The Ninth Lady is a rebellious person.

Chapter 512 My death was more tragic than that of the fake Lang Jiu!
In the twelfth lunar month, heavy snow fell.

Lang Jiuchuan stood under a city gate, looking up at the two somewhat faded seal characters on the gate: Pancheng.

This ancient city nestled between two mountains now appears no different from any other border town. People come and go, crowds throng, and the marketplace bustles with activity, as if the near-annihilation of the catastrophe two years ago had never happened. Yet, the watermarks on the mountain walls outside the city, which have not yet completely receded, and the occasional words of awe and gratitude on the faces of the people when they mention that miracle, all tell a story of that despairing and terrifying past.

That is a past that cannot be forgotten.

Lang Jiuchuan sighed. Pancheng was not her burial place, but the place where she bound herself. For the sake of the people of this city, she willingly walked into the trap and became trapped within it.

Right here, two years ago, her good master, Tantai Qing, set up a deadly trap for her, using the people of the city and her compassion to lure her into the trap.

Lang Jiuchuan lowered his eyes, about to enter, when he caught a glimpse of a white figure leaping out of the void, along with a slender figure.

She stood still, smiling as she looked at the tiger and the ghost.

"It really is here." Upon seeing her, Jiang Che's tiger body trembled with excitement. He leaped over and landed a foot away from her, circling her twice. His tiger eyes gleamed: "It's really different now. It looks like a human."

This young lady is quite pretty.

Fu Qi looked her up and down, and said with a look of relief, "Everyone has been waiting for you for a long time. Fortunately, you have lived up to everyone's expectations. Thank you for your hard work."

Lang Jiuchuan said, "I'm sorry to have worried you. Why would I come looking for you?"

"Jiang Che said he sensed your presence, so he came to check on you."

Jiang Che leaped up on his toes and, as always, perched on her shoulder, complaining with a wronged expression, "The ghost general by Fengya's side wouldn't let us follow you, so we could only cultivate while waiting. Now, you're finally safe and sound?"

"As you can see." Lang Jiuchuan's aura slightly weakened.

Jiang Che sensed it and immediately felt a chill. It was stronger than before, and this aura felt somewhat like it was from the same source as it, not from the same lineage, but rather the origin of a divine beast.

"So you remember everything from your past life?"

Lang Jiuchuan nodded: "I am a disciple of the Imperial Preceptor, and my Daoist name is Qingyi."

Dongfang Jia Yi Qinglongmu was the Taoist name she gave herself when she was two years old, while holding a piece of Qinglongmu wood.

Fu Qi was surprised: "You are also a disciple of the Imperial Preceptor, but he only has the Holy Maiden as his disciple. Does he have two disciples?"

Princess Tantai is the Imperial Preceptor's disciple, a fact known throughout Da Dan. Lang Jiuchuan is also a disciple, yet no news of it has ever surfaced. However, the aura she exuded just now clearly demonstrates her talent. Such a person should not remain unknown!
“That’s right, I’ve never heard that the Imperial Preceptor has two disciples now.” Jiang Che was also puzzled. Even when her soul was incomplete, she had already shown enough talent and ability. She must have been a gifted person in her previous life. She shouldn’t be ashamed of it!

Lang Jiuchuan's eyes flashed, and he said, "If there is only one disciple, then there will be no doubt when the other shadow disappears."

So in those years, she never doubted or felt that there was anything wrong with it. It was just a secluded cultivation practice. For her, time passed in the mountains. This kind of cultivation was not boring. She did not see outsiders and did not feel that it was inappropriate. She only had one playmate and never felt that it was too little.

Between the two of them, who is whose shadow?
That doesn't make sense!
Jiang Che and Fu Qi exchanged a glance, their eyes both showing some seriousness. They cautiously asked, "What have you remembered? When you searched the Rong family's main soul, did you already know the truth about the switch? Could that person be the Imperial Advisor?"

Her vague and ambiguous manner makes one wonder what's going on.

"It was him. He took me away, then carefully taught and nurtured me into a capable person. In the end, he killed me here." Lang Jiuchuan looked at Pancheng, his voice calm. A short sentence, yet it encompassed all the grudges and passions.

Two years ago, she had just established her foundation. Perhaps she was too promising and grew too fast. As soon as she spread her wings, Tantai Qing became afraid. He was afraid that she would fly out of his control and that his years of planning would come to nothing. So he carefully prepared a deadly trap for her.

She looked to the mountain to her left, shaped like a dragon's head. To imprison her, they had resorted to a secret technique to activate the core of the dragon-trapping array, causing the dragon vein's violent energy to erupt at any moment. With just a hand seal, it would burst forth. It was the season of continuous rain, and the water on the mountain had already reached a certain level. If it got out of control, a flash flood would inevitably break out, and the city below, along with the border garrison, and the 100,000 lives of its inhabitants, would surely become its sacrifice.

She was ordered to suppress the rebellion, which was also her first test after she had established her foundation. Although she had some doubts about it, even Fengya had warned her to be very careful of Tantai Qing.

But she came anyway.

Not to verify anything, but for the sake of the people of that city.

As it turned out, the so-called Dragon-Binding Formation did not imprison the raging dragon vein, but rather her. The formation used the lives of all the people in the city as a threat, forcing her to enter the formation voluntarily, forcibly suppress the violent energy, and forcibly intercept the cascading floodwaters, diverting them to a different path, bypassing Pancheng and dispersing.

She saved the people of a city, but she was caught in a battle and imprisoned by him.

Jiang Che and Fu Qi looked at the mountainside, which still bore traces of the flash flood, and at the people walking by, and both fell silent.

"So you died here in your previous life?" Fu Qi asked with a bitter expression.

"No."

Jiang Che was puzzled: "You are his disciple, so why would he use the people of this city as a hostage if he wanted to deal with you? Even if you have already reached the Foundation Establishment stage, his cultivation level is definitely higher than yours. He wouldn't go to such lengths."

Lang Jiuchuan smiled faintly: "Do you think the merit of saving 100,000 lives is great?"

Jiang Che was taken aback.

That's definitely not an ordinary amount; it involves the lives of 100,000 people. She has received this merit, and while it can't be said that her merit is complete, the power of this vow is more nourishing to her soul than anything else.

The Imperial Preceptor's Taoist magic is highly advanced, yet he's taking such a roundabout approach. It's not that he lacks confidence in defeating her, but rather that he'll wait until she gains the merit before...

The white fur on Che's body stood on end, and he exclaimed in surprise, "He wants you to take this merit before taking you down, because he wants you to be burdened with the power of merit and vows?"

Fu Qi instantly thought of the great formation in which he and his three thousand Fu family soldiers continuously burned their heroic souls, and looked at her with fear in his eyes: "Is it like us? He used you to suppress the formation, to make you bring about the fate of the nation and lay the foundation for the Great Dan."

Upon hearing this, Jiang Che's tiger eyes turned into vertical pupils, and his tiger body trembled slightly.

If that's the case, where did it go, what kind of formation was it used to suppress, and what is his intention?

"Where? You said you didn't die here, so where were you imprisoned in your past life?"

"It should be the Imperial Mausoleum in Dadan." Lang Jiuchuan looked in the direction of the mausoleum and said calmly, "With my body, I will guard the mausoleum; with my energy, I will nourish the dragon vein; with my soul, I will enrich the nation's destiny. My death is more tragic than that of the fake Lang Jiu."

(End of this chapter)