Chapter 110 : Long Xi
Chapter 110: Long Xi
More than a month later, about one hundred and fifty li southeast of Nine-Xia Heavenly Sect, lay Long Tao’s hometown—Qinglin Town.
“Father! Mother! Uncle Liu! Hurry up! If you keep dawdling, we’ll miss the caravan!”
In front of a small courtyard of green bricks deep within an alley, a pretty young girl in a pink long dress stood on tiptoe, craning her neck to look inside.
She appeared about fourteen or fifteen years old.
Her brows and eyes resembled Long Tao’s greatly, yet compared to him, she carried an added air of aristocratic refinement befitting a young lady.
“Coming, coming.
The caravan wouldn’t leave that early.” Her mother came out of the house holding a wooden box and stuffed it into her daughter’s hands.
“Take these and distribute them to the neighbors. We’ll be gone for many years once we leave. We should at least leave them with a good impression.”
The girl lifted the lid and glanced inside.
Neatly arranged were silver ornaments and accessories, each one worth one or two months’ expenses for an ordinary household.
“Mother, giving out things like these will only leave people thinking we’re easy marks.”
“Don’t talk nonsense…” her mother lightly scolded.
But after thinking about it, she found the argument reasonable and relented.
“At the very least, the old neighbors in this alley should be taken care of.”
Thinking of those neighbors, the girl finally nodded.
Holding the wooden box, she first went to the house across the alley.
After knocking three times, a woman in her forties opened the door.
Though they were neighbors, only the Long Family could be considered well-off in the entire alley; the other households were merely ordinary.
“Auntie Jiang, I’m about to leave. Please keep this as a memento.” As she spoke, she took out the most valuable bracelet from the box and handed it over.
Having lived opposite their family for so many years, the woman knew them well and was quite close.
She did not offer false courtesies.
Instead, her eyes grew moist as she grasped the girl’s hand and said,
“Ah… even little Xi is leaving now. Back then it was little Tao, before that it was Xiao Ying, and now it’s finally your turn. Your Long Family really… every single one of you has Spiritual Roots. That’s something others can’t envy enough.”
“Auntie Jiang, don’t say that. Don’t your two sons have promising futures as well?”
“Hardly!” Auntie Jiang sighed.
“Little Xi, let Auntie give you a word of advice.
If possible, it’s best to bring your parents to settle near Nine-Xia Heavenly Sect. This Qinglin Town… sigh… it’s becoming more and more outrageous.”
“You’re worried about those families that are close to Wuyi Sect?”
“Yes. I heard the two sects have started fighting somewhere. Those families have been spreading rumors in the city, saying that Nine-Xia Heavenly Sect collaborated with Withered-Hand Elder to kill people, and that Wuyi Sect was forced to respond. But we all know it was clearly the filthy deeds of Wuyi Sect.
Sigh…”
Though Auntie Jiang’s sons had no Spiritual Roots, they had found decent jobs in a town near the sect through certain connections.
Their family therefore leaned toward Nine-Xia Heavenly Sect and naturally knew the truth.
“Don’t worry too much. This is still Heavenly Sect territory, after all. The City Lord supports us as well.”
“That may be so.” Auntie Jiang leaned closer and lowered her voice.
“But Wuyi Sect’s influence here used to be enormous. I heard that after Heavenly Sect arrived back then, those families still managed to keep a Teleportation Array that connects to Wuyi Sect’s Mountain Gate. Otherwise, where would their confidence come from? Small households like ours don’t matter, but your family—three children all entered Heavenly Sect. They’ll definitely target you in secret.”
The girl did not deny it, because it was true.
When her brother entered the sect years ago as an ordinary Five Spiritual Roots Qi-Refining disciple, no one had cared much.
But after the maid Xiao Ying had been publicly accepted by True Person Zhiying as a Personally Transmitted Disciple, everything changed completely.
From that moment on, the Long Family had been branded unmistakably as belonging to Nine-Xia Heavenly Sect in everyone’s eyes—and in the most conspicuous way possible.
After all, True Person Zhiying’s reputation was simply too resounding.
Yet compared to those deeply rooted great clans, their own family was small and weak.
Auntie Jiang’s worries were not unfounded.
Those families aligned with Wuyi Sect would not even need to resort to overtly dirty tactics; a bit of secret maneuvering would be enough to make things extremely difficult for the Long Family.
After bidding farewell to Auntie Jiang, she went door to door along the alley, distributing mementos.
Each household’s attitude differed.
Not all were as friendly as Auntie Jiang, though most still gave her some face.
There were even a few who did not dare open their doors at all, presumably wary of Wuyi Sect’s influence.
By the time she reached the alley entrance and was about to return home, a group happened to pass by.
One of the girls spotted her, immediately stopped, and walked over.
“Well, well, well! Who is this? Isn’t this our Young Lady Long Xi? Look at that happy face—off to Nine-Xia Demon Sect, are you? Finally your turn to become food for that bunch of demons. I suppose your brother and that maid of yours weren’t enough to fill their bellies?”
Because Nine-Xia Heavenly Sect cooperated with many Demon Races from Myriad Demon Mountains, hostile forces often mockingly referred to it as the Demon Sect.
Wuyi Sect, for various reasons, stood completely opposed to the Demon Race.
That was also why, despite its poorer reputation, Wuyi Sect still had many supporters in various places—many people simply could not accept coexistence between humans and the Demon Race.
Long Xi had long grown accustomed to such provocations.
She showed no anger, but instead put on an even more affected, saccharine expression and said,
“Oh my! And who might this be? So it’s Miss Tang. Really now, as a daughter of a noble family, you’re not even as pretty as your own maids. No wonder I didn’t notice you standing here. If you ask me, being plain-looking has its advantages. Makes it much easier to become an assassin in the future, doesn’t it? And Wuyi Sect just loves those assassination tricks. You’d be perfectly suited for them!”
“You—!” Miss Tang’s face flushed crimson with fury as she was about to retort, but her companions hurriedly pulled her back.
“Hmph! You Nine-Xia people won’t be arrogant for long. Daring to collude with Withered-Hand Elder—sooner or later you’ll be utterly disgraced!”
“Sigh, you Wuyi people spread so many rumors you’ve started believing them yourselves, haven’t you? Why don’t you ask the elder brother standing behind you who exactly collaborated with Withered-Hand Elder? Then take a look at those towns around Azurewood Demon Forest—haven’t several already switched allegiance to Heavenly Sect?”
With a hint of expectation, Miss Tang turned to look at her second brother behind her.
This brother, who had established his Foundation in Wuyi Sect, had always been her greatest support in town.
Yet at this moment, the usually spirited cultivator wore an ugly expression.
There was no helping it.
Because of Dao Heart and Inner Demon concerns, cultivators were generally unwilling to lie about obvious and significant facts like this.
Even without an oath, many felt it inauspicious.
For the sake of face in a minor quarrel, if it were to affect one’s future Dao path, it would truly be not worth the loss.
Thus, he avoided the topic entirely and merely stepped forward with a frown.
“That’s enough. Go home at once. Our sect’s Disciple Recruitment Ceremony is about to begin. You should prepare to depart as well.”
This evasive posture made the surrounding onlookers understand everything at once.
The Tang Family youths and their companions exchanged glances.
Many of them truly had not known the truth and had not expected to learn it in such a setting.
Meanwhile, Long Xi noticed something else.
The Disciple Recruitment Ceremonies of Nine-Xia Heavenly Sect and Wuyi Sect were usually held at nearly the same time.
Yet Qinglin Town was much farther from Wuyi Sect than from Nine-Xia Heavenly Sect.
Her own side was already in such a hurry to depart, yet the other side had not even begun preparing.
There was only one possible explanation—these families who leaned toward Wuyi Sect truly had a Teleportation Array hidden somewhere in the town.