After the Villain Lost His Cultivation - Chapter 11
Xi Jianglan ran while shouting, ”Hahaha!”
Heaven is truly helping me!
Who could have imagined that the toughest obstacle would leave on its own, giving him a perfect opportunity to easily escape right under the Xiezhi Sect’s nose? It was like a pie falling from the sky.
Xi Jianglan happily ran down the wooden stairs from the third floor of Guchang Temple, almost twisting his ankle.
It was noon, and the sun was directly overhead.
A black cat appeared out of nowhere and silently jumped onto Xi Jianglan’s shoulder, its fur bristling as it shouted, “Ugh! It smells awful! What the hell is that?!”
Guchang Temple was enormous, and Xi Jianglan rushed forward with his head bowed until he finally reached the first floor.
His cheeks were slightly flushed from running, and he leaned against a stone pillar, breathing lightly. It seemed he was already used to the cat’s sudden appearances, as he casually reached out and patted its neck a couple of times.
“The smell of Yutang flower.”
The black cat raised its head, but its neck was too thick, and Xi Jianglan struggled before finally managing to touch a bell with no clapper.
That was a storage artifact.
Xi Jianglan skillfully pulled out some clothes, quickly avoiding people as he changed out of the Xiezhi patterned crane cloak and outer robe to prevent any tracking artifact from being attached to his clothes.
When he emerged from behind the stone pillar, his appearance had drastically changed.
Even while disguising himself to escape, Xi Jianglan refused to make himself look too unattractive. Now dressed in crimson, his face was bright and bold, with a small red mole in the corner of his eye. When his feather-like lashes lifted, his gaze seemed to carry a thousand emotions and boundless tenderness.
Even if Sheng Jiao were here, he wouldn’t be able to see through the disguise.
Overwhelmed by the scent of Yutang Flower, the black cat lay lethargically on Xi Jianglan’s shoulder, about to vomit. It weakly asked, “Shouldn’t we keep running?”
Xi Jianglan found a secluded corner and sat on the windowsill of the first floor, using the ornate window for cover as he intently stared at the innate mark painting and casually said, “I want to know who the seller of this painting is.”
The seller must be connected to the mastermind behind the massacre of the Xi family years ago.
The black cat was silent.
It could never understand what was going on in Xi Jianglan’s mind.
After finally escaping from danger, wouldn’t it be better to run as far away as possible?
Xi Jianglan was remarkably carefree, he raised his hand to pluck a bunch of osmanthus flowers from the tree outside and lazily licked them at his lips.
The Yutang flower had already returned to Feng Yu.
Under the bodhi tree, the young monk brought over another flower, surprisingly, it was Yutang flowers again?!
Xi Jianglan: “……”
The corners of Xi Jianglan’s lips twitched. ”It seems that there is more than one person who wants to kill me.”
The black cat was already about to be sick from the scent, its four paws limp and hanging off Xi Jianglan’s shoulder. ”…Ugh!”
Xi Jianglan gently patted its head, calculating his next move while casually saying, ”If you throw up on me, I’ll stew you.”
The black cat: ”…”
Such a beautiful face, how could it utter such terrifying words?
The second Yutang flower did not have fools like Feng Yu and Sheng Jiao, so naturally, no one bid for it.
The young monk patiently waited for a while. When the sound of the chime rang out, he obediently held the flower again, seemingly intending to return it to its rightful owner.
Xi Jianglan’s eyes flickered slightly, and suddenly he leapt lightly from the windowsill, his scarlet robe swirling with the scattered osmanthus flowers.
The black cat was nearly shaken to the point of vomiting. Catching a glimpse of Xi Jianglan’s expression, it suddenly had a bad feeling. ”You… what are you going to do again?”
Xi Jianglan said, “Hehe.”
The black cat: “……”
I know it, he’s definitely going to do something bad.
Xi Jianglan strolled along, following the young monk with the flowers, and saw him enter an elegant Dharma hall on the first floor. Soon, the monk respectfully exited.
The black cat trembled and said, ”Calm down, who knows if your enemy is inside? If you go in so openly, aren’t you seeking death?”
Xi Jianglan blinked lightly. ”Openly and honestly?”
The black cat was about to speak but saw Xi Jianglan take a step forward.
Within three steps, the scarlet robe he had just changed into seemed to ripple like a circle of water, and then, under the black cat’s wide-eyed gaze…
Xi Jianglan transformed back into Sheng Jiao’s appearance
The black cat: ”……”
The black cat almost fell off his shoulder, cursing angrily: “Are you trying to kill yourself?! Pretending to be the Sect Leader in front of the people of the Xiezhi Sect?”
Xi Jianglan didn’t care at all. With the disguised Tianyan bead wrapped around his wrist, he forced Sheng Jiao’s “I’ll take your life soon” expression onto his face, and without changing his demeanor, he slowly walked to the entrance of the Dharma Hall.
Bang!
The sound of dishes shattering rang out from inside, followed by a man’s furious voice.
“…Impossible! Xi Jue is definitely here! I refuse to believe that he can just sit by while the Xi family’s innate mark painting is hanging there for sale!”
“Young master, a Yutang flower was just sold, and I went to check. It wasn’t Xi Jue.”
The young master cursed: “Keep searching! The rumor that we extracted and claimed his spiritual level innate mark must have been spread by him! He caused such devastation to my Qu family, if I don’t kill him, I won’t be able to vent my anger!”
Xi Jianglan slightly raised his eyebrows.
Someone from the Qu family?
Under the terrified gaze of the black cat, Xi Jianglan pushed open the door and entered.
An angry voice shouted inside, “Who dares to be so bold?”
When the speaker’s gaze landed on Xi Jianglan, the voice abruptly cut off, as if someone had grabbed him by the throat. After a long pause, he stammered out, “Sheng… Sect Leader?”
The bodyguards who were about to step forward to protect their master froze.
Xi Jianglan imitated Sheng Jiao’s gaze, looking at him coldly as if he were an ant.
Six years ago, the Qu family led the Xiezhi Sect and could compete with the Xi family.
Logically speaking, with the Xi family in decline, the Qu family should have risen to take control of Zhongzhou, but for some reason, it was the Sheng family that rose to prominence, while the Qu family went from strength to strength and became increasingly decayed.
It was said that the Qu family had been ostracized by the other clans in Zhongzhou for years because of the rumor that ”the Qu family claimed Xi Jianglan’s innate mark as their own”. Even the Tianyan spiritual veins had been taken away under various pretexts.
The man who was cursing was the youngest son of the Qu family, named Qu Rao.
He relied on his family background to act recklessly, but deep down, he was a bully who feared the strong and picked on the weak. When he saw Sheng Jiao, he was so scared that he fell to the ground.
After a long time, he finally stuttered, ”Sect Leader Sheng, why are you here?”
Xi Jianglan looked at him coldly, raising his hand expressionlessly.
Qu Rao was afraid and thought that this killing god was going to grab his head, so he immediately huddled down, clutching his head. ”Sect Leader Sheng, spare me! I didn’t want to kill Xi Jue, please, have mercy and spare my life!”
Xi Jianglan was confused and thought, ”Do you think telling Sheng Jiao this will save your life? If Sect Leader Sheng knew that you were willing to take his place to kill me, he would surely appreciate your ambition.”
Qu Rao trembled all over, and the impulse to torture and kill Xi Jue after luring him out vanished in an instant. He almost wanted to slap himself.
However, after trembling for a long time, he didn’t feel any pain coming his way.
Qu Rao timidly raised his head only to see “Sheng Jiao” turn away with something in his hand, his back indifferent as he walked away.
Qu Rao asked in confusion, “Sect Leader Sheng… what did he just take?”
The guard hesitantly replied, “It seems to be a Yutang flower?”
Xi Jianglan leisurely walked out of Qu Rao’s private room, holding the blooming Yutang flower in his hand with a smile on the corner of his lips.
”As expected from Sect Leader Sheng,” Xi Jue twisted the beautiful Yutang flower between his fingers, lightly licking the petal that was as delicate as cicada wings. His lips, as red as if painted with rouge, curled into a teasing smile. “That reputation really comes in handy.”
The black cat was speechless: “…”
The black cat was stunned by Xi Jianglan’s seamless actions, no matter how long it had followed him, it was still startled by his reckless behavior.
This person… when will he ever know fear?!
He openly took the Yutang flower. Isn’t he afraid of being exposed?
One of Qu Rao’s guards was at the Spirit Transformation Realm. It would only take a pinch of two fingers to crush him.
The black cat weakly said, “What if they realize it and come after you?”
Xi Jianglan replied lazily, “If they’re going to cause trouble, it’ll be for Sheng Jiao, but did you see how that brat reacted when he saw Sheng Jiao? Would he dare?”
The black cat: “…”
True enough.
The petals of the Yutang flower were extremely poisonous, typically only used for refining medicine before consumption. However, Xi Jianglan’s meridians were faintly aching all over his body, so he had no choice but to roll a petal into his mouth and forcefully swallow it.
The black cat, disgusted by the smell of the Yutang flower, immediately cursed and ran away.
Xi Jianglan closed his eyes and waited for a long time. Only when the effects of the Yutang flower took hold, and the pain in his meridians felt like a gentle spring stream flowing through, did he exhale a breath and tuck the remaining Yutang flower into his lapel.
Sheng Jiao’s face was incredibly useful. Xi Jianglan was reluctant to change it, so he continued to wear that face while watching from a corner.
The monks under the Bodhi tree struck the chime.
The innate mark painting that had been suspended in the air was finally slowly lowered and placed on the high platform.
The crowd that had been idly swatting flies finally woke up.
The most precious spiritual items from Guchang Temple have always been rarer than the others, and can only be found by chance.
However, today was the first time that everyone had witnessed the special occasion of selling a dead person’s innate mark.
Xi Jianglan didn’t care who would get the painting. It was just that some noble families in Zhongzhou who had grudges against the Xi family would desecrate the painting to vent of their anger as the victors.
When a person dies, it’s like a lamp being extinguished, even if the innate mark is a “living thing,” it’s no longer that person.
Xi Qingfeng’s innate mark painting has already begun to be auctioned.
Today, hundreds of people have come to Gu Chang Temple, most of whom are here to watch the excitement. As the auction begins, the entire temple falls into a deadly silence.
No one speaks.
In the end, it was Feng Yu, a fool with more money than sense, who broke the silence: “One hundred thousand.”
Xi Jianglan couldn’t help but laugh softly.
Since Feng Yu had already bought the Yutang flower, it meant that he had attracted the attention of those who used the flower to lure Xi Jue out.
If Xi Jianglan were to go over, he would likely be caught by his enemies.
Seeing how determined Feng Yu was to purchase the painting of the innate mark, Xi Jianglan decided to wait outside Guchang Temple for his good news.
After all, there weren’t many people in all thirteen provinces who had more money than Young Master Feng.
With that thought, Xi Jianglan calmly walked out.
It was unclear if it was just his imagination, but the further he went outside, the more Xi Jianglan felt a faint pain in his little finger, as if it was being pinched by a hard thread.
Frowning, he raised his hand to examine his finger more closely.
There was nothing there.
Xi Jianglan vaguely felt that something was wrong, and immediately abandoned the idea of going out through the main gate. He quietly walked along the corridor to the rarely visited back door of Guchang Temple.
The surroundings were deserted, and the pain in his finger gradually became more subtle.
Xi Jianglan rubbed his fingers for a moment, and seeing that the back door was within reach, he subtly breathed a sigh of relief.
Just as he was about to raise his hand to push the door, his palm barely touching the chipped red wooden door, he felt someone pull the door from the outside.
Xi Jianglan was stunned.
The wooden door creaked open, revealing a face that made Xi Jianglan’s teeth ache.
Sheng Jiao, wearing a disguised face, was staring directly at his own face.
Xi Jianglan: “……”
Sheng Jiao: “……….”