readsfreenovel Chapter 61 Planning
Chapter 61 Planning
"My lord, this young lady from the Ning family has truly extraordinary abilities! She can actually examine a corpse and even determine what kind of demon was responsible from the traces on it. This is an unprecedented ability of a Celestial Master! I heard that last time in Panhou Mountain City, she even retraced the entire incident involving Lord Di An, which truly impressed the Celestial Masters!"
Di Jie glanced at the strategist, then turned his head and said, "Are the officials under Lord Tianji not subjects for you and me to discuss?"
The strategist's expression turned serious. "It was my slip of the tongue."
Di Jie turned and walked back to the main room, saying as he went, "That young man Ziqing has already cultivated to the third level of the intermediate stage at such a young age. He is a promising young man. We still need talented people here."
"What you say is true, sir. That young man is also very composed in his dealings with others. I heard that he studied under a great master in the capital. Such a young man, who is skilled in both literature and martial arts, is exactly the kind of talent our garrison needs." Shi Dianli thought about the information he had found after making notes earlier. The Ning family may seem small in number, but they should not be underestimated!
"In this incident, their maternal family is the aggrieved party, and the siblings just provided us with important information by examining the corpses. As a provider of important intelligence, after we wipe out those demons, it will naturally be you, sir, to recommend him for merit, and then we can apply for his pardon." Chief Secretary Fang's voice was very soft, as if he had only thought of this and then stopped there.
He stopped the live stream and ignored the little paws waving in front of him.
Ning Xiaoxi glanced at Ning Ziqing, who was walking beside her, and said, "The number of those corpses is wrong."
"Yes, according to what we've heard, the first time it was an officer with two guards, and the second time it was a river officer with men. Although we don't know how many men he brought, there were at least two officers. Today, we only found the body of one officer."
Ning Xiaoxi sensed her brother's keenness and asked, "Brother, do you want to make contributions as soon as possible and gain a place in the Celestial Master Pavilion?"
Why did Xiaoxi ask that?
“This matter might be an opportunity. Although my brother has already been named in the Celestial Master Pavilion, he has neither the opportunity to study at the Lingyuan Dao Academy and find a master, nor does he have a strong family background to pave the way for him. Now we siblings can only rely on our abilities to gain recognition. That means we need to earn some merit from time to time, get to know more Celestial Masters, and build our network of connections. Of course, the most important thing is that we need to continuously improve our strength so that we can truly put our parents and maternal family at ease.”
What are your plans, little sister?
"First, we need to accumulate enough merit to clear my brother's name. Then, we need to find an opportunity to learn about the Lingyuan Academy. Ideally, my brother can start studying there as soon as possible." Ning Xiaoxi stroked the jade cabbage in her hand. After being nurtured by the Spirit Crystal Heart for some time, although the crack in the middle was still there, its color had gradually become warm and lustrous. "We still know too little about the Celestial Master system. We should pay more attention to it when we have the chance." As she spoke, Ning Xiaoxi's voice faded.
Tuanzi had already pounced on Ning Xiaoxi's face, and Ning Xiaoxi finally opened her eyes to look at it.
[Tuanzi, are you sure I turned off that Fuwa doll?]
"Xiaoxi, how could you doubt me! You shut me down without hesitation, no exceptions." Tuanzi complained. "Well, Lord Dijie and the others also want your brother to gain merit. This isn't a perk, it's a benefit they want to give you."
That's quite a coincidence.
【What's the meaning?】
Of all those caravans, they pinpointed my maternal family's location precisely, and the timing coincided with our passing through Muyun Mountain City. It felt like they were testing us.
[Testing? Testing what?]
"Of course, I'm testing whether you've found another owner, you silly goose." Ning Xiaoxi thought to herself, without speaking to Tuanzi. She had discovered this by chance: as long as she didn't want Tuanzi to sense her thoughts, she could block its perception.
Tuanzi blinked her small, dark eyes, staring directly at Ning Xiaoxi. [Xiaoxi, I think you're subtly criticizing me.]
【No, you're overthinking it.】 Ning Xiaoxi didn't want to talk to this idiot. She had felt something was off ever since Chang Qing was sent by Tianwei to escort their exiled group. Who said that reincarnation would necessarily mean no memory? Besides, they didn't even know if that guy was a reincarnation! The previous comments were just their guesses.
“Xiaoxi, I just thought about it. Although our family is the aggrieved party, I am a criminal. Tomorrow morning... oh, no, I have to join the exile team at dawn. I won’t have the chance to participate in the battle to exterminate the demons. I’m afraid I can’t this time.”
"Brother, don't worry, there's still room for maneuver. Let's go back to the shop first, so that Father and Mother won't worry."
As the brother and sister stepped into Mingji, Ning Shi and Ming Luoying quickly came to greet them, "Are you alright?"
"It's nothing." Ning Xiaoxi took Ming Luoying's arm. "It's about the Celestial Master Pavilion's headquarters. The officials and guards who went out to investigate have returned. They've confirmed that there are demons causing trouble outside the city. Lord Dijie is preparing to arrange for their encirclement and suppression. It's nothing for us, so we came back."
“Uncle, you can go to the City Lord’s Mansion today to report the losses of this caravan. The City Lord’s Mansion will provide compensation.” Ning Xiaoxi looked up and said to Ming Shoucheng, who walked out nervously.
"Compensation?" Ming Shoucheng was stunned. "Compensation? This has never happened before!" Ming Shoucheng muttered to himself, looking at Ning Xiaoxi and then at Ning Ziqing. Suddenly, he understood something.
"It's good that you're alright." Ming Luoying held her little girl's hand and found that it was still warm. "Let them worry about your uncle's matter. Come and eat."
"What delicious food did Mother make?"
"I had the cook steam shepherd's purse buns early this morning, and also cooked sorghum porridge. The cook here is quite skilled; she even made some side dishes that are crisp and refreshing." Ming Luoying said as she pulled Ning Xiaoxi to the dining room in the back.
"Ziqing?" Ning Shi looked at his daughter's back with concern.
"Father, it's alright, don't worry." Knowing that his little sister didn't want their parents to know about the Celestial Master's tragic fate, he had been circulating his spiritual energy ever since he left the Celestial Master's Pavilion today. Although he could only absorb a small amount of spiritual energy, it was better than nothing, and it would accumulate over time.
This was also the method her younger sister taught her: circulating spiritual energy anytime, anywhere. This not only allows her to absorb spiritual energy but also strengthens her control over it. Eventually, it can form an automatic cycle, absorbing spiritual energy without conscious effort. Lacking the opportunity for systematic training, they could only rely on their own exploration and hard work—no, he relied on his sister to cultivate!
After finishing his meal and tidying up, it was already dawn. Changqing stepped into the courtyard in the morning light.
Ning Shi and Ming Luoying wanted to go outside to see the tidied-up carriage, but Chang Qing stopped them.
"Xiao Xi, Lord Di Jie has arranged for us to hunt down demons today. Since it happens to be on the route of the exiles, he has asked us to set off a day later and wait for them to clear the area before we leave," Chang Qing said frankly.
“With Lord Dijie making the plans, they must be very thorough.” Ning Xiaoxi seemed very happy. “Then Brother Chang, you can wait with us in the shop.”
"I need to get to the post station to pick up the prisoners. Chief Wu should also be reporting to Bingzhou Prefecture by now. You can rest in the city today. If there are no other notices from the post station, just go to the post station early tomorrow morning to catch up with the group."
"Thank you very much, Brother Chang."
Watching Chang Qing's departing figure, Ning Xiaoxi grabbed Ning Ziqing, "Brother, there's some news you need to quickly send to the garrison and give it to the clerk. The weaknesses of that Nether Mist Sable are: it likes sweets, lacks stamina, has weak magical defense, and can be killed by high-intensity, continuous magical attacks."