I imitate others' cultivation, and I will never reason with you.

Chapter 168: Meeting Cui Yurong Again

Her voice was very weak, but it was like a moon breaking through the clouds in Ruan Xing's mind, and she thought of someone.

It was so long ago that she couldn't even remember the name and could only search for it in her long and complicated memory.

Cui Yurong.

A complicated look flashed in Ruan Xing's eyes.

A Jindan cultivator beside the master seemed to be the main contributor to the capture of Cui Yurong. He suggested, "Master, it is not a good idea to continue like this. I caught her in the mass grave outside Huaining City. I believe she must have been from Huaining before she became a ghost cultivator. Why not call some of the disciples who have entered the inner sect in recent years to come over and identify her. Do you know her?"

Another cultivator said, "That's a good idea. The last batch of disciples who started as disciples were three years ago, and now they are almost all in the foundation-building stage. It's a good opportunity for them to all be here, so let's call them over to take a look."

The old man with the whisk had a calm expression on his face and spoke softly, "Sun Xian, go ahead. You brought these people from the Xumi Realm with you, so you shouldn't leave any of them out. Bring along the extras from the outer sect as well."

"Yes."

From the dark corner, a somewhat familiar figure emerged.

Ruan Xing couldn't help but clench his hands into fists in his sleeves.

This was the imperial teacher who had crushed her like an ant.

At this moment, he bowed his head respectfully and humbly, obeyed the orders of the old man with the whisk, and hurried out of the dungeon.

After a while, dozens of people were brought in, with inner disciples in front and outer disciples behind, all with uneasy looks on their faces.

The dungeon suddenly seemed much more crowded, but no one dared to go past the sky curtain beside the master and in the middle of the circle.

"Are they all here?" asked the old man with the whisk.

Sun Xian nodded, "Except for a few mortal servants without spirit bones from the outer sect who went down the mountain, the rest are all here."

Liuyang Study does not forbid mortals without spiritual bones to leave the sect. Anyway, they are restricted by the restrictions of the Sumeru Realm and cannot practice cultivation themselves. A person will probably not survive long in the world of immortal cultivation. Staying will be of no use to the sect and will also waste food and space.

Although these people are needed now, there is no requirement to gather them all together at this time. After all, it has been three years. Those who chose to go down the mountain at that time may have already run away to who knows where, or have died.

"Well, then come over and recognize each other." The old man with the whisk waved his hand and removed the sky curtain covering the woman in black.

With the light of the eternal lamp, I could make out the pale face through the messy hair.

Cai Wen stood in the corner of the first row with his head lowered. According to the timeline of the last simulation, he should have met Ruan Xing in the town now, but Ruan Xing did not contact him this time. He was confused and did not understand what was going on.

However, since the host and the elders asked him to identify the woman, Cai Wen did his best to look at her carefully.

There seemed to be something familiar between her eyebrows...but he could hardly recognize her. Cai Wen began to wonder if he had ever seen such a young woman in the Xumi Realm?
He has hardly left the house since his daughter was lost. After bringing his daughter back to the capital, he has only been to the palace twice and has rarely gone out. Where did he meet this man?

"I remember now!" A servant from the inner gate suddenly clapped his hands and shouted, "This person... This person is the daughter of a merchant in Huaining City. She once inquired about the donation of silver at the master's house. It seems that her surname is Cui!"

"Okay, reward!" said the old man with the whisk.

Sun Xian immediately took out ten low-grade spirit stones from his storage bag and gave them to the inner sect servant. An expression of ecstasy appeared on the man's face, but he racked his brains but could not remember any more information.

Then an idea came to mind, "Our master might know."

Cai Wen's heart sank, and everyone looked over in the direction the servant was looking.

This servant... was originally brought here by him to take care of Cai Jiao, but after Cai Jiao went down the mountain, he dismissed all the servants.

No matter how turbulent his heart was, Cai Wen took another careful look at the woman's appearance and shook his head, saying, "Please forgive me, Elder. I really don't remember this person. When I first got the place to practice Taoism in the National Master's Palace, countless people came to me to donate money. Since I have no impression of her, I probably didn't accept her money."

Cai Wen's teacher was standing behind the old man with the whisk and smiled faintly, "Really? Your servant remembers, but you don't?"

Cai Wen had no choice but to lower his head, complaining in his heart.

He really doesn't remember!
In order to gain the trust of the sect and get access to more affairs and information, he worked hard. How could he possibly hide anything except the matters concerning Ruan Xing and Nannan?

He was only worried that this incident would affect the teacher's mood and prevent him from helping to deal with affairs.

But he was soon liberated.

Because of the huge reward, another inner door servant revealed a little information, "If it is a merchant, there is a family surnamed Cui among the several royal merchants in Xumi Realm."

With just these words, he accepted the elder's reward and was immediately overjoyed.

Cai Wen also put his heart at ease and breathed a sigh of relief.

His teacher looked at him with some dissatisfaction and said nothing more.

The old man with the whisk said: "This information is enough, Sun Xian, you and..."

He looked at the people standing around him and continued, "You and Chen Donghao go into the Xumi Realm together to investigate the origins of this woman, especially who she has had close contact with in recent years. Maybe you can find a breakthrough to the person who spied on the National Master's Palace."

The monk who led Ruan Xing and the other two into the dungeon immediately bowed with Sun Xian and said, "Disciple obeys your order."

A group of people left the dungeon with a clatter. Ruan Xing lagged behind. She was thinking about something. Could she find a chance to avoid others and talk to Cui Yurong? Maybe there was something she could use...

"Brother, Brother!" The monk beside her touched her shoulder, bringing her back to her senses. "Aren't we going to report to the host? The host has left."

Yes.

She had totally forgotten about it.

He quickly quickened his pace to catch up with the master who had already left the dungeon.

"Junior Brother Li, Junior Brother Li..."

A voice like calling souls came from behind. Ruan Xing stopped and looked at the monk in Confucian robes beside him, "Is he calling you?"

Because the two of them walked a step slower, there were only one monk guarding Cui Yurong and the two of them left in the dungeon.

The monk in Confucian robes looked puzzled. "Brother, are you still in the mood to joke around? My last name is not Li. Anyway, the host has already left. Brother Cheng might want to talk to you about something. Why don't you talk to Brother Cheng first? I'll wait for you upstairs."

Ruan Xing felt numb all over.

So, the one with the last name Li is her! ?

Just now, Chen Donghao called her Jinfu to show intimacy and omitted her surname?

Shit! She was almost in a cold sweat.

Fortunately, neither of them had any suspicion about her abnormal behavior. Cheng Zijue was the one who caught Cui Yurong in Xumi Realm this morning, and he looked a little uneasy at this moment.

Ruan Xing asked the monk in Confucian robes to wait for her outside the dungeon, then turned to Cheng Zijue and said, "I'm just in a hurry to report to the host. What do you want me to do?"

This man's cultivation level was the same as the identity she was currently using. She wasn't sure whether to call him senior brother or junior brother, so she simply ignored the idea.

Anyway, seeing that he is distracted, he probably won't notice it.

Cheng Zijue sighed, "I'm just nervous and want to discuss it with you."

It seems that Li Jinfu is quite popular in Liuyang Study. Less than half a day after entering the mountain gate, two of his good friends appeared.

Fortunately, I did not choose the Confucian monk when choosing the disguise object, otherwise I would have missed a lot of information along the way.

Ruan Xing pretended to listen attentively, "Tell me what's the problem, and I'll help you think of a solution."

"Actually... just now when the host was interrogating the ghost cultivator, I suddenly remembered something, but I didn't dare to say it because there were so many people around." Cheng Zijue's wrinkled face twisted together, and two tufts of white hair hung down. "The night before last, I accidentally revealed my magic in front of a mortal in Xumi Realm. I wanted to kill him to prevent some rumors from spreading in Xumi Realm. I didn't expect that he had a successful career and seemed to have good spiritual bone aptitude, so I didn't do it."

"Who knew that the mortal was not only not afraid of me, but also wanted me to take him with me to cultivate immortality. At that time, I was worried about the mission and couldn't kill him, so I could only tell him that I couldn't cultivate immortality before I was in the mortal world. He even asked me very seriously if I could be free from the mortal world by severing my family ties."

"Two days later, I found this fallen ghost cultivator in a mass grave. She was pregnant..."

Ruan Xing immediately understood that Cui Yurong did not listen to her advice and went back to her old path.

She sighed imperceptibly, "So you think this woman is the wife of the mortal you met?"

"I have some guesses, but I'm not sure." Cheng Zijue said with a frown, "If this is true, the birth of this ghost cultivator is closely related to me, and she has become as powerful as a golden elixir in less than two days. How can the master of the temple forgive me?"

"Junior Brother Li, can you help me think about this? If we don't report this to the master, can we get away with it? If we do, how can we minimize the punishment? You were the best at this when you were in the Xumi Realm. How can I, a scholar in the inner cabinet, understand this?"

Ruan Xing thought about it and said with some embarrassment: "This... it will definitely not work if I don't report it. When Sun Xian and his men come back after investigating, you will definitely not be able to hide this matter. But how to punish you is still a matter of a word from the host. I think you should make up for your crime and make meritorious contributions."

"How can I accomplish my mission? The abbot ordered me to guard this ghost cultivator, and I can't get out." Cheng Zijue sighed.

Ruan Xing whispered, "You can start with this ghost cultivator. Wasn't she tortured by the heavenly fire for a long time without making a sound? Since she is a tough nut to crack, you should be gentle with her. She must have suffered a lot in her life to be able to fall into evil. You can pretend to be a kind old man and try to coax her as if she were your granddaughter."

"This... I spent a lot of effort to capture her. It's too late to coax her now. After beating her like this, how can she not resent me in her heart?" Cheng Zijue hesitated.

"Is that so?" Ruan Xing reluctantly said, "How about I do it?"

Cheng Zijue still couldn't believe it, "Will it work?"

Ruan Xing spread his hands, "Just give it a try. It's just a matter of a few words. If it doesn't work, you won't lose anything. If it works, won't you make up for your sins?"

"Okay, then I'll leave it to you, Junior Brother. I owe you a favor." Cheng Zijue patted her shoulder and said with emotion, "Then I'll go up and avoid her first, lest she sees me and gets even more resentful."

After saying that, Cheng Zijue also went up.

Ruan Xing sighed, turned around and went back to the cell.

Although the skylight had been removed, Cui Yurong was still lying there motionless as if dead, just like when she first arrived, with no change in her movements at all.

Ruan Xing walked over, squatted down, and shook the god-binding rope made of meteorite iron on her body, which made a rattling sound.

The sound attracted Cui Yurong's attention and her eyes slowly turned.

This Liuyang Study was really a blessing in disguise. Cui Yurong was brought down by her own evil deeds, and her ghost body could leave her corpse and move around at any time, but it would consume more Yin energy.

Once she put on the chain that could bind her soul, her spirit would not be able to escape without permission.

"To make a long story short, Cui Yurong, do you want revenge?" Ruan Xing asked in a low voice.

Cui Yurong stopped moving her lips and looked at Ruan Xing silently without saying a word.

It seems that they can still communicate. Ruan Xingzhen is worried that she will lose her mind because of her obsession and resentment.

After thinking for a while, Ruan Xing quietly wiped his face and just changed his appearance to show Cui Yurong.

Cui Yurong's expression suddenly changed. A touch of emotion flashed across her eyes, and she said in a hoarse voice, "Benefactor..."

"Hush." ​​Ruan Xing raised his index finger to his lips, "Tell me what's going on."

Cui Yurong's face was full of regret, and she choked up and said, "Miss Ruan, it's not that I didn't listen to you, but my father felt that there was no one to support him in the court, and wanted to support one of his own to be an official, so he let me marry a scholar, and then used my Cui family's wealth to invite famous teachers for him and bribe his superiors. After he passed the imperial examination, he found him a real position and made him the prime minister's favorite teacher. I thought that the Cui family would have a backer from then on, but I didn't expect that in less than a year, his true colors would be exposed..."

"Your Majesty asked him to manage the Tongzhengsi, which left many problems. He then used the Cui family to fill the hole, which made my father so angry that he fell ill and died a few days later. I knelt down and begged him when I was pregnant, but he threatened my brother and sister-in-law's life... Your Majesty was satisfied with his clean handling of the Tongzhengsi, so he promoted him. He was afraid that I would go out and say something that would affect his reputation, so he kept me at home and asked me to have a baby.

But not long after, he suddenly came to my room with a sword, cut open my stomach, and crushed the already formed fetus to death. I begged him to kill me, but just let my sister-in-law go. But he told me that in order to avoid future troubles, a fire broke out in the Cui family's old house, and my sister-in-law died tragically in it..."

Her dry eyes could not shed tears, but her expression seemed to be both crying and laughing.

"It was only then that I realized that he had always hated me. He hated the Cui family for treating him as a tool and for manipulating their plans at will. He hated me for taking advantage of my support to make him humble. But back then, when my father took a fancy to him, he took the initiative to ask for marriage, saying that he fell in love with me at first sight. It was obvious that he was willing... No one forced him..."

Ruan Xing listened patiently, but had no intention of comforting her. She asked, "What happened next?"

Cui Yurong regained her composure and said, "When I was dying, I suddenly remembered the book you asked me to memorize, and I kept reciting it in my mind. Somehow, after being thrown into the mass grave, I suddenly became able to move. At that time, I was filled with hatred and wanted to go back to avenge my family, but on the way back to the city, I met the expert just now. I couldn't beat him, so I was captured here."

"Do you want revenge?"

Cui Yurong said excitedly: "Of course I want to! I want to tear your skin and bones apart, eat your flesh and drink your blood! I want to kill everyone who has harmed my family, even Your Majesty!"

Her dark blue eyes were filled with malicious resentment, and the negative energy in her body began to run wildly but was restrained by the God Binding Rope.

With the lesson of Cui Yurong, Ruan Xing finally understood that the bug-like characteristic of ghosts was not omnipotent. It was only effective against low-level cultivators. It was still powerless against high-level cultivators with means.

Fortunately, she has not considered using puppets to deal with Huashen Daojun for the time being.

She whispered to Cui Yurong, "Then just listen to me and I will let you go back for revenge."

"I believe in my benefactor. I have no way of repaying his kindness to me. After I have taken my revenge, I will serve him like a slave and do whatever he wants!"

"Okay." Ruan Xing nodded slightly. "First of all, I need to know how much of the content in that book you have mastered?"

Cui Yurong thought for a moment and said, "When I was in the mass grave, I was only thinking about revenge. Those mysterious and bizarre spells automatically appeared in my mind, but they were all destructive and lethal spells. One of them was the Netherworld Ghost Fire. If I had mastered this, the damage caused to me by the sky fire just now was just painful, but did not cause any damage. There is also corpse poison, and the Yin Qi attaches to the bones and devours the soul..."

After listening, Ruan Xing already had a general idea in his mind.

She knew that once the Netherworld Ghost Fire was contaminated by a soul, it could not be extinguished. The only drawback was that Cui Yurong's Yin energy was enough to contaminate the souls of several people.

(End of this chapter)