Jiu Hui looked at the person who had arrived, and a look of surprise appeared on her face. “Sister Luo Kui, and…”
She turned her gaze to Yuan Wo behind Luo Kui. As soon as he made eye contact with Jiu Hui, he subconsciously covered the money pouch at his waist. “Don’t look at me. I already paid you back the ten thousand spirit stones I owed you a few months ago!”
“I didn’t say anything, what are you afraid of?” Jiu Hui greeted Luo Kui: “Why is sister in Songcheng?”
“Lately, the Shenji School’s Sect Master Pao has been feeling a little unwell, and my master has sent me to take his pulse.” That day in the Jiutian Sect, it was all thanks to Jiu Hui that she had noticed something wrong with the fake Zhu Yan, which had saved her from disaster, so naturally, upon seeing Jiu Hui, she felt a sense of closeness.
Noticing that Jiu Hui and Zhi You were both dressed in fine clothes, and that they were followed by three other young men and women who were equally impressive in their bearing, she asked with a smile, “Who are these three friends?”
Bai Yan, Kong Cangnan, and Yu Li quickly pulled themselves together.
Jiu Hui smiled and said, “They are my cousins. After hearing that I had entered a sect to cultivate, they asked me to take them out to play.”
The three of them nodded repeatedly, not daring to breathe, for fear of ruining the young master’s great cause of being a spy in the cultivation world.
Yuan Wo looked at Jiu Hui’s gold- and silver-clad cousins and the luxurious carriage behind them, and asked in confusion, “Didn’t you say that you lived in a remote mountain village and your family was poor?”
Yu Li’s face showed distress when she heard this. In order to gain the trust of the cultivation world, the young master had wronged herself so much?
“It’s almost noon, let’s find a place to eat first, and we can talk while we eat.” Jiu Hui looked around and chose a restaurant that looked good. “I invite sister Luo Kui and Fellow Daoist Yuan Wo to join me for a meal.”
Luo Kui was originally in a hurry to return to Changshou Palace, but when Jiu Hui asked her to join them, she couldn’t bear to refuse: “Please.”
“You’re paying?” Yuan Wo looked at Jiu Hui with doubt. Being poor, he hadn’t stepped into a restaurant for a long time.
Ever since he met Jiu Hui, he either had been losing money, or was on his way to losing money.
“Don’t worry, you won’t be paying today.” Jiu Hui waved her hand generously. “As a fellow Daoist, how could you not trust me?”
Yuan Wo: “…“carpreads.pages.dev
He would rather believe in the legend of immortals flying around in broad daylight than believe Jiu Hui’s words.
However, he still followed along while clutching his deflated purse. This was the territory under the jurisdiction of their Shenji School. If push came to shove, he could still ask his junior brothers and sisters to help pay the bill.
The innkeeper and the waiter recognized Yuan Wo. Upon seeing him, they hurriedly nodded and bowed, inviting them to go upstairs to a private room.
“It’s been a while since you’ve visited, Immortal. Have your tastes changed?” The waiter followed closely behind Yuan Wo, afraid of displeasing him.
“Today, I’m just a guest. This young lady will decide what we eat.” Yuan Wo spread out his palm and pointed at Jiu Hui. Now, he didn’t dare point at Jiu Hui with his finger, afraid that she would think he was being impolite.
“Bring us everything delicious in your shop.” Jiu Hui saw two clean-clothed waiters standing by the door waiting to serve them, and waved her hand, “No need to stay in the room, you can all leave.”
The waiter looked at Yuan Wo with hesitation. Whenever Immortal Yuan Wo came here to eat, he always needed someone to serve him.
Yuan Wo covered his face and said, “We’ll do whatever this lady says.”
The old me was really good at pretending…
“Yes, yes, yes.” The waiter poured tea for everyone and bowed before leaving.
“You haven’t been out much, so you don’t know who these two fellow Daoists are.” Jiu Hui said to Bai Yan and the other two, “This is Luo Kui, the head disciple of Changshou Palace, and this is Yuan Wo, the head disciple of Shenji School.”
The three yaos gasped in their hearts. In just one short year, not only had the young master successfully infiltrated the cultivation world, but she had also become Dao siblings with the head disciple of the Changshou Palace sect. How formidable was that?
“Greetings, Immortal Luo Kui. Greetings, Immortal Yuan Wo.” Bai Yan stood up first and bowed to Luo Kui and Yuan Wo.
Even the most arrogant Kong Cangnan put aside his pride at this moment and followed Bai Yan to pay their respects.
Luo Kui saw that Jiu Hui’s three cousins were all mortals, so she stood up and returned a peer-level salute: “You are all my friend since you are my sister Jiu Hui’s relatives. No need to be so polite.”
Yuan Wo also returned the greeting. If it had been a year ago, he would have accepted the greeting without returning one with a clear conscience, but things were different now. Now, he was the one who had been severely beaten by Jiu Hui.
He felt a vague sense of doubt in his heart. Jiu Hui’s cultivation was so profound, why did none of her cousins have any cultivation?
“Today, seeing sister again, I feel both ashamed and happy.” Jiu Hui glanced pitifully at Luo Kui. “I’m happy to be able to meet you again, and ashamed that I lied to you in the past.”
“My family isn’t poor, in fact, we’re a wealthy family in a remote town.” Jiu Hui lowered her head, as if she was ashamed to face Luo Kui. “My family’s elders were worried that I would get hurt if I went out, so they never let me go far.”
“But I’ve always envied cultivators who could fly on swords under the moonlight, so I secretly ran away from home last year.” Jiu Hui felt increasingly guilty as she spoke. “I didn’t want my family to find me, and I didn’t have much money, so I told everyone that I came from a remote mountain village.”
“I’m sorry, sister Luo Kui,” Jiu Hui blinked her watery eyes. “Are you mad at me?”
“At such a young age, you were able to stick to your own ideas, endure so much hardship along the way to join the sect. You’re already very impressive, so how could I blame you?” Luo Kui was amused by her pitiful appearance, then worriedly asked, “You ran away from home. Did your family blame you when you went back this time?”
Jiu Hui shook her head. “They were no longer angry when they saw that I had returned home safe and sound. When they heard that I had really joined a sect, they were worried that their cousins would follow my example and leave home, so they simply let us siblings travel together.”
Kong Cangnan, Yu Li, and Bai Yan：“……”
If they hadn’t known the young master’s true identity, and just based on the look on her face when she spoke…
They really would have believed her.
“Your family’s elders are quite enlightened.” Luo Kui relaxed. “It’s good that you didn’t get punished when you went home.”
As they were talking, the waiters came in one after another, carrying wine and food. After the food was served, the waiters quietly retreated.
“Eat up, eat up.” Yuan Wo picked up a chopstick full of food, feeling touched in his heart. The food cooked over an open fire was still the best. He didn’t want to eat those bigu pills at all.
Halfway through the meal, Yuan Wo noticed that Jiu Hui’s cousins had barely spoken a word, so he couldn’t help but say, “Jiu Hui, your cousins’ temperaments are quite different from yours.”
Bai Yan’s hand holding the teacup paused slightly as he looked at Yuan Wo with a smile.
If this person found out anything, for the safety of Young Master Jiu, he could only…
“Look at them, they’re more cultivated than you.” Yuan Wo clicked his tongue. “You should learn from them.”
“Fellow Daoist Yuan Wo, you are the host today, so it stands to reason that you should be the one hosting the banquet for us.” Jiu Hui smiled at him. “What do you think?”
“I was just joking, just joking.” Yuan Wo instantly bent his spine. What was integrity? It couldn’t compare to the silver in his pocket.
Kong Cangnan raised an eyebrow. Was this the conduct of the heir to a prestigious cultivation sect? This sect was doomed to fail.
Bai Yan could see in Yuan Wo’s words and actions that he was nine parts fearful of the young master and one part close to her. He had a vague guess in his heart.
It seemed that this cultivator had been “instructed” by their young master.
“Immortal, your words are mistaken. Jiu Hui is the most outstanding of our generation. When we go out, we all follow her lead.” Bai Yan explained, “The three of us have no talent for cultivating immortality. In front of the Immortal and the Immortal Lady, it’s not appropriate for us to speak casually.”
“I see.” Yuan Wo chuckled dryly and continued eating with his head down.
Luo Kui was gentle by nature. After finishing her meal, she was coaxed into smiling again and again by Jiu Hui, almost forgetting that she had to hurry back to her sect.
“Immortal Venerable Bu’s injuries have not improved. Given the long-standing friendship between the Jiutian Sect and our Changshou Palace, Master can only temporarily reside within the Jiutian Sect.” Luo Kui’s expression was helpless as she mentioned these matters. “Recently, many ordinary people have fallen ill. Most of the sect’s Elders and disciples have gone out to diagnose and provide medicine for the people.”
“It’s understandable that ordinary people get sick easily in the cold winter, but how could Sect Master Pao, with his profound cultivation, fall ill so easily?” Jiu Hui’s expression changed slightly when she heard this. “I recently heard that the Jiutian Sect is searching for the yaos everywhere. Could this matter be the yao’s doing?”
“Searching for the yaos?” Luo Kui was slightly stunned, shaking her head. “I haven’t heard of this matter. In recent years, there haven’t been any great yao appearing. What use would they have making Sect Master Pao ill?”
“So it was just a rumor.” Jiu Hui said with a meaningful tone. “I thought it was the intention of the Ten Great Sects.”
“You still don’t know?” Yuan Wo lowered his voice and said, “The one who has the final say now is not the Jiutian Sect, but the Immortal Venerable Qiu Hua of the Qinglan School.”
Jiu Hui smiled, “I’ve vaguely heard a little about it.”
Yu Li lowered her head and continued to eat. She was personally participating in the scene where the young master inquired about the internal news of the cultivation world from the heir of a major sect. It was really exciting!
“I think Immortal Venerable Qiu Hua is clearly more wary of the demons.” Yuan Wo was in a good mood after eating and drinking his fill without having to spend his own money, so he dared to say something he wouldn’t normally say: “If I were Immortal Venerable Qiu, I would also be more suspicious of the demons. They infiltrated the Jiutian Sect for a while, then they tried to destroy the Zhenhe Cauldron, and the demon princess even used a honey trap to lure Yin Ji to the demons.”
“In recent years, the demons have often abducted people to refine magic weapons and pills, which is clearly a plot against the mortal world.” Yuan Wo put down his chopsticks. “Let’s talk about the yaos. Our cultivation world captures those yaos who commit crimes, but the yaos have never bothered us. I heard from others that the yaos even clean up their own house when a yao does evil.”
The three yaos: “…”
They never thought that their reputation outside would be better than they had imagined.
“I won’t hide it from you guys, some time ago I even encountered a yellow skin yao that was helping someone find their lost child.” Yuan Wo sighed. “You tell me, even if I’m a complete scoundrel, I can’t bring myself to attack that kind of yao, can I?”
Luo Kui coughed dryly, hinting that Yuan Wo shouldn’t say too much of this kind of thing. She threw out a magic weapon, setting up a soundproof barrier in the private room. “Fellow Daoist Yuan Wo, it’s fine to say these things in private, but don’t let them reach the ears of the Jiutian Sect, or you’ll bring trouble upon yourself.”
Jiu Hui’s eyebrows twitched slightly. It seemed that the Jiutian Sect’s usual domineering behavior had not won the complete admiration of the disciples from other sects.
“If it were someone else, I wouldn’t dare to say it.” Yuan Wo said, “However, I trust all of you fellow Daoists.”
Jiu Hui was greedy and unscrupulous, but Yuan Wo had an inexplicable trust in her, and even he himself could not figure out how this came to be.
Could it be the trust and admiration of the weak for the strong?
After eating and drinking their fill, and having two cups of tea to aid digestion, Luo Kui looked at the sky outside and reluctantly bid farewell to Jiu Hui.
After seeing Luo Kui off, Jiu Hui turned to Yuan Wo and asked, “Are you going into the city tomorrow?”
Yuan Wo watched Jiu Hui warily. “What are you trying to do?”
“This is our first time in Songcheng, and we hope to have a familiar face to show us around.” Jiu Hui smiled and said, “I heard from sister Luo Kui that Sect Master Pao’s health is not a major issue, so you should be able to accompany us, right?”
Yuan Wo glanced at the tavern behind him. “If you continue to invite me to dinner tomorrow, it’s not impossible.”
If he didn’t have to eat bigu pills, it was not impossible to make him lose face.
“Then I’ll have to trouble Fellow Daoist Yuan Wo. See you tomorrow.” After achieving her goal, Jiu Hui didn’t bother to waste any more words with Yuan Wo. She turned and left with Zhi You and the others.
“Use it and toss it?” Yuan Wo clicked his tongue as he watched Jiu Hui’s back as she left without looking back.
After settling into the inn, the three yaos sat obediently in Jiu Hui’s room, waiting for Zhi You to set up the barrier. Kong Cangnan couldn’t wait to speak, “You actually infiltrated a cultivation sect?”
Jiu Hui nodded with a smile. “That’s right.”
Bai Yan looked at Zhi You, who was sitting next to Jiu Hui, and asked, “Young Master Zhi, are you a fellow disciple of the young master?”
“That’s right.” Jiu Hui nodded. “Otherwise, why would he call me Little Senior Sister?”
The three yaos fell silent, feeling helpless and unsure of where to begin.
In other words, not only had their young master infiltrated the cultivation world as a spy, she had also established good relationships with the head disciples of various major sects, and by the way, she had also lured away the sect’s highly cultivated junior brother back to their yao clan…
“Young Master, you wouldn’t happen to be acquainted with the head disciples of both the Jiutian Sect and the Qinglan School, would you?” Bai Yan guessed a little, wondering how many things the Young Master had done last year.
“They’re all pretty good.” Jiu Hui nodded. “In a month, Nan Feng of the Jiutian Sect will succeed the throne as the Sect Master of the Jiutian Sect. Zhi You and I will attend his enthronement ceremony.”
“You’re playing with fire!” Kong Cangnan failed to control his voice. “Those sect masters’ physical problems, could it be that you did that too?”
“I’m the young master, not a crazy old woman who kills without batting an eye.” Jiu Hui glared at him. “What good would it do me to make those sect masters sick?”
“I thought you were going to punch the cultivation world with your fists, kick the demon world with your legs, and then lead our yao clan to dominate the three realms.” Kong Cangnan looked a little dazed. It was hard to believe that she didn’t have any other intentions when she got along so well with the heirs of the ten major sects.
“What’s the point of leading the yao world to dominate the three realms?” Jiu Hui looked at Kong Cangnan in surprise. She hadn’t realized that this showy peacock had such great ambitions. “To plant chives all over the three realms?”
“Why are you planting garlic chives?” Zhi You, who had been silent the whole time, finally asked his first question of the day.
Bai Yan, Kong Cangnan, Yu Li, and Jiu Hui all looked at him in confusion: “Huh?!”
“Young Master, Young Master Zhi… doesn’t know yet?” Bai Yan slowly came back to his senses and looked at Jiu Hui in surprise.
“Impossible, I told him.” Jiu Hui remembered that she had drawn her true form for Fuguang to see when she was on Fuguang Mountain.
Recalling the weed Jiu Hui had drawn on the paper, Zhi You fell silent.
When Jiu Hui said that Zhi You knew her true form, Kong Cangnan didn’t think much of it. “As the only immortal grass yao in the demon clan, don’t you want to conquer the Three Realms and plant garlic chives everywhere?”
Young Master Kong was still very polite. He didn’t directly call Jiu Hui “garlic chive”, but instead called her by her true name’s elegant alias.
“If it were you, what would you do?” Jiu Hui asked in exasperation.
“I’ll definitely make them plant more trees. They should plant trees everywhere they can.” Kong Cangnan’s face lit up with anticipation. “When that happens, where in the world will the Peacock Clan not be able to go?”
“Why not just dig more ponds and rivers?” Yu Li said with dissatisfaction. “It would be best to drain the entire sea and fill it with fresh water, so that the sea tribe will know the power of our freshwater tribe.”
Bai Yan turned his head silently and smiled at Zhi You. “We’re really being fools in front of Young Master Zhi.”
After hearing the ideals of these three young masters, he knew that the yaos’ ambition to dominate the Three Realms was hopeless.
Zhi You pondered for a moment and asked Bai Yan, “Do the yaos have a method for growing garlic chives in icy and snowy lands?”
Bai Yan: “…”
Sometimes, it was quite helpless when a single yao maintain its sanity.
Which normal cultivator would ever think of planting garlic chives on ice and snow?
It was only right that Zhi You could win the favor of Young Master Jiu. Bai Yan was ashamed of himself and willing to bow down to him!
“Little Bai, if it were you, what would you want to do?” As a fair and just young master, Jiu Hui did not forget to ask Bai Yan about his ideals.
“First, we need to have human scholars write poems about tea and compose a Tea Classic. No plum, orchid, bamboo, chrysanthemum, peony, or Chinese herbaceous peony can compare to tea.” Bai Yan thought for a moment and added, “Next, we need to have them write books and biographies about garlic chives, and have their farmers grow tea that tastes like chives and chives that taste like tea. I want everyone in the world to know that our White Tea Clan is your most capable assistant, Young Master.”
“We, the freshwater clan, are the best assistants for the young master!”
“Heh, a bunch of fish in the water, how can you compare to our bird clan that soars through the nine heavens?”
Zhi You watched the three young masters argue until they were almost hoarse, then he calmly said, “But the entire yao clan knows that I am the only lackey under the young mistress.”
“Zhi You, lackey is really not a good word.” Jiu Hui rubbed her temples and slapped the table. “No more arguing. Whoever argues can get out!”
“Young Master, don’t be angry. I won’t fight with Young Master Zhi. I’m fine with being a fish under your command.” Yu Li smiled at Jiu Hui with a blush on her face, not forgetting to give Zhi You a flattering look.
Kong Cangnan sneered, never expecting this fat-headed koi to be so cunning.
Bai Yan straightened his clothes, as if he hadn’t just been involved in a childish argument. “Young Master, forgive me for asking, but the Sect Master of the Jiutian Sect’s injuries, they have nothing to do with you… do they?”
“It has nothing to do with me.” Jiu Hui shook her head.
Bai Yan noticed Jiu Hui’s eyes glancing at Zhi You, and a guess came to his mind. Could it be… related to Young Master Zhi?
In order to help their yao clan, Young Master Zhi was actually willing to go this far.
From a personal perspective, he would rather Zhi You do less. But from the perspective of the young master’s interests, the more Young Master Zhi does for the young master, the better.
“To join a cultivation sect, one must cross the gate of Wenxian Terrace. The gate of Wenxian Terrace is protected by numerous formations and barriers. Neither the yaos nor the demons can approach it. Young Master, for the safety of the yaos, you must have suffered a lot.” Bai Yan was moved. “Please rest assured, Young Master. I will never disobey any of your orders.”
“Me too.” Yu Li quickly expressed her stance.
Kong Cangnan spoke hesitantly, “If there’s anything you need me to do, just ask. Anyway, be careful yourself. Don’t let any cultivators discover your identity.”
They had no idea what methods Jiu Hui had used to infiltrate the cultivation sect, but they knew that it must have been extremely dangerous.
What they couldn’t do, Young Master Jiu did, so it was only right that they followed Young Master Jiu’s orders.
Zhi You glanced at the three yaos. Perhaps from this day forward, even if they argued with each other, they would never dare to disobey Jiu Hui’s orders.
It seemed that as long as the little Senior Sister was willing, no person or thing would become an obstacle to her.
The next morning, Yuan Wo rushed to the inn, but he only saw Zhi You and the other three. Jiu Hui hadn’t gotten out of bed yet.
However, he didn’t have much of an opinion when Fellow Daoist Zhi You invited him to breakfast. It was just that while eating, he couldn’t help but ask, “Fellow Daoist Jiu Hui usually wakes up this late in the sect on a normal day?”
“Jiu Hui is still young, and she’s in the prime of her growth spurt.” Zhi You sampled all the food on the table and made a note of the names of the tastiest snacks.
“You all just spoil her.” Yuan Wo finished a bowl of meat porridge and was about to get another one when a disciple from the Shenji School came running in, panting. “Eldest Senior Brother, the Sect Master suddenly started vomiting blood. You need to go back quickly!”
“What?” Yuan Wo dropped the bowl in his hand to the ground and stood up shakily. “When I left this morning, Master was still fine…”
“Don’t just stand there in a daze.” Jiu Hui flashed downstairs, grabbed the absent-minded Yuan Wo, and threw him onto her flying sword. “Let’s go see what’s going on first!”
Zhi You grabbed a few breakfast items and followed her on his sword.
Yu Li held the half-eaten steamed bun and asked, “Little Bai, what should we do?”
“Hush.” Bai Yan whispered with a serious expression, “The young mistress has her reasons for doing things. After today, the Shenji School will also become the young mistress’s possession.”
As expected of their young master of the yao clan, so taking over the cultivation world was just around the corner.
As the cold wind blew on the flying sword, Yuan Wo, who had been feeling uneasy, gradually regained his senses. He looked up at Jiu Hui, who was eating breakfast while flying: “Fellow Daoist Jiu Hui…”
That day, the Shenji School had bullied the Wangshu Pavilion. Plus, Jiu Hui wasn’t a medical cultivator, so what could he ask of her?
“Don’t worry. Given the cultivation level of Sect Master Pao, he won’t die anytime soon.” Jiu Hui held a pastry in one hand and made a gesture of divination with the other. “Rest assured, I’ve calculated your master’s fate, and he’ll be fine.”
Yuan Wo: “…”
He had never heard of Wangshu Pavilion being skilled in divination.
“Eldest Senior Brother is back!”
“Eldest Senior Brother…” The disciple who was delivering the message didn’t have time to finish speaking before he saw three figures flash past him.
Who did the Eldest Senior Brother bring back?
As Jiu Hui stepped into the hut of the Sect Master Pao, she was immediately hit by a strong smell of blood and… the stench of yao poison.
“Don’t touch his blood.” Jiu Hui flicked her sleeve to push Yuan Wo, who was rushing towards Sect Master Pao, away. She pinched a spell with her hands and tapped it on Sect Master Pao’s forehead.
This yao poison was… Chi Quan blood poison?
If she hadn’t killed Chi Quan herself, and if she hadn’t been the young master of the yaos, she would have thought that this was all a conspiracy by the yaos to poison the cultivation world.
Jiu Hui forced the Chi Quan blood poison to the Sect Master Pao’s heart with her spiritual energy, and then she slapped Sect Master Pao on the back, causing him to vomit out all the blood poison.
The Shenji School members present saw that the mouthful of blood the Sect Master spat out actually corroded a huge deep hole in the ground.
“Demonic energy!” The Shenji School’s Elder with the highest cultivation level’s expression changed drastically. “The Demon Clan actually poisoned the Sect Master?!”
“What?!” Jiu Hui widened her eyes, her face filled with shock. “Just now, I felt that the blood energy within the body of Sect Master Pao was a bit strange, so I forced it out of Sect Master Pao. It turned out to be demonic poison?!”
This Sect Master Pao did indeed have a very faint trace of demonic energy on him. It was likely that the person who poisoned him had accidentally contaminated him with it, but it was already so faint that it was impossible for anyone to detect it.
Although the people of the Shenji School couldn’t find this trace of demonic energy, she could help them find it.
Heh, with Jiu Hui around, no one would be able to pin the blame on their yao clan.
Author’s Note
Little Garlic Chive: The black pot the demons gave me? I don’t want it. This is your own pot. Go away~
The entire yao clan: The future young masters all had ideals and ambitions, but not many.