CH 137.1

The scene fell silent. After a while, blue phoenix said rambunctiously in his arms, “Jing-jing, I didn't expect you to be cheaper than Ji-ji. Ji-ji is worth 5,000 spirit stones, you know.”

If not for the complicated situation now and Jing Yue didn’t allow the blue phoenix to come out, it might have been unable to hold back by now.

Jing Yue turned around and wanted to leave, but the young man said, “Little maiden, believe me. My great-granduncle is an elder of the Rogue Cultivator Alliance. If you marry me, you’ll enjoy riches and honor throughout your life.”

As soon as Jing Yue heard the Rogue Cultivator Alliance, he suddenly stopped. The young man thought he had changed his mind, and said, “Do you know that we’re destined for each other?”

Jing Yue didn’t reply but waited for the other party to carry on the pretense.

“A few days ago, an immortal gave me some instructions in my dream, saying that as long as I wait on the pier today, I can meet my future wife.” After the young man said this, he peeked at Qin Yanzhi, thinking that this person was good-looking but too cold. Why didn’t the immortal give him two wives?

He continued, “The immortal said that once you and I are consummated, I can develop spiritual roots. At that time, my skills will greatly increase. I can refine pills, and as my wife, you can live forever.”

The young man had already addressed him as his wife, and even stretched out his hand and wanted to pull Jing Yue.

But before he could touch Jing Yue, he suddenly felt a sharp pain in his wrist. The pain made the young man twitch all over his body. He fell to the ground and rolled, but there was no injury at all.

His servants looked around in confusion and finally turned their attention back to the two maidens.

At this time, someone shouted angrily, “Who did this?”

A burly man galloped over, helped the young man up, probed the other party's body with his spiritual sense, and found a sword qi hidden in his wrist.

The burly man wanted to expel the sword qi but couldn’t do it at all. He was immediately shocked and angry, and about to grab the young man and leave.

Amid his pain, the young man still remembered his dream, and shouted, “My wife!”

The burly man didn't understand what he was saying, and his servants told him about the young man's dream. The burly man wanted to ignore it at first, but seeing the young man's persistence amid his pained tears, he waved his hand. “Take her away!”

The servants were about to come up to arrest Jing Yue, but Qin Yanzhi stood in front of him. The young man cried out again, “Don't hurt my wife. Ouch!”

The burly man was annoyed, “Take everyone away!”

Of course, Jing Yue and Qin Yanzhi wouldn’t resist. If they could sneak into the Rogue Cultivator Alliance, it would be exactly what they wanted.

Not long after, the two were taken to the Rogue Cultivator Alliance and placed under house arrest with several cultivators guarding the door.

Jing and Qin were in no hurry. They simply settled down cross-legged and began to meditate.

During this time, no one asked about them, not even to deliver food. They seemed to be forgotten.

At night, the Rogue Cultivator Alliance was brightly lit.

In a room, Alliance Master Zhuge Zheng asked his subordinates, “We have so many members in the Rogue Cultivator Alliance but no one can find even two people. Have they left East Yu?”

East Yu was full of rogue cultivators, and everyone was mobilized at Zhuge Zheng’s command, but there was no news until now.

The subordinate said with a bitter face, “We have tried our best to find them, and no one dared to drop their guard at all. We didn’t even let go of one unfamiliar face.”

Zhuge Zheng sighed. Of course, he was aware of this. He just had nowhere to vent his anger.

“Forget it. Since they’re after the Dragon Emergence Stone, they must go to the Dragon Tomb. At worst, let's wait until the opening of the Dragon Tomb. This time, we must get Frostcloud Sect and Sword Inscription Sect to give us an explanation!”

The subordinate said, “I’ll arrange it immediately.”

Just as he was about to retreat, Zhuge Zheng said, “Is the Frost Coffin ready?”

Subordinate, “It has been sent to the west court.”

Zhuge Zheng nodded and his eyes dimmed. “Well, take good care of Master Hanmei.”

Subordinate, “Yes!”

Even though Zhuge Zheng was a Return to Void, he didn’t notice two people lurking outside the door.

At this time, the two figures quietly retreated and gradually melted into the night.

They were none other than Jing Yue and Qin Yanzhi who sneaked out.

Jing Yue, “The Frost Coffin mentioned by Zhuge Zheng is most probably used to store the remains of Old Man Hanmei.”

Qin Yanzhi, “Let’s go to the west court.”

Their guess was correct. As soon as they entered the west court, they saw many people guarding the courtyard. The two did some tricks and snuck into the room where the frost coffin was placed.

At this moment, a person was lying in the frost coffin, looking haggard and old, totally different from the Old Man Hanmei they had seen before. If not for the faint resemblance of the facial features, Jing Yue almost thought they found the wrong place.

He slowly approached the coffin and carefully examined Old Man Hanmei’s body, trying to find some clues.

Suddenly, his expression changed slightly. He stretched out his hand and took off the clothes on Old Man Hanmei’s chest, only to see a thin black line wriggling on the other party’s flabby skin.

“Ashura Tower!” Qin Yanzhi realized immediately.

Old Man Hanmei had no grievances or enmity with them. Since he called them out, there could only be two possibilities.

First, it was really ‘Jing Yue’ and ‘Qin Yanzhi’ who killed Old Man Hanmei; second, that person wasn’t Old Man Hanmei at all but was impersonated by someone who had grievances with them.

Judging from Old Man Hanmei's previous behaviors, the second possibility was greater.

100 years ago, Kong Miao once mentioned that the eminent monk who stole the Lotus Stand of Reincarnation had a faint trace of demonic energy left in his chest after his death. Now that Qin Yanzhi was aware that Jing Yue was born with an Omnispirit Body, he was naturally more sensitive to demonic energy and could sense it one step ahead of him.

He was about to speak, but he heard a loud shout, “Who’s there?”

A mighty pressure swept over. Zhuge Zheng rushed into the room and saw two unfamiliar women.

He’d just thought of his old friend and wanted to take a look at Hanmei, but he found something wrong.

Although he didn't know where these women came from, seeing how easily the two of them were able to sneak into the room despite the strict security, he decided that the other party had malicious intentions.

So without further ado, he attacked with a smack!

“Old Man Hanmei has been manipulated by the demons of Ashura Tower!” Jing Yue cut to the chase and immediately stated his guess.

Zhuge Zheng’s anger stuck in his throat, going neither up nor down, and his meridians almost went retrograde. He coughed violently and wondered why this woman spoke like a man. But he didn't have time to think too much, his attention drawn by the other party's words.

At the same time, Qin Yanzhi took out his flying sword just in case, which hovered above the body of Old Man Hanmei. “Alliance Master Zhuge, if you can't calm down, I’ll destroy him!”

Zhuge Zheng was shocked and angry. He saw that another woman spoke like a man, and the sword looked familiar, and finally realized. “Are you the ones?”

Qin Yanzhi, “If you’re referring to Jing-laozu and Qin Yanzhi, that's us.”

Zhuge Zheng, “I see, it’s no wonder I couldn’t find you. It turns out that you’d rather pretend to be a woman than stand out like a man!”

The commotion in the room must have alarmed the outside world, and many rogue cultivators broke in. Seeing the two women that appeared out of the blue, everyone was shocked.

“Alliance Master Zhuge, although we met with Old Man Hanmei yesterday, we didn't do anything. A Dragon Emergence Stone isn’t enough for us to kill.” Seeing that Zhuge Zheng didn't seem to be hiding anything, Jing Yue felt a little relieved. He pointed to the corpse in the frost coffin. “I’m afraid you were kept in the dark too.”

“What do you mean?” In fact, Zhuge Zheng didn't want to believe that it was the two of them, even less to face off against the two major sects. But he had been friends with Old Man Hanmei for more than a thousand years, and he trusted his friend more.

Jing Yue, “Take a look.”

Zhuge Zheng took a step forward cautiously, but when he saw that the clothes on Old Man Hanmei’s chest had been ripped apart, he was about to get angry again. Suddenly, he noticed the black line on the other party's heart.

It was fine, like a strand of hair, but it kept wriggling.

Zhuge Zheng, “Is that demonic energy?”

Jing Yue, “You may have heard that a hundred years ago, the Lotus Stand of Reincarnation was stolen from Three Realm Temple.”

Zhuge Zheng nodded. Although he didn’t go to the Evernorth, the news gradually spread.

Jing Yue told him about the situation back then, as well as his and Kong Miao's conjectures, and said, “I believe Alliance Master Zhuge has heard of the power of Ashura Tower. She has infiltrated the righteous path countless times, catching us off guard.”

Zhuge Zheng believed most of it by now. The facts were right in front of him, plus a logical judgment, which was more reasonable.

As for the successor of Ashura Tower, of course he had heard of her. Be it Three Realm Temple, Buried Star Ocean, or Yao Detention Mountain, several catastrophes encountered by the righteous path were related to this person. Although this person wasn’t the core figure, and the cultivator she impersonated was only a Heavenly Grotto, she played a key role.

But unfortunately, the other party escaped every time!

Zhuge Zheng was so angry that his beard was shaking. “How dare this demon come to East Yu? And cause trouble in the Dragon Palace’s territory too!”

Jing Yue, “The Dragon Palace won’t interfere in such a small matter unless Sword Inscription Sect and Frostcloud Sect came to blows with the Rogue Cultivator Alliance. If that happens, there will be friction between the Dragon Palace, the Rogue Cultivator Alliance, and the two major sects. If she continues to disguise as a few more people and plays her hand in it, isn’t East Yu going to be in chaos?”

Zhuge Zheng, “Is Jing-laozu saying that this person is sowing discord on purpose?”

Jing Yue, “We need to ask her then.”

Zhuge Zheng looked puzzled when he saw Jing Yue pointing at the black energy. Jing Yue said, “Demonic energy is dead. If it’s moving, it means…”

He stabbed Old Man Hanmei's chest with one hand and kept forming hand seals with the other. He used some kind of cultivation technique that forced a drop of black blood out.

“Blood essence!”

In the room, everyone could see that this was a cultivator’s blood essence.

Others might not know it, but Jing Yue, who had a wealth of knowledge, knew very well that the demonic energy in Hanmei's body could move, which meant it was controlled by someone. In other words, as long as the other party wanted to, the corpse could ‘come alive’ at any time. Either soul-mind or blood essence could control demonic energy. Jing Yue sensed that Old Man Hanmei’s soul was intact and hadn’t been invaded by outsiders, so it could only be the blood essence!

“I never knew that Ashura Tower could control living people with blood essence!” Zhuge Zheng's expression suddenly changed. “Oh no! She must be aware that we have found out the truth!”

The other party's blood essence was still around, obviously controlling Old Man Hanmei’s body, and had been eavesdropping.

With that said, Zhuge Zheng hurriedly sprang into action, trying to trap that drop of blood essence! As long as he could get this blood essence, he’d find a way to kill the demon of Ashura Tower!

However, the blood essence reacted faster than him, and immediately turned into a wisp of black mist, passing through Zhuge Zheng's fingers, and melting into the night.

Zhuge Zheng was so angry that he wanted to demolish the room, and the others were also furious. Once again, they watched the demon of Ashura Tower escape!

But Jing Yue looked in the direction where the blood essence disappeared, and said lightly, “She was able to escape many times because I wasn’t the one chasing her.”

After saying that, he put his fingers together and chanted a mantra. The water aura in the air immediately became active. After a while, Jing Yue put down his hand and said with a smile, “Found you.”