The Gossiping Heart in Everyone

Deep within the courtyard, narrow outside and wide within, the farther one went, the more it gave visitors the sense that its master was unfathomably profound.

The residence hidden away by that demon, Blackheart Elder, followed just such a layout.

The one Tan Shuchang had come to visit now was the same. Led inside by a maid who called herself "Xiangxiang," he passed through three gates in succession before entering the reception hall.

The maid Xiangxiang brought him tea, then departed.

Tan Shuchang was a guest at the moment, not here to make trouble, so he behaved with great propriety. His every word and gesture was not only gentle and refined, but also conformed to the etiquette he had learned in the Tan family in his early years.

After all, such things were easy to learn. As long as one had no worries about food and clothing and understood one's own status, anyone could pick them up in a short time.

Tan Shuchang did not sense his surroundings, as that would have breached etiquette. Thus, he had no idea that the maid Xiangxiang, who had slowly walked out with lotus steps, immediately changed to skipping and hopping the moment she was outside. When she ran into her good sister, she eagerly said, "Guess who I saw? Tan Shuchang! The very Tan Shuchang who wrote that diary! He looks just like a young master from some great clan!"

Xiangxiang's good sister was an expressionless young girl named A Lu. She was a distant relative from a branch of the Li Family mistress's kin ten years ago. After misfortune befell that branch and only this girl remained, the Li Family mistress had kept her by her side. Since she and Li Luoxia were only a few years apart and were cousins besides, she had grown quite close to Li Luoxia.

Upon hearing this, A Lu's expression did not change in the slightest. She merely rolled her eyes at Xiangxiang and said, "Tan Shuchang, of the Tan family in Capital Prefecture. The Tan family that once swept across thirteen provinces, the imperial tutors of two dynasties. Chancellor Tan is his father."

"That Tan family?" Xiangxiang was instantly stunned. The Jia Five Realm was so vast, yet the entire imperial court only ruled seventeen provinces. And one single Tan family had once swept across thirteen provinces!

She could not help sighing. "No wonder the Tan family was wiped out. Tens of thousands of people connected to them were killed as well. They truly deserved to die!"

If she had been the emperor, she would have wanted to destroy the Tan family too.

But A Lu did not respond to that. She merely looked at her with an expressionless face.

"What is it? Is there dirt on my face?"

"No. But there is behind you."

The moment Xiangxiang heard that, she spun around in terror. Then, in even greater terror, she saw that her young lady had somehow appeared behind her.

"Young Lady!" Xiangxiang was terrified beyond measure. There really was something dirty!

Li Luoxia glared at her maid, then glared at the young girl as well. "I can't beat that Tan Shuchang. Don't let his gentle manner of speech fool you. He dared to kill even his own master, Blackheart Elder—and he succeeded!"

After being scolded, Xiangxiang immediately lowered her head and did not dare say another word. After all, this was her young lady—not only the one who fed and clothed her, but also her greatest support.

A Lu remained expressionless even after being scolded, though a trace of unusual emotion passed through her eyes.

Killing one's master...

And succeeding at it!

That was no ordinary rarity!

Li Luoxia understood her maid and this distant cousin of hers well enough. Thus, after saying only that much, she had the two of them go as far away as possible while she went alone to see Tan Shuchang.

Hearing footsteps drawing nearer, Tan Shuchang rose to his feet. Once Li Luoxia came into view, he was the first to offer a salute.

Though it was only a simple cupped-fist salute, it was enough.

They were both cultivators; there was no need for excessive ceremony.

"Tan Shuchang greets Senior Sister Li." Blackheart Mountain was close to Jian Gorge Sect. Moreover, among Blackheart Elder's previous batch of disciples, several had married into Jian Gorge Sect. Therefore, disciples of the two sects generally addressed one another as senior and junior brothers and sisters. That was also why Tan Shuchang had called her junior sister in his diary.

"Please sit, Junior Brother Tan. May I ask what brings you here?" Li Luoxia asked with a smile.

"Senior Sister Li is responsible for all matters in Clear River City on behalf of Jian Gorge Sect. You must know that after several hundred copies of Tan's Cultivation Diary were reproduced, it not only spread throughout Blackheart Mountain, but was also circulated down the mountain."

"I know. But what you do not know, Junior Brother Tan, is that it was not several hundred copies, but at least several thousand. I heard that your Cultivation Diary is already being sold in Qing Province as well." Li Luoxia nodded, casually giving Tan Shuchang information that caught him somewhat off guard.

During this time, he had focused solely on figuring out how to kill Blackheart Elder. The Cultivation Diary he had casually written had spread so quickly?

Qing Province—if he remembered correctly—was at the far northern edge of the Jia Five Realm.

Yet Yue Prefecture, where he was now, lay in the south of the Jia Five Realm! Several provinces lay between the two, and even sword cultivators capable of flying on their swords, assuming they traveled day and night without obstruction, would need at least ten days to half a month to reach it!

One had to know that sword cultivators could fly at a speed of at least ten li with a single thought!

In the blink of an eye, they would be ten li away.

Tan Shuchang took a moment to collect himself, then asked, "Then may I ask whether Senior Sister Li's junior sister is currently at Jian Gorge Sect?"

"Junior Sister? You may not know this, Junior Brother Tan, but Junior Sister Dong went down the mountain a month ago. The Dong Family arranged another marriage for her, so they called her back." As Li Luoxia spoke, her gaze at Tan Shuchang inevitably held a little more eager curiosity for gossip.

Because she did not know exactly what relationship existed between Tan Shuchang and her junior sister. But one thing was certain: her junior sister probably did not dislike Tan Shuchang.

After all, given her junior sister's talent in the sword path, if she had truly wanted to chop Tan Shuchang down, she would have done so long ago.

"The Dong Family? Could she be from the Dong Family of Heavenly Sword Manor in Chu Province?" Tan Shuchang was somewhat surprised, though he also suddenly understood. He had concealed most of his methods at the time, but he should not have been weak enough for someone to chase after him with a sword and hack at him.

At the time, he had thought that old woman from Jian Gorge Sect had taken in a disciple with exceptional sword path talent. He had never imagined that she came from that renowned sacred ground of sword cultivators.

"Here, Junior Brother Tan." At this moment, Li Luoxia took out an item.

Tan Shuchang looked and discovered that it was a map, detailed with the route from Yue Prefecture to Chu Province.

He could not help looking at Li Luoxia.

Sure enough, the woman was watching him with blazing gossip-hungry eyes.

Tan Shuchang knew that she had gotten the wrong idea, but he said nothing. The several times he had gone to Jian Gorge Sect back then had been for the ghostly entity captured by Jian Gorge Sect.

Still, Tan Shuchang accepted the map.

Not only did it carefully mark places that required caution or should be avoided, but the inscription at the end of the map was actually—

Southern Sword Su Huan'an.

That was the name of Sword Disciple Mountain's sect master.

Sword Disciple Mountain and Heavenly Sword Manor of Chu Province were the Jia Five Realm's two great sacred grounds of sword cultivators.