Yunxi looked at the strange house built of piled stones, then turned to the young maiden called Xiao Meng beside her.
Before Xiao Meng could speak, a burly man bent and stepped out of the stone house. He wore rough short clothes, stood about two meters twenty tall, and swept a stern gaze up and down Yunxi before turning to Xiao Meng. "Is she alone?"
"Yes, Village Chief," Xiao Meng replied respectfully.
The man addressed as village chief finally looked at Yunxi. "I am the chief of Yan Shi Village. My name is Yan Shi. If you were brought inside by the maze formation beyond the village, then you are fated with Yan Shi Village. I have a transaction to propose. Are you willing to hear it?"
Yunxi smiled slightly. "Did you not deliberately lead me in here yourselves? How has it become a maze formation now? The ones who led me were your villagers, were they not? If you have a request, speak plainly."
Yan Shi had not expected the woman before him to see through their true nature. He clenched his fists unconsciously. Xiao Meng at his side also watched Yunxi warily, as if ready to act the instant Yunxi made a wrong move.
Yunxi's expression did not change. She simply waved her sleeve and set a stone table and stools before the house. She walked over on her own, gestured for them to sit, and began to prepare tea with the set upon the table, very much taking the host's seat.
Her relaxed bearing surprised both Yan Shi and Xiao Meng. After exchanging a glance, the village chief finally sat opposite Yunxi.
Under their gaze, Yunxi brewed a pot of Snow Lark Tea, the only spirit tea she kept regularly in her storage bangle. When it was ready, she pushed a cup to each of them.
She lifted her own cup, took a sip, and spoke. "This Lord senses no malice or baleful aura from Village Chief Yan or Miss Xiao Meng. Moreover, the method your villagers used to guide me here was gentle. My curiosity was piqued, so I followed along. What is this transaction you mentioned?"
Yan Shi sighed long but did not speak. Xiao Meng, less restrained, frowned and said, "They say human cultivators are cunning. It seems true. My elder sister saved a gravely injured human cultivator who stumbled in here. He repaid kindness with evil, dug out my sister's heart, then openly put it up for sale, forcing my sister to revert to her original form.
If we cannot retrieve my sister's heart within a month, she will be trapped in her original form forever and lose the chance to cultivate into a human shape."
By the end, Xiao Meng's face flushed with anger.
Yunxi calmly set down her cup. "From what you say, this was man-made disaster, and your sister invited the wolf into the house. She picked up a badly wounded male cultivator and could not resist his honeyed tongue, healed him, exposed her original body, and then he dug out her heart.
You have cultivated in Chong'an Mountain for so long. Have you not heard the saying, 'Those who are not of my kind have a different heart'? Even the Weiling Realm is divided into Spirit Region, Ghost Region, Buddhist Region, Demon Region, and Beast Region. If peaceful coexistence were easy, there would be no need to divide territory.
You suffered a loss and cannot leave Chong'an Mountain to seek revenge, nor do you have the ability to retrieve your sister's heart. So you led this Lord into your domain to apply one of two methods, coercion or temptation.
If this Lord had no strength, you would coerce me to act for you. If this Lord does have strength, you would promise rich benefits so that I help recover the lady's heart.
Let me state my stance first. This Lord loathes such ingrates who repay kindness with malice. If a man achieves his goals by deceiving a woman, he should be ready to be struck down for it. If your price is right, this Lord does not mind taking action."
She took another sip to moisten her throat.
At this point, both Yan Shi and Xiao Meng forgot to manage their expressions. They had never seen a human cultivator who did not follow the usual script.
Xiao Meng blinked. "You have entered our territory, yet still speak so hard. You must be confident you can leave Yan Shi Village?"
Yunxi smiled. "This Lord speaks bluntly because I sympathize with your sister and am therefore willing to make a deal. As for leaving, we have not crossed hands, so it is hard to judge for now. But if you wish to trap this Lord, you may try."
"You…"
"Xiao Meng, mind your manners," Yan Shi said, then cupped his hands to Yunxi. "Daoyou, how should we address you?"
"Haoran Sect's Ran Xi, an ascended cultivator from the Weiyu Realm."
Yan Shi felt the name was familiar, but news to their village was indeed limited, so he could not place it. He could only say courteously, "Ran Xi Daoyou, since you have already guessed the outline, I will not beat around the bush. Would you come forward and retrieve my eldest daughter's heart? I will give you a satisfactory reward."
He placed an ancient-looking storage bangle before Yunxi.
A sweep of Yunxi's divine sense showed it was packed with top-grade spirit stones, several rare forging ores, and the rock beasts unique to Chong'an Mountain. These beasts were treasure head to tail and could be refined into peerless defensive spirit treasures.
Satisfied with the deposit, Yunxi waved her sleeve and put it away, then spoke. "Village Chief Yan, please give this Lord a portrait of the cultivator who deceived your eldest daughter. Also, tell me exactly what form her heart takes. The more specific, the better."
Xiao Meng glanced at the chief, and with his permission, sketched the man's likeness in the air.
"Mmm. He looks righteous enough. Did not expect a hypocrite."
Then Xiao Meng said, "That hypocrite is hiding somewhere, but he must still be in Chong'an City. I sneaked out to ask around. He took my sister's heart to auction and named it the Fortune-Turning Pearl."
The name sounded very familiar to Yunxi. A moment's recall brought it back. Captain Cen Sen of the City Guard Office had mentioned it to her. She had been about to ask for details when news of Mu Zijun's corpse being stolen interrupted them.
"So the Fortune-Turning Pearl is your sister's heart."
"You have heard of it too?"
"Yes. I heard it is one of the only two truly precious lots this time. If we try to snatch it by force, it will be difficult."
Yunxi felt it would be better to buy it with spirit stones.
Xiao Meng bit her lip. "I will go with you. I can lend a hand."
Yan Shi rebuked her in a low voice. "Xiao Meng, do not make trouble. Your cultivation is insufficient. Going out like this is dangerous."
He did not explain what danger he meant, but Yunxi fully understood. So she said casually, "In an auction hall, seizing by force is difficult for a single person. In that case, prepare spirit stones. We will buy it openly. We should be able to secure the Fortune-Turning Pearl. As for returning it to Chong'an Mountain, it may take some time. If a high-level cultivator sets their sights on us, this Lord will have to spend time shaking them off."
She was simply stating the facts.
===
Hey darlings~ ✧.ヾ(｡>﹏<｡)ﾉﾞ
I finally made a Discord server! Sorry if it looks a bit messy or awkward, I've never actually made one before lol.
The main reason I made it is… I just really wanna interact with you all! Maybe I just wanna share updates about my life, something funny I found, or my little thoughts/impressions on the chapter I'm currently translating (aka tiny spoilers wkwkwk) ヾ(≧▽≦*)o And a bunch of other stuff too~
I mean, I can't really do that on Webnovel, right? And AO3 is kinda similar…
Also, since I started uploading on AO3 after hitting the project limit on Webnovel, I kinda ended up with two separate "reader groups" (you know what I mean, right? >w<). So I thought, why not bring everyone together in one cozy place? Plus, it's easier to chat about translations or Webnovel stuff in general.
I'd be super happy if you joined 🥺
75sprU6DdD
See you there~ ✧*.