Chapter 258: Subduing! Jiang

Yin Qingqing clenched her teeth in silent fury, but dared not show a hint of it on her face, swallowing all her hatred down her throat.

Jiang Ye gazed at her with a cold, expressionless face, then spoke suddenly, his voice calm and unhurried:

“You said earlier that during your training in Miaozhou, you accidentally obtained a Gushu inheritance and an elixir formula.”

“Coincidentally, I’m quite interested in the Gushu of Miaozhou...”

“Show it to me!”

At these words, Yin Qingqing’s expression flickered; her clear, stream-like eyes shifted slightly in their sockets, then her voice trembled:

“M...Master...”

“The Gushu inheritance vanished the moment the Guchong entered my body...”

“I truly wish to show it to you... but I simply cannot...”

“As for the Yin-Yang He Qi Elixir formula, I didn’t bring it with me—it’s left at Danling Peak.”

“If you wish to see it, Qingqing can take you back to Danling Peak to retrieve it.”

Jiang Ye’s lips curled into a cold smirk as he studied her with a speculative gaze, saying nothing.

By his intuition, he judged:

Yin Qingqing’s words were surely half-truth and half-lie.

I must say, this woman is truly a master of lying.

Every lie carried a trace of truth; every truth concealed a thread of deception—blending illusion and reality so seamlessly that ordinary people could never tell the difference.

Facing Jiang Ye’s gaze, which seemed to pierce through all pretense, Yin Qingqing shrank her shoulders and nodded pitifully:

“Master...”

“Qingqing truly isn’t lying to you...”

“You can check the records in the Sect’s Scripture Hall.”

“Many Gushu inheritances in Miaozhou are bound to the Guchong —when the Guchong enters the body, the inheritance manifests; when it leaves, the inheritance vanishes...”

“Qingqing would never dare deceive you on this matter.”

Jiang Ye regarded her with a long, meaningful look and said softly: “Then show me the Guchong .”

Yin Qingqing’s eyes shifted again—this fleeting flicker of panic was caught precisely by Jiang Ye.

She spoke cautiously, her voice even softer than before:

“M...Master...”

“The Gushu I cultivate is unusual...”

“The Guchong cannot be extracted... sometimes, I don’t even know where it is.”

Jiang Ye smiled.

The smile on his aged face was faint, yet it sent a chill down Yin Qingqing’s spine.

A cold, sharp edge flashed across his brow; his voice remained calm, yet carried a chilling menace:

“So you truly think I’m easy to fool?”

“Since you’re so uncooperative, I’ll have to use a little... persuasion.”

“You think I can’t find it, don’t you?”

The moment he finished speaking, Jiang Ye seized Yin Qingqing’s pale neck with one hand and lifted her effortlessly, like plucking up a chick.

With his current Golden Body’s strength, Yin Qingqing, weighing barely a hundred catties, was as light as a sheet of paper in his grip.

“Ugh...”

Suddenly lifted, Yin Qingqing let out a startled, muffled groan.

Her hands instinctively gripped his withered, powerful wrist; her legs kicked helplessly in midair, her heart jolted—she felt an overwhelming sense of dread.

The next instant:

Two crimson-gold flames erupted in Jiang Ye’s eyes.

The flames resembled miniature suns, illuminating Yin Qingqing’s pale face in every detail.

“Ah...”

In that instant of locked gazes, Yin Qingqing felt as if her eyes had been seared by twin fires—pain stabbed from her eyeballs straight into her brain; she instinctively squeezed her eyes shut and let out a stifled cry of agony.

Damn it!

She instantly realized—the old man was using a high-grade Eye Cultivation technique.

The Sect’s Scripture Hall held records of such techniques.

Once perfected, they granted vision far beyond ordinary martial artists—able to pierce skin and flesh, revealing the flow of blood and qi within the meridians.

If this fiery gaze swept over her from head to toe, her greatest secret would be exposed.

Jiang Ye activated his Fire Eyes, scanning inch by inch from her skull downward.

His crimson-gold eyes pierced through skin, muscle, and bone, revealing every meridian and every flow of qi within her body.

Slowly, steadily, his gaze descended to her abdomen.

“Hm?!”

Through the thin layer of flesh, Jiang Ye clearly saw Yin Qingqing’s dantian.

It was filled not only with thick, emerald-green true qi, but at its very center, coiled a faint, strange life force.

“So it’s hidden here.”

Jiang Ye nodded thoughtfully; the crimson-gold flames in his eyes flared slightly.

Hiss... hiss... hiss...

Where the Fire Eyes focused, the fabric over Yin Qingqing’s abdomen ignited from the concentrated heat, sending up wisps of charred smoke.

Her brows knotted; her eyes remained tightly shut, her voice trembling with panic:

“Ah...”

“No...”

“Too hot... too hot...”

Jiang Ye ignored her cries entirely.

Under the gaze of his Fire Eyes, he faintly made out the shape within her dantian—a silhouette resembling a fox.

“Just pull it out.”

Jiang Ye murmured softly; a cold gleam flashed in his eyes as his withered fingers tightened slightly.

At these words, Yin Qingqing nearly wet herself.

She clutched his arm with both hands, her voice shaking uncontrollably:

“Wait... wait...”

“Master... Master...”

“I just remembered—I think I can make the Guchong come out...”

“If you force it out, the Guchong will die...”

“It’s my life-bound Guchong —if it dies, I’ll die too...”

“I still need to get the Primordial Great Restoration Elixir for you—please, Master, spare me this once...”

She spoke rapidly, tears glistening in her eyes; the naturally warm, affable face that once radiated poise now held nothing but pure terror.

Jiang Ye sneered, loosened his grip, and dropped the limp Yin Qingqing onto the ground, saying coolly:

“You have ten breaths to extract the Guchong .”

Yin Qingqing sat among the broken stones, gasping for air, her back soaked through with cold sweat.

She dared not delay a moment, ignoring the lingering pain in her chest; she struggled upright, clasped her hands together, and slowly summoned her emerald-green true qi.

Moments later:

She slowly opened her mouth; a soft green aura drifted out, landing in her open palms.

At the center of that aura, curled up, was a tiny, entirely crimson fox.

No bigger than a palm, its body was covered in fine, soft fur; its pointed ears pressed flat against its head, its dark, round eyes darting about—looking both foolish and cunning.

“It’s really a fox?!”

Jiang Ye’s eyes lit up; he waved his hand, drawing the green aura into his palm, his brow lifting slightly.

This tiny fox had three tails...

It instinctively feared Jiang Ye—once in his palm, it trembled violently, curling its three tails upward to completely cover its head, like an ostrich burying its head in sand.

In Jiang Ye’s understanding:

Guchong were supposed to be centipedes, spiders, scorpions—poisonous insects.

Who could have imagined that Gushu in Miaozhou could cultivate a fox? And this little fox had three fluffy tails trailing behind it.

Each tail-tip glowed with a faint pink hue—the same color as the fox’s claw-tips he’d seen in his mind when he’d once been afflicted by Gushu .

“Can a fox even be called a Guchong ?”

Jiang Ye studied the trembling three-tailed fox in the aura, gently prodding its face with his index finger, pushing aside its curled tails.

The little fox trembled harder at his touch, letting out a faint, almost inaudible whimper; its three tails fluffed into three tiny fur-balls.

Yin Qingqing knelt beside him, trembling as she explained:

“M...Master...”

“A Gu is the essence of Heaven and Earth—beyond comprehension, unconstrained by form.”

“This is a Fox Gu ...”

Jiang Ye nodded thoughtfully: “Fox Gu ... the world is vast indeed—full of wonders beyond imagining...”

Saying this, he prepared to put away the fox Gu and take it back for careful study.

Yin Qingqing’s eyes welled up with tears again:

“Master...”

“This fox Gu is my life Gu , intrinsically tied to my Xingming ; it cannot leave my body for more than seven days...”

“Otherwise, both of us will die...”

“Please, Master, return it to Qingqing.”

“Qingqing promises she will never lie to you again!”

Jiang Ye paused slightly in his motion, then a sly curve curled at the corner of his mouth:

“That’s simple. Come see me every seven days.”

“It keeps the Gu alive and reassures old man me—two birds with one stone.”

He had been worrying over how to control this fox-like woman.

After all, this woman was extremely untrustworthy.

Eight out of ten things she said were half-truths.

Relying solely on her verbal submission would only lead to backstabbing the moment she turned her back.

Now this fox Gu was the perfect leash...

Hearing this, Yin Qingqing froze.

Her expression shifted from panic to confusion, then to belated realization.

She wanted to slap herself right then and there.

Damned...

She had spoken foolishly.

Now she had truly handed her life over to this old devil.

“Master... this...”

She urgently opened her mouth to say more and salvage the situation.

Jiang Ye’s cold gaze fell upon her, his voice calm: “You said you’d serve me as slave or maid—was that insincere?”

“...”

Yin Qingqing fell silent, every excuse choked in her throat.

She knew she could not reclaim the fox Gu now; further pleading might make this old man turn truly hostile.

She took a deep breath, forcibly suppressing the rising rage in her heart, forcing her lips upward into a stiff smile:

“Master...”

“Then Qingqing will take you to Danling Peak to retrieve the formula for the Yin-Yang Harmonizing Pill.”

Jiang Ye shook his head slightly, a strange, burning heat flickering in his aged eyes.

He stepped forward, looking down at Yin Qingqing, kneeling amid the broken stones, and spoke in a flat tone:

“That can wait...”

“But the sedative incense you used earlier was quite effective.”

“Old man’s fire is burning high.”

He felt this woman lied constantly—utterly untrustworthy.

Of all the women he had encountered, she was the most cunning...

Xu Qinghuan might throw tantrums, but she never dared lie to him.

Even Yang Han, full of malice, still maintained a veneer of decency.

Only Yin Qingqing, feigning frailty and harmlessness, spoke in half-truths and deceit; without a lesson, she would never learn what “honesty” meant.

She very much needed a beating.

Hearing this, Yin Qingqing turned pale with terror, her legs buckling as she collapsed at Jiang Ye’s feet, clutching his robe with both hands, her voice trembling violently:

“Master... Master...”

“Qingqing’s Gu arts... before they are perfected, I cannot lose my virginity...”

To make him believe her, fearing he thought she lied, she raised her hand and swore, voice shaking:

“If I lie about this, I shall never advance in martial cultivation in this life, struck down by thunder and lightning, doomed to a wretched death...”

Jiang Ye smiled faintly, looking down at the trembling girl at his feet; his aged face held no great warmth, yet it sent an inexplicable chill through Yin Qingqing:

“No matter. Your sincerity is enough—you need not lose your virginity.”

After attaining the Golden Body, his flesh had reached a realm beyond ordinary comprehension.

The paths open to him had multiplied.

“Ah...”

Yin Qingqing blinked in surprise.

Could this old devil truly be so reasonable, letting her off so easily...?

Her heart had barely begun to ease.

The next instant.

Jiang Ye suddenly reached out, his bony fingers gripping the nape of her neck, lifting her effortlessly from the ground with an unyielding force.

His fingers, clearly defined, clamped onto her neck like a leash on a disobedient beast.

“Master... what are you...”

Yin Qingqing’s feet left the ground; instinctively, she grabbed his wrist, but her body trembled uncontrollably.

She was like a fox seized by the nape by a hunter—she struggled, but his grip was terrifyingly strong, unmoving.

For the first time in her life, she felt a nameless terror.

Far off, among the mountain woods,

a spring chrysanthemum swayed in the wind.