Chapter 393 : Unclear Stance
Jiang Mo and Yun Qingyue stayed in Harmony Sect's guest quarters for many consecutive days, with no one disturbing them except for the few people standing guard outside the door. It seemed somewhat neglectful in terms of hospitality, but since Jiang Mo refused to open the courtyard gate, she could hardly blame others for being impolite. Of course, for Jiang Mo and Yun Qingyue, being undisturbed was quite pleasant, and they had the patience to wait.
Conveniently, the resources Qingyu had given to Yun Qingyue were not yet exhausted, so for these days, the two ate and drank in the courtyard, living quite leisurely. Jiang Mo even showed some reluctance to leave, saying to Yun Qingyue, "The scenery here is nice; it's quite pleasant for a short stay."
Yun Qingyue neither agreed nor disagreed, focusing on eating and drinking. Every bit of spiritual energy she consumed now was crucial for restoring her power.
Seeing her eating so attentively, Jiang Mo felt a mischievous urge. After a while, she took out a high-grade spirit stone and offered it to her. However, Yun Qingyue took one look and pushed it away with her wing, saying, "I don't eat that."
It was true that spirit stones contained pure spiritual energy, and consuming them would benefit Yun Qingyue's cultivation recovery. But these things were essentially a type of ore. Yun Qingyue wasn't as grudge-holding as the little swan goose, but she had inherited the little swan goose's memories and clearly remembered how Jiang Mo had tried to trick her with mineral stones that she couldn't bite, claiming they were for teething... Thinking about how greedy she had been then, Yun Qingyue felt somewhat embarrassed, but she hadn't forgotten how Jiang Mo had deceived her.
Jiang Mo was still unaware that she had offended Senior Sister. She reluctantly put down the spirit stone, saying, "Very well, Senior Sister, just keep it. If you ever want to try something different, you can eat it later."
Yun Qingyue gave her an exasperated look and was about to refuse when she suddenly felt a ripple in space.
Harmony Sect's compound had larger arrays containing smaller ones, constantly operating, so spatial fluctuations weren't unusual. However, these arrays had their own principles. After all, people living in the courtyard couldn't constantly lie on formation arrays—that would be too dangerous. If someone modified the array, the person on it would die without even knowing how. Therefore, most arrays were set up outside the courtyard.
Yet this time, Yun Qingyue clearly sensed that the spatial fluctuation wasn't outside the courtyard but inside the guest quarters, even within the very guest room where Jiang Mo was temporarily staying!
This immediately put Yun Qingyue on alert. With a flap of her wings, she disappeared from Jiang Mo's sight like a lightning bolt.
Jiang Mo also felt the spatial fluctuation, but she wasn't as sensitive to arrays as Yun Qingyue, so she realized what was happening a half-beat too late. Worried that something had changed and that Senior Sister might be in danger, she hurriedly followed.
Yun Qingyue moved swiftly, instantly appearing in the room, but apart from some spatial ripples, she found nothing unusual... No, that wasn't quite right. On the soft, comfortable bed, there was now a scroll. It seemed that the earlier spatial fluctuation must have been to deliver this scroll.
A flash of caution passed through her glazed phoenix eyes. Yun Qingyue surveyed the surroundings and, seeing nothing unusual, turned her attention to the scroll on the bed. The object appeared to be an ordinary scroll without any energy fluctuations. But why would Harmony Sect go through the trouble of sending this scroll? It couldn't be without reason.
Yun Qingyue hesitated for a moment, still not daring to approach rashly. Instead, she flapped a wing, using spiritual energy to unfurl the scroll from a distance.
The scroll was indeed not any kind of magical treasure, just ordinary paper. When struck by Yun Qingyue's spiritual energy, the thin cord binding it immediately broke, and the scroll completely unfurled on the bed.
Yun Qingyue had only glanced at it once when her pupils suddenly contracted. At that precise moment, Jiang Mo arrived in pursuit.
"Ah Yue, what's wrong? What happened?" Jiang Mo asked as she stepped through the doorway. Seeing the swan goose safely standing at the head of the bed, she relaxed slightly. Then, following the swan goose's gaze, she looked toward the bed.
In the next instant, ice-blue flames suddenly erupted. In almost a single breath, the unfurled scroll on the bed was completely incinerated.
Jiang Mo was stunned for a moment. She scanned the bed, which didn't even leave behind ashes, then slowly turned her head to look at Senior Sister, wanting to speak but hesitating.
Yun Qingyue didn't know if she had seen anything and asked with feigned calmness, "Why are you looking at me?"
Jiang Mo had actually seen something, but she didn't dare say it. So she timidly replied, "Nothing."
The two tacitly glossed over the matter, neither mentioning Harmony Sect's unreliability—weren't cultivation techniques the kind of thing that sects should keep hidden? Even if it wasn't a precious technique, they shouldn't just toss it around carelessly!
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In a courtyard not far away, the palace-garbed woman had just withdrawn her hand after placing the scroll. Before a few breaths had passed, she sensed that the technique scroll she had just sent over had been burned. She immediately clicked her tongue inwardly, thinking: Their reaction is quite quick indeed. I specially recorded that technique on a scroll, and I don't believe they burned it without looking. But the speed with which they burned the scroll is rather intriguing.
Yi Yao stood by, watching the palace-garbed woman's actions. She didn't miss the almost-smile that flashed in her eyes. However, as just a disciple with too little information, she couldn't deduce anything from this.
The palace-garbed woman caught sight of her in her peripheral vision and suddenly waved her hand, saying, "You may withdraw. Since they won't let you in, there's no need to keep guard. Take your Junior Brothers and Sisters and return."
Yi Yao was still completely puzzled, but she didn't dare question an elder's orders. She immediately acknowledged the command and withdrew.
After Yi Yao left, only the palace-garbed woman and the opulently dressed man remained in the courtyard, with the latter clearly of much lower status. The two had only begun dual cultivation recently, but their relationship was fairly intimate, and they occasionally dared to flirt openly.
Now the finely dressed man stepped forward slightly, wrapping his arms around the palace-garbed woman's waist. His entire body pressed against her back, his palm lightly caressing her lower abdomen. At the same time, he whispered in her ear, his voice clear and somewhat enticing, almost like he was coaxing her: "What's the matter? Has another distinguished guest arrived at our sect that's worthy of your attention, Ah Yuan?"
These words and actions appeared to be flirtatious, but the palace-garbed woman didn't reciprocate or satisfy his curiosity. Her body remained perfectly straight as she turned her head to give the man behind her a bland glance.
That glance seemed utterly nonchalant, yet it was like a bucket of cold water poured over his head, instantly chilling the opulently dressed man to the core.
He clearly had good self-awareness, though he didn't know whether he had violated some taboo by carelessly inquiring about sect matters or if it was simply the familiar "Ah Yuan" that had caused trouble. But his reaction was swift. He immediately released his hands and stepped back, dropping to his knees: "Forgive me, Elder. I was too presumptuous. Please spare me just this once."
The palace-garbed woman gave him a cold glance, now having no interest in looking at him a second time. She turned her gaze back to the dragon-scaled fish in the pond outside the pavilion and spoke without the slightest mercy: "Since you know your mistake, go to the Disciplinary Hall and accept your punishment."
These words instantly made the man feel as though he had fallen into an ice pit. It wasn't the Disciplinary Hall itself that terrified him, though it was certainly fearsome. Rather, he had spent enormous effort to catch the palace-garbed woman's eye and gain the privilege of dual cultivation with her. But after enjoying this fortune for barely a few days, before he could even savor his accomplishment, was he about to be cast back to where he started?!
The opulently dressed man felt some reluctance. He wanted to rush forward and grab the palace-garbed woman's legs to beg for mercy, to play for sympathy and admit his fault. But before he could utter a word, the words caught in his throat under her cold, unyielding back.
He dared not speak, dared not beg for leniency, and dared not linger. In the end, he could only obediently withdraw as instructed.
With another person gone, only the palace-garbed woman remained in the courtyard. She never turned back or spared another glance for the opulently dressed man. Her gaze fell distantly on the pond, seemingly lost in thought.
In fact, the man's earlier words held deeper meaning—"another distinguished guest has arrived at the sect." That word "another" revealed quite a lot.
At this moment, the "distinguished guests" in Harmony Sect weren't limited to Jiang Mo. Besides Jiang Mo, who had stumbled into Linglong City by accident and been detained, the others had all arrived voluntarily...
News from the outside world still traveled somewhat slowly. Crimson Blood Sect and Nine Abyss Sect had already been fighting for a month. The latter, ambitious and having accumulated considerable strength over the years, was not easy to deal with. But the former was a group of lunatics who didn't value their lives. As the saying goes, the soft fear the hard, the hard fear the reckless, and the reckless fear those who don't care about their lives—and the people of Crimson Blood Sect were precisely those who didn't care!
Therefore, in terms of raw power, Nine Abyss Sect held a slight advantage, but against Crimson Blood Sect's madmen and their reckless fighting style, Nine Abyss Sect gained no advantage whatsoever. Thus, the battle between the two sides had reached a stalemate. And apart from these two sides actually engaged in combat, there was also Celestial Demon Sect jumping up and down, though it wasn't clear whose side they wanted to take.
Harmony Sect didn't particularly enjoy calls for battle. Besides a minority who were belligerent, most preferred dual cultivation, making money, and living their extravagant, indulgent lives... Their enthusiasm for participating in such a major demonic path conflict was not high.
However, regardless, Harmony Sect still occupied a place among the Four Major Demonic Sects, so after the other three sects became embroiled in conflict, it was impossible for Harmony Sect to remain uninvolved. Half a month ago, emissaries from the three sects had already arrived at Harmony Sect one after another, and they were all currently residing there!
What was interesting was that while it made sense for Crimson Blood Sect and Nine Abyss Sect to each try to win them over, even Celestial Demon Sect's people, whose stance was unclear, had come to recruit them without clarifying their own position.
As for Harmony Sect's stance, it was perhaps even more unclear than Celestial Demon Sect's.