Chapter 57: Saving Sister

That is, Ruan Tao.

Seeing her, the pain on Ruan Tao's face was mingled with shock.

The disciple saw the expressions on both their faces and said playfully, "Ah, so you know each other. Are you sisters? I remember now, little baleful star."

His gaze, like that of a jackal, seemed to pierce through the dimensions of memory and stare fixedly at the present-day Ruan Xing.

She did not have the courage to keep looking, so she hurriedly ended this simulation of memory.

She suddenly remembered what Ruan Tao had once said to her.

"... It was only later that Father changed. The year Mother gave birth to you, a Daoist came to the house and said I had an affinity with the Dao and wanted to take me as a Daoist acolyte. Father refused, and the Daoist said that Mother's pregnancy was the descent of a baleful star that would bring disaster and unrest to the household, and that Father would never pass the scholar examination in his life, would have no descendants, and would face a desolate old age."

A Daoist...

Ruan Xing had always assumed that this Daoist was either a charlatan with no real skills because his fortune-telling was inaccurate, or that it was Hongtou Daoren himself, personally swindling children before he had arrived in Jiangning City and established the Red Head Gang.

She had never taken this Daoist, who existed only in Ruan Tao's words, to heart, but she had not expected that even before she was born, she had already brushed shoulders with a cultivator of this world.

Ruan Xing felt somewhat conflicted, but now was not the time for sentiment. She combed through the patterns of her many simulations and discovered that before she became the Gang Leader, Ruan Tao would always be sold off in various ways within two years, but after she became the Gang Leader, she never encountered this situation again.

What was the difference in between? And what was the first thing she did after becoming the Gang Leader? She sent the granddaughter back to Cai Wen, then triggered the Weaving Case in advance...

So, the National Preceptor's disciple was also related to the Weaving Case? No, it was the person who abducted Ruan Tao to give to the National Preceptor's disciple who was related to the Weaving Case.

The time Ruan Tao was sold was different each time, proving that she was merely a gift for that person to curry favor with the National Preceptor's disciple; Ruan Tao was only brought out as a bargaining chip when that person had a request for the National Preceptor's disciple.

And in the simulations where she became the Gang Leader but did not leave Jiangning City, Ruan Tao was safe. Therefore, it was something she did after arriving in Huaining City that flapped the butterfly's wings, influencing the other party and causing them to have a request for the National Preceptor's disciple.

And what had she done? She had saved Cui Yurong.

Ruan Xing cleared up her train of thought.

If she had not left Jiangning City and had kept on being her Gang Leader, then the plot in Huaining City would have been the merchant caravan being robbed, Cui Yurong despairing and committing suicide, while Ruan Tao would have been safe and sound.

If she left Jiangning City and saved Cui Yurong, Ruan Tao would be plotted against and abducted to Huaining.

The variable in this was that the people who plotted to rob and kill Cui Yurong's merchant caravan were the same group of people who abducted Ruan Tao and sent her to the National Teacher Palace.

Originally, those people were the enemies of the female lead Cui Yurong, and she had not wanted to intervene or get herself involved in the plot, but those people should not have set their sights on Ruan Tao.

She did not yet have the qualifications to contend with a Golden Core True Person's disciple, but she had to save Ruan Tao, so she could only start with Cui Yurong's enemies.

Ruan Xing continued the simulation; this time, she had to figure out exactly who the person sending Ruan Tao in was.

The National Teacher Palace had two gates in total, the main gate and the rear side gate. Such dishonorable matters were likely not done too openly, so Ruan Xing staked out the area near the rear side gate of the National Teacher Palace. On the tenth day, a dusty carriage entered the National Teacher Palace through the rear side gate, led by a Daoist acolyte. It drove along the palace path toward the residence of the National Preceptor's disciple. Once they arrived, two men driving the carriage lifted a large crate out of the carriage and carried it inside.

Only the Daoist acolyte remained outside the gate. Ruan Xing caught a line of sight, bypassed the wall, and, taking advantage of the acolyte's distraction, slipped into the carriage.

There was no one inside the carriage, but the floor was piled with straw used for shock absorption and soundproofing. Ruan Tao was likely in that large crate and had already been transported inside. However, Ruan Xing's simulation this time was not to save her; treating the symptoms without treating the root cause was useless. To cure the illness, one must first treat the root; she had to figure out the background of these people.

She lay on the floor, curled herself into a dark corner, and then covered herself with the straw piled inside the carriage.

Before long, the two men came out carrying the empty crate. They did not look closely at whether the straw in the carriage was any different from before. They shoved the crate into the carriage and drove it back out of the National Teacher Palace along the palace path.

Ruan Xing listened to the movement outside. Once the human voices became sparse, she relied on the agility and lightness of her body to quietly squeeze out from the gap between the crate and the carriage wall, lifted the carriage door, and leaped onto the roof of the carriage.

The two men driving the carriage were still unaware. Ruan Xing flipped down and chopped one of them unconscious with an elbow, then used one hand to prop up the unconscious man's shoulder to keep his body from sliding off, while holding a Dagger at the neck of the other man driving the carriage with her other hand.

The two were not experts and only possessed some subpar External Strength skills, so they were easily subdued by Ruan Xing. The sharp tip of the blade pressed against his skin, and the cold sensation made the man unable to help but swallow his saliva. Although he was trembling, he controlled himself and did not shout out loud.

Ruan Xing asked in a low voice, "Where are you going now?"

"Back... back to the master's house," the man replied in a low voice.

"Who is your master? Who sent you to transport this crate? I hope you answer carefully, otherwise, I don't mind poking a few more holes in you," Ruan Xing threatened.

"Spare me, young hero! I don't know anything! I'm just a carriage driver running errands. I don't know what's in the crate! My, my master is President Zhang of the Shanghe Chamber of Commerce. The President ordered me to send the crate to the National Teacher Palace!"

The man had originally been begging for mercy, but seeing Ruan Xing impatiently press the Dagger down slightly, he hurriedly blurted everything out like beans spilling from a bamboo tube, answering Ruan Xing's questions and saying everything he knew.

Ruan Xing interrogated him repeatedly, but he stuck to the same story. Judging by his appearance, he did not seem like a trusted aide capable of handling important tasks, so Ruan Xing believed his words. "You are now rushing the carriage back to the master's house to report, right? Like this, later you wake him up and let him drive the carriage himself. You say you are tired and want to lie down and rest for a while, and come to the back carriage. If you do as I say, I can spare your life."

The man nodded, and Ruan Xing withdrew the Dagger, let go of the unconscious man, jumped onto the carriage roof, and slipped back into the carriage.

She had just sat down on the straw when she heard the conversation in the front.

"Wake up! Stop sleeping!"

"Ugh... what's going on?"

"You've been asleep for half the day. So sleepy, did you go thieving last night?"

"No, I don't know what's going on, my neck feels a bit sore..."

"Forget it, you've rested for quite a while. You drive the rest of the way, I'm going to the back to sleep for a while."

"Fine."

Rubbing his neck, the man who had just woken up resignedly took the reins and drove the carriage.

The other man went to the back carriage, sat opposite Ruan Xing, pressed his body tightly against the rear carriage wall in fear, and revealed a fawning smile.

Ruan Xing made a gesture for silence, and the person opposite nodded repeatedly. The two sat in silence until there were new sounds outside the carriage.

It seemed they had exchanged a few words with the gatekeeper, and the person outside shouted, "Old Wang, get off the carriage, hurry up and report back to collect the reward money."

Under Ruan Xing's cold gaze, the person opposite broke out in a cold sweat but dared not answer the person outside. "Strange, did he really fall asleep?" The person outside muttered as he opened the carriage door. Just as a bit of light shone in, Ruan Xing once again struck him unconscious with lightning speed and jumped off the carriage.

She was now in the residence where this Zhang Huizhang was located.

Ruan Xing turned and asked the man who was still sitting in the carriage, "Who are you reporting to? Zhang Huizhang?"

"Yes... but we won't necessarily see him. If he is busy, we just need his trusted aide to relay it to him and that's it."

"Good." Ruan Xing nodded, "Then tell me the approximate location."

"Yes, the President is usually in the study at this time, the study is in this direction... If it's a bit later, he will go to the Madam's room, walk this way..."

The man finished speaking stumblingly and asked nervously in a low voice, "You won't kill me, right?"

"Of course." Ruan Xing smiled and jumped up, chopping his neck with a hand blade.

With a thud, there was one more person on the ground, unconscious.

This residence did not have many guards; the servants and house guards were just ordinary people who had not even reached External Strength Perfection. Ruan Xing could easily avoid their line of sight and easily lurked outside Zhang Huizhang's study. There was only one servant at the door of his study. Ruan Xing walked across the roof and landed lightly by the window.

The window was slightly ajar, and Ruan Xing saw a short, thin old man with half-gray hair and beard inside.

There was another person with their back to her, head bowed, appearing to be the old man's subordinate; at this moment, the sound of conversation drifted over.

"It's already this late, has the person sent to the National Teacher Palace not returned yet?"

"President, please be patient. The gatekeeper just reported back that they have returned and are likely unloading the carriage in the back; they will come to report to you in a moment."

"Hmm, as long as it went smoothly. The girl sent over this time was specifically requested by Sun Daozhang; there must be no mistakes. In the information Sun Daozhang provided, she was clearly just a girl from an ordinary family, so how could she know martial arts? It even caused me to lose a few men. Have you cleaned up this matter? Since she knows martial arts, she must have a background. We must not let anyone find out it was us, or it will create more enemies for the Zhang family."

"Yes, President. I was also puzzled by this and specifically looked into it. The girl's family background is indeed ordinary; she is merely the daughter of a Child Scholar, and that Child Scholar passed away not long ago. However, it is said that her younger sister was taken as an apprentice by a high-ranking member of the Red Head Gang, a local snake in Jiangning City, which is how this girl had a way to learn martial arts. We kidnapped her mother to lure her out; we didn't have a direct conflict with the Red Head Gang, and the trail has been swept clean. It cannot be traced."

"According to what you say, she has no status in the Red Head Gang. That is good, as it won't attract attention. What about her mother?"

"She was also kidnapped and is hidden in a villa in the suburbs. The girl has a bit of a fiery temper; if it weren't for her mother being used as leverage, I fear she would have bitten her tongue and committed suicide on the road."

"The person has already been sent over, so why keep her mother? Find a time to deal with her."

"As the President says."

Hearing this, Ruan Xing could not help but directly push open the window, vault inside, and strike out with a burst of White True Qi, splitting the person who had their back to her in two.

Blood and intestines spilled all over the floor with a wet thud, and the half-body that had lost its support also collapsed onto the ground.

The short, thin old man let out a cry of alarm, then pointed at Ruan Xing with wide eyes, unable to speak.

The servant outside heard the commotion and hurried into the room; before he could finish saying, "Master, what is wrong?", another burst of True Qi rushed toward his face.

Inside and outside the study, there was no sound left at all.

Ruan Xing drew her Short Sword and pointed it at him. A few drops of filthy blood had splashed onto her face; she tilted her head and wiped it away with the back of her hand, her expression indifferent. "Don't scream."

The old man's hands nervously gripped the armrests of his grandmaster chair.

"I will ask you a few questions. If your answers satisfy me, I will give you a quick end."

The old man managed to pull off an ugly smile. "Is there no option to survive? I do not know why you have come... Zhang has always been kind to others; if I have offended you in any way, there must be a misunderstanding..."

"The girl you sent into the National Teacher Palace today is my sister," Ruan Xing said softly, stepping forward with her sword.

The old man's face turned ashen. Given the martial prowess Ruan Xing had just displayed, no matter what he did now, it would not be faster than her sword.

He could not help but feel some resentment toward his former subordinate who had already died before him. What happened to the trail being swept clean? How was it that in less than a day, someone had come knocking on his door?

Ruan Xing continued, "You only have two choices now: answer my questions well, and I will give you an intact corpse; or do not answer my questions well, and I will give your whole family an intact corpse. How do you want to choose?"

"Whatever you wish to ask, Zhang will naturally... tell you everything."

"Then, the first question: the Cui family caravan was robbed by horse bandits a few days ago; was that your scheme? I came to your house today almost unimpeded; how were you able to command twelve Acquired Realm experts to disguise themselves as horse bandits?"

This was also the part Ruan Xing could not understand. If Acquired Realm experts could be bought with money, why was there not a single one in his residence to protect him? Those guards were not even at External Strength Perfection.

The old man was somewhat stunned, not expecting Ruan Xing's first question to be this. He hesitated for a moment and said, "It was my doing. Those twelve Acquired Realm experts were all Qianling Guards from the Patrol Security Division. With their high rank, I naturally could not command them... but you also know that I work for Sun Daozhang. The National Teacher has a transcendent status, and Sun Daozhang is the National Teacher's top disciple. How could it be difficult for him to requisition a few Qianling Guards in the name of the National Teacher Palace?"

The old man briefly explained the sequence of events in a few sentences, and only then did Ruan Xing understand the cause and effect.

The old man had actually been in cahoots with this Sun Daozhang for many years. At that time, Sun Daozhang was not restricted in his freedom by the National Teacher, but was instead traveling across the land out of curiosity. He had originally followed the National Teacher to the Mortal Dynasty to relieve the melancholy in his heart, but he did not expect that instead of finding relief, it gradually incited his twisted psychology and led him to develop abnormal preferences.

Later, this matter was discovered by the National Teacher. The National Teacher was very angry and disappointed, summoning Sun Daozhang back to the National Teacher Palace and forbidding him from leaving Huaining City again. To curry favor with him, the old man secretly built a secret chamber in his residence and often sent young girls over.

In return, Sun Daozhang would occasionally give the old man some benefits, and if there were things the old man could not handle, he would ask Sun Daozhang for help.

The robbery of the Cui family caravan was a case where the two hit it off. The old man wanted to expand his business and obtain the status of an Imperial Merchant, while Sun Daozhang felt that if the old man became an Imperial Merchant supplying the National Teacher Palace, it would be more convenient for him to send goods. Thus, the Cui family became the sacrifice.

It was just that with Ruan Xing interfering, it did not succeed.

This time was supposed to be a heaven-sent opportunity. With Boss Cui in prison and no one in the Cui family to take the lead, they were already short on funds. If they lost more goods and could not compensate, they would certainly lose their Imperial Merchant title.

Yet, he did not expect that not only did it fail, but it also caused twelve Qianling Guards to lose their lives. This matter was still being hidden from the Patrol Security Division; the Patrol Security Division just assumed the mission for which Sun Daozhang had borrowed the Qianling Guards had not yet been completed. If this matter were to blow up, the National Teacher would certainly lose face. Sun Daozhang had been very irritable these past few days, which was why he was urging the old man to send the girl he wanted quickly.

Was this the reason for the National Teacher's fury? Ruan Xing could not be sure; how could a Golden Core True Person care about the lives of mortals?

Thanks to book friend 20240331760021 for the monthly ticket~ Thanks to Aemier for the monthly ticket~ I told book friends before that I use Ruan Xing for reality plots and Ruan Xing for simulation plots, but sometimes I forget this and use Ruan Xing for simulation plots too... In short, understand it based on the context! Forgive the scatterbrained author, *chu*!

(End of chapter)