Chapter 85: Loyalty—Part Seven

Before stepping through the gates of Lotus Pier, Wei WuXian took a deep breath, trying to calm himself. However, after entering, he didn’t feel as happy as he had imagined.

Perhaps it was because so many places had been renovated. The training grounds were twice as large. Each new building seemed taller than the previous, adorned with decorative curved roofs. The buildings looked grander and more imposing. However, compared to the Lotus Pier in his memories, the pier had changed too much.

Wei WuXian felt a deep sense of loss. He didn’t know whether the old buildings from the past were hidden behind these impressive new structures or whether they had already been demolished.

Besides, they are already too old.

On the training grounds, the disciples gathered again in a square formation, sitting cross-legged to rest and recover their spiritual power. Having been so busy day and night, they were all exhausted and desperately needed some time to breathe. Meanwhile, Jiang Cheng led the sect leaders and other important personnel to the main hall, the Sword Hall, to further discuss the day’s matters.

Just as they entered, before anyone could sit down, someone who looked like a visiting cultivator walked over, “Sect Leader.”

He leaned close to Jiang Cheng’s ear and whispered a few words. Jiang Cheng frowned, “No. If there’s anything important, tell them to come later. Don’t you see the situation now?”

Guest farmer, “I told you. Those two women said… they were just here for today’s business.”

Jiang Cheng, “What is their background? Which sect do they belong to?”

Guest cultivator: “Nothing. They aren’t cultivators either. I’m sure they’re both ordinary women with no spiritual powers. They also brought some expensive medicinal herbs, but they didn’t say which sect leader sent them. They only said they had something to tell you, Sect Leader. From their words, I judged that what they were discussing was no small matter. If they felt disrespected, I’ve already placed them in one of the guest residences. The medicinal herbs haven’t been stored either. They’ve been checked. There are no abnormal spells or curses.”

It wasn’t as if anyone could meet the YunmengJiang Sect leader whenever they wanted, even without explaining the reason. Furthermore, they were two women with no spiritual power and no sect backing them. However, because they were carrying rare herbs, the visiting cultivator in charge of receiving them didn’t dare show any disrespect. Although it wasn’t because of the lavish gifts, the sheer strangeness of the incident was enough to make him not neglect them. 

Jiang Cheng, “Everyone, please eat. I apologize for my short absence.”

Everyone replied, “Sect Leader Jiang, please continue.”

However, Jiang Cheng didn’t return for a while. He hadn’t been back for a long time. It was already rude to receive an uninvited guest at home, let alone at a time like this, when everyone was waiting to discuss important matters. Nearly an hour later, Jiang Cheng still hadn’t returned. Many people were starting to feel anxious or unhappy. At that moment, Jiang Cheng finally returned. He had seemed fine when he left, but when he returned, his expression was icy, his steps brisk. He had brought two people with him—two women, presumably two visitors. People initially thought that even if they were two ordinary women, to be able to visit with such lavish gifts meant they must be extraordinary in some way. However, neither of the two women looked young. Their age was evident in the details at the corners of their eyes and lips. One of them looked delicate and restless, while the other not only looked weathered, but also had about six scars on her face. Although the scars seemed old, they were still so horrific that the audience was both disappointed and lost interest. They began to mutter inwardly, wondering why Jiang Cheng had brought such women to the Sword Hall and even directed them to a position in the middle of the hall.

Jiang Cheng’s face darkened. He turned to the women who had just sat down cautiously, “You can talk here.”

Sect Leader Yao, “You mean Sect Leader Jiang?”

Jiang Cheng, “This matter is too shocking and I dare not act rashly. This delay is due to careful investigation. Everyone, please calm down, and listen to the two of them.” He turned around, “Which of you two will speak first?”

The two women looked at each other. The older woman seemed a little braver. She stood up, “I’ll go now!”

He saluted casually, “What I am about to tell you is an old story that happened about eleven years ago.”

From Jiang Cheng’s tone, people knew that what the women were about to say was definitely not just a trivial matter, trying to recall what happened eleven years ago. The woman said, “My name is Sisi. I used to sell my body. You could say I was famous for a while. About ten years ago, I met a wealthy businessman and wanted to marry him, but it turned out that the businessman’s wife was very fierce. She managed to gather a group of burly men and sliced ​​my face. That’s why I’m like this now.”

The woman spoke without any shame in her voice, completely unashamed. Many of the peasant women covered their lips with their sleeves, while the men frowned. Sisi said, “After my face became like this, my days are different from before. No one even bothered to look at me, let alone take care of my affairs. My original brothel kicked me out. I didn’t know what else to do, but I couldn’t take any business, so I joined the older women. They didn’t have much of a clientele. If there was a vacancy, I’d go with them. I could survive with my face covered.”

At this point, some people couldn’t stand it any longer. They let their contemptuous gazes spill out without any attempt to conceal it. Some didn’t understand why Jiang Cheng was allowing the crowd to listen to the woman talk about her dark past. However, the sect leaders remained calm and waited for her to continue. 

As expected, he finally got to the heart of the matter. Sisi, “One day, the sisters from our gang suddenly got a job, asking for all two dozen of us. They took us to a place in a horse-drawn carriage. After my older sisters finished discussing the price, they were all very happy on the way there. However, I felt something was wrong. Honestly—they were old, yellowed pearls, or the same as me. We were paid so much, even up front. How could such good fortune exist in the world? And the people who came to pick us up were also suspicious. They put us in the carriage and took us away as soon as they arrived, without telling anyone about it. No matter how you look at it, they definitely had no good intentions!”

The others felt the same way. Their initial disgust had been replaced by curiosity. Sisi said, “When the horse-drawn carriage arrived, they immediately took us to a courtyard and dropped us off. None of us had ever seen such a tall, grand, and imposing house before. We were all awestruck, too afraid to make a sound. A boy leaned against the doorframe, playing with a dagger. He let us in when he saw us. He closed the door, and we entered the room. There were only two people in the large room. A man lay under brocade sheets on a large bed. He looked to be in his thirties or forties, probably seriously ill on the verge of death. When he saw the people coming in, he could only roll his eyes.”

“Ah!”

Inside the Sword Hall, someone suddenly exclaimed with realization, “Eleven years ago?! This… This…!!!”

Sisi, “Earlier, someone had already told us what to do—one by one, we had to give it our all to take care of the person lying in bed. We couldn’t stop for a second. I even thought it was a burly giant. Who would have thought it was a sick person? How could someone like that endure our care? I was sure he would breathe his last breath before we finished a single round. Could those dirty old men really be seeking death like that? And they were so rich, too. It certainly wasn’t because they didn’t have the money to hire younger, prettier people. Why would they hire us old, ugly people? I was thinking this even as I crawled over them, when suddenly a young man’s laughter rang out. I jumped in shock. Only then did I realize there was a curtain beside the bed, and a man was sitting behind it!”

Everyone’s hearts were moved by his words. Sisi continued, “I finally realized that this man had been sitting behind the curtain the whole time. As he laughed, the man on the bed suddenly struggled, pushed me away, and rolled off the bed. The man laughed even harder, as he spoke. He said, ‘Father, I brought you your favorite women. There are so many like that. Are you happy, Father?'”

Even though Sisi was the one who said those words, everyone felt the hairs on the back of their necks stand on end. A smiling face appeared before their eyes.

Jin GuangYao!

And the half-dead man in the bed must be Jin GuangShan!

Jin GuangShan’s death had always been an open secret in the cultivation world. Jin GuangShan had been so amorous throughout his life that he was almost obscene. He left his love everywhere; he left his seed everywhere. The reason for his death was also related to this. The LanlingJin Sect Leader persisted in pursuing pleasure with women even when he was so weak and ultimately died in bed. Such a story truly did not save his dignity when told to others. After Madam Jin lost her only son and daughter-in-law, she had been quite depressed for several years. Thinking that her husband must have been fooling around even when he was dying and ultimately fooled her, she was so angry that she fell ill herself, eventually passing away. The LanlingJin Sect tried their best to conceal the news, but the world had a tacit understanding. People sighed sadly on the surface, but they all thought that he deserved it, that such a death was only fitting for him. However, today, they had just heard a truth even worse and even more revolting than the previous one. Sharp intakes of breath rang throughout the Sword Hall.

Sisi, “The middle-aged man wanted to scream and struggle, but his body was weak. The boy who brought us in opened the door again, grinning as he dragged him onto the bed again and tied him up with rope, stepping on his head. He told us to keep going, don’t stop even when he’s dead. Had any of us ever been in a situation like that before? We were scared to death, but we didn’t dare resist. We had to continue. On the twelfth or eleventh round, the sister suddenly screamed, saying that he was really dead. I went over and checked. He was indeed dead, but the person behind the curtain said, “Didn’t you hear me? Don’t stop even when he’s dead!”

The OuYang Sect Leader couldn’t help but comment, “After all, Jin GuangShan is his father by birth. If this is real… then this is too… too…”

Sisi: “When I saw that man die, I knew we were finished. We wouldn’t be able to escape either. As expected, when we were finished, my elderly sisters were all killed. There was no one left…”

Wei WuXian, “Then why were you the one who survived?”

Sisi: “I don’t know! At that time, I begged them many times. I said I didn’t want the money, and I definitely wouldn’t say anything. Who would have thought they actually didn’t kill me. They took me somewhere and locked me up there. I was there for eleven years. It wasn’t until recently that someone accidentally rescued me that I was finally able to escape.”

Wei WuXian, “Who saved you?”

Sisi, “I don’t know. I’ve never seen the person who saved me. But after my savior heard what happened to me, he decided not to let that pretentious and immoral man continue to fool the world. As great as he is now, my savior said that he would expose all his deeds and bring justice to all those he has hurt, allowing my poor sisters to rest in peace in the Underworld.”