Chapter Eighty-Six: Situ Xiu, Greedy for Wealth

Charming Lady Chu resolved to restore her cultivation as quickly as possible, then immediately take Xiao Yuer back to Azure Leaf Sect.

So, while the people of the Xiao family repaired the houses and cleaned up the battlefield, she politely declined their renewed offer of a feast and, bringing Xiao Wenzi with her, went to the quiet bamboo residence to sit in meditation and settle her heart.

At the same time, far away in the depths of the Tiansou Mountains, within the Falling Feather Sect in Falling Wildgoose Valley, the shattering of three inner-sect disciples’ soul tablets caused a stir, small yet far from trivial.

Among them was Gong Sunfeng, whom Elder Situ Xiu of the Foundation Establishment stage had taken a liking to and accepted as a nominal disciple. The disciple in charge of the soul tablets did not dare delay, and hurried to report the matter upward.

Just then, Situ Xiu was not in seclusion. Upon hearing the news, he flew into a rage and soon left Falling Feather Sect, heading toward Tiansou City.

Originally, a mere nominal disciple at the Qi Refining stage was not enough to warrant the personal appearance of a late-Foundation Establishment cultivator like Situ Xiu. Yet he differed from other Foundation Establishment cultivators: when he broke through, he was already quite old, and in this lifetime he was likely never to step into the next realm.

Having reached the end of his path in cultivation, Situ Xiu simply wanted to seize what pleasures remained in his old age. This time, when he forced out the former governor of Tiansou City, Lord Qin, and installed Gong Sunyang in his place, he had in truth been secretly building his own power.

He knew that Gong Sunfeng had returned home with two fellow disciples, and now that all three had died under mysterious circumstances, of course Situ Xiu rushed over to investigate.

The wicked young master Gong Sun Tong had been annihilated, the entire Gong Sun father-and-son pair had fallen, and the people of Tiansou City were overjoyed. Even the several in power, such as the deputy commanders and deputy city lord, did not voice any call for revenge.

After all, if even the cultivators were no match for the enemy, and the valiant Lord Gong Sunyang had been so easily cut down with his throat slit, who would be willing to be the fool who rushed out first and gained nothing but trouble?

Naturally, they were unwilling to provoke a cultivator and seek revenge for the dead Gong Sun father and son. But the matter of the death of the governor of Tiansou Prefecture still had to be reported to the imperial court, or they would all suffer when blame came down from above.

Though Tiansou Prefecture bordered Plum Grove Prefecture, it was still tens of thousands of li from the capital, far too distant for a quick round trip. Yet all of this had nothing to do with Chu Xin'er.

A little over half an hour later, after taking several Spirit-Gathering Pills, she had fully recovered her cultivation, her energy and spirit brimming once more. She transformed into a streak of light and departed, accompanied by the young lady of the Xiao family, Yuer.

Though Lord Xiao was fearful of possible retaliation, he could not bear to leave his homeland. Moreover, most of the Xiao family’s property was within Tiansou City; unable to let go of wealth and splendor, he ultimately chose to stay and take his chances.

Chu Xin'er had already shown the utmost kindness by agreeing to introduce Xiao Yuer into the sect. She did not care in the least whether the Xiao family lived or died, and left with complete ease.

Precisely because of this, Situ Xiu, who arrived shortly afterward, found nothing but an empty house.

“What? You just let the fiends leave like that? You deserve death!”

When Situ Xiu descended upon Tiansou City, he first found Deputy City Lord Zou Yu, who had intended to seize the nest for himself, and quickly learned from him that Gong Sunyang and his son had both perished.

His rage surging, Situ Xiu’s killing intent showed without the slightest concealment, frightening Zou Yu so badly that he kowtowed like pounding garlic, repeatedly insisting that the enemy’s cultivation had been so formidable and that they had truly been unable to withstand her.

Seeing that this fellow was a despicable coward who valued his own life above all else, Situ Xiu did not truly kill him. In any case, the Gong Sun father and son were already dead, and leaving this Deputy City Lord surnamed Zou alive might yet prove useful.

“Immortal master, this humble one is willing to acknowledge you as my lord. If Your Excellency does not disdain me, I shall certainly devote myself to your service from now on...”

Zou Yu was a man quick to read the room. Having already experienced Situ Xiu’s power earlier, he immediately fell to his knees and flattered him eagerly.

“Good. Rise.”

The death of the Gong Sun father and son was not enough to drive Situ Xiu into genuine madness. Now that Zou Yu could be used in their place, the anger in his heart receded somewhat.

But since Chu Xin'er had publicly slain the disciples of Falling Feather Sect, he could not simply ignore the matter. After giving his orders to Zou Yu, he flew out of the city lord’s mansion and headed for the Xiao family.

“We common folk pay our respects to the immortal.”

When Lord Xiao saw an elderly Taoist in dark, cold eyes descending from the sky, his heart lurched. He hurriedly led his people in a grand salute, and thereafter answered Situ Xiu’s questioning without hiding anything.

Fortunately, Chu Xin'er had always been cautious and had never revealed the name of her sect. When she left earlier, she had deliberately flown out of the city toward the Tiansou Mountain Range, then made a wide detour before returning to the Misty Marsh.

“They truly do not know where that demon girl went? That makes things rather troublesome.”

From their expressions, Situ Xiu could confirm that these trembling mortals were not lying.

As an elder of Falling Feather Sect, he could not make things difficult for innocent commoners. After all, even exterminating the Xiao family would accomplish nothing, and would only leave him with the reputation of being bloodthirsty and cruel.

Thus, after Lord Xiao proactively offered a great quantity of gold, silver, and treasures, Situ Xiu departed with displeasure.

Carrying one person with her consumed a third more spiritual power than flying alone, yet Chu Xin'er did not dare pause for even a moment, and along the way she deliberately changed direction several times.

It was only when night fell and they took lodging in a mortal town several hundred li from Tiansou City that they still had not seen any pursuers, and only then did she finally let out a long breath of relief.

In truth, after pursuing for more than half an hour beyond Tiansou City without results, Situ Xiu had already given up.

For whether it was the Xiao family or the deputy city lords like Zou Yu, they were all mortals and could not discern the level of a cultivator.

From the description, Chu Xin'er had been portrayed as a darkened demonic cultivator skilled in commanding demon mosquitoes, and since she had been able to kill Gong Sunfeng and the other two, she was at the very least at the great-circle of Qi Refining, if not stronger.

The other party had left several hours ahead of him, and the distance between them was at least several hundred or even a thousand li. Gong Sunyang and his father had only an ordinary relationship with him, and Situ Xiu would not exhaust himself chasing after those who had already lost their value.

His plan was to use Zou Yu to maximize his own interests in controlling Tiansou City. As for pursuing the murderer, it would be better to leave that to the sect’s other law-enforcement elders.

Worn out from a day of travel and nearly exhausted of cultivation, Chu Xin'er settled into the inn and began meditating to recover. This made Xiao Yuer, who wanted to ask her about various matters, have no choice but to give up and obediently go to the room next door to cultivate her breath.

Xiao Wenzi was also cultivating, though instead of using his few remaining six-level Heaven System coins to exchange for a Demon-Gathering Pill, he was drinking the blood of Senior Brother Wu from the jade bottle.

Senior Brother Wu had reached perfection at the thirteenth layer. Cultivating by drinking his blood was no less effective than a Demon-Gathering Pill. After one night, although Xiao Wenzi had not succeeded in breaking through to the seventh layer of demon qi, he had already touched the bottleneck.

At dawn, after her cultivation had been restored, Chu Xin'er used her divine sense to inspect Xiao Wenzi inside the spirit-beast pouch. Seeing that he was at a critical point in his cultivation, she did not disturb him and instead took Xiao Yuer and continued on their way.

In any case, she had placed all those bottles of Senior Brother Wu’s blood inside the spirit-beast pouch, and Xiao Wen could draw from them whenever he needed.

After another day of hurried travel, by evening the two women had arrived in a small town only several hundred li from the Misty Marsh. With no sign of the enemy all along the way, and with the possibility of returning to the sect tomorrow, Chu Xin'er finally felt much more at ease.