Chapter 427 : First Signs
427: First Signs
When Jiang Mo changed back to human form, her ears were still slightly warm.
It wasn't that she lacked dignity—clearly an adult yet reverting to a tiger cub form to act coquettish and unreasonable—but her Senior Sister had been sulking for quite some time. She didn't know how long it would take someone of her Senior Sister's temperament to set aside previous matters and accept her. So she simply allowed herself to lose face once, acting coquettish and unreasonable to bring them closer. As long as her Senior Sister no longer treated her as a cub, that would be enough.
But that probably wouldn't happen anymore, after all, Senior Sister had raised her once, and she had also raised Senior Sister once. They both had plenty of embarrassing moments in front of each other, and after her Senior Sister's rebirth, she should have adopted a more balanced attitude...
As Jiang Mo thought this jumble of thoughts and looked toward her Senior Sister again, she indeed no longer avoided her.
However, before Jiang Mo could take the opportunity to further close the distance between them, Yun Qingyue seemed to see through her intentions. Her delicate jade finger pressed against Jiang Mo's forehead, pushing her slightly away: "Enough playing around. We have serious matters to attend to now."
Jiang Mo looked confused—could there be anything more important than pursuing her beloved?
Yun Qingyue may or may not have understood her gaze, but her ears did grow slightly warm as she gestured for her to listen.
Oh right, those people who had gone upstairs earlier—she had suggested eavesdropping. Now her Senior Sister had indeed cast a spell to bypass the barrier and eavesdrop, and the conversation had continued uninterrupted, but she had been so focused on her Senior Sister that she'd overlooked these matters.
Jiang Mo felt a little embarrassed, but quickly convinced herself that indeed, nothing was more important to her than her Senior Sister. As for what those people were saying, it wasn't at all... important?
Before this thought could fully form, Jiang Mo heard through the eavesdropping transmission: "Why are there more powerful cultivators at Mount Xuanyin again? These two arriving now are still manageable, but if more come, won't they ruin the Sect Leader's plans?"
With these words, several voices agreed, and then these people began discussing the situation at Mount Xuanyin.
Jiang Mo listened for quite some time but couldn't determine which side they favored, nor did she know which Sect Leader they were referring to. But thinking about it, Sect Leader Zhu was similar to her, with her heart set on pursuing her beloved and no great ambitions, so she probably wouldn't deliberately scheme anything. So she glanced at Yun Qingyue and instinctively asked quietly: "Ah Yue, do you think the Sect Leader they're referring to is the Nine Abyss Sect Leader?"
Yun Qingyue had listened much more carefully than Jiang Mo, and she had kept part of her attention on this matter, so she had heard the entire conversation from beginning to end. However, these people spoke cautiously and indeed never mentioned which Sect Leader they meant, though their attitude could be discerned through their words.
She shook her head and said: "Probably not. Their attitude when mentioning the Nine Abyss Sect seemed somewhat dismissive."
This was strange, considering that the Nine Abyss Sect was one of the Four Major Demonic Sects. Even after several months of attrition, the power of both the Nine Abyss Sect and the Crimson Blood Sect had diminished considerably, but to ordinary cultivators, they remained formidable entities not to be taken lightly... especially since these discussing cultivators weren't of particularly high cultivation. Spirit Division cultivators could serve as elders in the Four Sects, but there were certainly many with power superior to theirs who could pressure them.
Yun Qingyue, having grown up in the cultivation world, immediately noticed this subtlety. Jiang Mo might not have thought much of it initially, but after Yun Qingyue's hint, she quickly realized something wasn't right.
She turned to look at Yun Qingyue, who made a gesture for silence, indicating she should continue listening.
The two eavesdropped for much longer, learning more about the situation at Mount Xuanyin from these people's conversation, but despite listening repeatedly, they heard no more information about the "Sect Leader." However, their understanding of Mount Xuanyin's situation far exceeded others'; they spoke authoritatively about what arrangements the Nine Abyss Sect Leader would make next and how the Crimson Blood Sect would respond.
If these people weren't just talking nonsense, the implications were somewhat frightening—both sects' battle plans were known to outsiders, suggesting that a third force was lurking in the shadows, and this force was not small!
Jiang Mo thought for a moment, then dipped her finger in tea and wrote three characters on the table: "Celestial Demon Sect." "Could it be the Celestial Demon Sect?"
Having spoken, before Yun Qingyue could answer, she dismissed the idea herself. With a wave of her hand, she erased the water marks on the table: "I've heard the Celestial Demon Sect has been meddling for a long time, trying to benefit as a third party while the two sects fight. Sect Leader Zhu and the Nine Abyss Sect Leader aren't fools—how could they not guard against them? But if not the Celestial Demon Sect, could it be the Harmony Sect? Or some other hidden force?"
Mentioning the Harmony Sect, both Yun Qingyue and Jiang Mo thought of Fei Yuan. Jiang Mo wasn't sure how much to trust her, but her Senior Sister clearly had better judgment of people, so she directed her questioning gaze toward her Senior Sister.
The two had clearly developed good tacit understanding; when Yun Qingyue met her gaze, she knew what she wanted to ask and shook her head slightly—compared to a veteran powerhouse like Fei Yuan, Yun Qingyue was obviously inferior in both cultivation and experience, and it would be easy for the other to deceive her. But during their last meeting, she felt that Fei Yuan wasn't lying; she truly didn't want to get involved in these messy affairs.
However, Fei Yuan's stance didn't represent the Harmony Sect's position, so she still kept the Harmony Sect on her list of suspects.
As for hidden forces, there should be quite a few on the Demonic Path side, but unfortunately, neither of them knew.
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The group meeting in the private room didn't linger long. Additionally, with high-level cultivators in the main hall whose cultivation exceeded theirs, they only exchanged some relatively unimportant information. As for what they would do next, they revealed nothing at all. They met hurriedly, talked hurriedly, and then dispersed hurriedly.
When leaving and passing through the main hall, the leading female cultivator instinctively glanced again at the window position. She saw that the barrier there had disappeared, new people had replaced the previous occupants at the window seats, and through the open window, one could see spirit lights flickering on Mount Xuanyin in the distance.
Had those people left? Where had they gone? And who had been sitting there before?
These thoughts flashed through their minds, but they didn't investigate further—they hadn't detected Yun Qingyue's eavesdropping and assumed the high-level cultivators who had appeared in the main hall were just passersby with no connection to them.
They withdrew their gazes, secretly sighing in relief, and after leaving the tavern, quickly dispersed.
Several streaks of light directly flew away from Luoxin Town. The space beside the tavern rippled, revealing Jiang Mo and Yun Qingyue. Jiang Mo turned to look at her Senior Sister and asked: "Ah Yue, should we follow them?"
Yun Qingyue's lowered fingers lightly tapped in the void, and as her secret technique was deployed, something invisible began tracking them. Then she said to Jiang Mo: "No need. These people have scattered, and we don't know what they're going to do. Following them would waste an unknown amount of time." As she spoke, she turned to look at the towering Mount Xuanyin in the distance: "Let's go to Mount Xuanyin first."
She didn't care about the Crimson Blood Sect, but she couldn't ignore Sect Leader Zhu's danger. Moreover, Qingyu had also come to Mount Xuanyin and probably hadn't left yet. With two of her closest people there, and now learning of a third party's existence, how could she be at ease?
It was now dusk, with twilight gradually enveloping the land. The distant, massive mountain range was hidden in the evening light, seemingly casting a large shadow.
......
When Jiang Mo and Yun Qingyue followed the path from months ago to the small town where the Crimson Blood Sect had temporarily stationed, they found not only the once-imposing nine-level boat-tower missing, but the neat houses of the small town had also vanished without a trace.
Jiang Mo stopped in midair, looking down at the large, clear lake below, and voiced a soul-searching question: "Did I get the path wrong again?"
However, this time it truly wasn't that the direction-challenged tiger had taken a wrong path, or rather, this time it wasn't the direction-challenged tiger leading the way at all. Yun Qingyue stood beside her, also looking down at the lake below. After a moment, she calmly replied: "We haven't gone wrong. This is the place, but the town from before has been destroyed. This lake below is probably water that accumulated in the deep crater from the battle."
Jiang Mo looked carefully, and indeed, some parts of the "lake's" edges were still charred black.
Such changes in terrain were too common in the cultivation world. When Qi Refinement and Foundation Establishment cultivators fought, they harmed each other, at most demolishing a house or two. When Golden Core and Nascent Soul cultivators fought, a back-and-forth could blast a small hilltop, which was considered powerful. As for Void Crossing and Spirit Division, or even Fusion and Grand Achievement—when these high-level cultivators fought, it meant catastrophic destruction to the cultivated environment.
In the midst of fighting, a mountain peak might disappear. In the midst of fighting, a city might disappear. In the midst of more fighting, a mortal country might disappear. These were all commonplace occurrences, and only someone like Jiang Mo, who hadn't personally experienced it, would feel surprised and shocked.
Now, looking at the "lake" below, Jiang Mo felt only relief—fortunately, before the two sects had started fighting, the townspeople had already been driven away. Otherwise, they might now be corpses at the bottom of the lake!
After sighing for a while, she raised her head to look at the vast mountain range before her, showing a somewhat bewildered expression on her face: "Ah Yue, where do we go now?"
Yun Qingyue, however, didn't hesitate at all. She looked up at the chaotically flashing spirit lights in the sky, finally finding the direction where the spirit lights were most concentrated and their power greatest. Then, pointing into the distance, she said: "Let's go, this way."