Volume 9, Chapter 629 – Clues About the Jiang Clan Descendants (Part 1)

“Yes, exactly. You’re not my pet, are you? What obligation do you have to tell me anything?”

Qi Huang was furious too, yet her tone remained unusually composed and self-aware.

“Hmph, at least you know your place.”

Bai Yun snorted coldly.

The faces of the others were filled with disappointment, especially Jiang Feng, because he knew that among everyone present, only Qi Huang possessed the strength capable of subduing Bai Yun.

“How about this? I’ll trade you something in exchange. It’s worth quite a lot.”

Qi Huang suddenly shifted the conversation.

“What thing? Don’t you dare try to trick me with some worthless junk.”

Suspicion crept into Bai Yun’s voice.

“The lives of those fiendish spirits in Pingshan Mass Burial Ground… how many do you think would be enough to trade for this clue?”

Qi Huang stopped walking, her smile unwavering.

Bai Yun froze entirely, her whole body stiff. Then she spoke with forced bravado: “What? Are you threatening me?”

“Yes, I am threatening you! Why don’t we head to Pingshan Mass Burial Ground right now and verify the goods? We can see whose little life is worth more than this clue. Either way, I’m fast enough that I can reach there in the blink of an eye.”

Qi Huang smiled radiantly, her tone as light as a breeze.

Cheng Hongling, watching from the side, revealed a faint trace of admiration in her eyes.

Bai Yun locked gazes with Qi Huang for a long moment. In the end, she had no choice but to yield under overwhelming strength. Reluctantly, she muttered, “Fine… I’ll tell you who the traitor is.”

“Who is it?”

Jiang Feng asked urgently, unable to wait.

“You remember how there were three factions back then, right? The imperial court’s army, the cultivators of the Honghua Sect, and the Immortal Alliance… The traitor… is among those Immortal Alliance members.”

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Bai Yun finally spoke the truth slowly.

“What?”

Everyone stared at one another, their faces full of anger and disbelief. None of them had expected such an answer.

It took Jiang Feng quite some time to recover from the shock. He questioned in a trembling voice, “You’re not lying to me, are you? The entire purpose of the Immortal Alliance is to eradicate evil spirits. How could they possibly do something like that?”

“If you didn’t trust me, why bother asking?”

Bai Yun turned her head away arrogantly.

“Speak properly, or I’ll make sure your companions pay the price for your attitude.”

Qi Huang barked coldly from the side.

Bai Yun sighed helplessly, then obediently explained: “I overheard them saying this at the time… The existence of evil spirits is precisely what makes ordinary people rely on the Immortal Alliance. Without them, the Alliance wouldn’t hold such power or receive so many resources. That’s why they need the source of Yin miasma to remain. That’s why they stopped you.”

Everyone’s expression darkened at once. Shock and disbelief clouded their faces. None of them had expected that an organization long heralded as noble and righteous could secretly be so profit-driven, so utterly shameless.

“These bastards! They caused the deaths of thousands of heroes in the subjugation force! And because of them, the Great Qi Kingdom was destroyed, the Jiang clan massacred! In this lifetime, I swear, I’ll make them repay us a hundredfold!”

Jiang Feng roared toward the heavens, his voice booming with hatred. The wrath in his eyes surged violently, and faint, sharp fangs glimmered from the corners of his lips.

Mu Ruoyi, standing nearby, flinched from shock and quickly stepped back. She patted her chest nervously, trembling as she muttered, “I never thought the people of the Immortal Alliance would turn out to be hypocrites! All that facade of righteousness, claiming loyalty to the nation and its people, yet behind closed doors they scheme in filth!”

“Hmph. One of my clansmen once bit off two fingers of an Immortal Alliance elder’s granddaughter under torture. For that, they gave the order to wipe out every Four-Eared Wolf cultivator in the entire cultivation world. If such people can rise to power, that organization is nothing but a nest of filth.”

Bai Yun spoke bitterly, his tone layered with cold resentment.

“Now I finally understand why the Honghua Sect kept begging the Immortal Alliance for assistance back then, only to be turned away every time with excuses. It was all about profits.”

Cheng Hongling’s delicate face carried a look of dawning realization.

“The Immortal Alliance rose to its position under the banner of ‘eliminating evil spirits and safeguarding the Dao’. But if its essence is nothing but greed, then what sets them apart from heartless merchants? What right do they have to be revered by the people? What right do they have to lead the cultivation world?”

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Qi Huang concluded coldly.

“Unfortunately, Yin energy permeates this world too deeply. It’s not something one or two people can remove entirely. Otherwise, there’d be no need for the Immortal Alliance in the first place.”

Cheng Hongling sighed and shook her head.

Qi Huang fell silent at that, too. As greedy as the Immortal Alliance was, they did get things done. Without them, the people’s safety would be even harder to guarantee. Even someone as powerful as she was could only protect her own small territory, no more than a few acres.

“Unless… unless the Yin energy could be completely eliminated. Then there would be no evil spirits, and the Immortal Alliance would have no purpose.”

Mu Ruoyi spoke thoughtfully.

“If all the Yin energy disappeared, then what about us zombies and ghosts alike?”

Bai Yun protested immediately.

“Then you’d perish along with the Immortal Alliance. Don’t you hate them enough for that? Or are you saying you don’t even have that much courage?”

Mu Ruoyi teased her mercilessly.

“If this Crown Prince ever had a chance to take them down with me, I wouldn’t hesitate for a second! If you won’t do it, it only proves you don’t hate them enough.”

Jiang Feng’s voice dripped with venom, his jaw clenched tight.

“I just don’t think their worthless lives are worth sacrificing mine for.”

Bai Yun retorted defensively.

“Then just admit you’re scared. It’s fine. Besides, no one in this world could ever truly erase all the Yin energy anyway.”

Jiang Feng smirked, mocking relentlessly.

Qi Huang, however, fell deep into thought. Erasing Yin energy entirely… she had actually seen something like that before.

“Do you remember what I told you about Lu Yao?”

Qi Huang transmitted a thought to her main consciousness: “With that blood tear on her face, she can absorb all the Yin energy of an entire world in a short period of time. If we had that kind of power, the Immortal Alliance would be irrelevant.”

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“You have the blood tear. But do you have the courage to die to use it?”

Cheng Hongling’s voice cut like a knife through her mind.

“Not a chance.”

Qi Huang replied decisively, fully aware of her own limits.

After that, the group continued toward their destination, a small county town called Chunshui Town.

About a quarter-hour later, they arrived. Without pause, they rushed straight to the Chen family’s large courtyard, though it now had new owners.

Qi Huang lifted her gaze and immediately spotted the massive walnut tree within the courtyard. Its main trunk was so thick that it would take four people holding hands to encircle it. Branches stretched densely in every direction, so many they couldn’t even be counted. The entire courtyard lay beneath its shade.

But there was a problem. It was already the third month of the year, yet not a single bud had sprouted, not a leaf, not a flower, not a single hint of life. Even worse, the bark on both the trunk and branches was wrinkled and dry, showing no trace of green anywhere.

“General Li, this is what you called alive?”

Jiang Feng turned to glare at the general beside him.

General Li snapped out of his shock and fell to his knees with a loud thud: “Please forgive me, Your Highness! When I came to check on it last time, the walnut tree was still alive. I never imagined… that after just two months… it would end up like this!”

Jiang Feng bit back his words and searched around the courtyard, but there were no other large trees nearby. Given the heavy Yin energy plaguing this land, it was hard enough for any tree to survive, let alone thrive.

“Is this… fate’s decree?”

Jiang Feng muttered in despair.

“Can we still save it?”

Qi Huang asked Mu Ruoyi patiently.

“If there’s even the faintest trace of life left, then yes. By combining my Wooden Exquisite Art with your Water Exquisite Art, we might still save it. But if its vitality is completely gone, then there’s nothing we can do. And as you can see, there aren’t any other trees around to assist us.”

Mu Ruoyi’s expression was grave.

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“I see… but how can we confirm it?”

Jiang Feng suddenly interjected, sounding like a dying man jolted awake from his deathbed.

“We’d need close contact to tell for sure.”

Mu Ruoyi replied.

“But this is someone else’s home. How do we get inside?”

Qi Huang frowned slightly, clearly troubled.

Just as the group was brainstorming, they spotted an elderly man inside the courtyard. He hobbled along on a cane until he reached the walnut tree, where he tilted his head back and gazed at it, his eyes brimming with sorrow.

“Ah… old tree, old tree… It’s already March. Why haven’t you sprouted yet?”

The old man sighed softly after a long, quiet observation.

“Father, stop looking. It’s already March and there’s no sign of budding, it must be dead.”

A middle-aged man standing under the eaves nearby spoke bluntly.

“Shut your foul mouth! Do you have any idea how important this tree is to our family? This place used to be a cursed house! Our ancestors only bought it because of this walnut tree, and they got it cheap. And they were right, if not for this tree’s abundant harvest every year giving us money and food, you’d have starved to death long ago! This tree is the savior of our Liu family!”

The old man scolded furiously.

“Even if it saved our family, that doesn’t mean you can call a dead tree alive! Just look at the bark, it’s dried and wrinkled. Are you expecting some miracle?”

The middle-aged man argued.

The old man fell silent, ignoring him entirely. Instead, he quietly picked up a nearby bucket and poured water gently onto the tree’s roots.

“Looks like an opportunity has just presented itself.”

Qi Huang’s alluring lips curved slightly, and she strode confidently toward the main gate.