Chapter 65: The Ancient Witch’s Core
Someone had just happened to send Lin Hao here, coincidentally allowing Ning Guang to discover the ancient witch’s core. Di Jiufeng felt that this could not be explained away as coincidence any longer. The most reasonable explanation she could think of was that that person wanted to help Ning Guang.
But why, and who could it be? And, what was their relationship to Ning Guang?
Di Jiufeng looked down and pressed her toes together. Suddenly, she thought of a possibility, and turned to Ning Guang, “Say, not only does that person know your identity, they even went to all this trouble to send the core to you. Is it possible that they knew you from the start? Could they be… a survivor of the witch tribe?”
“It’s not possible,” Ning Guang said, “The witch tribe was exterminated long ago. After the ancient witch’s fall, every single member of the witch tribe was killed. Maybe they know me, but they definitely are not a member of the witch tribe. And, A-Feng, have you considered that though that person found the ancient witch’s core, they might not have done it for me?”
Ning Guang was a homeless wanderer in her youth. Aside from cultivation, most of her time was spent avoiding bullying from others; she had never met a demon.
Afterwards, when Di Jiufeng had brought her back to the sect, they had been like twin lotus flowers on one stalk; they had not been separated for a moment. Every person she had met Di Jiufeng had met as well, many of every shape and color, all except demonic cultivators.
Ning Guang was sure that no demon would be helping her from the shadows. But Di Jiufeng was overflowing with demonic energy, more pure than even that ancient blood demon. The demon race was a race which valued heritage very much. High-level demons had the natural ability to make mixed-blooded demonic cultivators submit to them. They could even strip lower-level demons of their cultivation.
The blood demon soul had perished at Di Jiufeng’s hands in that manner.
Ning Guang had not thought much of it at the time, but now, everything was coming together and she was beginning to have some suspicions.
She asked, “A-Feng, we have known each other for so long, but you have never told me about your parents. Are they still well?”
Di Jiufeng was struck speechless.
Though she had received the original’s memories, it seemed as if everything about her parents was missing since the start. The original either did not have parents or was abandoned, Di Jiufeng was unsure. Either way, in her mind, the only memory relating to this was a vague sense that she was an orphan.
This was very strange. Even if she was an orphan, she would have been abandoned at some point, she couldn’t have just appeared in the sect.
So, what had happened before she entered the sect?
Following her memories back, everything abruptly came to a stop when she was seven years old. What had happened before, what sort of person she was, everything was covered in dense fog.
Di Jiufeng was frozen in thought for a while, suddenly discovering that the original’s memories were so full of holes.
She didn’t care before, but thinking about it now, it made her spine grow cold. “I do not know, I cannot remember. Other than the fact that I’m an orphan, I don’t remember anything else.”
The average age a person began to retain memories was 3.5. Before the age of seven, though one’s memories would be blurry because of their young age, there shouldn’t be a complete blank, not to mention forgetting such a major event as being abandoned.
Di Jiufeng had to wonder if someone had done something to the original.
Things had grown even more complicated. Along with the retreat of the tides, a cryptic corner of the stones sunk underneath the sea began to break the surface.
Ning Guang stroked her soft hair and comforted her, “If you don’t remember then you don’t remember, it doesn’t matter, we can first find Lin Hao and ask. The seal on the core couldn’t have just lost its effectiveness for no reason, someone must have interfered with it. As for who it is, Lin Hao carried it around every day, perhaps he would know.”
If they couldn’t find a hint through Di Jiufeng’s parents, they could only take the next best thing and look for clues from that unfortunate demonic cultivator’s body.
Some things could not be done without leaving a single trace. As long as a thread had been left behind, they could follow it to the truth.
Everyone stood outside the door for a while. After an hour had passed, the door finally creaked open a crack and Qing Yu walked out. There was a tired expression on her face, but stars in her eyes. “This is the prescription, take it an hour after each of the three meals of the day, don’t leave the windows open and don’t let her run about. She cannot feel the tiniest chill for half a month.”
Seeing her exit, the city lord hurriedly ran over. Though he had only been talking to Lin Hao, his temples were soaked with cold sweat. He wiped his face, then wiped his damp palms on his clothes, before accepting the prescription with shaking hands.
The city lord scanned the prescription quickly, then ordered his servants to brew the medicine at once. Then, he looked at Qing Yu. “Doctor, my daughter, she…”
Qing Yu: “I’ve saved her for now, but whether she can stay alive still depends on you.”
The city lord immediately understood. He looked at Lin Hao and said, “If there is anything you need, please let me know. As long as my daughter is well, I can do anything.”
Qing Yu: “Then go and find his body.”
Qing Yu did not say any more about the pearl. After all, it belonged to the ancient witch, mentioning it would make others wonder too much. She sent away the city lord, and when everyone else had mostly scattered, she called over Lin Hao, who was still pacing by the door. “Come over here. She is ill, she cannot come in contact with ghostly energy.”
Qing Yu’s words halted Lin Hao in his tracks like an imperial edict. He looked hesitantly at the door, like he could see through this layer of wood. Qing Yu didn’t urge him, until he sighed helplessly and walked over. Then, she said slowly, “You don’t need to be too worried. As long as you can become a ghostly cultivator and control your ghostly energy, you can see her as much as you want. For now, there’s no use worrying.”
Lin Hao slowly hummed in agreement, and he seemed a bit livelier.
Though Lin Hao was down on his luck, he was not stupid. He had already discovered that the mystic doctor and her two friends were very interested in the soul pearl his grandfather had left behind. This soul pearl was a remnant of his grandfather, and he valued it very much. But, compared to A-Qiao, it was nothing. He could give it up, but now, it had fallen into the sea, and he didn’t know if there was still a chance to find it.
Lin Hao considered and said, “Thank you for taking care of A-Qiao. I have nothing with which I can repay you, but I see that you are interested in this soul pearl. If it was still in my possession, I would give it up willingly, but now…”
Qing Yu interrupted him. “Don’t worry about the soul pearl, just answer a few of our questions.”
She turned to look at Ning Guang and took a step back. Lin Hao understood, and clasped his hands together in a bow. “Please ask. As long as I know, I will not hide anything from you.”
Ning Guang did not bother with niceties and asked directly, “Do you know the origins of this soul pearl? And, has anyone touched it recently?”
Lin Hao thought, then said, “My grandpa gave me this soul pearl before he passed. I had never seen him take it out before, until that night when he was close to breathing his last. He gave the soul pearl to me. He did not say what it was, only asked me to keep it close, and that a person fated to find it would know how to use it. As for whether anyone has touched it recently…”
Lin Hao furrowed his brow and thought for a long time before he said, a bit vaguely, “Not a person, but there was a bat, back when I arrived at Tianyun City. I wanted to enter the city, but for some reason, when I was crossing the gates, I suddenly fell, and the soul pearl fell out of my lapel. At that time, a bat snatched the soul pearl, but it wasn’t very smart, it actually crashed into me, and I was able to snatch my grandpa’s remnant back.”
“A bat?”
Lin Hao’s words were an eye-opener. Right afterwards, Di Jiufeng thought of something. She tugged on Ning Guang’s arm and said, “Could it be the same one? Let him see.”
The surveillance bat they had caught had also appeared at the city gates. Di Jiufeng thought that it could be the same one that Lin Hao was talking about.
As expected, when Ning Guang pulled out that round little thing, Lin Hao nodded in agreement. “Yes, this exact one. I remember very clearly, it was round and fat, and its wings were small, it couldn’t fly very high, and after it grabbed the soul pearl, it crashed into me. I was wondering how there could be a bat so stupid, so I remember it very well.”
The little bat had just been let out, and before it could even get some fresh air, it was smacked over the head with all these insults.
Sparks flew from its round and watery bean eyes, and it struggled in Ning Guang’s hand, letting out a series of incomprehensible squeaks.
The little bat was yelling to its heart’s content, but then Ning Guang snatched it by the abdomen, fat bulging out through the cracks between her fingers, thin grey fluff flying everywhere under the force of her hand.
The little bat let out a loud squeak of pain. Its rather ineffective brain thought for a whole ten seconds, and it finally decided to stick out its tongue and play dead.
But it had only stuck out its tongue and not yet closed its eyes when Ning Guang turned it around to face Lin Hao. “Do you recognize him? And the pearl he has? If you do, squeak once, otherwise, don’t make a sound.”
The little bat looked at Lin Hao and the pearl. After a while, it finally found something familiar in its tangled mess of memories. But it didn’t like this barbarian, so it decided to play dead. It closed its eyes and stretched out its tongue, pretending it was unconscious.
Ning Guang did not fold, her cold voice holding an unconcealed threat. “Cooperate, or else…”
Or else what, or else she would flay it and eat it alive? The little bat scared itself and all the fur on its body puffed up. It was afraid, and let out a terrified squeak.
Ning Guang asked, “Did your master ask you to do this?”
The little bat thought. Between its master and becoming bat meat, it leaned towards living, and squeaked again.
Some things finally made a bit more sense. This little bat’s master must be a key figure. But right now, they still had a soul pearl to find, and no way to leave Tianyun City for the time being. And, Lin Hao’s grandfather also seemed to have some connection with the ancient witch’s core.