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Chapter 428: Chapter 14 Zi Ling’er
"I’ll go and have a look with that Taoist..." said the Fire Qilin.
Lin Feng nodded his head.
The Fire Qilin naturally had its own plans.
...
Lin Feng, however, glided toward the front. Some disciples were patrolling the area and from afar, he could hear their cursing voices, "Damn it, sending us to patrol the Yin Mountain, it’s so eerie here at night. That Zhang Hui is really something, relying on his uncle being an elder in the sect, just so a few of those bootlickers who suck up to him get transferred away from Yin Mountain and change positions with us, it’s utterly detestable."
"Sigh, what can we do since we have no power or influence within the Qingyang Sect? For now, we can only stand guard at Yin Mountain and see if we can curry favor with any core disciples. Hopefully, the senior brothers we suck up to will get us out of this damned place."
Another disciple said.
Yin Mountain was the place where the Qingyang Sect buried their ancestors, it had always been regarded by cultivators as an inauspicious place. Even for patrolling duties, Yin Mountain was the last place anyone wanted to be assigned. Naturally, the best spot for patrolling was near the entrance of the mountain.
If guests came to visit, most of them would offer some Spirit Stones as a reward. If someone powerful and generous happened to visit, a casual gift could be several high-grade Spiritual Stones, which was a significant resource.
Lin Feng avoided these patrolling disciples and entered the mountain range ahead which belonged to the Qingyang Sect. Between these mountains, there were layered palaces, many of which were enveloped in Dragon Qi. The spiritual energy here was clearly much richer than outside, likely related to the Dragon Vein.
And the Qingyang Sect’s Spirit Array Masters must have also arranged powerful Spirit Arrays to absorb the nature’s spiritual energy. As many converges of spiritual energy gathered here, this place naturally was an excellent cultivation site.
"Who are you?" Suddenly, a cold shout came, and a disciple flew over on a sword, seeing Lin Feng wearing a straw hat and couldn’t help feeling very surprised, thus he asked coldly.
"And who are you?" Lin Feng’s eyebrows slightly raised as he immediately retorted.
The disciple was startled by Lin Feng’s tough stance and thought to himself, "Could he be from the Martial Soul Hall?" With this thought, he began to sweat profusely. He jumped down from his flying sword and said, "My name is Fan Qiangfu, an Inner Sect Disciple of the Qingyang Sect, may I have the honor of knowing this senior brother’s name?"
Lin Feng observed the disciple’s sudden change in attitude and suddenly remembered the people from Martial Soul Hall who had come to the Qingyang Sect. Could this disciple have mistaken him for someone from Martial Soul Hall? 𝔫𝖔𝔳𝖕𝖚𝔟.𝔠𝔬𝖒
"Right, I have a Martial Soul Token."
A thought struck Lin Feng, and he took out the token, giving it a shake in front of Fan Qiangfu.
"Martial Soul Hall... Core Disciple Token."
Seeing the token, Fan Qiangfu’s face turned pale with fear.
"Just an inner sect disciple and already so arrogant, is this the way of the Qingyang Sect?" Lin Feng immediately scolded coldly.
Fan Qiangfu trembled with fear, repeatedly saying, "Senior brother, it’s all a misunderstanding, all a misunderstanding..."
Lin Feng said, "I will ask you one thing, and if you answer well, I’ll forgive you for your disrespect."
Fan Qiangfu hurriedly said, "As long as it’s within my knowledge, I’ll surely tell you everything."
"Do you know Zixiao?" Lin Feng asked.
Fan Qiangfu nodded repeatedly, saying, "I do, I do. However, I am not well-acquainted with Zixiao, and moreover, Zixiao has been dead for some time now. It is said that she met with an accident and died tragically in the Eternal Demon Mountain."
Lin Feng couldn’t help but sigh, always troubled by Zixiao’s death. He continued to ask, "Zixiao had a sister, do you know where she might be?"
"Are you talking about Zi Ling’er, Senior Brother? I know, I know," Fan Qiangfu hurriedly replied.
"Take me to her," Lin Feng said.
"Follow me, Senior Brother," Fan Qiangfu stepped onto a flying sword and directed it towards the distance.
Lin Feng also rose into the air and, alongside Fan Qiangfu, flew towards the far reaches.
Outer Disciples’ living quarters.
"Ling’er, Xue Zhenghao is here again, you’d better hide quickly."
A young female disciple clad in green hurried into a different courtyard and said to a girl who appeared to be eleven or twelve.
Despite the girl’s young age, she had a slender figure and a face of delicate beauty, though her expression was extremely haggard.
"Thank you for letting me know, Sister," Zi Ling’er, her face pale, thanked her before running out of the courtyard and into the nearby woods. She hid in a small cave, shivering uncontrollably.
She didn’t know how many times she had hidden here to avoid Xue Zhenghao. Her small body curled up, trembling slightly, she seemed incredibly helpless in the dark.
Whoosh...
Soon enough, a young man around twenty years old arrived and entered the courtyard.
"Where is Zi Ling’er?" the young man asked, his face dark and grim.
The green-clad young woman who had urged Zi Ling’er to hide said, "Ling’er, Junior Sister Ling’er went into the woods for cultivation and hasn’t yet returned."
"Not returned? What a coincidence. Didn’t I tell you to inform her to wait here for me a month ago when I started my closed-door cultivation? And now she’s gone to cultivate again? Is she really cultivating, or is she deliberately avoiding me?"
This young man was the "Xue Zhenghao" mentioned by the green-clad disciple.
Xue Zhenghao was a Core Disciple at the Martial King Realm First Layer Heaven! He held a significant status within the Qingyang Sect, and after Zixiao’s death, his advancement to the Martial King Realm elevated his position even further.
Yet Xue Zhenghao hadn’t forgotten the conflict with Zixiao; he still harbored resentment against him. Since he couldn’t retaliate against Zixiao, he turned his attention to Zixiao’s sister, who was not only young but also very beautiful.
After his breakthrough, the first thing Xue Zhenghao did was beseech the sect elders to grant him Zixiao’s sister as his own, and they didn’t refuse. Thus, Zixiao’s sister was given to Xue Zhenghao, a man worse than a beast, who, six months prior, had attempted to defile the eleven-year-old Zi Ling’er.
Zi Ling’er almost suffered humiliation, but fortunately, someone passed by at the right time, and she took the chance to flee. Although Zi Ling’er had been given to Xue Zhenghao, she was just eleven, and thus, his beastly intentions were somewhat restrained due to the unseemly nature of his actions and the dissatisfaction they stirred among some of the higher-ups. This was the reason why Xue Zhenghao hadn’t acted on his vile impulses... yet.
Zi Ling’er had managed to escape back to the Outer Court to avoid Xue Zhenghao’s clutches, and he, busy with rigorous training under an elder, hadn’t had much time nor opportunity to pursue her further, sparing her from his abuse for the time being.
But now, with his training over, Xue Zhenghao remembered Zi Ling’er’s exquisite beauty, and evil thoughts once again began to burgeon within him.
In Xue Zhenghao’s eyes, his rising status within the sect now made it possible for him to act on his desires towards Zi Ling’er.
Those who opposed his actions within the sect before could now be silenced, considering his current elevated position.
