Page 4

Immortal Venerable Wanghan was far stricter than Elder Ning.

He looked at Ziling, intending to offer her a few words of reassurance. Unexpectedly, Ziling comforted him instead. "Shen Ji, you don't need to worry about me. I've heard Immortal Venerable Wanghan is fair. He'll surely uphold justice for us."

Elder Ning snorted. The nerve of her to say that. She, too, would very much like to discuss justice.

At her snort, Ziling's face grew a shade paler.

Qiaoqiao whispered to the immortal crane, "A Xue, doesn't Elder Ning look like an evil mother-in-law trying to break up a young couple?"

The immortal crane let out a honking laugh.

Elder Ning: ...

You could laugh a little louder.

There was little she could do about this crane. After all, it was the contracted spirit beast of their Peak Master, Immortal Venerable Wanghan. Though it was a crane, its cultivation was close to Nascent Soul. No one on Ethereal Peak dared provoke it, and they even had to address it as "Crane True Lord."

The immortal crane usually had its eyes on top of its head and found everyone displeasing, yet it was particularly fond of Qiaoqiao. Elder Ning interpreted this as two salted fish attracting each other.

She dismissed the disciples who had gathered to watch. Seeing Shen Ji and that woman still gazing deeply into each other's eyes, reluctant to part and looking back three times with every step, she recalled Qiaoqiao's inner remark, and her headache immediately worsened.

Elder Ning: When exactly is Immortal Venerable Wanghan coming out of seclusion? Every day he stays in seclusion is another day I have to manage the peak's affairs for him. All this overtime is making my head hurt.

Seeing Qiaoqiao about to slip away with the crowd, she called her back, along with her second disciple, Xiao Tingyu, to discuss that night's operation.

Sure enough, the crane followed them with pattering steps.

Elder Ning: ...

Forget it. It's a piece of sticky candy I can't shake off. Let it be.

Once the door closed, Elder Ning said, "I suspect that woman has ulterior motives. I've decided to keep watch outside your eldest senior brother's courtyard tonight to investigate. What do you think?"

She had originally intended to ask Qiaoqiao directly about her inner voice, only to discover that some unseen force prevented her from speaking. She could not mention the inner voice to Qiaoqiao. Elder Ning realized that matters were no longer simple.

Qiaoqiao had mentioned in her thoughts that she had dreamed about these things concerning her eldest senior brother. Could Qiaoqiao have inadvertently foreseen the future?

It was still too early to judge. She decided to observe for a while first.

"I agree," Xiao Tingyu said.

The two exchanged a glance and looked discreetly at Qiaoqiao. Each understood from the other's eyes that they had both heard Qiaoqiao's inner voice earlier.

"What about you, Qiaoqiao?" Elder Ning looked at Qiaoqiao, who sat to one side.

Ever since entering, Qiaoqiao had sat obediently without saying much or interrupting. She cradled A Xue's long, slender neck in her arms, smoothing the fine down along it. When she raised her eyes to look over, her gaze was clear and lively, and she looked sweet and adorable.

She blinked and answered earnestly, "You're right, Elder."

At the same time, her inner voice rang out. [The elder is so clever. She actually guessed that the devil woman would make her move tonight. Doesn't that mean there'll be a good show tonight?]

How could she miss out on the fun!

She looked eager. "Elder, can you take me along tonight? I want to help too!"

The immortal crane said, "Me too!"

Hah.

Want to help? You just want to eat melon!

Elder Ning scoffed inwardly but did not expose her little scheme.

Qiaoqiao had given her headaches before, too. This disciple was far too much of a salted fish and had no drive to improve, with endless excuses to avoid cultivating. Today, her head hurt, so she could not meditate; tomorrow, her hand hurt, so she could not practice swordsmanship. On all of Ethereal Peak, there was no disciple better at slacking off than her.

As Wanghan's direct disciple, she had been on the mountain for fifteen years and still had not reached Foundation Establishment. It was simply inconceivable.

Yet Peak Master Wanghan, who had always been meticulous and diligent, was remarkably indulgent toward this disciple of his and never forced her to cultivate.

Elder Ning could not understand it. Could a master really protect a disciple for a lifetime?

The Immortal Venerable ought to understand that better than anyone.

Still, although Qiaoqiao had her little faults, she genuinely worried about her senior brother. Though a little too fond of fun, she was a kindhearted young girl.

At that thought, Elder Ning felt somewhat reassured.

"Remember to stay by my side tonight. Don't act rashly."

"All right."

The young girl nodded like she was pounding garlic, while her inner monologue was exceptionally lively.

[Looks like tonight is definitely going to be exciting.]

[Once the elder discovers the Purple Baleful Intent Devil Woman's true colors, will she kill her with one palm strike? It would be great if we could dig out the devil woman's devil heart. I've heard devil hearts are especially delicious. It must taste wonderful stir-fried with pork liver!]

The Devil Cultivators of the Devil Realm practiced evil devil cultivation methods. Immortal cultivators stored their cultivation in their Dantian, whereas the Evil Devil Cultivation Method cultivated that devil heart. Thus, devil hearts were highly nourishing, but righteous cultivators generally disdained doing such things as devouring them.

Elder Ning: ?

Qiaoqiao, what are you swallowing your saliva for?!

Second Senior Sister Xiao Tingyu said, "If we need to set up a formation beforehand, I can help."

She practiced sword formations and had studied formations extensively. Her help would save considerable trouble, which was also why Elder Ning had called her over to discuss this.

"Use a devil-sealing stone as the formation's core and lay a devil-trapping formation in the room so she can't escape."

Xiao Tingyu had just nodded when Qiaoqiao's inner voice rang out again.

[I've heard Devil Cultivators hate the smell of Mind-Clearing Incense most. Why not add a little something to the formation? Once it activates and she smells the incense, she'll get dizzy and nauseous. Then we can really torment that devil woman!]

Elder Ning: ???

Qiaoqiao was sweet and adorable? Kindhearted?

She felt she must be a little blind.

This little disciple seemed somewhat different from what she had imagined...

Second Senior Sister could not help covering her mouth to hide a laugh. She had never noticed before, but her little junior sister really was rather adorable.

Once they had finished discussing business, Ning Shuang watched Qiaoqiao leave at a leisurely pace with the immortal crane. A trace of worry appeared on her cool, unadorned face. She did not know what effect these prophetic dreams would have on Qiaoqiao. She hoped she was overthinking things.

Qiaoqiao followed the immortal crane back to her little courtyard. "A Xue, why do you think I've been having those strange dreams?"

A few days ago, she had begun having strange dreams about her eldest senior brother and the devil woman. The images in her dreams were fragmented, and the timeline was jumbled. It had taken her several days to piece together some of what had happened.