Chapter 31

Before they parted in the outskirts, Shu Bai told Su Jiu to meet them at the sect gates the next day. Their mission site was at the summit of Verdant Mountain. Coincidentally, the Mushroom Beast she needed to kill was also on that mountain.

When Su Jiu returned to the dormitory, Han Jia was meditating and seemed to sense her presence.

Before long, she opened her eyes.

Han Jia looked a little pale. "Su Jiu, I..."

She hesitated, unsure whether she should speak or whether Su Jiu would believe her.

"I think there's something wrong with Yu Yin." Han Jia gritted her teeth and said it.

Su Jiu was a little surprised by Han Jia's perceptiveness.

Han Jia smiled bitterly. "If I didn't know for certain that I've never entered a dream while meditating in the past ten years, I'd almost suspect what happened today was an illusion."

Su Jiu pressed her lips together.

"After I finished talking to Yu Yin, I came back to the dormitory and started meditating. Before long, I entered a dream. All I remember is that it was terrifying, but once I woke up, I couldn't remember anything about it. More than half the spiritual energy in my body was gone, and my vitality and spirit had suffered badly too."

"To be honest, I'm not sure whether entering that dream had anything to do with Yu Yin, but she really was the only person I had any contact with all day."

Su Jiu's gaze darkened slightly. "Take some missions and go out to train over the next few days. Try not to run into Yu Yin again."

Han Jia nodded. She had been thinking the same thing.

"I want to report it to the Enforcement Hall."

Su Jiu shook her head. "Do you have any evidence?"

Han Jia smiled bitterly. "The lack of evidence is precisely why I haven't gone straight to the Enforcement Hall."

Su Jiu looked thoughtful.

Meanwhile, inside a cave.

"Your Dream-Inducing Art doesn't work properly! What good does blaming me do? I'm only at the fourth level of Qi Refining. Drawing out the soul of someone at the fourth level is already my limit. If you're so capable, do it yourself!" the woman roared furiously.

"If I could enter the Azure Tide Sect, would I need you?" The old man's drooping eyelids made him look especially frightening.

"Aren't rogue cultivators enough for you? Why must you have disciples from the Azure Tide Sect?"

"The Rogue Cultivator Alliance has put out a warrant for me. Where could I run with my current cultivation?"

The woman curled her lips in cold mockery and spat, "Serves you right."

The old man glanced sideways at her. "Even if it serves me right, you're still bound to me by a contract."

At the word "contract," the woman's face involuntarily paled. Only after seeing that his threat had worked did the old man continue leisurely, "Besides, that isn't the only way. You could also trick people into coming here."

A cold gleam flashed through his slanting eyes, making the woman shudder despite herself.

The woman nodded. "Still paid by the head?"

The old man looked at her with disdain, his tone carrying the lofty air of someone dispensing charity. "Naturally. Bring me someone in the middle or late stages of Qi Refining, and there will be extra benefits."

The old man had long since seen straight through the woman's greed.

The woman, meanwhile, was secretly thinking that she had no access to circles of late-stage Qi Refining cultivators, but she could try those in the middle stage.

The next day, when Su Jiu arrived at the stone stele outside the Azure Tide Sect's main gates, she found the other four already waiting there.

She looked apologetic. "Sorry for the wait."

Zhou Xing laughed. "What's there to apologize for? You're not late. In fact, you're a quarter of an hour early. These fellows couldn't sit still and insisted on coming ahead of time. We only got here a quarter of an hour before you."

Besides their team, two other teams at the mountain gates also seemed to be waiting for people.

One of those teams did not look particularly harmonious.

"She certainly thinks highly of herself, making all of us wait for her alone. It's been over an hour now, hasn't it?" The woman clearly had a fiery temper.

"Qiqi, let it go. She is paying, after all."

"What's that supposed to mean? You make it sound as though her paying means we aren't putting in any effort. This is an exchange of equal value, understand? Respecting people is basic common sense. We took her money, but we're doing the work too. We don't owe her anything!"

Another man, broad and burly with a dark complexion, also seemed displeased. "Once this job is done, don't take any more of hers."

Verdant Mountain was actually not very far from the Azure Tide Sect, but since Qi Refining cultivators could not fly on artifacts, they had to walk there on their own two legs. By the time they reached the foot of Verdant Mountain, the sky was gradually darkening.

They clearly could go no farther that day, so the group set up camp at the foot of the mountain. Those in the Qi Refining Period still needed food, and several of them brought out pots, bowls, ladles, and basins.

"There's water nearby. I'll go get some water and fish." Zhou Xing was the first to leave.

Immediately afterward, Mo Yan entered the woods without a word.

Su Jiu looked at Shu Bai. "Will they be all right?"

Shu Bai smiled and shook his head. "They'll be fine."

Shu Bai and Lie Changfeng began lighting a fire and making preparations. Su Jiu had never done such things and felt awkward standing idle, so she said, "I'll see if there's any fruit nearby."

Shu Bai raised his eyebrows, not having expected Su Jiu to take the initiative to find something to do.

Watching Su Jiu's retreating figure, Lie Changfeng rubbed beneath his nose with his index finger and muttered, "She's more considerate than the female cultivators we brought along before."

On their previous five-person missions, the female cultivators they brought along had sat there like lords, waiting for everything to be served.

Lie Changfeng had been displeased at first, but eventually grew used to it. Now that they had met someone different, like Su Jiu, he actually felt a little uncomfortable.

Su Jiu surveyed her surroundings. The sky had not yet gone completely dark, and she found some edible fruit with her spiritual sense.

Suddenly, a white blur shot toward her. It was unquestionably the fastest thing Su Jiu had encountered in this lifetime.

Su Jiu instantly drew the longsword from her back and pushed her Lightfoot Step to its limits, actually matching the white blur's speed.

What Su Jiu did not see was a figure nearby staring intently at the shifting steps of her feet.

Although the white blur was extremely fast, it had little attack power and was fragile. Su Jiu seized an opening and brought it down with a single Ice Spike.

The Ice Spike was bitterly cold, and the instant it pierced the white blur, the wound froze over.

When Su Jiu walked over to inspect it, she found that it had already stopped breathing. That white blur was a Windfang Rabbit, one of her targets for this mission.

Looking at the torn claw marks on her sleeve, Su Jiu could not help marveling. It truly deserved its reputation as the fastest first-tier demonic beast. She had trained her Lightfoot Step almost to the pinnacle possible in the Qi Refining Period, yet she could only match the Windfang Rabbit's speed.

As she looked at the rabbit, heaven and man waged war in her mind for a long while over whether to turn it in for the mission or add it to dinner. In the end, she chose dinner.

When Su Jiu returned, she found that everyone else was already back. An enormous porcupine lay nearby. She could sense no spiritual energy from it, so it was probably not a demonic beast.

With a few strokes, Mo Yan divided the porcupine into several large pieces, then chopped the bamboo lying nearby into skewers. A handful already lay beside him, apparently freshly made.

Lie Changfeng used a small knife to slice meat from the large chunks and thread it onto the bamboo skewers. Zhou Xing tended the fire and grilled the meat.

Beside them, Shu Bai was cooking fish soup.

She took out the fruit and the Windfang Rabbit and set them on the ground. First, she washed the fruit and placed it on a plate.

Then she began fretting over how to prepare the Windfang Rabbit. Having done no cooking for a hundred years, Su Jiu truly had no idea how to deal with it.

Just as she was about to slit the rabbit's hide with her sword, Mo Yan walked over and carried it away. When he returned, he handed Su Jiu an intact pelt and a pair of rabbit teeth, while the rabbit meat had already been cleaned and prepared.

With practiced ease, Zhou Xing took the rabbit meat from Mo Yan and began cutting it into pieces, skewering it, and grilling it.

Su Jiu watched them with a little envy. Their tacit understanding clearly came from working together for a long time.

In her previous life, however, she had only had a handful of close friends right up until her death.

As she thought of those old friends, a skewer of grilled meat suddenly appeared before her eyes.

Seeing Su Jiu's momentary daze, Shu Bai smiled. "What are you thinking about so intently? The meat's ready. Eat."

As he spoke, Shu Bai pointed at the other three, who were already eating skewers. "Those fellows won't stand on ceremony with you. Once it's gone, it's gone. If you don't eat your fill, you'll go hungry tonight."

With grease glistening around his mouth, Zhou Xing laughed. "That's right, hurry up and eat. I'm a pretty good cook."

The sky had darkened completely, and the firelight shone on everyone's faces. The atmosphere made Su Jiu feel especially warm.

How had she lived in her previous life, back when she was still in the Qi Refining Period and needed food? It seemed she had always drunk the Jade Nectar supplied by her master, the sect leader.

At that thought, Su Jiu could not help smiling. Looking back now, that Jade Nectar did not seem much tastier than this skewer of grilled meat. Perhaps she had changed, or perhaps her state of mind had.