Feng Wuran’s expression was icy as she fired off several questions in a row. Li Niang’s answers to each were evasive.
A flicker of anger passed through Feng Wuran’s eyes. Li Niang wasn’t unaware of the Demon Lord’s whereabouts; she was deliberately shielding him.
She decided to trade a secret with Li Niang. “I know who was responsible for persecuting the Maiden of Melody back then.”
“Just who are you!?” Li Niang’s breath hitched instantly, memories long buried rushing to the surface.
A thousand years ago, across the Nine Provinces, one could freely use teleportation arrays between regions as long as they had spirit stones.
It was an era of a hundred flowers blooming, a hundred schools of thought contending.
During that time, a small sect produced an extraordinary young woman proficient in music.
This maiden’s pipa playing was peerless, her melodies exquisite, earning her the title ‘Maiden of Melody’.
Many cultivators found their comprehension increasing after hearing her play, and the spiritual power within their bodies would circulate unconsciously.
Subsequently, cultivators from across the Nine Provinces nearly wore out the path to that small sect.
But just as some were willing to spend countless spirit stones for a single song, others sought to use force and authority to compel the Maiden to serve only them.
After the Maiden of Melody refused, rumors spread across the Nine Provinces.
Rumors claimed she possessed the rare Light and Ice elemental affinities, making her a perfect Cauldron physique.
Gradually, the Maiden of Melody became known as a ‘wanton woman’ in public discourse, and those who listened to her music were labeled as her ‘patrons’.
Unable to clear her name despite a hundred arguments, the Maiden of Melody left her sect. The moment she departed, her sect was brutally massacred.
From then on, the Maiden of Melody vanished without a trace.
Later, a major family in the Fire Spirit Province was annihilated. Every member died with blood flowing from their seven orifices, their meridians and spiritual roots shattered.
They hadn’t been killed by a powerful expert, but by music.
Someone found a pipa within that family’s compound—the very pipa the Maiden of Melody had used decades before.
People deduced it must have been the work of the Maiden of Melody.
After that, the Maiden of Melody disappeared completely, vanishing without a sound.
A bone-chilling hatred erupted in Li Niang’s eyes, as old, painful wounds were torn open raw.
She wondered: if she had willingly agreed to become that person’s Cauldron back then, would her master, senior brothers, and senior sisters have been spared?
All these years, every time she thought of her sect members, she was filled with self-blame. It was all her fault!
She hated those hypocritical cultivators, full of empty talk of benevolence and righteousness.
That’s why she founded the Informative Pavilion, specializing in investigating those filthy deeds.
“I am merely a disciple of a minor sect, that is all.” Feng Wuran’s eyes were like deep, cold pools. When she gazed around, she carried an aura of cool, lofty elegance.
She hadn’t come intentionally to reopen Li Niang’s old wounds.
But in the original work, Li Niang died at the hands of the Demon Lord.
Su Yanran had encountered Li Niang by chance, discovering that Li Niang possessed Ice and Light spiritual roots, and their purity was actually at the maximum level.
Su Yanran knew that refining a pill using maximum-purity spiritual roots could enhance one’s own root purity after consumption.
So, Su Yanran deliberately leaked this information to the Demon Lord.
The Demon Lord immediately destroyed the Informative Pavilion, dug out Li Niang’s spiritual roots, and gave them to Su Yanran.
He then performed a soul search on Li Niang, learning that she was the Maiden of Melody.
——————
The Demon Lord was a demon born from the essence of heaven and earth. He possessed no emotions.
He was born only for slaughter, tireless killing, and after killing, he took pleasure in reading the memories of the deceased.
The reason the Demon Lord was reborn in the Nine Provinces continent was because he had gone on a rampage in the demon realm, leading to his banishment by the joint efforts of the Ten Demon Emperors, forcing his rebirth.
After his rebirth, the Demon Lord treated human cultivators as toys.
Chong Lou, the Demon Lord, grew stronger continuously through the process of killing.
And the stronger the people he killed, the more pronounced his increase in power.
Chong Lou began his massacre, but he was clever. Before becoming powerful, he only killed people without prestige or influence, so he didn’t attract the attention of the cultivation world.
By the time everyone took notice, Chong Lou had already become so strong that no one could kill him.
In the book, to help Chong Lou regain his strength, Su Yanran orchestrated a scheme involving the entire Heavenly Sword Sect.
Su Yanran secretly opened the sect’s protective formation, allowing Chong Lou to break in and kill everyone who opposed her.
She then framed Feng Wuran for colluding with the demon race.
Chong Lou was merciless and cruel, reserving the only shred of kindness he possessed for Su Yanran.
Yet, how similar his fate was to Feng Wuran’s!
In the end, Chong Lou died by Su Yanran’s hand, becoming a tool for her to gain fame and establish her reputation.
But Feng Wuran felt not a shred of pity for Chong Lou.
Thinking of this, Feng Wuran glanced again at the words ‘whereabouts unknown’ on the jade slip, her delicate brows slightly furrowed. She wondered how far along Chong Lou and Su Yanran’s relationship was now?
“Who else was involved in killing the Maiden of Melody?” Li Niang had also recovered from her shock, her voice piercingly cold.
“I heard this from my master,” Feng Wuran said. “Back then, teleportation was free across the Nine Provinces. It’s said that a survivor escaped from the Qin family. That person holds a list recording everyone who persecuted the Maiden of Melody.” Feng Wuran didn’t know much; the original book only mentioned Li Niang in passing.
She remembered Li Niang’s story because her fate was so tragic, it made Feng Wuran’s heart ache for her.
“A survivor of the Qin family! Very good!” Li Niang’s enchanting eyes were red, cold energy radiating from her entire body.
Li Niang wished she could find the Qin descendant and obtain the list immediately, but she knew a thousand years had passed, and the free teleportation arrays between the major provinces had been closed.
Finding the Qin descendant would be extremely difficult relying solely on the Informative Pavilion’s resources.
Even getting to the Fire Spirit Province was a challenge in itself.
Feng Wuran narrowed her apricot-blossom eyes. “I have a way to send your people to the Fire Spirit Province. But you need to tell me the whereabouts of that young man.”
Li Niang’s captivating eyes grew deep. “I apologize. I violated the rules of the Informative Pavilion. I took your commission but failed to complete the task.”
“Why did you show mercy and let him go?” Feng Wuran wanted to hear Li Niang’s reason.
Li Niang took a deep breath. “When I first arrived at Chen Family Village, I discovered the young man was truly intellectually disabled. I saw him being bullied and humiliated by the village children, and even his parents would kick and beat him.”
“His life could be described as a living hell. I thought that if he weren’t disabled, he probably wouldn’t have been able to endure living.”
“Then one day, a group of children pushed him into a cesspit. I finally couldn’t stand it anymore and intervened, saving him. But from that day on, he changed.”
