After Transmigrating into a Book as Cannon Fodder, I Pampered the Villain - Chapter 60

Chapter 60: Venting

She had several spiritual mineral veins with which she could provide for Yu Yingxia.

“Knock, knock, knock.” Teng Yuelan tapped on Yan Huaixi’s door, holding an urgent report.

“Enter,” Yan Huaixi’s voice drifted from within.

Teng Yuelan stepped inside. The lighting in the room was dim, and Yan Huaixi’s expression was even gloomier. Teng Yuelan’s footsteps faltered slightly.

The Master appeared to be in a foul mood, and the news she was about to deliver was far from good.

“Master, there is a problem with our spiritual mineral vein at Dream Ridge.”

Yan Huaixi’s icy gaze swept over, sending a chill from the soles of Teng Yuelan’s feet through her entire body.

Yan Huaixi held several mineral veins, the largest of which was the one at Dream Ridge.

The Master was already in a bad mood, yet some people just had to pick this moment to stir up trouble; one could only say they were tired of living.

“People from the Earth Fiend Sect have surrounded our mineral vein and kidnapped some of our people. However, they haven’t breached our barrier yet, so they haven’t managed to steal anything.”

“Earth Fiend Sect?” Yan Huaixi searched through her memory but couldn’t find a matching sect. “What kind of thing is that?”

“You may not know, but it’s a sect newly established near Dream Ridge a few years ago. Although it’s a new sect, the Sect Leader and elders all came out of the Demon Prison Trials, so they have some modicum of ability.”

The “Demon Prison Trials” Teng Yuelan mentioned was a secret realm located at the northernmost tip of the Northern Region of the cultivation world. It was the site where a Demon Venerable had fallen. That Demon Venerable had been incredibly powerful in life but never found a suitable heir. Thus, he set up trials within his own tomb. Anyone who could walk out alive even if they didn’t become the heir—would see their strength vastly improved, and if lucky, they might encounter treasures.

This trial was extremely dangerous. Anyone who emerged alive was no simpleton; among demonic cultivators, it was a symbol of strength.

Had the Hall Masters not been unable to handle this matter, Teng Yuelan would not have disturbed the recuperating Yan Huaixi.

Yan Huaixi let out a low, dark laugh. These people had come at the perfect time. She happened to have a breath of frustration suppressed in her chest. Although the things happening on her end could only be considered “lifting a stone to drop it on her own feet,” no one would turn down a conveniently timed punching bag.

It was at this moment that Yu Yingxia walked in carrying sweet soup. The moment Yan Huaixi saw her, the gloom on her face vanished instantly.

“What has upset Sister?” Yu Yingxia asked as she placed the bowl in Yan Huaixi’s hands.

Teng Yuelan silently retreated two steps. Nowadays, only this Miss Yu could so easily quell the Master’s rage. In the past, such a thing was unthinkable.

“Nothing much, just a group of people trying to rob my spiritual mineral vein,” Yan Huaixi said, pulling Yu Yingxia to sit beside her.

Yu Yingxia sucked in a breath of cold air. Who? Did they have a death wish? They actually dared to rob the mineral vein of the big villain boss?

“Is it difficult to handle?” Yu Yingxia thought there would likely be a clash between the two sides.

“Just a bunch of eyeless trash. It’s not difficult; I can settle it quickly. Are you staying home… or coming with me?” Yan Huaixi originally didn’t want Yu Yingxia to endure the travel, but the thought of Yan Zheng still trying to exploit her made Yan Huaixi worry. What if something happened while she wasn’t by Yu Yingxia’s side?

Although Yu Yingxia felt she wouldn’t be able to help and might even hold her back, Yan Huaixi’s expression was full of anticipation. She felt that Yan Huaixi really wanted her to go along.

“I’ll… go with Sister,” Yu Yingxia agreed tentatively.

Sure enough, Yan Huaixi looked like a satisfied cat, her joy impossible to hide.

She stirred the sweet soup with a spoon, then scooped a spoonful and fed it to Yu Yingxia.

Teng Yuelan wanted to point out that with Yu Yingxia’s cultivation level, going there would be somewhat dangerous. After all, every enemy combatant involved in this dispute was several major realms higher than Yu Yingxia.

But seeing Yan Huaixi’s expression, she silently swallowed her words. As long as the Master was happy, she would just arrange for more people to protect Miss Yu’s safety.

Based on her knowledge of Yan Huaixi, Teng Yuelan was prepared to fetch a new spoon. After all, Yu Yingxia had used this one, and in the past, Yan Huaixi would never have reused it.

However, before she could move, Yan Huaixi began drinking with that same porcelain spoon, even praising Yu Yingxia’s culinary skills for having improved.

Her movements were entirely natural, and Yu Yingxia showed no strange expression. It clearly wasn’t the first time.

Teng Yuelan silently looked away. It seemed the rumors circulating in the valley lately weren’t without a factual basis.

“Teng Yuelan, go make the arrangements. We depart shortly,” Yan Huaixi told her.

“Yes.” Receiving the order, Teng Yuelan went out to organize.

In a short while, Teng Yuelan had the personnel ready. Including herself, three Hall-level experts came along. Considering Yan Huaixi was injured, Teng Yuelan arranged for extra manpower just to be safe.

Dream Ridge was very far from Xianlu Valley. However, because it housed Yan Huaixi’s most important mineral vein, she had specifically constructed a direct teleportation array between the two locations to handle emergencies requiring her immediate arrival.

Yan Huaixi led Yu Yingxia by the hand to the center of the array. Yu Yingxia saw the array light up with white light, her vision blurred for an instant, and in the next second, a bone-chilling wind hit her face.

Yu Yingxia shivered from the cold, but then a powerful surge of spiritual energy enveloped her, sealing out the chill.

The scene before her was no longer the vibrant valley, but a vast, magnificent range of snow-capped mountains, stretching out like a giant dragon coiled in the snow. Goose-feather snowflakes drifted from the sky, and dark clouds seemed to press down on the peaks.

The next moment, a streak of black light slashed across the sky, followed immediately by a thunderous boom that seemed to tear the heavens open.

“Tsk…” Yan Huaixi was about to introduce the mineral vein she controlled to Yu Yingxia when she was interrupted by that tactless thing in the sky.

Her face darkened slightly. She then gave Yu Yingxia’s palm a gentle squeeze and said, “Wait for me here. I’ll go invite some uninvited guests to leave first.”

“Okay, be safe,” Yu Yingxia said, feeling a bit uneasy.

The corners of Yan Huaixi’s mouth curled up slightly. “I’ll be back by the time you count to ten.”

Lights flashed across the sky again and again, while on the other side, a force was maneuvering against them. Yan Huaixi concealed her presence and vanished. When that streak of black light appeared again, an eerie red glow suddenly surged among the dark clouds.

Then, the black light seemed to hit something, stopping dead in its tracks before vanishing into the clouds.

Yu Yingxia didn’t actually count, but she felt it hadn’t even been ten seconds before Yan Huaixi reappeared in front of the crowd. She stepped onto the pristine snow, and blood—as vivid as her red clothes—dripped from the person she was dragging, leaving a trail of startling marks on the white ground.

The murderous aura on Yan Huaixi had not yet dissipated. As she passed, almost everyone except Yu Yingxia bowed their heads to avoid her sharp edge.

“I—I’ll confess…” Before Yan Huaixi could even begin the interrogation, the person she was dragging tremulously offered to surrender to save his life.

The Earth Fiend Sect was a force formed a few years ago by several demonic cultivators from various places. This sect lacked a foundation and deep fraternal bonds. When faced with a life-threatening crisis, those people would not hesitate to betray their companions to save themselves.

Yu Yingxia frowned slightly at the bloody mess of a person. Yan Huaixi noticed and immediately tossed the man into a nearby snowbank without hesitation. They were halfway up the snow mountain where the snow was very thick. Yan Huaixi used spiritual energy to stand atop the snow without sinking, but the man she threw simply vanished into the drifts.

Careless. Yan Huaixi wiped her hands in disgust. She shouldn’t have dragged this man back. This bloody scene surely made her look terrifying; what if she gave her “rabbit” another psychological shadow?

“Take him back and interrogate him thoroughly. Find out the Earth Fiend Sect’s combat strength, where the sect is located, how to break their guardian array, and so on. Then, I’ll go pay a visit to our new neighbors.” Yan Huaixi walked toward her group.

“Yes,” Teng Yuelan responded, then personally went to tie up the man buried in the snow. His cultivation had been crippled; leaving him here wouldn’t cause any waves.

“Don’t—don’t kill me! I’ll tell you everything you want to know!” The man in the snow spit out several more mouthfuls of bloody water after the fall; having lost his cultivation, he was freezing miserably in the snow.

“Stay honest, and perhaps our Master will spare your life. But if you dare try any tricks, we naturally have other ways to make you spit out the truth. You know very well what that kind of end looks like,” Teng Yuelan said. Her tone didn’t change much, yet it was inexplicably hair-raising.

“Yes, yes, I understand, I understand…”

Teng Yuelan felt that a harsh interrogation might not even be necessary. This man had been frightened out of his wits by the Master’s power and would likely confess everything. When the message from the mineral vein arrived earlier, it described this man as incredibly arrogant. Because the forces guarding this place were slightly weaker than him, he often came to the door to curse and provoke them, acting like a mad dog unleashed by the Earth Fiend Sect.

Now, he had turned into a fawning, stray dog. How ironic.

“Boom! Boom! Boom!” Just as Teng Yuelan finished tying the man, a sound like muffled thunderous drumming echoed from the sky.

Each beat of the drum made the mountain beneath their feet vibrate slightly. Yu Yingxia was startled by the sudden noise. She instinctively looked up and saw a “shadow” approaching in the distance.

It was a group of silhouettes standing in the sky. Before Yan Huaixi could go looking for them, some had walked right into the net.

“Master, these people come to provoke us like this every few days. They had actually left today, but perhaps because this man was captured, they’ve returned.” The guard of this mineral vein had already received word that Yan Huaixi would arrive personally, so he had rushed over just in time.

The guard had had enough of being pushed around. Seeing the half-dead man in the hands of Yan Huaixi and Teng Yuelan, his eyes lit up. The end for those mad dogs had arrived!

As soon as he spoke, an arrogant voice drifted from the distance: “Zhao Er! If you know what’s good for you, hand over our Sect Elder, or we won’t be polite to you!”

The man in Teng Yuelan’s grip gasped and coughed again. He opened eyes crusted with snow and looked up at the sky with a hideous expression.

Did they think they were coming to save him? Right now, it seemed they were afraid he wasn’t dying fast enough!

“Pre—Senior, their insolent words have nothing to do with me!”

The mineral vein guard almost let a grin escape. If the Master hadn’t been away in the valley previously, these people wouldn’t have had the chance to come and provoke them!

“How many high-level combatants are there in this Earth Fiend Valley?” Yan Huaixi asked.

Before Yan Huaixi’s people could answer, the captured prisoner, eager to win favor, blurted out before everyone else: “Our sect has one expert at the ‘Half-Step Void-Refining and Dao-Combining’ stage; his ultimate move can reach the level of early ‘Void-Refining and Dao-Combining.’ Aside from me, there are nine at the ‘Spirit-Refining and Void-Returning’ stage, and countless others below that.”

The prisoner didn’t elaborate on those below. For a woman who could cripple his cultivation in a single move, those cultivators who could be stepped on like ants weren’t worth mentioning.

The guard, who had been cut off, glared at him. How could someone backstab their own people so quickly? He was even competing for credit! Where was his pride?

The demonic cultivator pretended not to see the complex looks from the others. He was simply being practical. In the face of a “Void-Refining and Dao-Combining” cultivator, such superficial things as pride could be tossed aside for the sake of staying alive.

Had they known the owner of this mineral vein was a “Void-Refining and Dao-Combining” cultivator, they wouldn’t have dared to be so arrogant even if given a hundred times the courage.

However, their repeated probes over this period hadn’t drawn this woman out. Consequently, the Earth Fiend Sect mistakenly believed the person behind the mineral vein was afraid of them, leading to this current situation. The demonic cultivator lowered his head, his eyes filled with regret and terror.

“Is that half-step ‘Void-Refining and Dao-Combining’ person among them?” Yan Huaixi asked.

“Yes,” the prisoner said without hesitation. “That person is a Sound Cultivator. This drumming is his doing.”

If Yan Huaixi hadn’t blocked the pressure, the people here would likely have been affected.

“A Sound Cultivator? That is a coincidence. We have the most powerful one right here.” Yu Yingxia looked at Yan Huaixi beside her. This person was the recognized number one Soul Cultivator and Sound Cultivator in the cultivation world. Had she practiced any other path, Yu Yingxia might have worried, but since it was a Sound Cultivator… wouldn’t the outcome just be them getting pinned to the ground and beaten by Yan Huaixi?

Yu Yingxia blinked at Yan Huaixi. Her matter-of-fact praise immediately improved Yan Huaixi’s mood, which had been soured by the noise. As expected, her image in Yingxia’s heart wasn’t entirely bad!

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