Clank clank. A sound of footsteps can be heard resounding the silence of the Fifteenth cloud of the Ninth heaven. Wan MianSu, came walking off holding a pile of ancient scripts and writings in her arms. In the corner of her eye, she saw a dark shadow of a tall man beside the corridor leading to the dungeons. She blinked her eyes to clear her vision but the man had already fled.
'I must be imagining things.'
The Fifteenth Cloud was the final judging platform for Gods who'll be stripped out from their ranks or immortality. No one had been pleaded guilty recently until, Jin Ren, the perpetrator for Zhuge Liang's misconduct and treachery will be persecuted in front of the whole numbers of immortals.
MianSu walked far and entered a secret chamber where the Elders had gathered. Among them was Diao PeiLong, Ran Xu Er, and her... She sat on the chair with a smile on her face. She wanted to talk about the execution of Jin Ren and what good will it benefit for all of the Immortals.
"Our secrets will die with him. If we continue the plan and dump him on the mortal realm, people might think that he's crazy and ignore him. We'll strip off his immortality so that he may not live long."
"Sister MianSu. Your plan is a good one however, we must not ignore the fact that XuanWu and XuanZheng are now reconciled."
MianSu's face suddenly contorted into a cold state with a vicious look on her eyes.
"Those b*tches. Haven't Zhuge Liang got rid of them?"
"Apparently not sister. XuanWu's daughter, Na YingLuo summoned Sun WuKong."
"Impossible! No half immortal could do such great power!"
"What should we do now sister?"
"For now, we will execute Jin Ren rather than strip him off his immortality in an anonymous way."
Xu Er placed her hand below her chin and thought deep before speaking her mind out.
"But sister. If we execute Jin Ren, that means the High Immortals won't just stand there and hold someone responsible isn't it?"
"I thought so too but let's just put it this way. I have a small branch trimmed from the ancient evil tree. We'll extract it and make Jin Ren drink it up. We'll transform Jin Ren into a Xuan Lang (evil wolf). Once he loses his mind, he'll be mad and start killing everyone that he'll see on his path. When the sisters will arrive, they won't even recognize that the one that they'll slay was him."
PeiLong and Xu Er agreed to her contingency plan. Jin Ren was a valuable asset to be silenced. Because of his involvement, he will soon be ripped off his tongue (strip away his right to defend himself).
'Jin Ren. Tomorrow, you'll be silenced forever.'
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With a white hat covered with long cloth and white robe embroidered with orchids, Gu XiNiang set off from the Shifting Flower Sect into the busy roads of Suzhou. She had been riding her horse nonstop since she had departed from the Palace by dawn. Weary from the long journey, XiNiang found an inn and decided to stay there for a night.
She sat at the counter of the bar as the innkeeper prepared the keys for her room.
"Here it is Madame. Enjoy your stay."
"Innkeeper if I may ask... How far is the Kingdom of Jade Phoenix from here?"
"About 6-8 hours on horseback by regular trail but if you try the trail leading to Demon Valley, you'd arrive at WenXi city by 3-4 hours."
"I see. Are there any recent unusual happenings lately?"
"Uh yes. I have heard from the waiter about cicadas and dark magic that feeds on human souls. If you want to know the full details, you can ask the waiter over there."
Gu XiNiang thanked the innkeeper and sat at the nearby table where the waiter is busily cleaning. The waiter noticed her and attended to her.
"Good noon Ma'am. Welcome to New Moon Inn the finest inn in all of Suzhou. What may I serve you Ma'am?"
"A bottle of wine and a story."
"Hao."
Gu XiNiang tossed him three crowns of gold and he then rushed to the back of the counter and grabbed a bottle of wine. The waiter then gave her a cup and the wine.
"Say, what weird things happened in QiaoZhu?"
"Madame... It's a long story but if you listen well, you might be afraid of the details."
"It's fine. I have already dealt through much in my whole life."
"Alright. Well... When I was out there shopping for fresh ingredients for the inn about weeks ago, I encountered something weird like people died out of cicadas and black magic yet luckily, saviors of Old Jianghu came."
"Saviors? Who are these saviors?"
"You do not know Ma'am? They're Na YingLuo, Na MoXiao and General Hua FeiXian of the Jade Phoenix and Dragon Blade kingdom."
"That's... The Jade Phoenix kingdom... Are the Na siblings there?"
"Apparently they are I guess. Something weird came up too. The Lunar Empress had been abducted by demons."
"This— This is bad!"
Gu XiNiang ran outside and got up her horse. She saddled for the direction headed for the Demon Valley. On her way, she felt an ominous presence following her so she kept her senses sharp.
As she was nearing the pass, she casted a spell putting Necrid blossom seeds along each path. The shadow moved faster than ever so she managed to face it herself. Getting off the horse, she casted another spell which turned the seeds into full grown thorny vines and entangled the stalker.
"Mistress! It's me He XiaoYi! Third rank Shifting Flower Palace Disciple."
"XiaoYi? W—Why did you follow me here?"
"Uh well... When you left, rules from the Shifting Flower Sect had been changed by Mo QiuAn so I escaped the recesses and followed you here. Mistress please don't send me back. I promise to help you at all costs."
XiaoYi played puppy eyes on XiNiang. XiNiang knew that she wouldn't be fazed by such a palpable act yet, as she looked at XiaoYi thoroughly, she remembered Mei WuTang.
"Alright, alright. I will look into this matter after I've confirmed something. I wanted to send you back but since you insist on tagging along you might as well give me a reason that you won't give me headaches."
"Yay! Thank you Mistress!"
Gu XiNiang rolled her eyes and then rode back on her horse. She was about to rein it but XiaoYi looked at her as if she wanted to ask a favor.
XiNiang squinted her eyes and turned her head to face her.
'I rarely get angry against my disciples but this— This girl is too much!'
"What again XiaoYi?"
"Uh Mistress... I came following you in a form of an owl so my soul siphon isn't that plenty now... Can I ride in your horse?"
XiNiang facepalmed herself and after a while told XiaoYi to ride at the back.
"Alright. Just don't disturb my concentration and inner peace."
"YAAAAAAAY! Thank you mistress!"
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From a pitch black abyss, XuanZheng opened her eyes and found herself sinking into a deep pool of cold water. She was sinking deep yet she could breathe fine. The atmosphere was dark and cold. Her eyes couldn't see anything and yet, something bright from far away captured her sight. She wanted to swim towards the light but her limbs are unable to move. The light hovered closer to her. It's radiance is blinding. She closed her eyes to resist the luminance of the entity. Finally, the bright light calmed and showed it's form. It was the Shangguan Longyan.
'Impossible! It's in ShaoTian's... How did it get here?'
Slowly, the box transformed into a small light and descended to where XuanZheng is. She had then heard a woman's voice. The voice sounded muffled but she had recognized whose voice was it.
'LanRong... LANRONG!'
XuanZheng tried to move her body upwards but it won't budge. Instead, she decided to move both of her arms and hands and broke free of the mysterious forces that shackled her body. The area was pitch black. Only the light of the Shangguan Longyan was the only thing keeping her from going blind. She wanted to see what keeps her from moving forward and casted a spell of brilliance. She shot the spell below her feet and as it passed, she was shocked to see tons of evil spirits clung to her feet like millions of ants.
She was shocked at this sight and stroked her hands and arms forcefully upward but the evil souls kept pulling her aback the bottom screaming...
'You are at fault!'
'Do not think that you are so pure after you killed this many.'
'You cannot repent what cannot be repented.'
'You are a taboo. You should've died.'
The evil aura grows stronger every minute. XuanZheng strived hard to ascend but yet, she was again pulled down.
'All my efforts are useless. No one is going to save me now.'
XuanZheng wants to do many things to repent.
She accepted her guilt.
She knew that she's at fault.
She wanted to make up to her sister.
She wants a good relationship between mortals and immortals.
But now, she had given up. When she felt that all hope was lost, an unfamiliar hand with sharp and long claws grabbed her hand upward freeing her from the evil souls that pulls her down.
The hand was unfamiliar. She looked up and saw a woman with long, sleek hair and pale grey eyes lifting her up into the Shangguan Longyan's light.
"Wake up XuanZheng."
"Who are you?"
"You will soon find out if you wake up."
XuanZheng reached up at the box and finally, awakened at a bed chamber where she laid. ShaoTian and XuanWu were looking at her with worry, so as LanRong. Beside her, was the woman that she saw...
"You... Woman with the pale grey eyes..."
"I am Lu Jie and I am a half-immortal and half-demon."
"You peered inside my soul without using soul reconnaissance... How did you do that?"
"I will answer your questions if you answer mine first..."
"Yes."
"Inside your soul, I saw evil souls lingering at a familiar instrument that you hold..."
"I—The flute attracts evil."
"Speaking of the flute... Where did you get it? How did it end up with you?"