Green Mountain
Chapter 390 - 315, Exorcism_2

Chapter 390: 315, Exorcism_2

In the long silence, Zhu Lingyun asked softly, "Sister, do you think someone will rescue us? The Liu Family is gone, and the Empress Dowager has never visited Jingyang Palace... Didn’t you and brother befriend a Jianghu swordsman named Liang Gou’er? And those many Jianghu knights father once helped, will they find a way to clear father’s name?"

Bai Li suppressed her pain and said, "Probably not anymore."

Zhu Lingyun asked in confusion, "Why?"

Bai Li said softly, "Lingyun, there’s no Jianghu anymore."

Zhu Lingyun asked again, "You and brother also befriended that little apprentice at the Medical Hall, what was his name, seemed like Chen Ji? If he makes it to the Imperial Hospital, could he come to Jingyang Palace to help us?"

Bai Li froze for a moment upon hearing that name.

It felt as if someone had punched her in the heart, the pain etched as if on her very heartbeat—throb after throb, pain after pain.

Bai Li said softly, "Lingyun, we can only rely on ourselves."

Zhu Lingyun pleaded, "Sister, then don’t oppose them, let’s live well here in Jingyang Palace."

Bai Li gazed at the dome and beams of the rear hall, "Lingyun, either we live and get out, or die here, there are only these two choices, and I’m not afraid of either."

After saying this, she struggled to sit up, pulling out a chopstick she had hidden at noon from her sleeve, and with a slight exertion snapped it, leaving a sharp wooden shard.

The next moment, she endured the agonizing pain from her ribs, holding the half chopstick, stepped on over a dozen Daoist nuns on the bedding, rushing towards Xuan Su. Cries of pain came from the bedding, the nuns she stepped on curling up like shrimps.

Xuan Su groggily opened her eyes, only to see Bai Li’s figure striding over, and panicked, "You!"

Bai Li suddenly pounced down, the half chopstick in her hand stabbing fiercely, straight into Xuan Su’s right eye.

Yet the chopstick that was supposed to penetrate the skull was blocked by Xuan Su’s hands and could not go any further.

"Ahhhhhh!" Xuan Su screamed hysterically, "Kill her, kill her for me! I want her dead!"

Bai Li jumped off the bedding, opened the vermillion lacquered door of the rear hall, and ran barefoot out.

Under the moonlight, she stepped on the cold bluestone tiles on the ground, fleeing through the main hall of Jingyang Palace. But this time, no one would lead her across the narrow passage.

As Bai Li was about to step over the main hall threshold, the side hall door suddenly opened, and a Taoist scripture flew out from inside, hitting her calf accurately.

Bai Li fell to the ground, her new and old injuries hurting unbearably.

She lay on the ground, turning to look at the open door. Master Xuanzhen walked out leisurely, horsetail whisk in hand, standing beside her.

Only at this moment did Xuan Su and others catch up.

Upon seeing Xuanzhen, their expressions changed instantly, and they knelt down together, "We disturbed the master’s meditation unintentionally, please forgive us, master!"

Xuanzhen lowered his head, silently surveying Bai Li, who lay on the ground, unable to stand up, and compassionately said, "The sage said, to those who are good, I treat them well; to those who are not good, I also treat them well. This means that we should treat good people well and also treat evil people well. Xuan Su acted unjustly, without treating people well, taking revenge without virtue, she must eliminate the unkindness within, understand her own body."

Xuanzhen said calmly, "Slap her face."

For a moment, Xuan Su couldn’t care about her blood-stained face, enduring the pain, slapping her own face, until both cheeks were swollen before she dared to stop, blood splattering.

Xuanzhen looked at the blood stains on the bluestone tiles, and said indifferently, "Take the filth to the Three Pure Ones, and continue to slap."

Xuan Su gritted her teeth and began slapping herself again, suddenly, she spat out a mouthful of blood into her palm, mixed with a back molar.

She instinctively looked up at Xuanzhen, saw his icy expression, and quickly swallowed the tooth along with the blood.

By this time, Xuanzhen no longer made things difficult for her, turned to Bai Li, "Princess, you have been repeatedly unrepentant, harboring great evil in your heart, seemingly invaded by an external evil root, we must remove it for you."

Xuan Su asked tremblingly, in slurred words, "How should it be removed?"

In the main hall, in front of the Three Pure Ones statue, Xuanzhen said indifferently, "The mouth speaks, the gate of exchange, the root of right and wrong. Remove her tongue."

Xuan Su was stunned, instinctively turning her head to look at the Three Pure Ones statue.

Xuanzhen looked at her, "What?"

Xuan Su quickly said, "We will immediately remove the external evil root for her!"

Xuanzhen turned and walked towards the side hall, not looking back, "Xuan Su, this is the last time, if there is a next time, you know the result."

"Understood!" Xuan Su got up, wiped the blood from her face with her sleeve, and commanded someone to drag Bai Li to the rear hall.

But at this moment, someone outside Jingyang Palace exclaimed, "What a lively scene!"

Xuanzhen suddenly stopped at the entrance of the side hall, Xuan Su turned abruptly to see a woman in black clothes, hands behind her back, stepping lightly into Jingyang Palace.

The woman glanced at Bai Li on the ground, clicking her tongue in wonder, "How did Jingyang Palace turn into this? None of you resemble people nurturing your hearts, do you?"

Xuan Su was dazed, "Jiao Tu?"

Jiao Tu, smiling, stepped into the main hall, took out a silver needle from her sleeve, and stabbed it into Xuan Su’s chest. Xuan Su howled in pain, collapsing and convulsing.

Xuanzhen turned back and asked softly, "The Twelve Signs gracing us with your presence, excuse the lack of welcome, but it seems the matters within my Jingyang Palace are not under the jurisdiction of the Twelve Signs?"

Jiao Tu did not explain that she was no longer part of the Twelve Signs, but feigned surprise and said, "Isn’t my Spy Department notorious enough, who gave you the courage to speak to me like this?"

As she spoke, she retrieved more than a dozen silver needles from her sleeve, flicking them towards all the Daoist nuns. In an instant, everyone fell to the ground, sweating in pain.

Xuanzhen frowned, "What are you doing?"

Jiao Tu said with a smile, "Someone asked me to look after Princess Bai Li for a bit, I accepted his favor and just got promoted one level, so naturally I must earnestly help him."

Bai Li was stunned.

Jiao Tu leaned against the doorframe, looked down at Bai Li with interest.

"Oh?" She noticed that Bai Li was still clutching half a blood-stained chopstick, as if seeing Chen Ji holding a blood-stained shard of porcelain that night, "The two of you are quite alike, aren’t you?"

Xuanzhen frowned and said, "Do you know what kind of place my Jingyang Palace is? How dare you act presumptuously here in front of the Three Pure Ones!"

Jiao Tu ignored her, raising her head to look at the Three Pure Ones in the main hall, "What is Jingyang Palace? Let me think... Hmm, this is a harmful place. Xuanzhen, in the past, to avoid being buried with the late Emperor, you escaped here with the help of the Empress Dowager and suffered a great deal. Princess Yongchun suffered heartache, was locked here and driven mad. Xuan Su was exiled here just for accidentally breaking the beloved belongings of some concubine. Generally, everyone should rely on each other here, but see how you all become even harsher when harming others?"

Xuanzhen said calmly, "Jingyang Palace is full of women without virtue, I am just disciplining them."

Jiao Tu chuckled, "Xuanzhen, I’m not one to reason with, never argue with others. Just remember one thing, not a single strand of Princess Bai Li’s hair is to be harmed in your Jingyang Palace, or I’ll find a way to make you all human livestock. Do you understand? If you disagree, try saying one word of ’no’ right now."

Xuanzhen remained silent.

Jiao Tu no longer paid attention to her, instead squatting down in front of Bai Li, smiling, "Princess Bai Li is truly beautiful, such a pity to suffer in a place like this."

Bai Li hesitated for a moment, then asked softly, "Why are you helping me?"

Jiao Tu contemplated for a moment, then teasingly said, "I have no prior dealings with you, Princess, so naturally it’s not out of sympathy that I’m helping you."

Bai Li said softly, "Chen Ji."

Jiao Tu chuckled, "That boy talks a cold game, but how can he escape a woman’s eyes? I used to think he betrayed Prince Jing, but thinking back, maybe there’s more to the story. After seeing so much deception in Wunian Mountain, it’s refreshing to see something wholesome occasionally. Princess, live well, I also want to see if he can save you."

Bai Li was silent.

At this moment, Xuan Su and others paused in their pain, Xuanzhen glanced at them, "Get to the rear hall."

Jiao Tu pointed at the group of nuns, asking Bai Li with interest, "Who bullied you the worst? I’ll help break an arm, a minor punishment."

Xuan Su’s face changed, instinctively backing away, "Master save me!"

But Xuanzhen, holding the horsetail whisk, did not speak.

Jiao Tu started laughing at Xuan Su, "Seems like it’s you."

Bai Li looked at the vermillion palace walls outside Jingyang Palace, and behind her, Xuan Su’s cries of agony resounded once more.