Chapter 43

Killing the Chicken to Warn the Monkey

The will of the master cannot be disobeyed by the servants. Although the four servants were obviously frightened by Ruan Ci, they could only do as they were told. Li Ji made the soup and brought it to her trembling. The two male servants also cut down the forest around the grotto-abode, shaved them into long poles, hung the two assassins in front of the door, and He Tong took action, cut the throat of the second assassin, hung him upside down to bleed, just like bleeding a chicken. The original immortal mansion's artistic conception had been completely destroyed by these two long poles.

Ruan Ci naturally didn't care about the immortal artistic conception at all. The clam meat shrank after being boiled. The clam meat that was originally the size of more than ten people was now only enough for her to eat for two meals. She didn't eat alone either, and asked the four servants to serve some soup to drink. Although the river clam had no attack means except for illusion techniques and could be said to have a realm in name only, it was a Foundation Establishment demonic beast after all. Sharing the meat soup had benefits for the four servants. Among the servants of Qi Condensation disciples, few could enjoy this.

Yesterday she hadn't cultivated yet, and after one night, she brought back a Foundation Establishment demonic beast and two assassin cultivators. The four servants were now both respectful and fearful of Ruan Ci, and didn't dare to disobey her slightest order. Every two hours, they took turns to go outside the door to cut the wound—the Foundation Establishment cultivator's body vitality was already very strong. Although the Dao foundation had been eaten, it was still hanging by a thread with the Golden Core pill powder. If the wound wasn't cut in time, it would grow back in two hours.

The wound kept growing back and was cut open again. This was naturally a painful torture, but the cultivator's trachea had been cut, and his hands were tied. Except for the 'clucking' sound in his throat, there was no way to relieve the pain. Fresh blood flowed down his face and hair drop by drop, dirty and smelly. After flowing several basins of dirty blood like this, they were all cleaned up by the servants. After two days like this, the sect was indifferent and had no movement. Zhang Ji couldn't hold on anymore. Early this morning, it was her turn to bleed. She took the dagger and walked to the person, looking away and not daring to look at the messy and bloody scene. When the dagger was about to touch the neck that had a thin scab, she suddenly burst into tears, knelt down and turned around to kowtow to the gate repeatedly, shouting, "Miss, spare my life, Miss, spare my life! I really didn't mean it!"

Ruan Ci had a full meal and could not eat for several days. She had been working hard in the grotto-abode for the past two days. Zhang Ji's voice reached her ears, and she was not surprised, nodding and saying, "Wouldn't it have been better if you said it earlier? You had to endure these two days. She is afraid, and I am also uncomfortable." She ordered the three servants to bring Zhang Ji over and interrogated her in the main room.

Zhang Ji was timid in the first place, and she had been haggard for the past two days, not thinking about tea or food. As soon as she entered the room, she burst into tears, "Miss, please see clearly, the slave has an uncle who also worked in the mountain..."

She explained the matter clearly in a disjointed way. It turned out that she was able to make the list for selection because of this uncle's care, and after entering the mountain, he took care of her everywhere, so their relationship was naturally quite close. That day, she was selected to enter Ruan Ci's mansion. After arriving at the grotto-abode, her uncle also came to investigate secretly and asked a lot about Ruan Ci. Zhang Ji told him one by one, and also told her uncle that Ruan Ci had caught the eye of the Purple Void Grotto-Heaven, originally intending to ask him to rest assured. Unexpectedly, there was such a change the next day. She was timid in the first place, and seeing two assassins come to assassinate Ruan Ci, she became suspicious, feeling that it might be related to her uncle. After two days like this, her spirit had already collapsed, and she finally couldn't bear it anymore, just asking for a disposal.

Ruan Ci asked her uncle's name, Zhang De, and learned that he worked under a True Person of Zhonglü Peak and was quite favored. But Zhang Ji didn't know the name of that True Person, so she nodded and said nothing. Zhang Ji kowtowed repeatedly, saying, "I leaked Miss's secrets, and it is right for me to die, but please show mercy, Miss, and spare my family."

Ruan Ci sighed, "You are also a pitiful person, but the fate of your family is not something I can decide."

For Zhang Ji, acting without secrecy and showing off the information in the grotto-abode to the outside was a big taboo for a servant. Ruan Ci's encounter with danger while hunting today was mostly caused by her leaking the information. —The sect's True Persons already knew that the Donghua Sword user was among this batch of disciples in the South Zhuzhou. But Ruan Rong was definitely a target that Xu Shaowei and others were paying attention to, and she had already been examined in the South Zhuzhou, and there was no aura of the Donghua Sword on her body. Then there were only two possibilities: one was that the Donghua Sword was indeed on Ruan Rong, but she used a secret treasure to cover up the aura; the second was that Ruan Rong was just a substitute, and the true Ruan family bloodline had long been hidden among the other disciples, and had also obtained a secret treasure that could cover up the aura.

Such was the general trend, and Ruan Ci was naturally among the suspects. However, she hadn't entered the Dao, and the attention she received should have been smaller. Zhang Ji's uncle was sent to ask questions, but brought back a message that attracted attention, which was that Ruan Ci had already caught the eye of the Purple Void Grotto-Heaven. In Wang Zhenren's hands, there was the "Qinghua Secret News" that the Donghua Sword user must study. Although he was at odds with Xie Xie Yan Huan, would he therefore cultivate the sword user even more carefully to cut off the possibility of Xie Xie Yan Huan obtaining the green sword again?

Such a ring after ring, when Ruan Ci went out to mingle, it attracted successive ambushes and probes. The mastermind behind the scenes also had a meticulous mind. The Langhuan Zhou Tian rules did not like the big to bully the small. They first prepared an assassin at the Great Perfection of Qi Condensation. Qi Condensation stage had not officially entered the Dao, so they were mortals. If their skills were good, they could compete with Qi Condensation cultivators, so it was not completely bullying the small.

Seeing that this Qi Condensation cultivator couldn't force out Ruan Ci's bottom line, another Foundation Establishment assassin immediately took his place. If Ruan Ci didn't have the Donghua Sword on her, and she broke into the wild forest, she would die if she died, and the sect wouldn't care much. If she had the Donghua Sword, as a mortal, at the moment of life and death, how could she not use it? Even if she could hold on and not yield to death, the person protecting the Donghua Sword user should have been forced out.

In the twists and turns, Ruan Ci probably had already figured it all out after seeing the field and viewing the momentum. Not long after she entered the forest, the two cultivators rushed over. It was likely that they didn't expect her to be so restless. The first day she established the grotto-abode, the second day she went into the forest to visit. The opportunity was too good to miss. She had seen a supernatural power in "Heavenly Boat Crossing". Great supernatural beings could entrust their divine intent to servants and juniors, and what the latter saw was what the former saw. These two cultivators might both have divine intent entrusted to them, and could check her quality through the eyes of the assassins.

The situation was like this. If she went back to the mansion now, the next probe would be more hidden and dangerous, and it would be difficult to check who leaked the news among the four servants. She followed the plan and played a scene, just pretending that the Spirit Hua Jade Disk was her last trump card, which could be considered a vivid performance. Even if the sword Qi contained in the Spirit Hua Jade Disk was really Donghua sword Qi, what of it? This looked like a magic treasure made by a high-ranking person who introduced Donghua sword Qi and poured it into the jade disk. How could she, a mortal, do these things? It could only be said that Ruan Ci had a close relationship with the sword user, and was probably a close junior, which also paved the way for her to be close to Ruan Rong later.

As for carrying back the assassin's corpse later, scaring the servants, and forcing out the leaker, there was no need to say more. Being in the game, borrowing momentum and guiding, these were all things that should be done. Ruan Ci reflected in the quiet room that she had done two things that shouldn't have been done. The first was naturally saying a word about the Purple Void Grotto-Heaven, which was 80% caused by these five words. The second was that the time to go out hunting was a bit too hasty. Just established the grotto-abode, went out hunting the second day and had Qi Condensation cultivation, which would make the time point of her opening meridians become extremely clear. Opening meridians overnight, and being able to fight Foundation Establishment cultivators without falling behind after opening meridians, even if this Foundation Establishment cultivator was just a servant in the sect, and Profound Heaven Sect disciples were all extraordinary, she was still too eye-catching. This Spirit Hua Jade Disk, I'm afraid, could only slightly release everyone's doubts, and she would still become a disciple worthy of long-term attention in the eyes of all True Persons.

Don't forget the past, it's the teacher of the future. But even if it came again, Ruan Ci would probably still go out hunting immediately. The people who should be probed would come anyway, and the feeling of being hungry was not good. What she thought about was nothing more than that she should pay more attention to the details of her words. Looking at it this way, it was no wonder that those cultivators were all covering up, wishing they wouldn't say a word of truth. She hadn't told the whole truth yet, and she had caused so much trouble. After eating too much loss, people became careful.

Since Zhang Ji admitted to leaking the news, Ruan Ci called the three servants and questioned them privately, asking them to expose whether the other two peers had passed on news to the outside. The three of them guaranteed for each other. It was said that Zhang Ji's uncle also came with the steward who sent the monthly stipend, so he could talk to Zhang Ji. As for the three of them, although they had old acquaintances in the sect, they each served their own masters. If they wanted to probe each other, how could it be so timely? Seeing Zhang Ji's fate, the three of them were also scared, each swearing and swearing, and from then on, they served loyally and didn't dare to leak a word.

In fact, even Zhang Ji didn't have the intention to harm her master, she just didn't know the dangers of the sect's storms. If it were a disciple of the sect, what would be the harm in boasting to relatives and friends that her master had been valued by the Grotto-Heaven True Person? After all, with the favor of the Grotto-Heaven True Person, many deeds would naturally be revealed in the future, and this was not something that could be hidden. Ruan Ci didn't blame Zhang Ji and also felt she was very pitiful, but this girl couldn't be kept. She called He Tong and said, "You take those two people down, send them back to Spirit Valley Peak with Zhang Ji, tell the steward on duty everything that happened, say that these two people wanted to harm me and were killed by me. I can't use this Zhang Ji anymore, you ask for another maid who can cook. Li Ji's craftsmanship is not very good either, how do you find it?"

He Tong was the most steady of the four servants, and his words were fewer, but they were all useful. However, he was also a bit overwhelmed by Ruan Ci, his master, and the corners of his mouth twitched, saying, "For us servants, being able to enjoy spirit food is already an unexpected joy, and I can't distinguish the taste. Li Ji's cooking skills are good on weekdays, but cooking spirit objects is difficult, and it is indeed not something she can handle."

Ruan Ci said "Oh", and said, "In the future, you can just say 'I think her cooking is quite good', no need to be so polite."

He Tong bowed his head and said yes, and went out to get people busy naturally. Ruan Ci was also curious about how mortals in the Central Continent used magic tools and talismans, so she followed out to check. She saw that these three people were quite strong, and even Li Ji easily pulled out the long wood, tied up the corpse of the dead assassin, bandaged the throat of the Foundation Establishment assassin, tied him up with Zhang Ji, and took out a bamboo whistle and blew it hard.

The bamboo whistle seemed to be silent, but Ruan Ci could hear it in the spiritual momentum of the field, like a copper bell hitting lightly, constantly rippling outwards. Not long after, a similar spiritual wave came from the distance in the field, and after colliding with this ripple, they offset each other. When Ruan Ci opened her eyes to look, she saw a spirit goose flying from the sky, grabbing a big basket under its feet, calling while flying to the top of the mountain, and throwing the basket down.

He Tong was the most steady and volunteered to go to Spirit Valley Peak to circle. Li Ji didn't come out to compete at this time, and helped He Tong to transport the prisoner and the three corpses into the basket. This basket was extremely wide, and it wouldn't be a problem for seven or eight people to sit in it. After they were all settled, the spirit goose dived, grabbed the basket, and flew into the air. Ruan Ci looked into the distance and couldn't help but say, "If the spirit goose can't grab it firmly, what if the basket falls?"

Li Ji still had fear for Ruan Ci and was not as intimate as before, smiling carefully, "These spirit geese all have Foundation Establishment cultivation bases and are also well-trained by Spirit Valley Peak. Nothing will happen, Miss, you can rest assured. In the future, if you want to go to Spirit Valley Peak, it will also be a spirit goose picking you up. Don't look at the fast takeoff, but sitting in the basket is steady, and there is no discomfort at all."

Ruan Ci secretly made up her mind that if it was not necessary, she would absolutely not sit on this spirit goose. She was not timid, but she was definitely not big either. She could do anything in a life-and-death struggle, but in ordinary times, she was a bit afraid of ghosts and heights.

It would take at least several hours for He Tong to go to Spirit Valley Peak. Li Ji and Li Tong were both worried about the result, but Ruan Ci didn't care much, saying, "Spirit Valley Peak sends vegetables and meat every few days. It's impossible not to see those two assassins. Since they didn't say a word, it shows that this matter is not something Spirit Valley Peak can decide. How this matter ends is actually not up to me."

She was right. After He Tong came back, he said that Spirit Valley Peak just accepted the people and changed another maid, and didn't say anything else. Ruan Ci was not surprised, gave the maid the name Mei Ji, and asked her to cook the remaining clam meat to taste, but the taste was not satisfactory, so she had to give up.

After cultivating for a few more days, the Purple Void Grotto-Heaven sent someone to pick her up, saying that the True Person wanted to see Ruan Ci. Ruan Ci said to He Tong, "This is the result here."

Her actions in the grotto-abode naturally couldn't be hidden from the eyes and ears of the Purple Void Grotto-Heaven. The True Person didn't speak, which meant that this matter should be decided by her, and also meant that her actions hadn't violated the True Person yet. Ruan Ci acted according to her heart. The Purple Void Grotto-Heaven called her over, which meant that the part of this matter that Ruan Ci could influence had ended, and the next step was a higher-level contest. For her actions, the True Person wanted to give some advice, perhaps also giving some explanation for her future actions.

The steward sent by the Purple Void Grotto-Heaven rode a green jade flying carriage himself, stopped in the air, and the style was also extraordinary. The steward stood at the front of the carriage, full of smiles, and was about to bend down to help Ruan Ci fly onto the carriage, but there was a loud wind in front of him. Ruan Ci jumped onto the front of the carriage herself, waved her hand slightly at him, said "How can you pick someone up without getting off the carriage", and drilled into the carriage herself. Only the steward was left standing at the front of the carriage, a bit embarrassed. After a moment, he laughed at himself, turned around and used magic power to urge the flying carriage, and went away in an instant.

He Tong stood in front of the grotto-abode gate, looking up at the flying carriage's track, and let out a long breath after a long time. He turned to the three servants and said, "I have carefully observed Miss's actions these days. In fact, she is very methodical, rough on the outside but fine on the inside, and she understands things clearly. There is a great deal of strategy in her heart. Everyone, the time has come, we must be very careful. If we can rely on the tail of the horse, we may not be able to rush into the sky in the future!"

Only Mei Ji had a shallow feeling about these words. Li Ji and Li Tong thought of Ruan Ci's unfathomable power, thunderous means, and the flower-like smile with blood on her face, all of them were cold all over, but they couldn't help but nod in agreement. Li Ji smiled forcibly, "We should naturally be trembling with fear and serve with heart. Miss is as careful as hair, but she also has a lot of city government. My temperament is rough, please take care of me in the future, Brother He."

It was because she knew her talent was insufficient, and she was willing to step down from the position of the head of the servants. From then on, the servants in Ruan Ci's mansion all took this He Tong as the leader. Everything was also very methodical, and the rules were strict, not to mention.

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Updated, sorry for the long wait, everyone. The collection has broken ten thousand, scatter flowers! But... the additional update has already been updated before, so I'll just leave a message to send red envelopes today~~ The next additional update should be when the comments break 2w, it might be soon... maybe...

Lunch is braised pork! Yes, I started eating home-cooked dishes. My dad also marinated a few eggs and brought them over. The rules for braised pork in the south are all done this way~~~

I started watching "The Record of Abnormal Creatures". Generally, when I see a text that I think is written very well, I will follow the vine and look at the author's other texts.

. Thanks to the little angels who cast overlord votes or irrigated nutrient solution for me during the period 2020-07-29 11:58:37~2020-07-30 11:57:08~

Thanks to the little angels who cast landmines: Lychee who had her account stolen, Time's Delusion, Yu Yu Wan Yao, Night Color Like Ink, La x1;

Thanks to the little angels who irrigated nutrient solution: Gu Zhu Yi Zhi x62 bottles; niiiiiii x50 bottles; Mushroom Sauce x40 bottles; A Yao, Cold Wind Sparse x30 bottles; C, Ye Yinchun Hou Chang x20 bottles; Dad, Xiao Qiao, Want to eat meat, Shake and shake~, Zhou Zhou, eureka x10 bottles; AuAg x7 bottles; Fatty loves to eat, Cat chasing yarn ball, Ginaaaaaa, Xun Xi, Ai Hua, sidewalker x5 bottles; Open it, I'm counting 123, aw x2 bottles; Drooping eyes and smiling, Baby Leyao, Laughing to death, Chao Sheng Wu Gu You x1 bottle;

Thank you all very much for your support, I will continue to work hard!