The small town was bustling with normal people, walking from place to place, whether it be to shop for new clothes or to eat at a new restaurant. Young misses could be seen chatting happily and children could be spotted playing with each other and running around with a lively atmosphere. From time to time, a carriage would run along the road and people would make way.
Wu LiJing looked at the nameplate of the popular restaurant and entered when she confirmed her destination. "Room five," she said. A servant bowed and led her upstairs into the private rooms on the third floor and she entered room five. Someone was already in there.
A harmless, attractive looking man with a slightly feminine face, had loosely tied and noticeably unique, long, blond hair to pair with his lively brown eyes. He was carelessly sitting down behind the table, wearing some casual light green robes as he fanned himself and looked outside through the wide opened window. If one looked closely, one could tell that the cloth used for his robes were of high quality and the fan's frame was made of a special type of steel.
The man smiled attractively when she entered, showing a small dimple on his left cheek as he saluted and greeted her. Even if she never really cared about how others looked, she couldn't deny Jin RuiYing could be considered one of the best-looking men she had ever seen. Thankfully, they weren't sitting on the first floor, where tables were lined up for customers to sit in. Because then, she would have to deal with the jealous stares from women she didn't even know.
"Wu LiJing. Come sit, I already ordered some food. It should be here anytime now."
She nodded and sat down.
Jin RuiYing smiled. "Well. How is the second direct disciple of the Moon Sect doing?"
"Preparing for the upcoming competition."
"You don't sound concerned at all." His tone turned playful as he smirked. "Aren't you a bit too overconfident?"
She poured herself a cup of tea. "It's not something to worry too much about."
Jin RuiYing rolled his eyes and picked up his cup.
They suddenly heard a knocking on their door and a servant came in, carrying their food. Once the servant left, Wu LiJing raised her hand and drew out a formation in the air using her chi. Once it was done, it disappeared and her chopsticks reached for the food on the plates.
"You always use that formation so casually," Jin RuiYing sighed. "I heard that it's hard learning different spells. Isn't this spell formation hard to create?" Since she always used it when they talked about something serious, perhaps he can have her teach him. "Is there some kind of shortcut to learning it? How about giving me some tips?" He smiled.
Wu LiJing chewed and after she swallowed, she answered, "It's a mediocre spell. Anyone can learn it if they try. Now, let's get to the topic, shall we? It's already been a few weeks since the last message."
Jin RuiYing's lips twitched slightly. He also knew a spell to prevent eavesdropping. But he wasn't stupid enough not to know that this spell she used to was harder to break than the easier one that can be learned. The reason being that if one tried to breach it, then there would be a backlash rough enough to affect one's cultivation if they weren't careful or stronger than her.
He cleared his throat and started spitting out the information from his investigation, knowing she would grow impatient if he kept messing around.
"There are many people that could be connected to your father. If you didn't kill the doctor, we would be having a much easier time," Jin RuiYing lightly blamed her.
"He claimed he didn't see clearly how she looked. And he already described her appearance to me. Didn't I already inform you?"
Jin RuiYing smiled, feeling hopeless. "There are many women with a mole under her mouth. The second woman he mentioned, he also only saw from the back and described her as someone with a voluptuous figure."
"Then investigate all of them," she said, looking at him with dark eyes.
Jin RuiYing coughed and brushed his hair back. "Do you know how expensive that is?"
She paused and put her chopsticks down. "I guess I shouldn't have saved your life then."
Jin RuiYing coughed louder and then showed a sweet smile. "I was joking. With my powers, this is nothing."
"Do you have a clue as to where the poison came from?" One way was to investigate all who bought that poison within a time frame. Though it would take just as long.
Jin RuiYing nodded. "I'm already having this investigated. We traced the poison back to the Black Market. It should be easy if we bribe the seller. He's a short man who specializes in making and selling different kinds of deadly poisons. We already investigated him and learned that he loves money."
"And if he doesn't agree?"
"Then we'll threaten him! Who do you think I am?" He slapped his fan on the table haughtily.
Wu LiJing nodded and then gazed at him with a nonchalant expression.
Jin RuiYing suddenly touched his face and laughed nervously. "Is there something on my face? Has my face dazzled you too much? I purposely dressed lightly today so I wouldn't draw attention." Has she finally fallen for him after all these years? But this was too sudden! He suddenly felt bad because he would have to reject her.
Wu LiJing raised an eyebrow. She was simply thinking that it was good he knew to use force if need be. "I have waited years for you to finally start the investigation. If you didn't do well, I would have to go elsewhere and ask for compensation for wasting my time." Also, his blond hair was unique and would make him stand out no matter what he wore. Why must he always mention his looks whenever they conversed?
"What?!" He hit his fan on the table again. "So you were thinking of ditching me after using me, if you found me useless?! How heartless of you, Wu LiJing!" He scowled and pointed at her like a man who had gotten cheated on by his wife.
But when he found her staring at him again with indifferent eyes, he glanced at his finger and quickly retreated. He cleared his throat, smiled charmingly, and changed the topic, "Your parents are interesting. I spent so long tracking the places they visited and those they met."
She smiled. "Yes... I've a few stories of their travels." Suddenly, the blood dripping down her mother's lips and the unnatural color of her father's body flashed in her memories. She gripped her cup and lowered her eyes.
She could remember the shock when she took her mother's medicine to a distant doctor and learned that her mother had been poisoned.
After she was born, her mother's body slowly weakened without them noticing. After her mother fainted once, they called for a doctor and were told that her mother was only overworked and tired.
Her parents were confused and assumed it may just be a small after-effect of post pregnancy. Perhaps her mother simply needed to rest more and pause the training in her cultivation.
Nevertheless, her mother soon had episodes of bad fevers that were accompanied by an occasional fainting, and it only worsened. After calling many doctors to see her mother, they finally found one who informed them that she had a rare illness that was difficult to cure.
Wu LiJing was so young at that time, she didn't quite understand it, but they put their hopes on this doctor to help her mother; he was Doctor Zhu. Doctor Zhu prescribed her mother medicine and her symptoms decreased, with her illness rarely flaring up.
But the truth was, her mother's body was slowly deteriorating without them realizing. And the medicine she took was not medicine at all. No, it was actually poison that had somehow been fed to her mother from the beginning, but with how low the dosage was, it went undetected.
The doctor who had been seeing their mother worked with the instigator. At first, Wu LiJing was depressed from both of her parent's deaths. But after a few months, she thought rationally and realized how sudden and odd their deaths were. There was too much of a coincidence between her leaving home and her mother and father's timely death.
Her mother was always sick, but it shouldn't have caused her to suddenly lose her life after the mere three days she was gone. And it happened right after her father was attacked by bandits. It was too suspicious. Doctor Zhu was the first one she suspected.
So she waited, and she cultivated. She trained herself using the guidance of the books left behind by her father and practiced with a wooden sword without rest. After she felt confident enough, she practiced with a knife.
When she turned thirteen and finally reached the second realm, she went to find the doctor who took care of her mother, who lived in the outskirts of their village. That was the first time she ever got blood on her hands and treated another so cruelly.
The doctor was afraid of pain, so he quickly spilled the beans. When the doctor finally disclosed that her mother had indeed been slowly poisoned through the years to weaken her body and eventually kill her, she was livid beyond repair.
He said her mother was supposed to have died in a few months, but killing her at that moment was too good of a chance after her father died. He claimed that he didn't know this woman who had come to him with a huge amount of money. But he said he recognized her - he had seen her once with her father in their village, accompanying another woman.
Before she could further investigate, Wang WeiYue came to find them, and they entered the Moon Sect. At first, she was vigilant; she couldn't trust anyone. But she realized quickly that in order to find who killed her parents, she had to have some kind of power. It took her three years before she became Sect Master Wang's direct disciple. It was only after she left her sect to fulfill a mission by her master, that she was able to start her own investigation.
As for that doctor, she used all of her money to hire a deaf and mute girl to look after him after locking him in at a hidden house. When she started to leave the sect more often, she came back to ask him more questions, but he was useless. Therefore, she tortured him with a slow-acting poison.
She made sure he suffered and wished the god of death quickly took him before he really died. She could still remember, the flesh that slowly burned off by itself like ash being scraped off a black pot, as he cried from consuming the Burning Poison. If he dared to poison her mother for so many years, then he should be able to withstand this small poison that only made him suffer for three days.
Once Jin RuiYing summarized all the information he obtained, he could finally enjoy his food. Whenever he had to report to her, he was always a little nervous because of her indifferent eyes that would stare right through him. He always felt as though she was going to chop off his head if he even said one wrong thing. So he didn't really touch his food just now in case he got indigestion... But that didn't mean it would stop him from doing what he wanted after! He quickly reached for the string beans.
Wu LiJing sipped her cup of tea and then looked up at him. Jin RuiYing jumped a little and cleared his throat, putting down his chopsticks. "We're getting closer to the culprit," he added. "Since we need to narrow down the suspects who came to give that doctor money, it would take a bit longer. But the truth is, I have a hunch. To solidify my thoughts, let me gather more information and we can talk again."
"Very well."
"By the way, your parents were very amazing and adventurous! They didn't even join a sect yet were able to cultivate to the late stages of the Immortal Realm, travelling the world and going on adventures." He scanned Wu LiJing's straight posture. "Very different from you," he muttered.
Wu LiJing raised an eyebrow and ignored his comment, suddenly thinking about his previous comment about her parents as well. "You investigated my parents' past?"
"I have to!" he quickly explained. "I had to investigate who they had connections to and who they had contact with, see if there are any rumors regarding enemies or arguments. Do you know how much work that is?" He looked as though he was doing a lot of work, work he didn't want to do if he didn't have to.
She frowned. "Why don't you just look at their contacts in the village or right before they had me? There is no need to go so far." She didn't think this person could be traced back that far. They probably met either before or right after she was born. The doctor confessed he had seen this woman in the village after all. Her parents didn't settle into the village until after they had her. And they were probably around fifty to sixty years old then?
"I know!" he said, looking away and taking a bite of the pork in his plate. But her parents were quite interesting, after all, they were rogue cultivators. It was interesting to see how they were able to cultivate and get to the level they were at. Her father was especially interesting, having a unique fighting skill. Their love story was also quite entertaining to learn about. But he wouldn't tell her this or he may not leave this place in one piece. With a serious expression, "I just have to make sure."
After emptying her cup of tea, Wu LiJing stood up, having been finished with her business. "Enjoy the rest of the food."
"What?" Jin RuiYing blinked widely. "You're leaving already?"
Wu LiJing raised an eyebrow. "I'm busy."
"Of course," he muttered. She always left quickly after getting all the information sucked out of him! Though this is only the fifteenth time they met up... but still! They had been connecting through letters all these years!
When she opened the door and stepped through, the spell vanished, and she left. Jin RuiYing rolled his eyes. She was always like this. She doesn't appreciate his hard work at all. He was also a busy man, hmph! He chewed the now cold food in his mouth.
Wu LiJing went to one of the most popular sweets restaurants that she was familiar with in the Flying Bird Village, since she frequently visited this city when she had to meet up with Jin RuiYing, and stood in the long line that led to its door. As she was waiting in line, she took out a book to read. Her eyes scanned the words and pictures as she took a step forward.
Suddenly, she felt someone behind her get nearer and her eyes narrowed as she took a step sideways to evade. She looked down and saw a little boy on the ground with red eyes. It seems he hit his butt on the ground hard enough for tears to emerge.
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