"Let's see who the message is from first," Feng Qingping said considerately, as she and Feng Weilan tactfully stepped back to give Li Nanzhu some private space.
Li Nanzhu opened the communication message, and a gentle wave of spiritual energy rippled out. Mu Wenyan’s clear, refined voice flowed out like water:
"Little Junior Sister, I haven't been able to receive any messages while in the secret realm recently, and I only just learned of your news today..."
The voice was as reassuring as always. Li Nanzhu's tense shoulders relaxed unconsciously. Her eldest senior brother prattled on about many things, never once mentioning cultivation from beginning to end, but instead repeatedly urging her to rest, every word steeped in concern.
"No matter what, I and your other senior brothers and sisters will always be your support..."
The corners of Li Nanzhu's mouth lifted without her even realizing it. Just as she was about to respond, a piece of information came through the jade slip that made her entire body go stiff:
"...Lately, the cultivation world has been abuzz with rumors that the genius girl from the Sword Heart Sect not only successfully reached Foundation Establishment, but even assisted her fellow disciples in slaying a Golden Core stage evil cultivator while still at the Qi Condensation stage..."
Suisui keenly sensed her abnormality, its bone claws gently tugging at the hem of her clothes. Feng Qingping and Feng Weilan also cast inquiring looks her way.
"Little Junior Sister?" Feng Qingping approached with concern. "What happened?"
Li Nanzhu's fingertips gripped the jade slip so hard her knuckles turned white. She opened her mouth, but no sound came out. Only one thought echoed frantically in her mind—this plot point never existed in the original story!
With trembling fingers, Li Nanzhu opened the interface for Tingfeng Pavilion. Sure enough, she immediately saw a gilded title pinned at the very top—
『SHOCK! Sword Heart Sect’s genius girl Cang Dongqing assisted in slaying a Golden Core evil cultivator while still in Qi Condensation!』
Below the title, the words "Memory Stone Recording" were highlighted in blood-red letters, with a helpful "Pay to Unlock" prompt right next to it.
"..." Li Nanzhu's mouth twitched, but she quickly paid the spirit stones anyway.
Of course, she didn't forget to give her fifth senior sister and sixth senior brother a brief explanation of what was happening. Upon hearing it, the two exchanged a glance and quickly opened their own communication jade slips as well.
At that moment, the jade slip in Li Nanzhu's hand flashed with light, and an image unfolded—
Cang Dongqing held a poison-coated dagger, the toxic blade accurately piercing into the evil cultivator's dantian!
In the instant the evil cultivator’s body froze, the sword light and spiritual energy of Lin Shuang and Le Changxi slashed across in a cross pattern, and his head exploded instantly!
The image came to an abrupt halt, finally freezing on Cang Dongqing’s blood-stained profile. Her gaze was sharp, yet the corners of her mouth carried a faint, almost imperceptible smile.
After thinking for a moment, Feng Qingping said, "Though the information from Tingfeng Pavilion is expensive, they never fabricate stories. This memory stone recording should be real."
Feng Weilan nodded. "That evil cultivator is indeed dead, and it truly was thanks to her dagger."
Li Nanzhu’s heart sank.
The plot had completely deviated.
Her knuckles were slightly white as she held the communication jade slip, dragging the progress bar to replay the footage repeatedly. She felt that things were becoming increasingly more unexpected.
Seeing that Li Nanzhu’s expression was wrong, Feng Qingping leaned over and asked, "What’s the matter?"
She and Feng Weilan had already learned the gist of what happened in the Forest of Demonic Beasts from Zhu Yinxi. Seeing Li Nanzhu’s face so solemn, she couldn't help but feel worried.
Li Nanzhu’s fingertip suddenly hovered three inches above the memory stone's image. In the light screen outlined by spiritual energy, the blood-stained corner of Cang Dongqing's clothes was magnified to the extreme. Feng Qingping suddenly let out a "Huh?"
"This bloodstain..." Feng Qingping muttered.
"It's the soaking-type," Feng Weilan said, standing behind Li Nanzhu at some point. His well-defined fingers swiped across the light screen. "Splattered blood should be in a radial pattern."
Li Nanzhu’s heart skipped a beat as she quickly pulled up the moment the evil cultivator struck.
In the image, Lin Shuang’s right abdomen suddenly erupted in a spray of blood, while Cang Dongqing just happened to be standing diagonally behind her. Only when Lin Shuang bent over in agony did Cang Dongqing’s dagger thrust out through the gap under her arm.
"A time lag," Feng Qingping’s array disk floated in the air, projecting a trajectory simulated by spiritual energy. "From the moment this female cultivator was struck to the moment Cang Dongqing took action, there was an interval of at least two breaths."
Li Nanzhu suddenly hit the pause button. The image froze at the moment Cang Dongqing thrust her dagger; the folds in the sleeve of her right arm were in an unnaturally tight state.
The three of them stared at the corpse of the evil cultivator in the memory stone recording, their fingers unconsciously tightening.
The room fell into silence, with only Suisui’s soul fire flickering uneasily. Feng Qingping’s array disk stopped spinning, and Feng Weilan’s brow furrowed deeply.
"The strangest thing is..." Li Nanzhu spoke slowly, her voice a bit dry, "How exactly did this memory stone get leaked?"
Her words were like a stone thrown into a calm lake.
Feng Qingping frowned. "According to the footage in the memory stone and what Second Senior Brother told us, there should have been only four people from Sword Heart Sect left in that situation..."
"And that evil cultivator," Feng Weilan added coldly.
Li Nanzhu shook her head. "The evil cultivator is dead; it’s impossible for him to have recorded it himself..." She paused and then continued, "Even if he had accomplices, an evil cultivator wouldn't build momentum for a sect disciple... But it's also impossible for Cang Dongqing to have recorded it from this angle herself..." Speaking to this point, she suddenly froze as a terrifying thought surfaced in her mind, "Unless... someone recorded this scene on purpose!"
Meanwhile, at Sword Heart Sect.
The person they were discussing was currently standing in the center of the martial arts arena, surrounded by a crowd of disciples. The way those disciples looked at her was even more fervent than before, even carrying a hint of awe. Cang Dongqing’s face wore a perfectly appropriate, shy smile.
"Senior Sister Cang, I heard you assisted Senior Sister Lin and Senior Brother Le in slaying a Golden Core evil cultivator?" a disciple approached, face full of admiration.
Cang Dongqing smiled slightly, her tone humble. "It was just luck. If Senior Sister Lin and Senior Brother Le hadn't taken action, what chance would I have had?"
"In the memory stone from Tingfeng Pavilion, it was you who used a poison dagger to restrain the evil cultivator first, only then was there a chance to kill him!"
When she heard the words 'memory stone', Cang Dongqing’s heart skipped a beat. She lowered her head and pursed her lips, her fingers unconsciously rubbing the jade pendant at her waist. "You’re flattering me too much by saying that," she said softly. "Without them, even if I had restrained him, it would have been to no avail."
As soon as she said this, just as she had expected, she received even more praise from her fellow disciples.
Out of the corner of her eye, she glimpsed Lin Shuang standing alone in the distance, a dark, unreadable emotion flashing through her own eyes.
Just as the disciples were about to ask more, Le Changxi gently interrupted the crowd’s pursuit. "My Little Junior Sister has just broken through to Foundation Establishment and still needs to stabilize her cultivation." As he spoke, he unobtrusively separated her from the nearby disciples, while also pulling Cang Dongqing’s thoughts back to reality.
"Thank you, Senior Brother." She lowered her head to hide the gloom in her eyes. As she turned away, the communication jade slip in the hidden pocket of her sleeve was vibrating slightly.
It wasn't until she returned to her quarters and the door was tightly shut that the humble smile on Cang Dongqing’s face vanished instantly.
She stared at the message on the jade slip, her nails digging deep into her palm.
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