Chapter 224: The Main Motive For Murder
In the Eastern City of Qiu Zhou Prefecture City, dozens of hills are scattered. The tallest ones do not exceed two hundred meters.
On the hills, Taoist temples and vegetarian halls are all built.
But with the decline of the Daoist Sect lineage of Zuo Qiu Gatehouse a thousand years ago, the influence of these Taoist temples and vegetarian halls has greatly diminished. More than half are nearly abandoned, with dwindling incense.
Eighth Day of the First Lunar Month.
The snow stopped!
The first ray of sunlight shone first on Purple Cloud Mountain in the Outer East City Area. At Evergreen Temple on the mountain, the copper bells hanging from the eaves swayed with the wind, producing pleasant sounds, the bells reflecting dazzling light spots.
The morning light passed through the lattice flower windows and fell on the bed in the guest hall.
Yang Qingxi woke up amid the bell sounds and the sunlight shining on her face. Her whole body was in pain, the tip of her nose filled with a strong bloody smell, her clothes sticky, and a cotton quilt covering her body.
She slightly turned her face to look at Li Weiyi, who was sitting cross-legged a dozen feet away under the Eight Trigrams diagram.
She closed her eyes again and said weakly: “You do keep your word… The Jiu Li clan’s healing pill, Nine Medicine Rebirth Pill, you gave it to me?”
Li Weiyi opened his eyes: “I got it from Cang Li earlier; he has plenty. That’s ten thousand Spring Coins for you!”
Yang Qingxi said: “Do you think, with the relationship between Sui Sect and Jiu Li clan, I wouldn’t know the price of Nine Medicine Rebirth Pill? Forget it, ten thousand it is; I’ll owe it for now…”
She really didn’t even have the strength to speak.
She closed her mouth, mobilized the magic energy in her body, and began transporting it through the veins to heal.
Li Weiyi’s physical body recovery ability was extremely strong. By noon, his injuries were mostly healed.
After going to eat vegetarian meal, he returned to the guest hall, took a spoonful of Immortal Soil, and while continuing to shape his muscles and organs, used the Qi Tempering Art to quench the magic energy in the Fourth Sea.
Anyway, the five boxes of Spring Coins had already been recovered; he had money and pills.
He was naturally free of distractions.
Consolidating cultivation and tempering the physical body were the top priorities.
Like the perilous situation last night, fortunately the magic energy in the Fourth Sea operated normally; any slight mishap would have had unimaginable consequences.
As for the situation outside, he didn’t think it had much to do with him; those who should worry would worry.
In the evening, Li Weiyi went to eat vegetarian meal again.
Returning to the room, by the moonlight outside the window, he saw that Yang Qingxi had already sat up from the bed.
He lit the lamp.
Yang Qingxi’s injuries had stabilized, her face expressionless: “Where is my Dragon Seed Voucher?”
“Do you think, in that situation last night, the Dragon Seed Voucher could be preserved?” Li Weiyi said.
Yang Qingxi raised her snow-white chin and asked full of expectation: “What about Hua Yuzi? Dead or not?”
“Dead!” Li Weiyi said.
Yang Qingxi leaned back against the wall, smiling contentedly, immersed in her extraordinary achievement.
In this reclining process, her tattered and hardened blood robe tore open the scabbed wounds, making her corners of the mouth twitch in pain: “I thought you would at least change my clothes for me, or casually call two maids to help clean the wounds on my body. Do you know how uncomfortable it feels when the blood dries and completely sticks to the body?”
Li Weiyi found it amusing: “During the desperate fight last night, I didn’t see you as such a delicate woman. But sorry, Evergreen Temple is all men; probably can’t find maids.”
Change her clothes for her?
Better to avoid extra trouble.
Saving her was already doing more than enough.
Yang Qingxi frowned, puzzled: “Evergreen Temple? Are we in Southern City or Northern City now?”
Li Weiyi said solemnly: “If we return to Southern City, we might run into people from the Far West Ash Region. Moreover, if we encounter Jiu Li clan martial cultivators, I wouldn’t care, but they would probably tear you to pieces.”
“You’re right! Eastern City… no one would think we would hide in Eastern City.”
Yang Qingxi suddenly showed a charming smile in her eyes: “Li Weiyi, are you a little bit moved by me? Otherwise, why worry about me being killed by Jiu Li clan martial cultivators?”
Li Weiyi walked to the bedside and gazed at her carefully.
“What are you looking at?” Yang Qingxi said.
“I’m checking if the Six Desires Talisman has acted up on you!”
Li Weiyi always remained vigilant toward Yang Qingxi.
This woman was very scheming. After waking up, she deliberately mentioned “changing her clothes” and “being moved” because she was too weak now and needed to use her beauty as an advantage to steady him.
“Fine, now that I’m under someone else’s roof, needing Young Master Li to protect a weak woman like me—consider it my overthinking. But before my injuries fully heal, I won’t mutually resolve the Six Desires Talisman with you.”
At this moment, Yang Qingxi showed a soft and watery side, extremely feminine.
Every word and phrase could stir a man’s protective desire.
The Six Desires Talisman was indeed quite troublesome at present.
Although the Nine Great Priests could refine it together, who would seek far when a simpler way existed? Moreover, the Nine Great Priests joining hands had many uncertainties itself.
That was the last resort when absolutely necessary.
“You’re not anxious, neither am I. When it really acts up, we’ll see who can’t hold out first.”
Li Weiyi walked out of the guest hall, heading toward the bathhouse direction.
Moments later, two men in Daoist robes carried in a wooden bucket, filled it with hot water, and prepared clean green Daoist robes.
After preparing everything, the two men in Daoist robes left the guest hall, closed the door, and praised in the courtyard outside: “Senior Disciple Brother Li, your wife is really beautiful, like a fairy descending from the clouds, Pure Immortal Body, right?”
Li Weiyi gave each a handful of Spring Coins and said in a low voice: “Not my wife, enemy’s. Remember to keep it secret!”
“So it’s the enemy’s wife… uh… impressive, impressive!”
After receiving the Spring Coins, the two bid farewell and left.
Li Weiyi stood with hands behind his back under the eaves, listening to the bell sounds overhead, gazing at the bright moon in the sky dome.
Inside the room, the sound of bathing water rose.
After a while, Yang Qingxi, wearing a loose green Daoist robe with a belt around her slender waist, pushed the door and walked out.
Her long hair tied with a wooden hairpin, she looked pure and otherworldly, very much like a Daoist Sect fairy. The scars on her face and neck, embedded in her jade-like skin, gave a touch of pitiful fragility.
“What a tranquil night! I don’t know why, but I’ve never felt this tranquil before; it feels like the whole person is very relaxed, no need to think about anything.”
She leaped up, landed on the roof tiles, sat on the eaves edge, her two excessively long jade legs dangling above Li Weiyi.
Gazing at the bright moon in the sky dome and the lights below the mountain, she smiled enchantingly in the wind: “Li Weiyi, although we can evade the eyes of the younger generation martial cultivators and escape here, we absolutely cannot evade the insight of the older generation martial cultivators. The old guy from Jiu Li clan hasn’t come to Evergreen Temple to find you? I guess seeing me together with you must make him extremely uncomfortable.”
Li Weiyi said: “Hiding and finding people is also part of the test. Older generation interfering would be breaking the rules! Also, we’re not that close; don’t act like sharing one room makes us fellow travelers.”
Yang Qingxi said: “What about in the coffin then? Didn’t feel anything at the time, but the more I recall later, the more I feel I suffered a big loss. If my future husband’s family finds out, I definitely won’t be able to marry.”
“I didn’t recall; I only know Yang Qingchan was also in the coffin at that time…”
As soon as he said this, Li Weiyi realized it was inappropriate.
The two fell into long silence.
Li Weiyi leaped onto the roof eaves.
Yang Qingxi raised her head, looking at him in the moonlight: “What, think I’m plunged into extreme grief right now and want to come comfort me? Sorry to disappoint you!”
Li Weiyi asked: “Why did Yao Qian want to kill Yang Qingchan?”
Yang Qingxi wasn’t as indifferent as she appeared on the surface after all; her eyes gradually moistened, and she smiled bitterly: “Because you all planted the Six Desires Talisman on her… Do you believe that?”
Li Weiyi didn’t know how to respond.
She said: “Because she loved the wrong person! Yao Qian is too perfect; the more perfect a person is, the more they pursue ultimate perfection. Do you think someone like him could accept his woman having the Six Desires Talisman planted by an enemy? If the news leaks out, his reputation as a gentleman would be utterly destroyed.”
Li Weiyi said: “I heard Yao Qian caught the eye of the Second Palace Master. With the Second Palace Master’s cultivation, resolving one Six Desires Talisman for someone shouldn’t be difficult!”
“That’s precisely the main reason!”
Yang Qingxi said: “I learned from the sect master that the Second Palace Master intends to arrange a marriage for Yao Qian, with the object being the extremely noble direct daughter of Jiang Family. Yao Qian must sever all previous ties for this to happen. So, Qingchan must die.”
“Your attack and the Six Desires Talisman in her body were just the trigger. It gave Yao Qian a perfect opportunity to shift blame and a reason to convince himself and convince Qingchan.”
Li Weiyi said: “He had to convince her first to kill Yang Qingchan?”
Yang Qingxi said: “Cultivators, after all, all want to push the blame onto others, so they can have unblocked thoughts and a pure state of mind.”
Li Weiyi said: “Does Sui Sect Master, at Yang Shenjing, also know the truth?”
This time Yang Qingxi hesitated!
She didn’t want to tell an enemy stranger this ugly side of Sui Sect, but tonight for some reason, she had a strong urge to confide. It felt like if she didn’t say it, she would suffocate.
She said: “The reason Second Palace Master arranged the marriage for Yao Qian is not only because of his potential and ability, but also because of Sui Sect’s strength.”
“Sui Sect is indeed still thin in top-tier master strength, not comparable to Ten Million Gateways.”
“But Sui Sect controls half of the waterway traffic lifeline in Lingxiao Life Realm. The Seven States Land along the Sui River has influence reaching over a dozen states, business spread under heaven, involved in all industries. In terms of grassroots personnel, intelligence, and such, it can absolutely match Ten Million Gateways.”
“Who wouldn’t want to bring such a force under their command?”
“By arranging the marriage for Yao Qian, Second Palace Master can find Sui Sect a powerful backing in the Imperial Court, thereby quickly integrating into their system instead of facing attacks and exclusion from various forces within the Imperial Court.”
“This is something both Sui Sect and Second Palace Master want to see.”
“So in front of the sect’s future, what does Qingchan’s death count for? The sect master can only turn a blind eye.”
Li Weiyi asked: “Who is the Jiang Family direct daughter you mentioned earlier?”
“Who else but Jiang Ning?” Yang Qingxi said.
