8 The Alliance (Part I)

"Another little girl." These young boys approached with malicious intent. "Quick! Hand over the sect rules and storage bag in your hands!"

Yao Qian sized up the three boys. Their clothes were brand new, but their shaved heads, gaunt frames, and slightly yellowed teeth made it clear that their backgrounds before arriving at the Wuji Sect were likely not very good. They had probably been abducted from a mortal city.

It made sense; those with some family standing wouldn't rashly make a move at a time like this. Yao Qian tucked the sect rules into her storage bag and quickened her pace, hoping to leave. She still remembered that the rules explicitly stated that infighting among fellow disciples was forbidden.

She didn't know how the Wuji Sect defined "infighting." Did it mean no brawling, or no killing? Until the situation was clear, Yao Qian didn't want to make a move; the nail that sticks out gets hammered down.

Seeing that Yao Qian was about to leave, the three boys grew anxious. They had emerged from the secret chambers half a month earlier than her, back when there weren't many people around. They had convinced themselves they were peerless geniuses who would surely be valued by the sect, only to have the mysterious person in black robes in the cave toss them a storage bag and tell them to get lost.

The clothes they wore were also found in those bags; they were supposedly standard sect attire given to all male disciples. The three of them, clueless, had taken their bags and left.

At first, they hadn't wanted to rob anyone; they just wanted to cultivate in peace. But after sleeping in an empty building, they woke up to find their storage bags gone—even the storage gourds they were given before entering the secret chamber had vanished!

The three were stunned. Without their fasting pills, what would they eat? There were small animals on Liuxia Peak, but those creatures had lived around humans so long they were as cunning as ghosts. Since the three of them had only just begun to cultivate, how could they possibly catch them?

After thinking it over, they figured that if others could steal their bags, they could steal from everyone else. That was why they launched this attack. It wasn't their first time ambushing someone, either; they had already targeted five others before this.

The first was a boy who fought back, and they ended up being robbed themselves. After that, they learned their lesson and started targeting only little girls. They had successfully robbed two, two had escaped, and Yao Qian was the sixth. They were getting quite experienced at their ambushes.

The leader growled, "Hand over the storage bag quickly! Or we'll beat you to death!"

Yao Qian frowned. "Do you know that the Wuji Sect forbids disciples from harming one another? Fighting is punishable!"

They burst into laughter. "We've fought so many people these past few days and haven't seen anyone come to punish us! You can fool others, little girl, but don't try to fool us!"

Yao Qian appeared thoughtful. "So, fighting is allowed?"

The three were taken aback. Yao Qian offered a faint smile. With a flicker of her body, she kicked one of them away, grabbed the second by her side, and with a simple pull and shove, had him pinned under her foot. She then turned her gaze toward the third.

The boy stared at her, dumbfounded. After a long silence, he suddenly let out a wail: "Don't hit me!" and scrambled away as fast as he could.

Yao Qian let out a huff and barked at the two on the ground, "Get lost!"

The two on the ground scrambled away in a panic.

Once they were gone, Yao Qian looked toward the depths of the woods and called out tentatively, "Xiu'er?"

Jin Xiu'er stepped out gracefully. "I figured you didn't need my help." She had only arrived while Yao Qian was dealing with the boys, and since it was already over, she hadn't revealed herself immediately. "You should have taken their storage bags," she said with a hint of regret. Had she known Yao Qian wouldn't take them, she would have come out sooner; she just didn't want to share her own spoils.

Yao Qian was startled, suddenly feeling as though a new world had opened up to her. So that was how it worked. "But weren't these three trying to rob others?"

Jin Xiu'er explained, "Most of the disciples recruited this time come from mortal cities. These few have a bit of a reputation among the disciples; they worked in escort agencies before coming to the Wuji Sect, so they know a few tricks of the trade."

Of course, these so-called martial arts were worthless compared to true cultivation. Both Yao Qian and Jin Xiu'er had been sent to the sect only after establishing a solid foundation at home. In a cultivation sect, they were merely low-level Taoist acolytes, but in the mortal world, they would be considered top-tier experts.

Jin Xiu'er asked with concern, "Have you found a suitable place to stay?" They were both alone and helpless in the Wuji Sect, so they had to look out for each other. Jin Xiu'er had successfully guided Qi into her body half a month after being locked in the secret chamber, making her one of the first disciples to emerge.

The Wuji Sect encouraged competition among disciples. As someone who emerged early, her rewards were much more generous than those of someone like Yao Qian who came out later. Using the sect's rewards, she had quickly secured a quiet spot on Liuxia Peak.

She had expected Yao Qian to emerge around the same time as her, but she hadn't expected her to be so late. She had gone to the area near the cave almost every day for over a month, finally waiting long enough to see her come out.

Jin Xiu'er was puzzled. Logically, those sent to the sect by their families should be the elite, and their elders would have certainly explained in detail how to guide Qi into the body. Why had she taken so long? Of course, these were personal matters, and Jin Xiu'er didn't want to pry too deeply.

Yao Qian replied, "I just came out and only just finished reading the sect rules."

Jin Xiu'er said, "Come to my place first, and I'll tell you about the situation here slowly."

Yao Qian had been worrying about finding someone to fill her in. "Alright."

Throughout the journey, Jin Xiu'er was extremely cautious. If she sensed anyone from afar, she would lead Yao Qian to avoid them early. "These people are no good. They rob anyone they see, and they don't even cultivate themselves—they just stop others from doing so. It's so annoying."

Whenever Jin Xiu'er mentioned them, her mood grew irritable. Before Yao Qian emerged, she had been on her own. She avoided them not out of fear, but because she didn't want them to disturb her cultivation. They could take turns harassing her, but she was only one person.

To make matters worse, the sect rules forbade killing. Wasn't that just protecting these shameless wretches? Jin Xiu'er grumbled, "Once we're allowed to leave the sect, just wait until I bite them all to death!"

After hearing Jin Xiu'er's account, Yao Qian had a rough idea. "So, as long as we don't take a life, the sect doesn't care what we do?"

Jin Xiu'er led Yao Qian to her cave dwelling—an old site with clear marks of time on the stone door. She pushed it open and said, "Exactly. As long as there's no murder, they don't care what we get up to. Also, you can't go out at night."

"Can't go out at night?" Yao Qian paused. "Why?"

Jin Xiu'er shook her head. "I don't know, but you just can't." Seeing Yao Qian staring at her, she added, "You can't go out privately; there are Yin soldiers patrolling here at night."

"Yin soldiers?" Yao Qian was slightly startled. In the world of cultivation, Yin soldiers were different from what she had imagined in her previous life; they were specially raised spirit-soldiers. However, Yao Qian had only heard of them and had never actually seen one.

Jin Xiu'er said, "I once peeked through the door gap at them. My cultivation is low, so I couldn't tell how strong they were, but they were definitely stronger than me." She paused and asked, "There's another cave not far from mine. Do you want to live there?"

Yao Qian nodded. "Take me to see it."

Jin Xiu'er led Yao Qian for about the time it takes to brew a cup of tea before arriving at a cave that clearly hadn't been lived in for a long time. "There are only two dwellings in this area. If I hadn't come out early and claimed this spot, it would have been snatched up long ago." That was the advantage of coming out early.

Yao Qian entered and looked around. The dwelling was divided into three sections: the first was an open-air cave, likely for cultivation; the second was quite spacious, with many sword marks on the walls, clearly a place for practicing swordsmanship or martial arts; the third was a narrow meditation room, likely for seclusion.

"This will do." Yao Qian took a stack of Dust-Repelling Talismans and Golden Light Talismans from her storage bag, rolled up her sleeves, and prepared to clean the place up.

Seeing Yao Qian pull out so many talismans at once, Jin Xiu'er was startled. "Did the Old Ancestor Yao give you all of these?"

"No, I drew them myself," Yao Qian said frankly. She planned to make drawing talismans a steady source of income, so she didn't hide her talent.

Jin Xiu'er's eyes widened. "Didn't you just guide Qi into your body? How can you draw talismans?"

Yao Qian said, "My spiritual sense is a bit stronger than most. I don't need spiritual energy; as long as I use tools infused with spiritual energy, I can draw them." As far as Yao Qian knew, many disciples from great cultivation families were the same; her ability wasn't particularly unique, so there was no need to hide it.

Jin Xiu'er exclaimed in admiration, "You're truly amazing. My ancestor also tried to teach me, but I get a headache just looking at the runes."

Yao Qian laughed. "Everyone has their strengths. I heard from the ancestor that you're skilled at identifying medicinal herbs. I'm okay with identifying them, but once I'm out in the wild, I'm hopeless—I could walk right over a herb and never notice it."

Jin Xiu'er said, "There aren't many spiritual plants on Liuxia Peak, but I heard we can go out in six months. We can go gather herbs together then."

Yao Qian looked thoughtful. "We can leave in six months?"

Jin Xiu'er's smile faded. "Yes, but I don't want to go home. I've told everyone that my parents were rogue cultivators who have already passed away." Jin Xiu'er's background was similar to Yao Qian's; her parents were mortals, and in terms of lineage, she was the great-granddaughter of Jin Can-niang.

She didn't say this to curse her parents, but in the Wuji Sect, she could barely look after herself. Fortunately, no one had investigated their identities when they were captured, and she didn't intend to reveal anything, lest she offend someone in the sect and bring trouble upon her family.

Yao Qian nodded. "I feel the same way." Even if she could go home in six months, she didn't intend to. "I want to go out and find a more docile spirit beast."

Jin Xiu'er asked in surprise, "A spirit beast? What do you want one for?"

"I want to raise a spirit beast to guard my home," Yao Qian said, gesturing outside. "In a desolate place like this, not to mention our fellow disciples, there are plenty of wild beasts. Without a guardian beast, I won't be able to cultivate in peace."

Jin Xiu'er asked impulsively, "Then why don't you use a Golden Silkworm Gu?"