Faceted Jade a.k.a Carven Jade [ENG Translation]

CHAPTER 5

Madame Shangguan frowned upon hearing the question: "I had no idea who they were. I've never met the person who taught Lǎozǔ the Gōng method, but all I know is that he was of very high cultivation level and that Lǎozǔ was terrified of him. I did meet that woman. She was dressed in a purple robe, but I didn't get a good look at her face; she was holding a child and spoke in a voice that sounded like she was in her fifties, as if she were very old."

"Was it an old woman?"

"No," Madame Shangguan shook her head, "that's the weird part. She seemed to be in her early twenties based on her appearance."

This surprised Fu Changling a bit, and Qin Yan also cast a subconscious glance at him. Seeing Fu Changling's bewildered expression, Qin Yan turned his head and inquired, "And what else?"

"Nothing else," Madame Shangguan led them down the long corridor, saying somewhat wearily, "I ran into her on my way back to the mansion, and she warned me that it was going to rain heavily and advised me to rest before returning home. So I listened to her, and then she went off on her own. When I returned to the mansion, the Shangguan Clan was in total chaos, and I knew it had to be this woman based on the descriptions of the others."

"So you were responsible for these people going missing in Baishui Town?" Qin Yan changed course when he figured there was nothing else he could ask.

"Yes," replied Madame Shangguan, her voice quivering, "it was our doing. I tried to advise Lǎoyé, but he refused to listen. He asserted that we'd even put our daughters in harm's way, so who are these people? Lǎozǔ will soon reach YuanYing, and once he passes through YuanYing, Lǎozǔ will reshape his Spiritual Roots in the heavenly tribulation, and we won't have to do these things anymore."

"In that case," Qin Yan looked at Madame Shangguan with some scepticism in his tone, "what do you regret?"

"I've seen Yuehua," said Madame Shangguan quickly. "I dreamed of her two years ago. She questioned why I didn't save her. Lǎoyé told me it was all a dream, and that Yuehua had died a long time ago and had gone to reincarnate."

"People started to die in the estate after that. I thought these people had been sent to Lǎozǔ at first, until last night. Last night, Yuemin died too," Madame Shangguan's voice trembled.

"You knew from the start that she wasn't killed by Fu Gōngzi?"

"I know," Madame Shangguan's breathing was a little agitated, "Yue Mingsi came to see Lǎoyé last night, and I overheard them talking. They said that Yuemin had died and that Yue Mingsi intended to use the incident to frame Fu Gōngzi, after which the Yue Clan would award a hundred thousand spirit stones and also recommend three disciples above the Liànqì level to enter the Dao Sect, so that the Shangguan Clan's disciples would have a secure future."

"They also said that Yuemin might have been killed by Yuehua," Madame Shangguan said, tears slowly streaming down her cheeks.

"They said Yuehua is not dead, that her body is still in the formation, and that Lǎozǔ is still waiting for her soul to return to the formation, but her soul is causing havoc here and there, and she was the one who killed Yuemin—and later, she will also kill everyone in the Shangguan family, including my children, her younger brothers."

"She has not been reincarnated. Using humans to practise formation… Being the formation's eye is not something that ends with death! She has to remain in that formation for all eternity! There is no reincarnation!"

Madame Shangguan tightened her grip on the lantern, her tone gradually rising: "They traded one of my daughters' lives for the glory of their clan, and they want to trade my other daughter's life for a hundred thousand spirit stones and a bright future. On what justification... on what justification?!"