Five miles south of the foot of Little Qiong Peak lay Cuckoo Forest.
Spiritual meridians intertwined here and miasma accumulated, making it fertile ground for all kinds of eccentric fungi.
Along the way, birds chirped and insects hummed, sounding just like a young girl chattering away.
"Red Spotted Tiger is a natural Yin physique and loves eating mushrooms. It often comes to Cuckoo Forest to eat big-headed mushrooms."
The girl was named Jiang Chuyan. She was in the Golden Core Realm, the senior sister of Little Qiong Peak, and everyone called her Chuyan.
She was also the youngest female cultivator on Little Qiong Peak, possessed extremely high innate talent, reached the Golden Core Realm in a century, and was pretty, cute, petite, meticulous, and delicate. Her only flaw was that her brain wasn't quite normal.
"Yes, yes, yes, you've said that ten thousand times."
The middle-aged woman was named Jingyin, the second senior sister of Little Qiong Peak. Her cultivation level was at Foundation Establishment, and her appearance was also quite striking.
Yet whether in appearance or cultivation, she was heavily suppressed by the young girl Chuyan, leaving her with no choice but to settle for junior sister.
Suddenly!
Jingyin caught a pungent smell of blood.
She immediately urged her sword to accelerate, speeding along the scent.
Soon.
The two found two pools of blood in the forest, along with messy trampled marks in a certain patch of briars.
Looking at the large pool of fresh blood on the ground, the pure and soft little face instantly turned pale. Before she knew it, Jiang Chuyan had collapsed to sit on the ground.
"Blood... Xiao Hong's fresh blood..."
Her slender legs, tightly wrapped in white gauze stockings, sat in a split duck-like pose on the grass. The tears welling in her eyes grew increasingly abundant until she finally couldn't help it anymore, bursting into a wail and sobbing softly.
"Xiao Hong was forcibly violated by an unknown beast..."
A faint trace of dark lines hung across Jingyin's smooth forehead.
This was precisely why she was in such a rush to send this senior sister away! A romantic girl prone to wild fantasies was far too exhausting.
Jingyin pressed a hand to her forehead in silence, casting her thoughts back a century...
Chuyan was only twelve years old back then. As the third princess of the Blazing Fire Kingdom, she became the sole heir after her older brothers and sisters passed away one after another. Later, because she caught a glimpse of the Sword-Wielding Elder amidst a crowd, she fled the deep palace overnight. Carrying her pack on her back, she walked hundreds of li on foot all the way to the Zongzhi Mountain Outer Sect.
Lin Yunzi recognized Chuyan's identity and was about to send her back to the Imperial Capital when she was discovered by passing self, who casually tested the girl's talent. Finding it shockingly divine, she brought her up to Little Qiong Peak and made her the junior sister of Little Qiong Peak.
She had thought Little Qiong Peak had struck gold, but instead she had picked up a weirdo! After entering the sect, the girl disliked cultivation and spent all day pondering how to climb up Sword-Wielding Mountain.
Seeing how cute she looked, the Sword-Wielding Elder had once personally come to Little Qiong Peak to see her.
After an in-depth exchange, the elder discovered that her motives were impure and she constantly harbored thoughts of moving into Sword-Wielding Mountain to become a Dao companion.
What manner of unrestrained person was the Sword-Wielding Elder? How could she endure her clinginess? She immediately withdrew and severed ties with her.
With no other choice, the girl could only temporarily stay on Little Qiong Peak and plan her advance step by step.
Whether it was due to absorbing bad habits in the mortal palace, this little lass matured extremely early regarding relationships between men and women.
She didn't cultivate properly on the mountain, loving instead to dress up, gossip, and fantasize all day long.
Things like cultivation being too hard, falling in love being better.
Things like which girl's heart didn't turn to romance.
Things like which young girl's heart wasn't full of spring? Beyond that, she also liked setting up all kinds of romantic matches for her fellow sect members: man-woman, man-man, woman-woman... and even human-beast.
What made it even more unbearable was—
Although this little lass didn't cultivate much, her advancement speed was faster than anyone's. Less than a century after coming to Little Qiong Peak, she had already formed her core, and now she had gone from junior sister to senior sister.
This left the other sisters of Little Qiong Peak very embarrassed. Coupled with her constantly pestering the sisters with gossip and mysteriously discussing things like the one hundred and eight postures, people found her utterly vexing.
Therefore, the female cultivators of Little Qiong Peak unanimously hoped she could successfully transfer to Sword-Wielding Mountain and become the direct disciple of the Sword-Wielding Elder.
She was young, comely, and possessed high talent; as long as she wasn't so gossipy and clingy, it was quite enough to be a direct disciple.
Especially a few years ago, when the Dao Alliance's new rules were being trialed in other sects, the female cultivators of Little Qiong Peak seized the opportunity to egg her on once again to conquer the Sword-Wielding Elder and bravely scale Sword-Wielding Mountain.
That Red Spotted Tiger was also a spirit beast she had picked up in East Floating City back then. It was said to possess ancient Yin blood and was a great tonic for women suffering from dysmenorrhea. She had been told to raise it to the Qi Refining stage and present it to the Sword-Wielding Elder in hopes of being taken in as a direct disciple.
Especially a month ago, when the Dao Alliance's new rules were implemented with even stricter enforcement on Zongzhi Mountain, the Sword-Wielding Elder was forced to scout for a direct disciple. Everyone had assumed that Jiang Chuyan moving into Sword-Wielding Mountain was an absolute certainty.
Two days ago.
Right on the very day the Sword-Wielding Elder's disciple-recruitment deadline expired—
Xiao Ran burst onto the scene out of nowhere!
Everything changed.
Jiang Chuyan, who had always been lax in her cultivation, also began to bury herself in training.
She sought out medicinal pills to give Xiao Ran—wait, to give the Red Spotted Tiger a frantic boost, hoping to make it reach Qi Refining sooner.
She continuously searched for news about Xiao Ran, such as what his true strength was and whether he was hiding any special talents...
She even went so far as to believe that Xiao Ran had simply seduced the elder with his looks.
And so she inexplicably plunged into self-pity and grievance.
One moment she felt she was too tender and needed to be more mature.
The next she felt she was too short and wanted to grow taller.
This seemingly pure and childish little girl, entirely by her own efforts, increased the useless knowledge of the entire Little Qiong Peak.
Looking pure, soft, and cute, yet everything that came out of her mouth was utterly feral! For her, seeing a pool of blood and the mess in the briar patch and coming up with such lewd and bizarre deductions was practically standard operation; there was no need for surprise.
Jingyin snapped back to her senses and hurriedly helped Chuyan up.
"Senior sister, stop crying for a moment. I don't think it's what you're imagining."
Chuyan rubbed her tearful eyes and asked with pitiful cuteness:
"Then what could it be?"
Jingyin touched the bridge of her nose and narrowed her eyes slightly.
"Xiao Hong might have already met with misfortune."
Chuyan nodded her little head.
"Right, I said it met with misfortune, didn't I? Xiao Hong is a Yin physique, male beasts will definitely lose control when they see her."
Jingyin gave her a sidelong glance, her expression grave.
"Not the kind of misfortune you're thinking of. Xiao Hong might already be... gone."
Chuyan looked utterly blank.
"What do you mean gone?"
Jingyin walked around and easily found dozens of brand-new mud pits.
"Look here, a lot of the Black Yeast Mushrooms have been dug up. This is clearly a trace left behind only when digging with a shovel, which means someone was picking mushrooms here."
Chuyan blinked her watery, big eyes, and suddenly experienced a flash of enlightenment.
"You mean a human did unspeakable things to Xiao Hong!"
"..."
Jingyin calmed her emotions and deduced:
"Someone was picking mushrooms here and was targeted by Xiao Hong, and then the two sides came into conflict. The other party took advantage of a tiger's lunge to pierce Xiao Hong's belly with a single sword—look here, there is liver blood, which might be a trace left by internal organs falling out."
Chuyan's face turned ashen as she shrank her petite body.
"Can you please not suddenly say such terrifying things?"
"Just who between the two of us is terrifying?"
Jingyin retorted.
"For a cultivator's life to be threatened by a tiger and to slay it with a single sword is a common occurrence. You grew up in the palace, so you certainly haven't faced this kind of threat."
"Just who killed Xiao Hong?"
"The greatest use of Black Yeast Mushrooms is to extract natural yeast, which means this person wants to brew wine. Brewing wine requires grain. Let's go ask at Great Valley Peak and we'll definitely find some clues."
"Okay."
The two rushed at top speed to Great Valley Peak, yet they didn't need to search for any clues because Baili Qingfeng spilled everything directly.
The person who picked mushrooms and killed the tiger was precisely the newly accepted direct disciple of the Sword-Wielding Elder—
Xiao Ran!
Yet no one could have imagined that Xiao Ran had actually killed a Red Spotted Tiger at the peak of Body Tempering with mortal strength. Presumably, the Sword-Wielding Elder had given him quite a few treasures.
Chuyan was just fretting over lacking an excuse to go to Sword-Wielding Mountain; this twist of fate was precisely her golden opportunity.
"No enemies, no encounters. I'm going to take a trip to Sword-Wielding Mountain right now and I'll definitely slay him with a single sword!"
Hearing this, Jingyin panicked.
"There's no need to go that far. I'd better accompany you."
Chuyan pouted her lips. "How is there no need? I'll slay him with a single sword and ensure he can never be a man again. Without that thing, the elder will surely abandon him."
"..."
So it was that kind of slaying with a single sword; I should have guessed it earlier... Jingyin's face darkened as she pressed a hand to her forehead.
"My stomach doesn't feel well, you go by yourself."
Chuyan's little face froze in surprise.
"Do you have dysmenorrhea too?"
Before you continue