Tianyun Sect and the Sword Sect are both major sects with a century-old heritage in the Cultivation World. Isn't what she's doing... a bit too dangerous?
"Junior Brother, keep an open mind." Feng Ning rubbed her hands together, eager to try. "Today, we're going to collect all the sect bounties on me."
"..." Di Siyu fell silent for a fraction of a second, his brows still locked in a deep frown. "Just you alone..."
"Don't worry, Junior Brother, I know what I'm doing." Feng Ning cut him off, offering him a reassuring little look. "Taking a step back, I'm just a good-for-nothing Feng Ning. Which major sect would ever deign to look at me? I definitely won't be in danger for a short time, and it'll be easy to run."
Besides, she had plenty of good things she'd swiped from various sect disciples.
It was more than enough!
Di Siyu was still a bit uneasy and opened his mouth to speak, but saw her pull out a hemp rope, hand it to him, and urge him, "Junior Brother, hurry, tie me up. Don't tie it too tight, but make it look convincing."
Di Siyu obediently took the hemp rope and tied what looked like a complicated knot.
He shoved one end of the rope into Feng Ning's palm and instructed, "Hold onto this rope. When the time comes, you just need to give it a hard tug and all the bindings on you will fall apart."
"Mm-hmm-hmm." Feng Ning nodded obediently and said excitedly, "Let's go, Junior Brother."
Di Siyu was truly exasperated.
He had never seen any wanted cultivator who was so eager to get caught.
Tianyun Sect Branch.
From the outside, the architecture was magnificent, but the interior was desolate and quiet, with only three disciples bustling about at unknown tasks.
"Who goes there?"
One had to admit, the vigilance of the Tianyun Sect disciples was still quite high; they were spotted the moment they stepped through the door.
"I'm here to collect the bounty." Di Siyu's movements looked rough, but he actually gently pressed Feng Ning down in front of the three of them, lowering his voice. "This is Feng Ning from the wanted list. Two hundred medium-grade spiritual stones."
The lead disciple looked the two of them over with a probing gaze, finally letting his eyes fall on Feng Ning.
He searched through the desk for a long time before digging Feng Ning's portrait out from under a pile of filth to compare.
"Hm? It really is Feng Ning, exactly like the portrait." He casually rolled the portrait into a ball, tossed it into the pile of filth, and turned to give an order. "Third, go get two hundred medium-grade spiritual stones for this young master."
Tianyun Sect disciples possessed a rather uncomfortable arrogance, and his tone was as if he were shooing away a beggar.
Di Siyu didn't mind. After taking the spiritual stones, he cast Feng Ning a deep look and left.
As for Feng Ning, she was roughly pushed by the lead disciple into a corner to squat. "Third, go notify the inner sect senior brothers who lost their storage bags and tell them Feng Ning has been caught."
"Third" replied, "Senior Brother Luo, you forgot, the inner sect senior brothers all went to participate in the sect trials. How are we supposed to notify them?"
Hearing this, Senior Brother Luo smacked his own head. "Look at my memory. Then what should we do with this Feng Ning? Lock her up? Or send her back to the Feng family first?"
As he spoke, he didn't forget to turn his head to look at Feng Ning. "Eh? Where is she?"
At that moment, there was no trace of Feng Ning left in the corner—only a few dark thunder-fire bombs were smoking.
Senior Brother Luo's eyes widened in terror. "Thunder-fire bombs! Run! Quick... run outside!!"
Bang! Boom... A series of deafening explosions shook the ground a few times, yet they failed to cause any public commotion.
Because protective barriers surrounded it, the grand and noble Tianyun Sect building still looked completely undamaged from the outside. Inside, however, it was shattered to pieces, burying the three arrogant Tianyun Sect disciples under the ruins, covered in dust and utterly wretched.
Meanwhile, Feng Ning had successfully teleported to Di Siyu's side.
Seeing her, Di Siyu was visibly startled. "So fast?"
He hadn't even reached the Sword Sect's branch yet.
"If you're not proactive about making money, there's something wrong with your mindset." Feng Ning grabbed him and sprinted wildly. "Come on, Junior Brother, let's keep going."
...
Having successfully bombed the branches of the three major sects and two major families in Yunzhong City, Feng Ning and Di Siyu returned with a full load of earnings.
She even bought three roasted chickens to reward her hardworking master and senior brothers.
Yet... when she returned to the dilapidated temple and saw Feng Qing, her smile instantly froze on her face.
At that moment, Feng Qing was sitting at Su Yunfeng's fortune-telling stall, her demeanor elegant and noble.
Her Second Senior Brother and Third Senior Brother, who usually sold performances for a living, as well as her master, who begged for food, all seemed deeply captivated by her.
Her Eldest Senior Brother, Mo Xuan, gazed at her with a dazed expression.
Watching this scene, Feng Ning's eyelids twitched violently. She hadn't expected to run into Feng Qing so soon.
According to the original plot, Feng Qing should have entered the Tianyun Sect by now and been participating in the sect trials.
Why was she appearing in Yunzhong City?
Would a great heroine like her actually believe in a fortune-telling stall?
Seeing her stand rigidly without stepping forward, her expression extremely grave, Di Siyu couldn't help asking, "What's wrong?"
"It's nothing." Feng Ning planned to observe a bit longer and dragged Di Siyu to hide off to the side.
She wanted to see just how much influence Feng Qing could exert over the few members of the Wanshou Sect.
"Patron, you are blessed with natural wealth, favored by heaven and earth, and your future prospects are simply boundless," Su Yunfeng rattled off perfunctory auspicious phrases, though his gaze drifted, searching for something—*Where did Junior Sister go? Why hasn't she come back yet?*
Feng Qing's expression was quite complex. She looked over the people present one by one, and finally left a pouch of high-grade spiritual stones before departing.
She harbored a sense of guilt toward these men from the Wanshou Sect.
She hadn't expected that they used to live such miserably wretched lives, having to rely on street performing to make a living.
Guilty, but not regretful. If she had to go through it again, she would still make the same choice; let these spiritual stones serve as compensation for them.
Until Feng Qing walked far away, they were still staring blankly at her retreating figure!
Unable to hold back any longer, Feng Ning dragged Di Siyu out from the shadows and roughly battered their heads one by one with the roasted chickens. "Keep looking! If you're that reluctant to part with her, go follow her."
Feng Ning truly wanted to use these chickens to knock some sense into them—they must not be seduced by the female protagonist, or they would lose their lives!
Clutching their heads in bewilderment, the men looked at Feng Ning, completely baffled as to why she had suddenly turned so irritable.
"No! Junior Sister, I just thought she looked a bit like you, so I looked a few extra times," Mo Xuan explained while clutching his head.
"Yeah, not only does she look like you, but she's also quite strange," Helian Changkong and Bai Junze said almost in unison.
Wan Chongshan felt very wronged. "This old man just saw that she dressed quite nicely and must be quite wealthy, so I wanted to see if I could ask for a bit more."
Su Yunfeng was even more wronged. "Junior Sister, I wasn't looking at her. I was looking for you! Where did you go?!"
Great! Now they were the ones feeling wronged.
"I went to make money, and when I came back, I thought you guys had taken a fancy to some other junior sister," Feng Ning grumbled, feeling wronged herself. "I'll just spell it out for you straight: that person's name is Feng Qing. She's the true eldest daughter of the Feng family whose identity I usurped. My spiritual root was dug out by the people around her. That person is very dangerous—staying away from her is the right choice."
Hearing this, Di Siyu had a sudden moment of understanding. No wonder her expression had been so strange earlier; it turned out she was just trying to avoid suspicion.
"So she's from the Feng family. No wonder she asked me so many inexplicable questions," Su Yunfeng said thoughtfully. "Now that I think about it, she was definitely trying to sniff out your whereabouts, Junior Sister. Fortunately, I'm sharp—aside from fortune-telling, I didn't entertain her at all."
"Right, right! She even asked me if I had fallen into the demonic path. How presumptuous!" Mo Xuan picked up the thread.
"And me," Helian Changkong chimed in, stepping forward. "She came right up and demanded things from me. The nerve of her."
"Come to think of it, it's weird too—she gave me a giant flatbread," Bai Junze said, pinching the flatbread with utter disgust.
Over on Wan Chongshan's side, things were much simpler: a full bowl of high-grade spiritual stones.
The more Feng Ning listened, the more she felt something was amiss. She lowered her gaze to conceal the storm brewing in her eyes. Feng Qing seemed to know far too much about them now, and that shouldn't be the case!