Chapter 391 : Don't Call Me Senior Sister
Jiang Mo ended up being detained after all. Though her cultivation was not low, and her combat prowess had improved after receiving guidance from the White Tiger in the inheritance space, she still felt pressured when surrounded by four or five Fusion stage cultivators.
More importantly, she lacked the ability to break through the sect's protective array, leaving her with no escape route.
After a brief and not particularly intense dispute, Jiang Mo, along with Yun Qingyue, was "invited" to Harmony Sect's inner compound. The entire Linglong City belonged to Harmony Sect, true, but like ordinary sects, they maintained a distinction between inner and outer areas—especially a place like Harmony Sect. Their inner compound wasn't particularly hidden or mysterious; it was simply the largest and most splendid estate in the city.
Though called an estate, its interior was as vast as an ordinary sect. It contained countless buildings, groups of disciples, and beautiful pavilions and towers. Everyone coming and going was attractive, giving some visitors the illusion of having entered a celestial realm...
Although few cultivators were truly ugly, perhaps eight out of ten truly beautiful people in the world could be found within Harmony Sect.
Following several Harmony Sect elders, Jiang Mo observed everything along the way with amazement but dared not look too closely. She feared attracting more trouble, was conscious of Senior Sister's presence beside her, and most importantly, didn't know what these people had planned.
Finally, after passing through pavilions and towers, walking along a corridor, and traversing several formation arrays, the group arrived outside an exquisite courtyard. Just as Jiang Mo thought she was being brought to meet someone, the palace-attired woman leading them turned around, slightly lifted her chin toward the courtyard, and said to Jiang Mo, "How to handle this matter requires deliberation. For now, you'll stay here temporarily."
Jiang Mo hadn't expected to be detained like this, and the detention itself seemed oddly improper—despite being detained as someone who had "committed a wrongdoing," she wasn't confined to a prison but instead brought to such an elegant courtyard. What exactly were their intentions?
The little tiger had never dealt with Harmony Sect before and didn't want to waste mental energy on wild speculation. She simply stepped forward to block the group from leaving and asked, "Why are you keeping me here? What's your purpose?"
The palace-attired woman gave her a faint glance without answering, then stepped sideways and vanished completely.
The other elders behaved similarly. Before Jiang Mo could direct her question to any of them, they disappeared one by one from where they stood.
Jiang Mo watched with unease, feeling increasingly fearful. Legend had it that Harmony Sect's strength ranked at the bottom among the Four Major Demonic Sects, so having several Fusion stage elders wasn't surprising. But weren't these people's methods a bit too unfathomable? Did they possess some technique that allowed them to tear through space and teleport at the Fusion stage? Otherwise, how could she, also at the Fusion stage, fail to see how these people disappeared?
Perhaps sensing Jiang Mo's confusion and wariness, Yun Qingyue, who had maintained silence throughout the journey, finally spoke: "Don't overthink it—it's just formation arrays. From the moment we entered this estate, every inch of this place has been within formation arrays."
This explained why Harmony Sect elders could comfortably leave her here—because those arrays served as constraining cages.
Jiang Mo looked up at the sky, seeing a beautiful expanse of azure blue, then looked down at the ground, where flat, clean flagstones were neatly arranged. She cautiously walked around the vicinity but detected no trace of array energy. Only when she formed a hand seal and launched a probing attack did she see ripples in space that dissolved her attack.
This place was indeed enclosed by formation arrays, but the little tiger knew nothing about arrays. So she turned to ask her senior sister: "Senior Sister, do you know how to break this array? How can we escape?"
Yun Qingyue had been observing all along but still had no clue: "Without someone leading us, I fear we can't leave." She then explained: "The arrays here are alive, changing every moment. I could calculate how to break them, but by the time I finish my calculations, the arrays would have already changed into different configurations, rendering my previous calculations useless."
Hearing this, Jiang Mo immediately deflated: "So we won't escape? Just wait here?"
Neither of them was the type to resign themselves to fate, but currently, they had no better options. Finally, Yun Qingyue could only nod: "Let's stay for now. Harmony Sect wouldn't detain you without reason. Let's observe how things develop."
What Yun Qingyue didn't say was that Jiang Mo's identity had likely been exposed, and thus Harmony Sect's intentions in detaining her now were difficult to discern.
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With Senior Sister's consent, Jiang Mo settled down quite comfortably in Harmony Sect.
For a divine beast like the White Tiger, few situations in this world were truly desperate. Unless someone could kill her with a single strike, she was virtually undefeatable—if she couldn't win, she could always escape, and a divine beast's Innate Space was the perfect refuge. She could hide there to heal wounds, cultivate, or even sleep.
Divine beasts were naturally long-lived and unconcerned with time. Even if the limited space became boring, she could sleep for hundreds or thousands of years before emerging again. By then, the outside world might have changed completely, but surely no one would still be lying in ambush for her.
With such a fallback plan, Jiang Mo had little worry for her life, allowing her to face everything with a certain composure.
Of course, there were times when she couldn't maintain that composure—like now—
"Who are you people? Why have you come here?" Jiang Mo frowned, looking at the eight beautiful people—four men and four women—before her, no longer in any mood to appreciate their beauty, her eyes filled with vigilance.
At this moment, people had come to the courtyard where Jiang Mo was temporarily residing for the first time. However, the visitors weren't the elders she had met before, nor was it the Harmony Sect leader, but eight exquisitely beautiful people, each with their own unique charm. Among them were those who were alluringly tender, gentle and kind, proud and aloof, androgynous or extraordinarily handsome... Truly, just the beauty of these eight was enough to broaden Jiang Mo's horizons.
However, this did nothing to lower Jiang Mo's guard. She held the door firmly with both hands, showing no intention of letting anyone enter.
The woman at the front was a gentle beauty carrying a konghou in her arms. Seeing Jiang Mo's reaction, she explained with a smile: "With such an esteemed guest visiting, our sect's elders feared neglecting you, so they sent several disciples to attend to you. Please allow us to enter."
Her smile was extremely gentle, her entire demeanor was tender, and her soft voice was enough to make one's heart melt. However, Jiang Mo's hands remained firmly on the door. She felt like sneering but couldn't bring herself to show such a harsh attitude toward such a beauty. In the end, she could only say coldly: "I'm no esteemed guest, just someone who violated the city's taboos and was brought here to be imprisoned."
These words weren't polite, but none of the people opposite her showed any change in expression. The gentle beauty smiled again: "You misunderstand. This place is where our sect accommodates honored guests. The elders bringing you here must be treating you with the courtesy due to an esteemed visitor."
Jiang Mo twisted her mouth noncommittally, then turned and closed the door: "You all can leave. I don't need anyone's attendance."
The courtyard gate was closed quite mercilessly, and the people outside hadn't even had a chance to say anything more. Subsequently, facing the tightly shut gate, they exchanged bewildered glances, probably having never encountered such a situation before.
After a moment, one of them asked: "Senior Sister, what should we do now?"
The gentle beauty frowned slightly, her lovely face taking on a touch of melancholy, like Xi Shi clutching her heart, making one want to smooth away the worry between her brows... Unfortunately, before she could display such an expression, an insensitive person had already shut her out, leaving her with nowhere to employ her techniques.
At this point, she could only sigh faintly, then wave her hand to produce an embroidered stool, sitting down with her konghou: "The elders gave us instructions, and we can't return without accomplishing anything. Since we can't enter, let's wait here for now."
Hearing this, the others exchanged more glances. Some with proud temperaments showed traces of dissatisfaction on their faces, complaining softly: "What kind of person is this? Even with Senior Sister personally coming, we still get the door shut in our faces. For someone so insensitive to romance, why should our Harmony Sect lower ourselves to please them?!"
Though his voice was extremely low, everyone present was a cultivator of considerable skill and naturally heard these words. Some agreed in their hearts, others harbored doubts, and still others, unconcerned, followed the Senior Sister's example by taking stools to sit and wait.
At this moment, only the Senior Sister spoke up to reproach him: "How can we comment on the elders' plans?"
With these words, no one dared to question further, and everyone fell silent. On the other side of the door, Jiang Mo had been standing behind it intending to eavesdrop, but after listening for a while and hearing only this one complaint, she lost interest.
She turned around, about to leave, but as she did, she saw the swan goose perched on the peach tree behind her, watching her steadily with a calm gaze that expressed nothing particular. But somehow Jiang Mo felt a twinge of guilt and hurried to the tree to explain: "Senior Sister, I just wanted to hear what they were saying and what Harmony Sect's plans are for detaining me. I had no other intention."
Yun Qingyue glanced at her and dropped a line: "Don't call me Senior Sister here. Beware of eavesdroppers."
Without waiting for Jiang Mo's agreement, she spread her wings and flew back into the room. Jiang Mo quickly followed, and once inside, she approached Yun Qingyue to ask: "If I don't call you Senior Sister, what should I call you?"