46: Chapter 46 Old Stories of Qingyang

"This person first appeared at the Chengan Prefecture Martial Arts Tournament nine years ago, using the alias 'Senior Sister Lin Shuang', claiming to be from a hunter background. She was twenty-five at the time of registration, with a cultivation level at Xiantian Peak. In the nine preliminary matches, she used a total of twelve sword strikes, earning the title of 'One-Sword Immortal'. In the finals, she defeated Qian Yutang, the direct descendant of the Qian Family, in three moves."

"Subsequently, she participated in the Martial Arts Peak General Tournament, winning five consecutive matches in the elimination rounds before being defeated by Crown Prince Xiao Chengyuan, ultimately ranking fourth. After the tournament, she was recruited by the Cangyun Sect, joined the sect under the West Peak Grand Elder, Supreme Elder Su Chenyuan, and was granted the status of a True Disciple."

"Two months after joining, she broke through the Taixu Visualization Method and advanced to Grandmaster. After three years of seclusion, she reached the Late Stage of Grandmaster. After another two years of seclusion, she reached the Peak of Grandmaster. Now thirty years old, she is the youngest Grandmaster Peak in the Cangyun Sect in a hundred years."

The man in the grey robe paused.

"Furthermore, regarding her appearance, our informants bought off from the periphery of the Cangyun Sect have confirmed that she no longer uses a disguise in her daily life. When compared to the portrait of Lin Shuangwan, her facial features are highly consistent."

The hall fell silent for a few moments.

Wei Feisen's fingers stopped.

"To think it really is her."

When he said this, the corners of his mouth curled up slightly, as if he had heard something interesting.

"A farm girl who didn't even have any cultivation when she escaped from Yunjin City, and in just fourteen years... she is at the Peak of Grandmaster."

He stood up, slowly walked down the steps, and stood with his hands behind his back. The candlelight in the hall flickered, casting a long shadow of him.

"Interesting. It seems I misjudged her back then."

The man in the grey robe lowered his head, not daring to say more.

Suddenly, his gaze changed.

His pale pupils constricted, and something sinister, almost brutal, surged up from the depths of his eyes.

"Is she married?"

The voice was not loud, but the temperature in the hall seemed to drop by a few degrees.

The man in the grey robe froze for a moment, then quickly flipped through the intelligence reports.

"Reporting to the Leader, she is unmarried, but... there are two relevant pieces of information."

"Speak."

"First, the Cangyun Sect Leader's First Disciple, Senior Brother Gu Changfeng, who is at the Late Stage of Grandmaster, once publicly showed interest in her. However, according to informants, Senior Sister Lin Shuang was indifferent towards him, and they completely cut off contact two years ago."

"Second..." The man in the grey robe carefully chose his words, "County Magistrate Liu Pingshan's son, Chief Constable Liu Jiangyue, a Martial Artist at the Middle Stage of Innate, is the current Chief Constable of the County Yamen. This person once had contact with Senior Sister Lin Shuang when she was executing a bandit suppression mission. Senior Sister Lin Shuang saved him in battle and said to him, 'You shouldn't die here.' There has been no further interaction since then, but he once expressed his desire to join the Cangyun Sect to his father, which was blocked by his father."

The hall was silent for a moment.

Then Wei Feisen smiled.

The smile was light, faint, and could even be called handsome.

"Not married."

He repeated it in a low voice, as if savoring these three words.

"That trash Senior Brother Gu Changfeng, she doesn't like him, that's normal." Wei Feisen paced a few steps with his hands behind his back, his tone as casual as if chatting about daily life, "As for that Liu something... a mere constable at the Middle Stage of Innate, is he even worthy?"

He stopped walking, tilted his head to look at the man in the grey robe, the curve of his mouth still there.

"However, although flies are small, they are annoying. That Liu Family..."

His voice suddenly became very soft, so soft that it was as if he were talking about a trivial matter.

"Doesn't need to exist anymore."

The man in the grey robe felt a chill down his back and lowered his head: "Yes, Leader. Do you need me to go to the Cangyun Sect to demand her?"

"No rush." Wei Feisen waved his hand, walked back to the tiger-head chair, sat down, and sank into the back of the chair.

"When the time comes, I will go to welcome her myself."

The man in the grey robe received the order and withdrew.

Only Wei Feisen remained in the vast Xiaotian Hall.

The candlelight reflected on his profile, half-bright and half-dark.

"Lin Shuangwan." He whispered the name, his fingers stroking the tiger-head carving on the armrest.

"Fourteen years without marrying, rejecting all suitors... as I expected, you still can't let me go."

He closed his eyes, and the curve of his mouth deepened by a fraction.

"Be good, wait for me."

—

Cangyun Sect, West Peak.

Seven days later, you emerged from the cultivation room.

The pressure of the Taixu Visualization Method on the spirit is incomparable to ordinary Cultivation Techniques. Each time you delve into visualization, it is like stuffing your entire head into a bottomless abyss, where all your senses are infinitely amplified and then infinitely compressed. Three days of continuous cultivation is your current limit; any more than that, and your spirit will develop cracks.

Therefore, your seclusion is not a true closed-door seclusion, but rather three days of cultivation, followed by one to two days of rest, then another three days of cultivation, and so on.

After exiting the cultivation room, the sunlight made you squint.

You looked around the courtyard but didn't see Xiao Wang's shadow. This guy has been getting lazier lately; it probably ran off to bask in the sun under the old pine tree at the back of the mountain again.

Just as you were about to go find it, Xiao He walked quickly from under the veranda, her expression looking off.

"Senior Sister, something has happened."

You stopped in your tracks.

"What is it?"

"Something has happened to County Magistrate Liu."

You frowned slightly: "Which County Magistrate Liu?"

"County Magistrate Liu of Qingyang County." Xiao He bit her lip, "County Magistrate Liu Pingshan."

Your brows furrowed even tighter.

"Tell me slowly."

Xiao He took a breath, her voice lowering a bit.

"Three days ago, the Qingyang County Yamen was attacked at night. All thirty-seven members of County Magistrate Liu's family, including the elderly, weak, women, and children, were all killed; not a single one was left."

Your fingers curled slightly.

"County Magistrate Liu was hung on the flagpole at the entrance of the Yamen, his body exposed for three days; no one dared to collect it. The constables and yamen runners of the County Yamen, everyone who had any connection to the Liu Family, were all... all killed."

Xiao He stopped here.

You looked at her, your voice very flat: "What about Chief Constable Liu Jiangyue?"

Xiao He's lips trembled.

"Young Master Liu... it is said that he is..." She lowered her head, her voice almost inaudible.

"Finish it." Your voice flattened out, so flat that there was not a trace of fluctuation.

Xiao He lowered her head, her voice almost a whisper.

"It is said that... he was chopped up and fed to the dogs."

The courtyard was very quiet.

The wind blew through the bamboo forest, and the bamboo leaves rustled.

You stood in place, not moving.

That face appeared in your mind.

In the first simulation, that young son of the County Magistrate was high-spirited, watching you practice swordplay at a tea stall, his gaze open and warm. He said, 'I like you,' saying it openly and honestly, and never pestered you after being rejected. For three years, day after day, he laid his feelings out in the sunlight.

And in this lifetime, at the celebration banquet of the Qingyang County Yamen, he sat at the end of the table, sitting upright, sipping wine cautiously, like a completely different person from the previous life. When the Red Viper counterattacked with its burning blood, you stood in front of him and said to him, 'You shouldn't die here.'

Perhaps you shouldn't have looked at Chief Constable Liu Jiangyue that extra time at the welcoming banquet, and the things that followed wouldn't have happened.

Wei Feisen, this person, this madman, you should have thought of him.

You clenched your fists.

Chief Constable Liu Jiangyue is dead.

His whole family is dead.

Because of you.

This feeling is very uncomfortable, somewhat stifling, making it hard to breathe.

You turned around and walked towards the cultivation room.

Xiao He was stunned for a moment, then chased after you for two steps: "Senior Sister, the food is already prepared. What are you..."

"Cultivating."

Your voice was cold, so cold that Xiao He shivered.

The door of the cultivation room closed from the inside with a dull thud.

Xiao He stood outside the door, at a loss. She had served Senior Sister for so many years and had never seen her like this.

Outside the simulation, Lin Shuangwan watched this scene, her beautiful eyes narrowing slightly.