Jade Shakes the Thousand Mountains - Chapter 15: In the Flowerbed

Chapter 15: In the Flowerbed

A man dressed in black with dark hair lay in the spirit field…

The seven stars surrounding the moon pattern on the sole was something Yu Chanyi not only remembered but was certain her memory hadn’t failed her.

Back in Azure Peak, she had once used a puppet to impersonate Wei Shengming.

At that time, she was obsessed with analyzing sword moves. Faced with the challenge of Wei Shengming’s killing move, which she couldn’t overcome despite repeated attempts, she grew increasingly impatient. Determined to crack his killing move before leaving Azure Peak, it became almost an obsession.

To understand Wei Shengming better, she asked Lu Wenshu to fetch her a Grand Micro Sect uniform, which she dressed the puppet in. In her mind, it became Wei Shengming, and she spent her days practicing sword moves against it.

That Grand Micro Sect uniform included a pair of shoes with the exact same seven stars surrounding the moon pattern on the soles.

For a long time, she kept company with that “Wei Shengming” puppet. She couldn’t possibly mistake that seven stars surrounding the moon pattern.

When people disguise themselves or change their appearance, they often focus only on altering their facial features and clothing. Hidden areas like shoe soles, which are rarely seen, tend to go unnoticed.

Almost immediately, Yu Chanyi was fairly certain that this “Brother Li” was a cultivator from the Grand Micro Sect.

However, she couldn’t understand why a disciple of the Grand Micro Sect would be living as a rogue cultivator in this remote valley.

Though suspicions arose, Yu Chanyi set them aside for the time being.

Brother Li hadn’t revealed his identity, but he also hadn’t done anything harmful to Wu Xi Lan or the Inexhaustible Sect. Without knowing the full story, it was better to wait and see.

Yu Chanyi was exceptionally patient. Until the other party’s intentions became clear, she wouldn’t act rashly.

Sometime later, the spirit herbs in Wu Xi Lan’s spirit field matured and were ready to be sold.

The refined Beauty Preservation Pills were also finished, so Yu Chanyi and Wu Xi Lan headed to the market to set up a stall.

On their way to the market, they encountered Brother Li again.

Brother Li, whose name was Li Xu, still had the same shy, boyish face. When he saw Wu Xi Lan and Yu Chanyi, he greeted them, “Sister Wu, Sister Yu, are you going to set up a stall? How was the survival rate of the seeds from last time? If they didn’t work well, I have a new batch here.”

As a descendant of Shennong, there were basically no plants Wu Xi Lan couldn’t cultivate. Wu Xi Lan replied, “Your seeds are naturally excellent. If you have any new spirit herb seeds in the future, be sure to bring them to me.”

“Alright,” Li Xu nodded, then turned to Yu Chanyi. “Sister Yu, you look unfamiliar. It seems… I haven’t seen you in Flame Continent before?”

Li Xu suddenly shifted the conversation to Yu Chanyi.

Hearing this, Wu Xi Lan gave Li Xu a puzzled look, unsure why he would ask such a question.

Rogue cultivators, having no sect or affiliation, often drifted from place to place. They might settle in one cave to cultivate today and move to another tomorrow. Over the long years, they wandered across various lands.

Put nicely, it was called “roaming the world.” Put bluntly, it was “having no fixed abode.” In such circumstances, rogue cultivators rarely inquired about each other’s backgrounds, and their interactions were mostly fleeting encounters.

Why was Li Xu suddenly asking about her junior sister?

Wu Xi Lan grew wary.

Could it be… he had ulterior motives?

Yet, Yu Chanyi’s expression remained calm and unreadable. She replied coolly, “Perhaps it’s because you don’t reside in Flame Continent often.”
A light, airy remark left Li Xu awkwardly rubbing his nose and falling silent. He glanced at Yu Chanyi but saw her expression remain indifferent, so he had no choice but to leave.

Li Xu’s retreating figure looked somewhat like a hasty escape, prompting Wu Xi Lan to remark, “This Li Xu is really something. Why was he asking about you? Could it be… he’s discovered something?”

Wu Xi Lan was referring to Yu Chanyi’s identity as a member of the Shen Kui clan. The moment she voiced this possibility, Wu Xi Lan’s heart tightened, and her brows furrowed.

But Yu Chanyi replied, “No, he was just feeling guilty.”

Li Xu didn’t usually reside in Flame Continent because he hailed from Grand Micro Sect in Flow State. For some unknown reason, he had been living in this valley.

Seeing Yu Chanyi speak with such certainty, Wu Xi Lan let the matter drop.

Having spent over three months with Yu Chanyi, she had come to understand her temperament well Yu Chanyi was a person of firm convictions. If she said there was no problem, then there was none.

Moreover, Wu Xi Lan had known Li Xu for quite some time and believed he wasn’t the type to harbor ill intentions.

With that thought, Wu Xi Lan dismissed her doubts and set her mind at ease, no longer dwelling on Li Xu.

When they arrived at the market where cultivators gathered, Wu Xi Lan’s Spirit Herbs sold out shortly after setting up the stall, bringing in a total of five hundred Spirit Coins a decent income.

Wu Xi Lan told Yu Chanyi, “I often set up stalls here. As long as we don’t run into anyone from Sword Inheriting Sect forcing unfair trades, the prices offered are usually quite good.”

Just as they were packing up to leave, they spotted Li Xu again.

He wasn’t there to set up a stall empty-handed, he seemed to be shopping.

Yu Chanyi watched him enter a tavern, stand by the wine counter, and speak with the owner.

Her brows furrowed deeply, and an inexplicable irritation welled up within her.

During her early days in this market, when she had to hide in shadowy corners to escape the wind and snow, she had slipped into this very tavern.

No one paid attention to the shadows in the corners, and even if they did, it was difficult to pick her out from the uniform darkness. There, Yu Chanyi had seen and learned something the tavern owner was also from Grand Micro Sect.

At the time, she hadn’t considered it important and brushed it off. But now, she had encountered two people from Grand Micro Sect around her.

If this were Flow State, it would be normal, but being in Flame Continent made it somewhat peculiar.

For a major sect like Grand Micro Sect, even if it was no longer the top among the five great sects, its foundation was solid and resources abundant. Even outer sect disciples wouldn’t need to seek livelihoods outside.

Their presence here likely served another purpose.

Just then, Yu Chanyi keenly sensed a probing gaze fall upon her.

It was the kind of furtive, covert stare not intense, but sneaky. However, she was exceptionally sensitive to such hidden scrutiny.

Back when she lived on Azure Peak, a mortal who shouldn’t have existed in Great Ocean Ten Continents, dwelling in Listening Spring Pavilion under the layers of Restrictions set by Lu Wenshu, disciples of Sword Inheriting Sect who knew of her existence would often watch her with that same probing gaze.

Almost instantly, Yu Chanyi swiftly turned and locked eyes with the person staring at her a male cultivator running a stall, selling Magical Artifacts.

Seeing Yu Chanyi turn her head, the cultivator quickly lowered his gaze, pretending he hadn’t been watching her.

“…Little Junior Sister? Little Junior Sister? Why are you spacing out?” Wu Xi Lan called several times, but Yu Chanyi remained lost in thought, so she waved a hand in front of her face.

Yu Chanyi snapped out of her daze.

“Let’s go buy some wine,” Wu Xi Lan said, pointing at the tavern’s banner. “The spirit wine sold here is expensive, but it’s delicious. It also helps regulate internal energy and aids cultivation. Let’s buy a jug to take back.”

The cultivation benefits were secondary the main appeal was its genuine deliciousness.

It was obvious Little Junior Sister had never tried it before. Today, she’d introduce her to something new.

As she spoke, Wu Xi Lan skipped toward the tavern the very same one where Li Xu had just been.

Suppressing the strange feeling in her heart, Yu Chanyi followed Wu Xi Lan into the tavern to buy wine. By then, Li Xu had long since disappeared.

For some reason, an intense premonition and intuition gripped her. Yu Chanyi instinctively glanced toward the artifact cultivator’s stall from earlier. There, she saw Li Xu.

He was squatting in front of the stall, speaking with the artifact cultivator.

Yu Chanyi’s brow furrowed involuntarily again. A peculiar intuition told her: that artifact cultivator might also be from the Grand Micro Sect.

After Wu Xi Lan finished buying the wine, she went to the artifact cultivator’s stall and purchased a jade furnace to use as a new alchemy cauldron.

She haggled back and forth with the artifact cultivator.

Wu Xi Lan said, “I often buy from you I’m practically a regular. Give me a discount.”

The stall owner looked troubled but ultimately agreed readily, reducing the price from one hundred Spirit Coins to eighty.

Having bought what she wanted, Wu Xi Lan was satisfied. She counted her remaining Spirit Coins, mentally calculating when she could afford to buy a fine sword for Yu Chanyi. Although they had nearly been cheated by two Sword Inheriting Sect disciples last time, the best swords available in Flame Province all came from the Sword Inheriting Sect. Since Yu Chanyi could verify whether a sword was genuinely from the Sword Inheriting Sect, she would bring her along to check no need to worry about being cheated again.

Even without being cheated, the cost of a genuine Sword Inheriting Sect sword still felt like an unbearable burden on her purse.

If not for the need to refine a new batch of Aura Concealing Pills, she could have saved those eighty Spirit Coins.

But with Yu Chanyi around, the consumption of Aura Concealing Pills would accelerate, so she had to prepare in advance.

Wu Xi Lan silently planned and schemed in her mind, completely failing to notice Yu Chanyi’s increasingly grim expression.

Yu Chanyi pondered over and over, then couldn’t help asking, “Senior Sister, are these all shops you frequent?”

“Yes, I’m a repeat customer. The fellow cultivators are very generous and always give me discounts.” Thinking Yu Chanyi was also worried about her finances, Wu Xi Lan reassured her, “Don’t worry, Little Junior Sister! I still have some private savings. Once the herbs in the spirit field bloom and bear fruit, we can sell them and buy the sword.”

Yu Chanyi forced a bitter smile, unsure how to broach the subject. A bold conjecture had formed in her mind these Grand Micro Sect members might be targeting the Inexhaustible Sect.

Initially, she had guessed that the Grand Micro Sect disciples were operating under the guise of business in the Flame Continent with ulterior motives, likely aimed at the Sword Inheriting Sect.

But these people whether Li Xu, the tavern keeper, or the artifact cultivator were all regular contacts of Wu Xi Lan.

Clearly, they were circling around Wu Xi Lan.

In other words, the people from the Grand Micro Sect were likely targeting Wu Xi Lan or rather, targeting the Inexhaustible Sect.

Yu Chanyi tentatively asked, “Senior Sister, how long have you known Fellow Daoist Li Xu?”

Wu Xi Lan thought for a moment and said, “Two or three hundred years.”

Two or three hundred years… Even before she arrived, the Inexhaustible Sect had already been targeted by the Grand Micro Sect.

So, this had nothing to do with her.

Realizing this, Yu Chanyi first breathed a sigh of relief, but her heart still didn’t fully settle.

She asked again, “What is the relationship between our Inexhaustible Sect and the Grand Micro Sect?”

Wu Xi Lan laughed heartily, “Hahaha… What relationship could there be? We’re just a small, rundown sect, while they’re the top faction in the Great Ocean Ten Continents… Oh, the second largest. Ah, don’t overthink it. Just wait a little longer your senior sister will definitely find a way to buy you a sword.”

Yu Chanyi said nothing more.

If her suspicions were correct, with so many eyes watching, she would need to be even more cautious in the future.

After returning to the Inexhaustible Sect, Yu Chanyi developed the habit of sending her shadow out to patrol every day.

Fortunately, the sect grounds were very clean, and she didn’t experience the same feeling of being watched as she had in the market.

Li Xu never appeared again.

A few more days passed.

Yu Chanyi woke up early.

The Jade Dawn Flowers she had planted in the spirit field had bloomed, and Wu Xi Lan asked her to collect the Elixir from the petals to refine pills. Once the pills were refined, they could be sold at the market. With enough Spirit Coins saved up, she could finally buy a sword. Thus, Yu Chanyi paid extra attention to the field full of Jade Dawn Flowers.

Seeing the flowers was like seeing a sword. As usual, Yu Chanyi took a jade vial to the spirit field to collect dew.

But as she reached the field, she abruptly stopped.

The spirit field was in complete disarray.

In the morning light, amidst what should have been a field of pale yellow Jade Dawn Flowers, lay a man dressed in black with jet-black hair.

His black robes spread out, shimmering with a subtle glow like luxurious raven feathers a dark, understated yet dazzling black, crushing the scattered jade-like yellow blossoms beneath him.

His face was deathly pale, cold and ghostly. His eyes were tightly shut, long eyelashes casting shadows on his eyelids. His well-shaped lips were utterly devoid of color, almost blending into his pallid skin.

Damp, fragmented strands of hair clung to his face and neck thick and disheveled, obscuring his exact features.

Beneath him, the Jade Dawn Flowers were stained with a vivid, bloody red. Droplets of blood gathered on the petals, mingling with crystal-clear dew as they trembled and rolled down, muddying the delicate yellow petals.

He lay there, barely breathing. So still, he seemed as if he were merely asleep.