The Heroine Made a Pact With Senior Sister (GL) Chapter 30

In an instant, deep yin energy swept through the whole room. Although the sunlight outside the window was still bright, everyone present felt as if a night wind had slipped coldly through the paper windows. The arm Mu Yinfeng held trembled, and the brand on the skin grew darker. One could even faintly see flowing golden light within the red.
So it really was like this.
Mu Yinfeng put one hand behind her back and secretly made a gesture to Ruoying. Ruoying understood and quietly slipped out of the room. Because Mu Yinfeng blocked Madam Xu’s view of Ruoying, Madam Xu did not notice Ruoying suddenly leave.
Mu Yinfeng let out a breath of relief, then glanced at Huixue. She had meant to tell Huixue to stay alert. But unexpectedly, Huixue stepped forward. At the same time, Tianbing darted to Mu Yinfeng’s waist and yanked her backward hard, nearly pulling her off her feet.
“Senior Sister, what are you doing?” Nine times out of ten, what Tianbing did was at Huixue’s instruction. Mu Yinfeng stumbled several times before steadying herself and looked at Huixue in confusion.
“What kind of conduct is it for you to hold her hand?” Huixue scolded in a low voice. For some reason, she added, “She is a proper madam of a household!”
Senior Sister, who had never cared much about status, had actually said something like this? Mu Yinfeng was slightly shocked. If Huixue had not been by her side the entire time and controlled Tianbing so skillfully, Mu Yinfeng might have suspected her Senior Sister had been possessed by something.
“It is no trouble, no trouble.” Madam Xu hurriedly said, while pulling her hand back. “A few days ago, a maid was careless and accidentally splashed hot soup on this humble woman’s wrist. Thank you, immortal master, for worrying about me. Just now… just now, why did this humble woman feel so cold? Is the weather changing?”
“I probed Third Young Lady’s room a little just now. Madam need not worry.” Mu Yinfeng’s voice was very light. “If Madam feels the room is cold, you may go out for a walk.”
Madam Xu was clearly somewhat nervous, and even her voice trembled faintly. “Could there be something in Qin’s room?”
“Madam, do not worry. There is nothing…”
“Nothing?” Huixue suddenly interrupted Mu Yinfeng. Her gaze landed on the curtain. She drew in with spiritual energy from her palm and pulled over a flying insect from the curtain.
Mu Yinfeng craned her neck to look. The insect in Huixue’s palm was frozen in ice. Its whole body was pitch-black, with one red dot on each wing.
“This is Spirit-Destroying Insect Gu, a very ancient gu art. And it never appears alone.” Mu Yinfeng stretched out two fingers and pinched the insect. Spiritual energy moved between her fingers, and the ice wrapped around the insect turned into icy powder that fell with a soft rustle. “And because it naturally has the effect of blocking spiritual energy, is it not normal that it could not be detected?”
Spirit-Destroying Insect Gu was a strange gu art in this world. Spirit-destroying insects were soaked in a specially made medicine for forty-nine days, forcing many spirit-destroying insects to kill one another. The last one left was called the mother gu. The mother gu reproduced with extreme speed and could give birth to tens of thousands of gu insects in a short moment. Although these gu insects could not cause real physical harm to people, they were enough to make a cultivator who touched them lose spiritual energy and become an ordinary person for twenty-four hours.
Because the mother gu could reproduce so quickly, the gu insects could never be completely killed. Only by killing the mother gu could the Spirit-Destroying Insect Gu be broken. But the mother gu was often hidden in an extremely secret place and was almost impossible to find. Because of that, Spirit-Destroying Insect Gu was nearly unsolvable.
Huixue was speechless. “From your tone, you think this is easy?”
“Not easy.” Mu Yinfeng looked at the ceiling. “Facts prove that we are already surrounded by spirit-destroying insects.”
“Indeed,” Huixue agreed.
The ceiling was now covered densely with black insects. Layer upon layer of insects wriggled, flew in all directions, and piled up so thickly that the sight dazzled the eyes. Mu Yinfeng nearly felt sick from the dense swarm.
“This… this, this, what is going on?” Madam Xu backed away and screamed. Her breathing was extremely rapid, and her voice was full of terror, as if she were about to faint. “These insects… what are they… how did they get in?”
Mu Yinfeng had wanted to step forward, but Huixue was one step faster and supported Madam Xu. At the same time, flakes of frost spread beneath Huixue’s feet. A light blue glow bloomed outward with Huixue at the center, raising a plain and pure dome of ice and snow.
By then, the gu insects above had already noticed Huixue’s movement. They quickly gathered toward the ice-snow dome. Their buzzing wings could be heard clearly even through the thick ice cover. Most frightening of all, Huixue’s ice-snow dome was slowly melting in the sound of the gu insects’ wings.
“Spirit-Destroying Insect Gu can dissolve things formed from spiritual energy, Senior Sister.” Mu Yinfeng spoke slowly. She gently raised one hand. Dark spiritual energy flowed around her fingers, faint and eerie, showing a strange and solemn killing air. She slowly walked toward Huixue and gently wrapped her arms around Huixue from behind.
“What are you doing?” Huixue was maintaining the ice-snow dome and had no time to dodge Mu Yinfeng. She was directly held by Mu Yinfeng.
“Nothing.” Mu Yinfeng said softly. Her chin rested on Huixue’s shoulder. Misty energy spread around her and slowly rotated with her as the center. She raised her eyes toward the dumbstruck Madam Xu before her, a faint smile in her gaze. “Now, Madam, can you tell me the truth?”
“This humble woman, this humble woman has already told the immortal masters everything. What else does the immortal master wish to ask…”
“Naturally, I wish to ask what Your Excellency means by doing this.” Mu Yinfeng looked at Madam Xu seriously. “As a Heaven-grade Mao rank, you clearly had many chances. Why make things so troublesome? Or does Your Excellency simply enjoy such troublesome methods?”
She had long seen that something was wrong with the Madam Xu before her. But because the other party was a Heaven-grade Mao rank, it would naturally be unwise to startle the snake rashly. So she could only secretly arrange a plan and pass this information to Ruoying and Huixue.
First, the layout of the Xu residence was clearly wrong. The arrangement of its gardens and rooms used an array that strongly countered outside ghosts. It was an ancient and clever array said to be best at suppressing evil. Even a Heaven-grade Mao rank entering the Xu residence would have its strength greatly reduced, and ordinary evil beings would not dare provoke it lightly. The most frightening thing about the Xu residence was the plaque they had seen when they entered. Although yin and evil energy crisscrossed the plaque, it also contained an even stronger upright, evil-repelling aura. Even the evil energy of a Heaven-grade Mao rank could not suppress it.
That plaque should have been made from the ancient divine tree Fusang. It contained upright primordial yang true-fire energy. As long as the plaque stood there suppressing the place, evil beings would usually flee at the sound of the wind. Even Heaven-grade evil beings could only contend with it if they were at Yi grade or above. But that was only true of an intact plaque. Although this plaque looked complete to the naked eye, a careful probe revealed that the middle of the Fusang divine wood had already been hollowed out. The whole plaque had become an empty shell. The wounds inside the plaque were still very new, no more than half a year old. This half year happened to be the period when strange events kept appearing in the Xu residence.
The Xu family had moved here five or six years ago, while rumors of a vengeful ghost causing trouble had only spread during these past six months. But according to Mu Yinfeng’s scan of Squire Xu’s memories, Squire Xu’s memories showed signs of being altered by outside force, and more than once. The first alteration had been around fourteen years ago.
This meant that if an evil being had caused chaos in the Xu family, it should have begun as early as fourteen years ago. Madam Xu had also married into the Xu family as a second wife fourteen years ago. That timing was quite subtle.
Not only that, when the Xu family’s Third Young Lady, Xu Qin, first came out from behind the screen, her eyes revealed deep terror and helplessness. At first, Mu Yinfeng thought Xu Qin was afraid of strangers, but thinking carefully, Xu Qin’s eyes had been very clear then. She looked nothing like the scattered, foolish girl she became after Madam Xu hugged her.
Besides that, Madam Xu’s eyesight was far too sharp. She could actually be certain that Ruoying, who looked like a child, was the leader of the three of them. Although great households had seen more of the world, they still dealt with cultivators only rarely. Moreover, if the Xu family had any friendship with cultivators, they would not have had to seek help through Guiyuan Tower.
These things had only raised Mu Yinfeng’s suspicion at first. What truly settled it was the brand on Madam Xu’s arm. It was not a burn from hot soup, as Madam Xu claimed, but a demon-suppressing seal. It was usually used to suppress the most evil beings, those with the strongest yin and evil energy. Although an evil being whose cultivation exceeded the seal’s strength could break free from the seal’s restraints, the seal would remain forever on the evil being’s body, like an eternal mark.
“These are your thoughts? You judge that I am the evil being based on this?” Madam Xu stood and smiled again. “Immortal master is young. Your words are rather careless. That will not do in the future.”
“The red dance costume,” Huixue, who had been silent all this time, suddenly said. “I have seen that red dance costume before.”
Mu Yinfeng was startled.
“The Scarlet Flame Robe. It was made by the same person as Tianbing silk, but in the end, they belonged to two different forces.” Huixue looked straight into Madam Xu’s eyes. “The Scarlet Flame Robe went to the Sun Jian Clan of the Southern Domain. You are the final heir of the Jian clan, Fourth Miss Jian, Jian Shu. Correct?”
Huixue knew this evil being? Mu Yinfeng did not know what to say. She clearly held the script in her hands, but she still could not compare with someone else’s wide network. Any random evil being could turn out to be connected to Huixue somehow.
“Fifty years ago, in the ancient Yongri Kingdom of the Southern Frontier, the entire Jian clan was executed. The Xu family entered the capital as officials precisely because they won military merit. The one who led troops into the Jian family back then should have been Squire Xu.” Huixue sighed. “At that time, the Northern Domain heard of this and also tried to save the situation, but the Northern Domain also encountered some…”
At that moment, there was a faint cracking sound. Mu Yinfeng only felt the gloomy evil energy become dozens of times denser than before. A moment ago, it had been a thin stream. Now, it was like a towering wave rushing toward them. Mu Yinfeng lost her balance for a moment and instinctively hugged Huixue tighter to keep steady.
“How long do you plan to keep holding me?” Huixue’s voice by her ear sounded a little impatient.
Hearing Huixue say that, Mu Yinfeng could only awkwardly let go and obediently stand aside, not daring to move around. Only then did she discover that she had wrinkled Huixue’s Snow Silk Robe.
But now was not the time to pay attention to clothes, because Madam Xu before them had already undergone an earth-shaking change. When the old and haggard face faded away, what appeared before them was a charming and beautiful face. Her long hair was styled into two buns, one on each side, each fixed with a phoenix hairpin. Several strands of hair fell beside cheeks as white as jade. Her brows were delicate and long, reaching toward her temples. Her eyes were bright and lively. Although her body gave off dense yin and evil energy, it still made one think of the fierce heat of flame.
“I did not expect an old acquaintance to return.” Madam Xu’s voice had also changed. Just now, it had been elegant, gentle, and dignified like a great household’s lady. Now, it was the sweet voice of a young girl, but inside that sweetness was endless age and sorrow, enough to stir pity in others almost at once. “There are already very few who remember the Jian family of the Southern Domain.”
Mu Yinfeng felt that although Huixue still seemed calm as usual, Huixue’s emotions were not stable. She quietly slipped her hand into Huixue’s and clearly felt Huixue’s hand trembling slightly. The evil being before them did not show strong hostility, so Mu Yinfeng did not move and waited for the evil being to finish speaking.
“I do not mean to blame you. The Northern Domain was being harassed by the heavenly realm then, so protecting itself was normal. After the War of the Three Realms, without the protection of Lord True Monarch, we would soon become abandoned pieces.” Her voice was thin and still full of sorrow. “The Jian family of the ancient Yongri Kingdom had already declined. But because of Lord True Monarch, the Jian family still held the position of national teacher. What this brought was not honor, but disaster.”
“The Vermilion Bird bloodline in the Jian family grew thinner with every generation. By my father’s generation, it had nearly faded into ordinary blood. Father and my sisters were all like that. Although I do not know why I unexpectedly developed the same Vermilion Bird body as our ancestor, that could not reverse the situation. The Vermilion Bird body only fully awakens at age fifteen and inherits all the Vermilion Bird’s gifts. But on my fifteenth birthday, it was this General Xu who led troops to wash the entire Jian family in blood. Father, Mother, and my three elder sisters had all received the cleansing of Soul-Cleansing Music since childhood, so they could not become vengeful ghosts. I, because I had to inherit the Vermilion Bird body, had not been cleansed.”
In an instant, the surrounding evil energy grew stronger again, faintly trending toward losing control. Mu Yinfeng’s heart tightened. But Jian Shu before her looked normal, even holding a faint smile at the corner of her mouth, without the slightest sign of anything wrong. Only then did Mu Yinfeng relax a little. If a Heaven-grade Mao rank lost control here, the consequences would be unimaginable.
“At that time, I had already transformed halfway. There should be precedents in the cultivation world. A cultivator gives up all cultivation and falls into the path of a vengeful ghost. Afterward, if she dies again, her soul scatters forever and she can never be reborn.” A fierce resolve appeared deep in Jian Shu’s eyes. “After becoming a vengeful ghost, I entered the mountains and cultivated quietly for several decades. When I left the mountains, I was already what you call a Heaven-grade Mao rank. So I infiltrated the Xu family to avenge the destruction of my Jian clan.”
“Then why wait until now to act? You had the chance fourteen years ago.” Mu Yinfeng did not understand.
“Because the strength of a Heaven-grade Mao rank still cannot destroy this sinful country. Someone told me that fourteen years later, a person with a primordial yin body would come here…” Jian Shu’s gaze slowly landed on Mu Yinfeng’s face. “That is you.”
They had finally entered the main line. Although these words were clearly unfriendly, Mu Yinfeng still let out a breath of relief. “So you hid for so many years just to wait for me? But how did you know I would come?”
Hearing this, Huixue instinctively blocked in front of her. Tianbing curled around Huixue’s wrist like a little snake, moving without wind, ready to strike.
In the original plot, the original owner being quiet to the point of saying almost nothing was a serious flaw. She would fight directly without a word and never ask about causes or consequences. This had given Mu Yinfeng a great headache, because she had never been that kind of nearly battle-crazed abnormal person.
“I did not know it would be you. But I had already waited this long. I could wait longer.” Jian Shu sighed. “But I feel I waited correctly. With the primordial yin power in your body, it is enough for me to rise to Yin rank. Yin rank can already do many things.”
“…” Mu Yinfeng had never seen anyone make devouring a person sound so fresh and refined. She steadied herself. “Then what do you plan to do afterward? Wipe out the household?”
“I will wipe out the household first, then devour you. Facts prove that devouring amid hatred is more effective for an evil being like me, born from hatred. I am very sorry, but I have no choice.” Jian Shu turned away, her voice even softer. “Huixue, I will not hurt you. As long as you leave her behind, I can guarantee that you and that old woman who looks like a girl will leave safely. Although I can feel that old woman is very strong, I think she should still be no match for me.”
That was indeed true. From the beginning, none of them had thought they could beat Jian Shu one-on-one. After all, the rating of Heaven-grade Mao rank stood there. In the entire cultivation world, the one who could defeat such an evil being one-on-one was probably Mu Yinfeng after adulthood, with the support of the Changyin Pearl.
“Who told you?” Mu Yinfeng decided to ask one final question. “This person who could predict what would happen fourteen years later. Who was she?”
“Is that very important?” Jian Shu smiled beautifully. “If you ask who she was, I actually cannot remember. But I still remember her spiritual artifact. It looked very much like the blood vine on your wrist. I was thinking just now, could there be some relationship between you?”
“What?” Mu Yinfeng was shocked and exchanged a look with Huixue. The same name appeared before both of their eyes at once.