The figure was slightly smaller than Xi Fuhong, with fair skin and delicate features.
Her black hair was casually tied up, and she wore intricate and beautiful silver jewelry around her neck.
She looked about fourteen or fifteen years old, but her eyes exuded a mature aura, giving off an incongruous vibe, like a fire in a jar—seemingly simple, yet burning intensely inside.
“Xiang Yin!” Xi Fuhong called out with a smile.
The other person heard but only smiled without speaking.
Lu Xiangyin was Xi Fuhong’s confidante for three years and the benefactor who brought her back to Wu Feng Valley.
“Sit down for a bit, I’ll finish turning the soil and then we can eat,” Xi Fuhong said, gesturing for Lu Xiangyin to sit on a low stool under the eaves.
Sometimes, she would come to the valley to dine with Xi Fuhong, and Xi Fuhong had grown accustomed to her unannounced visits.
Although their interactions weren’t frequent, they had a mutual understanding, so there was no need for any arrangements.
When the time was right, they would naturally meet and chat for a while.
“Alright,” Lu Xiangyin nodded and casually sat on the low stool.
Under the slanting sun, Xi Fuhong diligently tilled the land, occasionally chatting and laughing with a little child.
The serene scene seemed somewhat unreal, pure and simple, a sight perhaps only found in this valley.
The chaos of the outside world could no longer harm her.
This was the life Xi Fuhong hoped for, the days she longed for.
Lu Xiangyin squinted her eyes, a barely noticeable playful glint flashing beneath them.
She still remembered three years ago, the desolate look on Xi Fuhong’s face.
It was as if her soul had been extracted… Lu Xiangyin chuckled softly, “No, it was even more hollow than losing a soul…” Used and betrayed countless times, only to find out in the end that it was all a scam.
She had witnessed Xi Fuhong being pushed into the pool by the tomb spirit Gui Po and had seen her stop breathing.
It felt like it happened just yesterday, the memory still fresh.
At that time, her expression was dazed, lifeless.
Well, after being treated like that, it was understandable to lose faith in humanity.
But she couldn’t forget the answer Xi Fuhong gave her back then, so meager…
“What do you want?” she had asked.
What did she want? Lu Xiangyin closed her eyes, trying to recall… Xi Fuhong had answered…
“I don’t want to be bullied anymore.”
How ridiculous.
“You’re already dead, how can you be bullied?”
Yet she was very insistent.
“If there’s a next life…”
Xi Fuhong’s eyes were filled with exhaustion.
“If there’s a next life… I don’t want to be so foolish, I don’t want to be deceived, used, or framed again.”
Why not let those who ruined her life die? Didn’t she want revenge? Didn’t she hate them?
Interesting, truly interesting.
“Xiang Yin, what are you thinking about so deeply?” Xi Fuhong had somehow come under the eaves, her cheeks smudged with dirt, her dress dirty, but it didn’t diminish her pure aura.
Instead, it revealed a childlike innocence that made people want to cherish her.
Lu Xiangyin blinked and reached out to wipe the dirt off her face.
“Thinking about you,” Lu Xiangyin said openly, her red lips parting slightly.
Hearing this, Xi Fuhong’s eyes curved into a smile, “What’s there to think about? I’m right here.
Come, let’s eat.”
The little child had already left, leaving only Xi Fuhong and Lu Xiangyin in the valley.
They went inside and sat at the table.
Xi Fuhong heated up a few dishes, all made from the valley’s produce.
Though not much, it was very fresh.
She skillfully served Lu Xiangyin a bowl of hot soup, urging her to drink it while it was hot.
“How have you been feeling lately?” Xi Fuhong asked casually after taking a sip of soup.
Lu Xiangyin smiled faintly.
How could she be?
“Nothing, I don’t feel any pain.” It was indeed strange, but she felt no pain or itch.
“That’s not good.
You should take better care of yourself,” Xi Fuhong said with concern.
Hearing this, Lu Xiangyin put down the ceramic bowl.
How much did Xi Fuhong understand about this? Not feeling pain was because she couldn’t feel pain at all.
She was a spirit, inhabiting a human body, so how could she have any sensation? Just a walking corpse, even if her whole body rotted, she could still survive.
But…
“I’ll be more careful in the future,” Lu Xiangyin replied.
Xi Fuhong nodded.
At that moment, a figure hurriedly approached from outside the door, standing respectfully outside without entering.
Lu Xiangyin noticed and brushed her sleeve across the table, as if giving a command, and the person immediately retreated.
Xi Fuhong knew that the person outside was Xiang Yin’s escort.
She knew little about Xiang Yin’s affairs, only that she sought a peaceful life.
Since Xiang Yin could provide her with calm days, she never asked too many questions.
“I’ll come see you another day.” With that, the petite figure left gracefully.
She was Lu Xiangyin, or more accurately, the spirit inhabiting Lu Xiangyin’s body.
This body originally belonged to the daughter of a sect leader driven out by the martial world.
After the followers fled, the Demonic Sect fell into decline, and the old sect leader was bedridden for years.
The daughter of the Demonic Sect was also tormented by illness.
When she died, the spirit took over her body, and thus Lu Xiangyin survived.
But she was no longer the real Lu Xiangyin.
In the following years, the spirit revived the Demonic Sect, causing quite a stir in the Jianghu within just three years.
And she had no intention of stopping.
A spirit wearing human skin, under the name of the Demonic Sect leader, ready to wash the Jianghu in blood.
“Leader, the person has been captured,” said a tall man following Lu Xiangyin.
Glancing at him, Lu Xiangyin leisurely stepped onto the stone steps.
Since she took control of this body, she had relocated the Demonic Sect.
As promised, she gave Xi Fuhong the life she wanted, allowing her to live peacefully in Wu Feng Valley.
From then on, the inside and outside of the valley were only connected by a mechanism gate.
Without a key, it would take days to unlock it.
This was to ensure Xi Fuhong’s peace and to return her a piece of tranquility.
But outside the gate, it was the cruel Jianghu.
At the other end of the secret passage was the Demonic Sect palace that Lu Xiangyin had built over three years.
Luxurious and splendid, it was as magnificent as a royal palace.
But these intricate carvings were hidden within the mountain walls, unknown to anyone, for her amusement alone.
Yet how could she enjoy worldly splendor? It was just a whim.
Passing through the cold, empty corridor, the two arrived at the grand hall.
Lu Xiangyin walked to the main seat, a stone chair made of jade, green and translucent.
Behind the chair, a pure gold phoenix spread its wings, ready to soar, fierce and imposing.
Paired with her eyes that didn’t match her age, enchanting and soul-stirring, she exuded an overwhelming aura.
In the grand hall, a young girl sat in the main seat, while a man, looking disheveled, was pressed to kneel in the center.
“Leader! Leader! Please spare me! Leader!” The man panicked and begged for mercy upon seeing her.
Lu Xiangyin squinted her eyes, a hint of a smile in them.
“Was it you who leaked the information?” Her voice, slightly childish, sent shivers down one’s spine.
“Innocent! Leader, I’m being framed! I didn’t leak any information! Leader, you have to believe me!” The man shook his head desperately, almost twisting his neck off.
Lu Xiangyin watched, a faint smile on her lips.
Hadn’t she seen enough of these denials in the past three years? Or rather, after hundreds of years of resentment, could she not see through it?
She was a soul, yet also a creation of countless souls harmed by the Tiger Dragon Treasure.
Any lie before her was child’s play.
“Leader! Please spare me! Leader! I’m truly innocent!” The man refused to give up, even trying to crawl forward, but was restrained by the guards beside him.
“Leader! I’ve been loyal to you all these years, you know my loyalty.
I would never betray you!”
“Do you remember who avenged your wife’s murder?” Lu Xiangyin stretched her leg and said softly.
The man shuddered at her words.
“How much did the Jianghu sects offer you? What gave you the courage to betray our sect?” Her finger slid across her lips, Lu Xiangyin curiously looked into the man’s eyes.
“Speak, in front of me, these lies are meaningless.
I want to hear the truth.
What did the Righteous Path offer you to betray us?”
Lies treated as child’s play, how could the man continue to feign ignorance?
“The Righteous Path…” Nervously swallowing, the man…
