Chapter 58
Yu Sui's hand didn't pause as she reached for a jade hairpin, picking up a jade magnolia pin to examine it. Finding it unsuitable for Li Jin Shuang, she put it back while waiting for Wei Ren's answer.
It seemed those who took him away were indeed from the Agricultural School.
Besides Wei Ren, there were other disciples in the Academy who were also members of the Agricultural School's rebel organization.
Lu Hai Ye had been dead for some time, so why were they suddenly looking for Wei Ren to verify details?
Did the Agricultural School think something had gone wrong?
That night when Yu Sui practiced to the third level of Soul Control in the Military Formation, she discovered she could control more Five Elements Light Cores with her separated souls, with greater precision, even more precise than her current use of Five Elements Energy to manifest Nine Schools Arts.
At this moment, she focused her separated soul and could sense the position of the Five Elements Light Core she had placed with Wei Ren in the Outer City.
Wei Ren was completely unaware of this, steeling himself to face the difficult situation before him. The man's questioning in the darkness carried a threatening tone, as if telling him: if you want to live, be honest, this is your last chance.
"I already said everything I could last time." Wei Ren's peripheral vision swept left and right, his tone lazy. "That night Mei Liangyu and the Nangong family people came too quickly. I didn't see anything before being knocked out by Mei Liangyu's Nine Schools Arts."
"Is that so?" the man in the darkness said quietly. "Why did he die while you didn't?"
"I only went to see how he was handling things midway, but didn't take action myself. Even so I was discovered and suffered from being an Agricultural School member. I didn't die because she didn't want to lose points by killing me, so she made me cripple my own cultivation." Wei Ren said with a slight curl of his lips, his expression somewhere between amused and annoyed. "Otherwise... Master, why do you think I didn't die?"
His eyes had adapted to the darkness in the room. It wasn't completely pitch black like Shadow Swallow, and in this dim space, he could vaguely make out a figure standing on the stairs leading to the second floor, a figure Wei Ren knew all too well.
Wei Ren's master, Agricultural School's Ji Shuyan, a Twelfth Realm Nine Schools practitioner.
In the darkness, faint Five Elements Energy flowed, and the man's silhouette appeared silent and cold. On the ground between the man and Wei Ren, black shadows swayed slowly.
Wei Ren moved his eyes and recognized it as the shadow of Agricultural School forbidden technique: Phantom Beast.
Ji Shuyan said coldly: "An Ordinary Practitioner who developed Five Elements Light Cores and became a cultivating Nine Schools practitioner within days of arriving at Taiyi, and your observation of Nangong Sui amounts to just 'nothing unusual'?"
Wei Ren in the room was overwhelmed by Ji Shuyan's Nine Schools Arts pressure, feeling heavy mountains pressing on his shoulders until he could barely breathe. Just standing upright without kneeling took half his strength, sweat beading on his forehead.
Wei Ren answered helplessly: "Master, you may not have stayed at Taiyi Academy and don't know about the Ghost Way Saint Hall. Disciples from other schools can't enter, only Saint Chang Gen's direct disciples can."
"When master and disciple conduct lessons, how would I know? From what I know and observe, Nangong Sui truly has nothing worth noting."
As soon as Wei Ren finished speaking, a black shadow shot up from the ground. A black python opened its mouth and roared angrily at him, the intimidation and pressure making Wei Ren's knees buckle as he collapsed to the ground.
He bit down lightly.
Moonlight seemed to fall through the dilapidated roof, coincidentally illuminating the stairs and briefly revealing the man hidden in darkness.
Like his shadow, he was a cold person.
Ji Shuyan's low voice carried obvious displeasure: "Able to kill a Tenth Realm practitioner, yet nothing worth noting?"
……
Yu Sui picked up a pair of delicate, small earrings and set them aside for later use. As she asked the attendants to bring more options, she was also thinking about Wei Ren's situation.
Wei Ren's master, that man who loved Lady Su, hated Nangong Ming, and also hated her.
It seemed Lady Su truly wanted to kill her, otherwise she wouldn't have called her trusted aide to Taiyi.
This was one of Lady Su's few capable assistants after being suppressed by Nangong Ming.
Thinking of this, Yu Sui couldn't help but roll her eyes, then walked outside to tell Blackbeard about this matter.
The last Agricultural School assassination attempt had nearly cost Yu Sui her life, creating quite a psychological shadow for Blackbeard. He was terrified something might happen to Yu Sui under his watch, in which case forget returning to the capital to retire with his family, he'd die at Taiyi and never go back.
Now hearing Yu Sui had discovered the Agricultural School group's hideout, he immediately followed orders to take people there.
Yu Sui said: "Capturing some Yan Kingdom Agricultural School rebels might yield intelligence useful to Father. Then Father will look favorably on both you and me."
Blackbeard taking people there was also to vent his anger. In all his years managing Nangong family business at Taiyi, he'd never encountered troublemakers bold enough to act under his nose. Having the Princess get into trouble shortly after arriving made him look incompetent if he didn't do something to recover face.
Yu Sui returned to the room and continued selecting jewelry for Li Jin Shuang.
"Princess, Miss Li has finished changing," the attendant behind the curtain said with a smile.
Yu Sui turned around: "Come out and let's see."
The attendant lifted the curtain and stepped aside, waiting for the person behind to come out while smiling: "Miss Li's figure and looks are flawless, she'd look good in anything."
Li Jin Shuang slowly emerged from the changing room, extremely uncomfortable in the beautiful dress. The cross-collar style revealed her slender, fair neck, the white inner garment soft and cool against her skin. The waist tie was also different from men's styles, and the women's long dress made her appear even more tall and graceful, with a willow-thin waist and captivating charm.
With her movement, one could glimpse her snow-white legs beneath the skirt hem.
Years of sword practice had given her better physical condition than ordinary women, making her calf muscles toned and firm, appearing and disappearing among the layered gradient purple gauze.
Without makeup, her true appearance had lost the deliberately masculine sharpness and coldness. With raven-black hair and snow-white skin, her long hair fell casually. Since she would be changing clothes again, the attendants had simply gathered it, tying it with red cord near her lower back where it wouldn't come loose or look messy.
Li Jin Shuang's expression was stiff, still somewhat at a loss, not knowing how to carry herself, as if her limbs didn't belong to her.
She stood in the room with lowered head, not realizing that where she had seemed out of place before entering, she now blended with the room's exquisite beauty, becoming a striking sight herself.
Yu Sui walked toward Li Jin Shuang with a smile, again reaching up to cup Li Jin Shuang's face and make her look up.
Li Jin Shuang had phoenix eyes that normally appeared cold and indifferent when masculinized, but now held some shimmering moisture. Her helpless gaze meeting Yu Sui's was like a person adrift at sea finally finding driftwood to survive.
She was completely different from when she'd entered.
"So beautiful," Yu Sui said. "Relax, you're now the most beautiful girl in this room."
Li Jin Shuang thought she couldn't relax anytime soon.
"Look at yourself." Yu Sui gestured toward the full-length mirror nearby. "Remember how you look right now."
Her voice was as gentle as if bewitching hearts, yet Li Jin Shuang could draw courage and strength from these words, slowly turning her head as guided.
The person in the mirror was utterly unfamiliar.
So dazzling and brilliant she didn't dare look directly.
A beauty with cool temperament and delicate features had no flaws except for somewhat stiff posture.
Li Jin Shuang stared blankly at the person in the mirror, momentarily bewildered. Who was this? As her gaze met the mirror image and they stared at each other for a long time, her heart beat fast and heavy. The attendants' praise around her became distant and ethereal, only that heavy heartbeat pounding in her ears again and again.
What she had secretly longed for, she could actually obtain someday.
It was perfectly normal, so why did it require breaking through so much psychological discomfort to accept?
Would wearing such dresses make her an Ordinary Practitioner?
No.
She hadn't lost her power.
She could still sense and use Five Elements Energy.
She hadn't forgotten the principles of swordsmanship she'd learned.
She hadn't lost the talent to become strong, nor had she become weak.
What she'd lost was the self who had gritted her teeth and persevered day after day, struggling forward under heavy burdens for years.
But she didn't feel sad about it, nor reluctant to let it go.
"Let's do your makeup first, then change into the rest." Yu Sui carried a cosmetics box to the table, calling Li Jin Shuang over to sit.
"...More to try?" Li Jin Shuang was stunned.
"Of course, there are so many more." Yu Sui pointed at the clothing racks behind her. "What you're wearing is just ordinary. We start with simple styles, then look at these - the designs, workmanship, embroidery and accessories get increasingly complex, intricate, and beautiful."
Li Jin Shuang was pulled by attendants to sit at the vanity, stiffly turning her neck to look toward Yu Sui. Yu Sui stepped forward to block her view, bending slightly with a smile: "Trying on clothes means trying many outfits to see which ones suit you."
Yu Sui took Li Jin Shuang's hand and placed carved gold bracelets on her wrist, asking: "Do you want ones with bells and jade bead dangles, or without?"
Before Li Jin Shuang could answer, Yu Sui had already taken all the bracelets she mentioned and put them on Li Jin Shuang: "Let's try them all."
The attendants did Li Jin Shuang's hair, separating several strands from both sides to interweave, using the carved gold hairpins and jade pins Yu Sui had selected to secure the updo.
Li Jin Shuang couldn't help but look away from the mirror, not daring to look, so she'd turn to look at Yu Sui instead. Yu Sui would then direct her back to the mirror, and Li Jin Shuang would be pulled back to looking at her reflection.
Yu Sui inserted a lily-and-gemstone butterfly gold hairpin diagonally into Li Jin Shuang's black hair from the side. The dark red gemstone set in the flower's center wasn't ostentatious but provided nice accent effects. The golden butterfly wings behind the flower pressed lightly against the pinned hair, keeping the ornament from falling out.
Though she was looking at Li Jin Shuang being dressed up before her, she was also watching Wei Ren on the other side.
Li Jin Shuang in front of her was surrounded by people speaking in gentle, soft tones to serve her, while Wei Ren over there was being whipped away by a phantom beast python's tail.
Wei Ren, who had been kneeling on the ground, was sent flying by the phantom python's tail strike and crashed heavily into the wall. The impact made blood rise in Wei Ren's throat, which he forced down.
"Though I'm not within Taiyi Academy, I can see more problems than you. Wei Ren, it's not that you don't understand, you choose to conceal." Ji Shuyan still stood in place unmoved, his cold gaze resting on Wei Ren as he looked at this child he'd raised. "Are you going soft on Nangong Sui?"
Wei Ren clutched his chest and staggered to his feet. Hearing this, he looked up with a strange expression, his dark pupils revealing some mockery: "Going soft? That's not for me to do toward her."
Yu Sui watched Li Jin Shuang enter the changing room, then turned to lean against the wall, standing in shadow where no one could see her expression clearly.
……
After Wei Ren crippled his cultivation, his Light Core was severely damaged. Though he retained First Realm power, it was completely inadequate against Twelfth Realm Ji Shuyan.
Just Ji Shuyan's external Five Elements Energy pressure was enough to pin Wei Ren in place unable to move.
Wei Ren took a deep breath, leaning against the wall. His forehead hair was damp with sweat and stuck to his skin. His gaze passed through the phantom python between them to look at Ji Shuyan standing behind in the moonlight.
"Master, even Nangong Ming couldn't see through Nangong Sui being an Ordinary Practitioner. Do you think a small Fifth Realm Agricultural School disciple like me would have the ability to know the reasons?" Wei Ren's voice was hoarse from injury, speaking with difficulty. "Moreover, I didn't have time to do anything that day. When I arrived, he was already dead."
"Is that so?"
Ji Shuyan's tone grew another degree colder, his gaze toward Wei Ren carrying obvious disappointment.
He had already given this child a chance.
Ji Shuyan raised his hand. On his withered hand was a small red scorpion, already dead. Its previously bright color had grown dim, surrounded by Five Elements Energy to prevent decay.
An Agricultural School transmission beast, different from ordinary transmission beasts.
Transmission beast scorpions had no poisonous stingers on their tails, but this one did.
Because it was a symbiotic transmission beast cultivated by Agricultural School disciples. After an Agricultural School disciple died, the symbiotic transmission beast could preserve their final living memories for seven days. After seven days, the symbiotic transmission beast would die.
Seeing the symbiotic transmission beast, Wei Ren's heart sank.
He had tried to find it afterward but hadn't succeeded. He'd thought that with seven days passed, Lu Hai Ye's symbiotic transmission beast was dead and no one would see it.
"I found it on the seventh day." Ji Shuyan said grimly. "But I'm only coming to you now. Do you know what that means?"
He was giving Wei Ren chances, letting Wei Ren tell him voluntarily, but Wei Ren had remained silent. Until today, Ji Shuyan finally couldn't bear it anymore.
But Wei Ren laughed bitterly: "Since Master has gone soft on me, why not go soft all the way?"
Ji Shuyan stared at him coldly. "I want you to kill Nangong Sui, but you won't act, even secretly helping her, revealing Lady Su's information to her. Just for these reasons, I won't go soft on you, and you won't leave through that door alive today."
"Must I die just for not killing Nangong Sui?" Wei Ren looked up, fearlessly meeting his cold master's gaze. "Or is the real reason you want me dead because I harmed the interests of Lady Su, whom Master loves?"
Ji Shuyan's aura grew colder, the anger hidden in his brows becoming obvious with Wei Ren's words.
The phantom python made warning hissing sounds.
But Wei Ren showed no panic. Leaning against the cold wall, the chill transmitted through his clothing kept his mind racing as he thought of escape while saying: "Master, you once said we should vindicate the forbidden technique phantom beasts, wash away the shameful mark of Agricultural School rebels. But you know Nangong Sui only has half the Breath Soil while Lady Su has the other half, yet why have you never told others?"
"What use is knowing about just half the Breath Soil?" Ji Shuyan said coldly. "Kill Nangong Sui, take back the other half to give her, then it will be complete Breath Soil."
Wei Ren laughed: "Master, though I know about your obvious feelings for Lady Su that you can't hide, don't speak so righteously about killing someone's biological daughter."
"Even if it's Lady Su's own request, we outsiders shouldn't take it so much for granted."
The word "outsiders" deeply wounded Ji Shuyan's heart. As he moved, the python roared at Wei Ren with deafening sound that made Wei Ren raise his hands to resist. Provoking Ji Shuyan into losing control, when the python's tail came crashing down, though Wei Ren was sent flying, the door was also knocked open. The entire wall collapsed, startling both Agricultural School disciples guarding outside.
Wei Ren struggled to protect his vital organs. When he fell into the rubble, he could no longer hold back a mouthful of blood. After a moment of dizziness, he immediately reacted. As the python came for a second attack, he used Wind-Riding Techniques to escape from the dust and debris.
He had barely run a hundred meters when he was caught by the shoulder by a python emerging from darkness, knocked down from the air with a tremendous crash, creating a deep crater.
Wei Ren heard the sound of breaking bones, intense chest pain, instantly covered in sweat with blood spattering everywhere.
The python gripped half his body in its mouth, lifting him suspended in air.
Ji Shuyan stood on the ground looking up expressionlessly: "With crippled cultivation, damaged Five Elements Light Core, and only First Realm strength, how do you plan to escape?"
The python's venomous fangs pierced his flesh and scraped his shoulder bone. As it pressed down further, the sound of crushing bone made Wei Ren grunt in pain, his face instantly deathly pale. He gritted his teeth, but both he and the python's vertical pupils looked toward one side.
At the corner of the eaves, a nearly transparent spider silk hung at some unknown time. A tiny red translucent spider, barely visible to the naked eye, hung quietly at its end.