AVL Chapter 49.2

Xun Niang was caught between conflicting concerns. She took a deep breath and asked indifferently: “You want to know about the Xi family’s past?”

 

“Since sister-in-law is being so direct, I won’t beat around the bush either.” Xi Jianlan sat on the cushion across from Xun Niang, separated by a table with a peony flower in a white jade vase, emitting a faint fragrance.

 

“Six years ago when the Xi family met disaster, only my brother and I survived. My purpose in coming is naturally obvious.”

 

Xi Minghuai’s reaction clearly showed he knew who the real culprit was.

 

Xun Niang stared at him intently for a while, then a distant smile appeared on her cold, frost-like face. She rested her elbow on the table, turned her pipe upside down, and gently lifted Xi Jianlan’s chin with the smooth bottom of the bowl.

 

Xi Jianlan was very obedient, kneeling there and letting her do as she pleased.

 

Xun Niang stared at him for a long time, then suddenly said: “When you were nine years old, you nearly crippled one of Xi Minghuai’s hands because his spiritual power accidentally knocked over your pastries. Did this happen?”

 

Xi Jianlan was stunned: “What?”

 

Xun Niang continued: “In Xi Minghuai’s memories, you’ve been spoiled by your parents since childhood and committed all kinds of evil. Whenever someone displeased you, you would take a rattan whip to beat them. Is this true?”

 

Xi Jianlan: “……”

 

Xi Jianlan smiled: “No.”

 

Xun Niang naturally didn’t believe him. She slightly raised her hand, plucked out a strand of black hair, and methodically wound it around Xi Jianlan’s wrist.

 

She was someone who had truly been a courtesan at Hongchen Shijun Tower for several years. Even with her cold, lonely expression, every movement was soul-stirring and enchanting.

 

After winding the black hair, Xun Niang asked again: “Did this happen?”

 

Xi Jianlan still smiled like a flower: “No.”

 

The black hair didn’t move at all.

 

Xun Niang looked at him coldly, unable to tell whether he was too good at lying or if these things really hadn’t happened.

 

But Xi Minghuai’s memories couldn’t be false.

 

Xun Niang took a deep breath and put the pipe back to continue smoking: “I won’t tell you. Leave.”

 

Xi Jianlan’s gaze quickly swept over the swallow on Xun Niang’s shoulder and the golden bell on her earring. Thinking of something, he smiled as he propped his chin and looked at her: “Is sister unwilling to speak because I bullied Xi Minghuai when I was young?”

 

Xun Niang’s brows were full of coldness, giving him a look that said “you know perfectly well.”

 

“Then sister has misunderstood me.” Xi Jianlan said with a playful smile: “That cruel and ruthless villain Xi Jue already got his comeuppance and died completely when he was twelve years old.”

 

Xun Niang frowned and glanced at the strand of black hair on Xi Jianlan’s slender wrist.

 

Still no movement.

 

“What do you mean?” Xun Niang said without showing emotion. “You’re not Xi Jue?”

 

“That’s right.” Xi Jianlan’s eyes sparkled, lively and cheerful. “My name is… Yan, Yan Ling. I’m from a small family in the Northern Territory. When I was twelve, Young Master Xi Jue hadn’t awakened his xiangwen, but I was lucky enough to awaken a spiritual-grade xiangwen.”

 

Xun Niang stared intently at this person’s face, trying to detect clues from his subtle expressions.

 

But Xi Jianlan was too natural, showing no abnormality in his expression as he told his story: “…The Xi family accidentally found me and invited me to the Xi family to take Xi Jue’s place with a new identity. Look, this is my real face—if you don’t believe me, you can ask Tower Master Hongchen.”

 

Xun Niang had originally thought this child was easy to control and frame, but just half an hour of contact completely changed her view.

 

Over the years, Xun Niang had met countless people, but no one had ever made her feel as unfathomable as Xi Jianlan.

 

That smile was clearly warm and obedient, yet she felt inexplicably chilled.

 

This person probably wasn’t as harmless as he appeared on the surface.

 

Xi Jianlan said with a smile: “The Xi family treated me so well—even if I’m crushed to pieces, I must avenge them.”

 

Xun Niang said coldly: “You think I’ll believe you?!”

 

“If sister doesn’t believe me, would you rather believe the real culprit?” Xi Jianlan asked matter-of-factly.

 

Xun Niang’s pupils contracted sharply: “You…!”

 

Xi Jianlan propped his elbow on the table, staring straight into Xun Niang’s beautiful eyes, lowering his voice: “Sister, the Medicine Sect has long been in seclusion—Xi Minghuai’s life is safe with Lady Wan. But he knows the real culprit from back then. Whether or not you work for that person, this fact alone has brought mortal danger to him and you. As long as that culprit lives another day, you’ll never have peace.”

 

Xun Niang’s hand hanging at her side suddenly clenched.

 

“I have no reason to kill you,” Xi Jianlan said like a bewitching demon, smiling with curved eyes. “As long as you tell me who that person is, the Medicine Sect, Sword Sect, Rang Chen, Heng Yudu… even Xiezhi Sect Master Sheng Jiao will protect you.”

 

Sheng Jiao’s name was almost a symbol of justice and Heaven’s Way.

 

Xun Niang’s five fingers trembled, the coldness in her eyes dissipating as she murmured as if driven to desperation: “Sect Master Sheng… really?”

 

Xi Jianlan pressed his advantage: “Of course! The Xi family case has been unsolved for six years, and Sect Master Sheng has been searching for clues for six years, showing his complete impartiality and justice. Besides, he and I are dao companions—he’ll naturally listen to me.”

 

Xun Niang: “…?”

 

Sheng Jiao at the door: “………”

 

After a long silence, Xun Niang gritted her teeth and finally made her decision: “For me to trust you, fine, but you must let me see your memories.”

 

Xi Jianlan reacted quickly: “Oh? Sister’s xiangwen is the mystic-grade ‘Bone-Gazing Mirror’?”

 

Xun Niang nodded.

 

Xi Jianlan’s smile didn’t fade as he thought: “Damn, this is troublesome. If she sees my memories, won’t I be exposed?”

 

Xun Niang seemed to have already detected that his rambling story was a lie, saying coldly: “I’ll only look at the memories from the night the Xi family was massacred—I won’t look at anything else.”

 

Xi Jianlan: “……”

 

Xi Jianlan smiled obediently, looking completely innocent: “What are you saying, sister? Even if you wanted to see my memories from playing in mud as a child, I’d have a clear conscience.”

 

Xun Niang: “……”

 

Xun Niang didn’t believe his smooth-talking mouth at all.

 

But Xi Jianlan changed his tone, saying pitifully: “But it still won’t work. I’ve lost all my cultivation now—if you use ‘Bone-Gazing Mirror’ to extract my memories, you might turn me into an idiot.”

 

Xun Niang said indifferently: “I’m only mystic-grade with Golden Core cultivation—I can’t harm the divine soul of someone who’s reached Spirit Transformation realm.”

 

Xi Jianlan retreated, avoiding Xun Niang’s spiritual power that was about to touch him, saying with a smile: “Sister should first tell me who the culprit you saw in Xi Minghuai’s memories is.”

 

Xun Niang lowered her hand.

 

Xi Jianlan said gently: “I just want a name.”

 

Xun Niang didn’t answer. Xi Jianlan wasn’t in a hurry either, casually propping his chin and looking out the window.

 

He’d originally wanted to pass time, but when his gaze fell, he suddenly frowned slightly.

 

The cloud lanterns below… seemed somewhat strange?

 

Cloud lanterns were meant to shine at night—in daylight with such strong sunlight, even when lit, the flames were hard to see. But looking down at the endless sea of clouds from this height, he discovered that the sea of lanterns was faintly flickering with familiar purple light.

 

At the same time, Xi Jianlan’s meridians suddenly surged with an intense feeling of withered cracking.

 

…Like flower branches about to die.

 

Xi Jianlan suddenly clenched his hand in his wide sleeve, urging without showing it: “Sister, what do you say?”

 

Xun Niang suddenly stood up, saying coldly: “I still want to see your memories.”

 

With that, she threw down her pipe, and her Golden Core spiritual power suddenly struck toward Xi Jianlan’s forehead.

 

Though Xi Jianlan had lost his cultivation, his escape skills remained undiminished. He immediately tried to retreat, but as his waist bent, purple spiritual power scattered from the pipe on the ground, filling the air with white smoke mixed with purple.

 

Xi Jianlan knew he was in trouble after just one breath.

 

It was “Abandoned Immortal Bone.”

 

“Abandoned Immortal Bone” was like drinking poison to quench thirst—pain and craving thoroughly soaked into the bone marrow. Once that fake Tianyan was lost, one would suffer unbearably.

 

Xi Jianlan had used such a large amount before and should have been in agony, but Sheng Jiao’s continuous Tianyan spiritual power over those two days had stopped that frenzied craving.

 

It was as if…

 

Tianyan spiritual power was the antidote to the deadly poison of “Abandoned Immortal Bone.”

 

Xi Jianlan had no time to think further—Xun Niang’s spiritual power had already struck.

 

Her spiritual power carried no killing intent and didn’t even trigger the restriction of the “Zhuo” character Tianyan pearl on Xi Jianlan’s shoulder, directly transforming into a small hook that penetrated Xi Jianlan’s sea of consciousness.

 

Sheng Jiao outside seemed to sense something and suddenly pushed the door open.

 

Xi Jianlan’s eyes went blank for a moment.

 

Xun Niang reacted extremely quickly, instantly forcibly extracting a segment of Xi Jianlan’s memory, condensing it like smoke into an illusory memory scene that appeared before them.

 

Six years ago, on a night of violent storms.

 

The Xi family estate was littered with corpses. Some bodies had even been forcibly stripped of their xiangwen, their flesh and blood mangled on the ground, washed by torrential rain into gruesome blood trails that flowed into the pond.

 

Koi fish thrashed desperately in the water.

 

The vast pond had turned completely blood red.

 

Rumble—!

 

Pale lightning struck down from the dark sky, illuminating the Xi family ruins that looked like a mass grave for a ghastly white instant.

 

In that moment of daylight brightness, a slender figure stood in the rain.

 

The person was soaked through, long hair drenched and carelessly pinned with an osmanthus branch, wearing the elaborate, gorgeous ceremonial robes of a coming-of-age ceremony.

 

The lightning flashed and vanished.

 

Soon, another bolt of thunder struck down, finally illuminating that person’s face.

 

It was Xi Jue.

 

On Qixi Festival, young Xi Jue’s coming-of-age ceremony. His frame was still slender, standing in the sea of corpses as if seeing something. He suddenly tilted his head slightly and lightly licked away a drop of blood from the corner of his lips.

 

Xi Jue smiled warmly, like an evil flower blooming in hell’s underworld—sinister yet beautiful.

 

“Oh my,” the youth said with a smile. “Gege, did you see?”

 

Boom—

 

The thunder stopped abruptly.

 

The “Bone-Gazing Mirror” smoke instantly dissipated.

 

Xun Niang looked at him incredulously: “You…”

 

Xi Jianlan seemed stunned by the shock, looking at that memory in disbelief, his lips slightly pale.

 

“No… that’s not…”

 

“Ding—”

 

Sheng Jiao suddenly came to his senses. The Tianyan pearls in his hand had actually started spinning on their own without his control, and this time extremely fast, reaching a conclusion in just two breaths like cutting iron.

 

The originally ten “Execute” Tianyan pearls…

 

Had instantly become fifty.

 

In that moment, the killing intent gathered by fifty Tianyan pearls forcibly rampaged through Sheng Jiao’s xiangwen, golden light flashing at the back of his neck.

 

Sheng Jiao suddenly opened his dark eyes, cold and merciless.

 

Endless killing intent swept through like a cold wind in midsummer.

 

Xi Jianlan’s face was pale as paper, only the red mole at the corner of his eye was striking, as if about to drip blood.

 

He slightly turned to look at Sheng Jiao, sensing the sharp killing intent emanating from him. After a long silence, he suddenly laughed.

 

Though Sheng Jiao was radiating cold malice, Xi Jianlan somehow slowly walked to stand before him.

 

Sheng Jiao was stunned.

 

Xi Jianlan knew what those fifty pearls meant. He didn’t argue or flee, but instead gently grasped Sheng Jiao’s hand and placed it on his own neck, saying lightly: “Sheng Wuzhuo, strike.”

 

The coldness in Sheng Jiao’s pupils paused as he tried to withdraw his hand with a dark expression.

 

Xi Jianlan laughed quietly, but as he laughed, tears suddenly slid from his beautiful eyes, dropping onto the back of Sheng Jiao’s hand.

 

“You believe the Tianyan pearls, not me. Since I’ll die by your hand eventually anyway, better to die now and spare myself the struggle and added humiliation.”

 

Sheng Jiao’s fingertips trembled slightly from that hot tear. He lifted his hand forward and gripped Xi Jianlan’s chin.

 

The fragrance of rouge and the osmanthus scent of lip rouge wafted over, lingering and enchanting.

 

“Xi Jue.” Sheng Jiao asked coldly, “I’ll ask you one last time—does the Xi family massacre have anything to do with you?”

 

Xi Jianlan was silent for a long time, then smiled with wet lashes: “The Tianyan pearls never judge wrongly—truly living up to their reputation. Fine, I admit it. The Xi family massacre is indeed related to me, and the ‘Bone-Gazing Mirror’ memory is also real.”

 

Sheng Jiao’s hand suddenly tightened.

 

The Tianyan pearls remained silent as death, showing no reaction to his words.

 

Xi Jianlan hissed in pain from being gripped but continued laughing.

 

“You heard it just now, didn’t you? I’m not Xi Jue—Yan Ling is my real name. The Xi family killed my parents to monopolize my xiangwen, then forced me to disguise myself as Xi Jue and enter Tianyan Academy. I’ve been lying low all these years just to one day massacre the Xi family and get my revenge.”

 

Sheng Jiao didn’t know whether to believe him, but his eyes grew colder.

 

“Sect Master Sheng, pass judgment.” Xi Jianlan’s eyes brimmed with tears, smiling warmly yet desperately as he murmured: “Just like in the Shentian She illusion—judge whether my revenge and massacre of the entire Xi family clan is guilty or innocent?”

 

Sheng Jiao’s other hand suddenly clenched, the coldness in his pupils seeming to waver.

 

Tears streamed down Xi Jianlan’s face as he suddenly reverted to old habits, trying to kiss Sheng Jiao.

 

Sheng Jiao seemed still to be considering Xi Jianlan’s words, frowning as he turned his head to avoid the kiss.

 

But the next instant, Xi Jianlan seemed to have anticipated his movement. His lips gently fell on Sheng Jiao’s jade-white earlobe as he softly spoke:

 

“Listen and comply—Bind Spirit.”

 

Sheng Jiao’s pupils contracted, vaguely sensing trouble.

 

The void suddenly filled with the sound of shattering glass. Xi Jianlan had already withdrawn and stepped back, surrounded by several glass birds flying around him.

 

The spiritual power of “Exchange for Bright Moon” mercilessly engulfed the completely unguarded Sheng Jiao, forcibly binding the spiritual power of “Worthy of Heaven’s Way.”

 

Xi Jianlan stood alone, tucking a strand of long hair behind his ear. He glanced sideways, tears streaming down, leaving mottled tear tracks on his pale face. The red mole at the corner of his eye was like blood jade soaked in water.

 

“Didn’t I already warn Sect Master Sheng just now…”

 

Xi Jianlan had somehow obtained Sheng Jiao’s Tianyan pearls. He methodically wiped the tears from his face, gazing at the string of pearls that had completely dimmed after losing their spiritual power, smiling with sinister beauty.

 

“Not to believe my words.”

 

Sheng Jiao’s expression turned stern, his internal spiritual power completely trapped, unable to move at all.

 

Xi Jianlan grinned at him: “Sheng Wuzhuo, you’ve been fooled again.”

 

Author’s Note:

 

Daily question: Has the anti-fraud app been updated?

 

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T/N: why do i feel like no matter what happens, Sheng Jiao won’t kill Xi Jue ….

 (advanced chapters available on kofi)