Chapter Seventeen: The Seventeenth Pig

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Since realizing she had sold the male lead’s treasured sword and yet hadn’t been strangled to death by him, Li Zhenzhen felt much braver. Moreover, the male lead always appeared as a sickly beauty, struggling even to lift a cup of water, which had unknowingly lowered her guard. Pretending she hadn’t heard his words, she bundled straw into heaps, and before sunset, she finally had her own bed. She stretched out flat on her back and sighed inwardly. Having grown used to the old mattress at home, Li Zhenzhen found her straw bed far more comfortable than the male lead’s hard wooden bed.

The male lead’s thoughts were a mystery. As the wealthiest figure in the cultivation world, he ate her food and used her things every day but never once paid a penny of his own. Back in District Twelve, Li Zhenzhen had been poor, and so were those she dealt with—everyone ready to kill each other over a penny, their faces showing no kindness. She had never handled a case like the male lead’s before—quiet, elegant, noble, yet living off others with no shame.

The charcoal fire crackled softly in the room, and for once, Li Zhenzhen’s mind was unusually calm. The system returned late at night, shaking the snow off its body outside the door. Just as it was about to enter, it retreated to wipe its paws clean on the mat. Inside, Li Zhenzhen sat sharpening her knife by the fire.

“I wonder if you could sharpen that damn knife at a better time. Don’t you feel embarrassed grinding it in the middle of the night?” the system grumbled irritably.

“So what?” Li Zhenzhen held up the blade to examine its sharpness, still feeling it wasn’t enough, then lowered her head to continue sharpening. “No signal, so you’re taking it out on me?”

The system looked a bit embarrassed. “At the Time Management Department, I’m a figure of some importance. The long disconnection must be because the main system went on a business trip and neglected me.”

“What kind of trip lasts a whole month without coming back?”

“Maybe some remote galaxy. What do you know? Leaders are leaders because they bear great responsibility and mission, often leading by example, braving hardships, personally venturing to the most remote and difficult places to solve problems.”

“…”

Li Zhenzhen gave a look that said, “Listen to what you’re saying.”

Even the system felt its excuse was outrageous.

They fell into silence for a moment, the cold blade’s glint casting light on Li Zhenzhen’s face. “In a few days, it will be December 12.”

The system quieted as well.

December 12 was the day of the Wu Huan Island sacrifice, a crucial plot point in the original story. On this day and the days following, the story’s events would suddenly intensify: the female lead’s disruption of the ritual and capture, the fisherwoman releasing her at night, the female lead betraying the fisherwoman midway, the fisherwoman’s entire family’s tragic death, and the male supporting character Shen Que’s entrance.

They still had time to renovate the house and search for a signal because, in the original story, the female lead spent this period caring for the male lead, much like what Li Zhenzhen was doing now. But from December 12 onward, the conflict would truly begin to unfold.

They had to be on call twenty-four hours a day, prepared for the main system to suddenly go offline and issue a mission.

More importantly, once the fisherwoman went offline, what identity would Li Zhenzhen have to live by?

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— At the same time, the Ninth Heaven.

“...This is utterly outrageous! To kill innocent people so wantonly—how could such a person become the leader of the cultivation path?”

Taiqing Immortal Lord, alone with his sword, had slain over a thousand experts in one stroke. Such a shocking event could not be kept secret. Once the news spread, the entire cultivation world trembled with fear, dreading impending disaster.

The pile of cultivator corpses, stacked like mountains, was discovered the next day.

However, the attack on the Immortal Lord and the plan to seize his immortal body had originally been a covert agreement among several major sects. They knew their actions were disgraceful and planned to incinerate all the bodies to erase any trace of their involvement.

Unfortunately, the sheer number of corpses and the cold weather made burning impossible to complete in a timely manner.

The remaining hundred or so corpses were concealed until today, but the cover could no longer hold.

By the time some bodies were transported back to their sects, they had decayed beyond recognition.

At Changheng Immortal Sect, the sect leader knelt over a body cut into three pieces, weeping uncontrollably.

“Although Taiqing Immortal Lord once saved our sect, how could my junior sister have offended him to deserve such cruelty?”

The corpse on the ground had swollen to the size of a giant, its head taken by wild wolves from the mountains. Only scattered hands, torso, and legs remained, covered by bloodstained white cloth, making for a horrifying sight.

It was impossible to recognize the woman in elegant robes who had said that their sect was but a small branch, not worth the Immortal Lord’s notice.

Over a thousand cultivators in mourning clothes stood in the hall, with their deceased brothers and sisters laid out behind them.

“We carried away 327 corpses from Wuxu Mountain. The scene was truly horrifying, unlike anything I’ve seen in my long life.”

“This isn’t the way of the immortals at all. The Immortal Lord must have gone mad!”

“Cide Mansion is powerful, and Langguan Cave Estate is not to be trifled with. You must give us an explanation today!”

...

Madam Nan sat coldly in the hall, sweeping her gaze over the crowd with growing irritation. A few more deaths here and there—when did the cultivation world ever go a day without death? These people were so relentless; couldn’t they show her any sympathy? Her Yun’er was still ill. How could she have time to deal with such trifles!

The assault on Deng Xizhi that day was a secret pact among the major sects, with all sect leaders aware.

Now that the matter was exposed, those sect leaders all hid like scared turtles, dare not face the public. Instead, they sent the bereaved to demand justice from Cide Mansion, hoping to pin the blame on her.

Shameless to the extreme!

Madam Nan coughed pale-faced, forcing a sorrowful expression. “Those killed were your close friends and family. I understand your grief. But you also know that my nephew, Taiqing Immortal Lord, has held the sect leader’s death decree for three centuries, always bearing the world’s burden, never slaughtering innocents. Whether there is foul play, or if these deaths were truly caused by him, remains to be seen.”

“My senior sister’s wounds were made by the Broken Dust Sword. How can this be denied!”

A young disciple of Changheng Immortal Sect, eyes bloodshot, shouted, “These corpses before you were pillars of their respective sects. Besides Taiqing Immortal Lord, who else could have killed them all overnight?”

“Exactly! I’ve heard that five hundred years ago, Taiqing Immortal Lord’s cultivation went awry, his power shattered overnight, showing signs of demonic possession. He hasn’t appeared for five centuries... Maybe he lost control of his inner demons and committed a grave error!”

Yuan Wenmao thought to himself, “Inner demons, indeed.”

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Someone as cold and indifferent as Deng Xizhi, imprisoned in the sea prison for five hundred years, subjected daily to bloodletting and humiliation, never once wavered in spirit.

He was the last person in the world who could have inner demons.

If anyone could stir such demons in him, what kind of demon would that be? Who in the cultivation world could resist?

Madam Nan pressed her chest, nearly collapsing under the accusations.

Yuan Wenmao supported her and angrily shouted at the Changheng disciple, “It wasn’t my mother who killed anyone, so why are you yelling at her? Your senior sister was killed because she was outmatched. I say this matter is well-deserved.”

The disciple suddenly drew his sword, pointing it at Yuan Wenmao. “You!”

Yuan Wenmao retorted, “What ‘you’! You have no skill and only know how to shout. If you’re so capable, go challenge Taiqing Immortal Lord yourself!”

Madam Nan choked, her heart aching.

What good would it do to stoke conflict with the major sects now?

How did she end up with such a brainless son!

As the factions bickered endlessly, the curtain behind the great hall was lifted, and a voice declared, “Enough.”

Yuan Lianyun, pale and still recovering from severe illness, entered. He looked like a jade tree covered in the first snow of winter, his demeanor bearing a striking resemblance to Taiqing Immortal Lord.

“If this matter truly involves my brother, Cide Mansion will take full responsibility. I ask everyone to remain calm.”

Supported by immortal attendants, he sat. “I will dispatch personnel to examine the wounds on the deceased and search for the Immortal Lord’s whereabouts.”

Someone protested, “You’re just a greenhorn! How could you possibly find the Taiqing Immortal Lord’s trail just by saying so? What if you fail?”

“I, Yuan Lianyun, swear by my soul that within a month, I will give you all an explanation.”

At these words, the crowd fell silent.

The cultivation of immortality ultimately refines the heart. Swearing by one’s soul is a solemn vow.

Years ago, Taiqing Immortal Lord sacrificed half his cultivation as a soul oath to reseal the ghost path and bring peace to the world.

Someone shouted from the crowd, “If, after investigation, it is proven that Taiqing Immortal Lord is the killer, what will you do?”

What could he do?

Yuan Lianyun thought of that cold, solitary figure.

When the ghost path collapsed and ten thousand ghosts roamed at night, the immortals were helpless. Only he stood firm, like an unbending sword.

Forever unreachable, forever unsurpassed.

Yet now, all his lifelong cultivation resided within Yuan Lianyun’s body.

He felt the immortal root in his dantian glow faintly warm.

He lifted his gaze and said gently, “If it truly was my brother’s doing, Cide Mansion will not spare a single person who kills innocents—no matter if he is the Taiqing Immortal Lord.”