Leaving White Foothill City

In the end, Sang Ying never got to see the true appearance of Si Jing's mysterious friend. The friend seemed intent on concealing their identity, and by the time they were ready to leave White Foothill City, Sang Ying had only managed to hear their voice by chance.

But Sang Ying was not a particularly curious person. When Si Jing left, she merely asked him a few simple questions.

Si Jing had not come to White Foothill City by chance. He had reportedly come to obtain medicine for a friend, and that spirit medicine was in Luo Fengyuan's treasury.

Who would have thought his face would bring him trouble? As soon as he arrived, Luo Min, the city lord's eldest daughter, took a fancy to him. Luo Fengyuan even brought people to abduct him and force him back to the residence, demanding that he marry into the family.

"Of course I refused!" Si Jing declared righteously. "I'm not that kind of casual male cultivator!"

Because he had rejected Miss Luo in no uncertain terms, Luo Fengyuan had flown into a rage out of humiliation and thrown him into the dungeon.

But that was also part of their plan. Precisely because he had been locked up, he had found a chance to run wild through the city lord's residence and set a fire while he was at it.

When Si Jing and his friend came to rescue Sang Ying and the others that day, they had already taken advantage of the chaos to get the spirit medicine. They could have left directly, but in the end, they had chosen to save them.

Now that the dust had settled, the cultivators in White Foothill City discussed the matter and ultimately decided to hand the city over to a nearby sect to manage.

The affair with Luo Fengyuan had cast a long shadow over them. They all felt that it was because they had concentrated too much power in the city lord's hands that Luo Fengyuan had been able to dig an underground palace beneath the city without their knowledge.

If several people had managed the city, the cultivators would surely have discovered sooner that mortals were going missing within it, and so many innocent people would not have come to harm.

As for the people of Listening Willow Village, whom Si Jing and his friend had rescued with a spatial Law Artifact, they had already been sent back to their village.

The villagers had suffered a great calamity, and they probably would not be able to recover fully anytime soon.

Nan Gurong had refined pills specifically for their condition, but a mere few pills were probably not enough to save them all.

However, when the Facing Heaven Sect near White Foothill City sent people to make contact, they had already stated that they would take over Listening Willow Village as well, and that they would be responsible for its people.

They had also made a special visit to Elder Chanyi, saying that once the Facing Heaven Sect was formally established in White Foothill City, they would contact the Plain Robe Pavilion to arrange treatment for the mortals.

When Nan Gurong first heard this, she remarked to Sang Ying, "Who would have thought that the Facing Heaven Sect, a body cultivation sect, would have a heart as compassionate as a Buddhist cultivator's!"

Sang Ying smiled without answering, but she knew full well that the Facing Heaven Sect was not necessarily all that benevolent. They had only just arrived in White Foothill City, where many mortals lived, and merely wanted to use this opportunity to win their hearts.

Still, whatever the case, the people of Listening Willow Village would benefit, so Sang Ying could hardly say much.

Before Si Jing left, Sang Ying, mindful that he had saved her life, made a special trip to see him off.

But Si Jing found it too sentimental and refused, merely saying goodbye to Sang Ying as he walked out the door.

"Little sword cultivator, you and I have a fated connection of sorts. I expect we'll meet again someday!" Those were Si Jing's last words to Sang Ying before he left.

Sang Ying did not take them to heart. The cultivation world was simply too vast, and she would eventually leave the Twin Orchid Realm. The chances of the two meeting again were exceedingly slim.

With matters here settled, the Plain Robe Pavilion had been delayed long enough. It was time to get back on the road.

As Sang Ying, Nan Gurong and the others boarded the flying boat and left White Foothill City, they happened to encounter the Sound Killing Sect's party.

The Sound Killing Sect, which had basked in the limelight before everyone for a while, had become much quieter after its senior brother went missing and was found in the ruins of the city lord's residence.

Although Sang Ying had not paid them much attention, she had heard from Nan Gurong that after Liu Yuzhi was rescued, he had been found gravely injured and unconscious.

The group had originally planned to travel out for training, but now that something had happened to their senior brother, who was leading them, they would probably have no choice but to return to their sect first.

When Sang Ying heard about it, she had no clear idea of how badly Liu Yuzhi was hurt. Now, seeing his pale face as he was carried out of the inn, she realized that what Nan Gurong had called "gravely injured" really was grave!

Gu Shu, for one, was delighted to see it. At the sight of Liu Yuzhi in such a sorry state, Gu Shu immediately burst out laughing. "Serves him right for stealing your credit and showing off everywhere! His luck's run out this time, hasn't it? He deserved it!"

Fortunately, no one but Sang Ying could hear what Gu Shu was saying. Otherwise, the Sound Killing Sect's people would surely have come to argue with her.

Sang Ying silently counted herself lucky for a moment.

The Plain Robe Pavilion's flying boat was not as large or as magnificent as the Flowing Light Sword Sect's, but it was compact and exquisite.

Thanks to her status as a "savior," Sang Ying was fortunate enough to be assigned a small room of her own. She did not have to squeeze in with the other disciples.

It was not that Sang Ying disliked the Plain Robe Pavilion's disciples; she was simply accustomed to cultivating alone at night, and sharing a room would inevitably be somewhat inconvenient.

The enormous flying boat, carved with the Plain Robe Pavilion's emblem, rose into the air and soon vanished among the clouds and mist. Sang Ying looked down at White Foothill City: the banks of the moat had been repaired, and its waters had long since thawed.

With the cultivators' strength, the collapsed half of the city had already been cleared away. Before long, new houses would be built there, but the city would never again have a city lord's residence.

Like Sang Ying, a young woman wearing a black veil also intended to take one last look at White Foothill City.

Dressed in the most ordinary clothes, she stood at the city gate and cast a long look behind her.

This was the place where she had grown up for eighteen years, yet now she had to flee in panic like a dog fallen into the water. She did not even dare erect a tombstone for her father, nor could she gather his remains.

The black-veiled woman clutched the Jade Slip and the pill in her arms, a fierce hatred slowly rising in her heart.

Her parents had done so much and sacrificed so much for White Foothill City! They had merely taken a few mortals to test medicine. What was wrong with that?!

Those people were ungrateful, and the Scarlet Snake Clan was no better! The one she hated most of all was Si Jing. As long as she lived, she would avenge her father!

Luo Min touched the pitch-black pill. Fortunately, no one knew that the pill capable of giving a person Spirit Roots had already been refined, though anyone who took it would suffer excruciating pain.

Her father had been unwilling to let her use it, so he had destroyed all the pills, leaving only this one for the Cold Crow Devil Lord to study.

But who could have expected that shameless wretch to secretly build a hidden passage beneath the house to pry into her father's secrets? In the end, he had even seized the chance to steal the Pill Formula.

Fortunately, he had ultimately died at the hands of that Sound Killing Sect cultivator and had not been able to reveal the secret.

Luo Min no longer cared whether it hurt or not. This sole remaining pill had become her last path to revenge. No matter what, she would not rest until she dragged the Scarlet Snake Clan and Si Jing to death with her!

She took one last look at the city, then turned and ran toward the unfamiliar world beyond it.

When the day came that she returned, she, Luo Min, would take White Foothill City back!