Chapter 107: Recalling the Past Over Cups Under the Night

Xin Yi sat alone in the courtyard, gazing at the galaxy filling the sky, wondering what he was thinking about.

At this moment, a burst of footsteps came from behind him, yet unlike in the past, he did not immediately become alert, but instead remained seated, staring blankly at the twinkling stars.

The person who arrived did not disturb him, sat down of their own accord, and then placed a pot of tea on the table.

"The dew is heavy and deep; you might as well drink some medicinal tea to dispel the damp cold," the person said, pouring two cups and taking one to drink by themselves.

Xin Yi did not reply, only staring blankly at the night stars, and it was only after a long while that he picked up the tea cup.

"I thought for a long time before I understood: it is only because you knew about our affairs early on that you made all those arrangements," Xin Yi said, holding the tea cup without drinking, staring at the starry sky as he asked.

The person gave a soft laugh, set down the tea cup, and also looked toward the night sky.

"In this sect, apart from Senior Brother Fuyin, I suppose you are the only one who can understand me." It was none other than Lingxiang.

Only, her attire today was different from usual.

"You knew the identities of Long Qi and me from the very beginning, and I fear you even knew about Lady Qiao of the Guyang City Lord Mansion long ago, which is why you begged the Seven-Star Longyuan from her to return to Long Qi. Afterwards, you took us into Qingwei Peak before the Spirit Root verification, because you understood that with your cultivation, the sect would certainly not allow you to instruct the two of us," Xin Yi said, lifting the tea cup toward his mouth, but then suddenly stopping.

"What exactly is your intention with such scheming?"

Lingxiang only smiled without a word, picking up the tea cup and taking a sip.

"What you said is not entirely correct. As you said, you have overestimated me. What I knew early on was only Long Qi, and the one who asked me to keep an eye on you was Qiaoshi Furen."

Xin Yi was just about to drink the tea, but upon hearing her say this, he was greatly puzzled.

"The City Lord's wife?"

"That's right. At the beginning, going to the City Lord Mansion to eliminate demons was indeed for the sake of the reward money. At that time, I did not yet know about the Seven-Star Longyuan, until I saved Qiaoshi Furen..."

"Lingxiang, Lingxiang! Look quickly! This Accumulated Silk Gold Hairpin given by the lady actually has three Southern Pearls on it! If we take it to a pawnshop, we can surely exchange it for quite a bit of silver!" Maidong flipped through the jewelry box gifted by Lady Qiao, her face full of joy.

But Lingxiang was somewhat listless, propping up her head as she sat by the window, answering only intermittently.

It was not that she did not love wealth; on the contrary, she loved these items dearly. It was just that there was one thing she always felt was suspicious. By rights, with Lady Qiao's status as the City Lord's wife, what storms had she not seen? How could she have been frightened into a faint by a mere little yellow weasel? Furthermore, she had Ajin guarding her side; how could she have let Alv find an opportunity?

Lingxiang could not figure it out, frowning as she stared blankly at the old pine tree outside the window.

"I say, since you have already obtained so much, you should just about let it go. Don't tell me you are still thinking about that ten-thousand-gold reward?" Maidong, receiving no response from Lingxiang, looked up and saw her in this state, thinking she was pondering how to demand the reward, so she stepped forward and poked her.

Lingxiang glanced at Maidong, switched the arm supporting her face, and said, "Do you take me for you, heartless and thoughtless all day long? You don't care about anything as long as you have food, drink, fun, and profit. Your martial aunt here is concerned for the world; I am currently planning with deep foresight!"

Maidong curled her lips and rolled her eyes: "I would only believe these words if they came out of your mouth. If some greenhorn said this, I would certainly be full of praise!" Saying this, she went back to rummaging through the treasures in the jewelry box.

Upon hearing this, Lingxiang was about to retort, but she saw two maids enter the courtyard through the moon gate from outside the window, and she hurriedly stood up to greet them at the door.

"Are the two sisters here because the City Lord has something to ask?"

The two maids looked at each other, thinking to themselves that this female Fairy was truly ridiculous, actually calling them 'sisters'.

"Replying to the Fairy, we two are the lady's maids. We have come this time under the lady's orders to invite Fairy Lingxiang to the lady's room for a chat."

Looking for her? That was a coincidence; she also happened to have something to ask.

"Since the lady has extended an invitation, then I will trouble the two sisters to lead the way." Lingxiang said, making a one-handed Daoist salute toward the two.

The two maids only felt this female Fairy was quite interesting; they performed a salute according to etiquette and turned to lead Lingxiang out of the courtyard.

As soon as they entered Lady Qiao's room, the maids retreated and closed the door tightly. Lingxiang was very surprised in her heart. What secret could they be talking about to be so cautious?

Just as she was wondering, she heard Qiaoshi Furen calling her from the inner room: "Is that Miss Lingxiang? Please come in quickly."

Lingxiang entered the inner chamber suspiciously, only to see that Ajin was also present. What surprised her was that Ajin had actually transformed into human form and was standing in the room.

"Uh..." Lingxiang did not know how to speak for a moment, hesitating as she looked at Ajin, then at the City Lord's wife sitting on the foot-step bed.

"I know you must be full of questions. Inviting you here this time is to clear up your doubts. To tell you the truth, I also have a request." The City Lord's wife said, coughing twice.

Seeing this, Lingxiang hurriedly replied: "The lady speaks too seriously. As long as I can help, I will certainly resolve the lady's worries. It is just that the lady's body has not yet fully recovered; why not rest first and discuss it another day."

"If I don't make things clear to you today, I fear you will not be at ease." The City Lord's wife smiled and stood up. Ajin hurriedly stepped forward to support her, but she raised her hand to indicate it was fine, walked straight to the table, and invited Lingxiang to sit.

Lingxiang was not polite; since the host had said so, she could not very well refuse.

"Then I will ask straight to the point." After Lingxiang sat down, she asked the questions in her heart.

"Where should I start..." The City Lord's wife said, pouring a cup of tea for Lingxiang and handing it over, "Let's first talk about these three families: Long, Lu, and Qiao."

Legend has it that the three demon-slaying families of Long, Lu, and Qiao were originally one family, and later, for unknown reasons, they dispersed to Nanhua, Youlu, and Gaoling. In ancient times, when the three were still one, the Long Family specialized in the Slaying Demon Technique, the Lu Family was skilled in the Demon Detection Method, and the Qiao Family was for Demon Sealing.

One year, a traitor appeared in the Qiao Family who released the Zhu Yan that had been sealed for many years. The result was that the people were plunged into misery and suffering, and it was only thanks to the Yuanqing Sect stepping in to help that it was suppressed again.

But this battle had heavy casualties, and even the Qiao Family suffered a great loss of vitality; most of the Qiao Family's great experts were lost in that great Demon Sealing war.

For many years, most of the great demon-slaying families in Chenjian could only contend with ordinary demons; only the Qiao Family mastered the secret techniques capable of suppressing such ancient beasts, but the Qiao Family was already on the path of decline.

Over the years, there was simply no one who could inherit the Qiao Family's mantle, but ancient evil beasts like the Zhu Yan could not be sealed forever; they would emerge once every few hundred years. If there was no one to manage the family, it would only cause this Zhu Yan to break free early.

But now, in a time of scarcity of Spirit Roots, if this Zhu Yan were to escape, there would certainly be another bloodbath, and no one knew how long it would last.

It was at this time that a woman with a Heavenly Star Spirit Root appeared in the Qiao Family.

Originally, the head of the Qiao Family thought there was a successor, but people with a Heavenly Star Spirit Root are born with a kind of talent. This woman's talent was too overbearing for a mortal body to carry, and she was unable to cultivate; even preserving her life was a matter of fate. It so happened that the family head encountered an eight-tailed divine cat and made a wish for it to guard this woman for life.

Even so, this woman still could not live a long life.

Later, the Qiao Family head did not know where he obtained an ancient book and learned about the affairs of the Long, Lu, and Qiao families, thinking that if he could borrow the strength of the three families, perhaps he could save her life. At the very least, by selecting someone with superior aptitude from among them to marry into the family, perhaps they could give birth to a child who would inherit the Heavenly Star Spirit Root.

But the Long and Lu families had no such candidates...

Later, they begged for a Life-Prolonging Pill from Tumi Xianzi in hopes of curing this woman. But this woman had not even a shred of cultivation; if she were to take it rashly, it would be no different from throwing her life away.

However, just as this woman saw the Life-Prolonging Pill, for some reason, that innate power which had been suppressed suddenly went berserk and became uncontrollable.

It was precisely because of this rampage that she actually foresaw the impending doom of the three families!