CH 15.2

“not this one.”

“this one’s useless.”

“next.”

“pass.”

“…useless.”

“finished reading, didn’t find it.”

one hundred and eight strands of divine consciousness rapidly flipped through pages, quickly moving on to the next book!

“is anyone here? the book repository needs cleaning…”

the disciple on duty, carrying a straw broom, came up to the second floor and stood there, eyes wide open.

he slipped and tumbled down the stairs.

“monster, a monster!”

lin shuang was already submerged in several scrolls and bamboo slips.

half an incense stick’s time later, she opened her eyes to the white noise.

several books had landed in her hands.

“evil cultivators slay righteous paths, absorbing the vitality of others to enhance themselves. they must be eradicated.”

“if witnessing injustice, encountering an evil cultivator dismembering a mortal, seemingly venting anger, it’s hateful. i shall execute them on the spot.”

“rumors say this evil cultivator has slain eighteen powerful demons and is now wanted.”

lin shuang raised an eyebrow.

[december 9th, clear skies

in the external library, there are only three relevant entries, as follows…

righteous paths, mortals, powerful demons. the scope of the evil cultivators’ activities is quite broad.

however, it’s still unclear whether ‘i’ was killed by an evil cultivator.

sigh, the external library is still too limited. there’s a complete lack of information about the relevant techniques of evil cultivators and the truth about their cultivation. in this way, it’s challenging to find the cause and effect of ‘my’ death and pinpoint the actual perpetrator.

i can’t spend my whole life dissing all evil cultivators in the world. when will this ever end?

should i really enter the inner sect, gain the master’s favor, become a direct disciple, obtain a fifth-tier magic tool, and then use a retrograde symbol to find out the truth behind ‘my’ death?

forget it, i’ll stop here for today. there are other things to do.

—clue 1: finger bones related to my death.

—clue 2: extracted quote about my death.]

lin shuang closed the scroll of records, sighing lightly.

after all these years, there were only two clues.

she quickly returned the books and bamboo slips she had looked through and descended the stairs.

“lin senior sister is that you… you…?” the on-duty disciple stood at the doorway, his face pale.

lin shuang smiled. “you’ve worked hard cleaning.”

with that, she stepped onto her snowboard-like wide sword and left.

the on-duty disciple slid to the ground, covering his eyes. “senior sister… what kind of technique is this for cultivation? using books to play?”

the speed at which she flipped through those books, there’s no way she could have read them all, right?

impossible!

lin shuang walked straight out of the library, replenishing first-order talisman paper and ink at the management office on the way. afterward, she collected the duty schedule for the following week.

finally, she made her way to the inner sect.

as usual, she handed over the items she was delivering to the senior sister guarding the entrance.

“bringing more items again?” the senior sister guarding was already familiar with her.

after all, lin shuang’s appearance was outstanding, and her snowboard-like sword under her feet was eye-catching.

lin shuang smiled and nodded, continuing forward. she turned right to the rongbao pavilion at the edge of the inner sect’s entrance.

she took out a newly crafted third-tier swift travel talisman from her mustard seed bag—a seemingly ordinary wooden tablet, even newer than the previous one—hoisted it with one hand, and placed it among the shelves of the rongbao pavilion.

after completing her checklist:

1. investigate my death √

2. replenish talisman paper √

3. collect duty schedule √

4. rongbao pavilion transaction √

in less than half a candle’s worth of time, she had completed all four tasks on her way.

she truly lived up to her name!

lin shuang gave herself a thumbs-up.

[the fastest woman cultivator]: the swift travel talisman (variant) has been sent out. there’s only one, so collect it from the usual spot.

inside the rongbao pavilion, a pale-faced man leaned half-sleepily against a bamboo chair, his phoenix-like eyes half-closed. he seemed drowsy.

his thin hand covered his forehead, with two or three blue veins lightly protruding, shading his eyes from the sunlight.

when the wooden tablet, with its somewhat familiar four-sided design, floated into the rongbao pavilion, he stirred from his half-asleep state. his eyelids twitched lightly, and his coughing halted.

“…”

standing up, yet no one was in sight.

his slender hand slid from his brow to his lips.

perhaps due to coughing up blood, his lips were as red and vibrant as oleander flowers.

“master.”

a white-clad handsome youth didn’t dare to lift his head, quickly walking up behind him.

“liu ba’s mustard seed bag has been delivered by the annihilation pavilion.”

“but there’s nothing inside that we’re looking for.”

the man’s phoenix-like eyes suddenly opened, revealing a sliver of daylight.

his ink-black pupils turned blood-red, adding a touch of eerie allure to his pale face.

“liu ba fled into the great wilderness mountains before his death. the last contacts he had, apart from the annihilation pavilion, were the sun clan’s merchant caravan that passed through the great wilderness mountains, and the two disciples from the clearwater sect’s outer sect who escorted him…”

“zhou xuanwu, lin shuang.”

*

two days later.

the assessment for the outer sect disciples was in full swing.

many disciples were hurrying back and forth to the teaching pavilion, their brows furrowed, faces bitter, their stress immense.

only lin shuang, with a grin on her face like an old man, stood with folded hands in front of the passing wooden houses, watching.

“oh, junior sister, are you going for the assessment again? oh, today is the sword technique assessment. good luck!”

“huh, you’re also taking an afternoon assessment, junior sister? oh, it’s the rune crafting assessment then there’s nothing to worry about.”

“i don’t need to go.”

hehehe.

lin shuang had a sly smile on her face. every morning and afternoon, she would personally send zhao keran off to the transmission hall for assessment.

“senior sister!”

on the second day of the continuous assessments, zhao keran couldn’t bear it anymore.

her senior sister’s flaunting was truly infuriating. she wanted to hit someone.

but she could only grit her teeth and endure it.

what else could she do?

she hadn’t mastered the essence of the fastest learning like her senior sister. she couldn’t be exempted and had to participate in the comprehensive year-end assessments!

for two consecutive days, from morning until afternoon, she couldn’t even drink water…

sigh.

“senior sister, if you keep this up, i won’t go to the management office to pick up a new table for you. seriously, how is it possible that you don’t have a single one left!”

hehehe.

lin shuang currently couldn’t hear anything.

in her mind, there were only two words: “exempt from assessment.”

for these two days, she hadn’t planned anything, simply enjoying the stolen time as if it were a high-quality vacation.

this was like swallowing an entire summer’s worth of joy!

“junior sister, do well in your exam, carefully review your answers, and it’s fine if you come back a bit late.”

“…!”

for two happy days, lin shuang’s year-end assessments for the outer sect disciples finally concluded.

though she was somewhat reluctant to see them end, she adjusted her mindset. she prepared a sumptuous dinner to reward her poor examination-taking junior sister.

in the meantime, she congratulated herself. starting tonight, she could return to her normal routine exempt from assessments.

however, as night fell and the sunset, a bell toll rang out.

“outer sect disciple assessments are complete. do not leave.”

“after the duration of an incense stick, the sect will conduct a thorough examination. it will begin immediately.”

lin shuang was taken aback.

in the blink of an eye, the management senior brother, xu rui, hurried over, “junior sister, the exemption from the four assessments has ended, except for the disciple’s ‘heart examination’.”

heart examination.

it assessed whether a practitioner’s dao heart was pure.

given the rampant rise of evil cultivation, the sect feared that disciples might tread the path of evil. if that discovery came too late, the consequences would be dire.

lin shuang quickly understood.

this was akin to the morality and ethics exams from her previous life.

even if someone excelled in language and mathematics, they might not necessarily pass the ethics section.

she silently extended her hand, pulling down her left sleeve to cover the faded scar on her hand.

“senior brother, how long does this examination take?”

xu rui pondered, “the heart examination activates the time-space array. although it takes several years in the mind, it’s actually just an instant.”

lin shuang’s breath slightly hitched.

what kind of divine examination was this?

in the blink of an eye?

“then, could i complete all the assessments for the 11th year onwards within the heart examination? four assessments, four blinks.”

“???”

junior sister, what kind of nonsense are you thinking again?

with a stern expression, senior brother xu rui personally accompanied lin shuang, or rather, he escorted her, flying on his sword to the teaching pavilion.

“junior sister, take the heart examination seriously. don’t joke with the masters.”

“okay, senior brother? i never joke.”

“…!”

author’s note:

lin shuang: defamation. senior brother xu rui and the masters are never on my contact list for joking.

“memoirs of the 134th generation sect leader zhao” chapter 15: “senior sister knows how to make jokes and flaunt. that’s right, during those years, senior sister’s targets for jokes and flaunting were always me. don’t ask what ‘flaunting’ means; recalling it, i both laugh and cry.”

senior brother xu rui: …

*