Cohabitation with Sword Spirit-Chapter 304 - 41: Bandit Stronghold

January 24, 2018

Research shows that if people are idle, they can easily cause trouble.

This is especially true for young people in their teens and twenties, full of energy and vigor, who are most prone to making extremely irrational choices, not only ruining their own lives but often causing lifelong tragedies for others.

In a mature society, to prevent such incidents, these passionate young people are forcibly restrained, ensuring they channel their energy and enthusiasm into society-benefiting activities as much as possible.

Most recently, using the Shen Family as an example, they threw the younger generation of cultivators into the Shen Family Outer Courtyard for grueling training that is neither fully alive nor dead; no matter how much energy and enthusiasm they had, it was to be exhausted, leaving them no time to stir up trouble.

Additionally, in wealthy cities on the Xiangzhou Continent today, compulsory education systems have become common, forcing young people to attend various schools to learn basic knowledge. This is partly to improve citizen quality, thereby enhancing the development of the entire city. It is also to manage these unstable young elements.

In summary, all of the above sufficiently proves the significant harm that idle young people pose.

And Li Wanqing is now profoundly experiencing this point.

"...I say, I'm going to flirt with girls or chase skirts, but you straight guys and gals are so openly following me. Isn't this a bit too off-track?!"

With a hint of helplessness, Li Wanqing turned around to complain.

The sightseeing group composed of Wang Jiu, Shen Qingming, Li Chaolu, Li Xinyu, and others was following her, watching her every move with interest, among whom Wang Jiu was even writing with a pen and paper as if observing a protected rare animal.

Wang Jiu said, "I find your flirting behavior to be very research-worthy. On one hand, it can increase my understanding of human cultural diversity, improve my interpersonal skills, and foster harmonious coexistence with humans. On the other hand, it's based on a responsible attitude towards the descendants of an old friend, to ensure whether your currently displayed homosexual tendency is just a coincidence. If not merely a coincidence, but a necessary outcome due to some family environment influences, then I must intervene to prevent the risk of the Li Family's extinction due to the increasing proportion of homosexuality."

Wang Jiu's earnest explanation genuinely left Li Wanqing feeling a bit powerless.

"Trust me, I'm just a special case, having nothing to do with any bloodline inheritance or family environment."

Wang Jiu shook his head, "I cannot draw such a conclusion from your parents' diaries."

"..." Li Wanqing was silent for a long time and then said, "Rest assured, our dangerous trait is likely to die out as I indulge in chasing girls. My parents exhausted all their energy to have me, so it's unlikely I'll have any siblings. As long as I'm extinct, this undesirable gene won't be transmitted further."

Wang Jiu thought for a moment and said, "Although you have this good subjective intention, objective reality often brings unexpected events contrary to subjective intentions, such as unintended pregnancy caused by assault, spontaneous emotions, or casual interactions. So I suggest, if you've decided to eradicate the transmission of homosexual traits from a genetic perspective, you might consider a ligation surgery for a once-and-for-all solution..."

"...I'll consider it, thanks."

"You're welcome." After speaking, Wang Jiu resumed his focus on writing in his notebook.

Li Wanqing really had no way to deal with this Celestial Sword Spirit, so she turned her attention to Shen Qingming and the others beside him.

"What about you guys? Are you here to study abnormal human behavior like Wang Jiu? Especially you, Little Sister Qingming."

There's no need to ask about Li Chaolu's intentions; you can guess just by her eyes fixated on Wang Jiu without relaxing at all. With Li Chaolu following, Li Xinyu naturally wouldn't stay behind, so the only question was Shen Qingming.

Shen Qingming shook her head, "I'm just curious about what the maid who could make Sister Wanqing take the initiative looks like."

Li Wanqing immediately found it amusing, "What do you mean by 'taking the initiative'?"

Shen Qingming said, "Although I haven't known you, Sister Wanqing, for very long, only from before the Cyan Cloud Competition until now these past few months, in my impression, it has always been girls coming to you, and it's seldom seen you actively seeking out any woman. That woman using just some of Shen City's local customs to draw you to visit her at night is indeed a bit suspicious."

Li Wanqing shrugged, "Well, that woman does indeed catch my attention. How should I put it, although her professional demeanor in the teahouse would make ninety-nine percent of her peers feel ashamed, I can be sure she's absolutely not a genuine maid."

Shen Qingming was confused, "What do you mean?"

Wang Jiu guessed, "A man dressed as a woman with certain characteristics?"

"...No, her aura is very unique, unlike a mortal, yet without true essence fluctuations, neither ordinary nor immortal, somewhat like..." Li Wanqing said, turning her gaze toward Wang Jiu, "someone like you."

Then Wang Jiu also raised his eyebrows, "Setting aside certain characteristics, I've never dressed as a woman, so why would you think I'm a man dressed as a woman?"

As soon as the words fell, everyone clearly heard Li Chaolu's suddenly heavy breathing.

Li Wanqing shook her head, "Just because I'm unsure of her background and received such a strange invitation, I wanted to visit personally. Who would have thought that all of you would follow... with such a large group, whether she's still willing to receive us is uncertain."

Li Wanqing's worries proved to be unnecessary.

Following the note left by that strange maid for Li Wanqing, the group arrived at a quiet alley in the south of Shen City.

It's strange, the alley outside is a bustling city street filled with people and traffic, yet turning a corner, it's as if day has turned to night, and the surroundings suddenly quiet down.

This mysterious and winding path immediately gave several people a sense of déjà vu.

Li Chaolu took a couple of steps and couldn't help but ask, "...Could it be, that maid is the daughter of a big figure in the Shen Family, who is having a misunderstanding with her stepmother, acting rebellious, and moved out of the Inner City to live alone. Then because of poverty, she had to work at a maid's teahouse, and is currently looking to buy a Whiteboard Sword for nine ounces of silver?"

Shen Qingming found it awkward the more she listened, and let out a cold humph to show her displeasure.

Li Chaolu also let out a humph: "It would have been great if I had bought Mr. Wang Jiu back then..."

The group arrived at the door while speaking.

Looking at the familiar Zao Hong Gate, the group was even more embarrassed, with Li Wanqing and Li Chaolu both turning to look at Shen Qingming, making the girl's cheeks blush even more.

"What are you looking at!? Never seen a coincidence?"

Wang Jiu had no intention of wasting time arguing over such a cliché scene. Seeing that a few people were idling and chatting at the door, he went ahead and knocked on the door.

As soon as he knocked the first time, the Zao Hong Gate opened wide.

A woman with a delicate and pleasant appearance stood at the door, looking somewhat surprised at the crowd in front of her, and then showed a sweet smile.

"So many people, welcome, come in."

As she spoke, the woman turned and led the way into the courtyard. However, behind her, the Li Family people seemed reluctant to move.

Everyone's attention was firmly attracted by the graceful back and the scene inside the courtyard.

As Li Wanqing said, this girl indeed seemed a bit out of place.

Her serene demeanor in the face of cultivators was indeed not like that of an ordinary person, yet there were no True Essence fluctuations, nor did she have the characteristics of a cultivator, which indeed seemed somewhat like Wang Jiu, but even more extreme. Because after the reconstruction of Sword World over so long, that pure white Divine Sword Body, after all, still showed some divinity.

Besides, the scene behind the Zao Hong Gate looked more and more like the Shen Garden in Cyan Cloud, even the school grounds beside the main house were exactly the same. Next to the courtyard wall, a lush ancient tree stood, its branches and leaves halfway over the wall, merging with the surrounding Spirit Wind and supporting an Illusion Array.

To say it's a coincidence is a bit too much!

In the moment of astonishment, Wang Jiu already followed the woman into the courtyard, but after walking just two steps, Wang Jiu suddenly stopped and said, "Void Clarity Body?"

With one sentence, the woman in front trembled slightly.

Turning back, the smile remained on her face.

"Amazing, Mr. Wang Jiu, even more perceptive than the rumors say."

As soon as the words "Mr. Wang Jiu" were uttered, people at the door of the courtyard suddenly realized.

Definitely not an ordinary person, most likely someone from the Shen Family.

After all, Shen City is not like Cyan Cloud, Wang Jiu's handsome face isn't that famous here. Those who can recognize him are most likely from the Shen Family.

The woman smiled gracefully and said to everyone: "I am Shen Ying, welcome to my humble abode."

Shen Ying?

Hearing this name, everyone felt a sense of familiarity but couldn't recall where they'd heard it before.

Only the one non-human present realized: "So you are the one Shen Jinghai spoke of, who is as distinguished as Shen Feihong and the others, the most exceptional cultivator of this generation in the Shen Family? Indeed, the innate Void Clarity Body was the top-tier Divine Technique in the old era."

Upon hearing Wang Jiu's explanation, people suddenly remembered...

When they first arrived at Shen City, they had a fierce fight with Shen City soldiers at a sandstone barbecue stall, and then Shen Jinghai came out to stop this endless fight and exchanged some banter. In these talks, it was indeed mentioned that among the outstanding young generation in the Shen Family, there was one named Shen Ying.

It's just... this name indeed had little presence. When the group arrived at the Shen Family Outer Courtyard, they saw many heroes of the Shen Family, including the Hong Hu Brothers, Shen Qing, Shen Wuyong, etc., yet really never heard of the name Shen Ying, not even in the daily gossip among the Shen Family. So no one really took Shen Jinghai's words to heart, just considered it family pride and vanity, wanting to produce a name surpassing the Li Family. They also felt lucky they didn't talk too much with him at the time, lest he really conjured a lineup of Eighteen Arhats and Thirty-six Heavens, surely losing in momentum.

But now it seems, Shen Ying actually does exist!? But why...

Wang Jiu explained: "The characteristic of the Void Clarity Body is like this, naturally has a very weak sense of presence, and it can perfectly collect True Essence fluctuations with a little cultivation, born to be an assassin."