Chapter 57
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Chapter 57: Title
Having her identity exposed, Jiang Wan kept her twin blades raised. Her gaze swept across the room before settling on Lu Ciyou with keen interest.
“Young Master Lu?”
Lu Ciyou’s fighting spirit had surged when Suiyin shouted earlier, but upon hearing Xia Shi address the intruder as “Golden Token Lord,” her grip faltered. The Soaring Dragon tilted sideways, only to be steadied by A Li.
When Jiang Wan addressed her, the young lady merely nodded.
She shared no personal ties with the Golden Token Lord, having only glimpsed her during past visits to Canghai with her father. This marked their first proper conversation.
“Who are these people? Why are you traveling with them?”
Jiang Wan’s odd question drew puzzled looks from the group.
Lu Ciyou’s brows furrowed, displeasure coloring her tone. “That’s quite rude, Token Lord. They’re my friends. Why shouldn’t I accompany them?”
“Friends…”
Conflict twisted Jiang Wan’s features as she maintained her defensive stance, blades still poised.
“Since when does the young master of Liujin Pavilion befriend Sanqing Realm disciples?”
Lu Ciyou: “…”
To avoid complications, Suiyin and Xia Shi had donned Sanqing Realm disciple robes before entering the city. However, Suiyin’s modified garment blazed like fire, its Six-petal Flower emblem sparking curiosity—and drawing the attention of Jiang Wan, who’d hidden among the cultivators.
“Friendship transcends status,” Lu Ciyou retorted sharply. “What’s your purpose here, Token Lord? The disguise? The eavesdropping?”
Jiang Wan pressed her lips tight. When someone shifted unexpectedly in her peripheral vision, she instinctively twisted her wrist—
Her strike froze mid-air, halted by overwhelming force.
The Golden Token Lord stared in shock at the woman gripping her blade barehanded. Though clad in Sanqing Realm disciple robes and barely at Nascent Soul realm, the woman’s tranquil gaze weighed heavily on Jiang Wan, compelling an involuntary bow.
“Why watch me so warily from the start?” Xia Shi’s voice cut through the tension. “Your gaze holds hatred we’ve not earned.”
They’d never met before.
As predicted, Jiang Wan broke free with a snarl. Her blade shrieked through the air, aimed at Xia Shi’s throat.
Lu Ciyou and Yan Li lunged forward—but Suiyin moved faster. Wugui flashed, deflecting the lethal strike as she pulled Xia Shi to safety.
She pointed her sword at Jiang Wan, narrowing her eyes dangerously with murderous intent in her gaze. "What’s your problem?"
"She’s from the Thirteen Ghost Domains," Jiang Wan declared firmly, stunning the group.
Xia Shi being from the Thirteen Ghost Domains? Impossible.
Suiyin and Yan Li, who knew Xia Shi’s true identity, both furrowed their brows at this ridiculous claim.
"She carries the smell of withered heart grass," Jiang Wan insisted urgently, addressing the others. "Trust me! That’s how the Canghai disciples got controlled!"
"She’s dangerous!"
"Withered heart grass?" Suiyin leaned closer to sniff but got jabbed back by a finger.
Xia Shi’s scent held medicinal bitterness from months of herbal treatments, layered with the crisp frosty fragrance of Wentiang Peak’s snowstorms.
It smelled pleasant.
No trace of withered heart grass.
Besides—
Jiang Wan hadn’t even approached. How could she detect any scent?
As Suiyin opened her mouth, a calm voice cut in: "My medicine does contain withered heart grass."
Suiyin: "?"
She stared at Xia Shi in confusion.
Jiang Wan clenched her teeth. "Why would any sane person take poison as medicine?"
Xia Shi quietly acknowledged she wasn’t "sane." When Chen Ci left, he’d given her an elixir claiming it could draw out her cold poison without triggering the seal barrier inside her, though with possible side effects.
She knew she was his test subject.
Human experimentation had gotten Chen Ci banished from Divine Doctor Valley.
"Withered heart grass roots and leaves are lethal, causing hallucinations," Jiang Wan pressed. "Nobody uses it medicinally."
"Your ignorance proves nothing," Lu Ciyou snapped. "Does smelling like grass make her a demon?"
Jiang Wan flushed before countering, "Do you know where it grows?"
Their blank faces answered her.
"It thrives in the Sixteen Peaks of the Dark Domain – toxic lands few cultivators enter. Only Thirteen Ghost Domains agents cross those peaks into the Nine Realms."
Lu Ciyou snorted, "You said yourself it’s rare, not impossible."
Jiang Wan: "…"
"Enough," Xia Shi interjected, producing a jade token. Spiritual energy flowed into it, making the token glow and bloom into a Six-petal flower.
"The Token Lord knows Thirteen Ghost Domains members reek of demonic energy. They can’t activate immortal jade tokens."
Jiang Wan felt the pure Sanqing Realm energy radiating from the flower. This was clearly a Sanqing disciple – likely an elder’s direct pupil given the Six-petal symbol.
Sheathing her twin blades, the Golden Token Lord bowed. "My apologies for earlier."
Lu Ciyou snorted softly to herself. She had heard all the tales about how impressive the Golden and Silver Token Lords of Canghai were, but now that she’d met them, the Silver Token Lord had a poor disposition and the Golden Token Lord acted recklessly.
"Just like that."
"It’s nothing serious." Xia Shi noticed dust clinging to the woman’s clothes, as if she’d traveled day and night without rest. Jiang Xinian had said that after the Floating Life Palace Master departed with his followers, this Golden Token Lord had also left Canghai. It appeared she’d been tracking clues nonstop.
But why had she chased them all the way to Yunze at Canghai’s border?
"Are you pursuing the Floating Life Palace Master?"
Jiang Wan remained guarded and didn’t answer. She glanced at the group before leaping through the window.
"How bizarre," Lu Ciyou huffed.
Xia Shi kept thinking. If Jiang Feng had allied with the Thirteen Ghost Domains, why was he sealing the borders now? The Canghai incident couldn’t be hidden – this lockdown only made the cover-up more obvious. This just drew more cultivators to gather at Yunze and watch.
If Jiang Wan truly was tracking the Floating Life Palace Master…
Did that mean the Floating Life Palace Master was also in Yunze?
A terrible realization struck Xia Shi. She immediately summoned the Taiji Golden Seal while forming hand signs with her other hand. Golden light swirled beneath their feet, creating a teleportation formation.
They needed to leave. Now.
"What’s wrong?" Suiyin asked.
Lu Ciyou and Yan Li noticed something wrong too. Normally steady, Xia Shi looked panicked. "We’ll explain later! Move!" Xia Shi urged, channeling power into the golden seal as the formation solidified.
The ground suddenly trembled violently. A thunderous crash outside sounded like the earth splitting apart. Screams and wails erupted.
Crimson light pillars rose slowly, their sinister patterns spreading across all of Yunze. Xia Shi’s nearly completed teleportation formation dissolved under the red light.
"Too late." Xia Shi’s heart dropped as she looked outside. The clear sky had been swallowed by crimson light in mere seconds. Ominous clouds rolled over Yunze like spilled ink.
This wasn’t about sects purging evil – this was the Thirteen Ghost Domains encircling them all. Most sect disciples were trapped in Yunze – the Ghost Lord of Si Hai City before them, the Floating Life Palace Master behind. They’d been waiting to ambush us all along.
This wasn’t Jiang Feng suppressing news about Canghai – the Thirteen Ghost Domains had intentionally leaked partial rumors to lure sect disciples here.
What cunning planning.
"What’s that demonic thing?!"
"AAAAHH—"
"The Blood Demon! The Blood Demon’s here!"
Outside, panicked voices rang out as the metallic stench of blood flooded the air, choking everyone within moments.
Lu Ciyou grabbed Yan Li’s arm to steady herself, turning toward Xia Shi. "What’s happening?"
Xia Shi answered quietly, "It’s a trap."
Though she gave no details, the other three immediately understood.
The Thirteen Ghost Domains had struck before the cultivation sects could react.
When the tremors subsided, Suiyin edged toward the window to look outside.
Blood pools and scattered limbs littered the ground. A three-meter-tall monster crouched in the alley, its body covered in oozing red boils, cramming a severed leg into its mouth.
Was this the Blood Demon?
Suiyin retreated silently, fear flashing in her eyes.
She made urgent hand signals to the others.
"What’s she saying?" Lu Ciyou asked aloud.
Though she spoke softly, her voice cut through the silence like a blade.
The Blood Demon’s head snapped toward the sound. It bounded to the window in three leaps, bloody eyes glaring at the four women.
"Means you shouldn’t talk," Suiyin hissed through clenched teeth.
Lu Ciyou gagged at the creature’s stench, shooting Suiyin a glare. "Could’ve said that sooner!"
Suiyin: "…"
The demon’s crimson tongue slithered out, dripping saliva as its gaze locked onto Suiyin.
She smelled the sweetest.
"Go!"
At Xia Shi’s command, they scattered.
Suiyin fled on her sword opposite Xia Shi’s path, the Blood Demon hot on her heels. She’d become the bait.
Yunze’s Blood Mist dyed the world crimson, its cloying thickness fraying Suiyin’s nerves. Hidden cultivators peeked from below, watching the red-clad sword cultivator streak across the sky. Just as the demon’s claws grazed her robes, golden light erupted – and she vanished.
The Blood Demon’s howl of rage shook the streets as its meal disappeared. Cultivators ducked deeper into hiding.
Xia Shi pulled Suiyin into an abandoned courtyard. Something here repelled the demon, forcing it to retreat.
"Why follow me?" Suiyin gasped, still clutching Xia Shi’s wrist. The Blood Mist had clouded her focus mid-flight, nearly costing her life.
"Prefer watching you get eaten?" Xia Shi leaned against the wall, hand pressed to her chest. Her lips trembled slightly.
Suiyin froze as the wrist in her grip turned icy. Xia Shi’s eyelids fluttered shut, frost crystallizing on her lashes, each breath puffing white vapor.
The poison struck.
