After many days away, the real world was approaching the end of the year, yet in the game world, the tips of the grass and leaves still shimmered with a hint of fresh green.
The autumn waters were piercingly cold. Nan Zhi leaped from the great river where she had been hiding. With her cultivation greatly increased, she traveled directly on the wind, losing her pursuers in moments.
She did not head toward Bianjing. Instead, she circled back and went straight to Dingyuan.
Having been on the run for several days, her greatest concern was the Nan family. If she hadn't been afraid of bringing trouble upon them, she would have returned home long ago.
Now, while Huiyuan was being held back in Xingyuan, the attention of most cultivators in the Great Song was focused on him.
No one would expect a minor Qi Refinement practitioner to have the courage to walk right back into the trap under the jurisdiction of the Northwest Circuit Demon Suppression Monastery.
With the boost from her artifacts, Nan Zhi arrived above Dingyuan in just a few breaths. Sure enough, near Lingbai Alley where the Nan family lived, she sensed over a dozen different divine senses.
The auras of these people varied in quality, but they were likely all there for her.
Although there was a consensus in the cultivation world not to attack mortals, it didn't stop them from lying in wait here.
“Go!”
Nan Zhi tapped the air, and eight paper figures transformed into eight points of spiritual light, heading straight for the cultivators hidden in the shadows!
The paper figures were not living beings. They descended silently from the clouds, and not a single person noticed them.
In the blink of an eye, over a dozen scouts at the Qi Refinement stage went limp, lying half-paralyzed on the ground.
To subdue over a dozen fellow cultivators in a single encounter?!
What kind of wicked technique was this?!
The group was struck with terror, immediately realizing that the demon suppressor who had defected from the Demon Suppression Division had likely appeared.
Some tried to call for help, only to find their meridians blocked and their spiritual energy slowly draining away—
This person is definitely not at the Qi Refinement stage!!
Before these cultivators could speak, over a dozen tree roots and blades of grass sprouted from the ground, firmly binding the sprawled men.
Nan Zhi scanned her fellow cultivators and noticed two or three wearing the purple robes of the Demon Suppression Division. She made her judgment and, without a word, went straight into the Nan family courtyard.
The Nan family was not there.
Nan Zhi had already realized this when she scanned the area with her divine sense.
The small courtyard remained exactly as it had been when she left.
To the east hung the iron hook Nan Dazhuang used for hanging pigs. The half-standing bench was covered in dark, dried bloodstains, likely left behind when Nan Yi and Nan Dazhuang were slaughtering pigs.
The kitchen door was wide open. A row of pickle jars sat by the yard, and two pieces of cured meat and dried fish hung haphazardly, bearing the marks of a knife.
The rooms were also tidy. Clothes and quilts were folded together. The basket Nan Ye used for needlework sat horizontally by the pillow, containing a piece of embroidery that had been hurriedly set aside halfway through.
It didn't look like someone had broken in and taken them by force.
Nan Zhi scanned again with her divine sense, unwilling to miss any clues. In a corner of the kitchen, she discovered eight small characters written in soot:
“Mayflies shaking the heavens, born at dawn and dying at dusk.”
Just as she was scratching her head in confusion, she suddenly felt someone approaching rapidly. After seeing the person's identity, Nan Zhi's brow twitched. She leaped onto the roof, intentionally leading the newcomer toward the outskirts of the city—
“Tofu! Delicious tofu! Freshly ground tofu...”
“Fruit for sale! Sweet fruit, perilla ginger! Pear-meat sweets, dried plum preserves!”
“New arrivals at the shop! ‘Thousand-Day Drunk’ and ‘Pear Flower Brew’! Drink warm wine in autumn with a bite of honey-glazed roasted rabbit! A Bo-Xia-Gong hotpot that even immortals wouldn't trade!”
“Fine new satin, brought by water from the north! Come have a look, Lady, this fabric is top-quality!”
The vendors in Lingbai Alley continued their cries as usual, completely unaware of what had just happened.
...
...
On the outskirts of the city, two figures—one in black and one in purple—arrived one after the other at a dense forest of bamboo. Green waves rippled through the lush grove. Although it was late autumn, the bamboo remained vibrant.
However, no matter how one looked at it, the person in black seemed to have intentionally lured the pursuer here.
“Fellow Daoist Nan! Please wait!”
The purple-clad cultivator finally spoke, his face full of helplessness.
“You clearly recognized me just now. You know I wouldn't raise a hand against a friend, so why go to the trouble of leading me all the way out here?”
“Though Dingyuan is remote, it is still under the jurisdiction of the Northwest Circuit Demon Suppression Monastery. While I have no wish to fight my colleagues from the Demon Suppression Division, I feared the commoners might be caught in the crossfire if a battle broke out.”
Nan Zhi landed lightly on the tip of a bamboo stalk, crossing her arms as she looked at the newcomer.
“It has been many days, Fellow Daoist Shen, and you are as dashing as ever. But where is Fellow Daoist Hua? Are you here to capture me this time, or to persuade me to surrender?”
The newcomer was Shen Luohe, whom Nan Zhi had met once before and considered a friend.
“If I didn't know you had a mischievous streak, I would certainly take offense at that question. It's a good thing my junior sister isn't here; otherwise, she'd be poking a few holes in you with her sword after hearing that.”
Shen Luohe rolled his eyes in annoyance.
“You've been gone for months in Bianjing. Before you left, you even entrusted Xijian and me to look after your family. I thought your righteous actions would make you famous across the world.”
“Who would have thought you'd become famous, but for all the wrong reasons? Every cultivator in the Great Song knows the name Nan Zhi now, but as a villain. Rest assured, Xijian and I both know your character. Someone who hates evil as much as you do, who was willing to go to such lengths for a stranger like Wanniang, could never commit such atrocities. As for your family, they were taken to the Northwest Circuit Demon Suppression Monastery for protection long ago. Do not worry.”
“Thank you. It seems there are still one or two clear-eyed people in this world.”
Nan Zhi tapped her toes and descended with incredible grace.
“I knew it was a wise choice to entrust my family to the two of you. My thanks.”
“I didn't get a good look before, but now that I see you closely, your attire is much more extravagant than before. Tsk, tsk, a Black Heavenly Silk Garment. An inch of that is worth a hundred gold.”
Shen Luohe flicked open his fan and teased her.
“It seems your temporary assignment to Bianjing wasn't entirely without gain.”
Nan Zhi was a fourth-class demon suppressor under the Northwest Circuit Demon Suppression Monastery. Her trip to Bianjing had been a temporary transfer to assist in an investigation.
Technically, she still belonged to the Northwest Circuit Demon Suppression Monastery, and Shen Luohe, as a Supervisory Officer, was effectively her superior.
“To investigate the case of the Ghost Market traffickers, I worked with... colleagues from the Demon Suppression Division to capture the evil cultivator Duan Chunming. This was just a disguise. I've been pursued ever since, sleeping in the wild and eating on the run. I haven't even had time to change.”
Nan Zhi instinctively touched the main body of Xu Zi tied to her waist but did not mention her, only asking with effort, “How is my family? Have my matters affected them?”
Shen Luohe waved his fan, his expression pausing for a moment before he smiled somewhat unnaturally.
“They are all well, of course. You should know that although word has come from Bianjing, the Monastery Head has not cleared you from the registry of the Demon Suppression Division. Technically, as long as you haven't been officially removed, you are still a fourth-class demon suppressor of the Northwest Circuit Demon Suppression Monastery, and others cannot touch you easily.”
“When you first took the post, you were so preoccupied with Wanniang's injustice that you rushed to Bianjing to plead her case. You never lit a Heart-Fire Longevity Lamp or left an Essence-Blood Life Tablet at the monastery. Now that you're back, you really should go pay your respects to the old master.”
“That way, perhaps your name can be cleared sooner.”
The Monastery Head of the Northwest Circuit Demon Suppression Monastery?
Wasn't that the master of Shen Luohe and Hua Xijian, Daoist Qinglong?
Rate on N.U.
