After the Villain Lost His Cultivation - Chapter 3
In the backyard of the clinic, there is a towering osmanthus tree, so large that it blocks out the sky and the sun and remains lush and green even in heavy snowfall. The small red osmanthus flowers bloom, releasing a delicate fragrance that deeply refreshes the soul.
At some point, the snow had stopped falling, and a piercing cold wind blew in with a howl.
Feng Yu was looking for water in the backyard when a gust of cold wind blew in, suddenly snapping his dazed mind back to reality after being confused by Xi Jianglan’s nonsensical talk.
”Something’s not right.”
He came to take advantage of someone in a tough spot. How could Xi Jianglan manage to confuse him into becoming his lackey with just a few words? Feng Yu gritted his teeth in anger, brushed off the ghostly pattern on his white robe, and turned around, filled with killing intent.
Although Xi Jianglan had lost all of his cultivation, his ability to speak nonsense had been perfected to an extraordinary level! Feng Yu quickly made his way back, ready to unleash a torrent of anger.
He saw Xi Jianglan slumped weakly against the medicine cabinet, curled up into a small ball with his legs slightly bent. Even though his ink-black hair was disheveled all over, it couldn’t hide his frail and emaciated figure. There was a trace of bl00d at the corner of his lips, and when he tilted his head to look over, his eyes seemed dazed and lost, like a bl00d lotus about to break in the wind and snow.
Feng Yu paused for a moment, reluctantly extinguishing the flame.
Even though it was hard to believe, he still pinched his nose and forced himself to accept Xi Jianglan’s claims of rebirth, he was too arrogant, firmly believing that no one would lie under the Ghostly sound.
Xi Jianglan asked weakly, ”Where is the water?”
Feng Yu roughly pulled Xi Jianglan up from the ground and threw him onto a small couch nearby, coldly replying, ”In this shabby place of yours, where would you find clean water to drink?”
Xi Jianglan lowered his eyelashes slightly and said softly, “Snow water is fine too, I’m not picky.”
Feng Yu: “…”
Seeing Xi Jianglan in such a pitiful state, Feng Yu should have been overjoyed, but for some reason, he became even more irritated. With a furrowed brow, he took out the priceless spirit liquid from his storage ring and handed it to Xi Jianglan. Xi Jianglan’s ink-black hair hung down to the ground as he maintained a half-dead posture and weakly said, “I can’t raise my hand.”
Feng Yu gritted his back teeth in frustration and said, “Xi Jianglan, that’s enough, don’t push your luck!”
Seeing that things were going well, Xi Jianglan raised his hand to take it.
He looked like he hadn’t eaten good food in a long time, resembling a young kitten as he gently leaned forward to sniff, then tilted the jade cup to lick a sip of the spirit liquid. He sighed and said, ”This high-quality liquid is like the best water, Young Master, if I drink just one sip of this heavenly liquid, I’ll have to sell myself in southern region brothel for ten years to pay it back.”
Feng Yu didn’t want to hear his self-pity and replied irritably, ”What exactly happened to your injuries?”
“It’s an old problem,” Xi Jianglan said, taking a sip casually, as if he were talking about someone else’s problem. “I have a special constitution, and I need to use Yutang Flowers every year to prolong my life. Of course, with the Xi family gone, the one Yutang flower worth tens of thousands of spirit stones is nowhere to be found.”
Feng Yu was incredulous. “So you… you are saying that you were literally trapped to death by just a few tens of thousands of spirit stones?”
When the Xi family ruled the Three Regions of Zhongzhou, even the candy beans Xi Jianglan played with were worth over ten thousand spirit stones.
“Spirit stones are one aspect,” Xi Jianglan sighed softly. “Not long after I escaped from the Xiezhi Sect, all the Yutang flowers in the thirteen provinces suddenly stopped being sold.”
Feng Yu was astonished and took a deep breath.
Someone was deliberately trying to force Xi Jianglan to death.
”It’s okay,” Xi Jianglan said confidently. “Every year, there are still one or two Yutang flowers that slip through the net. I opened the clinic to search for Yutang flowers, with a bit of luck, I might just find one.”
Even if Feng Yu didn’t particularly like Xi Jianglan, he still admired his optimism.
If the roles were reversed, and a proud heavenly child fell into disgrace in the mundane world, he might not be able to see things as clearly as Xi Jianglan.
Feng Yu decided not to dwell on this issue any longer and looked for another topic to discuss.
“You mentioned that rebirth is indeed strange. Did your Xi family also face slaughter in the past?”
Xi Jianglan calmly shook his head and made up an answer.
“Not at all. If I had known that the Xi family would be in trouble, I would have found a way to stop it, why would I just sit back and wait for disaster?”
“Then who exactly orchestrated the Xi family’s troubles?” Feng Yu hesitated for a moment. “Did they come for your innate mark?”
In the entire thirteen provinces, ordinary cultivators all possess innate Spiritual Roots, but those noble families somehow acquire special Heavenly Veins, allowing cultivators with Innate Spiritual Roots, to awaken a unique Spiritual Vein called an Innate Mark at the age of twelve.
The ancestors referred to it as a gift from the heavens.
Innate marks are divided into four levels: Mortal, Profound, Heavenly, and Spiritual. The most common people usually awaken only to the Heavenly level.
The Spiritual level is even rarer, with only a little more than ten people in the entire thirteen provinces throughout history.
Xi Jianglan is one of them.
Only cultivators who have innate marks can enter the Tianyan Academy.
Not long after Xi Jianglan awakened his innate mark, the Xi family rose from a low-level noble family in Zhongzhou to become the dominant power in the four provinces, basking in glory.
No one knows what abilities Xi Jianglan’s innate mark possesses, all they know is that the Xi family protects it extremely closely.
Xi Jianglan said lightly, “They come for the Xi family’s heavenly veins. My innate mark… has already been wasted, there’s no point in saying more.”
Feng Yu looked at him intently.
Xi Jianglan possessed the rare Spiritual level innate mark. When he first entered Tianyan Academy, his cultivation already surpassed many others by a significant margin, making him one of only two people in the history of the thirteen provinces to form a nascent soul at the age of seventeen.
The other person was Sheng Jiao.
A natural-born prodigy destined for ascension was violently destroyed.
Feng Yu took a deep breath and asked, “What about Sheng Jiao? What exactly is going on with all of you?”
Xi Jianglan paused slightly as he bit into the jade cup.
“I was in seclusion forming my nascent soul at that time, and it was only after I emerged that I learned the Xi family had encountered trouble,”Feng Yu said in a deep voice. “You are the only survivor of the entire Xi family. Even if they were looking for the culprit, they shouldn’t have taken you to the Xiezhi Sect. Back then, I asked Sheng Jiao… but he didn’t say a word.”
Xi Jianglan laughed, “When have you ever heard the Heavenly Dao Lord speak in person?”
Feng Yu thought for a moment, and it seemed so.
Sheng Jiao was different from those monks who practiced silent meditation. He was like a frost-covered stone on the top of a towering mountain, and also like the statue of an immortal sitting in the clouds, indifferent to the mortal world, inspiring awe in all who saw him.
After four years as classmates, almost no one had ever seen Sheng Jiao open his mouth to speak. Even when he had no choice, he would use spiritual energy to project his voice without moving his lips, as if he feared exhausting his ‘noble mouth.’
Because of this mysterious behavior, the others in Zhuzinghai often gossiped about him.
“Then why does Sheng Jiao want to kill you? He even issued a warrant to hunt you down across thirteen provinces?”
Xi Jianglan said with his eyes lowered and distracted, “He thinks I’m the mastermind behind the massacre of the entire Xi family.”
Feng Yu was astonished, “Has he gone crazy?!”
It is well known that the entire Xi family was exterminated, and only Xi Jianglan was lucky enough to survive due to his spiritual-grade innate mark.
He is clearly the victim.
“His innate mark… Xi Jianglan paused and said, “Those one hundred and eight Tianyan Beads, when encountering a guilty person, will display the character for punishment, ‘Zhu’ ”
Feng Yu frowned, “How many beads indicate that you deserve punishment?”
Xi Jianglan held out a finger.
“A hundred?” Feng Yu scoffed. “Isn’t it usually the case that all one hundred and eight beads must indicate guilt for a conviction?”
Xi Jianglan laughed, “No”
“Ten then?”
“One”
Feng Yu gasped in shock: “One?!”
Just one Tianyan bead, and Sheng Jiao determined that Xi Jianglan was guilty?!
What kind of reasoning is that?
Even Feng Yu found it baffling and spoke out in Xi Jianglan’s defense.
“Honestly”… Feng Yu said at a loss for words, “Sheng Jiao is known for his fairness. Have you… have you offended him in any way?”
Xi Jianglan put down the jade cup. He had only taken a sip of the glowing liquid at the bottom before he lost his appetite. With his eyes lowered, he suddenly asked a strange question.
“Do you trust me or Sheng Jiao?”
Feng Yu thought to himself; You have a talent for talking nonsense and making up stories, I trust you less than I trust Sheng Jiao.
But seeing the expression on Xi Jianglan’s face, which seemed to hint at a real struggle, Feng Yu had no choice but to swallow his sarcastic words.
“I… I reluctantly trust you”
Xi Jianglan suddenly raised his gaze, and a layer of mist formed in his beautiful eyes, creating ripples of snow-white light.
“Really?”
Feng Yu increasingly felt that there must be a deep-seated grudge between Xi Jianglan and Sheng Jiao, and he was even more eager to know.
“Really, I trust you”
As soon as the insincere words ‘I trust you’ left his lips, two lines of clear tears suddenly rolled down Xi Jianglan’s face, landing with a soft ‘thud’ on the back of his pale hand.
Feng Yu was startled.
This was the first time he had seen the proud Xi Jianglan in tears.
Xi Jianglan’s face was streaked with tears, his expression was one of despair and illness, and when he cried, he looked so pitiful that it almost made Feng Yu forget that this person was a habitual swindler.
“I told others, but they all refused to believe me, they… only trust Sheng Jiao”
Feng Yu held his breath, listening intently.
“He… he…” Xi Jianglan stammered.
Feng Yu was dying of anxiety, wishing he could lend him his own mouth.
Finally, Xi Jianglan revealed the long-hidden secret to his most trusted “brother”, Feng Yu.
“Sheng Jiao! Sheng Wuzhuo! Lord of the Heavenly Dao! He… he… he wanted me but couldn’t have me, so he turned love into hate!”
Feng Yu: ‘…’
Feng Yu: “???”
Feng Yu was horrified!
* * *
The Yuchuan River is covered with deep snow, and the plum trees along the riverbank are in full bloom.
In the early morning, many people gathered in groups along the long road to admire the snow. The weeping willows have frozen into tender green ice crystals, and when the cold wind passes by, they emit a clear, crisp sound.
A man in a dark cloak walked slowly through the bustling crowd, a sheathed sword hanging from his waist, occasionally glinting in the light. If you listened closely, you could hear the sound of chains clanking together.
Suddenly, a little girl running happily nearby didn’t look where she was going and bumped right into the man’s thigh.
She felt as if she had crashed into a towering mountain of snow as she sat on the ground, staring blankly at this strange man.
Fortunately, the girl’s father rushed over, quickly helped her up, and angrily shouted at the man, “Do you even have eyes?!”
But as soon as he looked up, he was immediately startled by the man’s imposing presence.
The girl’s father clearly saw that this was not someone to be messed with. He muttered a few low curses, then bent down to brush the snow from his daughter’s knees.
“Have you hurt yourself, my dear?”
The girl shook her head obediently.
“Then go ahead” said the father, a rare softness appearing on his naturally fierce face. “Don’t run too far, daddy will be right here waiting for you.”
The girl nodded happily, clutching two coins as she ran toward the nearby candied fruit stand.
Tap, tap, like a happy little deer running.
The girl’s father smiled.
Suddenly, a voice seemed to echo from the horizon.
“Yang Luo, a resident of Que Ti City in Zhongzhou, brutally killed his siblings and more than a dozen members of his sect five years ago, severely injured the Punishment and Pardon Court officers who were pursuing him, and fled across the thirteen provinces.”
The smile on the father’s face, Yang Luo, suddenly froze, and he looked at the man in horror.
“‘You…”
At that moment, he finally saw clearly that the dark cloak bore the emblem of the dark golden Xiezhi Beast that he had feared for years.
It’s a member of the Xiezhi Sect!
Yang Luo’s face immediately turned ashen.
The Xiezhi Sect was known as the “Gates of Hell” in the thirteen provinces, and any cultivator who could enter the Xiezhi Sect was someone with extraordinary power and a cold, ruthless disposition.
They only recognize the laws of Heaven, to kill a person is to pay with one’s life.
No matter where one hides, as long as one is caught by someone wearing the Xiezhi emblem, it is certain death.
Yang Luo trembled like a sieve and stumbled as he knelt on the ground. “Immortal, please spare my life. It was a moment of impulse that caused me to commit a grave mistake! I know I was wrong, I hope you can show me mercy. I… I…”
Despite such a commotion, the people around continued to admire the snow as if nothing were happening, seemingly oblivious to it all.
The man remained unmoved, his eyes showing no compassion.
Yang Luo stared at him dazedly, his body no longer trembling under the immense fear.
”You are… Sheng, Sheng…”
The man’s black eyes seemed ethereal and empty, his thin lips did not move, but a cold, calm voice echoed around them.
“Execute.”
Yang Luo felt his body go limp and said hoarsely, “I beg the Immortal to spare my life, I still have a daughter…”
Just as the words left his mouth, a faint sound of beads clinking could be heard.
A bright white bolt of lightning broke through the dark clouds and snow fog, striking directly at Yang Luo’s forehead.
Despite the tremendous display, there was no sound of thunder.
Suddenly, a cold wind blew by.
In the blink of an eye, there were no living souls left on the ground, only a small handful of ashes mingling with the snow.
The frozen Yuchuan River seemed to come to life with the spring breeze, instantly turning into a babbling brook, while the plum blossoms along the banks withered in an instant, tossed into the air by the raging wind.
The onlookers admiring the snow gasped in astonishment, staring at this unusual scene.
The little girl, having bought her candied haws, ran back happily.
She looked around in confusion, but did not see her father waiting for her. After staring blankly for a while, she suddenly fell to the ground, sobbing loudly.
There was no sign of pity in the man’s eyes; he simply turned to look at the lush osmanthus tree nearby.
The city was full of blooming osmanthus blossoms.
“…Sect Leader, the snowfall in Wuyin City during the summer solstice is not due to a snow calamity. Rather, it seems like someone has awakened their innate mark. Juan Xunfang has already gone to investigate.”
Sheng Jiao suddenly asked, “Xi Jue?”
The Xiezhi Sect cultivator looked confused, as if he didn’t understand why the sect leader was concerned about this person.
Nevertheless, he respectfully replied, “The Punishment and Pardon Court has said that there is currently no trace of Xi Jianglan in the entire Wuyin city.”
The cultivator rushed to catch up: “Sect leader Sheng, there will be a sale of spiritual items at Gu Chang Temple tomorrow night. Do you want to go now?”
“Mm.”
At that moment, a voice came from behind: “Sect leader Sheng, please wait!”
Sheng Jiao stopped in his tracks.
The newcomer was the head of the Punishment and Pardon Court. He smiled broadly and bowed respectfully to Sheng Jiao.
“I heard that sect leader Sheng arrived last night. I apologize for not welcoming you properly! This year’s snow disaster has been a big headache for our city lord, and we’ve searched the entire city without finding the source. Fortunately, you are here.”
The cultivator from the Xiezhi Sect was stunned for a moment.
Sheng Jiao held a high position of power and had not left the Xiezhi Sect for several years. This time, he came to the northern border of Yuchuan for a special reason, and his ultimate goal was also the spiritual items in Gu Chang Temple.
Except for a few members of the Xiezhi Sect, no one else knew about it.
This person is just a minor official from the Punishment and Pardon Court, how could he know about this?
And also…
He arrived last night?
Sheng Jiao suddenly turned around, his dark cloak slicing through the air in a half-circle, resembling a sharp sword of light.
The nearest osmanthus tree shook violently, and the fragrant blossoms fell like rain, instantly covering the ground with petals.
“Sect leader Sheng?”
Sheng Jiao coldly replied, “He’s here.”