Chapter Twenty: The Colossal Debt
"Although Zhao Wen and Huang Lan destroyed the spiritual fields of Little Peace Peak, they are not beyond redemption. I do not wish to see them waste their lives away on the Isolation Cliff, where not a wisp of spiritual energy is to be found. I hope, Master, that their punishment of solitary confinement might be commuted to three months of labor on Little Peace Peak. In this way, they can atone for their misdeeds and, by night, cultivate in preparation for the upcoming sect tournament."
Qu Yiqiu finished her proposal in one breath.
Zhou Chen, who had been listening from the side, looked utterly astonished. How could Senior Sister Qu make the prospect of forced labor on Little Peace Peak sound so grand and generous?
Luo Tangyu’s eyelids twitched, but he relented, "Very well."
After all, he had already agreed to such a hefty compensation; this paltry request was nothing in comparison.
At once, Qu Yiqiu’s aggrieved expression blossomed into radiant delight. "Master, you are truly just and magnanimous. We won’t disturb your rest any further. Zhou Chen, let’s return!"
With the matter settled, she turned to leave, wasting not a moment.
Zhou Chen was caught off guard by her sudden shift of demeanor and simply followed, obeying her command out of habit.
Luo Tangyu pressed his brow, unbothered by her mercurial nature. He had watched this girl grow up, after all. With any luck, once Little Peace Peak received their compensation, she would be able to advance her cultivation. He wondered what Junior Mo would think if he knew she’d been sent to compete in the Five Sects Tournament...
“Senior Sister Qu, do you think Zhao Wen and Senior Sister Huang will bear a grudge for this?” Zhou Chen asked, still uneasy. On the surface, these people obeyed sect rules, but behind closed doors, there was little they wouldn’t do. He feared that Senior Sister Qu would become their next target.
Qu Yiqiu only smiled, "Even if I hadn't done this, they would have resented me all the same—and would only have bullied me worse."
The cruelty of the cultivation world was nothing like the world she had once known.
If she bowed her head even once, there would be countless others lining up to trample her underfoot, determined to keep her there forever. She saw no reason to endure in silence every time.
Zhou Chen’s gaze darkened. Living at the very bottom of the Celestial Evolution Sect, he knew all too well the power these people wielded. He could only hope that, when Peak Master Mo emerged from seclusion, he would be able to protect her and the new spiritual fields.
Qu Yiqiu glanced toward the small courtyard Zhou Chen had built not far off and said with a smile, "You should get some rest. When the Disciplinary Hall comes to inspect the spiritual fields, I’ll handle it."
Zhou Chen nodded his honest assent and made his way back to his servants’ quarters.
Qu Yiqiu gazed at Little Peace Peak, shrouded in the silvery gauze of moonlight. The breeze stirred, and she felt a rush of exhilaration. Even if the head of the Disciplinary Hall came to inspect, she had nothing to fear. The spiritual fields were in disarray, the original spiritual energy so muddled as to be indistinguishable. She’d summoned a rain of spiritual spring water over them, which now filled the air with dense spiritual energy—easily mistaken for a third-grade spiritual field.
As for the first- and second-grade spiritual seeds that were just sprouting, their rank was impossible to discern in their current state, unless the sect brought in a spiritual cultivator of fifth grade or higher to inspect.
But that was impossible, for the Celestial Evolution Sect did not have a spiritual cultivator above the fifth grade.
Qu Yiqiu grinned. She had been worrying about acquiring resources to improve the fields, and now they were being delivered to her doorstep. Truly, a delightful turn of events!
Tonight, it seemed, would be anything but peaceful.
In the Celestial Evolution Sect’s main hall, Zhao Wen and Huang Lan stood pale and unsteady.
"Master… Master, you say we destroyed Little Peace Peak’s third-grade spiritual field, fourth-grade spiritual seedlings, jadeite fence, and even killed a second-tier earth flood-dragon worm?"
Luo Tangyu met their incredulous, stunned gazes and nodded coolly. "Yes. The Memory Stone is here—are you truly unaware of what you’ve done?"
Huang Lan’s knees buckled as she fell to the floor. "Master, you wrong us! Yes, we destroyed the spiritual field, but it couldn’t have been third-grade… and the seedlings, they couldn’t possibly have been fourth-grade!"
With the Memory Stone’s recording looping in the air, they could not deny what they had done. But third-grade spiritual fields, second-tier earth flood-dragon worms, jadeite fences—what were these things?
Zhao Wen, half in awe of Master Luo’s authority and half cursing Qu Yiqiu and Zhou Chen standing nearby, dropped to his knees beside Huang Lan, protesting, "Even if we appear in the Memory Stone, the earth flood-dragon worm and jadeite fence are pure fabrication! We only damaged ordinary spiritual fields and seedlings!"
"Still trying to lie? I have already inspected Little Peace Peak’s fields this very night. The fields and seedlings were destroyed beyond recognition, the earthworm’s corpse was still fresh and bleeding, jadeite fragments scattered all around. These details may not be clear in the Memory Stone, but I saw them with my own eyes at the scene!" Wang Shaoyang, head of the Disciplinary Hall, barked sharply. He himself had surveyed the scene the night before.
His booming voice left Zhao Wen and Huang Lan trembling. "Master, you wrong us! Hall Master, you wrong us! None of those things were there when we destroyed the field…"
"It was you! You must have put them there!" Zhao Wen, struck by sudden realization, leapt to his feet and pointed an accusing finger at Qu Yiqiu.
Qu Yiqiu looked utterly innocent. "The moment I returned yesterday, I was busy facing the disciples of the Profound Intention Sect. When would I have had time for such schemes? Zhao Wen, Senior Sister Huang, things have come to this—I bear you no ill will. So long as you compensate Little Peace Peak for its losses and help us tend the spiritual fields, we will not pursue the matter any further."
Her voice was gentle, imbued with persuasion, magnanimity, compassion, and kindness.
Zhao Wen was so enraged by her words and expression that he could barely speak. "Stop talking nonsense! Third-grade spiritual fields, fourth-grade seeds—how are we supposed to pay for those?"
Qu Yiqiu turned to Luo Tangyu and Wang Shaoyang. "Senior Brother Zhao has admitted to destroying those things. Let us proceed with compensation according to the rules."
She added, her eyes brimming with sympathetic light, "If you lack enough spirit stones, you may extend your labor as servants. Let’s settle at a market rate of five low-grade spirit stones per month."
"Rubbish! The market rate for servant disciples is nowhere near that!" Zhao Wen was now utterly caught up in her web.
Huang Lan, still kneeling in confusion, could not fathom how events had spiraled so out of control in a single night.
"Enough! Such crude language has no place in the main hall!" Luo Tangyu’s sharp rebuke silenced Zhao Wen at once, leaving him limp on the floor.
"Master, with all evidence and testimony in hand, I request punishment for Zhao Wen and Huang Lan, whose actions have disgraced our sect rules," Wang Shaoyang declared with a bow.
Zhao Wen and Huang Lan cried out their misery in unison.
Luo Tangyu ignored their pleas and brought down his verdict: Zhao Wen and Huang Lan were to report to Little Peace Peak the next day for servitude and to make full restitution for all losses.
Qu Youyou, having just heard from a disciple that Zhao Wen and Huang Lan had been summoned, arrived at the main hall in time to hear the outcome. Thankfully, the two had not exposed her—how disgraceful they were, wailing over such a minor punishment in front of the whole sect!
Later, when she learned of the enormous debt Zhao Wen and Huang Lan now owed, she could only curse Qu Yiqiu for her ruthless cunning.