Chapter 44: Tracer (Part 8)

“… Assault?” Xu Qianyu repeated her accusation. “Why Chen Duo?”
Shen Suiwei replied, “He received sixteen lashes.”
Xu Qianyu’s lips curled up, showing a hint of schadenfreude. “That’s more like it.”
There was nothing more to say. She folded her hands and closed her eyes, bracing herself. “Go ahead.”
With a crack, the whip landed, sounding like firecrackers. Xu Qianyu didn’t feel any pain, as the whip’s tip collided perfectly with her spiritual power. The subsequent surge of lightning-like spiritual energy actually flowed along the whip’s tip, draining a significant portion of her spiritual reservoir in an instant.
Why did a lash take away her power too?

Noticing something was wrong, she tried to struggle, but someone pressed her spine with their fingertip. In an instant, several satin ribbons shot out from below, swiftly binding her wrists, ankles, and waist, rendering her immobile. At the same time, two more lashes cracked down.
Everything happened with astonishing precision. After finishing his strokes, Shen Suiwei looked at her and said, “My apologies.”
Xu Qianyu blinked, confused, and opened her eyes.
With two more lashes struck down, both colliding perfectly with her spiritual energy, her meridians opened up, and she felt less irritable. As someone who also practiced with a whip, she understood the profound intricacies of the technique being employed, so she decided to stay still, quietly contemplating the skills involved.
It had been some time since she last came here, and the regulations had become stricter, especially regarding restraints.
The most challenging lashes had already been delivered, and Xu Qianyu understood how to cooperate, allowing Shen Suiwei to relax his focus. When he swung the whip again, he became aware of certain details.
There were tiny glimmers of light flickering in the execution chamber.
Looking down, he realized it was the reflection of a delicate pair of red golden flower bud earrings that Xu Qianyu wore today.
Upon closer inspection, he saw a pearl hairpin in her hair, several thin golden bracelets, and jade bangles on her wrist, and instead of the standard disciple’s robe belt, she wore a white sash with embroidery.
Previously, she had removed all her ornaments to avoid hindering her sword practice, so today’s attire was indeed unusual.
Did she dress up specifically to visit Wuzhen?
He couldn’t help but recall the shattered projection pearl, the window, the rain, and the sound of the spoon.
When the whip fell again, he realized it had missed its target, but it was too late to take it back. He tightened his grip, quickly reducing eighty percent of his strength. However, the remaining twenty percent still grazed her meridians as it struck her.
Xu Qianyu thought the whip wouldn’t hurt and was just helping her regulate her breath, so she focused on her breathing and nearly forgot she was being punished. Suddenly caught off guard, she let out a muffled groan, breaking out into a cold sweat as the glimmers of light intensified.
Shen Suiwei froze for a moment.

His aim had always been precise, capable of cutting and carving with accuracy; this was the first time the whip had slipped from his control and landed on Xu Qianyu.
With a cultivator’s keen eyesight, he quickly noticed beads of cold sweat forming on her delicate neck, and a few strands of dark hair were damp, curling into small rings on her skin.
Although the disciples of Penglai all wore white robes, the material was coarse linen. The back featured a blooming eight-petal lotus, which was made of hollowed-out crepe fabric. In the light, the faint outline of the lotus could be seen—this was Penglai’s symbols. Xu Qianyu had always disliked the rough texture of the disciple’s robe and had worn a fine undergarment underneath.
Now, with her cold sweat soaking through, the lotus imprint clung to her body, revealing the two thin, crisscrossed ties of her golden-brown undergarment beneath.
This lash couldn’t be said to be particularly painful; it was mainly the shock that made Xu Qianyu feel aggrieved. The person wielding the whip had likely seen her spiritual power leaking and, fearing she would get hurt, had initially tried to help her adjust before getting serious. Feeling provoked, she straightened her neck and shouted, “Haven’t you eaten? Keep going!”
Before her words had faded, three lashes struck down above her head with astonishing ferocity, startling Xu Qianyu into closing her eyes.
How would you describe it? It hurt a lot but also felt exhilarating.
The pain was superficial, like a fleeting sting across her skin, while the exhilaration came from the release of energy, clearing her meridians.
Soon, the ribbons binding her relaxed and fell away. Xu Qianyu quickly scrambled up from the execution platform, deeply impressed by the technique employed by the current errand worker with the whip. She wanted to recognize the person, just as she had memorized the face of the mother-in-law after receiving lashes from her in the past.
But there was no one behind her.
Xu Qianyu snorted and removed the ribbon herself.
She ran quite fast.

Xiao Changqing looked around and saw the chaos in the pavilion, greatly angered: “What is going on here?”
Lu You had red-rimmed eyes and handed him a token.
It was Xu Jiansu’s token.
At that time, Xu Jiansu had stormed into the Lu You Pavilion with a sword, rummaging around and finding nothing. When he turned back and saw Lu You looking at him with surprise, anger, and grievance, he pressed his forehead, smiled, and said, “Oh, I’m so sorry, Miss Lu. I’ll have someone in my pavilion compensate you for your little animals later, okay?”
Then he gave her one of his tokens and left like the wind. So arrogant and domineering.
Once he was gone, Lu You hurried to check on the animals. Only the mounts of the higher-ranking disciples remained alive; most of the others had been scared to death by Xu Jiansu’s sword aura. Her ability to save them only worked on the living; the dead ones were beyond help.
Lu You sneered, feeling desperate. Were these ordinary little animals? These were all her goodwill!
How would she explain this to her disciples? All her hard work, ruined in an instant.

Moreover, Xu Jiansu had suddenly struck, and Xie Yuzhen had vanished without a trace. She questioned the system, which took a long time to finally learn about Xie Yuzhen’s situation: “He has returned to Wuzhen’s body ahead of time.”
Lu You was astonished upon hearing this: “Wasn’t it said that without the complete demon soul, he couldn’t transform into the Master Uncle?”
For Xie Yuzhen to completely become Elder Wuzhen was something that would happen later in the plot, definitely not something that could be done now.
“That’s exactly it. But it was an emergency, and there’s no other choice,” the system replied. “The Demon King is currently very weak. He cannot leave that body for the time being and needs to recuperate, and we don’t know how long it will take.”
“You cannot easily summon him right now. Because if you call him, he will have to force himself up, and that would be very dangerous for the Demon King.”

Lu You understood. She had to temporarily leave Xie Yuzhen behind and face everything herself.
Although Xie Yuzhen was moody and often made her feel anxious, after two rounds, she had grown quite accustomed to his presence, always ready to help her out. With Xie Yuzhen suddenly gone, she felt weak and utterly lost.
This made her resent Xu Jiansu even more. She didn’t clean up the room; she smashed the unbroken porcelain vases in the pavilion, hoping that Xiao Changqing would see such a miserable sight and be able to stand up for her and get back Xu Jiansu for her.
At this moment, Xiao Changqing looked at the token, his eyes flashing with disdain, anger, displeasure, and other emotions, stroking his beard and saying, “So it was him.”
“The Sect Master and his inner disciples share the same temperament, running rampant within this sect without any restraint,” Xiao Changqing scolded. “I have always looked down on associating with them. Little You, I will have someone help you tidy up the pavilion. From now on, on my Changqing Island, Xu Jiansu is not allowed to enter lightly. Does he think that a little compensation will suffice? This filthy thing…”

He threw the token into the firepit. “Better off without it.”
Lu You widened her eyes, looking at Xiao Changqing in disbelief.
In her first round, her master was Xu Binglai, who was not only protective but also avenged her grievances, never allowing her to suffer any injustices. So she thought all the elders were similarly protective.
Yet Xiao Changqing, in Penglai, was lofty and pure, spending his days playing the guqin and reading, always looking down on matters of conflict. So, when a disciple was bullied, just preventing the bully from entering was enough?
Moreover, why just talk? Why throw away her things? Once he left, Lu You sprang up and hurriedly fished the token out of the fire pit.
“Congratulations, host! You have obtained a bond with 【Xu Jiansu】: Token x1.”
But at the same time, another voice sounded: “Please note! Host, your satisfaction level is decreasing.”
“I know,” Lu You pressed her forehead. “What can I do by following this master?”
Yu Chu, oblivious, came in at this moment with pastries to join the fun.
As soon as she entered, she saw the chaos in the pavilion, and seeing Lu You sitting there in distress, her legs went weak with fright. She trembled and asked, “Miss Lu, what happened to you?”
“Nothing much,” Lu You said, irritated at her voice. “I’m not feeling well today, so I can’t entertain you.”
“You should go.”

Yu Chu’s face turned pale. She had originally wanted to say that she could help tidy up the room, bandage the animals, and if anyone bullied Miss Lu, she would find ways to help her get back at them, along with many comforting words. But today was the first time she had seen Lu You with such a gloomy expression, scaring her so much that her heart raced, and she couldn’t say a word.
As soon as she went out, Yu Chu’s tears streamed down, and she quietly threw the pastries into the lake.
She really messed it up.
Miss Lu truly hates her now. She had lost her last friend.
All of this was because of Chen Duo.

By the time Xu Qianyu returned with her umbrella, the sky had already darkened.
Seeing her remain silent, the system cautiously asked, “Xiao Qian, are you still not happy?”
Xu Qianyu’s brows and eyes were cold as frost: “If someone had someone beat you up, would you be happy?”
But Keyun was too guilty to speak.
However, it wasn’t quite like that.
When she was being whipped, she didn’t think of anything. But after the whipping, she recalled the strange looks from the disciples in the weapon refining class and how the disciples she encountered on the way avoided her and whispered among themselves.
Xu Qianyu’s expression was blank.
In her previous life, she was like this; she had never been well-liked, and there were countless people who disliked her. Although she performed excellently and entered the inner sect later, people were much more polite to her, but those who truly connected with her were few and far between. From start to finish, the only person who genuinely cared for her was her senior brother. Since Lu You came, it was even less mentioned.
How could she think that just because she met a few gentle senior brothers and sisters on the arena in this life, she had turned her fortunes around?
Nonetheless, Xu Qianyu maintained extreme confidence in herself; she didn’t need the likes of others. If her reputation was ruined, so be it; it wouldn’t feed her, and she didn’t care.
She walked a bit faster, preparing to go back to practice her internal energy.
When she reached the pavilion, she unexpectedly found a young man with a sword standing in the night. As soon as he saw her, he began to walk alongside her, saying, “I’ve been waiting for you for half a day. Why are you only just coming back?”
Xu Qianyu glanced at him. He was dressed elegantly, arms crossed, and as he walked, the gold-threaded embroidery on his collar shimmered. He had a graceful demeanor, very much resembling a dashing young master. In the brighter areas, she could see his eyes, slightly drooping at the corners, clear and handsome, with an innocent gaze. “I heard that this Mingtang Pavilion has a junior sister selling some rare earthly jewelry. Is that you?”
Xu Qianyu replied, “Yes, it is. What about it?”
“What about it? Of course, I’m here to bring you a big business deal.”
“I’m not interested,” Xu Qianyu said as she opened the door.
The young man was taken aback. “Why not?”
Xu Qianyu turned to look at him. Since the entrance of the pavilion was elevated, her gaze carried a sense of superiority. “I’m not in a good mood today.”
“Not in a good mood means you won’t do business?” He was at a loss for words, muttering, “How can you make money like this?”
“Why should I care?” Xu Qianyu slammed the door shut.
“You…” The young man was baffled, taking a step back while brushing off the dust. He tilted his head to peek through the open window. There was still light shining from inside the pavilion.
Sure enough, after a moment, Xu Qianyu poked her head out of the window, which allowed him to clearly see her face. It matched the haughty tone of her earlier words—a beautiful visage that seemed to smile while holding a hint of disdain at the corners of her mouth. “Aren’t you leaving yet?”
The young man made a gesture for a truce and complained, “I’m just trying to have a good conversation with you.”
“Can’t you understand human words? I already said I’m not doing business.” Xu Qianyu turned her back again.
“Hey, is this how you treat your benefactor?” The young man was exasperated and laughed, “I see there’s no one around here. I’m offering you a big business opportunity.”
Xu Qianyu had already focused on eating loquat. “Big business or small business, I just won’t do yours. Go away.”

In the next moment, the window was slammed shut with a loud “bang.”
“You…” The young man, irritated, spat towards the pavilion, “Tch, you’re seriously delusional.”

System:!!!
System: “Wuwuwuwu…”

Xu Qianyu was annoyed by its whimpering and, after finishing the loquat, wiped her hands and said, “What’s wrong with you?”
The system replied, “I know you’re in a bad mood today, and you can take your anger out on me. Why take it out on your target…”
“Wuwuwu, what kind of luck is this? Ruan Zhuqing came to you directly, and you chased him away? I didn’t even get a chance to interrupt. Don’t you know first impressions are important? Not to mention, you didn’t even ask him where he lives or who he trains with. How are you going to find him later?”
Xu Qianyu waited until it finished its grumbling before impatiently replying, “Why are you crying? He’ll come back.”
The system stopped crying, “? Really?”
Xu Qianyu scolded Ruan Zhuqing for a bit; her mood lifted. With a half-serious expression, she raised an eyebrow. “Hmm. He’s a dog.”

“……”

Sure enough, the young man walked far away, his earlier anger fading with the wind. He pondered why she wouldn’t do business with him. He was such a lovable young man, and it was baffled how she could overlook him.
Thinking this, he felt dissatisfied and considered going back to ask her again.
His body had already turned back to look, but then he thought it would be too embarrassing to return like this.
Anyway, he would have to buy something sooner or later. He would come back another day and try again.
Xu Qianyu sat down on a stool, feeling a slight pain in her backside and unable to resist shifting her sitting posture.
If we talk about the punishments she received today, only the lash in the middle really hurt her. Although it didn’t leave any marks, sitting was inevitably uncomfortable. She felt a bit lazy today and didn’t want to practice her internal energy.
Just as she thought about this, the formless entity floating in the room opened its eyes and said, “Skill is achieved through diligence, while laziness leads to ruin.”
It began its lecture again.

Xu Qianyu covered her ears and endured the pain to start her meditation.
After the energy from the whip was drawn out, her spiritual energy had been adjusted well. Logically, practicing internal energy should have been as easy as a fish in water. However, not long after she sat down, her spiritual energy surged violently, becoming chaotic again, making her very uncomfortable. After doing two sections, she fell asleep.
That night, Xu Qianyu suddenly opened her eyes, her gaze blank.
The system, still groggy, asked, “Xiao Qian, you’re awake?”
However, she didn’t respond. She sat up straight, kicked her feet a couple of times to put on her shoes, and aimlessly walked around the room twice before stiffly pushing the door open and heading outside.
The system called out to her several times, but she didn’t react, making it feel eerie, reminiscent of a possession scene. “Xiao Qian, what’s wrong? You haven’t changed your clothes. Why are you going out? Don’t scare me!”