Chapter 50

Lin Yu's mouth twitched, and she let out an awkward laugh. How were they supposed to spin this one...

"I've got it!" Si Xing suddenly shouted.

Lin Yu's back went rigid. "Got what?"

Si Xing: "This assassin disguised himself as a woman to sneak into our tower! The audacity!"

Lin Yu's face showed shock. "Huh?"

Her expression shifted from confusion to feigned shock in an instant, and she quickly chimed in, "Oh, right! That's exactly it. Good thing Sister Si Xing has such keen eyes and a sharp mind—you saw right through this villain's scheme at a glance!"

Si Xing was flattered by Lin Yu's words, but she pressed her lips together in a show of anger and said, "These people will stop at nothing to ambush us these days. They even came up with the idea of cross-dressing to sneak in. It's really something else."

"But it makes sense. The gatekeepers are a bunch of mediocrities—they never thought to guard against women coming and going from the Heaven's Mandate Tower. Now they've paid the price. Men dressed as women walked right in and killed seven or eight of their formal disciples before anyone knew what was happening. Their own stupidity cost them."

She ranted for a while, then finally sighed, "Ah, every day they just commit more sins..."

Lin Yu stood aside, watching her chatter on and on, and couldn't help recalling the stern, cold-faced Si Xing who had looked so fierce when they first entered the Punishment Hall half an hour earlier.

The more she talked, the more Si Xing seemed to open the floodgates, and Lin Yu chatted along with her for a good while. They went from how gatekeepers had to bribe their way in with hundreds of taels of silver to which disciple had been studying in the tower for over twenty years with his whole family and still hadn't graduated, looking at becoming a grandfather before he ever got out of the Heaven's Mandate Tower.

At that point, Si Xing suddenly said, "Ah, those mediocrities—unlike us, who actually passed the exams on our own merit."

Lin Yu: "Ah..." Who's 'us'? It's just you.

Si Xing suddenly looked at Lin Yu with an eager expression. "By the way, Divine Maiden, did you teach yourself? How many years of cultivation did you have before His Majesty chose you? Tell me, I'd love to hear it and broaden my horizons."

Lin Yu: ...

It wasn't that she didn't want to say—it was that she couldn't. In a sense, she too had gotten in through connections... What could she say? That she'd abandoned medicine for the Way, had no real skill, and was only chosen by Fu Ming because she was bold and unafraid of death?

Just then, Lin Yu noticed the light outside had already seeped through the window. Dawn had fully broken, and she smiled to end the conversation: "Let's not dwell on that. The details are a bit complicated, and it's a long story. I'll tell you another day when I have the time."

Lin Yu's face showed reluctance, but she really couldn't delay any longer—it was almost the hour of Mao. She said, "Sister, look, it's already bright outside. I still need to process this villain's bones and report back to the Xianzun."

Only then did Si Xing suddenly remember there was still a person lying on the execution platform. She quickly stood up. "Oh, right, right. Look at my memory—I almost forgot such an important matter."

Si Xing's kindly smile faded, replaced by a fierce expression. "I'll finish him off right now!"

Lin Yu: "No need to worry. Let's just get it done quickly."

Seeing that Lin Yu seemed a bit hurried, Si Xing patted her chest and said to Lin Yu, "Ah, I've been the executioner for ten years now. My merits are definitely all used up, maybe I even owe the underworld a few hundred years of merits. Today, I'll show you a trick."

Under Lin Yu's admiring gaze, Si Xing wielded a long blade in each hand and flashed a wicked smile at the person on the execution platform.

What followed was a spray of flesh and blood as pieces of clean white bone were picked out from the flesh and tossed into a box nearby, clattering against each other with a clatter.

In no time, the white bones were neatly piled up to fill a box. Lin Yu didn't look to see what had become of the person on the platform, but she imagined it was already a mess of fragments.

Si Xing raised her sleeve to wipe the sweat from her brow. "Done!"

Lin Yu closed the box and asked casually, "Ah, after working all night, there shouldn't be any important matters in the Punishment Hall during the day, right?"

She glanced inadvertently at the cloth at the edge of the execution platform—the coarse fabric was now soaked scarlet, with blood droplets still seeping down to the floor in spots.

"Not just during the day—there's never anything important any day. My Punishment Hall is practically useless. Me, I'll head back to rest in a bit."

That made sense. Everyone here was a cultivator, and most disputes were settled on the spot. It was rare for anyone to be arrested, interrogated, and dragged to the Punishment Hall, so the executioner's position was bound to be idle.

Si Xing looked at the large box and figured Lin Yu couldn't possibly carry it alone, but no one else was around. She said indignantly, "Where are those two disciples who came with you? Out slacking off somewhere? I'll go fetch them."

Lin Yu glanced inadvertently at the white cloth on the execution platform and said, "No need to trouble anyone else. I can manage on my own."

Si Xing added, "Wait, something's off."

Lin Yu tensed for a moment. "What is it?"

Si Xing stared at the box of bones and said, "Does the Xianzun know this person was cross-dressing?"

Si Xing's words reminded Lin Yu—it was fine for her and Si Xing to know about the cross-dressing, but if word spread, it would only cause trouble. However, a man's pelvis and pubic bone differed from a woman's, and Lin Yu had to bring these bones back for a report. The moment the Xianzun saw them, he'd surely become suspicious.

"Explaining it to the Xianzun would be a real hassle. And then those gatekeepers would be in trouble again—maybe he'd send them off as new sacrifices. Spending all that money to court death—I don't know what they were thinking."

Lin Yu smiled. "It doesn't matter. The Xianzun won't notice."

"Why not?"

"He wouldn't bother to pay attention to the remains of someone who's suffered a severe punishment." As she spoke, Lin Yu lifted the box and headed outside.

"Get some rest, Sister Si Xing."

...

The Punishment Hall was still not far from the foot of the mountain. No sooner had Lin Yu left the hall and taken a few steps than she ran into some disciples on cleanup duty clearing the remnants of last night's fire along the roadside. In the dark, it had been hard to see, but now that dawn had come, the ground was stained black everywhere.

It had been burned that badly—the stone floor was scorched black, no sign of its original appearance.

When the disciples saw Lin Yu passing by alone with a large box, they hurried over to help. "Divine Maiden, where are you headed?"

She'd been thinking about where to find someone, and here they'd come right to her. Lin Yu handed the box of bones to two of the disciples. "Please take this box to Bushou Hall for me."

The disciples took the box, thinking they could skip their morning cleaning duties by running an errand for the Divine Maiden, but after hearing her words, their faces showed reluctance.

What was Bushou Hall? It was the Xianzun's residence. Bushou Hall was built at the top of the mountain, where the elders' territory was. Disciple servants were never well regarded there, and how could they set foot on the Divine Mountain peak?

Besides, the elders of the Heaven's Mandate Tower each had their own quirks. Some were so eccentric that they'd be displeased just seeing lowly disciples like them. If they accidentally offended one of them, what then...

Lin Yu didn't know what they were deliberating, but she could see the hesitation in their eyes. "Is it inconvenient? Never mind, I'll deliver it myself." She moved to take back the box, but the disciples stepped back, holding the box away from her.

The few exchanged glances, figuring it couldn't be that unlucky—the chances of running into an elder right at the top were too low. Finally, they gritted their teeth and said, "We'll go right away."

They hoisted the box and stepped onto the stone stairs, and Lin Yu called after them, "Just leave it outside the barrier at the top of the Divine Mountain—no need to bring it inside."

Hearing this, they all breathed a sigh of relief. As long as they didn't enter the barrier, they wouldn't run into those important figures. Their mood lifted, and their pace quickened.

Lin Yu watched them leave, then looked down at the fire scene below, a plan forming in her mind, and headed back down the mountain.

When she returned to the Punishment Hall, Si Xing was already gone. No one was there, and the cleanup disciples hadn't arrived yet. Lin Yu went straight to the execution platform.

She lifted the blood-soaked cloth, and the faces of the two people lying beneath the platform came into view, looking as if they were asleep. A smile curled at the corner of Lin Yu's lips as she reached out and dragged them out one by one.

...

At Bushou Hall.

Lin Yu set the box down outside the hall door, took a deep breath, and said, "Xianzun, this disciple has come to report."

The tightly shut door suddenly swung open, and the Xianzun's voice came from within: "Come in."

Lin Yu picked up the box and stepped into Bushou Hall, setting the contents down inside. The moment she saw the Xianzun, she was briefly stunned. A few hours ago, in the Self-Reflection Hall, he had regained his usual appearance—a young man in his thirties.

But now, his hair had gone completely white again. Lin Yu vaguely guessed that the Xianzun was nearing his end—his cultivation could no longer even maintain the most basic appearance.

The box hit the floor. The Xianzun, reclining on a soft couch, waved a hand in disgust, not even lifting his eyes. Without giving Lin Yu a chance to open the box, he said, "Fine, toss it out to feed the dogs."

Lin Yu paused, then replied, "Yes."

The Xianzun was even more dismissive than she'd expected.

"By the way, the New Year is in a few days, and the day after that is the Spring Sacrifice. Are you interested in presiding over the ceremony?"

While in Jiangnan, the Xianzun had sent her a letter mentioning the Spring Sacrifice and his wish for Lin Yu to preside over it. At the time, Lin Yu had burned the letter and said nothing more.

It was also because of the Spring Sacrifice that Ting He had suffered that disaster, with her entire family killed.

When Lin Yu first saw the letter, she'd thought it was just a casual mention and that the Xianzun would forget after a few days, but here he was, bringing it up again.

Presiding over the sacrifice had always been the High Priestess Yun Chi's duty, and it had nothing to do with the Divine Maiden. Lin Yu couldn't figure out the Xianzun's intentions. "I doubt I'm up to it. I've only just arrived—what right do I have to take the High Priestess's position?"

"Besides, I've never learned how to preside over a sacrifice, and learning now wouldn't be in time for the Spring Sacrifice. A half-baked officiant would be an insult to the gods and a disservice to the people."

Lin Yu's refusal was watertight, and the Xianzun didn't press further, just sent her away.

By the time Lin Yu had handled a series of matters, the sun had already risen high in the sky. Having been up all night and rushing around, she was exhausted and headed straight for her quarters.

At this hour, most disciples were practicing, and from the halfway point up the mountain, disciples of all kinds lined the slopes, while the sound of children chanting scriptures in unison came from several temple halls.

She walked quickly, wondering how Ting He was doing.

But just as she reached her quarters, she saw Chen Lu pacing back and forth at the entrance. When Chen Lu spotted Lin Yu, her eyes lit up with excitement, and she trotted over to greet her.

Chen Lu called out as she ran, "Someone came to see you!"

Lin Yu paused, steadying the rushing Chen Lu. She didn't think much of it and asked casually, "Who is it?"

Chen Lu thought for a moment. "He said he was one of your believers. He came early this morning, and I couldn't get rid of him. He insisted he wouldn't leave until he'd paid his respects to you."

Hearing this, Lin Yu had a foreboding feeling. The last person to claim to be her believer had been Lu Yao. Lin Yu had no hope left for whatever new creature would show up this time.

Chen Lu dragged Lin Yu to the back courtyard, and sure enough, there stood a middle-aged man in the middle of the yard, hands behind his back, looking up at the bare peach tree branches.

On closer inspection, they weren't entirely bare—some small flower buds were hidden in the bends of the branches. It wasn't yet the season for peach blossoms, but it was close.

Hearing the footsteps, the middle-aged man turned to meet Lin Yu's gaze. A familiar face appeared in her line of sight, and Lin Yu's eyes widened slightly, a flicker of surprise flashing in them.

"Why are you here?"