Chapter 47: Off to the Capital

On the road through the wild forest, Ruan Xing rode a small date-red horse at a leisurely pace; after using one simulation attempt, Ruan Xing successfully acquired the basic skill of Horsemanship.

Anyway, she had money; with over four million points in the simulation and more than thirty thousand taels of silver notes on her person, she didn't mind spending one or two.

Next was to choose the Imperial Palace branch line and the National Teacher Palace branch line.

Judging from the memories of the several times she had been assassinated by the old eunuch before, the old eunuch sent by the Imperial Palace was not much higher in realm than her—likely also in the Acquired Realm—but the True Qi effects used by their cultivation techniques were different, their moves were more proficient than hers, and since several of them bullied her alone, she had been stretched thin and unable to cope.

But perhaps it was also because the Emperor felt she was not worth worrying about and hadn't sent any Innate experts.

Ruan Xing decided to go through both branch lines first before deciding.

【Simulating】

At six years old, you leave Jiangning City, traveling day and night, and finally arrive at the Capital, Huaining.

Late at night, you attempt to break into the Imperial Palace; you are discovered just after climbing over the first palace wall and encounter an encirclement by guards. After wounding several guards, you use the 【Swift】 Talisman, crossing a hundred zhang in a few breaths to step into the second palace wall. The people surrounding you increase, among them many experts of the Acquired Realm. You use the 【Break】 Talisman, wanting to open a gap in the encirclement, yet for some reason, the power of your 【Break】 Talisman is not as great as before. You want to summon your Sword, but the Sword gives you no response, and you die.

【Simulation Ended】

Please choose a reward for this simulation: 1, Memories at age six.

2, A random item on your person at age six.

3, A random skill mastered at age six.

4, The cultivation realm reached at age six.

Ruan Xing chose the memories. She observed them carefully and finally realized the reason: when she stepped into the first palace wall, she clearly hadn't made any sound, nor had any guard seen her with their own eyes, yet indeed, a few seconds later, those patrolling guards seemed to know her location and rushed over from all directions. After passing the second palace wall, she clearly felt in her memory that the air began to have a sense of stagnation and resistance, like water, which was why the effect of her Talismans had weakened. It seemed there was also an isolation effect, preventing her from calling the Sword to come and help.

What was this? A formation? With such magical effects, Ruan Xing guessed this must be a formation from the world of Cultivation. She was completely ignorant of this, however, and couldn't figure out how those guards knew her location. Breaking into the Imperial Palace by force was not feasible; next, she would try the National Teacher Palace.

The National Teacher Palace was not inside the Imperial Palace but at the northernmost part of the city. In the middle stood the Zhaixing Terrace, which soared into the clouds, and the scattered buildings of varying heights surrounding the Zhaixing Terrace were the National Teacher Palace.

【Simulating】

At six years old, you leave Jiangning City, traveling day and night, and finally arrive at the Capital, Huaining.

Late at night, you attempt to break into the National Teacher Palace, and you die.

【Simulation Ended】

Ruan Xing:? What was going on? She hurriedly chose the memories, but what she saw was her own body instantly annihilating the moment she entered the National Teacher Palace.

A barrier... perhaps?

This seemed much more powerful than the one at the Imperial Palace.

It seemed that the legendary National Preceptor was truly a cultivator with real ability.

Ruan Xing hadn't intended to force her way in originally, just to see what information she could get by breaking in during the simulation. Getting these two points was already very important; she had to think of a way to sneak in.

Thanks to her body's bone age still being...?

But she had no connections. This time in the simulation, she could only wait at the entrance of the National Teacher Palace to see when recruitment information would be posted.

During the few days she waited bitterly at the main gate, the National Teacher Palace remained tightly shut with no one entering or leaving. It wasn't until three days later that a youth resembling a Daoist acolyte came out from the rear side gate. He drove an ox cart to the market to purchase supplies. Ruan Xing followed him all the way, and when they reached a sparsely populated area, she used White True Qi, the 【Break】 Talisman, and the Sword—all three methods together—to launch a fierce sneak attack, killing the youth on the spot.

The youth hadn't reacted in time to resist; he had neither True Qi Body Protection nor defensive Dharma Artifacts, so he appeared to be of low strength.

Ruan Xing hid his body in the cellar of a house by the roadside, changed into his clothes, and drove the ox cart back to the National Teacher Palace. However, after she entered the National Teacher Palace, her body annihilated once again.

Damn it! Ruan Xing couldn't help but curse under her breath. What kind of method did this barrier use to recognize people? How could it identify her every single time?

Ruan Xing repeatedly reviewed the memories, wanting to find out if the youth had performed any hand seals when he went out, and to see if she had missed any Dharma Artifacts or keys when she stripped the youth's clothes.

This review, however, led to an unexpected discovery.

When the youth drove the ox cart out, she had been pretending to be an ordinary six-year-old child squatting in a corner poking at an ant hill, observing quietly only with her peripheral vision. It wasn't until the youth's cart had passed her by a distance that she got up to follow, and it was during this time that she heard two people chatting on the road.

"It's truly strange, why did the National Teacher Palace come out to buy supplies themselves? Didn't they usually have them delivered?"

"You don't know about this, do you? Have you heard about that case in the palace? Many people were arrested! The Cui Imperial Merchant, who is responsible for the National Teacher Palace, was also arrested! You say this Cui family is truly unlucky; the elder one was arrested and hasn't been bailed out yet, and the younger one had their goods robbed by horse bandits outside the city."

"Is someone intentionally targeting their family? What does the tribute case have to do with the Imperial Merchant? And outside the capital gates, under the Emperor's feet, are there really horse bandits?"

"Heh heh, so what if they are Imperial Merchants? Imperial Merchants have plenty of wealth. Even if they aren't related to the case, since they've been arrested, don't they have to be scraped clean before they can come out? Besides, you don't know how many merchants are jealous of the Cui family's position. Now that the Cui family's head is in prison, as long as one pretends to be a horse bandit and intercepts the Cui family's goods, delaying them for a few days, can the Cui family still keep their title as Imperial Merchant if they can't deliver the goods?"

"Oh~ brother, what you say makes sense. Then they can also present the credit for suppressing the bandits, killing many birds with one stone! According to the Patrol Security Division's efficiency, they should be catching those horse bandits soon."

"About that, they've been waiting for three days already, and the National Teacher Palace is buying supplies themselves; it must be a matter of these next two days..."

Three days... Ruan Xing was startled and sat up abruptly. Wasn't that today! If she saved the Cui family's transport convoy, wouldn't she be able to sneak in by using their opportunity to deliver goods to the National Teacher Palace?

But... even if she whipped her horse to travel day and night without stopping, in the simulation, she would barely arrive at Huaining City tomorrow morning. And when she entered the city, there was no news and she hadn't seen any signs of fighting, which was enough to prove that the incident didn't happen at the South City Gate where she entered, but near the North City Gate, which was closer to the National Teacher Palace. That made sense; they were delivering goods to the National Teacher Palace, so taking the North City Gate was the proper way.

Then she couldn't make it there today at all, unless... Ruan Xing touched the dozens of 【Swift】 Talismans in her pack.

Use them all? It pained her a bit.

Forget it! Simulate and try it first.

【Simulating】

At six years old, you use the 【Swift】 Talisman, traveling day and night, and arrive at Huaining City before dark.

After entering the city from the South City Gate, you walk along the main road to the North City Gate to leave the city. At this time, the sky is already dark, and the city gate guards tell you the gate is about to close and you won't be able to get back in today if you leave now. You don't care and ask the guards about the horse bandits outside the North City Gate; the guards say they haven't heard of such a thing. You don't believe them, so you leave the city gate and search northward along the road. Finally, five miles away, you find some messy cart tracks on the road, and there are some bloodstains on the ground. The bloodstains extend in two directions, and you decide to search in the direction with heavier traces.

After walking about another mile, you find several broken-down carts in a forest. The goods have been messily unpacked and scattered everywhere, and the mules and horses pulling the carts are also lying on the ground dead, covered in blood. You step forward and check all the carts, but find no human corpses.

You retreat to the original path and search again along the direction with lighter bloodstains. After walking half a mile, the bloodstains stop at a downhill depression. There are remnants of cloth on some rough tree trunks, and some stones have been artificially arranged into the shape of a campfire. You squat down to observe and find that the embers have not yet completely extinguished; the people here must have left not long ago. So you take out your Short Sword, stab it into your own heart, and you die.

【Simulation Ended】

After choosing the memories, Ruan Xing continued the simulation without stopping. This time, she would go to the second direction to search first.

【Simulating】

You decide to search along the direction with lighter bloodstains first. After walking half a mile, the bloodstains stop at a downhill depression. A girl, disheveled and in a sorry state, is looking at you vigilantly. You explain to her that you have no ill intentions and only came to see if anyone needed help after seeing bloodstains on the road. Perhaps it is your sincere words and youthful face that move the other party; the girl relaxes her vigilance slightly and asks who you came out with and where your family is. You don't know how to answer for a moment.

Seeing you reveal a flaw, the girl draws a long sword and viciously threatens you not to follow her again. Her hands are trembling; you can tell she doesn't know martial arts. Immediately, the girl stamps out the campfire and retreats step by step, supporting the blood-stained, unconscious man behind her as she struggles to leave. She hasn't walked many steps when you suddenly hear the rustling sound of wind breaking. Several people wearing black masks surround you on horseback.

You attempt to resist them and rescue the girl, but their actions are well-trained and they don't look like ordinary horse bandits at all. You quickly fall into a disadvantage and are no match for them. You are just about to use the 【Break】 Talisman when you discover that they have no intention of killing you, but instead tie you up and drag you away on their horses.

You are locked in a ruined temple halfway up the mountain, where there are dozens of other men tied up; their attire looks like that of a caravan's guards.

Three days later, you and the girl haven't had a drop of water and are about to starve to death. The horse bandits come again; they take the clothes off the guards, change into the worn-out bandit clothes, and then kill them, including the man the girl had been protecting all along.

You and the young girl were untied and brought back to the city in a carriage; as you entered the city, you heard the commoners outside cheering, celebrating the Patrol Security Division's successful return from suppressing the bandits.

The young girl pulled out her hairpin and, with a face full of hatred, attempted to commit suicide; you stopped her, and after exchanging a few words with her, you used her hairpin to stab into your own heart, and you died.

【Simulation ended】

This time, the memories contained much more diverse content due to Ruan Xing's deliberate choices, especially the final conversation between her and the young girl.

Ruan Xing asked in a hoarse, low voice: "Is your surname Cui? Tell me, what is your name?"

The young girl was the same, only she, also suffering from dehydration, had tears streaming down, which could not hide the hatred and despair in her eyes; she mocked herself: "What is the use of asking these things now? No matter who you are or what you want to do, it doesn't matter anymore. They might have mistaken you for a child of the Cui family too. If you don't want to be humiliated, dying now would be a wise choice."

"No, it is useful. Tell me your name. And if you die now, won't you still be humiliated? They will spread everywhere that you only committed suicide because you were defiled by the horse bandits! You clearly know those people are not horse bandits; why don't you find a way to save yourself and prove your innocence?"

"It's useless. The Cui are just a minor Imperial Merchant, and now we aren't even that anymore. Who would stand up for our family?" the young girl said sorrowfully: "My name is Cui Yurong. I still have a younger brother and a younger sister. My brother is named Cui Yuhong, and my sister is named Cui Yuqiong. If you want to live, you can use my sister's name. If there is a chance in the future, go to Shangyao City and find my brother and sister; tell them not to avenge me and Father, just to live well..."

"Fine, if what you say is true, I promise you." Ruan Xing snatched the hairpin without hesitation and, amidst Cui Yurong's shocked gaze, stabbed it into her own chest.

Ruan Xing thought for a moment about what to do next and started the simulation again.

……

The young girl held the Sword hilt with trembling hands in front of her chest, her eyes full of vigilance, "Who are you?"

Ruan Xing did not give her time to hesitate or talk nonsense, calling out directly: "Cui Yurong!"

"How do you know..."

"I am here to save you. Those people will be here soon. Take off your outer robe, burn it, and come with me!"

In the memories of the previous simulation, Ruan Xing knew that Cui Yurong was not injured; otherwise, as a weak woman who knew no martial arts, she would not have been able to hold on for three days without food or water while losing so much blood. All the blood on her body was from the man who had been traveling with her.

"But he..."

Ruan Xing jumped down the low slope, rudely pushed aside the man's head to check his carotid artery; there was still a faint pulse, but Ruan Xing said without blinking: "He is already dead. If you don't leave now, you will be dead too."

Without waiting for Cui Yurong to react, Ruan Xing stripped off her clothes, used the clothes to wipe Cui Yurong's face and hands, balled them up and threw them into the campfire, then pulled her and headed toward the northwest.

Cui Yurong was led along in a daze, saying weakly: "That is not the direction to the city..."

"I know." Ruan Xing interrupted her again, saying: "Those people have already searched that way; they won't search it a second time in the short term. Let's go over there and hide for a while."

The place she took Cui Yurong to was exactly where the carriages were during her first investigation; there were the carcasses of mules and horses there, and the smell of blood was quite heavy, so the smell of blood on Cui Yurong would not be easily detected. Moreover, they had dismantled the carriages so thoroughly, taking apart every carriage body and wooden crate to look inside, likely fearing there were secret compartments for people to hide in. Since they had already checked so carefully once, they basically would not check a second time. As long as she hid well with Cui Yurong and reached the city gate to enter the city when dawn was approaching, it would be fine; she still had over thirty thousand taels of silver notes on her, and she could just buy another batch of the goods Cui Yurong was transporting once they reached the city.

Thanks to Rosetta for the monthly ticket~ Thanks to book friend 20240505085011622 for the monthly ticket~ Thanks to Qiong_aA for the monthly ticket~ Thanks to Ji E Ru Chou for the monthly ticket~ Thanks to Lou Huai for the monthly ticket~ (End of chapter)