Chapter 20: A Treasure Becomes a Crime

Qin Xuanxi caught a whiff of the wine drifting from the woman in the purple dress and said quietly to Song Ye, “That woman is drinking a celestial wine called ‘Spring Lee.’ It has a tremendous aftereffect—given her meager cultivation, she’ll probably sleep for a whole day and night before she wakes!”

Song Ye asked curiously, “Is this Spring Lee wine really so strong? If I drank it and got drunk, how long would I be asleep?”

Qin Xuanxi smiled gently. “For you, my little husband, this wine would be poison. You couldn’t handle it at all!”

Just then, the three disciples of the woman in purple hurried to her side. One of the female disciples bent quickly to lift her from the ground, calling “Master” several times into her ear, but the woman remained completely unresponsive.

“What are we going to do? Master’s in such a state—how are we supposed to go up to Xuanqing Palace now?” the female disciple muttered in distress.

Of the two male disciples, one was plump and the other slender. The plump disciple said, “With Master so drunk, we can’t possibly carry her up to Xuanqing Palace—otherwise, we’d bring disgrace upon our Moon-Gathering Sect, and Master would surely punish us harshly when she sobers up!”

The female disciple frowned deeply. “So what should we do right now?”

The plump disciple replied, “Huaiyin, don’t worry. This is easy enough to solve. We’ll rest somewhere nearby for the night. Tomorrow, when Master wakes, we’ll go up to Xuanqing Palace together. The ‘Five Sects Martial Tournament’ doesn’t start for another five days, so we have plenty of time and no need to rush.”

As he spoke, he patted his belly. “Besides, I’m hungry. There’s a tea stall just ahead—let’s stop there, rest a bit, and have the owner bring out something good to eat. Let’s enjoy a hearty meal!”

Chen Huaiyin shot him a glare. “Nongshan, all you ever think about is food. Just look at how big your stomach is, and still you want to eat more!”

Zhou Nongshan laughed heartily, patting his belly. “Being able to eat is a blessing!”

Chen Huaiyin turned her head toward the tall, lean male disciple, her tone suddenly much gentler. “Duan Ling, what do you think?”

Duan Ling replied coldly, “I have no opinion. Let’s just do as Nongshan says.”

With that, he looked toward the tea stall, his eyes narrowing. “Still, isn’t it odd that in a hundred miles of empty wilderness, there’s a tea stall open for business right here?”

His gaze swept over Song Ye and Qin Xuanxi, finally settling on Qin Xuanxi. Inwardly, he couldn’t help but be amazed—this woman in white was truly beautiful! The last time he’d seen such exquisite beauty was outside the Grand Void Palace, when he glimpsed the Saintess of that sacred place, and even then, he’d only been able to observe from dozens of yards away.

“How strange—truly strange,” Zhou Nongshan echoed, his eyes also drawn to Qin Xuanxi. “With the country in such chaos, how could there be such a lovely woman here at a time like this?”

Chen Huaiyin added, “There’s not a soul or even a beast for miles around, and yet this woman sits openly at the tea stall. She’s no ordinary girl from a common family. If you ask me, she must be from the demonic path. Don’t let her beauty ensnare you!”

Zhou Nongshan teased, “Huaiyin, just because she’s prettier than you, you accuse her of being a demonic witch? Perhaps she’s a celestial maiden from an immortal sect!”

Before Chen Huaiyin could retort, Duan Ling cut in, “What’s strange is that I can’t sense the slightest trace of cultivation from her. Either she’s a genuine mortal, or her powers are so profound that she can completely conceal her cultivation.”

Zhou Nongshan nodded thoughtfully. “Duan Ling’s analysis is sound, but I heard from Master that very few in the immortal or demonic realms can hide their cultivation so thoroughly. Figures of that caliber are almost never seen—she’s probably just a country girl who stayed behind because she couldn’t bear to leave her home. That young man beside her must be her brother.”

He sighed. “It’s just a beautiful woman—why are we so suspicious? It’s as if we’ve never seen the world.”

Duan Ling agreed. “If we’re curious about who they are, we can just go ask.”

“Exactly! Let’s go ask. Who knows, maybe there’s some delicious food waiting for us at that tea stall!” Zhou Nongshan immediately strode forward, with Duan Ling following. Chen Huaiyin, carrying her drunken master on her back, trailed behind more slowly.

Seeing four new guests approach—counting the unconscious one—the little tea stall suddenly felt lively to Song Ye.

“Boss, do you have anything to eat?” Zhou Nongshan asked.

Song Ye stood up. “We only have tea here, but there are two sesame cakes left in the kitchen out back.”

This answer was clearly disappointing to Zhou Nongshan, whose face fell.

Duan Ling walked over and said, “Just bring us three bowls of tea.”

He chose an empty table and sat, while Chen Huaiyin helped her master into a seat, letting her slump against the table, and took her own place beside Duan Ling.

Hearing there was nothing good to eat, Zhou Nongshan sat as if his spirit had left him, dejected.

Chen Huaiyin’s large eyes darted about, measuring up Qin Xuanxi. In the end, she couldn’t resist her curiosity and asked, “Miss, what is your relationship to the tea stall owner?”

Qin Xuanxi shifted her posture, a faint smile at her lips, idly playing with her teacup as though she hadn’t heard. In truth, she didn’t consider Chen Huaiyin worthy of conversation—not just anyone could exchange words with the Demon Sovereign of the Profound Abyss.

Seeing Qin Xuanxi deliberately ignore her, Chen Huaiyin felt slighted, thinking, “How rude! Just because she’s beautiful, she acts so high and mighty. Hmph!”

At that moment, Song Ye emerged from behind the counter with three teacups and a teapot, answering in Qin Xuanxi’s place, “She’s my betrothed, though we haven’t married yet.”

Both Zhou Nongshan and Duan Ling were surprised—a beauty like that engaged to an ordinary tea stall boy? Was it perhaps an arranged marriage from childhood?

Despite their surprise, they couldn’t help but feel envious. But Duan Ling didn’t believe that a humble tea stall owner could keep such a peerless beauty by his side. In times of chaos, in a world where the strong rule, the best women are always claimed by the strong. He suspected that the tea stall boy and his stunning fiancée would not have a happy ending—in fact, she might even bring disaster upon him, the age-old fate of men destroyed by the treasures they possess.