From the family treasure tree to build an eternal family

Chapter 187 Silver Bell
The demonic cultivator known as "Silver Bell" is Meng Jiaojiao.

Nine years ago, she took the Soul-Losing Pill given to her by the Xue family.

Because the Soul Loss Pill was of poor quality and had flaws, she regained her memory a few days after taking it.

In order to survive, she pretended to have lost her memory and been successfully brainwashed by the Xue family, just like everyone else around her.

She continued to soak in the poisonous pool, practicing her skills and improving her strength.

Several years ago, she began to follow Xue Yimiao's orders and "train" the newly arrived young girls in various ways. She made them stand in the poisonous fog to be corroded by the deadly poison, fed them spiritual medicine soup, and taught them to cultivate the "Yuan Sha Gong".

During this process, Meng Jiaojiao witnessed too many girls die tragically.

She felt sorry for those girls, but could only remain numb like everyone else.

Her companions were like emotionless puppets who only obeyed orders.

Meng Jiaojiao knew that the Xue family must have a purpose for going to such great lengths; it couldn't just be about training them as subordinates. However, she didn't know their specific purpose.

She suspects it's related to Xu Zhongxi.

Xu Zhongxi's treatment was completely different from that of the others.

Not long ago, Xu Zhongxi broke through to the ninth level of Qi Refining and is now cultivating towards the realm of Qi Refining Perfection.

Meng Jiaojiao guessed that perhaps when Xu Zhongxi reached the peak of Qi cultivation, disaster would befall him.

She thought she would never have the chance to save Xu Zhongxi in this lifetime, but suddenly Xue Yimiao put her into a team and sent her away from Yunze Mountain to work for the Xue family.

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

"Be careful, don't get caught."

The leader of the group, a demonic cultivator at the ninth level of Qi Refining, was known as "Oriole." It is said that she was pure-looking and had a voice as clear as an oriole when she was young, but now she looks like a middle-aged woman and her voice is hoarse.

Under the cover of night, the group of five flew silently through the air.

As dawn approached, the oriole led them to land on a rugged mountain area.

"This is Xieyue Mountain, located at the junction of three counties, which is suitable for concealment. When we are on the move, the most important thing is to hide our whereabouts. Once discovered, we must either kill the discoverer or commit suicide to leave no clues for them."

Did you hear me clearly?!

Huang Li said sternly.

"clear!"

The other four remained calm and responded. Xue Yimiao had already given them instructions before they set off, and Huang Li was simply repeating them.

"From now on, follow my instructions and split up to carry out your tasks."

Huang Li is experienced; she has been out there more than ten times and knows what to do.

Among the four people who followed her, including Meng Jiaojiao, three were novices who were on their first mission.

"Yinling, take the two of them and search for rogue cultivators or demonic cultivators in the three nearby counties. It would be best if they were rogue cultivators with simple family backgrounds, poor and struggling at the bottleneck, or demonic cultivators in the mid-stage of Qi Refining."

......"

The oriole assigned tasks.

Meng Jiaojiao's eyes remained calm as she listened attentively to the task before leading her two companions away.

Once she left the area of ​​Evil Moon Mountain and parted ways with her two companions, her eyes finally revealed an overwhelming excitement and exhilaration.

For the first time in twenty years, she left Yunze Mountain.

At this moment, there was no one around, no members of the Xue family, and no companions. It seemed that as long as she flew away using her qi, she could regain her freedom.

After all, Xue Yimiao was unaware that Meng Jiaojiao had regained her memories and was caught off guard.

However, even so, regaining freedom is not so simple.

Meng Jiaojiao cultivates the Yuan Sha Technique, and has been immersed in a poisonous pool for many years. Her spiritual energy is infused with poison, and the toxins have long since seeped into her bones. She needs to take a spiritual pill provided by the Xue family every now and then.

The elixir not only increases cultivation level but also alleviates the effects of toxins.

If Meng Jiaojiao does not take that kind of elixir for a long time, she will be unable to suppress the toxins in her body and die from the poisoning.

According to her own estimation, without a miraculous elixir, she could suppress the poison for three months. Three months—that was the time she needed to find a solution.

"Hu~~"

Meng Jiaojiao took a few deep breaths, suppressing the urge to leave immediately. She had been captured and taken to Yunze Mountain when she was ten years old. Before that, she was just the daughter of a poor peasant family in a remote mountain village, and had no experience whatsoever.

She knew nothing about the outside world, and didn't even know about the Demon Slayers.

During the years she was trained at Yunze Mountain, the Xue family only told her about cultivation and brainwashed her.

Her worldview is very closed.

Faced with freedom within her grasp, she didn't even know where to go or what to do next.

Come back home?

She won't go back!

She would never forget that memory: her parents sold her and her sister to human traffickers for a little money, and then the traffickers handed them over to terrifying demonic cultivators.

That was the most terrifying memory of her life: she witnessed her three-year-old sister being drained of her soul by a demonic cultivator.

She had no attachment to her parents or her family.

In this world, there is only one person she cares about: Xu Zhongxi.

On the day she took the Soul-Stealing Pill, Xu Zhongxi received special attention. She took the highest quality Soul-Stealing Pill and was brainwashed the most thoroughly.

After that, Meng Jiaojiao intentionally or unintentionally approached Xu Zhongxi.

Although Xu Zhongxi lost his memory, Meng Jiaojiao still became Xu Zhongxi's most familiar companion in Yunze Mountain after years of deliberate contact.

"We must rescue her!"

Meng Jiaojiao has no other thoughts in this world but this one goal.

"Then we'll flee for our lives, hide somewhere no one can find us, grow flowers and plants, and raise two dogs..."

This is the life she longs for.

"I remember Xiaoxi saying that she still has family, and her family loves her very much. Twenty years have passed, and her family should still be alive."

When the two were first captured and taken to Yunze Mountain, Meng Jiaojiao faced multiple breakdowns and was on the verge of death.

It was Xu Zhongxi who helped and encouraged her time and time again.

When she was suffering and going through a lot of pain, she asked Xu Zhongxi why she was able to persevere.

Xu Zhongxi said she must live on, that her father was a powerful martial arts master, that her uncle was a military officer and county magistrate, and that her sixth uncle doted on her. She was certain that her family would come to her rescue.

The two initially talked a lot about the past, but they were soon discovered by the people watching them.

After that, the two of them had their own nicknames, and those people forbade them from talking about the past.

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

A few days later, they found a rogue cultivator at the fourth level of Qi Refining and an elderly demonic cultivator at the sixth level of Qi Refining.

The two Qi Refining cultivators, acting as the visible figures, contacted human trafficking gangs in the outside world to capture girls for them.

This time, Xue Yimiao's task for them was to capture more than one hundred people and bring them back.

There are three counties near Xieyue Mountain, so it's not too difficult to spread this number of people across the three counties.

However, Meng Jiaojiao softened her heart.

She wasn't a brainwashed demonic cultivator after all. Looking at the girls who were brought to her, around ten years old, she couldn't help but think of her own tragic past and felt a pang of pity.

"My lord, this time I have brought six girls."

The rogue cultivator at the fourth level of Qi Refining was named Li Zhuo. When he was approached, he agreed to become a subordinate without much thought.

These independent cultivators without family backgrounds face immense difficulties in their cultivation journey, finding it extremely challenging to obtain cultivation techniques or embark on the path of immortality.

Only Li Zhuo himself knows how many hardships he endured to reach the fourth level of Qi Refining. The reason he didn't fall into the demonic path was because he had no other way to do so.

If there were such an easy way to obtain spirit stones, he would have fallen into depravity long ago.

Those who are low-level cultivators know how difficult it is to earn a spirit stone, and have personally experienced the scams and deceptions within the cultivator community, so most of them have lost their conscience.

Li Zhuo agreed to help this group of demonic cultivators for another reason: he was afraid of dying.

He didn't know if he would be killed if he refused, after all, demonic cultivators were ruthless and might silence him to prevent the information from leaking.

(End of this chapter)