Chapter 1357: Why It Flowered Early

Running off under the pretext of giving chase was nothing more than self-comfort. The Nine Saints had stood above everyone for far too many years; they understood the mentality of the people beneath them perfectly well.

But now was not the time to let trouble blossom everywhere at once. Outside the Sacred Realm, enormous forces had already been mobilized to hunt Zhuge Chi. If they now launched another full-scale pursuit inside the Sacred Realm for the people who had fled Wuliang Garden, how much manpower would such a vast realm require? If they started turning everything upside down both inside and out, the entire situation would descend into chaos.

Matters had to be handled one at a time. Besides, the exits had already been sealed. Those people could not escape.

The most important question before them was who had stolen that batch of Wuliang Fruits. Thirty years had already passed. Investigating the event itself would be difficult, so they could only work backward from the result. Whoever had used a Wuliang Fruit would be ironclad evidence.

Inside Daluo Hall, Luo Qiu summoned his disciples one by one for private questioning.

Everyone who came back out kept their mouths tightly shut and refused to reveal what had been discussed.

It was only after Sha Rulai went in that he learned what Luo Qiu intended to do. It was exactly what he had expected: Luo Qiu was checking the cultivation of the disciples beneath him.

Naturally, Sha Rulai had no problem. After safely passing the inspection and leaving, he glanced at Luo Fangfei as she brushed past him on her way inside.

Facing Luo Fangfei's questioning look, Sha Rulai behaved just like the others and revealed nothing.

Luo Qiu spared no one who might have been capable of tampering with the fruits, including Luo Fangfei. Every one of them underwent his examination.

After confirming that his disciples and the people around him had no problems, Luo Qiu immediately ordered the disciples to form inspection teams and examine everyone throughout Daluo Sacred Land. To prevent collusion or falsification, the teams were arranged to cross-check one another.

There was no other way. Some things still had to be done by subordinates. With so many people to examine, how long would it take if Luo Qiu had to inspect every single person himself?

Every person in Daluo Sacred Land was checked once.

Nothing abnormal was found.

And it was not only Daluo Sacred Land. Each of the Nine Sacred Lands conducted the same examination of its own personnel.

The damned thing was, none of them found any problem.

After that, the Nine Sacred Lands expanded the inspection to everyone in the entire Sacred Realm. They cross-checked one another, meaning every person had to undergo examination in turn by personnel from all nine Sacred Lands.

There were far fewer people inside the Sacred Realm than outside, but it was still no small undertaking.

Thirty years had already passed.

The Nine Saints had the patience to investigate one step at a time.

...

Deep within the marshes of the Desolate Marsh Deadlands, Sha Rulai sat alone in a wooded mountain area beside a flying mount, waiting.

When movement sounded nearby, he turned and saw Fox Clan Chief Hei Yun approaching with a beautiful silver-robed woman walking gracefully beside him.

The woman was as lovely as an immortal.

She was Yin Ji, the Fox Clan's former Clan Chief.

The instant Sha Rulai saw her, his pupils contracted sharply. Astonishment even appeared on his face.

When they came close, the elegant and stately Yin Ji smiled faintly. "Little Sha, who used to bounce around everywhere back then, has grown up. I can barely recognize you."

Sha Rulai's Adam's apple bobbed dryly. He stared at her in disbelief. "Sh-Shiniang... you... weren't you...?"

He could not possibly have mistaken her.

He had been young at the time, but the beauty of his master's wife had left a deep impression on him. Besides, she had just called him "Little Sha."

Yet as far as he knew, this Shiniang had died long ago.

Yin Ji asked, "Niu Youdao didn't tell you?"

Sha Rulai looked toward Hei Yun.

He had no idea what was going on. At the same time, shock and uncertainty rose in his heart. Just how many secrets did Niu Youdao still have hidden behind him?

Yin Ji said, "I hadn't intended to show myself. But when I heard you'd come, and knowing you'd married Fei'er, I wanted to come see you. Are you and Fei'er doing well?"

For a moment, Sha Rulai could not sort out what was happening at all. He repeatedly shot Hei Yun questioning looks, but Hei Yun said nothing. In the end, Sha Rulai could only answer stiffly, "We're doing well."

Yin Ji sighed. "I truly never imagined that the little Sha who used to cry so easily would one day marry my daughter and become my son-in-law. After I left Daluo Sacred Land, how did Fei'er live all these years? Weren't you married to someone else? How did you later end up marrying Fei'er?"

Sha Rulai struggled with himself for a moment before asking, "Does Master know you're still alive?"

Yin Ji said, "Originally, he should have believed I was dead. But the last time Fei'er came to rescue your daughter, he probably guessed that I was still alive."

The last time?

Sha Rulai immediately remembered that incident.

Back then, Niu Youdao had said Luo Fangfei would come rescue his daughter and that Luo Qiu would definitely agree. Sha Rulai had found it strange at the time.

Now he seemed to understand a little of what had been behind it.

He tried asking, "You've been hiding in the Desolate Marsh Deadlands all these years?"

Yin Ji smiled. "More or less. Since there are things Niu Youdao hasn't told you, let him tell you when the right opportunity comes. I know about what you and Niu Youdao are doing. I'm involved too, so don't worry. I'm not an outsider. Little Sha, tell me how Fei'er lived after I left Daluo Sacred Land. Didn't you marry someone else? How did you later come to marry Fei'er?"

Sha Rulai looked toward Hei Yun again.

Hei Yun finally spoke. "Don't worry. She's one of us, and someone Niu Youdao trusts."

Sha Rulai fell silent for a while before slowly beginning. "After Shiniang left, I was almost always at Junior Sister's side..."

He gradually recounted the old story.

His own childhood and youth had almost entirely been spent growing up beside Luo Fangfei. After Yin Ji left, perhaps because of their ages, once Luo Fangfei could toddle around, Luo Qiu arranged for Sha Rulai to remain at her side, essentially making him his daughter's playmate.

Sha Rulai had always treated Luo Fangfei as a little sister and cared for her accordingly. When she was very young, he often carried her on his back while taking her around to play.

Later, they gradually grew older, but Luo Fangfei remained very attached to him, perhaps because she had grown accustomed to always having him beside her.

Then Sha Rulai met a woman he loved and wanted to marry her.

Luo Fangfei had cried and made a terrible scene over it. She said Sha Rulai had promised that he would marry her when they grew up and demanded to know why he wanted to marry someone else.

Some words and promises were things children said when they were young and could not be taken seriously.

After Sha Rulai grew older, he never treated that promise as real. He had always regarded Luo Fangfei as his junior sister and little sister. He simply had no romantic feelings for her.

For some reason, however, Luo Fangfei had taken those childhood words seriously.

Luo Qiu did not particularly approve of Sha Rulai's marriage either. Perhaps because he could not bear to see his daughter heartbroken, he hinted to Sha Rulai that he was willing to give Luo Fangfei to him in marriage.

But Sha Rulai at that time was deeply devoted to the woman he loved.

He ignored everything else.

He insisted on marrying her.

In the end, he got his wish.

Only later did he learn what the consequences of a marriage between families of unequal standing could be. Luo Qiu's punishment was cruel. The woman Sha Rulai loved lived every day as though it were a year and ultimately met with disaster, while Sha Rulai himself was powerless to save her.

Afterward, faced with reality, he still married Luo Fangfei.

That was roughly what had happened.

There were some things Sha Rulai omitted, but he had answered what Yin Ji cared about most.

All these years, Luo Qiu had doted deeply on Luo Fangfei and had never allowed her to suffer any real grievance.

For the first time in so many years, Yin Ji learned clearly how her daughter had grown up.

Tears streamed down her face.

She pressed a hand to her heart as the anguish of separation from her own flesh and blood stabbed through her.

Seeing the woman cry without end, Sha Rulai had no idea what to do with her.

He decided he would have to question Niu Youdao properly afterward and find out what the hell was going on.

For now, he left her alone and turned to Hei Yun. "Clan Chief, I can't delay too long. You should have seen the letter."

Hei Yun nodded. "What do you need to know? Ask."

Sha Rulai said, "Something happened at Wuliang Garden..." After briefly explaining the situation, he came to the heart of the matter. "Niu Youdao can't conveniently enter the Sacred Realm right now, but he insists that I determine exactly what happened with the Wuliang Fruit tree. Isn't it supposed to flower only thirty years after the fruit is picked? Why did it flower after only about a year? The Fox Clan should understand the Wuliang Fruit tree very well."

Hei Yun frowned. "Something like that actually happened?"

Sha Rulai looked at him strangely. "Even you don't know?"

Hei Yun appeared somewhat embarrassed. "To tell you the truth, I was born in the Desolate Marsh Deadlands. I've never even seen a Wuliang Fruit tree. What I know mostly comes from what elders of the clan told me."

"..."

Sha Rulai stared at him speechlessly.

"Early flowering isn't impossible," Yin Ji suddenly said from the side.

Sha Rulai and Hei Yun both turned toward her.

She was lifting a sleeve to wipe away her tears.

After steadying her emotions, Yin Ji looked at Sha Rulai and said, "Little Sha, you just said the Fox Immortal Fruits inside Wuliang Garden had not been picked for nearly two hundred years. If that's really true, then early flowering is entirely possible."

Sha Rulai immediately asked, "They say the fruits weren't picked for two hundred years, and that should be correct. Shiniang knows the reason?"

Yin Ji wiped the tear tracks from her face. "In earlier years, when Fox Immortal Fruits still existed in abundance, the fruits would be picked when they ripened. The Fox Clan would harvest them at the proper time. After the fruit was picked, the tree would flower thirty years later, bear fruit thirty years after that, and the fruit would ripen another thirty years later. That much is correct. But the Fox Immortal Fruit is a rare treasure born from Heaven and Earth. It is different from ordinary fruit. When it flowers and bears fruit is not controlled by the seasons, nor by the passage of seasonal nodes. The Fox Immortal Fruit tree flowers only after absorbing enough spiritual qi of Heaven and Earth. It sets fruit only after absorbing enough spiritual qi of Heaven and Earth. And only after absorbing enough spiritual qi of Heaven and Earth can the fruit ripen. The Fox Immortal Fruits in Wuliang Garden remained hanging on the tree for far too long after ripening. During all that time, the Wuliang Fruit tree had long since absorbed enough spiritual qi of Heaven and Earth for its next flowering. Once the fruits were finally picked, there is nothing difficult to understand about the tree flowering ahead of schedule. So yes, early flowering is entirely possible."

Understanding suddenly dawned on Sha Rulai.

Still, he could not help glancing at Hei Yun.

This Shiniang seemed to understand the Wuliang Fruit far better than the current Fox Clan Chief.

He asked cautiously, "Shiniang, this matter is too important and involves too much. Are you certain this is how it works?"

Hei Yun shot him a sidelong glance.

What kind of look was that?

There was probably no one in the entire Fox Clan who understood this better than Yin Ji.

Yin Ji smiled through the traces of tears on her face. "When you return, tell Niu Youdao that these are my words. He'll understand."

"Good!" Sha Rulai nodded and cupped his hands. "Shiniang, Clan Chief, I was ordered to travel to Wuliang Garden. I only detoured here while carrying out what Niu Youdao entrusted to me. It wouldn't be appropriate for me to remain too long, or people may grow suspicious."

Yin Ji asked, "You're going to guard Wuliang Garden? I heard that once people enter Wuliang Garden, they rarely get to leave easily. What about Fei'er?"

Even between the lines, her concern remained fixed on her daughter.

Sha Rulai said, "It isn't a long-term posting, only a temporary guard assignment. Something has happened at Wuliang Garden, and the protective grand formation was destroyed. Rebuilding it will take some time. Besides, the original guards at Wuliang Garden all fled. There are too many matters to sort out, and there are no fruits left on the tree anyway. The Nine Saints have only sent people to guard the fruit tree temporarily. Niu Youdao entrusted me with two things as well. One was to ask the Fox Clan why the tree flowered early. The other is to confirm whether the tree really did flower early. Niu Youdao is worried this might be a trap laid by the Nine Saints, so I accepted this assignment specifically to investigate the details."

Yin Ji said, "I understand. What you're doing is dangerous. If you're exposed, Luo Qiu will never spare you. You must remember to be careful."

[End of Chapter 1357]