"Little Junior Sister, Little Junior Sister! There's more big gossip!"
Early the next morning, Duan Xianxing charged into Li Nanzhu's courtyard again. However, Li Nanzhu had risen quite early today; as soon as he entered, he saw her eating at the table.
Seeing Li Nanzhu push some food toward him, Duan Xianxing didn't stand on ceremony. With a chuckle, he picked up a bun and began to eat.
"Li'l Junior Shishter, look at the communica-shion... jade slip!"
"Seventh Senior Brother, you can finish the bun before you speak."
But Li Nanzhu didn't need a reminder; she had already seen the message.
Just as she had thought, it was the recording of Li Nanyi being beaten into a pig's head and stripped bare. Though it was quite blurry, the caption explicitly named a direct disciple of the Sword Heart Sect.
Combining this with the news of Ling Xiao charging into the Wuji Sect yesterday, people naturally guessed it must be one of Ling Xiao's disciples.
Ling Xiao's first disciple, Qi Yunze, had a cultivation at the Golden Core peak and couldn't possibly have been mugged. His second disciple, Lin Qinghe, was currently leading a sect mission elsewhere. His third disciple, Gu Huai, had been seen at the auction house yesterday. As for his fourth disciple, Le Changxi, he actually appeared in the background of that very recording. Having excluded the other four, that only left the fifth disciple, Li Nanyi.
One had to admit that when the people of the cultivation world gossiped, they were truly comparable to modern paparazzi, able to dig up exactly who someone was.
"It's a pity this footage is a bit blurry and from quite a distance. If it were replaced with the one in my hand, it would be much better—the special edition where he's hanging from a tree," Duan Xianxing remarked with some regret, though he was only joking.
Firstly, there was no need to take things to such an extreme; they had already given him a beating. Keeping that Memory Stone was only to prevent him from causing trouble in the future, using it as leverage to keep him in check.
Secondly, the current rumors didn't explicitly name him. Although everyone knew in their hearts it was Li Nanyi and would discuss it in secret, if this recording were truly released, Ling Xiao would certainly pursue the matter to the end.
"Watching this joke play out has been enough for now. Li Nanyi has likely lost all face; he won't be leaving his sect for a while."
Li Nanzhu smiled as she poured a cup of tea. Now that Li Nanyi had been humiliated to this extent, would Cang Dongqing still keep him on the hook? Would she offer gentle comfort or distance herself?
Li Nanzhu felt it was more likely that Cang Dongqing would comfort him in private, but in public, she might not be as close as before. Then again, she might directly refute everyone and stand firmly by Li Nanyi's side. However, that possibility was slim; after all, a place like the Sword Heart Sect, full of sword cultivators, was a world where strength was respected above all else.
Moreover, Li Nanyi was a direct disciple of Immortal Venerable Ling Xiao.
For a direct disciple to be beaten like this and lose so much face—tsk tsk—Li Nanzhu couldn't even imagine how miserable it must be for Li Nanyi within his sect.
She couldn't help but feel a bit of schadenfreude; Li Nanyi was likely to lose not only his face but his sweetheart as well.
After all, Cang Dongqing was not the type of person to give up an entire forest for a single tree, especially since her official male lead wasn't Li Nanyi.
But this wasn't without its benefits. Perhaps Li Nanyi would survive because Cang Dongqing abandoned him?
Although Li Nanzhu disliked Li Nanyi, she didn't hate him enough to want him dead. Furthermore, in the original novel, she remembered that Li Nanyi had died while trying to save villagers besieged by the demon race. He had already contacted the Sword Heart Sect for reinforcements, but because of Cang Dongqing's selfishness, the rescue was delayed, and Li Nanyi was eventually swarmed and killed.
Until his death, he never knew that he had died because of the schemes of the little junior sister he loved most. Putting aside his brainless defense of Cang Dongqing, he was at least a good man when it came to the greater good.
Otherwise, he could have easily abandoned those commoners and escaped on his own. He could have lived, so why fight to the last breath?
However, one thing was separate from the other. Li Nanzhu felt that this was inherently the responsibility of disciples from the great sects. Since they enjoyed the top resources, protecting the cultivation world could be considered their duty.
If they couldn't even manage that, what right did they have to be called direct disciples of the top eight sects? Why cultivate or become a sword cultivator at all if they were just going to run away? What happened to the relentless way of the sword?
Li Nanzhu had no intention of interfering in others' fates—everyone had their own destiny. If she hadn't felt that her first senior brother and seventh senior brother were truly good to her, she might not have moved to change their fates either.
If she could change Li Nanyi's doomed fate in the process, Li Nanzhu felt it was acceptable.
After all, he actually got things done.
Even though the fates of those people had nothing to do with her.
But having experienced the thin line between life and death countless times on the battlefield in her previous life, Li Nanzhu had always felt that life was a precious thing that should not be taken lightly. That was why she had chosen to save people whenever she could in her past life, even though that mindset didn't quite apply here in the cultivation world.
Yet, the vast majority of people in the cultivation world were still ordinary people. They would spend their lives looking up at the lofty immortals, envying those cultivators who could fly on swords. At the very least, their lives should belong in their own hands.
They shouldn't lose their lives just because of a demon invasion.
Thinking of this, Li Nanzhu felt she was being a bit ridiculous.
She couldn't even control her own destiny. So what if life was precious? Hadn't she become a war correspondent because she had a death wish? Li Nanzhu suddenly felt her thoughts were rather pretentious.
Or perhaps, she couldn't even understand what she was doing or thinking right now.
The fates of others, the lives of others—they had nothing to do with her.
Yes, they were irrelevant.
She only needed to change the fates of her first senior brother and seventh senior brother.
Turning her head to look at the bright and cheerful Duan Xianxing, Li Nanzhu felt that things were actually quite good right now.
If Cang Dongqing stopped coming to cause trouble, she didn't want to deal with her anymore. As long as they stayed away, her first senior brother's secret wouldn't be discovered, he wouldn't be hunted down, and her seventh senior brother wouldn't die seeking revenge against Cang Dongqing.
So, should she just become a slacking salted fish from now on?
"Hehe, let me see how the Sword Heart Sect is reacting now." Duan Xianxing seemed to be looking at something on his communication jade slip again.
Li Nanzhu stopped her wandering thoughts and also scrolled through her communication jade slip. However, after flipping through, she didn't see any other new information, so she leaned over to look at Duan Xianxing's slip.
"Seventh Senior Brother, how do you know what's happening over at the Sword Heart Sect?"
"There's a message platform, also built by Tingfeng Pavilion. All cultivators with communication jade slips can post whatever information they want on it so others can see. It's free, too, though it's not always accurate. Everyone just reads it for fun."
Li Nanzhu re-examined her jade slip. Sure enough, there were functions she hadn't discovered yet. This message platform was equivalent to the forums of her previous life; anything could be posted on it, and it even had an anonymous feature.
No wonder Tingfeng Pavilion could become the number one information channel in the cultivation world; the things they came up with were hardly different from the modern world.
As expected, Li Nanzhu saw anonymous posters reporting on the current situation at the Sword Heart Sect.
'Someone-or-other has been hauled off to the Sovereign Hall again.'
'Word is that elders from the Hall of Discipline are there too.'
'They lost so much face this time. Immortal Venerable Ling Xiao even went to the Wuji Sect to complain. It was almost hushed up, but then Tingfeng Pavilion spread the news. Whoever sold them that info is truly wicked!'
'Poor Senior Brother, I actually liked him quite a bit!'
'To the person above, do you still like him now that he looks like a pig's head?'
It was clear these were all Sword Heart Sect disciples, each one frantically sharing anonymous gossip as if afraid others wouldn't find out.
Li Nanyi likely wouldn't be able to come out for at least half a year after this.
Who would be following Cang Dongqing around next time? Li Nanzhu suddenly found herself looking forward to it.
Rate on N.U.
