Chapter 304: Widow

“These are Heart-Cleansing Pills. If you overuse your qi, I won’t have time to save you this time,” Ye Wenxin reminded her again. Fairy Fengya finally reached out to take them, which gave Ye Wenxin the chance to grab her wrist. Ye Wenxin’s brows furrowed deeply as she checked her pulse.

“It’s a miracle you’re still alive!” Fairy Fengya’s pulse was incredibly erratic, with nine types of qi in her dantian fighting against each other. Despite such a severe internal strife, the qi still showed no signs of merging, constantly resisting and rejecting one another.

Ye Wenxin’s astonishment was completely evident. Fairy Fengya, however, withdrew her hand without saying a word, clearly not intending to explain why she was in such a state.

If it weren’t for Great-Grandma’s help and her female lead buff, Fairy Fengya would have already succumbed to Qi Deviation and died.

Ye Wenxin sighed, thinking about the last bottle of spirit wine she had in stock. Although she was reluctant to part with it, Fairy Fengya’s current condition was far worse than she had anticipated.

“Fine, I’ll give you my last bottle of spirit wine. Live on.” Fairy Fengya’s death would take away half of Ye Wenxin’s fun in the Azure Wings Sect. If Fairy Fengya was going to die, Ye Wenxin hoped it would be in her hands, and in an honorable manner.

This time, Fairy Fengya slowly turned her head to look at the bottle of spirit wine. She seemed very interested in it. Ye Wenxin handed her the wine and quickly left her side.

She just left it at that, without any extra words.

Fairy Fengya remained in place, opened the bottle of spirit wine and cautiously took a sip to taste it.

Zhu Ling: Mistress, I told you to play hard to get, but here you go, sacrificing yourself again.

Fairy Fengya: Consider it the price for the wine.

Zhu Ling: …

……

Ye Wenxin, unaware that Fairy Fengya’s recent aloofness towards her was part of a plan, spotted Jin Xiaoqin in the distance and pretended to squeeze over.

When she got closer, she saw Jin Xiaoqin intently observing a few people.

“Master, have you found anyone suspicious?” Ye Wenxin asked, only to see Jin Xiaoqin shake her head. “No, but I did see someone familiar.”

She pointed towards the woman standing next to Xi Mengxuan.

The woman, with her black attire and her married woman hairstyle, appeared to be a widow. She had a delicate appearance, not very old, and she held a guqin larger than herself. Her head was slightly tilted, as if she was attentively listening to Xi Mengxuan’s words.

“Who’s that?” Ye Wenxin noted that this woman had decent cultivation among the disciples, but she wasn’t particularly outstanding.

“That’s Xuan Luofei, the head disciple of Beast Taming Garden. Haven’t you noticed anything special about her?” Jin Xiaoqin pulled Ye Wenxin aside and quietly asked for her observations.

Ye Wenxin imagined Xuan Luofei’s appearance from earlier and continued, “She seems to be a widow.”

Jin Xiaoqin knocked on Ye Wenxin’s head dissatisfiedly, with a face full of frustration. “Anyone could see that! I’m asking you: what else is there besides her being a widow?”

Ye Wenxin was particularly annoyed. She knew Jin Xiaoqin was familiar with the conduct of every elder-rank or above member in their sect, but this was the first time she heard that Jin Xiaoqin even had knowledge about disciples from other sects.

Ye Wenxin thought for a moment, then continued, “She’s holding a guqin, probably her weapon, but the Beast Taming Garden uses spirit beasts for combat. You say she’s the head disciple; shouldn’t she have some spirit beast companions?”

Ye Wenxin voiced her doubts, and Jin Xiaoqin’s expression improved slightly. “You may be slow, but don’t act clueless. That’s close enough. Her spirit beast died in battle several years ago, and she lost her eyesight at that time too.”

Upon hearing Jin Xiaoqin’s explanation, Ye Wenxin abruptly turned back and took a closer look. Indeed, Xuan Luofei’s eyes were empty. However, her movements were so natural that Ye Wenxin had overlooked this detail.

“Ah, she’s also a pitiful soul. Several years ago, someone cooked and ate her spirit beast.” Jin Xiaoqin sighed. Ye Wenxin almost burst out laughing at this, but seeing Jin Xiaoqin’s serious expression, she managed to hold it back.

“So, Master, what kind of spirit beast did this senior sister have?”

“A golden pig.”

Ye Wenxin couldn’t hold back her laughter any longer. While other spirit beasts might be acceptable, a pig was something she could easily imagine struggling in its final moments before being turned into a delicious roast piglet.

“Stop laughing. If Xuan Luofei hears you, she might just chop you up.” Jin Xiaoqin, seeing that Ye Wenxin had no sense of danger, covered her mouth in exasperation. “Her clan revers pigs as guardian animals. Eating pork is an insult to Xuan Luofei, but unfortunately, she encountered the most troublesome person in the world.”

Ye Wenxin suppressed her laughter, but the phrasing sounded odd. Jin Xiaoqin spoke seriously, “This golden pig was eaten by Demon Lord Gu Qingcheng.”

Ye Wenxin became even more puzzled. Yet, she vaguely remembered a day when Liu Churan had mysteriously brought back a roasted suckling pig, telling her that it could soften blood vessels and was particularly effective against Qi Deviation. So, Ye Wenxin ate it.

Because it tasted rather decent, Ye Wenxin remembered praising Liu Churan.

Could it be…

Unable to resist, Ye Wenxin glanced at Xuan Luofei a few more times, engraving her image deeply in her mind. She should avoid being in a compromising situation with this young woman, lest she face her furious condemnation.

“Isn’t she pitiful?” Jin Xiaoqin, seeing Ye Wenxin’s expression turn serious, thought that Ye Wenxin had finally understood compassion. But Ye Wenxin indeed realized that something was wrong; she was very worried that Xuan Luofei might find out that she was the one who ate her golden pig.

Since she had long abstained from taking grains, spiritual energy would gather in her dantian, and if she had consumed the golden pig, its spiritual energy would have also merged with the other spiritual energies gathered there.

If Beast Taming Garden had some special method to track the traces of spirit beasts, Ye Wenxin would be in great danger now.

The more Ye Wenxin thought about it, the more afraid she became. She subconsciously hid behind Jin Xiaoqin, but then remembered that Xuan Luofei was blind, so she pretended to be relaxed and continued to inquire, “How did she lose her eyesight? And why did she become a widow?”

Jin Xiaoqin gave Ye Wenxin a blank look. “Why are you so concerned about whether she’s a widow or not? Let me tell you, she’s a proper young lady who wouldn’t even step on a flower or a leaf.”

Ye Wenxin felt that Jin Xiaoqin misunderstood her again, but still managed to force a smile and say, “Don’t worry, I still have principles. I’m just curious.”