Yin Residence.
In Yunshan City, there was only one Yin Residence.
A Yin Residence with three Purple Mansions.
Within the high walls, the courtyards were deep, with layered towers and houses, overlapping mountain silhouettes, and rugged rocks.
Lush branches hung low above the pavilions and terraces, their initially rouged blossoms gradually unfolding.
Although summer had yet to arrive, the Spirit Lotuses in the Lotus Pond were already in full bloom, each one standing proudly amidst the misty vapors, their spiritual energy suffusing the air and their fragrance pervading the estate.
In a waterside pavilion by the pond, an old man in a purple robe leaned back on a luxurious brocaded couch.
Eyes closed, he listened to the musician’s playing.
His right hand rested on the railing, and between his fingers, he twirled a shiny pill as smooth as jade.
The Spirit-Nurturing Pill, worth thirty Low Spirits, was slowly crushed by the man in the purple robe, falling into the pond and prompting a frenzy of colorful koi fighting for it, splashing water in all directions.
All at once, the man in the purple robe’s eyes flew open.
A hint of evil Qi flickered in his gaze.
His fingers loosened, and the remaining half of the pill plummeted downward.
A Dragon Whisker Black Carp suddenly leapt from the water’s surface, swallowing the pill into its belly!
Clang!
The musician, overwhelmed by the sudden oppressive aura, plucked the strings incorrectly, jumbling a note.
Immediately, her face lost its color, turning deathly pale.
The old man in the purple robe gave a faint smile, “It’s nothing, you may go.”
As if pardoned, the musician bowed and took her leave.
To attend to a lord was like attending to a tiger, and this seemingly amiable man in the purple robe was more fearsome than any fierce tiger!
After the musician had left, the man in the purple robe’s expression gradually darkened.
He tapped a finger on the table.
A robust man in green attire appeared silently, “Great Elder.”
The man in the purple robe said gravely, “Rong’er might have encountered trouble, go and find out what’s happened!”
“And…”
After a pause, he added, “Sell that worthless maid to Ruyi Fang.”
The man in green bowed, “Yes.”
The old man in the purple robe closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and waved his hand, “Go.”
When he opened his eyes again, they flashed fiercely.
Over the past 150 years since the Yin Family settled in Cloud Mountain, from a humble family of seven Qi Cultivation practitioners, Yin Honghui had expended countless efforts and tremendous hard work to develop it into the widely renowned Purple Mansion Great Clan of today.
For the sake of the family, he even gave up his position as a powerful Inner Sect elder.
Under his control, the Yin Family was also on the rise.
Although the Yin Family could not monopolize every Spirit Stone-earning business in Yunshan City,
their annual profits were more than enough to support a Golden Core True Person!
However, in the past two years, Yin Honghui felt that there was some issue with the family’s operations.
Many matters were no longer as smooth as before.
Some trades also became difficult to carry out.
The pressure on Yin Honghui grew by the day.
Yet, as a Purple Mansion Superior who had weathered great storms, he could withstand it all.
But that strong sense of impending disaster had almost breached his defenses!
“Daddy!”
At that moment, a beautiful woman in a green long dress rushed along the corridor, her fair face like a lotus and filled with tears, an expression of grief overflowed beyond words.
A gaunt middle-aged man followed behind her.
“Xixue…”
Yin Honghui had just risen to his feet.
The woman in green threw herself into his arms and wept, “Rong’er, Rong’er’s Soul Tablet is broken!”
Yin Honghui felt a darkness before his eyes and instinctively wrapped his arms around the willowy waist of the woman in green.
“I understand.”
He ground out those four words between clenched teeth!
Everyone knew that Yin Derong was Yin Honghui’s most cherished grandson.
Now, the Soul Tablet of Yin Family’s Seventh Young Master was shattered!
Yin Honghui felt as if he had been slapped hard across his old face, the pain reaching deep into his bones.
“Daddy, you must seek justice for Rong’er,”
The woman in green cried out in extreme sorrow, “Rong’er was such a kind and sensible child, who could be so cruel to hurt him!”
Looking at the tearful face of the beautiful woman in his arms, Yin Honghui’s heart ached immensely.
He raised his hand to wipe the tears from her face and said with hatred, “Just wait, I will definitely avenge Rong’er and shred the murderer into ten thousand pieces!”
This Purple Mansion Superior released the grieving beauty and stepped forward to slap the cowering middle-aged man in front of him. “How did you take care of Rong’er? You’re utterly useless!”
The middle-aged man was nearly knocked out by the slap, his face swelling up like a bull’s head in an instant.
Yet he did not dare to retort.
Watching his own son’s pathetic stance, Yin Honghui felt extreme disgust, “Get lost!”
If it weren’t for this son having married a good daughter-in-law,
he would have driven him out of the Yin Family long ago to fend for himself.
After consoling the woman in green for a few words, Yin Honghui hastened away from the Yin Residence.
He mounted the six-horse carriage that had been waiting by the entrance.
The carriage quickly exited Cloud Mountain City, speeding along the Chi Path, heading north with increasing velocity.
Along the way, Yin Honghui received a falcon message.
His expression grew even darker!
After speeding for nearly two hundred li, Yin Honghui took out a Misty Cloud Magical Instrument and tossed it into the sky.
He leaped up, stepping onto the instrument to ride the clouds and mist, soaring toward a distant majestic peak.
A stick of incense later, Yin Honghui landed at the gate of a refined courtyard at the summit.
He bowed solemnly, “Senior Brother Zhuge, Honghui has taken the liberty of visiting unannounced. Please forgive my intrusion!”
The wooden gate ahead creaked open on its own.
In the courtyard, beneath the peach trees, an elderly, grey-robed cultivator with spotted temples sat playing chess alone.
He lifted his head with a black piece in hand, his face wearing a smile that was not quite a smile, “Ah, Junior Brother Yin, what a rare guest you are.”
“Mundane affairs bind me, leaving me with no choice.”
Yin Honghui walked in with a bitter smile and sat down opposite the grey-robed cultivator, saying straightforwardly, “Senior Brother Zhuge, my grandson has just been murdered, and the culprit is unknown. I beg you to help me cast a divination!”
The grey-robed cultivator in front of him might seem ordinary but was one of the few within the Cloud Sun Sect who mastered the Heavenly Secret Technique, a Purple Mansion Superior!
The Heavenly Secret Technique, a method to trace causes and deduce effects, was unfathomably profound.
If used to track down a murderer, the closer it was to the time of the incident, the more accurate the divination would be.
This was why Yin Honghui had hurried to find the cultivator in the Inner Sect.
Avenging his grandson was one reason, but maintaining the honor and dignity of the Yin Family was even more important.
Otherwise, if word got out, the Yin Family would become the laughingstock!
However, after hearing his request, Senior Brother Zhuge immediately shook his head, “Sorry, I have long stopped divining the Heavenly Secrets for others.”
The Heavenly Secret Technique was immensely powerful but required one’s own cultivation and lifespan as the price for its use.
How could he agree!
Yin Honghui, well-prepared, produced a Storage Bag and handed it over, “Senior Brother, I apologize for the trouble!”
Senior Brother Zhuge took it nonchalantly and opened it.
Upon a single glance, he was utterly astonished!
His expression changed, and with a sigh he said, “Oh well, I will help you this one time!”
He had wanted to refuse,
Yet the offer from the other party was simply too generous!
Yin Honghui handed over another object, a Jade Pendant. “Inside here is a strand of my grandson’s essence.”
Senior Brother Zhuge quickly took the Jade Pendant and placed it upon the Heavenly Secrets Chessboard before him.
This chessboard, outwardly round and inwardly square, was fitted with three hundred and sixty-one meticulously crafted black and white chess pieces, each one a finely forged Magic Artifact.
The chessboard itself was even a tier-two Spiritual Artifact!
As Senior Brother Zhuge channeled his mana, the hundreds of chess pieces on the board suddenly emitted a faint glow.
They began moving autonomously around the central Jade Pendant,
Gradually forming the pattern of the True Seal Talisman Script.
Senior Brother Zhuge watched the Heavenly Pattern Plate, his eyes shining brightly.
All of a sudden, his face showed a look of shock and fear, as if he saw something terribly horrifying.
“Pfft!”
The next moment, the Purple Mansion cultivator spat out a mouthful of blood.
He shakily lifted his hand, pointing at Yin Honghui across from him and hoarsely said, “They, they…”
Yin Honghui was already astonished, “What?”
Senior Brother Zhuge spat out another mouthful of blood.
His hair turned white in an instant, aging him by decades in mere moments.
Riding on the last breath of grievance and anger in his chest, Senior Brother Zhuge finally managed to yell out to Yin Honghui what was in his heart at that moment.
“It’s your own mother!!”
——–
The second update is here.