The Ice-Cold Beauty Senior Sister Keeps Falling for Her Own Theories - Chapter 3

“Can she still believe this time…?”

Truly worthy of being the beloved junior sister of the sect, Feng Jie encountered no obstacles along the way

Seeing Gongsun Muhan choke from speaking too quickly, Feng Jie hurriedly reached out to pat her back and help her catch her breath.

But as soon as her hand touched her, Gongsun Muhan leaned forward and fell to the ground.

“I don’t need your fake kindness, get lost!”

Seeing that she’d rather endure the pain than let her touch her, Feng Jie didn’t press further.

She withdrew her hand awkwardly, clasped it behind her back, and nervously twisted her fingers, still speaking earnestly.

“Eldest Senior Sister, I truly mean it. I was young and foolish before and did many wrong things, I’m deeply sorry. But now I’ve come to my senses. Please believe me one more time. And these medicines are absolutely safe.”

Feng Jie took one pill from each of the nearest bottles and swallowed them, chewing as she spoke, her words slightly muffled.

“Eldest Senior Sister, it’s true, look, these medicines are real, and so is my sincerity, ”

Gongsun Muhan watched Feng Jie coldly, saying nothing, but then her gaze swept lightly over the bottles Feng Jie had sampled, silently noting them.

Seeing this, Feng Jie thought Gongsun Muhan had been moved, perhaps her senior sister was hesitating, looking for a way to forgive her.

Thinking this, her eyes shifted, and she coughed lightly, testing the waters.

“Well, Eldest Senior Sister, our Bixia Sect has many members, and the water prison is heavily guarded by hall sentries. Escaping is very risky, I mean, it’s extremely difficult. One wrong move and you could be executed as a rebel. It’s not worth it, right?”

“How does she know I plan to leave?” Gongsun Muhan felt a surge of suspicion.

Unaware of the intense killing intent in Gongsun Muhan’s eyes, Feng Jie continued chattering.

“Besides, escaping would only confirm your guilt. They don’t know, but we do, you didn’t kill Third Uncle. You absolutely shouldn’t bear this blame, ”

“So what?”

Gongsun Muhan cut her off, simultaneously gathering all the remaining spiritual energy in her body. She wondered if a single palm strike could end Feng Jie’s life.

It seemed insufficient, she’d have to knock her out first. Slowly raising her palm to chest level, she prepared to strike forward.

Feng Jie suddenly turned, her right hand clenched into a fist, thrusting toward her.

To avoid missing, Gongsun Muhan sidestepped while pulling her palm back slightly, readying to gather strength again.

Though Feng Jie didn’t understand what her senior sister was doing with all the movement, she guessed it was defensive.

Fortunately, she had come prepared.

Feng Jie opened her fist to reveal a palm-sized token shimmering with a deep blue glow, her own identity token.

A token? What was she doing?

Gongsun Muhan quietly dispersed the spiritual energy in her hand, calmly watching to see what act Feng Jie would put on next.

This token was something Feng Jie had stolen from the ancestral hall before coming to the water prison, it had taken considerable effort.

According to the plot she’d read earlier, every disciple of the Bixia Sect, upon entry, had a token created using a strand of their primordial spiritual energy from their consciousness sea. This token indicated the disciple’s life state, glowing for life, extinguishing for death. Conversely, since the token contained primordial spiritual energy, if the sect wished to destroy a disciple, they only needed to crush the token. The owner would either lose all spiritual energy or die.

“Senior Sister, I know you don’t trust me, so I stole my identity token to give to you. Please believe me, before the hour of You today, I will clear your name and rescue you. Take this token as proof. If I break my promise, you need only crush it. I beg you to trust me just this once.”

As she spoke, Feng Jie extended the token another inch forward, urging Gongsun Muhan to take it.

Confidently, Feng Jie thought, This time she should believe me. I’ve staked my very life on this.

Gongsun Muhan stared intently at the token. She had seen the sect’s tokens before, the cloud patterns were identical. Feng Jie hadn’t lied; this was indeed the token that held power over her life and death.

But why would she do this? There was no need for such an act, let alone offering such a heavy stake.

She remained silent, pondering what she possessed that could warrant such elaborate efforts from the junior sister whom the entire sect cherished.

As Gongsun Muhan sank into deep thought, the sharp edges of her demeanor seemed to soften.

Seeing her become slightly more approachable, Feng Jie wasted no time. She took Gongsun Muhan’s hand and placed the token in it.

Caught off guard, Gongsun Muhan instinctively closed her fingers around it.

“In that case, Senior Sister, I’ll take your silence as consent.”

In a daze, Gongsun Muhan looked up, only to see Feng Jie’s retreating figure on the bridge, waving back at her.

“Senior Sister, wait for my return.”

It wasn’t until Feng Jie’s silhouette vanished at the end of the bridge, the door closed with a thud, and darkness enveloped the surroundings once more that Gongsun Muhan snapped out of her trance.

She lowered her gaze to the faint blue glow that stood out starkly in the darkness and slowly tightened her grip, clenching it firmly in her palm.

“This time… can she still be trusted?”

…

By the end of the Yin hour, a haze of misty blue seemed to dominate the sky and earth. Nearby, candlelight flickered intermittently, and the wind rustled the banners at the eaves, carrying a slight chill with each gust.

Feng Jie quickened her pace toward the center of Bixia Town.

Though it was a small town at the foot of the mountain, it housed a branch of the Jianghai Pavilion.

Perhaps it had something to do with Bixia Sect, one of the seven great immortal sects in the world, located on the mountain. Feng Jie silently speculated.

Jianghai Pavilion wasn’t hard to find. In the brightly lit town, the place where voices, drumbeats, and the roars of demonic beasts could be heard from afar was the one.

Two imposing stone lions crouched at the entrance, and a horizontal plaque above the doorframe bore the inscription: “Sit in Jianghai Pavilion, and no task in the world is difficult.”

Such audacity!

Before she could step inside, a waiter dressed in servant’s attire approached with a welcoming smile.

“Esteemed Fairy, please come in. Might you be here for the Chaos Origin Pill from the auction? The Chaos Origin Pill is a treasure for cultivation, not only does it boost a century’s worth of spiritual power, but it also has no side effects-”

“No,” Feng Jie interrupted him. “Do you have Memory Retention Pearls here?”

“Eh?”

The waiter scrutinized Feng Jie once more. “Fairy, this is an item from the demon realm.”

Wasn’t the immortal realm known for despising and avoiding anything related to the demon realm?

Uncertain, the waiter asked again, “Are you sure you’re looking for Memory Retention Pearls?”

“Yes, exactly. Memory Retention Pearls.”

“Then, Fairy, please follow me this way.”

The waiter led Feng Jie down the corridor toward the auction area.

Feng Jie noticed that, aside from the common medicines and weapons sold in the main hall, there were also passages leading to mercenary teams, the shadow pavilion, the intelligence bureau, and more.

“Most likely, it’s about posting bounty missions, hiring assassins, buying information, these kinds of services. I have to say, the Jianghai Pavilion’s business scope is quite broad.”

“I wonder how many the Fairy would like?”

“The more, the better.”

The attendant glanced sideways at her. This fairy looked ethereal and pure, yet unexpectedly, she was involved with the demon clan.

Another fork in the road.

“This way, please.”

“Mm.”

Feng Jie was led into a resplendent room, somewhat reminiscent of a modern-day reception area.

“Please have a seat, Fairy. I’ll go fetch our supervisor.”

“Alright.”

In no time, Feng Jie saw an elegant, middle-aged man approaching unhurriedly.

“I am Tang Liang, the supervisor of the auction at the Jianghai Pavilion’s Bixia branch.” Tang Liang greeted her with a nod and a smile before asking, “I heard the Fairy wishes to purchase Memory Retention Pearls?”

“Yes.”

Feng Jie couldn’t help but feel that the people at the Jianghai Pavilion were rather long-winded. It was just a simple purchase, yet they kept asking questions.

As if sensing her impatience, he smiled and said, “Very well, Fairy. Please wait a moment while I check.”

Feng Jie watched as he conjured a ledger out of thin air. The cover was made of jade, and the pages inside were as thin as cicada wings, inscribed with runes she couldn’t understand at all.

Tang Liang flipped through the ledger with a slight movement of his palm, controlling it effortlessly as he spoke.

“Memory Retention Pearls, we have a total of 675 in the pavilion. Currently, the Bixia branch has 73. With an emergency transfer within two hours, we can bring in an additional 132, making a total of 205. Within six hours, we can bring in 213 more, totaling 286. Within twelve hours-”

“No need to continue. My time is limited. I can wait at most two hours.”

While he was listing the numbers, Feng Jie had already calculated. It was currently 5 a.m. Two hours later would be around 9 a.m., and six hours later would be 5 p.m. Her senior sister was due to return at 5 p.m. If she waited that long, she would fail her mission outright.

“Understood. I will arrange for an emergency transfer immediately.”

“Thank you, Supervisor Tang.”

After speaking, Feng Jie noticed that Tang Liang didn’t leave to issue the order but instead continued tapping on the ledger.

Just as she was about to ask, she heard Tang Liang speak with a cheerful tone.

“The auction price for a single Memory Retention Pearl ranges from 100 to 300 spirit stones. Since this is a direct purchase, we’ll offer a 20% discount on the highest auction price, which comes to 240 spirit stones per pearl. The Fairy is purchasing 205 pearls, totaling 49,200 spirit stones. Additionally, the emergency transfer fee is 3,000 spirit stones, bringing the total to 52,200 spirit stones. Given the Fairy’s strong support for our Jianghai Pavilion, I can take the liberty to offer an additional discount and round it down to 52,000 spirit stones.”

“What? 52,000 spirit stones?”

Feng Jie’s face was filled with disbelief.

Why not just rob her? With 100 spirit stones, she could buy the land the Jianghai Pavilion stood on. Even her treasured sword, the Han Shui Sword, though only a lower-grade immortal artifact, was second only to divine weapons and had cost her only 20,000 spirit stones. Emptying the entire Bixia Sect would probably yield only a few hundred thousand spirit stones.

As the beloved of the Bixia Sect, the most she had in her pouch was no more than 10,000 spirit stones.

Tang Liang seemed to have anticipated this. He continued smiling and asked, “I wonder if the Fairy will pay directly in spirit stones or through barter?”

“Um, I might not have enough money right now,” Feng Jie replied softly.

Tang Liang’s smile froze for a moment before he resumed his cheerful tone. “May I ask how much the Fairy currently has?”

Feng Jie unfastened her spatial pouch, wiped off its imprint, and handed it to Tang Liang.

“Manager, could you please check how much these are worth?”

Tang Liang took it and examined the contents carefully.

“Nine thousand and eighty spirit stones. Pills and herbs combined are worth four thousand spirit stones. This pile of magical artifacts adds up to two thousand spirit stones. This registered spatial pouch can be counted as eighty spirit stones. The total value is fifteen thousand one hundred and sixty spirit stones.”

“That’s still far from fifty-two thousand.”

“Indeed. All of these can be exchanged for sixty-three Memory Beads. Would you like to proceed with exchanging for sixty-three?”

“Sixty-three?” Feng Jie calculated in her mind. This might not even be enough to spread beyond the inner sect, and whether the influence would suffice was hard to say. She didn’t dare to gamble on it.

Forget it. As long as the green hills remain, there will be no shortage of firewood.

So, what if it means losing everything? As long as it could save Gongsun Muhan, it was worth it!

With her mind set, she took the Han Shui Sword from her waist and handed it to Tang Liang.

“What about adding this?”

Tang Liang took the sword. “This is a fine sword indeed. Although it’s a low-grade immortal artifact, when paired with the right technique, it can rival a mid-grade one. Are you sure you want to pawn it?”

“Just tell me straight, how much is it worth?”

“Twenty thousand spirit stones. With the sword added, the total is thirty-five thousand one hundred and sixty spirit stones, which can be exchanged for one hundred forty-six and a half Memory Beads. Since you’re being so straightforward, let’s make it one hundred forty-seven. What do you think?”

“Fine, fine. I’m short on time. Please have them expedite the transfer.”

“Hehe, certainly.”

Tang Liang estimated he would earn a considerable commission from this deal. He turned to the attendant standing nearby and called out cheerfully:

“Xiao Wu, go inform the dispatch department and bring a cup of tea for the lady.”

When business went smoothly, even serving tea felt especially swift.

After all, she was his benefactor.

Tang Liang personally handed the tea to Feng Jie. “Please, my lady.”

Having said that, he prepared to leave but suddenly remembered something.

“I dare to ask, what do you need so many Memory Beads for? Although they are relatively precious, they are ultimately just a form of entertainment for the demon race and have little practical use. Not to mention, using them is troublesome, without demonic power, they are completely unusable-”

Crash!

The porcelain cup fell to the ground, shattering with a crisp sound, and tea spilled everywhere.

“What did you say? Only demonic power can be used?”

No way! Her senior sister hadn’t told her that demonic power was required to use them!