Chapter 12

This person truly is difficult to understand.

Su Zhen said lightly, “I’m going to the market to buy some snacks. Maybe next time I’ll share some with your senior apprentice uncle.”

No way.

The food there isn’t very good; she was just eating it to show off to Zhou Ziheng.

But—

Was it because Zhou Ziheng was already dead beyond help, and his master could only go retrieve the body, so it didn’t matter if it was a bit earlier or later? Or was it because he wanted to probe her whereabouts without asking too directly, which led him to say something like that?

The Immortal Lord Yuchen gazed at Su Zhen.

She met his gaze calmly and asked, “Master, why are you standing up? Are you preparing to hit me? Or are you about to leave?”

“Why would I hit you? Have you gotten into trouble again?” Yuchen said as he casually pointed his finger. A white streak of light shot out from the doorway, soaring into the sky and disappearing from their sight in the blink of an eye.

“…I was just sending my illusionary form to retrieve the fifth brother’s remains.”

“Ah?”

Su Zhen feigned surprise. “Fifth junior brother? What happened to him?”

“What?! Fifth senior brother?!” Liu Yunyao was shocked, her mind racing through countless thoughts. “Master, where is the fifth senior brother now?”

“Blood Maple Mountain,” Yuchen said calmly. “He’s already there, and he bears the bloodmark of the Soul Devouring Sect.”

Already at the wreckage?

Su Zhen thought silently how fast that was.

The technique of the illusionary form involves condensing a doppelganger with spiritual power. It can exist independently, controlled by the caster’s mind, and the caster can share sensory information through it.

The duration and range depend on the caster’s cultivation level.

Usually, the illusionary form can only utilize part of the caster’s strength, depending on how much spiritual power is invested.

The illusionary form Yuchen had sent only spoke two sentences’ worth of time but had already reached Blood Maple Mountain.

Not only that, it had even dug out fragmented remains from inside those monsters to reveal the bloodmark. Otherwise, it wouldn’t have been visible.

Su Zhen calculated that if she were her past self, completing such a task would take at least a good quarter of an hour.

The gap between Golden Immortal Realm and Quasi-Saint Realm was indeed like a chasm.

She was lost in thought for a moment when her junior sister began to cry. “How could this happen! Why would senior brother go to such a place? That—”

Su Zhen turned her head. “Junior sister, you haven’t left the mountain all these years. Do you even know what Blood Maple Mountain is?”

Liu Yunyao wiped her tears. “I only heard about it from senior brother.”

Su Zhen was pleased to hear that. “So Zhou Ziheng himself said he was going to Blood Maple Mountain?”

Liu Yunyao might not be familiar with the fairy mountains and blessed lands of the Eastern Domain, but she knew well enough where monsters dwelled and where gates to the Demon Realm existed.

Of course, she couldn’t say the real reason, and just as she was about to make a few more excuses, their master stepped in to help.

“…The item hasn’t been stolen,” Immortal Lord Yuchen suddenly said, extending his hand.

He flipped his palm in the air, and between his fingers shimmered a white light that faded to reveal a deep green and mottled white ring, stained with spots of blood.

This type of ring was crafted from Mustard Jade, a storage treasure commonly used by immortals. Though small, it contained a vast internal space capable of holding various materials and treasures.

Similar to a Space Bag but more costly.

Liu Yunyao gasped, “It’s senior brother’s ring!”

Su Zhen rested her chin on her hand, staring at the ring for a while, pondering the speed at which the illusionary form transmitted the item to the master.

Yuchen glanced at her.

Snapping back to reality, Su Zhen pretended to be serious. “Is everything inside intact?”

She didn’t have a good relationship with her junior brother, nor was she the type to repay kindness with enmity. But it wouldn’t be right to act sorrowful now.

So besides expressing surprise, she was too lazy to act further. “Let’s see if someone killed him for his treasure—”

Yuchen sighed helplessly. “How would I know what was originally inside his ring?”

If Zhou Ziheng had come to see him before leaving the mountain, he could sense what was inside the ring, but since Zhou left directly, he had no idea what the ring contained.

Su Zhen shrugged. “Maybe ask the Zhou family?”

Yuchen gave no clear response.

He didn’t care whether the Zhou family accepted the news calmly or came here to cause a scene; he just subconsciously didn’t want to deal with those people.

Su Zhen knew he disliked such situations and found it amusing.

Liu Yunyao stared blankly at the ring, tears silently falling again.

Su Zhen decided to make a move. “I’m leaving then.”

Liu Yunyao lifted her head at her words.

Clearly, there was no chance to mention Leng Xiang again.

Thinking so only deepened her sadness.

Though Zhou Ziheng had cared for her a little because she always spoke well of him and was thought to be incompetent, he had never treated her badly, and she did not want misfortune to befall him.

Liu Yunyao cried harder, unwilling to let her leave just like that, fearing that once she went into seclusion, who knew when they might meet again.

“Senior sister, are you… really just going?”

“Huh?”

Su Zhen was already at the door. “If I died, Zhou Ziheng would probably laugh on the spot. I’m already giving him face.”

---

Liu Yunyao hesitated to speak. “If only you had treated him differently from the start…”

Su Zhen turned back. “I treated him politely at first, but since I didn’t flatter him, he took a dislike to me. Is that my fault too?”

Liu Yunyao had no retort. “…Senior sister, you’re not at fault.”

When she first entered the sect, Su Zhen hadn’t made things difficult for her. She had fulfilled the duties of a senior sister with proper courtesy—not warm or friendly, but no fault either.

The Danger Cloud Peak was full of those who flattered the high and looked down on the low. Jealous of a useless waste who couldn’t refine spiritual roots becoming the disciple of an immortal lord, some had even spoken coldly to Su Zhen.

Compared to them, Su Zhen was much better—at least she never truly made things hard for her.

But for Zhou Ziheng, simple politeness wasn’t enough. Since they were about the same age and he was inferior in every way, jealousy naturally grew.

If Su Zhen had gotten along well with him, it might have been different.

But she was typical in returning resentment with resentment. She gave everyone a respectful distance, but if anyone treated her badly, she never tolerated it.

Moreover—

When Liu Yunyao first joined Danger Cloud Peak, she tried to get along well with everyone to make things easier.

But soon she noticed the bad relationship between the fourth senior sister and fifth senior brother.

Before she even figured out how to deal with them, things went awry, and her relationship with Su Zhen inexplicably became strained.

Over time, she realized that if Zhou Ziheng disliked someone, he would often cause trouble for them.

But Su Zhen was different. Even if she disliked someone, she rarely provoked trouble; at most, she would ignore them when meeting.

Of course, maybe she returned a grievance threefold for every one inflicted on her, but as long as no one provoked her, there was no issue.

Given this, it seemed more advantageous to get along better with Zhou Ziheng and worse with Su Zhen.

Though Su Zhen had Leng Xiang, making it easier to borrow the sword if they got along, things had reached this point; there was no need to do more, especially since there was still their master.

After all, Liu Yunyao needed more than just the Leng Xiang sword.

Besides, once she refined the sword spirit of Leng Xiang, the sword would be ruined. Since Su Zhen loved Leng Xiang so much, Liu Yunyao would inevitably offend her.

“By the way.”

Su Zhen suddenly grew curious. “Last time I saw him was at Lingxiao Peak, many days ago. Junior sister, you’re close with him. Did he talk to you before he left the mountain?”

Liu Yunyao frowned slightly.

Su Zhen asked casually, “Don’t you remember if he said anything? Maybe it could be a clue?”

Liu Yunyao bit her lip. “It’s been several days; I don’t remember anything important.”

That night, Zhou Ziheng had taken a walk with her, and many people saw it. She couldn’t deny it.

Su Zhen tilted her head. “I heard there are some spiritual techniques that help people review memories—”

Liu Yunyao’s expression immediately changed.

“Listen,” Immortal Lord Yuchen interrupted them, “This matter concerning the fifth brother involves the Soul Devouring Sect. If outsiders inquire, just say you don’t know.”

He already had a black jade slip in his hand, golden light shimmering with lines of text, including various secret codes.

Yuchen looked at her. “Do you know whom the fifth brother had an appointment with?”

Su Zhen was puzzled. “Appointment? I didn’t even know he left the mountain.”

“Who did the fifth senior brother make an appointment with?”

Liu Yunyao’s voice trembled. “Master, how do you know?”

Yuchen glanced at the jade slip. “They exchanged messages and arranged a meeting place, all written here.”

Liu Yunyao’s complexion changed again.

“…The Zhou family also sent me a message just now.”

Yuchen produced another jade slip. “They said Zhou Ziheng carried a family heirloom and suspect the killer discovered it…”

The Zhou family obviously knew whom Zhou Ziheng was to meet and that he carried the Sweetwood Orb. Combining these facts, they concluded it was a Soul Devouring Sect demon cultivator who killed him to seize the treasure.

Su Zhen had hoped for this effect herself.

Liu Yunyao lowered her head. “If they could communicate through jade slips, why meet in person?”

Su Zhen raised an eyebrow. “That’s hard to say. If they had something to give the other, given Zhou Ziheng’s cultivation, he couldn’t transmit objects remotely and had to go in person.”

Liu Yunyao’s expression darkened further.

If this was truly a deal for murder and treasure, wasn’t a deposit involved?

“All right, don’t bring this up anymore,” Yuchen said calmly. “Zhen’er, you…”

Su Zhen’s heart tightened, and she quickly interrupted, “By the way, there’s something I want to tell you.”

Yuchen paused. “Go ahead.”

Su Zhen didn’t know what he had intended to say, but to avoid trouble, she decided to block the most annoying topic outright.

She said slowly, “I communicated with the Leng Xiang sword spirit again and found that no matter what, we can’t bond. I feel this thing is useless to me…”

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Liu Yunyao’s expression change several times.

Su Zhen sneered inwardly. “Remember what you said before, Master? So I gave Leng Xiang away.”

The room plunged into silence.

Liu Yunyao’s expression was indescribably complex—shocked, anxious, and confused—but since it was outwardly unrelated to her and not her place to speak, she could only look helplessly at their master.

Yuchen’s gaze darkened. “You gave it to my senior apprentice uncle?”

Su Zhen: “???”

Why does he still think about him!

Yuchen continued, “You have a new treasure on you too, also from that senior apprentice uncle?”

Su Zhen: “?”

Could he sense the aura of the Sweetwood Orb?

Impossible.

Her own herb spirit energy should mask it—

“That person cast many curses; the spiritual power is quite unfamiliar,” Yuchen said calmly. “I don’t recall having such a senior apprentice uncle, or perhaps you don’t want others to recognize him?”

Suddenly Su Zhen understood.

The items Xiao Yu gave her—the food was all gone, and the lunchbox was washed and left in the courtyard.

Only one thing was still with her—the paper bird that came with the lunchbox.

It could serve as a voice-transmission jade slip, surely containing Xiao Yu’s spiritual power and perhaps other uses.

Su Zhen sneered.

Her fragrant pouch at her waist twitched lightly.

The pure white paper bird fluttered out.

She caught it and watched it perch on her fingertip, tilting its head adorably in a puzzled manner.

Su Zhen said, “This? Do you recognize it now?”

The paper bird tilted its head again.

Yuchen frowned deeply. “…Who gave this to you?”

Su Zhen silently stared at the sky.

Probably because he was unfamiliar with Xiao Yu’s spiritual power or because Xiao Yu intentionally didn’t want to be recognized.

But no matter what Xiao Yu thought, he owed her nothing, so why cause trouble for no reason—even if it wouldn’t trouble him.

Of course, as long as she didn’t say his name, calling him “senior apprentice uncle” or something wouldn’t involve him.

Even if she did say it, they probably wouldn’t believe it, just like last time.

But she didn’t want to say more.

Yuchen added, “This item is not ordinary. It likely involves many secret spells. If you…”

Su Zhen felt a headache coming.

If he knew this was from a Holy Realm expert, he probably wouldn’t find it strange. Secret spells that took days for others to complete were done in a moment by them.

The problem was he surely thought she knew some elder from the Mysterious Immortal or Earth Immortal realms, making it more complicated.

Su Zhen interrupted again, “It’s quite ordinary.”

“This person is at least two or three realms above you. If they wanted to control you with that thing…”

Su Zhen sighed deeply. “Master, if he wanted to harm me, he wouldn’t need to bother with all this.”

After sighing, she looked at the bird again. “It’s just as the name implies. I know the elder wouldn’t do that. By the way, elder, you don’t have to…”

If he really wanted to harm me, he would have done it long ago.

The paper bird stood quietly on her fingertip for a moment before lowering its head to gently peck her palm.

“I understand.”

A deep, pleasant male voice came from within.

Yuchen looked at the paper bird in shock, disbelief in his eyes.

Su Zhen said, “…Don’t speak.”

Why speak at all?

Even if my master can’t distinguish spiritual powers, he can still recognize voices!

The paper bird froze again. “Sorry.”

Su Zhen finally lost it. “Can you erase his memory? I really don’t want…”

“Sure.”

A slightly amused voice suddenly sounded nearby.

A handsome young man with black hair and blue eyes stood at the doorway, arms crossed, posture upright like a pine tree.

He smiled faintly at the two inside the room.

Before Yuchen could speak and while Liu Yunyao was still dazed, a strange spiritual pressure suddenly erupted in the air.

Though it was neither earth-shattering nor noisy, Yuchen suddenly trembled, his eyes glazed over, and he took a step back, collapsing into his chair.

Liu Yunyao had long since fainted.

“?”

Su Zhen stared at the two slumped in their chairs, dumbfounded. “I just said it casually.”

“Though I don’t know what you two were talking about, they will forget all things related to this paper crane. Is that okay?”

Xiao Yu turned to look at her. “By the way, you didn’t finish your sentence earlier. What didn’t you want?”

“…I don’t want the elder to get involved in the mess of my sect.”

Su Zhen’s feelings were complicated. “Though you may not care.”

“I really don’t mind.”

Xiao Yu smiled. “But whatever you wish, I will do.”