Chapter Thirty-One: Wherever You Go, There Are Human Complications

Her voice was crisp and melodious, akin to pearls of jade falling onto a platter—a sound of exquisite beauty.

Su Yi hurriedly adopted a look of flattered surprise. "Thank you for your concern, Senior Sister. I am doing quite well here."

Zi Ling’s arrival had drawn many eyes. Seeing her head straight for Su Yi, many turned to look with curiosity, particularly the male disciples, whose gazes toward Su Yi were filled with uncontrollable envy.

"As long as you are happy." Zi Ling nodded, a faint smile gracing her lips.

Her expression then turned solemn as she cast her gaze toward the nearby spirit herb field, speaking in a grave tone. "I know that both you and Xu Ze were framed. Although the outcome was ultimately favorable—the innocent were cleared, and those treacherous, scheming individuals did not succeed—such an incident remains a scandal for the sect."

"Therefore, once the Law Enforcement Pavilion uncovered the truth, they chose to cut the knot quickly, holding only the specific individuals responsible rather than implicating too many."

Su Yi paused, confused. "How so?"

Zi Ling sighed and said slowly, "The menial disciple He Jia entered the medicine garden without permission to steal spirit herbs; he has been stripped of his cultivation and expelled from the sect."

"The newly admitted menial disciple, Luo Xiaojia, deliberately placed the stolen herbs in Xu Ze’s room with malicious intent to frame a fellow disciple. Given that she has not yet stepped into the Qi Condensation stage and cannot be considered a cultivator, she was spared the punishment of having her cultivation destroyed. Instead, all her memories of the sect were wiped, and she was expelled."

"As for the primary culprit, Zhao Zijing, he confessed to his crimes, showed a good attitude, and had several inner sect elders intercede on his behalf. He has been ordered to compensate the victims with one thousand spirit stones and is sentenced to one year of hard labor at the Spirit Beast Hall. His monthly allowance is suspended during this period, and his future conduct will be monitored."

Upon hearing this, Su Yi was stunned, then couldn't help but inwardly lament.

Good grief! It really is impossible to escape the influence of human connections. The mastermind with powerful backers is merely given a slap on the wrist—a few spirit stones and he can continue as a disciple; the so-called punishment was all thunder and no rain. Meanwhile, the accomplice without backing is struck down completely, expelled from the sect without any room for appeal.

Zhao Zijing comes from a prominent family with plenty of spirit stones; what is a mere thousand to him? As for the year of hard labor at the Spirit Beast Hall, that is even more absurd. He was already out of favor with Elder Mo of the outer sect and was practically being sent there anyway. It was work he was already expected to do; how does it suddenly become a punishment?

In short, for all intents and purposes, he wasn't punished at all.

Truly, human connections and worldly affairs are the same everywhere.

Seeing Su Yi’s peculiar expression, Zi Ling mistook it for dissatisfaction with the verdict. A hint of apology appeared on her face as she softly explained, "Junior Brother Zhang, Zhao Zijing possesses a rare dual-element spirit root. Many inner sect elders hold high hopes for him, which is why they showed leniency, hoping to give him a chance to turn over a new leaf."

"Of course, if there is a next time, I will not let Zhao Zijing off, even if it means offending those elders."

Su Yi was somewhat surprised. He had not expected Zi Ling to make such a promise to him. Coming to his senses, he smiled and shook his head. "Senior Sister, you misunderstand. I have no objections to the sect's decision. The sect has its own methods of conduct, and if they acted this way, it must be reasonable. You need not promise me anything."

He truly did not care; all of this was within his expectations. Besides, who was Zhao Zijing to catch his eye? If not for his current mission, he wouldn't even bother looking at such a small fry. In terms of strength, a single breath from Su Yi could kill him a dozen times over; in terms of schemes, a fledgling like Zhao Zijing, who hadn't even learned to fly properly, wasn't even fit to carry his shoes.

Keeping him around was merely to avoid disrupting the progress of the mission and the growth of Xu Ze. If he were to eliminate him and Xu Ze no longer faced crises, the boy might grow crooked, and what would he do without his mission? He actually hoped Zhao Zijing would be foolish enough to continue causing trouble for Xu Ze—the more, the better. That way, he might even be able to farm a few side quests.

Of course, if Zhao Zijing were truly stupid enough to keep jumping in front of him like a buzzing fly, Su Yi wouldn't mind swatting him dead just to stop the nuisance.

Observing Su Yi’s eyes and seeing that he didn't seem to be feigning indifference, Zi Ling breathed a sigh of relief, smiled brightly, and changed the subject.

"By the way, regarding the theft at the cave dwelling of the Array Spirit Senior, I have confirmed that it was not the work of anyone within our sect."

"The key to the core of the sect’s grand array is kept deep within the Treasure Pavilion, protected by restrictions personally placed by our founder. No one has touched it for a thousand years."

"Without the key, entering the array’s core is no easy feat. It requires not only an extremely high level of cultivation but also profound mastery of arrays. If the Xianxia Sect truly possessed such a person, our sect would not have declined to this state."

Su Yi nodded, inwardly agreeing with Zi Ling’s analysis. Although his own mastery of arrays wasn't high, he understood the basics. For an ordinary cultivator, reaching the core of a sect’s grand array without breaking the formation was truly impossible. And a master of arrays capable of such a feat would hardly care for those meager spoils...

The two chatted for a while about the theft, but without any leads, Zi Ling rubbed her aching temples. "In any case, I will do everything in my power to root this person out. This individual caused us to be unfairly accused by the Array Spirit Senior for so many years; it is unforgivable."

Su Yi agreed deeply.

Zi Ling felt a bit better and forced a smile. "Enough of that for now. The main reason I came today is to take a look at Junior Sister Zhen. You haven't met her yet, have you? Follow me, and I will introduce you."

"Junior Sister Zhen is the inner sect disciple responsible for guarding this herb field. Since you are working here, you will inevitably have to deal with her. If you encounter any difficulties in the field in the future, you can seek her out."

Watching Zi Ling’s thoughtful demeanor, Su Yi felt a bit bewildered. A female cultivator as gifted and beautiful as Zi Ling could be described as a perfect template for a Daoist partner; in the world of cultivation, one could only imagine how many "sycophants" like Wen Qingyun she would attract.

His current identity was merely a lowly menial disciple with the most mediocre of aptitudes, and with the plain, unremarkable face he was currently wearing, he couldn't find a single reason for her to favor him. Although he was confident in his own charm, he was not blindly so, and he couldn't fathom why Zi Ling was being so special toward him.

Ah! It seems my charm is simply too great; I have underestimated myself. Natural charisma, even when hidden, cannot be completely concealed. It seems that when a young man is out and about, he must learn to protect himself and not be too flashy...

Zi Ling, of course, was unaware of Su Yi’s wandering thoughts. She led him through the herb garden to a lush bamboo grove.

"Junior Sister Zhen's main duty is to prevent spirit beasts from the back mountains from being attracted by the scent of the spirit herbs and breaking into the garden to cause trouble. Therefore, her residence is located on the outskirts of the garden, toward the junction of the back mountains, quite a distance from the fields."