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Novel: [The Primordial Law]
Volume 4: [Shuangsheng Dao Sect (Twin Rice Sect)]
Chapter 159 (414): [The Unlucky Fiancée]
(159th of Volume 4)
Translator: Shadow Knight AK
Editor: Shadow Knight AK
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Lingxiao City, with a population exceeding ten million, was a gathering place for the world's strongest cultivators and most brilliant minds.
Countless sects, Government Offices, and clans thrived within its walls.
Merchants, carriage companies, peddlers, vagrants, and members of all walks of life - both those who operated in the light and those who lurked in the shadows - all struggled to survive in the Cloud Heaven Immortal Plain.
None of them were simple individuals.
With so many experts and competing factions, conflict, murder, and clashes occurred constantly.
Countless matters, both large and small, arose daily, with each figure seemingly more powerful than the last.
In a single ward of a hundred thousand people, at least a hundred thousand events unfolded each day.
A hundred thousand complex minds churned, each engaged in secret affairs that no one could ever fully comprehend.
In a single city, tens of thousands of matters arose daily.
The Imperial Court's various Government Offices were divided into dozens of departments, each with its own responsibilities: surveillance, detention, policy enforcement, lawmaking, city defense, public welfare, and more.
Whether one was a Transcendent Martial-Mystic Path cultivator or a Holy Spiritual King, even the most powerful could only grasp the broadest strokes of such a complex situation.
From a high vantage point, one could survey the entire city at a glance.
But how could a single pair of eyes keep watch over more than a few individuals at a time?
Whenever a task required a large number of people to carry it out, each individual became a potential weakness, a potential breakthrough point for an enemy.
Even an Immortal Realm Giant like Song Yulou could disappear for a day or two without anyone noticing, unless the Song Clan's top brass or Qilin Terrace's higher-ups had an urgent matter requiring his immediate attention.
Otherwise, his absence would barely make a ripple.
It was perfectly normal for an Immortal Realm Giant to enter closed-door cultivation for half a month, secretly leave the city on business for seven or eight days, or conduct covert investigations for two or three days.
As the carriage traveled four miles from Azure Cloud Market, it passed over a stone bridge spanning the Spiritual Stream River, which was over ten yards wide. The bridge was bustling with people, the liveliest and most chaotic time of day.
Li Weiyi, driving the carriage, glanced sideways and spotted two figures standing at the bridge's entrance.
Zuoqiu Hongting, using her Disguise Technique, had assumed the appearance of "Zuoqiu Ting," a young master in green robes and a white neckerchief. Beside her stood Yin Shi San in plain clothes, resembling a servant.
Li Weiyi's current face was that of Sima Qin, whom Zuoqiu Hongting had met before, so she recognized him instantly.
Their eyes met, and Zuoqiu Hongting smiled at him.
Li Weiyi stopped the carriage.
Zuoqiu Hongting immediately climbed in and, upon seeing Zhuang Yue with red, swollen eyes from crying and Jiang Ning unconscious in Zhuang Yue's arms, paused for a moment.
"Old Li, are you kidnapping the Jiang Clan's young mistress?"
Li Weiyi, in no mood for jokes, glanced at Yin Shi San, who had taken a seat beside him.
The fact that Zuoqiu Hongting was waiting for him here meant Yin Shi San must have informed her.
After all, Yin Shi San had been following Jiang Ning closely.
Yin Shi San quickly said, "It was Hidden Two who told me to contact the Zuoqiu Clan. She guessed you had returned to Lingxiao City and insisted on seeing you. Divine Hidden One, shall I drive? Where are we going?"
"West."
Li Weiyi lifted the carriage curtain and entered.
Zuoqiu Hongting asked, "When will we strike?"
"Tomorrow morning," Li Weiyi replied.
Zuoqiu Hongting remained relatively calm.
"So soon?"
"We need to seize the initiative. The sooner, the better. If the enemy strikes first, not only will Lingxiao City be unable to resist, but all of us will be caught off guard, with no time to evacuate."
Li Weiyi continued, "Can you guarantee the enemy won't strike first?"
Zuoqiu Hongting nodded: "Our original plan was to evacuate key figures from the Zuoqiu Hidden Sect within three days. But with your intervention, it seems we must leave today."
She took out an account book and handed it to Li Weiyi.
Li Weiyi opened it and began to read.
The book contained details gathered by the Zuoqiu Clan and the Zuoqiu Hidden Sect: the locations of Heretical Sect strongholds, undercover agents, individuals who had been bribed, officials in the Imperial Court who had defected to the Demon Kingdom, and hidden experts who had undergone Soul-Fusion Dead Spirit transformation.
The information recorded here overlapped only partially with what the Jiu Li Hidden Sect and Yao Qingxuan had discovered.
This undoubtedly meant that what they had uncovered was likely only a fraction of the truth, with more secrets hidden beneath the surface.
"Why are there so many Soul-Fusion Dead Spirit experts?" Li Weiyi asked.
Zuoqiu Hongting replied, "It was the Confucian Dao's Ancestor who first detected some of this information and sent it to Lingxiao City. That's how we managed to track down a portion of them. The Nether Realm of the Dead seems to be deeply involved. Both the Ghost City and the Skeletal Manor near the Lingxiao Realm have shown unusual activity. The situation is far worse than we anticipated."
Li Weiyi frowned: "Isn't Qilin Zhuang trying to establish a Demon Kingdom? Why would he bring Soul-Fusion Dead Spirits into the Lingxiao Realm, risking the entire realm's destruction?"
Zuoqiu Hongting shook her head gently.
"With our cultivation, how can we truly understand the thoughts of a Transcendent being? Where are you taking her?"
Li Weiyi's gaze fell on Jiang Ning and Zhuang Yue as he began to seriously consider the question.
Zuoqiu Hongting, having pieced together what had happened earlier, said, "How far have you two really gone? Don't let her behavior during the battle at the Six Thoughts Zen Temple mislead you. At that time, she was more concerned with creating a spectacle and resolving the threat posed by the Mother-Child Spring. That wasn't her true feelings."
"What are you trying to say?" Li Weiyi asked.
Zuoqiu Hongting smiled, "If a man I'm not particularly close to suddenly knocked me unconscious, even if he did it for my own good to get me out of danger, I'd still turn on him when I woke up. That kind of sneak attack is a direct threat to my life - extremely dangerous. I wouldn't allow it to happen a second time."
"Do you think she'll sever ties with me when she wakes up?" Li Weiyi asked.
Zuoqiu Hongting saw that Li Weiyi seemed unconvinced.
She glanced at Zhuang Yue, who was listening intently nearby, and transmitted a serious message through Spiritual Qi: "How well do you really know her?"
Li Weiyi fell silent.
Did he truly understand Jiang Ning?
He knew nothing about her friends, her parents, whether she had siblings, or her Cultivation.
Zuoqiu Hongting and Tang Wanzhou were different.
Zuoqiu Hongting continued, "It might seem like you're close, but she'll never share anything truly important with you. That's what I meant when I said she's deeply guarded. You think you see through her - that she's upright, idealistic, and responsible - but in reality, you know nothing about her. When you think about it, isn't that terrifying?"
Li Weiyi asked, "What do you know?"
Zuoqiu Hongting said, "The Jiang Clan is a branch of the Jiang Clan that settled in the Lingxiao Realm."
"I know that," Li Weiyi replied.
Yin Shi San had already told him about it on their way to Qiu Prefecture.
Zuoqiu Hongting continued, "In Yingzhou, the Jiang Clan is a renowned Ancient Clan. Compared to them, the Sacred Dark Family is insignificant. This branch of the Jiang Clan moved to the Lingxiao Realm only a thousand years ago, and they just happened to occupy Fu Prefecture, which lies directly above the Underground Immortal Mansion. What could their purpose be?"
"You don't suspect the Jiang Clan is connected to the Heretical Sect, do you?" Li Weiyi asked.
"I don't know. I have no evidence, so I won't jump to conclusions. But it does seem strange. Why would the Jiang Clan send a branch of their clan to occupy Fu Prefecture? After a thousand years, why would they know nothing about the Heretical Sect's headquarters?"
Zuoqiu Hongting immediately sent a mental message: "Do you remember what I told you? The towering palace hall in Jiang Ning's Intent? You two are so close, did you ask her about it?"
Li Weiyi shook his head: "How did you even find out about something so secret?"
Zuoqiu Hongting pointed to her brow center spirit realm: "It told me! It said that a great horror is hidden within that towering palace hall."
"It" undoubtedly referred to the broken Ancient Lamp within her brow center Spiritual realm.
Li Weiyi was shocked to realize that Zuoqiu Hongting wasn't deliberately stirring up trouble.
After all, the Ancient Lamp was a broken Supreme Spiritual Artifact. If it called something a "Great Terror," it was clear that Jiang Ning might indeed be hiding a secret.
However, Li Weiyi had his own judgment. He didn't believe Jiang Ning was intentionally deceiving or pretending. Back at the Bing Juze Lake, she had been genuinely gravely wounded, nearly dying.
Just like himself, didn't he also carry many secrets?
As for the Jiang Clan's affairs and the secrets within the Towering Palace Hall, she might not understand them as clearly as she seemed to.
Similarly, Li Weiyi knew little about the Guardian Wife, the Dao Ancestor's Tai Chi Fish, his Sect, or the Blood-Awakened Corpse family. Without sufficient cultivation, one simply couldn't access the truth.
"Forget it, it wasn't in vain to be a jealous wife!" Zuoqiu Hongting laughed, then continued, "Let's put aside our suspicions and focus on the present. What good would it do to forcibly take her out of Lingxiao City? This isn't a war confined to a single city or region; it's a battle for the survival of the entire Lingxiao Realm. No place is safe. The flames of war have swept across the land, turning all twenty-eight prefectures into scorched earth."
"Sending her back to the Jiang Family of Fu Prefecture would be even worse. Fu Prefecture is precisely at the heart of the Heretical Sect's Corpse Cultivation Rice operation, making it the epicenter of the conflict."
"Bringing her back to Li Prefecture would mean facing Guan Shan and Night City, not to mention the Sui Sect and San Chen Palace, which are still hotbeds of conflict."
Li Weiyi pondered for a long time before suddenly laughing.
"A jealous wife? Aren't we sworn brothers?"
"I'm afraid you think I'm petty and can't tolerate Jiang Ning, so I'm deliberately speaking ill of her," Zuoqiu Hongting sighed, feigning grievance.
Li Weiyi said, "Brother Zuoqiu, you have a broad mind, capable of holding a boat in your belly. Help me bring her out of Lingxiao City and take her to Qiu Prefecture first."
"You're pushing it too far!"
Zuoqiu Hongting continued, "Go ask around the world - where does a fiancee help her fiance bring his lover home?"
"We're brothers! And she and I aren't lovers. We may never even reach that point," Li Weiyi said with a complex expression, his tone earnest.
"That's true. Before our engagement is dissolved, even if she agrees, the forces behind her will never allow it. Would the Second Palace Master really let her prized disciple become a concubine? Heh!"
Zuoqiu Hongting then asked, "When do you leave the city?"
"I'll be a bit later. We've already taken ninety-nine steps out of a hundred. The final step is the most crucial, and we can't afford any mistakes. If the Human Clan in the Lingxiao Realm wins this battle, I'll meet you in Qiu Prefecture City for a drink," Li Weiyi replied.
Zuoqiu Hongting's eyes were clouded with confusion, "Do you truly believe we have a chance of victory?"
"What? Does the Zuoqiu Clan have plans to evacuate the Lingxiao Realm?" Li Weiyi asked.
Zuoqiu Hongting sighed, "If the tide turns against us, how can we not send some of our clan members away? But once they leave and enter another Living Realm, they'll be forced to live as dependents. To gain resources and safety, they'll have to trade something in return. Even at the Calamity Crossing Temple, having a powerful backing is crucial."
"Brother Zuoqiu, where has your fighting spirit gone? Don't be so pessimistic. You're the Young Heavenly Emperor."
After giving Zhuang Yue a few words of advice, Li Weiyi prepared to disembark.
Just before leaving the carriage, he suddenly paused and asked, "If I were to knock you unconscious to get you out of danger, would you sever ties with me when you woke up?"
Zuoqiu Hongting was slightly taken aback, then smiled wryly, "Just get out of the city quickly."
After Li Weiyi dismounted, Zuoqiu Hongting's face and figure rapidly shifted, transforming into Li Weiyi's likeness.
She muttered to herself, "As his fiancee, I'll test this out for him. I'll see if Great Beauty Jiang will really turn on him when she wakes up. I'm truly the world's biggest unlucky fiancee!"
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END OF CHAPTER
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