Chapter 27: Taiyin Yuan Sect

Guanshan Xue stared at the back of Cang Yin Yue with uncertainty, but she could not speak a word.

At that moment, Cang Yin Yue turned her head coldly, her dark eyebrows lifting slightly as she revealed an unmistakable sneer.

The next instant, she turned away dismissively and leapt out the window without looking back.

…

On the bustling, wide street, Cang Yin Yue and Li Muxian rode side by side on their mules.

She glanced back at the tavern behind her, then exhaled softly and said to Li Muxian:

“Thank you. So this is what it feels like to ‘pretend’—it’s truly satisfying!”

Li Muxian turned his head to look at her; Cang Yin Yue’s expression now radiated pure delight.

He shrugged and said:

“It’s nothing. I just figured if the two of you started fighting, you’d go on for hours—wasting too much time.”

Cang Yin Yue’s eye twitched as she retorted:

“Though my martial cultivation is inferior to hers, she can’t stop me—I can leave anytime I want.”

As she spoke, her cold eyes flickered with light as she added:

“But your acupuncture technique is truly formidable—silent, unpredictable, leaving no chance for the opponent to act. Even Guanshan Xue, a martial master with Ice True Qi, couldn’t resist it.”

Hearing this, Li Muxian regarded her calmly for a moment, then smiled:

“Want to learn? I’ll teach you.”

Cang Yin Yue froze, her gaze fixed intently on Li Muxian.

Yet in the end, she let out a deep sigh and looked away:

“A supreme martial art can spark a bloody storm in the Jianghu and is the very foundation of a sect’s standing. No merit, no reward—I know my place. I’m not worthy of you teaching me such a top-tier technique.”

Hearing this, Li Muxian chuckled softly.

This girl not only had strong boundaries, but she was also refreshingly honest.

“Alright then, Cang Miss, behave well. I’m not hard to please.”

Li Muxian spoke casually, then a spark of gossip ignited in his mind as he asked curiously:

“I never knew you had a fiancé—why didn’t you ever mention him before?”

“What do you mean?”

At these words, Cang Yin Yue’s eyebrows knitted instantly, and she unconsciously reached for her face veil.

Seeing this, Li Muxian quickly waved his hands:

“Don’t misunderstand—I didn’t mean it that way.”

Cang Yin Yue snorted, her gaze hostile:

“No need to hide it. Your expression already betrayed you—you’re thinking someone with such an ugly branded mark on her face could never attract a man.”

Li Muxian fell silent for a moment, then his eyes flickered as he patted the mule beneath him:

“Cang Miss, don’t belittle yourself. Even a poor horse has its purpose—how much more so someone as exceptional as you?”

“Besides, once the brand on your face is gone, with your natural beauty, suitors will line up from here all the way to the gates of Shangyang City.”

Hearing this, Cang Yin Yue’s gaze softened slightly. She lowered her hand and tightened the reins, guiding her mount forward.

After a while, her expression grew calm, yet her eyes turned cold again as she said:

“My marriage was arranged by my family. That Captain Fu, head of the Six Gates’ Ten Famous Captains, doesn’t care for my face—he cares for the Cang family’s power.”

Riding beside her on his mule, Li Muxian rubbed his chin and asked curiously:

“Which Cang family?”

Cang Yin Yue glanced at him and said:

“Cang Yuan Marquis.”

Li Muxian frowned and spread his hands:

“Never heard of them. Is your Cang family even notable in the imperial capital, Shangyang City?”

Hearing this, Cang Yin Yue said nothing, but a faint, hidden hatred flashed in her cold eyes as she replied:

“The Cang Yuan Marquis Mansion certainly holds considerable power in the capital—but it has nothing to do with me.”

Then she explained to Li Muxian:

“The Cang family’s current power stems entirely from the First Lady of the Cang Yuan Marquis.”

“That woman is not only the sister of Imperial Consort Ji of the Great Li court, but also from the Taiyin Yuan Sect—one of the four great Jianghu sects—and has deep ties to the sect itself.”

“Thus, the Cang family holds high status both in court and in the Jianghu—countless people in Shangyang City scramble to flatter and cling to them.”

Li Muxian’s expression cleared with understanding:

“So your family isn’t just imperial kin—you’re connected to the Taiyin Yuan Sect, one of the Jianghu’s titans.”

Taiyin Yuan Sect—Li Muxian was certainly familiar with it.

One of the absolute top sects in the entire Great Li Jianghu; no one who moved in the martial world didn’t know its name or the terrifying martial power it represented.

It was said the sect had been passed down for over a thousand years; during the Daqi Dynasty, it was already among the foremost sects, having once dominated the Jianghu with its Taiyin True Scripture.

Its ranks were filled with martial masters and prodigies, standing equal to the other three top sects as true Jianghu leaders who could challenge the court itself.

At that moment, Li Muxian suddenly remembered something and said:

“Wait—I recall the Bone-Eating Yin Wind Finger technique originated from the Taiyin Yuan Sect. Could it be…?”

Hearing this, Cang Yin Yue did not hide it; she nodded:

“You guessed right. The brand on my face was given to me by that First Lady.”

At these words, Li Muxian immediately imagined a grand household drama of intrigue and cruelty.

A marquis’s daughter abused and exploited by the matriarch—rising before the rooster, sleeping after the dog, hungry and cold, mocked and shunned, beaten and scolded.

And out of jealousy for her beauty, branded on the face with the character “ Jian ”—“worthless.”

“Cang Miss, you must’ve had a hard life growing up, right?”

Li Muxian spoke with genuine sympathy—but Cang Yin Yue laughed coldly:

“It was hard, yes—if only that woman hadn’t been so lucky, if she’d died from the poison I slipped into her tea, I wouldn’t be stuck like this now.”

“Huh??”

Li Muxian was speechless.

Clearly, he’d been too quick to pity her. With this girl’s scheming nature, she was no innocent.

Meanwhile, Cang Yin Yue, riding ahead on her mule, murmured softly:

“Don’t worry—I’ll kill her someday.”

…

Inside the tavern, Minister of Revenue Gao Changrui, accompanied by the green-robed man and others, approached Guanshan Xue.

Seeing her frozen in place within the private room, all of them wore expressions of surprise.

“Uncle, I heard this woman is connected to the Six Gates’ Divine Captains—shouldn’t we…?”

Zhang He stared at Guanshan Xue with lecherous eyes—but the next instant, Gao Changrui backhanded him and sent him flying.

“You dog! No wonder you shaved your head this past New Year—you’re still plotting my ruin! You nearly succeeded again!”

Gao Changrui’s face was ashen, trembling with rage.

(End of Chapter)