowest-ranked disciples. As long as they have a roof over their heads…”
Under the black-dressed girl’s stare, Elder Yan’s voice grew smaller and smaller, cold sweat beading on his brow.
The girl, addressed as Little Sect Master, shifted her gaze to another person.
“Elder Du.”
“Little Sect Master, what are your orders?”
Elder Du bowed, not daring to slack off for a second.
This Little Sect Master’s temper was unpredictable—an absolute little devil. None of the elders present dared to cross her.
“I heard that some days ago, your Outer Sect Hall of Enforcement judged a servant disciple guilty of a crime.”
Is… is that so?
Elder Du’s eyes glazed over. As the Grand Elder of the Hall of Enforcement, he rarely paid attention to minor law enforcement cases.
Only when a major conflict arose—like one between disciples and elders—would he step in.
But on the surface, he bowed again and replied, “Such a thing did happen.”
No sooner had he finished than a cold hand pressed atop his skull. Elder Du dared not straighten, his knees trembling.
“So you truly know about it?”
“I…”
“If you were truly aware, why didn’t you go and review the case?”
The black-dressed girl spoke coldly.
Her right hand tightened its grip. Even though Elder Du was also at the Golden Core stage, he felt his eyes bulge and his head about to split—the old man was on the verge of being crushed.
“Little Sect Master, I admit my mistake! I was wrong!”
“You’re the Grand Elder of the Outer Sect Hall of Enforcement. What mistake could you possibly have?” The girl sounded puzzled, but her hand showed no sign of relenting.
“It was handled by my subordinates. There are several elders in the Hall of Enforcement—perhaps it was one of them who judged that disciple guilty…”
Elder Du hurriedly added, “Of course, I too bear some blame. If the case wasn’t clear, I share responsibility.”
The black-dressed girl slowly withdrew her hand, looking coldly at the gathered elders, her gaze icy to the core.
She had long felt that although Shangyuan Sect was large, its cohesion was steadily crumbling away.
For this reason, she’d taken the initiative to petition her father, vowing to change the current predicament of the Shangyuan Sect.
The servant disciples, as the sect’s foundation, reflected Shangyuan Sect’s true situation most vividly. After investigating recent events, one case drew her attention.
Why would this Gu Xianyu, a servant disciple, steal a healing spirit herb for no reason at all?
If the lives of disciples are disregarded, and no one cares about the truth of a case, it’s no wonder the hearts of the Shangyuan Sect’s people are drifting apart…
“Ugh—ahhh!”
Suddenly, a heart-wrenching scream came from halfway up the mountain.
Everyone looked up, especially the elders of the Servant Department, unease in their eyes.
The black-dressed girl’s gaze sharpened. With a tap of her toes, she swept upwards like a gust of black wind.
The rest exchanged uneasy glances and had no choice but to grit their teeth and hurry toward the source of the sound.
Several minutes later.
Upon seeing the scene in the courtyard, everyone except the black-dressed girl drew a sharp breath.
A headless corpse lay sprawled on the ground, blood splattered all around the courtyard. The head… had rolled off to the side.
“How cruel!”
Elder Yan couldn’t help but curse in outrage, forgetting completely how, when Gu Xianyu was about to die, she hadn’t spared her a single glance.
The very next moment, the black-dressed girl’s gaze swept over, and Elder Yan hurriedly clamped her mouth shut, not daring to utter another word.
At that moment, someone inside the house, having heard the commotion outside, quietly opened the door and stood with sword in hand, like a fairy clad in white.
“You all…” The white-robed girl was about to question them, but seeing Elder Yan from the Servant Department, she immediately understood where these people were from.
And the black-dressed girl standing in the middle…
Inside the bell, Jiang Tong, present only as a spiritual consciousness, was also stunned.
This person’s face is so familiar—why does everyone here look like someone I know?
“Junior Gu Xianyu greets the esteemed elders and senior sister.” Gu Xianyu bowed with clasped hands.
“So you are Gu Xianyu?”
The black-dressed girl gave a faint smile and pointed at the corpse on the ground. “Would you mind explaining what happened here?”
“Tell her.”
Jiang Tong sent a mental message to Gu Xianyu, sensing a vague premonition.
Perhaps, Gu Xianyu wouldn’t need to go to great lengths to find that certain person after all…
Gu Xianyu hesitated for a moment, then slowly began to recount the story.
From Dong Fan’s threats at her door, to her being punished unjustly, to her finally slaying Dong Fan with two strokes.
Of course, she omitted everything about Jiang Tong.
“Do… do you have any proof?”
Elder Du from the Hall of Enforcement couldn’t sit still. This matter concerned him closely—he certainly didn’t want to admit Gu Xianyu’s words.
Inside the Spring and Autumn Bell, Jiang Tong smiled faintly.
“Proof? Of course there is—hold out your hand.”
Gu Xianyu obediently extended her right palm.
Wiping away the golden light, an inconspicuous Image-Storing Stone lay in her palm.
Jiang Tong had recorded everything ahead of time and infused it with spiritual power. Now, it projected the previous scene automatically.
“To act violently within Shangyuan Sect, you can’t be certain who’ll be punished.”
“So you and the Hall of Enforcement are colluding after all!”
“And what if I am?”
……
The scene was silent. Elder Du’s throat bobbed as he stared blankly, cold sweat dripping down his face.
“Did you all see that?”
The black-dressed girl spoke slowly, her alluring eyes now filled with icy chill.
“Today, I—Yao Xining—will uphold justice for her.”