Chapter 1369: Caution
In fact, even the leading cultivator wanted to know who the young man was, but it was better to inquire less about the affairs of Nascent Soul cultivators.
Who knew which unintentional word would touch the other’s reverse scale?
Li Yan, who had already entered the grand formation, heard the conversation of the people behind him even without deliberately listening. But his face remained calm, though a new judgment had already formed in his heart.
‘Donglin Tingyue’s true purpose for going out should only be known to the high-level cultivators in the clan. It has also been deliberately kept secret internally. She doesn’t want others to know about her cousin’s injury, lest her enemies find out that their combat strength has weakened…’
From just a few words, Li Yan had already thought of many things.
Donglin Tingyue’s heart should have also thought of some things. A great deal of coldness appeared in her beautiful eyes.
These disciples in the clan, under the family’s protection, had fought much less with the outside world over the years, but their tongues had become reckless. A “person with intentions” could instantly deduce many things from these few sentences.
She couldn’t help it either. By searching for an antidote outside, she would inevitably reveal some information. And there was also a reasonable explanation for it within the clan.
And with her Nascent Soul realm status, even if others knew she had many cousins, the first person they would guess would be the cousin who had already formed his Nascent Soul. This was unavoidable, and she couldn’t stop it.
‘I’ll have to notify the Law-Enforcing Elder about this later. When there’s nothing to do, have these disciples go and kill more sea demons. Don’t let them just cultivate and patrol all day, their minds filled with nonsense…’
In an elegant courtyard, after Donglin Tingyue personally arranged Li Yan’s residence, she hurriedly left.
Li Yan was noncommittal about this. After carefully examining the courtyard, he finally chose a room, set up some restrictions around it, and then sat cross-legged in the room to meditate.
But what he never expected was that he would wait for four days.
This made the originally calm Li Yan feel strange. It was understandable that Donglin Tingyue needed to inform the clan that someone was coming to treat the patient, but such a long time was not normal.
But considering what Shangguan Tianque had told him in detail about the Donglin family, and thinking that they only had one Late-stage Great Cultivator and had a good relationship with the Broken Army Sect, Li Yan still waited patiently.
However, the alertness in his heart grew stronger. He even extended the range of his Divine Sense’s vigilance around his residence by another thousand feet.
He couldn’t help it. His nature had always been like this. Just as Zhao Min had told Li Zhaoyan, Li Yan had survived until now not just by his combat strength.
On the fourth night, at the midnight hour, Li Yan, who was sitting cross-legged, suddenly raised his head.
“Hmm? Coming to the door in the middle of the night!”
Just as Li Yan’s eyes flickered, Donglin Tingyue’s voice came from outside the courtyard.
“Fellow Daoist Li!”
The residence she had arranged for Li Yan was in a place where there were no other people nearby, so she was not afraid of anyone knowing at this moment.
As her words fell, the courtyard gate had already opened. Donglin Tingyue did not delay and, like a graceful swan, floated in.
Inside the room, Li Yan looked at the weary-faced Donglin Tingyue. A brilliant light flashed a few times in the depths of his eyes, but he did not speak first. He just quietly looked at her.
After seeing Li Yan, Donglin Tingyue seemed to hesitate for a moment, as if organizing her words. After a few breaths, she finally spoke slowly.
“Fellow Daoist Li, can you tell me exactly how confident you are? Although you’ve told me some things before, I still want to hear the answer from your heart!”
“Seventy to eighty percent!”
Li Yan spoke without any hesitation, as if he knew what she was going to ask. His statement was the same as what he had said in the inn at the market, unchanged.
The two had returned together. On the way, Li Yan had seen that Donglin Tingyue’s expression was quite relaxed after seeing him in action at the inn. But now, her expression revealed weariness.
Li Yan guessed that after she returned, the clan must have held a discussion, and she must have encountered some kind of obstruction. That was why she hadn’t appeared for several days.
And as soon as she came over, she needed him to confirm it again.
Sure enough, after hearing his words, a look of determination quickly appeared in Donglin Tingyue’s eyes.
“Alright then. I will take you there in a moment. But this will require you to swear an Inner Demon Oath that you will not reveal anything you see in the Donglin family, no matter what. There are no other requirements.”
Upon hearing this, Li Yan frowned. She actually wanted him to swear an Inner Demon Oath.
“Fairy Tingyue, your actions are making things difficult for me. We never had such an agreement before. I find your actions quite improper. If you can’t give me a reason to convince me, then please forgive me for not being able to comply. I think it’s better if you send me away from here.”
As Li Yan spoke, his face also darkened. Her sudden request made him extremely displeased.
“Fellow Daoist Li, please don’t misunderstand. This matter concerns some of our clan’s secrets. This is our only request. We just need you not to reveal what you see. There is no other meaning. As long as you agree, I can give you the remaining portion of that silver sand!”
Donglin Tingyue had clearly considered this in advance, so she was not surprised by Li Yan’s displeasure.
As she spoke, she waved her jade hand, and two identical jade bottles, both the size of a thumb, appeared in the air.
One of the bottles was more than half full of silver sand, while the other was less than half full. Li Yan’s eyes flashed. The bottle that was more than half full of silver sand was the one he had seen in the market.
‘She divided the ice sand she got into two portions, or maybe more. She only took out a part of it at the time…’
Li Yan thought quickly in his heart.
And Donglin Tingyue just looked at him like that. After a few dozen breaths, Li Yan finally spoke again.
“I can agree to this condition. However, how much more of this silver sand do you have on hand, Fellow Daoist? I would like to trade for it all in another way. Is that possible?”
After saying this, he stared at her with a burning gaze. Seeing that Li Yan had agreed, Donglin Tingyue also felt a sense of relief. When she heard the second half of his sentence, she shook her head with a wry smile.
“Fellow Daoist Li, I can also swear an Inner Demon Oath on this. I obtained this bottle of silver sand by chance deep in the Heavenly Demon Prairie. But this is all there is. There is no more.”
“Oh?”
Li Yan let out a sound of doubt but did not press further.
“How about this? Regardless of whether you can ultimately remove the poison, in addition to this bottle of silver sand being exchanged according to our agreement, I will also give you a jade slip map with the location where I originally obtained this silver sand. How does that sound?”
Donglin Tingyue seemed to have considered this in advance. Without any pause, she continued, her beautiful eyes fixed on Li Yan.
After another ten or so breaths, a smile suddenly appeared on Li Yan’s calm face.
“Hehehe… Then thank you, Fairy Tingyue. But I’ll also have to trouble you to swear an Inner Demon Oath on the authenticity of the map jade slip, and also that you have no more of this silver sand on hand!”
Li Yan chuckled, smiling back at her, not at all seeming as if he would offend her.
“No problem!”
Donglin Tingyue nodded. Since she had proposed the rule, of course, the other party would have their own request. This was only reasonable.
But she also realized how difficult Li Yan was to deal with. When she had taken out all the silver sand, he could have asked her to make an oath then and there, confirming that she had taken out all of it.
But Li Yan hadn’t. Instead, he had first set a trap, proposing to exchange for the silver sand beyond the two bottles in another way, even if she insisted she had no more.
It was only then that he brought up the Inner Demon Oath. If she were to hesitate now, it would mean she was still lying.
On the other side, Li Yan was already chanting. Soon, a blood-red scroll appeared in front of him. The scroll was originally blank, but as Li Yan chanted, lines of small characters quickly appeared on it.
In just two breaths, the moment Li Yan’s low chanting stopped, a rune flew out from between his eyebrows. The rune faintly contained the power of a restriction.
With a flash, it entered the blood-red scroll in front of him.
Instantly, the originally calm, spread-out blood-red scroll rippled like waves. As it rippled, an ancient and decaying aura emanated from it.
The moment this aura spread out, Li Yan felt several powerful Divine Senses sweeping over from several directions at the same time.
These Divine Senses did not sweep towards Li Yan but landed on the blood-red scroll in an instant. Although Li Yan sensed them, his expression did not change at all, as if he had not noticed.
Donglin Tingyue had been watching Li Yan the whole time. She stood there quietly. It was only at this moment that she raised her beautiful eyes and looked at the red scroll.
After carefully reading the ancient characters on it, a smile appeared in her eyes.
“Thank you, Fellow Daoist Li!”
The content written on it was precisely the Inner Demon Oath that Li Yan had offered up with his technique, identical to her request.
Seeing that she had confirmed it, Li Yan said no more. He opened his mouth and blew gently forward.
After a gentle breeze blew past, the blood-red scroll disintegrated in front of him, turning into specks of blood-red starlight and disappearing into the void.
Then, a faint force seemed to descend from the air and land on Li Yan. Li Yan’s mind only trembled slightly before returning to normal.
In the future, as long as he did not reveal what he saw here today, this Inner Demon Oath would not affect him in the slightest.
As the blood-red scroll disappeared, the several Divine Senses also vanished in an instant.
Li Yan was also satisfied with this. The other party was very principled and did not use their numbers to pry into his affairs.
Seeing this, Donglin Tingyue also immediately took out a jade slip. After placing it on her forehead for a short time, she took it away.
At the same time, a rune emitting an ancient aura appeared between her eyebrows and directly merged into the jade slip. She then handed it to Li Yan.
Li Yan smiled and reached out to take it. The jade slip was quite warm to the touch and carried the faint, orchid-like scent of a woman. Then, in front of Donglin Tingyue, he submerged his Divine Sense into it.
Seeing this, Donglin Tingyue’s long, black eyelashes trembled slightly, and a faint blush rose on her jade-like neck below the mask.
Not long after, Li Yan raised his head.
“Fairy Tingyue, when shall we go see your younger brother?”
As he spoke, a light flashed in Li Yan’s hand, and the jade slip disappeared. He had already let out a soft laugh. …
The Donglin family was vast. Li Yan had stayed in his courtyard for these few days and had not gone out.
Under the night sky, he followed Donglin Tingyue’s graceful figure, winding through pavilions and corridors for the better part of an incense stick’s time before a dark forest appeared in his line of sight.
Along the way, Li Yan noticed that not a single cultivator had appeared where they passed. And the place they were going was also getting more and more remote, with fewer and fewer houses around.
Li Yan could even feel the sea breeze constantly blowing through the forest, giving one a natural sense of emptiness and solitude.
Finally, they arrived outside this forest. Although Li Yan’s face was impassive, he felt a little strange in his heart.
‘This cousin of hers should not be too old among cultivators. Is his personality a bit strange, to live in such a remote place? There are no other houses or courtyards nearby. If I’m not mistaken, he is already far away from his clansmen…’
As he was thinking, Donglin Tingyue entered the forest without stopping. Li Yan released his Divine Sense, his face as calm as an ancient well, and followed her in.
At night, the forest was even more gloomy and deep. The sea breeze blowing from a distance was damp and carried the cold and salty taste of the night.
In the forest, a stone path wide enough for three people to walk side by side twisted and turned, winding at the foot of the trees and extending into the unknown darkness…