Chapter 133: Who Is My Backer?

Lin Jingle's gaze swept over the other two, and indeed he saw yin energy on all three of them; he frowned slightly. "So your injuries were also inflicted by that female ghost?"

The three hurriedly affirmed, blaming everything entirely on the female ghost.

"Where is that female ghost?"

Zhang Weiliang bowed his head and replied, "She escaped."

Lin Jingle stared at the three for a moment, then waved his hand. "Go and make your statements—record exactly when and where you encountered the female ghost, and describe her condition in full detail. I will send personnel from the Punishment Hall down the mountain to handle it."

Zhang Weiliang responded with "Yes," but dared not reveal the true origin of Xiao Hong.

Zhang Weiqin and Zhang Weigang had both seen Xiao Hong last night, proving she had not been killed or driven to reincarnation by Pan Yun—she still lingered in the mortal realm.

If the Punishment Hall discovered this, they would learn he had been raising a minor spirit; then he would truly be in deep trouble.

After the three left, Zhou Wangdao brought over his notes. "Master, they're clearly lying—last night's commotion at Fengqi Courtyard was loud enough for everyone to hear."

Lin Jingle snapped his notebook shut with a sharp snap, displeased. "If you all heard it, why didn't you intervene? When did the Punishment Hall become a department that muddles through problems and exists in name only?"

Zhou Wangdao bowed his head in apology. "Disciple is at fault."

"Since you know you're at fault, go to the Reflection Cliff and reflect on your error. Also, you have half a month to uncover the origin of the yin energy on their bodies," Lin Jingle said, his expression grim. "There must be no one in Long Hushan who privately raises minor spirits."

"Yes." Zhou Wangdao paused, then asked, "Could it be that Pan Yun…?"

Meeting Lin Jingle's gaze, Zhou Wangdao lowered his head. "Yes, Disciple understands—Zhang Weiliang and the others are targeting Pan Yun of Mount Sanqing. If she truly brought yin and evil things into the academy, they would have reported her immediately."

"Good that you understand," Lin Jingle waved him off. "Go."

Zhou Wangdao withdrew.

Lin Jingle thought for a moment, then wandered over to the academy's rear storage.

All newly enrolled disciples were to collect bedding, wooden buckets, and other daily necessities here today.

Pan Yun and the others had returned from the mountain and joined the line to collect supplies—coincidentally, Zhu Zifang was in charge.

Of course, he didn't do any work—he merely stood far off, supervising.

Pan Yun handed the task of collecting supplies to Seeing Miao Zhen and Miao He, then excitedly waved at Zhu Zifang. Before all eyes, she walked over to him and greeted him warmly. "Brother Wu, thank you for looking after me. I'm very satisfied with Fengqi Courtyard. By the way, I'll write to Fourth Sister and tell her how well you've taken care of me."

The Daoist priests distributing supplies couldn't help glancing over, straining to listen, their movements slowing.

The masters from various sects who had brought their disciples to enroll also turned to look, no longer urging the pace.

Zhu Zifang tugged at his mouth. "You're satisfied? Fengqi Courtyard is full of senior disciples older than you. Though outside, their seniority doesn't match yours, here in the academy, they enrolled earlier and began their Dao studies earlier—they're your seniors. You must respect your seniors, understood?"

Pan Yun nodded vigorously. "Understood, Brother Wu, don't worry—I'm getting along very well with them. They treat me extremely well, and I treat them extremely well too."

Ha, Zhu Zifang sneered inwardly, silently cursing Zhang Weiliang and the others—idiots, grown so large yet unable to handle Pan Yun, who'd only studied Dao for less than a year, and now they'd made fools of themselves.

He even regretted deliberately placing Pan Yun and the others in Fengqi Courtyard.

Fengqi Courtyard wasn't just ideally located—it was also the second most spiritually dense area in the academy, surpassed only by Fanxi Courtyard.

But they certainly didn't know that yet.

Zhu Zifang glanced at her and thought inwardly: 【Go ahead, cause trouble. Better yet, drag it to the Punishment Hall—then you'll be shamefully driven out of Fengqi Courtyard, and that'll be real entertainment.】

Pan Yun didn't know Zhu Zifang's dark thoughts. She chatted with him cheerfully for a while, then, seeing that Seeing Miao Zhen and Miao He had collected their supplies, immediately took her leave without wasting a moment.

Yet the rumor that she had a powerful backer—Zhu Zifang—still quietly spread through the academy.

By the time Zhu Zifang realized it, the rumor had spiraled out of control; even his Lady couldn't help asking him, "When did you become so close to Li sister? You even agreed to look after the people from Mount Sanqing?"

Zhu Zifang nearly spat blood. "Who the hell spread this rumor? How could I possibly be Pan Yun's backer?"

Ge Zhenxiang nodded. "I thought so too—how could Li sister be close to you? I knew it was gossip the moment I heard it."

Zhu Zifang glared. "What do you mean?"

Ge Zhenxiang glanced at him. "Nothing. Since it's gossip, let it go. Don't respond to it—gossip only grows wilder the more you pay attention. Just ignore it."

"How can I ignore it?" Zhu Zifang exploded. "Don't you know how arrogant Pan Yun is? She entered the academy and beat up three senior disciples from the same courtyard—all of them from our Zhang clan! If we don't handle this rumor, people outside will truly believe I'm her backer, and I'll attract endless trouble."

Ge Zhenxiang turned away. "Then deal with it yourself. Three days from now is the old Prefect Li's mother's birthday—I'm going with our daughter to pay respects."

Zhu Zifang's breath choked in his chest as he chased after her. "Can't you help me? You know the full story best—go explain to Second Brother and Sixth Brother and the others…"

Ge Zhenxiang: "I won't go. If I explain to them, I'll offend Sixth Uncle and Sixth Aunt. If they find out you deliberately placed Pan Yun's disciples in Fengqi Courtyard because you dislike Li sister, don't you think they'll come after you?"

"You can just walk out the door and train in the wilds for two or three years, but what about me and the children? I'm the one who'll suffer," Ge Zhenxiang said. "If you want to deal with it, go yourself—I won't get involved in any of your nonsense." Zhu Zifang could only watch helplessly as she left.

In truth, no explanation from Zhu Zifang was needed—among the Zhang clan's peers, anyone with half a brain knew his motive for placing Pan Yun and the others in Fengqi Courtyard, and thus knew he wasn't their backer.

Only the younger generation would believe such an absurd rumor.

But for Pan Yun, it was enough that the younger generation believed it—because only peers would dare openly bully her.

If elders intervened to bully her, she wouldn't mind bringing in her Senior Brother and Fourth Sister.

Though she still didn't know exactly what level her Senior Brother had reached, during the Mount Sanqing Gathering, every sensible Daoist had treated him with respect; combined with her half-year of probing, it was obvious his cultivation was high.

Pan Yun unfolded the academy robe she had collected and sighed.

Miao He also unfolded hers and immediately slipped it on. After a moment, she said, "Senior Auntie, it's too big—it needs altering."

Pan Yun: "Long Hushan is terrible. They knew three of us little brats were coming half a year in advance, yet didn't prepare robes that fit us. They had six months to prepare."

Seeing Miao Zhen also said: "They can't compare to Mount Sanqing."

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Pan Yun: "Absolutely can't compare!"

They had to alter them themselves—luckily, over the past half-year, Pan Yun had learned excellent needlework on the mountain.

There was no choice: life on the mountain was austere, far from the county town; if they wanted something, either they had to travel to town or wait for the market day—better to make it themselves.

So over the past half-year, Pan Yun had been forced to learn sewing, cutting fabric, mending socks, even making shoe insoles.

Though a bit ugly, they were sturdy—good enough to sell at village markets.

Pan Yun pulled out threads and needles of various colors from her spiritual realm and placed them all in a basket.

Seeing Miao Zhen and Miao He stared at her sleeves.

Having left home, the two had grown even more dependent on Pan Yun and become livelier; now they crowded beside her, asking, "Senior Auntie, have you also learned Sleeveless Cosmos?"

Pan Yun said, "No, I haven't mastered it yet. Wait for me to practice a bit more. Once I reach—no, once I refine to the First Marquis—I'll carve a spatial formation for all of you, so even if your cultivation isn't high enough, you can still use a Sleeve Universe."

"Really?"

"Of course it's true. A Sleeve Universe is actually just borrowing space—another dimension. You can open it with a technique, and you can also use a formation to carve out a fixed dimension. I'm very skilled at this; it's just that my current cultivation isn't enough, and my spiritual power can't yet support carving out a complete formation."

"Then Little Xiao Shishu, work hard on your cultivation. I'll give you my resources first," Miao He said, eager to try. "When the time comes, can the first Sleeve Universe be mine?"

Miao Zhen: "Then I want the second one!"

Miao He: "I'll claim the third one for Third Senior Brother."

Miao Zhen: "Isn't that a bit unfair to First Senior Brother and Second Senior Brother?"

Miao He immediately looked conflicted.

Pan Yun waved generously and said, "Once my cultivation reaches the First Marquis, I'll arrange them all for you!"

The black cat let out a "meow," poked its head out from the roof beam, and felt she was drawing empty pies again.

Pan Xiaohei meowed and meowed, "Look at the progress bar for the Spirit Realm merit points—you still need nine hundred and ninety-nine points to unlock one seal, and yet you still haven't gathered enough. Now you're promising a whole bunch of Sleeve Universes. At the rate you're pulling aggro, how much time do you have left to cultivate?"

Miao Zhen looked up. "Little Xiao Shishu, is Xiaohei hungry? It keeps meowing."

Pan Yun: "No, it's also begging me for a Sleeve Universe. It wants one too—a space where it can store things."

Pan Xiaohei was so angered by her twisting black and white that, after letting out one furious meow, it stopped paying her any attention.

Pan Yun took out scissors and snip-snip-snipped at her clothes while saying, "Did you all cultivate last night? Did you notice that the spiritual energy here gradually grows denser at the hour of the Ox, peaks at the hour of the Tiger, lasts for one two-hour period, and then begins to decrease, returning to its usual state after dawn?"

Miao Zhen, frustrated: "I fell asleep at the time."

Miao He: "I fell asleep too."

Pan Yun: "Try again today. If you can't wake up, I'll have Xiaohei go over and call you. I suspect this is a special feature unique to the Phoenix Rest Courtyard. Otherwise, there wouldn't be four people surnamed Zhang living here alone, and Deng Ziyu and Xue Hua aren't simple either—their grandfathers are both on the Long Hushan Merit Board."

Miao Zhen: "So the fact that we can live in the Phoenix Rest Courtyard…"

"We really have to thank Zhang Wu Ge~" Pan Yun said earnestly, "I'm truly grateful to him, sincerely."

End number 6

(End of this chapter)