RPAGF Chapter 299 Lanqiuze 2
Chapter 299 Lanqiuze 2
Seeing the pills scattered on the ground, the woman didn't pick them up, tears streaming down her face: "Why did you come so late? If only you had come a few days earlier! It's not too late! It's not too late!"
The woman, seemingly delirious, kept muttering these words, her voice filled with a sorrow that seemed to pierce one's heart. Then, her eyes slowly hardened as she looked at the ethereal figure before her. "Please, immortal, come with me!"
As she spoke, she picked up the pills from the ground, stood up, and put them into her mouth.
For this low-level cultivator, a third-grade pill was nothing short of a divine elixir, and in no time, most of her injuries were healed.
The woman walked to the bedside and began groping along the edge of the bed when suddenly there was a sharp knock on the door.
The woman was startled by the knocking and looked at Cheng Jiu with a panicked expression, like a cat with its fur standing on end.
Cheng Jiu understood and slowly concealed himself from the woman. In the entire room, only the woman stood helplessly by the bed.
Seeing that Cheng Jiu was hiding, the woman calmed herself down, swallowed hard, and tentatively asked outside, "Who is it?"
"Aunt Liu, it's me, Xiao Fang! I saw Uncle Liu leave in a bad mood and I was worried about you, so I came to check on you!"
A voice came from outside the door. It was a very young girl, and her tone was full of concern.
Upon hearing the visitor's words, Granny Liu seemed to be struck by something, and she began to weep bitterly again, her voice so loud that even those standing outside the door could hear her clearly: "My son, my son! Why wasn't it me who was taken away? It was you! I don't want to live anymore! I don't want to live anymore!"
"Auntie, please accept my condolences. Your younger brothers down here would surely want you to live well in this world!" Hearing Aunt Liu's cries, the woman outside did not come in, but instead comforted her loudly, "I'm leaving now! If anything happens, be sure to come find me and my mother! Otherwise, your brothers' spirits will not be at peace!"
Outside the door stood a pretty girl with two braids, dressed in a pale yellow dress, who looked lively and well-behaved.
As soon as she finished speaking, Aunt Liu's crying started again. The woman pressed herself against the Liu family's gate, seemingly trying to find out something.
Aunt Liu took out a dagger, a fierce and determined look flashing in her eyes, and stabbed it heavily into her arm!
This time, Cheng Jiu was experienced; he unleashed sword energy from his fingertips and promptly knocked her dagger away.
Aunt Liu looked towards the door with a panicked expression, as if she was afraid of something.
The woman outside the door was still listening, and only after hearing the sound of a dagger falling to the ground did she ask, "Aunt Liu, what happened inside?"
As he spoke, he pushed open the door and entered, where he saw the dagger lying on the ground and Aunt Liu's bewildered expression!
Then a sharp pain shot through her neck and shoulders, and the girl collapsed limply to the ground.
The door closed and locked itself without any wind!
Cheng Jiu revealed himself, picked up the girl in yellow, and went into the room. He looked at Aunt Liu and asked, "What did she do to scare you so much?"
Looking at the girl being carried by Cheng Jiu, Aunt Liu was filled with unease and fear: "Something bad has happened, something bad has happened!"
"What's wrong?" He threw the girl in yellow into a corner. "I told you, if you have any grievances, just tell me. This is Guiyuan Sect territory. I don't believe anyone has the ability to stand against Guiyuan Sect!"
Cheng Jiu spoke with great confidence, his gaze fixed firmly on the woman in front of him, as if encouraging her.
Aunt Liu seemed to have heard something reassuring before she spoke up: "She is Huang Si's concubine and his lover. She came here specifically to spy on us!"
Who is Huang Si?
“The messenger of the River God, the brother-in-law of the Lord of Changming City!” Aunt Liu replied.
"How can a mere brother-in-law be so arrogant?" Cheng Jiu's expression hardened. Just what did the city lord of Changming City think of the Guiyuan Sect's territory?
"The current official is more powerful than the one in charge! Many envoys from the upper sects have come before, and they've all been tricked to death!" After saying this, Aunt Liu tightly shut her mouth, as if she had said something taboo.
Her eyes darted left and right, as if she were worried about something.
"Don't worry, I've put up a soundproof barrier here!" Cheng Jiu reassured him.
Even so, Granny Liu still refused to continue, saying, "Please come with me, fairy, and wait a moment!"
As she spoke, she continued to grope the bed. Cheng Jiu was curious and scanned it with her divine sense, discovering that there was actually a tunnel under the bed!
How could this not surprise Cheng Jiu? Liu Da Niang's family looked like an ordinary family in Lanqiuze. Was it really necessary for them to have an underground tunnel?
Aunt Liu quickly found the switch for the tunnel, and the bed slowly moved aside, revealing the tunnel that Cheng Jiu had swept earlier to the two of them.
Without calling out to anyone, Aunt Liu went down first, seemingly scouting the way for Cheng Jiu to show that there was nothing fishy about the tunnel.
Cheng Jiu looked at the girl in yellow in his hand and asked Liu Da Niang with a questioning gaze.
Aunt Liu was also troubled: "Her mother lives on this street, she'll probably come looking for us!"
Cheng Jiu understood; this was to avoid alerting the enemy!
She rummaged through her ring, took out some medicinal herbs, and actually concocted pills out of thin air right in front of Granny Liu. Soon, two batches of pills were finished, and Cheng Jiu stuffed two pills into the mouth of the girl in yellow.
"One of these pills is a Puppet Pill, and the other is an Amnesia Pill. She won't remember what just happened. With this Puppet Pill, we should be able to handle it."
"The fairy is so thoughtful!" Aunt Liu was relieved. She had witnessed Cheng Jiu's skill just now, and she valued Cheng Jiu even more. Just that one move showed that Cheng Jiu was no ordinary person.
Then she saw the girl in yellow stand up straight, walk to the side, and continue talking to the bed: "Aunt Liu, what happened!"
It still has sound! Aunt Liu was relieved, as long as she could hold on until she came back!
The puppet pill lacks intelligence and relies entirely on Cheng Jiu's divine sense for control. Currently, only the girl in yellow is performing a solo act, so Cheng Jiu doesn't put much effort into it, letting her act on instinct. If someone actually comes, she can make her move later.
Once both of them had entered the tunnel, the tunnel door above slowly closed, sealing it tightly.
As they walked, Aunt Liu explained to Cheng Jiu, "This was dug by my husband before he was bewitched."
Back then, he and I were wandering cultivators for a while. It was really tough traveling around, so we used the spirit stones we'd collected during our time as wandering cultivators to settle down here.
"You used to be a rogue cultivator?" Cheng Jiu looked Liu Da Niang up and down with surprise. It's no wonder she was so surprised; a rogue cultivator must have ambition.
Cheng Jiu felt that those who were independent cultivators must be more assertive than ordinary people, so how could a woman like that end up like this!
Aunt Liu's lips twitched with a hint of bitterness, as if she were reminiscing about the past: "Yes, I was a rogue cultivator for a while! I was young and ignorant, unaware of how high the sky was or how thick the earth was, thinking that I could make a name for myself."
Back then, it was you, Uncle Liu, and me. Our families were childhood sweethearts, and we were betrothed since we were young. We also had similar talents, so we agreed to go out and make our way in the world.
After hitting a wall and offending some powerful figures outside, he slunk back and settled down in his hometown!
"You and that uncle are childhood sweethearts?" Cheng Jiu was a little surprised. Childhood sweethearts are also good friends who have gone through thick and thin together. They seem like a couple, so it's not surprising that they are together!
But how did things turn out like this? Could it be that the older man only revealed his true nature after the marriage?
But she felt that a woman like Aunt Liu, who had been a wandering nun, would not tolerate it, because she had already seen the vastness of the outside world! How could she not resist an incompetent man who was almost as good as her?
"He was bewitched!" Aunt Liu said, tears streaming down her face. "Last month! Huang Si took a fancy to my two children. When he couldn't buy them by force, my husband beat him up and threw him out!"
At first, we thought Huang Si would cause trouble, but he remained calm and even came to my house to invite my wife to a banquet!
My husband initially wanted to refuse, but Huang Si threatened the child's life, so he went!
After returning, his personality changed drastically. He became addicted to the gambling den run by Huang Si, gambling more and more recklessly. I tried to stop him, and we even got into a fight. The old scars on my body are from that fight!
There were still some things that Aunt Liu didn't explain clearly, such as the marks on her body from being rubbed, which were definitely not formed overnight.
If what she said is true, that Uncle Liu was originally a good person and only changed after attending Huang Si's banquet, then what about these marks?
And what about Aunt Liu's resistance? Could it be that Cheng Jiu's initial judgment of Aunt Liu was wrong?
Thinking this way, Cheng Jiu asked the question.
Aunt Liu felt somewhat ashamed, explaining that it was just to deceive outsiders, since they had offended some important figures before and were afraid of being recognized, so they put on a disguise for the outside world.
Actually, Aunt Liu is the one in charge at home, but Uncle Liu is a bit too concerned about saving face in public. He's been pretending for decades and can't change that in a short time.
When Huang Si came to him, he had heard about Uncle Liu's reputation. They favored families that were at odds with outsiders, mainly because there were fewer potential problems later on.
This tunnel was also a backup plan they left behind, in case their enemies came looking for them.
After listening, Cheng Jiu sighed, "What complicated family relationships!"
Aunt Liu also regretted it a bit. If she had known that it was because of the discord in her family that she was being targeted, she would never have discussed this bad plan with Uncle Liu back then.
But more than anything, Aunt Liu felt this was retribution, retribution!
Cheng Jiu was unaware of what Aunt Liu was thinking; if he had known, he would probably have been even more wary!
That's right. From the very beginning, Cheng Jiu had never been at ease. There were just too many strange things about Lanqiuze.
Cheng Jiu only used Aunt Liu as a breakthrough point, and relying on his strong strength, he followed Aunt Liu without any scruples.
The cellar below was very cool and shady. In the corner, two low-level spiritual weapons were neatly arranged, along with a storage bag containing low-level spirit stones.
Cheng Jiu scanned the contents of the storage bag with his divine sense, and found that there were two or three bottles of low-level healing pills and spirit stones. The amount seemed just right, and it would be very useful as a backup plan.
Judging from its grade, the magical artifact was probably used by Aunt Liu and her husband when they were independent cultivators.
There's no other reason than that these two weapons clearly showed signs of battle and were stained with blood.
The credibility of what Aunt Liu said about her and her husband being wandering monks seems to have increased considerably.
Aunt Liu didn't linger there. She walked straight to the left side of the cellar and tapped the cellar wall with her fingers in an orderly fashion, the crisp echoes reverberating throughout the cellar.
After a while, a corresponding echo came from the opposite side of the cellar, seemingly responding to Aunt Liu's knocking.
After a while, the wall in front of Aunt Liu slowly emitted a crisp sound.
Near the ground, there was a hole about the size of a dog hole.
Looking through the dog hole, you can see a human head on the other side, and it looks to be about the same age as Granny Liu!
The other person immediately noticed the odd one out in the cellar, and asked with a questioning tone, "Why did you bring people with you?"
“This is our last hope!” Aunt Liu responded firmly to the question.
"You're right, you're right!" The old woman opposite her said in a low, almost breathy voice, "An envoy from the Upper Sect!"
"Hmm!" Aunt Liu said in a heavy, somber voice, "My two sons are dead! One was only seven years old, and the other was only one year old. I have nothing to fear anymore. Even if they are dead, I will still take that beast Huang Si with me to the grave!"
The older woman opposite remained silent for a long time: "You don't trust me, sir?"
"I believe you!" Aunt Liu said firmly. "If I didn't believe you, I wouldn't have taken the Soul Stone! But, with just a few of us useless people, how could we possibly deal with that beast Huang Si?"
"It's just a few deaths for nothing, but we have a better option now. The envoy from the upper sect certainly has the power. Even if they take their anger out on the entire Lanqiuze, they didn't say anything when my son died, did they?"
Cheng Jiu stared intently at Aunt Liu. What were these two talking about in front of her, a disciple of the Guiyuan Sect? Soul Spirit Stones—wasn't that a heretical cultivation method?
By making a pact between the soul and the Soul Stone, the soul will be transformed into a vengeful ghost, controlled by the owner of the Soul Stone, and will never be able to be reborn.
It is the vicious method used by evil practitioners to corrupt innocent people and control their souls.
Because they will never be reincarnated, the vengeful spirits they create will be quite powerful. If the other party chooses to use this method to take revenge on Huang Si!
Cheng Jiu thought it was really troublesome. This Soul Spirit Stone was completely self-destructive, killing eight hundred enemies while losing a thousand of its own. Apart from the annihilation of the soul, he had never heard of anyone being able to escape from the Soul Spirit Stone.
Moreover, judging from their conversation, there were quite a few people involved in this plan. Cheng Jiu clicked his tongue in amazement. How audacious! Weren't they afraid that the older sister they mentioned was colluding with Huang Si?
Aren't they afraid that if these guys go too far in the end, vengeful spirits will descend upon the world, and Lanqiuze will become a ghost realm?
Cheng Jiu recalled the way Sister Liu looked when they first met. The pain of losing her child had probably blinded this mother to hatred, making her reckless and unwilling to do anything.
Cheng Jiu didn't know if someone was behind this or if it was just these people acting on their own initiative. In any case, Cheng Jiu felt a headache after hearing it.
After hearing what Aunt Liu said, the old woman opposite her sighed deeply and made way for her: "I will report to the elder sister!"
"Thank you, Meilan!" Aunt Liu said gratefully to the old woman opposite her, her voice choked with emotion.
Cheng Jiu looked at the dog hole, took a breath, and moved her feet slightly, transforming into a beam of light and passing through the hole. Fortunately, she had now broken through and could use the Golden Crow Transformation to travel short distances without having to crawl through the dog hole.
The place that Aunt Liu led her to was truly hidden. The tunnels that followed were complex and winding, leading to various places. Even so, Aunt Liu's steps remained clear, and she did not get lost.