Xian Ni: The God of Killing Returns, Marries Li Muwan at the Beginning

Before we knew it, two years had passed in the blink of an eye.

As the bluestone streets of the county town gleamed from the spring rain, Lin Che's fortune-telling stall was once again graced with a newly planted pot of mint.

These seedlings were obtained from an old herbalist at the alley entrance last year. Now they are growing lush and green, and when the wind blows, they release a cool and refreshing fragrance, making them a small scenic spot in front of the fortune-telling stall.

For the past two years, Lin Che's life has been no different from usual.

They set up their stall at Chenshi (7-9 AM) and closed at Shenshi (3-5 PM) every day, never breaking the rule of the three divination methods.

Aunt Wang's tofu stall is still at the entrance of the alley, but her son got married last year and now occasionally helps carry the load.

Lin Yi, who had come to the fortune-telling academy to take the exam, had also passed the provincial examination last year. He made a special trip to the fortune-telling stall to kowtow three times and even gave them a jar of homemade rice wine.

Li Laosan's daughter also went to a private school. Every day when she passed the fortune-telling stall, she would sweetly call out "Mr. Lin".

The only change was in Su Wan.

Since that lively banquet two years ago, Su Wan has returned to the county town once or twice a year.

At first, he wore the outer disciple's robe of the Hengyue Sect, but later he changed into the light blue robe of an inner disciple. When he returned last year, the cuffs were embroidered with silver cloud patterns, representing the direct disciples.

Every time she came back, Su Wan would always take some time to sit at the fortune-telling stall for a while. Sometimes she would bring some wild fruits from Hengyue Mountain, and sometimes she would just sit and chat about things in the cultivation world.

Lin Che had heard her talk about how the Hengyue Sect's mountain gate was shrouded in mist, how difficult it was to break through the bottleneck between the Qi Refining and Foundation Establishment stages, and how cruel the cultivation world was.

Disciples fought fiercely over a single spiritual herb, while senior brothers secretly killed each other to seize cultivation techniques.

Whenever these things are mentioned, a hint of weariness flashes across Su Wan's eyes, and she says softly, "The county town is still the best; even the wind feels warm."

This summer, Su Wan has yet to arrive.

Lin Che would occasionally think of her, but figuring she was probably too busy cultivating immortality, he didn't take it to heart.

One evening in mid-July, just as it was getting dark, Lin Che was packing up his fortune-telling stall to go home when he saw a young maid covered in injuries stumbling towards him. It was the same maid who had been with Su Wan before.

The maid's hair was disheveled, her clothes were stained with blood, and there were several scratches on her face. As soon as she saw Lin Che, she knelt down with a thud, her voice choked with sobs: "Mr. Lin! Please save Miss! Miss...she's in trouble!"

Lin Che's heart sank. He helped the maid up by the arm and said, "Don't rush, tell me slowly, what's wrong with Miss Su?"

The maidservant was panting heavily, tears streaming down her face: "Half a month ago, Miss went with Master to the far north to search for the Ice Soul Lotus, and encountered people from the Corpse Yin Sect on the way."

"Those people are so fierce! They attacked right away! Master was injured protecting Miss, and Miss was also captured by them!"

"The Corpse Yin Sect?" Lin Che frowned.

At this moment, Lin Che recalled that two years ago, when Tian Kongzi came to him for fortune-telling, he mentioned that the Corpse Yin Sect was an evil sect in the cultivation world, ruthless in its actions, and that it liked to capture cultivators to refine soul weapons.

Yes! Yes!

The maid nodded, took out a broken jade pendant from her bosom, and handed it to Lin Che with both hands.

"This is what Miss threw to me before she was taken away. She said if she didn't come back, I should give this jade pendant to you, and that you would definitely have a way to save her..."

Lin Che took the jade pendant, his fingertips touching its cool texture, where faint spiritual energy fluctuations still lingered.

This jade pendant was given to Su Wan by him two years ago when he was telling fortunes for her birthday. He said it could ward off minor disasters and difficulties, but he never expected it to become a token for help.

Lin Che stroked the patterns on the jade pendant, remained silent for a moment, then looked up and asked the maid, "Do you know where the people from the Corpse Yin Sect took Miss Su?" "I...I don't know..."

The maid bit her lip, her voice even lower.

"The scene was too chaotic at the time. I only heard them say that they were going to the Cliff of Broken Souls, and that they would use the young lady's soul to refine the Soul-Devouring Lamp on the night of the full moon..."

"Soul-Severing Cliff..."

Lin Che repeated the name softly, the pale gold lines on his fingertips unconsciously appearing and disappearing in a flash.

He knew about the Cliff of Broken Souls, a notoriously dangerous place in the cultivation world. The area below the cliff was filled with miasma and countless vengeful spirits roamed around it, so ordinary cultivators dared not approach it easily.

Seeing that he remained silent, the maid assumed he was helpless and cried even harder: "Mr. Lin, please save Miss! Miss is so kind; she even said she would bring you the freshest peaches from the mountain when she comes back this time..."

Lin Che took a deep breath, put the jade pendant away, and said to the maid, "Get up first, go to the Su family and tell Master Su not to worry too much. I will find a way to save Miss Su."

"really?"

A glimmer of hope flashed in the young maid's eyes. She quickly wiped away her tears, knelt down, and said, "Thank you, Mr. Lin! I'll go tell the master right away!"

Watching the little maid run off into the distance, Lin Che picked up the cloth bag from the fortune-telling stall, but instead of going home, he turned and headed towards the outskirts of the city.

The lanterns on the street were already lit, their warm yellow light reflecting on the bluestone pavement, but it couldn't illuminate the solemnity in his eyes.

For the past two years, Lin Che has deliberately avoided matters of the cultivation world, wanting only to live a peaceful life with his small fortune-telling stall.

But he couldn't ignore Su Wan's situation.

He couldn't bear to watch the girl who always said the wind was warmer in the county town, the girl who would sit in front of the fortune-telling stall and chat for half a day every time she came back, fall into danger.

When he reached the riverbank outside the city, Lin Che stopped, took out three copper coins from his cloth bag, and gently tossed them into his palm.

The moment the copper coin spun, the golden thread at his fingertips suddenly lit up, outlining a complex rune in the air.

Runes flashed, and a faint halo appeared on the river surface, vaguely revealing a road leading north.

"Soul-Severing Cliff...The Night of the Full Moon..."

The night wind blew, and the reeds by the river rustled as Lin Che's figure gradually disappeared into the night.

Only the divination cloth bag he had placed by the roadside remained quietly lying there, the four characters "Lin's Divination" on the blue cloth gleaming with a unique light under the moonlight.

.........

At the Cliff of Broken Souls, Su Wan lay on the ground covered in blood, her breath weak, as if she might perish at any moment.

The Corpse Yin Sect expert, with one hand behind his back, glanced at the full moon and said calmly, "There's still half an hour left. When the time comes, I can extract your soul and refine it into a corpse puppet."

Su Wan raised her head with difficulty, stared at the Corpse Yin Sect elder in front of her, and said, "A dignified Nascent Soul stage expert actually dared to lay a hand on a junior like me who is only at the Qi Refining stage. Aren't you afraid that this will tarnish your reputation if word gets out!"

The elder of the Corpse Yin Sect looked at Su Wan lying on the ground and sneered disdainfully, "If you didn't possess a top-tier spiritual root, do you really think I would have let you live until now?"

"Even the Heavenly Prince is beneath my notice, let alone a junior like you who's only at the Qi Refining stage. I advise you not to struggle, or you should understand what your fate will be." (End of Chapter)