Wang Yue's scream was sharp and piercing.
The scene in her mind flickered, and the next moment, a heavily wounded Wang Yue, clad in only a thin dress, her hands bound tightly with rope, was driven into the street with a group of house servants and retainers. Her hair was disheveled, her face covered in grime, and she no longer bore any resemblance to a governor's daughter. Behind her, a middle-aged official sneered and whipped her back, his voice laced with derision, "Tsk tsk, still think you're the governor's precious daughter? You're nothing but a weed in the mud now, worthless. Not even a stray dog would be too good to have their way with you!"
Wang Yue glared back at him fiercely, instantly earning a harsh slap across her face, leaving a vivid red handprint on her delicate features.
As night fell, on an official road.
Wang Yue and a group of "sheep" were tied to an ancient tree. Not far away, the escorting cavalry began to make a fire and cook. Just then, several cavalrymen cast covetous glances in their direction. Wang Yue could only see greed and madness in their eyes.
"Come, come!"
One of the cavalrymen stepped forward, grabbed Wang Yue, and untied her ropes, chuckling, "So beautiful. You'll be dead if you go to the demon race anyway. Might as well let us brothers enjoy ourselves first, save the waste."
The cavalrymen stepped into the woods together.
Wang Yue cried out for help, but the fellow travelers seemed completely deaf. Their faces were numb, sitting motionless, as if they had long been desensitized to what was happening before them.
Soon after, like a hunted animal, she was clamped under the armpit by a burly cavalryman and roughly thrown beside the tree. As she looked up, trying to memorize his face, he revealed a sinister grin, "What are you looking at? Believe it or not, I'll lop off your head with my saber. Do you think anyone would notice if one person was missing from this group?"
Wang Yue's gaze and expression gradually became numb.
A little later, a commander of ten thousand cavalry rode past. It was Zhu Qiong, who was in charge of escorting the "sheep." His eyes fell on Wang Yue's delicate beauty, and he frowned, "Who is that?"
"Reporting, sir!"
A captain of a hundred cavalry said in a low voice, "The governor's daughter, named Wang Yue. Her family has been confiscated and executed. She is the only one left."
"She does have some charm."
Zhu Qiong sneered, "Have her washed up. No one is to touch her from now on. Starting tonight, bring her to my main tent every time we camp."
"Yes, sir!"
The captain of a hundred cavalry smiled, stepped forward, and lifted Wang Yue, sneering, "Consider yourself lucky. From now on, you only need to focus on serving Lord Zhu Qiong. If you serve him well, you might have endless glory and wealth in the future."
Wang Yue's delicate face was entirely numb.
She no longer cared about any of it. Human lives were like weeds. This world was simply like this.
...
"Hoo..."
Suddenly, Lin Zhao dispelled his small world. He had never expected that the small world summoned by the flying sword Haoran would possess the divine ability to peer into one's mind. These short thirty seconds seemed to stretch, allowing him to witness everything Wang Yue had gone through, and only now did he understand the profound hatred in her eyes.
Do not offer advice to those who have not experienced your suffering.
"Ah?"
Wang Yue's heart also skipped a beat. When she looked at Lin Zhao, she knew everything. Her past had been seen through by the mountain master.
"Wang Yue!"
Lin Zhao instinctively lunged forward, his right hand snapping open to firmly grasp Wang Yue's neck, pushing back the woman who was attempting to leap off the cliff, and pinning her tightly against an ancient pine tree about a bowl's width in diameter.
"Please..."
Tears streamed down Wang Yue's face, her voice impossibly weak and gentle. "Mountain Master, please don't touch me... Someone like me... will dirty your hands, please don't..."
"It's okay."
Lin Zhao frowned and said, "Wang Yue, look at me."
"Mountain Master..."
Wang Yue looked up. Under the moonlight, a handsome face, clear eyes filled with heartache and anger. Lin Zhao's heartache was that Wang Yue should not have endured such suffering, and his anger was directed at the bottomless depravity of those beasts in Furong Prefecture of the Great Shang.
"Believe me."
Lin Zhao's left hand gently unfurled his five fingers, storing the recording of the mind-reading vision. He frowned and said, "Wang Yue! Starting from Zhu Qiong downwards, every single corrupt cavalryman in Furong Prefecture, every corrupt official in the Furong Prefecture yamen, I have recorded the face of each of them. I promise you, within my lifetime, I will travel south to Furong Prefecture and seek justice for you! Every one of them will die. Those whom you, Wang Yue, are powerless to kill, I, Lin Zhao, will kill for you. Our entire Snow Domain Heavenly Pool will kill for you. I will also send people to thoroughly investigate the murder of your parents. If the case can be overturned, it will be. If not, we will assassinate the culprits. If this world cannot grant you justice, I, Lin Zhao, will!"
Wang Yue trembled all over, sobbing uncontrollably.
For the first time in months, she was finally able to weep with her heart fully open.
Lin Zhao breathed a sigh of relief, withdrew his hand, and helped Wang Yue sit on the roots of the ancient pine tree. He said softly, "Live well in the Snow Domain Heavenly Pool. Forget all about the past. Follow Chu Yu and practice your martial arts diligently. The future will take care of itself. Look, if you were a cultivator of the Fifth Realm or above, you wouldn't even need the Snow Domain Heavenly Pool to act. You could go south alone and avenge your enemies yourself. But all of this hinges on you living well. If you die, no one will remember this blood feud in this world, right?"
"Mmm."
Wang Yue nodded through her tears.
Lin Zhao sat opposite her, keeping her company, letting her vent the grievances and accumulated sorrow in her heart.
...
The next morning.
Lin Zhao, as usual, woke up early and logged into the game. It was also early morning in the game. Dong Cang had just cooked a pot of chicken noodle soup, so Lin Zhao, Can Zhi, and Chu Yu each had a bowl, sitting in a pavilion beside Natural Abode and slurping their noodles.
Not far away, two figures had finished their morning practice and were coming down the mountain.
One was Tong Yu, and the other was Wang Yue. As for Chen Ben, that fellow had gone with Mu Zha to practice martial arts in the training grounds at the foot of the mountain, saying that as a military strategist, practicing in a training ground filled with the aura of warfare was most suitable.
Wang Yue's expression was much better today, and her eyes had regained some luster. She even chatted with Tong Yu as they walked down the mountain, with more smiles on her face, though she was still quite thin.
"Finished practicing?" Chu Yu asked with a smile.
"Mmm!" Wang Yue nodded with a smile, "Master, finished practicing."
"Come eat after you're done." Lin Zhao turned and said, "Dong Cang, serve Tong Yu and Wang Yue two bowls of noodles. Put a chicken leg with meat in Wang Yue's bowl, let her replenish her strength. She's too thin, how can she practice martial arts like this."
Tong Yu giggled, "Alright, Brother Lin Zhao, no need for Sister Dong Cang to be busy. Wang Yue and I will serve ourselves."
"Mmm, that's fine too!"
Just as the two young girls went to serve themselves noodles, a figure soared up the mountain, it was Xiang Ji. His expression was solemn, and he said in a low voice, "My lord, we have made a new discovery in the southern mountains."
"Mmm?" Lin Zhao was startled. "What discovery?"
Xiang Ji said, "Does my lord still remember that our Snow Domain Heavenly Pool once established two temporary camps in the southern mountains? One was the Luoyan Mountain camp, and the other was Plum Blossom Mountain. These two camps were meant to form a pincer formation with the Snow Domain Heavenly Pool."
"Naturally, I remember."
"We have always had cavalry patrolling these two camps, and we store some temporarily unused supplies there. Just last night, a cavalryman's horse stumbled and fell into a valley in Luoyan Mountain. To our surprise, a deep cave at the bottom of the valley turned out to be a natural spirit stone mine. Here, this is a spirit stone he dug up after working hard for a long time."
Xiang Ji stepped forward and presented, with both hands, a spirit stone about 40 centimeters long and as thick as a wrist. The spirit stone emanated a fiery aura, and its spiritual energy was incredibly potent.
"..." Lin Zhao frowned. "This kind of spirit stone should be very valuable, right?"
"More than valuable?" From the side, Can Zhi smiled and said, "My lord, do you know that the Jinzi money, Feiyu money, and Qingfu money circulating throughout the world are all cast by the Mohist Ancestral Hall? The Mohist Ancestral Hall is responsible for casting all the coins used in the world. Their artisans refine and extract spiritual energy, and smelt the essence into Jinzi money, Feiyu money, and Qingfu money. And these spirit stones are the raw materials for refining spiritual energy. It can be said that without these crystals, there would be no such a large amount of mountain coins."
Chu Yu said, "My lord may not know how significant a spirit stone mine is. Let's just say that within the human territory of the entire Great Shang Dynasty, there are only a dozen or so spirit stone mines in total. If the spirit stone mine in Luoyan Mountain is very rich, then our Snow Domain Heavenly Pool's financial problems might be quickly resolved."
"Understood." Lin Zhao stood up, finished his noodle soup in one gulp, and said, "Can Zhi, Chu Yu, come with me to this spirit stone mine to investigate its reserves. The rest of you, stay and guard the Snow Domain Heavenly Pool."
"Yes!" Can Zhi put down her bowl, raised a sword light, and along with Lin Zhao and Chu Yu, they set off for Luoyan Mountain.
...
A few breaths later, piercing through the clouds, they descended upon Luoyan Mountain. A team of Snow Domain cavalry was waiting on the mountainside. A captain of a hundred cavalry said solemnly, "Greetings, Commander Lin!"
"Mmm." Lin Zhao nodded. "Take us to see that spirit stone mine!"
"Yes!" The cavalrymen sped through the mountains towards the back. At the edge of a cliff, looking down was a bottomless abyss. The captain of a hundred cavalry said in a low voice, "The spirit stone mine is in this abyss, about a hundred zhang away from here!"
"Understood." Can Zhi nodded, lowered the height of her flying sword, and led Lin Zhao and Chu Yu towards it. The moment they descended into the abyss, the sword light turned cold. Can Zhi had already summoned a small world to protect the three of them. In terms of meticulousness, Can Zhi was considered outstanding among the generals of the Snow Domain Heavenly Pool.
Among the dense mountain rocks and vegetation, a cave filled with a damp atmosphere appeared. Can Zhi, leading the two, floated in. As they landed in the cave, they could feel a strong surge of spiritual energy. This spirit stone mine was clearly not comparable to ordinary spirit stone mines.
"My lord." Can Zhi smiled slightly. "Heaven has blessed our Snow Domain Heavenly Pool. The reserves of this spirit stone mine are estimated to be enough to cast one hundred thousand Jinzi coins. I never expected to find such a treasure deep in Luoyan Mountain!"