The Lan Household's Remnant

Not long after Chen Jianghe sent out his letters, replies arrived.

Gao Peiyao's and Yu Daniu's replies arrived almost simultaneously. Perhaps the white egrets had brought the replies straight back after delivering his letters.

There was a particular method to delivering letters by white egret: outgoing letters went on the left leg, replies on the right.

He opened Gao Peiyao's reply first.

"The Red Flame Flood Dragon Art, and the high-grade magical artifact, the Profound Heaven Dragon-Patterned Cord. It really was that great cultivator at the ninth level of Qi Refining from the Lan Household."

The letter contained information disclosed by the Yun Household about the magical artifact the attacker had used, as well as the distinctive aura of the cultivation art he practiced.

It was strange, really.

The Lan Household had started out as spiritual farmers, and all of them practiced wood-element cultivation arts. Only the current household head practiced a fire-element art.

Rumor had it that, in his youth, Lan Tianxiang, the head of the Lan Household, had accidentally entered the cultivation sanctuary where a Foundation Establishment Ancestor had passed away in meditation, obtaining the superior fire-element cultivation art, the Red Flame Flood Dragon Art.

He had also obtained a high-grade magical artifact, the Profound Heaven Dragon-Patterned Cord. This was common knowledge among the various Qi Refining Aristocratic Clans of Mirror Moon Lake.

Thus, the person who had attacked the Yun Household's Port No. 2 had to be Lan Tianxiang, the Lan Household's remnant.

The Profound Heaven Dragon-Patterned Cord could be replicated, but the distinctive aura accompanying the Red Flame Flood Dragon Art was difficult to imitate.

"In the eyes of high-level cultivators, human lives really are nothing but grass and weeds."

The harbor marketplace had been attacked first, leaving the mortals there without even a chance to flee. Over a thousand people had died in the flames, burned to charcoal.

That was where the aroma of meat Chen Jianghe had smelled had come from.

Afterward, Lan Tianxiang had attacked the Cultivator Market, killing dozens of Fisher-Farmers. Over a dozen collateral descendants of the Yun Household and three stallholders had also died at his hands.

"Has this bastard fallen to demonic ways?"

Reading Gao Peiyao's reply, Chen Jianghe was inwardly horrified and filled with dismay. This scoundrel was even more utterly devoid of conscience than a bandit cultivator.

First, he had lured over a hundred Fisher-Farmers to their deaths, and now he had come to the harbor to harm innocents.

How was this any different from a demonic cultivator?

"He escaped!"

When Chen Jianghe reached the end of the letter, his expression changed.

Three of the Yun Household's elders had gone to oversee Linyun Mine, leaving its defenses thin, while its Foundation Establishment Ancestor could not act.

The two elders at the ninth level of Qi Refining had been unable to stop Lan Tianxiang, allowing him to escape far away once again.

Lan Tianxiang's escape not only posed a hidden threat to the Yun Household, but also left the Fisher-Farmers of Mirror Moon Lake in danger.

Who knew when that conscienceless bastard would attack the harbor again?

The scoundrel had completely abandoned all restraint and given up on reaching Foundation Establishment. Otherwise, he would not have slaughtered innocents so indiscriminately.

Then Chen Jianghe opened Yu Daniu's reply.

It was a full two pages long.

The first part was much the same as Gao Peiyao's reply, though somewhat more detailed.

He had personally witnessed seven late Qi Refining stage cultivators fly out from Heart of the Lake Island and engage Lan Tianxiang in battle.

Only two could fight Lan Tianxiang head-on. The others stayed to the side, watching for opportunities to land underhanded blows.

In the end, Lan Tianxiang had used some unknown secret art. One of his arms had exploded with a thunderous burst, turning into a skyful of bloody mist, and he had vanished within it.

"From Daniu's description, it sounds a little like the blood escape arts used by demonic cultivators in the novels of my previous life."

In short, Lan Tianxiang's escape left him uneasy, as though danger hovered overhead.

"Hmm? No talent for the Talisman Dao!"

The contents of the second page conveyed nothing but disappointment and sorrow.

Yu Daniu had received Zhou Miaoyun's Talisman Dao legacy covering first-tier mid-grade talismans and below, and had purchased talisman-making materials with the two Spirit Stones Gao Peiyao had provided.

But after more than three months, never mind gaining a foothold in the Talisman Dao-Yu Daniu could not even draw the most basic unranked Clothes-Cleaning Talisman.

This was no longer a question of whether his talent for the Talisman Dao was good or poor. He simply had no talent for it at all. Cultivators gifted in the Talisman Dao could, even without a legacy, rely on exceptional talent to gain a foothold within three months and draw unranked Spirit Talismans such as Freshwater Talismans, Flame Talismans, and Clothes-Cleaning Talismans.

With a Talisman Dao legacy, Yu Daniu could have gained a foothold and drawn unranked Spirit Talismans in around ten days if his talent had been good.

After six months to a year of practice, he could have drawn ordinary low-grade Spirit Talismans, such as offensive Water Arrow Talismans, Fireball Talismans, and Earth Spike Talismans.

Even with poor talent, he should have been able to draw unranked Spirit Talismans after three months.

Judging by what Yu Daniu had written, he had already given up on the Talisman Dao.

And at the very end of the letter, every word conveyed disappointment, unwillingness to accept his failure, and a deep sense of inferiority.

He asked Chen Jianghe's opinion on whether he should voluntarily withdraw from the alliance.

As for Gao Peiyao's two Spirit Stones, Yu Daniu stated plainly in his letter that he would definitely scrape together enough to repay her in the future.

Yu Daniu came from a mountain village and had always felt inferior. He had already considered withdrawing when they formed their mutual aid alliance.

It was Zhou Miaoyun's Talisman Dao legacy that had given him a shred of confidence.

But now that he had no talent for the Talisman Dao, it was as though the last straw within his heart had been crushed.

He was close to Chen Jianghe.

Ever since the original agreement between the three of them, he had been closest to Chen Jianghe.

That was because Chen Jianghe, like him, had been brought here by people from the Yun Household, and was also an orphan.

This had given Yu Daniu's insecure heart something to lean on.

"Poor Spiritual Root aptitude, no talent for raising creatures, and now his attempt at the Talisman Dao hasn't worked out either. Ah..."

Chen Jianghe was at a loss too.

Deep down, he did not want Yu Daniu to leave the alliance. Otherwise, the alliance would end up with yin flourishing and yang declining, and sooner or later, he would be isolated and pushed out.

But forcing Yu Daniu to stay would only deal his heart an even greater blow.

"If I had enough Spirit Stones, I could buy Daniu a spirit beast collar, but..."

Chen Jianghe thought of the Spirit Sand dwindling day by day in the cloth pouch tucked against his chest. Only thirty grains remained.

"Daniu can't leave the alliance, especially not now."

Mirror Moon Lake was in turmoil. If the great ship that was the Yun Household capsized, Yu Daniu would have nothing but death awaiting him if he left the alliance.

Together, they might still have a thread of hope for survival.

They had known each other for eight years, and he thought reasonably well of Yu Daniu. In this world, he could be considered his only friend.

Chen Jianghe immediately wrote Yu Daniu a reply, telling him not to rush and to wait another two years, no matter what.

Perhaps things would take a turn within those two years.

Of course, he knew that two years would not bring any change either, but for Yu Daniu's safety, he could only try to persuade him this way.

Whether Yu Daniu listened or not, he would have done what he could and honored their friendship.

"Quack, quack~~"

The ducklike cry of a white egret sounded close at hand. Chen Jianghe stepped out of the cabin and saw a white egret standing on the bow.

"Quack~"

Its gaze and cry were both full of contempt.

Chen Jianghe was not angry either. He removed the letter, gave it two Big Blue Fish weighing about a jin each, then turned and went back into the cabin.

It was Zhou Miaoyun's reply.

However, she wrote that she knew little about what had happened at the harbor. The Three One Two Waters where she lived were far from Port No. 2, and she had only heard some commotion and seen a vague glow of fire.

Still, Zhou Miaoyun asked Chen Jianghe to meet her at Port No. 1 in three days, and explicitly mentioned that she had also written to Gao Peiyao and Yu Daniu.

"Is this early meeting to find out what happened at Port No. 2, or is it about Daniu having no talent for the Talisman Dao?"

(End of chapter)