AVL Chapter 59.1

Fine rain fell at the Medicine Sect.

 

Lady Wan brewed a pot of hot tea and sat in the room, watching through the rolled curtain as light rain struck new leaves in the courtyard—a scene of tranquil solitude.

 

Suddenly, a scream echoed throughout the Medicine Sect.

 

“Ah! Feng Yu calm down! Feng Bushu! Gege!”

 

Xi Jianlan ran frantically into the rain, clutching his head as he fled desperately.

 

Feng Yu didn’t even cast a rain-avoidance seal, carrying his blade as he chased after him, wailing: “I’ll kill you ahhh! You dared to lie to me again! Xi Jianlan, die—!”

 

Xi Jianlan was soaked with rainwater, being chased everywhere. The earring he’d barely managed to snatch back wasn’t properly fastened and bounced around painfully against his earlobe as he jumped about. He said with a mournful face: “I really did want to save your life back then—trust me one more time! Gege! Gege save me!”

 

“Calling me daddy won’t help!” Feng Yu was so angry his hair stood on end. Recalling how he’d believed such nonsense as “rebirth” for so long, he wanted nothing more than to butcher this little swindler. “You haven’t said a single true word to me!”

 

Seeing he couldn’t escape, Xi Jianlan scampered up a tree like a monkey, gripping the trunk as he gasped for breath, his face covered in water: “First, first calm down—I really can explain.”

 

Feng Yu kicked the tree, roaring: “Explain my ass! It’ll just be more lies—not a word of truth!”

 

Lady Wan watched the two confronting each other with emotion, saying: “A-Jue has really become much more mature.”

 

Lezheng Jiu: “…”

 

Being chased up a tree counted as mature?

 

Lezheng Jiu knelt across from Lady Wan with ill humor: “Where’s the maturity? This little swindler acts like telling one true word would kill someone. If we hadn’t been in Zhuxing Zhai together for four years, who would bother with him?”

 

Lady Wan’s hand holding the teacup paused.

 

“Yes,” she said softly. “Whose life would it cost?”

 

Seeing Feng Yu was about to angrily chop down the tree, Xi Jianlan hugged the trunk and shouted: “Lezheng Jiu save me!”

 

Lezheng Jiu wouldn’t save him—getting caught lying deserved being chased.

 

Feng Yu kicked the tree so hard that rainwater from the leaves fell down, soaking them both. He was so angry his lips trembled: “Xi Jue! Come down! Apologize and I won’t pursue this!”

 

Xi Jianlan was scared to death, but for some reason this time he stubbornly stuck his neck out: “I did nothing wrong, I won’t apologize! Just kill me—I didn’t want to live anyway… Ah! Ahhh Sheng Jiao save me! Apologize, right? I’ll apologize then. Feng Bushu, your daddy was wrong, spare daddy!”

 

Feng Yu: “…”

 

Feng Yu was so angry his head buzzed.

 

Just then, a familiar spiritual power approached from far to near.

 

Xi Jianlan pushed aside the wet leaves to look out, his eyes lighting up as if seeing a savior: “Sheng Jiao! Sheng Wuzhuo save me!”

 

Sheng Jiao’s expression was gloomy, his entire being filled with malevolent energy that seemed ready to burst forth. But seeing Xi Jianlan chased up a tree, his brows furrowed slightly and the violent aura instantly dissipated.

 

Lezheng Jiu had been enjoying watching Xi Jianlan’s misfortune, but seeing Sheng Jiao immediately flew into a rage, angrily slapping the table: “Who let him…”

 

Lady Wan said lightly: “I did.”

 

Lezheng Jiu immediately wilted.

 

With this lifeline arriving, Xi Jianlan immediately jumped down from the tree, stumbling to barely steady himself before rushing forward with whimpering complaints: “Sheng Wuzhuo save me, Feng Yu really plans to kill me!”

 

Sheng Jiao watched him run behind himself with a dark expression, slightly raising his hand to block him as he looked coldly at Feng Yu.

 

Feng Yu was soaked all over, jumping with anger: “Get lost! This is a private grudge between me and Xi Jue!”

 

Xi Jianlan shivered from cold but remained stubborn: “I really was trying to save you…”

 

Feng Yu roared until his voice was hoarse: “Then you should have just said so directly! Did you need to beat around the bush? Rebirth? Bah! That’s as ridiculous as saying Sheng Jiao is deeply infatuated with you and forced himself on you—complete nonsense!”

 

Sheng Jiao: “…”

 

Xi Jianlan said nothing.

 

Feng Yu rushed forward to grab Xi Jianlan.

 

Xi Jianlan clung tightly to Sheng Jiao’s arm. Seeing him remain silent, his eyes rolled as he used the same old trick from when Feng Yu chased him years ago: “‘Exchange for Bright Moon’! Whatever happens happens—Sheng Jiao…”

 

Sheng Jiao’s brows furrowed tightly, an inexplicable trace of anger rising in his heart—he hardly knew what anger was, all emotions forced out by Xi Jianlan. This sudden appearance left him unable to identify what it was.

 

He only knew it made him uncomfortable all over.

 

He was already blocking Xi Jianlan’s path, yet Xi Jianlan still wouldn’t believe he would save him.

 

Just like how he’d always firmly believed Sheng Jiao would kill him.

 

Sheng Jiao rarely didn’t resist, allowing Xi Jianlan to use “Exchange for Bright Moon.”

 

If Xi Jianlan felt using “whatever happens happens” would give him peace of mind, then so be it.

 

The moment this thought emerged, Sheng Jiao’s mind froze with a sudden bad premonition.

 

…But it was too late.

 

Xi Jianlan’s “whatever happens happens” had already been spoken, but what he’d intended as “Sheng Jiao save me” became:

 

“Sheng Jiao—Spirit Binding!”

 

The familiar sensation of bound spiritual power instantly swept through his entire body. The Great Ascension stage Sect Master Sheng was once again trapped by the small “whatever happens happens,” his spiritual power completely restrained.

 

Sheng Jiao: “………..”

 

Feng Yu was also stunned, not understanding what Xi Jianlan was trying to pull.

 

After succeeding, Xi Jianlan probably didn’t dare look at Sheng Jiao’s cold expression. He timidly ran out from behind Sheng Jiao and skillfully put his arm around Feng Yu’s shoulders.

 

“It’s just an apology, right? Sorry, sorry, I was wrong. Gege, forgive me this once—I definitely won’t do this again next time.”

 

Feng Yu: “?”

 

“You…” Feng Yu said incredulously, “Why did you randomly bind Sheng Jiao’s spiritual power?”

 

Xi Jianlan read his lip movements and said with a grin: “Didn’t you see his Tianyan Pearls?”

 

Feng Yu looked back and saw that with Sheng Jiao’s spiritual power bound, the Tianyan Pearls had indeed dimmed.

 

“What?”

 

“Just now I saw…” Xi Jianlan said lightly, “the Tianyan Pearls became sixty.”

 

Feng Yu was shocked: “Yours?”

 

“Mm.”

 

Now Feng Yu vigilantly pulled Xi Jianlan behind him, looking at Sheng Jiao with wariness: “Changxing said you already found Xi Minghuai’s memories—do those memories contain Xi Jue?”

 

Sheng Jiao’s eyes were ice-cold: “Xi Minghuai’s memories were tampered with.”

 

Xi Jianlan said: “Do you suspect me? But after I took the memories from ‘Encountering Peach Blossoms,’ I had no spiritual power at all—how could I have tampered with them?”

 

But Sheng Jiao said: “I mean, they were tampered with six years ago.”

 

Xi Jianlan froze.

 

Feng Yu protectively said: “Then wait until Bu Yin arrives to discuss this. He’s skilled in formations and mechanisms—if those memories were really tampered with, he’d definitely be able to tell. Don’t convict people based on speculation alone with that broken pearl. Do you want to be like the previous Xiezhi Sect master and drag people to the sect for interrogation and punishment?”

 

Sheng Jiao’s five fingers curled.

 

Xi Jianlan said emotionally: “Bushu gege!”

 

Feng Yu glared at him: “I’ll settle accounts with you later for lying to me.”

 

Xi Jianlan: “…”

 

The three confronted each other in the rain. Lady Wan said helplessly: “Jue’er, don’t get soaked. Come back quickly—I’m preparing to cure your poison.”

 

Xi Jianlan felt like he’d received a great pardon and hurriedly ran back.

 

Feng Yu glared at Sheng Jiao and followed, shouting: “Lady, you only care about Jue’er—don’t you care about me?”

 

Lady Wan laughed continuously: “I care, I care about everyone.”

 

Sheng Jiao stood alone in the rain. His rain-avoidance seal had failed, and his black robes were soaked through.

 

Lezheng Jiu stared at him coldly through the rain curtain. Only after Xi Jianlan and Lady Wan left did he speak indifferently: “Back then, I refined spirit pills for you to forcibly break through to Void Return realm to help you enter Xiezhi Sect and save A-Jue.”

 

Sheng Jiao remained silent.

 

“If not for your ‘Exexute’ character Tianyan Pearl back then, Xiezhi Sect wouldn’t have found an excuse to arrest A-Jue for interrogation.” Lezheng Jiu said coldly, “You know in your heart why he fears your Tianyan Pearls.”

 

Sheng Jiao said nothing.

 

Lezheng Jiu was too lazy to chat with this stuffy gourd, leaving behind: “The spirit pills for entering Void Return realm cost three hundred thousand—as agreed, pay me back quickly so we’re even.”

 

He was about to leave with a flick of his sleeves.

 

Sheng Jiao finally spoke: “Rang Chen said that this summer, Xi Jue will die under the Tianyan Pearls’ heavenly punishment.”

 

Lezheng Jiu’s steps halted as he turned back in alarm.

 

“What?”

 

“This heavenly secret still remains.” Sheng Jiao spoke the longest sentence he’d ever said to Lezheng Jiu. “Someone is guiding me to trace the Xi family matter back to Xi Jue.”

 

Lezheng Jiu rushed into the rain, shouting sternly: “You clearly know this matter has nothing to do with him! Even though Lady treats A-Jue so well, the entire Xi family practically spoiled him rotten, letting him be domineering and arrogant…”

 

“Is that so?” Sheng Jiao said coldly, “Then do you know that Xi Jue was once punished by Lady Zong to kneel for three days in heavy snow?”

 

Lezheng Jiu froze, looking at Sheng Jiao in disbelief.

 

“When did this happen?”

 

“Not long after he was frightened out of his wits by thunder.”

 

Little Xi Jue had been so spoiled precisely because Lady Zong doted on him too much, always cleaning up his messes no matter what happened. Over time, this had shaped his arrogant and domineering temperament that all of Central State detested.

 

What could have happened to make Lady Zong steel her heart to punish the frail little Xi Jue so severely?

 

The two fell silent, with only the sound of pattering rain.

 

After a while, Lezheng Jiu asked in a low voice: “Who exactly did you see in Xi Minghuai’s memories?”

 

Sheng Jiao’s words were like ice: “Wen Gubai.”

 

Lezheng Jiu was shocked, instinctively saying: “Impossible!”

 

After the Xi family was slaughtered, the Tianyan spiritual vein beneath the earth’s veins was completely looted. Wen Gubai was a cultivator who had reached Void Return realm through his own cultivation without an awakened xiangwen—even if he obtained Tianyan, he’d have nowhere to use it.

 

Moreover, Wen Gubai was only at Spirit Transformation realm at the time—he couldn’t possibly have slaughtered the entire Xi family overnight.

 

Sheng Jiao said coldly: “Someone conspired with him.”

 

He just didn’t know if it was Xi Jianlan.

 

Lezheng Jiu’s brows furrowed tightly, his head nearly exploding.

 

The Xi family matter involving Xi Jianlan was already shocking enough—how had Wen Gubai suddenly become implicated too?

 

Lezheng Jiu rubbed his temples: “What else did Wuxia say?”

 

“The thirteenth xiangwen… has already appeared.”

 

Xi Jianlan changed clothes again and was pulled by Lady Wan to sit on a soft couch. A small table nearby was filled with Yutan flowers, Yinhua Rao, and a pile of miscellaneous spirit herbs whose names he couldn’t identify.

 

With the Tianyan Pearls losing their spiritual power supply, Xi Jianlan’s ears fell into deathly silence.

 

If he were in front of others, he would definitely force himself to stay alert and hide his condition. But with only Lady Wan in the spacious room, he simply sat there spacing out, silently staring at the rain curtain outside in a daze.

 

Lady Wan finished preparing the herbs and glanced sideways to see Xi Jianlan’s unfocused, vacant eyes. Her heart suddenly ached.

 

She sat down and touched Xi Jianlan’s head, saying gently: “What are you thinking about?”

 

Xi Jianlan said quietly: “The Northern Territory doesn’t have as much rain as Central State.”

 

Lady Wan smiled: “The Southern Territory has more rain—sometimes it can rain for a whole month. Did you live in the Southern Territory for a while these past years?”

 

“Mm.” Xi Jianlan said vaguely, “When I was killing the Qu family elder, he was so hard to kill that I hid for a long time.”

 

Lady Wan burst out laughing: “Anyone else you need to kill?”

 

Xi Jianlan seemed a bit dazed, blinking as he carefully read Lady Wan’s lip movements. After a while, he smiled and said: “I’ve killed almost everyone. There’s one left—I can kill him in a few days.”

 

Lady Wan touched his head: “You really don’t need my help?”

 

“No need.” Xi Jianlan shook his head.

 

Lady Wan said nothing more and watched the rain curtain outside with him.

 

Xi Jianlan’s deadly poison had just flared up, and he’d been caught in the rain twice in a row. His meridians were burning with dense, rolling heat. Soon he was feverish and confused, his consciousness hazy.

 

He’d been spirited about killing people just moments ago, but somehow suddenly felt inexplicably tired. Staring at the rain curtain, he mumbled:

 

“Mother, when will the rain stop? I want to go out and play.”

 

Lady Wan was adding Yutan flowers to the medicine. Hearing this, she said gently: “Missing your mother?”

 

Xi Jianlan didn’t see what she said. His pupils stared vacantly at the rain curtain for a long time before suddenly lowering his gaze. Without warning, two streams of tears slid down from the corners of his eyes.

 

 

Lady Wan’s heart softened. She set down the medicine and gently held him in her arms, coaxing him like a child: “The rain will stop soon. When it stops, our Jianlan can go out and play.”

 

Xi Jianlan’s shoulders trembled slightly, his eyes vacant for a long time before he gently reached out to grasp Lady Wan’s sleeve.

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