Chapter 267: Ruthless

"Senior Sister, you're back." Ji Yaohua's eyes flickered as she watched her senior sister Ruyan return on a horse. She began to believe the diary's contents.

Initially, Ji Yaohua suspected An Shigeng had created the diary to amuse her.

To avoid his suspicions, Ji Yaohua even considered taking the diary to An Shigeng.

However, Ji Yaohua was surprised to find she couldn't explain the diary to her sisters or An Shigeng. She couldn't reveal anything about it.

This made Ji Yaohua realize something was amiss, especially when, the next day, she discovered a new entry in the diary, even though she had kept it close to her.

She was now certain the diary had nothing to do with An Shigeng, and it was truly mysterious.

To verify the diary's authenticity, Ji Yaohua kept her eyes fixed on the city gate for the next few days.

Sure enough, her senior sister Ruyan had returned, even on a horse.

"Junior sister, why are you here?" Ruyan didn't expect to meet Ji Yaohua at the city gate.

"I have a mission for the Six Gates, so I just happened to pass by here. Senior sister, your horse seems very good?" Ji Yaohua asked.

"Do you think it's good too? It's a thousand-mile horse." Ruyan said with a smile, but at the same time, Ruyan was thinking in her heart whether she should try to win over Ji Yaohua and let Ji Yaohua help her deal with An Shigeng.

Ruyan knew a little about her junior sister. Although Ji Yaohua obeyed An Shigeng, she would never believe that Ji Yaohua was loyal to An Shigeng and even An Yunshan.

In Ruyan's opinion, the reason why Ji Yaohua obeyed An Shigeng was, on the one hand, because An Shigeng's father An Yunshan was powerful and had a strong background, and on the other hand, it was because Ji Yaohua was poisoned and needed An Shigeng to give her the antidote.

If Ji Yaohua were given an antidote, or if she could see hope of destroying the An Mansion, she would most likely betray the An Mansion and An Shigeng.

As for whether Ji Yaohua had any feelings for An Shigeng, Ruyan saw this as a joke. From Ji Yaohua's attitude towards An Shigeng, Ruyan could tell she had no feelings for him at all.

In Ruyan's eyes, An Shigeng was a fool. He had a father like An Yunshan, a great master, and a family with so much money and resources, yet he was playing games with Ji Yaohua. A complete fool.

As for why Ruyan wanted to recruit Ji Yaohua, she was hoping to achieve some success before Ye Xiu arrived. Perhaps she could get Ji Yaohua to learn more about the An Mansion's secrets, or learn the whereabouts of everyone there, so that when Ye Xiu arrived, she could wipe them out. She wanted to earn Ye Xiu's favor or praise, and ideally, make him happy enough to unlock her life and death talisman.

Under the threat of the Life and Death Talisman, Ruyan's only thought was how to please Ye Xiu and get him to remove the Talisman from her body.

"A thousand-mile horse? Senior Sister actually got a thousand-mile horse! Congratulations!" Ji Yaohua's eyes flickered when she heard Ruyan mention the thousand-mile horse. She was now increasingly convinced of the diary's contents.

Meanwhile, Ji Yaohua's eyes shifted discreetly over Ruyan. The diary mentioned that Ruyan had been captured and even given a Life and Death Talisman.

According to Ji Yaohua's research, the Life and Death Talisman seemed to be a secret technique unique to the Tianshan Lingjiu Palace, used to control the inhabitants of the thirty-six caves and seventy-two islands, and was said to render life worse than death.

So, Ji Yaohua wanted to see if Ruyan had been struck by the Life and Death Talisman, but she couldn't see anything. She wasn't sure if Ruyan had truly been struck by the Talisman as described in the diary.

"Junior Sister..." Ruyan called out to Ji Yaohua with a smile as beautiful as a flower, her tone a touch more intimate.

Seeing Ruyan's attitude, Ji Yaohua felt a strange feeling in her heart. Although they were sisters and their relationship was closer than that of ordinary people, in Ji Yaohua's opinion, their closeness was limited. Ruyan's sudden behavior made Ji Yaohua feel uncomfortable. At the same time, she also felt that something must have happened to Ruyan.

So Ji Yaohua thought of the life and death talisman at the first time. Ruyan

deliberately wanted to get close to Ji Yaohua and wanted to win her over. And Ji Yaohua also wanted to get close to Ruyan and wanted to see what was going on with Ruyan.

This pair of sisters with different thoughts started chatting with each other in a seemingly close manner.

"By the way, sister, I wonder if you have heard of a martial art." Ji Yaohua asked casually.

"What martial art? Tell me about it? Let me see if I know it." Ruyan said with a smile.

"Life and Death Talisman—"

The moment Ji Yaohua uttered the words, Ruyan, who had been keeping an eye on her, noticed her body stiffen. Though it only lasted a moment before she recovered, Ji Yaohua was certain her senior sister had truly been planted with the Life and Death Talisman.

"Junior sister, why are you asking this?" Ruyan, struggling to regain her composure, turned and asked with a smile.

"Actually, I recently found some information in the Six Gates' archives. It's said that the Tianshan Vulture Palace possesses something called the Life and Death Talisman. Anyone struck by it will suffer a fate worse than death." "

Really? I'm just wondering, Junior Sister, have you found any way to remove it?" Ruyan asked, seemingly casually, but with deep concern, her tone tinged with a hint of eagerness and anticipation.

Ji Yaohua naturally noticed the change in Ruyan's mood. She was absolutely certain her senior sister had truly been doomed, truly struck by the Life and Death Talisman.

Ji Yaohua shook her head. "Unless there's a special antidote or cultivation technique, you'll be controlled by the Life and Death Talisman for the rest of your life. Senior Sister, you've probably been poisoned by it, haven't

you?" "What nonsense—" Ruyan retorted subconsciously. But when she saw Ji Yaohua's eyes, which seemed to confirm that Ruyan had been poisoned, her words stopped abruptly. "Junior Sister, how did you know this?"

Seeing Ruyan's face darken, Ji Yaohua sighed inwardly. She had merely been poisoned, yet she was forced to obey An Shigeng's every command. But Ruyan had been poisoned by a Life and Death Talisman far more potent than her own. Looking at Ruyan, Ji Yaohua suddenly felt a sense of sympathy.

"How I learned this isn't important. What's important is what you plan to do, Senior Sister?" Ji Yaohua asked, shaking her head.

"What should I do? What can I do? You have no idea how terrifying the Life and Death Talisman is. Junior Sister, the poison you have is nothing compared to this. The Life and Death Talisman, the Life and Death Talisman, it truly makes life worse than death." Ruyan's face was bitter.

Seeing Ruyan like this, Ji Yaohua actually began to truly treat her as her senior sister, as her own sister, just like the sisters who, like her, had been poisoned by An Yunshan and were lurking within the Six Gates.

Ji Yaohua had originally felt a certain distance from Ruyan, even as a senior sister, but now that distance had almost vanished.

"Senior sister, who was the person who planted the life and death talisman in you? How strong is he? Can he be a match for An Yunshan?" Ji Yaohua asked the question she desperately wanted to know.

If the other party could stand up to An Yunshan, Ji Yaohua wouldn't mind betraying the An Mansion, An Shigeng, and An Yunshan.

"They should be able to deal with An Yunshan—wait? Junior Sister, you seem to know a lot of information." Ruyan, coming to her senses, detected the question in Ji Yaohua's words and couldn't help but squint at Ji Yaohua.

"This—" Ji Yaohua realized that in her eagerness, she had unknowingly revealed some secrets.

"It's a diary? Junior Sister, you have a diary too?" Ruyan looked at Ji Yaohua with a burning gaze.

In fact, on her way back to the capital, Ruyan pondered many questions.

Not to mention the diaries in the distant Ming or Sui dynasties, the contents of the diaries in the Song Dynasty alone gave Ruyan a lot of questions.

For example, why did Zhuge Shenhou suddenly seek the person who rides the Thousand Mile Horse, and why did he send people to Zhongnan Mountain to search for him?

It was as if Zhuge Shenhou had known about Ye Xiu's whereabouts in advance.

She hadn't thought much of it before, but the diary's appearance changed many of her perspectives.

Especially the diary itself. She'd deliberately thrown it away on the first day, only to find it reappear the next day, even with an extra entry.

She'd tried to destroy it, but found it impossible to do so. Then, she discovered even more of its mysteries.

Combining the diary with its contents, Ruyan had begun to wonder if anyone besides herself had seen it.

Now that her junior sister, Ji Yaohua, had inexplicably learned information she shouldn't have, Ruyan's suspicions soared, prompting her to ask about the diary.

If Ji Yaohua hadn't seen it, then she wouldn't know anything about it if she mentioned it. If Ji Yaohua had seen it, then sharing her thoughts about it would naturally make her understand, making it easier for her to form an alliance with her.

"Senior Sister, you have a diary too? Huh? I can actually talk about a diary?" Ji Yaohua was stunned.

"Junior Sister, it seems we need to have a good chat," Ruyan said, looking at Ji Yaohua seriously.

"Yes!" Ji Yaohua nodded.

With the diary as a link, the two of them reached a tacit understanding.

...

After another disguise, Ye Xiu, though still looking far less like his true face, still had a delicate and refined appearance. He wore a slightly loose scholar's robe, making him look rather thin.

Furthermore, Ye Xiu carried a zither case on his back, containing a decent, though ordinary, guqin.

When Ye Xiu played the Eight Sounds of the Heavenly Dragon on this guqin, he could only use 50% of his power; any more and the guqin would be overwhelmed.

However, even at 50% of his power, the power unleashed by the Eight Sounds of the Heavenly Dragon was astonishing. Even a Grandmaster at the Vajra Realm would be helpless against this level of the Eight Sounds of the Heavenly Dragon.

After all, thanks to the diary's reward, Ye Xiu had already mastered the Eight Sounds of the Heavenly Dragon to perfection. All he lacked was the Heavenly Demon Harp.

Of course, if it were the Heavenly Demon Harp, the combination of the Eight Sounds of the Heavenly Dragon would yield a 1+1 greater effect than 2.

Ye Xiu navigated the martial arts world with this demeanor, encountering no further problems. He arrived safely and smoothly in the capital.

As Ye Xiu entered the Song Dynasty capital, carrying his harp case, he felt a gaze fixed on him, one that remained lingering for a long time.

Ye Xiu's appearance was ordinary, normally unremarkable.

But now, someone's gaze remained fixed on him, lingering for a long time. This intrigued Ye Xiu, and he followed the gaze and saw a woman, a very beautiful woman, a woman in a wheelchair, looking at him.

"Heartless!"

The moment he saw the woman, the name immediately popped into Ye Xiu's mind.

After all, in the capital of the Song Dynasty, Ye Xiu only knew of one beautiful woman in a wheelchair: Wuqing, one of the Four Great Constables.

Wuqing was watching Ye Xiu with curiosity and inquiry.

She knew from his diary that Ye Xiu would arrive in the capital that day.

Although Ye Xiu could disguise himself, Wuqing didn't know what he looked like at that moment, but she did know from the diary that he was carrying a violin case.

So, Wuqing had arrived at the city gate early that day, awaiting Ye Xiu's arrival.

As for guarding the wrong gate, Wuqing wasn't too worried. After all, she could calculate Ye Xiu's direction of the capital based on his previous locations, and thus knew which gate Ye Xiu would enter.

Sure enough, Wuqing had waited that morning for a man with a violin case, a seemingly ordinary, though somewhat handsome, appearance. Wuqing's

undisguised gaze caught his eye, confirming that he was a highly skilled martial artist.

However, Wuqing was 60% certain the person was the one who wrote the diary, but she didn't immediately approach Ye Xiu because she didn't know what excuse to use to approach him.

However, despite having no reason to approach Ye Xiu, she nonetheless activated her mind-reading ability, attempting to read Ye Xiu's thoughts and gain a better understanding of him.

At the very least, Wuqing wanted to determine how Ye Xiu felt after seeing her. This would allow her to formulate a plan to approach Ye Xiu.

However, Wuqing was surprised to find that she couldn't read a single word from Ye Xiu; he had completely blocked her mind-reading ability.

This left Wuqing somewhat stunned. How could mind-reading be ineffective? Wuqing had never encountered such a situation before.

Even if the Divine Marquis Zhuge Zhengwo was unprepared, Wuqing could still read some of his thoughts. Even if Zhuge Zhengwo was prepared, Wuqing could still vaguely discern fragments of his words and some of his emotions, such as joy, anger, sorrow, and happiness.

But when her mind-reading ability was applied to Ye Xiu, it couldn't detect a thing.

Not only Ye Xiu's thoughts, but even his current mood, whether good or bad, was completely intangible to her, as if it were a stone.

Wuqing looked at Ye Xiu with a look of surprise and even anticipation.

Ye Xiu was completely unaffected by Wuqing's attempt to use his mind-reading ability; the diary completely blocked it.

In reality, psychic abilities or martial arts—think mind-reading, martial arts like Dao Heart Demon that could alter a person's personality, manipulate their thoughts, or even mystical arts that could attack Ye Xiu's spirit—were completely ineffective against him.

Because the diary itself was compatible with Ye Xiu's spirit, it protected his soul from direct attack.

It was just that Ye Xiu was unaware of this, which was why he felt so fearful when facing Pang Ban's Dao Heart Demon.

Of course, Ye Xiu wasn't afraid of Pang Ban's demon seed, but that didn't mean he could defeat Pang Ban.

After all, as a celestial being, it would be easy for Pang Ban to abandon his demon seed and kill Ye Xiu.

Ye Xiu looked at Wuqing, wondering why Wuqing had come to the city gate. Was he waiting for someone? Or was he dealing with something? He just couldn't understand why Wuqing was staring at him.

Meanwhile, Ye Xiu debated whether he should approach Wuqing now. He

still had a good impression of Wuqing, after all, she was so beautiful. Furthermore, because she was the protagonist of the Four Great Constables, Ye Xiu, a time traveler, had a natural liking for her.

But then Ye Xiu remembered that his purpose in coming to the capital was to deal with the An Mansion and An Shigeng. If he approached Wuqing now, he might attract the attention of An Shigeng's men, which could lead to complications.

He decided it would be better to hold off on approaching Wuqing for now, first finding a way to deal with An Shigeng, and then approach Wuqing at the Divine Marquis Mansion.

Having made up his mind, Ye Xiu also saw that Wuqing had withdrawn his gaze from him, so he simply turned around and left. He planned to find Ruyan to see where she was at the moment. At the same time, he also wanted to see what Ruyan had been doing in the past few days since returning to the capital, and whether she had taken any action.

As for whether Ruyan would betray him? With the Life and Death Talisman in hand, Ye Xiu was not really afraid of Ruyan betraying him.

After all, the Life and Death Talisman was too terrifying. With Ruyan's personality, she would never dare to betray him before she figured out how to deal with the Life and Death Talisman.