Super System in the Early Tang Dynasty

Chapter 226 Descending the Mountain (First Update)

I forgot to charge my computer yesterday, so I didn't start writing until last night. Right after I finished, the computer automatically shut down. The power came back on at 6 AM today, and I was able to upload it. Without further ado, I'll start working on the first three chapters now!

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As Li Xingzhi and his companions continued their journey northwest, in the southern part of the Ten Thousand Mountains in the Southern Frontier, in a mountain valley surrounded by treacherous cliffs, a group of people lived.

This is a large village!

If Li Xingzhi saw this place, he would know where it was. He had fond memories here, but also some things he didn't want to remember.

In the center of the mountain stronghold stood a vast courtyard. Compared to the surrounding low and simple wooden houses, this courtyard exuded an imposing and dignified aura. Inside the house at the very center of the courtyard sat two people—one a beautiful middle-aged woman, the other a stunningly beautiful young woman. Calling her a young woman wasn't quite accurate; perhaps "a girl with a touch of mature charm" would be more fitting.

Let's call her a young girl for now.

The girl's eyes still shone with captivating charm, but her aura had grown increasingly aloof, carrying an indelible loneliness that prevented anyone from feeling any sense of disrespect. Her heart and eyes were icy cold, devoid of any other color, and she sat motionless, like a beautiful statue sculpted from white jade.

"You knew everything?" the beautiful woman said, her eyes filled with complex emotions and a hint of worry. "Are you angry with me?"

"I know everything. I know my mother-in-law meant well, and I don't blame her," the girl replied in a cold, emotionless voice, like a machine devoid of a soul.

"That person was lucky to survive; you probably already know that, right?"

The girl's emotions fluctuated slightly, but quickly calmed down, her tone no longer as cold as before, "I know." She had known ever since she discovered the Yin-Yang Mother Gu within her.

The Yin-Yang Mother Gu is something that must be implanted in the body of every new priestess. Every man who has a relationship with a priestess will have a child Gu born from the mother Gu implanted in his body. Through the child Gu, the priestess can easily know whether the other person is alive or dead, and even their approximate location. Although the girl is not yet a priestess, as the only designated candidate for priestess, the Yin-Yang Gu has long been implanted in her body.

"I want you to understand, I'm doing this all for your own good. Men are all the same. They'll always just be our appendages, our playthings!" As she said this, for some reason, the beautiful woman's face became somewhat ferocious. The young girl looked at the beautiful woman's ferocious face, unmoved.

"You definitely won't understand what I'm saying."

The beautiful woman seemed lost in thought, her face shifting between ferocity and calm before finally becoming expressionless.

“More than ten years ago, I had a twin sister. At that time, our witch clan had two witches, and that was the most powerful period for our Black Witch clan. At that time, my sister saved a man. He was also a Han Chinese! That man not only deceived my somewhat foolish sister with sweet words, but also plunged the entire witch clan into chaos... In the end, that man was afraid of my punishment, so he actually used witchcraft to bewitch my sister, making her injure me, and then, together with him, betrayed the witch clan…”

The beautiful woman looked at the girl before her, her eyes filled with gentleness and love. "I don't want you to repeat the same mistakes. You will be the one and only witch of the witch clan from now on, and you need to shoulder the heavy responsibility of the entire witch clan!"

Looking into the beautiful woman's eyes, filled with endless tenderness and love, the girl felt a chill finally dissipate. She opened her mouth, but no sound came out.

“She is my dearest sister, but the Witch Clan has its own rules. Yue’er, before you inherit the title of Witch Maiden, you must bring back this traitor of the Witch Clan, alive or dead!” When the woman said the words ‘dearest sister,’ a strange look flashed across her face, and her voice unconsciously became a little louder, without her even realizing it.

No sooner had she finished speaking than the woman's once fair and radiant face suddenly turned ashen. Then, a surge of blackish-yellow light rose within her, only to vanish just moments later, leaving her with a deathly pallor, making her appear as if she had aged more than ten years. At the same time, a small, blackish-yellow worm crawled out from between her lips, an eerie sight indeed.

The girl watched this scene unfold, unable to stop it in time.

The beautiful woman brought over a blackened bamboo tube and put the small insect inside.

"This is a Heart-Connecting Gu. It has been growing inside my sister and me since the day we were born. With it, you should be able to find my sister soon."

After a moment's hesitation, the woman took out a purple bamboo tube from beside her.

"Take it with you. But don't release it unless absolutely necessary!" Inside this purple bamboo tube is the most precious treasure of the Witch Clan, the purple-striped spirit snake.

……

Not long after the girl left the room, the beautiful woman suddenly spoke to the door, "Since you're here, come in!"

The door creaked open, and an old Taoist priest with silver hair and a white beard, wearing a crane-feather robe, entered.

If Li Xingzhi were to see this person, he would surely recognize him as the Ruyi Zhenren from Crane Cry Mountain.

"I didn't expect you to come here. Aren't you afraid of dying?!" The woman's face was calm, but her voice was hoarse and strained.

"I'm afraid of death, but I had to come. Some things must be settled, otherwise, I won't have peace of mind." The old Taoist's voice remained calm.

"Is she our daughter?" 'She' refers to Yue'er, who had just gone out.

"She is the next priestess. Our daughter is long dead!"

The old Taoist priest sighed softly. Regardless of the woman's denials, he already knew the answer in his heart.

"You're still so strong-willed."

He had overheard some of what the woman had said to Yue'er, but he didn't take it seriously.

He hesitated for a moment, then moved his mouth with some difficulty before asking, "Ping'er, where is Ting'er?"

"You called her Ping'er?" the woman's voice shrill. "What Ting'er? That slut is long dead! You're here to see that slut?"

"I've come to see you. If you still harbor resentment, I'll bear it." The old Taoist's face was devoid of any composure, filled only with bitterness. "Seeing you're alright puts my mind at ease. But Ting'er... Ping'er, tell me, where is she? I just want to see her. Ultimately, my life is yours to decide." This was a debt owed to her more than ten years ago. Since the mistake was made, it could never be made up for.

Just as the beautiful woman was about to erupt, she seemed to remember something and calmly said, "I don't know where she is either, but I've already sent Yue'er down the mountain to look for her. She has the Heart-Connecting Gu on me, so she'll definitely be able to find that woman."

"You took out the Heart-Connecting Gu?" The old Taoist priest's expression changed slightly as he looked at the indelible paleness and ashen complexion on the beautiful woman's face.

The Heart-to-Heart Gu, once trapped in the heart, cannot be removed. He didn't know how the person before him had removed the Gu, but the price must have been enormous.

Why would you do this?

"Alright. Now go on your way! Go find that bitch. I don't want to see you again!"

The old Taoist priest stepped out of the room, rolled up his sleeves, looked at the black line on his hand, and gave a bitter smile. Yet, within that smile lay a hint of relief.

"You're still so heartless," he muttered to himself.

With his current cultivation level, how could he not know that the Gu poison had entered his body? He simply didn't want to avoid it anymore. Given the potency of this poison, he would die without a burial place within a year.

He waved his sleeve, ignoring the deadly poison in his body, and with a flourish of his sleeve, chased after the girl in the direction she had left.

……

The girl left the room, walked out of the courtyard, and headed towards a simple yet comfortable house. Before she even entered, the sound of silver bells mingled with children's laughter reached her ears. A rare, shrine maiden's smile appeared on her face, as fleeting as a flower blooming and falling, so brief that anyone who saw it thought it was an illusion.

The door creaked open.

Inside sat another young girl adorned with silver bells, with two children hanging from her back. The two children were about the same age and looked alike, but one had delicate, willow-leaf eyebrows, while the other had thick eyebrows and eyes, exuding a natural air of heroism. With just one glance, it was easy to tell the two children's genders.

"Yue'er, you're back." Lan Ling'er greeted the girl who came in while playing with the two children.

As soon as the two children saw the girl enter, they ignored Lan Ling'er's teasing and stretched out their arms, wanting the girl to hug them. The two children called out "Mama, Mama" one after another, growing louder and louder, as if they would keep calling like that if they didn't get a response, which was heartbreaking to see.

The girl quickly picked up the two children and then said to Lan Ling'er beside her, "I'm going down the mountain now."

Upon hearing Yue'er's words, Lan Ling'er trembled all over, her body jingling with the crisp sound of silver bells, making her appear somewhat disheveled.

"Are you going to find him?"

“Yes, I’m going to find him!” A resolute glint flashed in Yue’er’s eyes. “Long’er is a boy. He shouldn’t have been born into the Witch Clan. I want to send him away, to his father.”

“Then…” Lan Ling’er looked at her with concern, her mouth moving but not knowing what to say.

“My mother-in-law asked me to go. I had other things to do down the mountain.”

Hearing this, Lan Ling'er breathed a sigh of relief, her worries finally dissipating. She didn't want anything bad to happen to Yue'er because she had gone down the mountain without permission. Although the witch doted on Yue'er, her strictness and ruthlessness were even more deeply ingrained in people's hearts... (To be continued.)