I courted death and then tried to escape, so the whole sect wants to get rid of me.

After Wen Wumian finished speaking, Song Yao immediately raised her hand, and the five spirit stones on the table flew up in response.

It is neither arranged according to the stars nor arranged in accordance with any rules.

Instead, it crashed straight into the trap set up by Wen Wumian, accurately striking several weak points in the array. The flowing silver threads were shaken by the impact, and the array instantly loosened a bit.

Wen Wumian calmly raised his hand to reinforce the formation.

After several rounds, it was discovered that Song Yao only attacked and did not defend, playing completely unpredictably, and his killing intent was fierce.

He was forced to adjust the formation, and with a flick of his finger, he moved the two spirit stones to a new position to stabilize the formation. Just then, he heard the disciples around him exclaim in surprise.

Looking up, Song Yao's scattered spirit stones had somehow come together, with silver threads connecting them like spider silk, weaving a dense net on the chessboard, which quickly entangled his array core.

The originally stable trapping formation collapsed instantly under this sudden counterattack, and spirit stones rolled onto the table one after another.

A moment of silence fell, then erupted in cheers: "Give us the money! Give us the money! Lin Mu won!"

"Win within ten moves, double the payout!!"

"Stop cheating!"

The disciple who lost the bet let out a wail and pulled out his money.

Mingran bet a lot and returned triumphantly with the spirit stones in her pocket: "Little Master, we'll split it 50/50 later."

Ye Chang'an's smile froze on his lips, his fingertips gripping the chair handle almost imperceptibly.

Wen Wumian stared blankly at the spirit stones scattered on the ground for a long time before realizing something. Slightly unwilling, he said, "Let's play one more round."

Song Yao gathered all the spirit stones on the table into her bosom: "I'm not coming."

Wen Wumian: "..."

Song Yao: "I'm not playing anymore."

Wen Wumian: "..."

No.

How can you win and then run away like that?

He felt a surge of anger welling up inside, but couldn't say anything. With a gloomy face, he walked back behind Ye Chang'an.

Wen Wushuang, however, sensed something was amiss.

This little alchemist's array formation technique looks familiar, like I've seen it somewhere before.

She took a half step forward: "Junior Sister Lin, how about a game with me? I won't bully you; I'll give you a ten-spirit-stone handicap, how about it?"

With ten units in formation, even if a formation master were to enter the fray, it would be extremely difficult to turn the tide.

She didn't care about winning or losing; she just wanted to see it more closely.

Having had her fill, Song Yao stepped aside, clutching a full bag of spirit stones, without turning back, and said, "No, I don't like playing these games."

Wen Wushuang: "..."

Jiang Jin gave Song Yao a wink, trying to signal her not to be so disrespectful, but Song Yao's attention was already drawn to the pastries on the table, and she was whispering and eating with Cheng Yuemingran.

Having no other choice, he politely said, "Senior Sister Wen, shall I play with you?"

Wen Wushuang pursed her lips, turned around and left: "No need."

Jiang Jin: "..."

-

After Ye Chang'an became normal and stopped making things difficult for people, the discussion meetings became quite interesting.

Just before it ended, a cultivator from the Northern Shaking Sect stepped forward and announced some good news.

It is said that a renowned senior from the cultivation world has been invited to give lectures and instruction to the disciples of each sect tomorrow, and all disciples must attend.

Song Yao recognized this senior.

Tao Cangxuan.

Most of the introductory lectures for sects in the Tian Shu realm were written by her.

In her previous life, Song Yao was physically healthy and had a complete soul. She would fall asleep while reading books written by this senior Tao, let alone now.

A single glance at her would be more effective than taking a sleeping potion, and listening to her lectures would be even more deadly.

The surrounding disciples remained silent, suppressing their cries of pain.

Is this good news?

This is clearly torture.

Song Yao coughed lightly and said to Chen He, "I was hit twice by a snake demon in the Insect Twin Cave, and I'm feeling a bit unwell now. Please ask for a day off for me tomorrow."

Chen He saw through her thoughts at a glance and said helplessly, "You were just playing the spirit stone chess formation with someone. Isn't it a bit late to use this excuse now? Besides, they said that absence is not allowed, otherwise it would be disrespectful to Mr. Tao."

Song Yao: "My soul is missing. If I accidentally fall asleep in class, wouldn't that be even more disrespectful?"

Chen He: "...It's okay, I'll wake you up."

This junior brother Chen is good in every way, except he's a bit rigid.

Having no other choice, Song Yao waited until the discussion ended, then turned around and left Beiyao Sect to buy wine and, incidentally, inquire about land prices near Jiangshui City.

It's far from Jiushengtang, and although it's a bit cold in winter, the environment is nice. If I have the chance in the future, it would be nice to live here, raise chickens and ducks, and do some farming.

I walked around the area for a while, but as it got dark, I didn't find a courtyard that I liked.

Song Yao carried the osmanthus wine and slowly walked back.

There weren't many people in the suburbs; only occasionally would a horse-drawn carriage rumble by, kicking up a trail of dust.

After walking for a while, I heard a faint noise.

She pressed her temples, turned around, and instead of heading towards the Northern Shaking Sect, she turned into a deserted forest. Holding the wine jar in her arms, she sighed, "Come out, stop hiding."

As soon as she finished speaking, the shadows of the trees suddenly swayed, and two dark figures darted out from behind her, their long swords gleaming with a chilling light as they pierced her face.

With a light step, Song Yao dodged the attack and then flipped over to leap onto the old locust tree beside her. Her clothes swept across the branches, bringing down a few withered leaves covered in night dew.

She closed her eyes, and her consciousness, like an invisible net, quietly spread out, sweeping across the shadows in the forest.

In an instant, he accurately locked onto the familiar aura hidden behind the tree not far away.

Seeing that their first attack had missed, the two masked men gritted their teeth and charged forward again, their swords slicing off a piece of wood from the tree trunk.

Song Yaoli ignored them and walked straight past the two beams of cold light to a tree not far away.

Ye Chang'an squatted there, watching the show with anxious excitement.

When he realized something was wrong and turned around, Song Yao was already squatting beside him, smelling of osmanthus wine, and smiling at him while resting her chin on her hand: "What a coincidence, Young Master Ye."

Ye Chang'an: "..."

Caught off guard, he screamed and fell to the ground, frantically scrambling backward, his face deathly pale: "No, it wasn't me! It has nothing to do with me! It has absolutely nothing to do with me!"

The two masked men rushed over with their swords drawn, but before they could get close, Song Yao hopped up to Ye Chang'an and grabbed his hair.

Ye Chang'an cried out in pain, his face turning red, and he dared not struggle.

The two masked men exchanged a glance, gritted their teeth, and raised their longswords again, pointing them at Song Yao, their breaths pounding: "Let him go!"

Song Yao held the wine jar in one hand and gripped it even tighter with the other, remaining silent, her only clear and beautiful eyes blinking slightly.

Ye Chang'an had the illusion that he was about to become a monk, and shamelessly gave up struggling: "Get out! Get out of here now!!!"

The two masked men paused, hesitated for a moment, then Ye Chang'an roared again, "What are you standing there for! Let's go!!"

The two stopped there, quickly sheathed their swords, turned around, and leaped onto the treetops, their presence disappearing within Song Yao's spiritual sense range.

Unfortunately, Song Yao still didn't let go, tilting her head to look at him: "Young Master Ye is so stingy, you're going to hire someone to kill me?"