Chapter 34: Flower Speech, Demonic Suppression

After all, it's a matter of the inner quarters; Zhang Jian felt it improper to inquire directly, yet he remained curious and also sensed this might be an opportunity to break the stalemate.

As the sudden change occurred, the enthusiasm of the guests at this family banquet gradually waned.

Yet Lady Qi Wan still extended an invitation to Zhang Jian.

Zhang Jian did not refuse.

This time he came to celebrate his maternal grandfather's birthday, but he hadn't brought only birthday gifts; naturally, he would not forget shares for these uncles and aunts.

Before arriving, Zhang Jian had deliberately sought someone in the prefectural city to purchase many fashionable items at great expense.

Now they came in handy.

"Jian Ge'er, why stand on so much ceremony!"

Lady Qi Wan glanced at the gift boxes being presented, which contained many of the latest cosmetics, fine silks, and a stalk of century-old mountain ginseng.

Clearly, she had put considerable thought into it!

Unconsciously, a faint smile appeared on her expression.

She was quite knowledgeable; century-old wild mountain ginseng is also a rare tonic on the market, especially for martial artists who follow the body‑training path.

The Qi family descends from a line of martial officials; such century‑old great medicines are the scarcest of substances.

Besides her three daughters, she also has two sons.

Zhang Jian smiled and said, "Just a trifling gift; my second uncle always looks after me whenever he comes to Phoenix Creek, and my mother had long instructed that upon visiting the Qi household I must first pay respects to my second aunt!"

Lady Qi Wan nodded; her eyes were exceptionally bright, yet she looked rather formidable. Zhang Jian felt a certain understanding: with such a shrewd, strong‑willed mother, it's no wonder his two female cousins are extraordinarily clever and have early on mastered various means of self‑protection.

At this moment Zhang Jian did not bring up the matter of marriage alliance, for it was not suitable to mention now, and besides he himself was not in a hurry about it.

But after thinking it over, Zhang Jian mentioned what had just occurred at the banquet.

"Second aunt, just now I heard the Qi cousins discussing that the elder aunt's health seems to have been somewhat off lately?"

Upon hearing this, Lady Qi Wan narrowed her eyes slightly, glanced at Zhang Jian, then shook her head and sighed, "The ailment of Lady Zhou has only appeared these past two or three years; eating grains inevitably breeds all kinds of illness, but you must not spread this matter—your maternal grandfather dislikes anyone talking about it!"

A hint of oddness and mockery flickered in the depths of her eyes.

Zhang Jian's gaze shifted; although he had just entered the residence, he had a rough grasp of the Qi family's situation—the main branch had already secured an unshakeable position when his great uncle Qi Yuan Wu entered the palace imperial guard, making him the all‑but‑certain next head of the Qi clan.

Yet now the prospective matriarch of the Qi family has erupted with a madness; if this gets out, it will inevitably invite gossip, damage the Qi family's reputation, and be unfavorable for the marriages of the young ladies and their suitors.

Having received Lady Qi Wan's warning, Zhang Jian temporarily quelled his inclination to meddle.

At this moment Lady Qi Wan also summoned her two daughters to pay their respects, together with two lads under ten years old, who behaved propriety and were utterly endearing.

"Greetings, elder brother of the Zhang family!"

"Elder brother Zhang, do we also have gifts?"

The two young ladies were delicate and frail; the one behind was the one Qi Yu Zhu had spoken of, Zhang Jian couldn't help but chuckle, then replied, "Of course we do!"

He took out two exquisite hairpins from his sleeves and presented them; these hairpins differed from his other gifts, each bearing either an emerald or a red jadeite, lovely and captivating.

Moreover, he had prepared gifts for the two young cousins: two pieces of calligraphy by renowned masters and a set of exceptional brush, ink, paper, and inkstone.

The two girls glanced at them and immediately knew the items were valuable; Qi Yu Hua quietly pulled Qi Yu Zhu back so she wouldn't take them, while Qi Yu Zhu's eyes lit up, she looked to Lady Qi Wan, and only after receiving her assent did she gladly accept them.

After all, it's the nature of a maiden; although Lady Qi Wan usually disciplines them strictly, their innocence and liveliness cannot be concealed.

Qi Yu Hua, being slightly older, seeing her sister accept the gift, felt helpless and could only raise her hand to take hers as well, meanwhile giving a slight curtsey.

"Yu Hua thanks you, elder brother Zhang!"

"Yu Hua, you're being overly modest!"

Zhang Jian glanced at this frail‑looking cousin; though the girl before him habitually defered and made herself small, he knew her inner self was actually strong, merely using this pose to hide her brilliance.

Zhang Jian felt a bit odd; logically, being born into such a prominent Qi clan as a legitimate daughter, not being raised spoiled and willful is already commendable—why then is she so excessively cautious?

In the inner quarters, Zhang Jian could not linger; after leaving the gifts, he departed from the second branch.

But just as he had stepped out of the courtyard belonging to the second branch, Zhang Jian's eyes suddenly shifted.

Yet his extraordinarily keen spiritual sense detected the presence of a spiritual trigger in the garden beside the corridor.

That trace of spiritual fluctuation was exceedingly faint; without Zhang Jian's exceptionally sharp spiritual sense, he might not have noticed it at all.

He stepped toward the nearby pavilion; the several servants behind him did not know why this young master of the branch had suddenly changed his route, but they merely assumed he was curious and followed along at his side.

Zhang Jian noticed that beside it lay a vast flower garden, while the other side was a large artificial lake filled with lotuses.

And the spiritual trigger originated from within that flower garden; at this moment the Myriad Worlds Spirit Sense Orb in his spiritual consciousness quivered slightly, and he heard two strange, melodious sounds.

His ear twitched, and his gaze turned toward a spot beside the artificial hill.

At that moment, two whispers reached his ears.

"Older sister, what do you think that old woman is doing, burying that iron can near us? It's filthy, ugly, and disgusting—how unpleasant!"

"Younger sister, bear with it; that must be an evil object! That Granny Zhang is terribly wicked, bearing traces of heretical dao—we must absolutely avoid letting her notice us, or we'll surely run into danger."

Those were two stalks of brilliant red water hibiscus.

They concealed a spiritual trigger and were extraordinarily lively.

Have they become spirits?

Zhang Jian felt slight surprise, but pretended not to notice.

He merely chewed over the information obtained from the mouths of those two hibiscus spirits.

"An iron can?"

Zhang Jian's brows furrowed slightly as a heretical dao technique surfaced in his mind.

Demonic Suppression!

The Demonic Suppression Technique has long been a folk‑transmitted curse, extremely vicious; those cursed suffer minor misfortune at best and death at worst, its yin toxicity is unparalleled and impossible to guard against.

However, the Demonic Suppression Technique can indeed bypass the protection of Dragon Tiger Qi, for it is among the few yin methods that can evade Dragon Tiger Qi's shield and specifically target nobles.

Zhang Jian had not expected this; merely taking a casual walk, he had instead made an unexpected discovery.

Yet he did not act rashly; he simply indicated that he would stroll around the Qi household himself, letting the attendants go about their business.

Zhang Jian pretended to walk past the two water hibiscuses; he felt that the two water hibiscuses were somewhat nervous, afraid that he would pick them and lose their lives.

This made Zhang Jian feel somewhat sentimental.

Many demons are actually not as powerful as imagined.

Some of them are even inferior to ordinary people.

Zhang Jian had no intention of quarreling with the two precariously living minor demons, but in the darkness he saw someone wiping tears at the edge of the flowerbed.

At that time there was a tall, graceful figure.

He had seen him not long before.