Chapter 25 - Is It Funny That the Reincarnated Senior Sister Is Also Being Pursued?

"Are you suggesting... that there's a traitor within the Tang family?" Tang Chuhuan fixed her gaze on the corpse on the ground, her brows tightly knitted. She was well aware that she was asking a rhetorical question. After all, the Spirit-Seeking Disc gifted by the Taihua Sword Sect to the Tang family was a genuinely superior magical artifact, with capabilities to locate and sense spiritual presence. Within the effective range of the Spirit-Seeking Disc, all intruding cultivators without permission would be suppressed, their spiritual power functioning sluggishly. Even a cultivator of the Qin Xin level would find themselves weakened to the extent that they were inferior to mortal martial artists upon entering the range of the Spirit-Seeking Disc, let alone a mere spy of the Feng Chu stage? The only explanation for this phenomenon was that someone within the Tang family who had access to the Spirit-Seeking Disc had clandestinely inputted this spy's spiritual power into the disc, allowing it to bypass its suppression. And those within the Tang family able to access the Spirit-Seeking Disc... were only her blood relatives. But she couldn't bring herself to believe that her own kin would disregard their familial ties to commit such a foolish act, pushing the entire family towards ruin! Bai Lian observed the anger and incredulity etched on Tang Chuhuan's face, sighed faintly, and said nothing. At this point, not stating the obvious was merely a concession to preserve Tang Chuhuan's dignity. The truth was plain to see. She began to recall the plot from when she played through the "die if you don't dual cultivate" storyline in the game. Because Mu Jianli's chapter was akin to a tutorial level, designed with a focus on player experience, both the narrative depth and NPC strength were relatively low, and Gusu City was thoroughly a mortal city. As a result, this part of the plot hadn't left a lasting impression on her. She remembered that after successfully winning over Mu Jianli, she had left Gusu City and returned to the Taihua Sword Sect, handing over the gathered intelligence to Gu Qingqing. Once Mu Jianli's chapter was completed, everything that followed was peripheral — there were no new female leads or any opportunity to boost his stats further. Thus, she hadn't personally participated in the narrative of purging the cult. It was only in later parts of the storyline that she learned, by chance, about the fate that befell Gusu City and the Tang family. In the game, the Tang family's demise was tragic. After she and Mu Jianli left, the Taihua Sword Sect had formally initiated the cleansing operation, led by Gu Qingqing, an end-stage Qianyuan cultivator. The sect's cultivators struck at the cult's stronghold and utterly destroyed it. The remaining scattered remnants were naturally unable to form any significant threat and were gradually eliminated by local authorities. However, to everyone's shock, the cult had enticed a collateral relative of the Tang family with the promise of immortality, prompting this relative to steal the Spirit-Seeking Disc safeguarding the Tang family. Consequently, the Tang family was infiltrated by the cult, left vulnerable and fragmented. Once the stronghold was obliterated by the Taihua Sword Sect, the cultists hidden within the Tang family sought vengeance. Unable to challenge the Taihua Sword Sect, they unleashed their fury entirely upon the Tang family's mortal household. By then, the sect's cultivators had departed, leaving the mortal household powerless to withstand the wrath of cultivators. Ultimately, the entire Tang family was annihilated, and Gusu City too was left desolate, bereft of its former prosperity. These subsequent plot points weren't directly presented, nor did Gu Qingqing ever mention them. Had she not perused the Taihua Sword Sect's logs during a moment of clarity after completing a quest, she might never have known the Tang family's fate. Bai Lian suddenly recalled a side quest in the game that she had overlooked. When she was researching strategies, she had indeed noticed this side quest, even initiating the prerequisite tasks. However, since her attention was mainly on Mu Jianli at the time, and because the quest target was male, she had quickly and decisively chosen to abandon it after a cursory glance. Looking back now, every choice she made in the game rippled across the storyline like an unstoppable hurricane. Her indifference led to the Tang family's ruin, Gusu City's decline, and countless mortals displaced. And yet, her mind was filled only with cunning plans to win over female leads. Even in her moments of reflective clarity, she likely never considered the plight and fate of other NPCs in the game, did she? After all, at that time... she was merely playing a game. Who really cares about the fate of NPC bystanders in a game? First hearing the tune, she didn't grasp the meaning; upon hearing it again, she found herself within the song. She could no longer stand idly by. "Who would have thought... My father, with his kind and generous heart, never wronged anyone within the Tang family, only to nurture a pack of ingrates!" Tang Chuhuan angrily kicked the corpse on the ground. "If I find out who it is, they'll wish they were dead!" Even though she lacked the qualifications for cultivation, she had trained in martial arts since childhood and had become an innate martial artist, equivalent to the sixth or seventh stage of Feng Chu. A kick in anger could nearly shatter stone. Yet, despite propelling the spy's corpse into the air, all she managed to do was cause some of the fabric on its chest to tremble and tear slightly. "Master Tang, quell your anger. Now is not the time to alert the enemy... Hmm?" Bai Lian had intended to comfort the furious Tang Chuhuan but was distracted by something on the spy's corpse. In the center of the spy's chest was an unusual marking. The marking was small, about the size of a pinky nail, and might have gone unnoticed if Bai Lian hadn't been so observant. "Could it be... a slave mark?" Tang Chuhuan, having vented her anger, was curious about Bai Lian's comment. "Bai Fairy, what is a slave mark?" "It's an exceedingly vile spell. Once an ordinary cultivator is marked with a slave mark, they are completely at the mercy of the caster, unable to even decide their own life or death," Bai Lian explained. "I never imagined such vile methods existed in this world..." Tang Chuhuan nodded with a mix of understanding and bewilderment as she examined the spy's chest marking, her face suddenly changing to one of disbelief. "This mark... I've seen it before!" "Master Tang, you have?" Bai Lian was dumbfounded, unable to imagine where Tang Chuhuan could have encountered such a mark. After all, spells capable of controlling cultivators were classified as dark arts, jointly resisted by both legitimate and evil sects, and were extremely rare. Had it not been for her frequent use of such skills in the game, she might not have recognized it immediately either. "Yes, have you ever heard of Delight Monastery, Bai Fairy?" Tang Chuhuan replied with a grim expression. "The monks of Delight Monastery often descend to perform acts of charity and are greatly revered by the citizens of Gusu. The abbot, Yuanfa Monk, is highly skilled in the ways of Buddhism. They say that when he chants, a divine light descends upon the entire monastery, with visions of Buddhas and celestial maidens dancing in the sky—a truly mystical sight." "I've also heard that couples struggling to conceive often visit Delight Monastery to pray to the Delight Buddha. If their prayers move the Buddha, they are granted a child by the Bodhisattva." "Over time, Delight Monastery has become the most worshipped temple in our city." "And under Delight Monastery, there's a minor faction called Taixu Manor. I've seen this mark on people from Taixu Manor." As Tang Chuhuan explained, Bai Lian's expression grew peculiar. She was all too familiar with Delight Monastery—it was the future stronghold of the cult that would ravage Gusu City! Moreover, Taixu Manor was the name of the petty minions she encountered in the game. Characters like [Taixu Manor Female Disciple], [Taixu Manor Female Guest], or [Taixu Manor Female Bodhisattva], who were mere fodder without even proper names. So much so that she never paid much attention to those minor enemies, nor did she notice if they bore slave marks. Additionally, Tang Chuhuan had never mentioned Delight Monastery in the game. Let alone any Taixu Manor. Was the missing information due to her neglect of the side quest, or had her reincarnation changed the storyline? More crucially—Taixu Manor's appearance signified that Delight Monastery's infiltration of Gusu City was well-advanced. She arrived six months earlier than in her previous life, only to find the situation here even more pressing, as if some unseen force were hastening matters behind the scenes. Everything seemed to be spiraling toward an uncontrollable outcome.