Chapter 135 (1/2): A Flashy Entrance

“Little one, how did you end up here?”

While Linglong and Qinghui were trying to learn more details, Hua Jian had already scooped up the little kitten, scratching its chin as she asked.

Compared to when they last saw it a few days ago, the Shuanghua Lingmao now looked livelier and more confident.

It didn’t even hiss at strangers anymore, instead strutting back and forth before people with a proud air, a stark contrast to its previous self.

Hua Jian thought about it and guessed that maybe this little cat was just suited for living in the wild.

Only after letting loose its wild nature could it truly be itself.

“Meow~” The kitten nudged Hua Jian’s hand with its head.

“Do you miss your owner? She could help you live a better life now.” Hua Jian continued to ask.

Of course, the kitten didn’t understand a word, and Hua Jian was only asking casually.

Since this little fellow seemed to be living quite well here, she decided not to lock it up in a cage again.

If it were just a random stray, she might have hardened her heart and traded it for spirit stones, but this was an old friend. She couldn’t bring herself to do it.

“I get the feeling it really likes you.” Shiqi, watching Hua Jian play with the kitten, looked a little envious.

The main reason Shuanghua Lingmao fetched such a high price was its striking appearance, fitting perfectly with the aesthetics of the human race.

It was like an elegant, haughty princess among cats, making people imagine what it would look like when it dropped its proud facade to purr in someone’s palm.

And right now, Shiqi was seeing just that, making her feel a little itchy with longing.

“I’ve always been popular with little animals, though some of them have… unique ways of showing affection.” Hua Jian picked up the kitten and handed it to Shiqi.

Shiqi carefully extended both hands to hold the spirit cat, afraid to startle it with a rough movement.

After being petted by Hua Jian for so long, the spirit cat was in a good mood. Even though it was being passed to someone else, it didn’t overreact.

Instead, it lazily stretched its front paws, as if to say, “Fine, I’ll let you hold me for a while.”

“It has this cool, refreshing scent! Amazing!”

“Of course! A young lady spent a fortune in spirit stones to win this little one at auction. If not for an accident, you’d never have gotten to hold it.”

Watching how quickly Shiqi fell under the spirit cat’s spell, Hua Jian laughed gleefully.

If Chai Xianyun found out her lost cat had already been found, her face would be priceless.

“Hehe, maybe I can catch one from the Northern Territory and keep it!”

“Wishful thinking. Don’t be fooled by how cute this little one is; Shuanghua Lingmao are formidable spirit beasts up north. I’ve heard there are even Ling-level masters among their kind!” Hua Jian teased Shiqi.

She’d heard this from Linglong before— Shuanghua Lingmao were rare spirit beasts even in the north, with a very small population.

Generally speaking, the rarer a spirit beast, the greater its talent, so Shuanghua Lingmao were quite gifted. There was even said to be a Ling Venerable among them!

However, this Ling Venerable was reclusive. People only knew such a being existed; no one knew what it looked like.

“If you go up north to catch a spirit cat, be careful or you’ll end up as cat food for them.”

Catching a Shuanghua Lingmao was a high-risk endeavor; otherwise, why would they fetch such high prices?

“Eh? Then can I keep this one?” Shiqi looked crestfallen.

“Why not ask it yourself?”

So Shiqi asked the spirit cat, only to get a paw swipe to the face.

Well, it seemed the spirit cat had no intention of being kept.

It wanted to be a wild cat, not a house pet.

After being held for a while, the spirit cat jumped out of Shiqi’s hands and back to Hua Jian’s side—it still preferred Hua Jian.

“Your constitution is just too useful.”

“Haha, but what if instead of this little cutie, I attracted a venomous snake or spider— would you still think my constitution is great?”

Hua Jian thought Shiqi only saw the upside.

If not for a certain Venerable gifting her protective equipment, fending off bugs daily would be a huge hassle.

“…That’s true. Every constitution has its pros and cons.”

While they chatted, Linglong finally finished questioning Qinghui about her ordeal.

She called out to the other two, reminding them not to slack off and to get to business.

Setting a jade token containing the map on the ground, Linglong poured spiritual energy into it, projecting the map into the air.

The map from Qian Feixue was three-dimensional—not extremely precise, but enough to display the general area.

“I asked Qinghui; her village is about here.” Linglong pointed on the map, leaving a noticeable light spot in a small mountain hollow.

She then slid her fingertip northward, stopping at the junction between this side ridge and the main northern range. “And this is where we are now.”

A new light spot appeared, and a line connected the two— Hua Jian sucked in a breath at the distance between them.

“That far?!”

She’d thought Qinghui’s village was nearby—at most a few days away. Now, it was clear her estimate was way off.

From their current location to the exit of the mountains, Qinghui’s village was roughly three-fourths of the way along, well into the latter part.

In other words, Qinghui had been taken far from the mountain exit.

From the start, those bad people never intended to leave the mountains with her.

Their aim was to kill her and dump the body here, where nobody would recognize her, and even if someone found a corpse, no one would care.

In these mountains, people died all the time for various reasons. Death was so common, nobody cared to look deeper.

If not for Qinghui’s special constitution letting her survive a stab through the heart, those villains’ plan would have succeeded.

A few days was more than enough for the spirit beasts drawn by blood to eat Qinghui, leaving not a trace.

“This was a carefully premeditated plot. We’d better get to the nearest village or town; I suspect Qinghui isn’t the only victim.” Linglong pointed to the closest village.

If Qinghui’s village was this far away, there was no way the mastermind targeted only her.

Obviously, Qinghui was not unique. Their real targets were likely all the children meant for Ascension City!

“But how did these people know which kids were being taken to Ascension City?” Hua Jian asked in confusion.

Normally, that kind of thing should be secret, right?

Could there be… an inside informant?

“The information was probably leaked. Even the Saint Sect isn’t airtight— someone’s always falling prey to the Magic Path.” Linglong shook her head.

It was pointless to guess which step went wrong. That was for the Hudaosi and the Order of Law Hall of each Saint Sect to worry about.

The Magic Path used all sorts of means to infiltrate and corrupt the righteous path. Disciples of the Saint Sect with weak minds were often tempted into grave mistakes.

A leak like this most likely originated with Wanhuagu.

Wanhuagu would gather intel indiscriminately, regardless of its usefulness, just in case.

They were double agents, selling Magic Path info to the righteous, and righteous info to the Magic Path.

Both sides played information warfare through Wanhuagu.

You send me fake intel, I counter with a ruse of my own— unseen, the struggle between the two sides was just as fierce as the battles in the open.

This leak was probably another such case. Some righteous cultivator got pumped for info by Wanhuagu, who then sold it to the Magic Path.

The Magic Path used it to scheme and plot. Even if the plan failed, they still got to eliminate a few potential talents from the righteous path— never a bad trade.

“The Ascension Gathering is a grand event the Magic Path attacks every time. But their moves have been minor in recent years—maybe they’re preparing for something big.” Linglong continued.

The Ascension Gathering was among the biggest events of the righteous path; naturally, the Magic Path would never let it go smoothly.

Almost every time, they’d stir up trouble and try to embarrass the righteous sects.

But most times, the righteous would foil their plots, boosting their own reputation and keeping up the image that the righteous path was still on top.

“By your logic, I should be extra careful this time. Maybe this really is a major Magic Path operation.” Hua Jian thought, considering her own involvement. The situation had to be serious.

The Magic Path always wanted to make a big scene!

“But the Magic Path’s focus should be on helping that Black Dragon Elder ascend. Causing trouble at the Ascension Gathering would be hard.”

Unlike the righteous path, the Magic Path couldn’t split their attention too much; they were stretched thin.

Right now, Tianmomen had to focus everything on ensuring their Elder’s ascension, so any disruption of the Ascension Gathering was likely led by other Demonic Sects.

Without Tianmomen, the rest of the sects probably couldn’t pull off anything too big… right?

“There are quite a few Demonic Sects. Maybe the others have teamed up.” Hua Jian now understood the Magic Path’s distribution: aside from ambiguous double-agents like Fanghuagu, the others were scattered across the west, north, and south.

Usually independent, they never missed a chance to trouble the righteous path and would unite for that purpose, giving the Saint Sects a perpetual headache.

But to destroy the Magic Path entirely? The Saint Sects didn’t have the strength.

The Demonic Sects’ bases were hidden too deep—even the Saints themselves struggled to find them.

Every time the Saint Sects launched a major purge, the Magic Path would retreat and hide, resurfacing when the storm blew over. The righteous path really had no solution.

“It’s always been like this for years. Nothing to be done.” Linglong sighed. “Enough of that. Let’s focus on checking out the next village.”

If the kids there hadn’t been taken, good. If they had… there was nothing more they could do.

The mountains were vast; finding a few children in them was like looking for a needle in a haystack.

Not every child had Qinghui’s luck or constitution. If they died, that was it—truly gone.

“No time to lose. Let’s travel through the night— we should reach the next village by noon!”

The mountains were far more dangerous at night, and with Qinghui— a burdensome addition— their pace was much slower.

What surprised Hua Jian, though, was that the spirit cat chose to follow them, as if intending to travel together.

Curious, she linked with the spirit cat again, only to get an exasperating answer.

Apparently, the kitten was addicted to the scent of flowers on her and couldn’t bear to leave.

So, she really had become a walking treasure for spirit beasts— even a proud Shuanghua Lingmao couldn’t resist her.

Still, there was an upside: the spirit cat had a strong sense for danger.

By maintaining her link with it, Hua Jian could share its perception and avoid trouble.

This let them dodge a lot of hassles along the way.

If they encountered a spirit beast, Hua Jian could handle herself, but fighting would waste too much time. Avoiding conflict was best.

Their goal wasn’t to hunt spirit beasts for materials, but to reach the next village as soon as possible.

With the spirit cat’s guidance, Hua Jian’s group zigzagged through the forest all night and, finally, at dawn, arrived at a small village.

Linglong was about to enter directly, but Hua Jian stopped her.

“Don’t rush in—what if the Magic Path has set up a base here? You’d be walking right into their hands.”

Now, she had a safer way than brute force scouting.

“Let A Meng take a look.” Hua Jian tapped her temple lightly, and a colorful butterfly flew out from her head.

Dream Butterfly was an amphibious spirit beast—able to live in the real world or hide in Hua Jian’s Godsoul Space.

Given the choice, A Meng preferred the Illusory Dream Flower-scented Godsoul Space, wrapped in its aroma— pure bliss.

But when Hua Jian called, she always came out obediently— after all, the Dream Butterfly had to obey the Illusory Dream Flower. That was the rule.