Chapter 86: Lingxiang Visits the City Lord Mansion Again

On this day of Shangyuan, Banshan Temple was truly bustling. Even for the daytime rituals, many people came to watch; whether they were dignitaries in Guyang City or commoners from the outskirts, everyone wanted to come to the temple to offer incense to the Yuanyang Great Emperor and receive some blessings.

After the dharma assembly ended, the Elders appeared one after another to light the lamp flowers for the believers who had come to offer incense.

The so-called "lighting the lamp flowers" was a tradition where lanterns to be hung in front of doors that evening were painted in advance, but the final stroke was left to be filled in by someone of high virtue and prestige or an elder of advanced age, in hopes of distributing good fortune to each household. If one could obtain a brushstroke from an outsider with profound cultivation, it was considered even more auspicious.

Therefore, when the Yuanqing Sect announced that their sect Elders would descend upon Banshan Temple to light lamps and bestow blessings upon the crowd, not only the commoners of Guyang City, but even those living dozens of miles away either rose at the crack of dawn or gathered in the city the day before, just to obtain this stroke today in hopes of gaining the favor of the Yuanyang Great Emperor.

Of course, just as there were those who came specifically to offer incense, there were naturally peddlers who ran over to make a profit from the crowd.

Many families, upon learning of the Yuanqing Elders lighting the lamp flowers, stockpiled some of their own goods, waiting for this day to arrive at the Banshan Temple on Jiuque Mountain to set up a stall, selling to the people who came to offer incense, and incidentally seeking a bit of good fortune for themselves.

When Lingxiang and her party arrived, the foot of the mountain was already packed solid. The road, which was not very wide to begin with, had all sorts of stalls on both sides, and with the large crowd of incense-offerers, even the usually pampered nobles had to park their carriages and horses far away and proceed on foot.

Cries of hawkers rose and fell all around, and the fresh trinkets were dazzling, making Lingxiang beam with joy. Since leaving the temple, she had bought a pile of little odds and ends, but it was a hardship for Long Qi, Rendong, and Xin Yi behind her, who were holding a pile of items while still having to watch out for passersby.

Maidong had originally intended to go out and play with them, but when passing Banshan Temple, she was caught red-handed by the Perfected One Fuyin, who kept saying that with the temple so busy, she still had the leisure to wander about, and forcibly kept her behind to help.

Poor girl, she watched helplessly as Lingxiang took Xin Yi out of the temple, but there was nothing she could do.

Lingxiang happily followed the stalls all the way into Guyang City. After entering the city, she headed straight for Youran Abode, ordered Long Qi and Rendong to tidy up the house, and then took Xin Yi out the door.

Since leaving Youran Abode, Xin Yi had been somewhat uneasy. Ever since it was searched last time, Youran Abode had been in a mess and never cleaned up; Lingxiang naturally noticed his expression.

"If I'm not mistaken, the one who messed up my Youran Abode that day was you," Lingxiang said, taking a bite of the plum blossom pancake in her hand—the hot one she had just bought from Shen Popo's stall.

Xin Yi did not answer, only lowering his head, not knowing what he was thinking.

"I'm not blaming you; I know you were acting under orders. I just can't figure out why you ruined those spirit pills in the jars—even if they aren't as precious as the Life-Prolonging Pill, they could still have improved one's cultivation. Unless..."

Lingxiang paused and looked at Xin Yi, only to see his large frame standing there in silence, saying nothing.

"Unless you knew who I was from the start and were deliberately reminding me that danger was approaching, so that I would return to Yuanqing and take precautions early."

Upon hearing this, Xin Yi was startled at first, then smiled. This Lingxiang was indeed a person of clear insight; as long as she could grasp a few clues, she would certainly be able to deduce the rest.

It occurred to him that Maidong being caught by Fuyin Elder just now must also have been her handiwork.

Seeing him like this, Lingxiang knew she had guessed correctly: "I had been thinking before, although you are a practitioner of Martial Dao, you have already reached the Golden Core Intent Zhou Tian Realm, which is considered a semi-immortal level in the Chenjian. To deal with a mere Foundation Establishment like me, you should have been able to finish it in one move, yet you insisted on waiting for reinforcements to arrive. I suppose you must have known that Senior Chiyanzi was nearby," Lingxiang said, taking a bite of the plum blossom pancake, then continued vaguely:

"Although Senior Chiyanzi has the cultivation of the Condensed Core Dao Zhou Tian Realm, it would not have been easy to deal with a group of people with ill intentions at that time, as those people also had cultivation. Looking at it this way, the fact that I only encountered you on my way down the mountain must have been your doing."

Hearing this, Xin Yi looked at Lingxiang.

"You are truly sharp and clear-minded, even thinking of this. But I'm afraid you don't know why I happened to encounter you."

Lingxiang swallowed the plum blossom pancake in her mouth and said, "So, it wasn't that you wanted to encounter me?"

Xin Yi looked at the colorful lanterns hanging from the houses not far away and recalled.

At that time, Xin Yi had indeed received news to search for the third Life-Prolonging Pill—or more accurately, to search for the surviving daughter of the Qiao Family who had married out. However, the matter of the Qiao Family marrying off their daughter had been handled extremely secretly, and after searching for a long time, he had never found her.

Later, while passing through the Taishang Sect, he accidentally heard people discussing the appearance of the Life-Prolonging Pill and followed them, not expecting to learn of these people's plans.

He had once observed Lingxiang at the Taishang Sect for two days, originally thinking that Lingxiang might be the daughter of the Qiao woman, but based on the information he had obtained, it did not seem to fit.

Later, when he was cleaning up the unscrupulous people, he met Chiyanzi again, so he let him clear out that rabble while he followed Lingxiang in secret.

Come to think of it, Long Qi was a fish that slipped through the net. He had thought Chiyanzi would clear away the obstacles, but he didn't expect a Long Qi with no cultivation at all to take advantage of the situation.

He felt that since Long Qi only knew some fisticuffs, he shouldn't pose a threat to Lingxiang. Even if he wanted to commit some unscrupulous act, Lingxiang herself should have been able to handle it. He hadn't expected the two of them to treat each other like gentlemen and respond with indifference.

However, after hearing the conversation between Lingxiang and Long Qi, and sensing that Chiyanzi was nearby, he changed his plan, which led to the later incident of the pill robbery.

"That was quite meticulous. When I took out the Life-Prolonging Pill at the Taishang Sect, I had thought there would be villains, but I didn't expect to encounter people from the Lu Family," Lingxiang said with a laugh.

"At that time, I still had Bai Wuchang's lackeys around me, which made things quite inconvenient. It was just as well to use the hands of those with ill intentions to get rid of them, which made things easier for me."

"That's why I found it strange at the time. Logically, those who do evil will surely come up with a second plan if the first fails, which is why Senior Chiyanzi escorted me all the way and was on guard everywhere. But you seemed to have vanished and never appeared again. I suppose you must have conducted an investigation on me," Lingxiang said, stuffing the last piece of plum blossom pancake into her mouth.

"Although I got rid of Bai Wuchang's minions, I was still under his control after all, and some things I still had to obey..." Xin Yi thought of his mother and immediately fell silent again.

"So..." Lingxiang suddenly stopped in her tracks.

Xin Yi was confused for a moment. Based on his understanding of Lingxiang, although this girl looked the same as Maidong in temperament, she actually had a plan in mind and everything she did had a purpose. He had found it strange just now why she would take him out alone; looking at it this way, she must have had something to tell him.

"So I am taking you to see the surviving pearl of the Qiao Family you have been looking for," Lingxiang said, turning her head.

Xin Yi followed her gaze. Although the official road ahead was paved with bluestone, it was still crowded with people, and in front of the official road stood a grand mansion, with a green wooden plaque on the door clearly inscribed:

City Lord Mansion!