Banshee Family Training Record

Page 186

She had originally intended to tease Zhu Yunqing a bit and joke around with her good sister, but upon hearing the rest, she immediately became serious. The blue storm suddenly spun, and she transformed back into her heroic human form: "Are you sure?"

Zhu Yunqing nodded: "I'm sure. Judging from their movements, I can tell that they don't realize those spider webs are a trap I set. They were just climbing the mountain just now!"

"Big sister, these people are most likely up to no good, otherwise they wouldn't be sneaking around like this. Let's hide and see what they're up to!"

Ye Jinglan nodded: "Yes, that's true. Let's go, let's take a look!"

As she spoke, she reached out and took Zhu Yunqing's hand. With a turn, the two transformed into a palm-sized butterfly and a fist-sized blue spider, respectively, and hid together in the magnificent and beautiful sea of ​​flowers.

The mountaintop was eerily quiet; not a single person made a sound, and even the wind in the air had calmed down, creating a suffocating atmosphere.

In this environment, a series of furtive, light footsteps sounded at the edge of the flower sea. Although faint, the two demon cultivators in the flower sea had their divine senses activated to the maximum and could clearly detect them.

Several men dressed in black appeared at the edge of the forest on the mountaintop, peering in this direction. Seeing the vast sea of ​​flowers on the mountaintop, they whispered among themselves, "This seems to be it; all the features match."

"A sea of ​​flowers, a fragrant aroma—this is the environment that the ghost butterflies, according to the records, prefer to live in."

"What does the compass say? Is she here?"

"I don't know, but the compass is spinning like crazy. There are traces left by people with the Ghost Butterfly bloodline and the unique aura of their race everywhere. She must have lived here for a very long time."

Chapter 398 The Assassin Goes Up the Mountain

"So the target should be here, but it doesn't seem to be here right now?"

"It seems he's not here; perhaps we've come at the wrong time."

"Let's leave an informant here to keep an eye on things. Since she's managed to make this place like this, she'll definitely come back sooner or later."

……

After observing the area for a while, the men in black confirmed that this was their target location, but they found no trace of Ye Jinglan. They immediately lost interest, left a spell on a nearby tree to monitor the surroundings, and then quietly descended the mountain and left.

This is not their home turf, so unless they are certain they can complete the mission, they should not linger here.

Several men in black quickly left. Amidst the sea of ​​flowers, Ye Jinglan and Zhu Yunqing maintained their true forms and secretly watched.

Even in their true forms, their hearts were filled with icy coldness. They all had their own guesses about the origins of these men in black.

"They must be after Chu An!" Zhu Yunqing whispered. "On the way back, we ran into a group of people like that. Without saying a word, they wanted to take Chu An's life!"

"It's strange. When he was disguised as 'Li Changsheng,' he didn't offend anyone and avoided everyone he could. So why did he keep attracting assassination attempts like this?"

Ye Jinglan, who was also staring outside, denied the rumors, saying, "I don't think so. To be honest, when I came back with You Wensi and the others, we were followed by spies like that. Perhaps we didn't shake them off completely, and these people might be here to hunt down the Corpse-Driving Sect."

Zhu Yunqing remained silent, her heart filled with extreme anxiety.

“Our family is in trouble,” she said. “We don’t even know how strong the other party is, but if we don’t handle this well, there will be endless troubles coming our way.”

Ye Jinglan pulled Zhu Yunqing along, silently chanting a spell that caused a strong wind to blow around them, and countless dandelions to fly up from the sea of ​​flowers as a disguise.

She then pulled the spider demon along, and together they transformed into wisps of green smoke, avoiding the detection spells left by the assassins, and sped down the mountain.

She sped towards Zhu Yunqing's cave, and only after flying into the dark cave filled with cobwebs did she finally breathe a long sigh of relief. She transformed back into human form, stood on the ground, frowned, and said in a deep voice, "No matter what, these people are a threat and must be eliminated."

"Not only must we eliminate them, but we must also find out who is behind them, who is targeting us, and how we should retaliate..."

Zhu Yunqing frowned and murmured, "It's difficult, eldest sister. Actually, when we were assassinated by these people before, we deliberately left one survivor, but all we know is that these people are an organized group."

"They appear to be a large and complex assassin organization, with some people specializing in taking on missions and others specializing in assassinating targets. They do not know each other's intelligence to avoid affecting the organization's reputation—therefore, it would be extremely difficult for us to find out."

Ye Jinglan frowned: "In short, we need to find a good opportunity to drive these people away first. We can extract as much information as we can from them. If they don't talk, we should beat them to death..."

She was angry, and what she said was more like a venting of her frustration. Zhu Yunqing, on the other hand, didn't have as much anger. She just frowned, thinking and thinking, but still couldn't think of a suitable solution.

After a long silence, she finally spoke, "I'll go and call Chu'an over."

Ye Jinglan was taken aback, then said with some dissatisfaction, "Why did you call him? I think these people are probably here to cause trouble for the Corpse Driving Sect. We should figure out how to deal with them. His cultivation level is still low. Letting him come over will only cause him unnecessary worry and trouble."

Zhu Yunqing said, "After all, we are not sure who these people are after. What if they are after 'Li Changsheng'? Even if they are not, he is smart and his thinking is always broader than ours. It would be very beneficial to have him come over and think about it together."

Ye Jinglan thought about his strange little inventions for a moment, and finally did not refute them. She nodded and said, "Okay, then let's call him over to join us."

Meanwhile, Yun Chu'an was inspecting the cave in the field mouse family where they were responsible for printing Vajra talismans.

Currently, the cave is being excavated to be larger and larger, and the processing line is becoming longer and longer. After all, almost all the field mice have not yet reached his level of skill. In order to enable the Qi Refining stage field mice to work together to create a true Vajra Talisman that can withstand the attacks of Foundation Establishment stage cultivators, he has gone to great lengths.

To this day, the processing of the talisman paper alone involves seventeen steps, not to mention the mixing of three different inks, the first printing, repeated processing, the second printing, rough finishing, fine finishing, and packaging...

The production line for making Vajra Talismans stretched out like a long dragon in this cave, with each aspiring rat demon working diligently and responsibly on their assigned task.

Each rat demon's forehead was covered in sweat; they were working with great enthusiasm, yet they didn't feel uncomfortable at all.

Because they knew that once they finished, they would have an almost endless supply of low-grade spirit stones, allowing their cultivation to advance by leaps and bounds.

Lifespan also increases rapidly.

Looking at everything here, Yun Chu'an nodded in satisfaction. In reality, there were quite a few things that gave him a headache along this assembly line. For example, some rat demons, in their eagerness to earn a few spirit stones, would work overtime, ending up drowsy and exhausted, and one would accidentally stick their hand into the machine and break their finger…

For example, some rat demons slack off, some form cliques, some try to oust others, and some, despite being incompetent, always dream of higher positions, resulting in the entire production line producing only defective products…

The rat demons weren't so honest; each of them had their own ulterior motives, which caused many consequences, forcing Yun Chu'an to frequently intervene personally, leaving him quite exhausted.

Fortunately, at least for now, this line can operate independently, so I don't need to worry about it too much in the future. I can just enjoy the spirit stone benefits it brings.

He looked for a while, and finally became satisfied. He turned around and walked outside, leaving the cave.

In the medicinal herb field outside, several field mice, under the leadership of their chief, Ziyangcai, were tending to the herbs. At the edge of the field, on a stone platform, stood two iron crucibles. One contained a pot of blood-red liquid that emitted a pungent medicinal odor, while the other was filled with a variety of strangely shaped medicinal herbs, dazzling Yun Chuan'an's eyes.

Behind the stone platform, Liu Mengshen looked around, pouting, as if she still had no clue why the effects of the medicines were so different. Even now, she still couldn't perfectly replicate the effects of the powders that Yun Chuan brought from the Yellow Python family.

Yun Chu'an stepped forward and took her small hand. The girl's thoughts were interrupted, and she looked up at him. Then she heard him say softly, "Don't bother, Meng Shen."

He glanced at her; the girl was still only at the ninth level of Qi Refining. With ample resources, her failure to break through could only mean that she hadn't been focusing her energy on cultivation lately.

All of it was used to research these drugs.

"Take a break," he said. "It's okay to put them aside for now. Focus on your cultivation and at least break through to the Foundation Establishment stage."

"Perhaps once you reach the Foundation Establishment stage, with higher cultivation and a broader perspective, many problems will be easily solved."

Liu Meng pouted, tilted her body slightly, and leaned against him: "Oh, okay."

She nestled in his arms, and Yun Chu'an naturally put his arm around her, saying, "Let's go home first."

The girl did not resist and obediently followed behind him. The two of them used the Shrinking Earth Technique together and flew rapidly away towards Huai Mountain.

Chapter 399 Why not report it to the authorities?

Before long, Yun Chu'an and Liu Mengshen returned to Huai Mountain. Just as they arrived, a wisp of green smoke suddenly swept by in the distance, and Zhu Yunqing transformed into human form before them.

Yun Chu'an's eyes lit up. He had originally planned to go to his fourth sister and ask her to make some arrangements for Liu Mengshen so that she could break through to the Foundation Establishment stage as soon as possible. He didn't expect her to come in person.

He was about to say something when he saw her tense expression and immediately became serious: "Fourth Sister, what happened?"

Zhu Yunqing said anxiously, "This matter shouldn't be discussed here. Come with me!"

She beckoned, and Yun Chuan dared not delay. He pulled Liu Meng up and quickly followed.

The three of them arrived at her lair together and saw Ye Jinglan, Nie Ningshuang, and Hua Caiyan were also there. The eldest sister's face was clouded with anger, as if she was suppressing a huge rage.

At this point, almost all the family members had arrived, except for You Wensi, who was excluded by them, and Qi Qiao, who was always by the side of this locust tree spirit.

"You've arrived." Upon seeing him, Ye Jinglan asked in a deep voice, "Did your fourth sister tell you everything?"

Yun Chu'an said no, his face full of confusion, not knowing what had happened.

Immediately, Zhu Yunqing stepped forward and recounted what had just happened. Finally, she asked with a hint of anxiety, "So, Chu'an, you always have the best ideas. In this situation, what do you think we should do?"

After listening, Yun Chu'an gritted his teeth, his first reaction being that these people were there to kill him: "Troublesome, these guys, why are they all so persistent..."

Hua Caiyan looked at him with worry. She still vividly remembered the dangerous situation that day. If she had reacted even slightly slower, Yun Chuan would already be dead.

Ye Jinglan said, "Right now, we really don't know who ordered them or who they're after."

"But my idea is that we should pool our resources and take the initiative. No matter who these people are, we can't let them continue to run wild on our mountain!"

She said this, and Nie Ningshuang and Ye Jinglan beside her nodded in agreement with the plan: "We'll meet force with force, and we'll fight back no matter who they are!"

This belligerent older sister had always maintained this attitude, while Hua Caiyan looked worried: "We still need a thorough plan, in case the enemy's cultivation level is higher than ours..."

Liu Meng listened quietly, blinked her big eyes, and didn't say anything more.

Yun Chu'an pondered, analyzing the current situation point by point, but did not rush to express his opinion: "If they are here for the Corpse-Driving Sect, they are most likely not righteous sects like the Qingyun Sect or Buddhism. They wouldn't need to hire such secret assassins. So they are most likely from Zhao..."

"And if they're after 'Li Changsheng,' who would have a grudge against my disguised identity that I've only had for less than a month? We don't know for sure yet, but these people are definitely from a secret assassin organization..."

He muttered to himself, explaining his analysis. Zhu Yunqing pulled him to sit down beside her, poured him a cup of tea, and said little, afraid of interrupting his train of thought.

Ye Jinglan, however, was more impatient and couldn't help but say, "If you really can't figure it out, why don't you do as I say? Taking action is always better than delaying."

Zhu Yunqing rolled her eyes at her: "Big sister, don't say anything yet, let Chu'an think about it first."

Yun Chu'an didn't rush to speak. After taking a sip of tea, he finally looked up again and said, "Elder sister, why don't we report this to the authorities?"

The word was so unfamiliar that everyone present was taken aback: "What?"

"Report to the authorities," Yun Chu'an repeated. "Report this to the local officials, saying that there are spies from the Zhao Kingdom who have been loitering around our mountain area these past few days."

"This is something they should handle; why should we do it ourselves?"

Zhu Yunqing instinctively wanted to retort, "But...uh...um..."

Suddenly, her eyes lit up, because she was surprised to find that she had no way to refute it!

Not knowing how to begin, she turned to look at Nie Ningshuang and Hua Caiyan beside her. She noticed that the former looked blank, as if her brain had crashed and she had stopped thinking on the spot, while the latter's expression, after surprise, turned into ecstasy: "It seems, not bad!"

Immediately, Zhu Yunqing guessed that her clever younger sister had gone through the same thought process as her.

Yes, these people are mysterious spies with furtive movements; and regardless of who hired them, they are most likely from the State of Zhao.

The mysterious cultivators from Zhao, regardless of their reasons or purposes, should be reported to the official cultivators of Jin. Every word will trigger their PTSD!

In particular, Yun Chu'an was able to directly contact the Jin princess who was currently here, putting pressure on the powerful families and organizing forces to eliminate Huang Mang...

"My God!" Ye Jinglan blurted out, "Isn't this...isn't this a bit too absurd?"

Yun Chu'an also laughed: "Big sister, we need to break out of our original way of thinking and think about it carefully. We are now a family that accumulates good deeds, friends of the righteous path, and law-abiding good cultivators of Jin Kingdom. How can we be allowed to personally engage in fighting and killing?"

"Report it directly to the authorities. We finally found a powerful backer, but if he can't protect us at this crucial moment, then all our efforts will have been in vain!"

Ye Jinglan's expression was complicated. Reporting to the authorities was an option she had never subconsciously considered.

After all, it was the officials in the Qin state who caused them to lose their ancestral land, forced them to fight on the battlefield, and ultimately led to the destruction of their families and their own exile to this place.

Therefore, subconsciously, she always regarded these vassal states and official forces as her enemies, despicable bastards who could harm her family and relatives at any time.

When she learned that Yun Chuan was on good terms with Princess Sheng Linglong of Jin, she was actually quite wary, fearing that the princess might do something bad to the Huai Shan family in the future.

Hearing Yun Chu'an say this, she hesitated, feeling uneasy and distrustful of the official cultivators: "Will this really work? I'm afraid those official cultivators are all just looking for personal gain and can't get anything done. In the end, we won't be able to deal with these assassins, and we'll have to pay an unknown price..."

Looking at her eldest sister's worried expression, Yun Chu'an patiently explained, "Don't worry, eldest sister, times have changed. Now we are allies with Sheng Linglong and we are on the same side."

“We are providing her with a large quantity of inexpensive and reliable products. In case she does become the next Duke of Jin in the future, these products will make her rule more stable. She would be more than happy if we were safe and sound.”

As he spoke, he laughed, "We don't need to tell her that these assassins might be there to kill us. Just a slight hint and the production line might be sabotaged. She'll be the one in a real hurry."

Ye Jinglan's furrowed brows gradually relaxed. The reasons Yun Chuan gave were finally convincing, and she could now barely believe that the plan was reliable.

“Okay.” She nodded. “Then we… Good heavens, I still can’t believe that one day we’ll be dealing with a threat by reporting it to the authorities…”

Beside her, Hua Caiyan also relaxed. As long as Yun Chuan didn't put himself in danger, she was happier than anyone else.

She then smiled and said to Ye Jinglan, "If it really doesn't work, elder sister, you might as well think of it as us pushing the officials of Jin out to take the blows for us!"

After she said that, Ye Jinglan finally stopped objecting.

Beside her, the third sister, Nie Ningshuang, looked at Yun Chuan with a slightly surprised expression. She had heard her eldest sister and fourth sister praise this man all the time, but she hadn't thought much of it. But after seeing him today, she realized just how extraordinary he was.

His way of thinking is sometimes really different from ours.

Nie Ningshuang couldn't help but feel a little curious about him.

Chapter 400 First Watch Hall

Across from Wei Lake, at the top of a small hill.

Sheng Linglong sat in a pavilion, drinking tea from a cup, her beautiful eyes gazing into the distance, seemingly relaxing while admiring the scenery, but in reality, she was deep in thought.

She was still wearing that beautiful beige long dress, not revealing too much of her body, but she was still stunningly beautiful.

Behind her, Ge Xiang also sat cross-legged on a futon, eyes closed, without saying a word.