Chapter 16

The current situation inside the Yin family mansion in Taiping City was far from the calm and indifferent description that Liuyu had given.

The courtesans and dancers kept in the mansion looked at the half-dismantled eaves of the east wing and, in a daze, asked the servants of the household:

“…Has our family… invited thieves?”

In the twilight, the mansion flickered with spiritual light, and the sound of shattered roof tiles echoed in the air.

This situation was indeed unusual.

The servant wiped the sweat from his brow and helplessly said, “This is calling on the ancestors!”

The sword light was like spring water just melting, soft yet concealing a hint of coldness, slicing past Yin Shanqu’s cheek and instantly leaving a bloodstain.

Yin Shanqu touched his face, seeing the wound on his cherished handsome face, and he was so furious that he gritted his teeth.

What did he do to provoke this little ancestor!?

“You actually dared to strike your uncle, you little brat, you’ve really gone too far, just wait until I tell the clan elders—”

“Uncle, how old are you now? Why do you want to tell the clan elders about every little thing? I’m sure they already know, they just turn a blind eye.”

Liuyu casually twirled her sword in the air, standing gracefully by the eaves, the spring night breeze of Taiping City blowing through, causing her gold-and-pink cloak to flutter, looking like a celestial goddess who might fly away at any moment.

Yin Shanqu listened to her use his own words against him and, in a fit of anger, laughed out loud:

“You little brat, are you suddenly so angry because you’ve started to develop feelings for that demon after spending a few days with him?”

The two demons, Lan Zhu and Gui Nu, who were stopping Yin Shanqu’s servants from advancing, instantly perked up their ears.

“Well, that day at your wedding, I glanced at that demon at the feast. Though he’s a demon, that Mo Lin certainly has a fine appearance…”

Yin Shanqu looked at Liuyu in confusion.

“But that doesn’t make sense. You, Yin Shan Liuyu, have seen all kinds of talented youths from noble families. If you hadn’t volunteered to come to the Nine Hells, those wild bees and butterflies from Ling Yong Academy would have trampled our doorstep by now. And now, with your status, even marrying into a second-tier family is beneath you. How did you end up entangled with a demon? You don’t even know how people in Xian Du Yu Jing are laughing behind your back…”

“Uncle, haven’t you already explained everything clearly?”

Her hair flowed in the night breeze, and her apricot eyes reflected the moonlight, her face serene and clear.

“To this day, I am still the eldest daughter of the Yin Shan family, the youngest Ling Yong Xian Kui. In terms of talent and beauty, I’m no less than my peers in Da Chao. Yet, just because I married a demon, I have lost all my former glory in their eyes and become an object of ridicule.”

“There are no people made of gold or jade in this world. If I follow their rules, I’ll be the golden branch, the jade leaf. If I don’t, I’ll be nothing but mud and decayed leaves. Those people from Ling Yong Academy who surrounded me before, they only liked the gold they gilded me with.”

After hearing these words, Yin Shanqu felt an odd sense that his niece had undergone a transformation.

The girl who once only cared for herself, the proud young lady, could now speak like this.

Yin Shanqu didn’t understand this newfound awareness, thinking it was just the youthful despair of someone who couldn’t handle the disparity in status. He tried to comfort her:

“You shouldn’t say it like that. Common folk don’t marry among the highborn. It’s his lowly status that has brought you down…”

At this, the two demons below gave him a sharp look.

If this weren’t Taiping City, and if the person in front of them weren’t a royal family member, Lan Zhu would have already drawn his sword and cut off his head.

He had said before that these Da Chao people weren’t trustworthy…

“He’s not lowly.”

In the evening breeze, Liuyu’s words were like pearls clinking, clear and firm.

“He is my husband, the one I, Yin Shan Liuyu, personally chose.”

Silence fell, and the stars twinkled above.

Lan Zhu and Gui Nu, standing below, looked up at the girl on the eaves, momentarily entranced. After a long while, Gui Nu nudged Lan Zhu.

“Where’s your jade slip?”

Lan Zhu snapped out of it and, annoyed, replied, “What for?”

“Idiot! Record it and show it to the master!” Gui Nu beamed, holding her face in her hands. “What a pity, what a pity, why didn’t the master come?”

Lan Zhu rolled his eyes, “Obviously, the master can’t just…”

Suddenly,

A strange flow of energy passed through the air.

Though faint, the presence was quickly noticed by the skilled cultivators around them, and they immediately grew cautious.

“Liuyu—!”

Yin Shanqu, sharp as ever, noticed the murderous intent targeting him in an instant and called out.

Before he could say more, Liuyu, sensing the same threat, quickly moved to stand in front of him. In the previous skirmish, she had broken his jade bow, and he had no handy weapon at the moment.

A hairpin streaked like a shooting star, flying from Liuyu’s hair, as she thrust her sword at the shadow rising from the ground. She then immediately turned to Lan Zhu and Gui Nu.

“Protect those responsible for opening the communication array!”

As Liuyu spoke, the shadow on the ground moved with her words, and the two turned to see the shadow becoming a faceless black figure under the night, already entangling Yin Shanqu’s subordinates.

These subordinates were responsible for connecting the Yin Shan family with the Jiufang and Zhongli families. They were the ones who had suggested providing funds to the jade-faced spider to weaken Mo Lin and him in a mutual destruction plan.

From Yin Shanqu’s perspective, he didn’t think there was anything wrong with the idea back then. He believed that if he succeeded, he could make a name for himself in the family.

But now—

Watching the shadows drag his three subordinates away, what was there to still not understand?

It was a trap!

If these three disappeared with evidence of his dealings with the Nine Hells, the Jiufang and Zhongli families could easily deny everything.

Whether his money had been used to incite internal strife in the Nine Hells or to collaborate with them in attacking Da Chao, who could say for sure?

“—Send the city’s iron cavalry, there will be unrest tonight. Lock down the entire city!”

Yin Shanqu threw a command symbol from his sleeve, and from the west, the sound of footsteps on the roof tiles was heard. A middle-aged man with a beard caught the command symbol with swift hands.

Without a moment’s hesitation, the bearded figure disappeared into the night.

Hearing Yinshan Qi’s words, Liuyu secretly let out a sigh of relief.

If Yinshan Qi had truly conspired with them, the target for tonight’s shadow would have been her.

“Wait a moment—” Yinshan Qi quickly realized, suddenly turning around to ask, “You just called me a traitor, does that mean you suspect I’ve colluded with outsiders to frame my own family?”

Liuyu pretended not to hear.

She looked at the ghost woman and asked, “Can those three still be tracked?”

The ghost woman, surrounded by countless poisonous insects, had them form into a crooked, wobbly worm that stood up. Her delicate, obedient face beside it created a strange and eerie cuteness.

The ghost woman replied, “Of course…”

“When the shadow disappeared, it swallowed a lot of the ghost woman’s poisonous insects. As long as they stay within the boundaries of Taiping City, they won’t get lost.”

Lan Zhu blocked Liuyu’s view and turned to warn:

“Put your insects away. The Empress Dowager has already said she doesn’t like them. Don’t you ever learn, do you?”

The ghost woman pouted.

Her little insects were actually quite cute.

Liuyu didn’t respond, quietly shaking off the goosebumps.

Lan Zhu and the ghost woman went off to track the whereabouts of the three people, and Liuyu sat down in a complete chair amidst the ruins.

The disturbance was loud, and the guards and staff of the estate gathered in the courtyard. Upon seeing the collapsed main house and side rooms, they all wore expressions of shock and distress.

The main house contained countless rare treasures—were they all gone?

The butler spoke, “Third Young Master, I’ll have people come immediately…”

Yinshan Qi didn’t even glance at the ruins behind him. His brow furrowed as he called over the estate’s butler:

“Everyone in the estate must stay still tonight. Remind everyone that entry and exit are prohibited. If anyone is found leaking information, kill them immediately—”

Liuyu looked towards Taiping City.

His plan wasn’t wrong.

The Jiufang and Zhongli families were highly vigilant. At the slightest disturbance, they would quickly respond.

They didn’t know Liuyu was in Taiping City; they would only think that trapping Yinshan Qi in Taiping City was the only way to avoid an open conflict with the Yinshan family.

Since that was the goal, Yinshan Qi had to die without leaving any evidence behind.

There was only one way.

The night wind stirred, rustling the bamboo leaves in the courtyard.

In the shadows of the moonlight, it seemed as though countless figures were hiding in the darkness, waiting for the right moment.

Liuyu wasn’t afraid, in fact, she felt a strange excitement.

Earlier, who had been controlling the shadow? Was it from the Jiufang or Zhongli families?

Who would become the first soul to fall under her sword in this rebirth?

She sat in the armchair, thinking while playing with the jade slip in her hand.

Glancing at it, she realized that after such a long time, there was still no reply from the other side.

Liuyu stared at the unresponsive jade slip, feeling a strange displeasure in her heart.

She had just helped him vent his anger.

How could he not even react?

“I haven’t finished speaking—” Yinshan Qi, after giving his orders, turned to Liuyu and said, “What’s the meaning of this? Do you think of me as a traitor? A spy? Is that how you see your third uncle?”

Liuyu raised her eyes, her clear apricot eyes full of “What else could it be?”

Yinshan Qi was enraged and was about to continue when he saw Liuyu’s gaze move past his shoulder. Her pupils focused, and she called out.

“Mother?”

“Don’t try to scare me!” Yinshan Qi, not the first time she’d tried this, was hard to fool, “Don’t say your mother is in Yujing, even if she is in Taiping City—”

“In Taiping City, what of it?”

Her voice was cold as snow, calm and steady, like water droplets echoing in a quiet room, instantly choking Yinshan Qi’s throat.

Even his knees instinctively buckled.

“Second sister-in-law, I really didn’t mean to sell out our family. It’s all the fault of the Jiufang and Zhongli families, they’re the ones with ulterior motives toward our family!”

With a thud.

Yinshan Qi smoothly knelt to the ground, the movement as natural as if it had been practiced for years.

The figure in the communication formation, like Liuyu, sat in an armchair.

The woman’s posture was upright, relaxed on the outside but tightly controlled within. She silently observed the kneeling Yinshan Qi. Despite Yinshan Qi being three years older than her, the difference in their presence was like a vast chasm between them.

After a long silence, the powerful voice finally spoke again.

“I heard everything you said just now, and I have a general understanding of the situation.”

Yinshan Qi’s heart instantly dropped.

“Third brother is right, our family has become too prominent, attracting envy. Someone digging a pit for the Yinshan family is only to be expected. It’s not just you, it could have been anyone, don’t blame yourself.”

Upon hearing this, Yinshan Qi felt as though a weight had been lifted off him.

He was about to straighten his red robe and rise, but then he heard from behind:

“Then was the matter of selling the immortal academy’s entrance spots also a pit someone dug for us?”

This sentence felt like a kick from afar, instantly sending Yinshan Qi back to his original position.

In his heart, he cursed that brat several times but couldn’t hold it in. He turned and glared at Liuyu:

“Did I provoke you?”

Liuyu couldn’t be bothered with him.

Her eyes rested on the figure in the communication formation.

The last time she saw Nangong Jing was more than ten years ago.

Liuyu wasn’t the type to be particularly homesick. After marrying into Jiuyou, she had spent a hundred years there. Aside from chatting with her family during holidays, most of her time was spent in seclusion and cultivation.

Nangong Jing, on the other hand, wasn’t the type of mother who would constantly worry about her daughter’s meals and clothes.

Even when they occasionally missed each other, they both felt there was still time, and that a bird leaving the nest would one day return.

No one had expected.

That year’s New Year’s Eve, two hundred and seventy years ago, would be their final meeting.

Nangong Jing studied Liuyu for a few moments, then slowly spoke:

“When I asked Liu Niang to check the ledger, did you already suspect this situation would happen?”

Liuyu blinked, her eyes losing their shimmer.

Now was not the time for sentimental thoughts.

“…About half, I’m not sure if third uncle is truly foolish or just pretending, and I didn’t expect their reaction to be so quick.”

Yinshan Qi gritted his teeth.

He knew that this brat was treating him like an inner traitor!

“What about the next steps?”

“By tonight, or at the latest tomorrow morning, they’ll definitely secretly mobilize demons to attack Taiping City, take advantage of the chaos to eliminate third uncle, and erase all traces of this.”

Nangong Jing took a sip of tea, lowering his eyes as he said:

“Taiping City is too far, and the time is too rushed, we can’t mobilize anyone.”

“I know.”

Liuyu curved her lips, answering calmly and with composure:

“We’re rushing, but that doesn’t mean they are. Besides, they don’t know I’m in the city too. Misjudging the enemy’s strength is a big mistake.”

Although her strength had returned to the Seventh Realm after being reborn, as someone who had once reached the peak of the Ninth Realm, even though her realm had dropped, her control over power and mastery of techniques wouldn’t disappear.

So, she had calculated that in actual combat, her strength could be compared to that of an Eighth Realm cultivator, and her opponents wouldn’t know that from the beginning.

Nangong Jing raised his eyes to look at her.

The steam rising from the tea cup gave the daughter, who had been married only a month, an inexplicable change in her appearance.

“If I had known going to the Nine Netherworlds would have helped you progress so much, I should have sent you there to train earlier. How have you been in the Nine Netherworlds?”

“Pretty good. Just as we discussed, I hold the financial power of the Nine Netherworlds as a check, and don’t interfere in other matters…”

“I mean, how have you been with Mo Li?”

Liuyu didn’t expect her mother to ask this question at this time. Her apricot eyes widened slightly, and she froze for a moment.

Yinshan Qi, sensing an opportunity, began to make sarcastic remarks:

“Don’t worry, second sister-in-law, they must be very loving. I only made her demon husband lose a little money, and now she wants my life.”

Liuyu choked but quickly regained her composure and retorted:

“You are acting out of personal interests, stuffing your own pockets—everyone would want you punished! Even the big yellow dog that guards our house would want your life!”

“How disrespectful, you brat—”

The two began to bicker, while Nangong Jing simply watched the attire on Liuyu in silence.

The indigo skirt was outlined with jade patterns, reflecting luxurious dim light under the moon. The golden cloak wrapped around her, shining like a golden sunset, not gaudy, but radiant, dazzling, and impossible to gaze upon.

That was not the dress and jewelry her father had prepared for her when she got married.

But it was even more splendid than what she wore before her marriage, and did not lose its grandeur despite her far-off marriage to the Nine Netherworlds.

Nangong Jing’s mind couldn’t help but recall that moonlit night.

At that time, the green-clad demon, who was the ruler of thousands of demons, was an existence that made the celestial families of Dazhao tremble with fear.

But no one knew how he had knelt outside Nangong Jing’s door, bending his back like a devout believer, solemnly promising, word by word:

“If I gain the pearl, I will cherish it.”

“How will you cherish it?”

“I will live for her so she does not fall into the mortal world, and for her heart’s desire, even if I die, I will have no regrets.”