Told You I Can Turn Back Time
Chapter 104: Preparing to Leave and the Situation in Dongya

Chapter 104: Chapter 104: Preparing to Leave and the Situation in Dongya

Upper River County.

Within the temple of the Heavenly Will Sect,

Jing Shiyu looked around at the gathering in the hall and spoke indifferently, "Jing Yuwei has been tyrannical and corrupt in our sect for years, embezzling assets that she couldn’t spend in a lifetime. Yet, she still sought to collude with outsiders, plotting against us, her mentors and disciples, and to swallow the whole Dongya Prefecture."

After her speech, those in the hall who held grudges against Jing Yuwei silently nodded, their longstanding resentments stirred.

Then, Jing Shiyu clapped her hands, and servants brought in chests upon chests of gold, silver, jewels, and stacks of books.

"This search of the witch Jing Yuwei’s mansion indeed proved fruitful, her embezzled assets from over the years were recovered. These originally belonged to our fellow brothers and sisters in the sect, but she shifted them to her private stash. Today, I will return them to everyone present here."

The chests of gold and silver nearly filled the entire hall, and together with the books beside them, they dazzled all present. None had expected to seize such an abundance from Jing Yuwei’s mansion.

At that moment, when the crowd heard Jing Shiyu say she would distribute these items to everyone, they became parched and agitated, their eyes both shocked and elated.

Originally, most of Jing Yuwei’s subordinates had quieted down, eagerly watching the chests of treasures.

Next, Jing Shiyu, in front of everyone, started distributing the seized goods. Whether it was gold, silver, jewels, property deeds, or Daoist books, everything was allocated fairly according to everyone’s seniority, generation, and strength, satisfying most of those present.

After the distribution of wealth, Jing Shiyu suddenly stood up, pulled out her Sword Jade Hairpin, and pointed at a middle-aged man, shouting, "Hui Zhigong, these past few days you have colluded with outsiders and spread rumors all over the city."

"To harm your fellow sect members like this, today I will kill him with one stroke. Does anyone have anything to say?"

After her sword beheaded this staunch follower of Jing Yuwei, allowing his blood to splatter onto her skirt, Jing Shiyu coldly scanned everyone present.

"Anyone else who conspires with outsiders and hinders the prospects of our brothers and sisters in the sect will end up like him."

The joy of sudden riches seemed doused by cold water, as everyone looked at Jing Shiyu with newfound awe and respect.

Through a combination of grace and severity, she temporarily suppressed the recent chaos, yet her eyes betrayed no joy.

Because she knew suppressing these people wasn’t hard, the real trouble was the imminent arrival of her Master Uncle.

At this thought, Jing Shiyu began to feel a headache coming on, sighing internally, "Ultimately, it’s still a matter of insufficient strength. Otherwise, what would killing Jing Yuwei amount to? No need to be leveraged by those old cronies."

"If things come to a head, I’ll just have to distribute more benefits from Dongya Prefecture to these folks."

She knew all too well that internal strife amongst fellow sect members was just an excuse for the elders, who were actually using it to extract more benefits from her.

Like her Master Uncle, she didn’t believe for a second that he had any affection for her; Jing Shiyu thought it more likely he wanted to devour her completely, from her person to her wealth.

Those Supreme Elders of the sect were old, cunning, greedy, and always safeguarding their own lives, hardly the type to let others take advantage of them.

Right then, Shuting approached and said, "Master, Lin Xing has made another request, he wants a redesigned carriage that a person can pull."

Hearing Lin Xing’s name, Jing Shiyu couldn’t help but smile, "Is there any problem? Just pay and have one modified for him."

Shuting hesitated and said, "Master, the rumors in the canyon have been disseminated all over the city. When Master Uncle arrives, he will surely seize the opportunity to cause trouble. I think it might be best to hand over Lin Xing, and pin everything on him."

To her, this seemed the best solution to the problem, and Shuting had always thought perhaps this was what her master had in mind.

But seeing Jing Shiyu frown and reprimand her, "Lin Xing is my future disciple, soon to be a fellow brother within the sect. How could you think of such betrayals?"

As Jing Shiyu walked away after delivering the reprimand, Shuting couldn’t help but think, "Haven’t you killed enough ’fellow brothers’ from our sect these days? Why can’t we sell out Lin Xing?"

She then thought of the Master Uncle soon to visit Dongya Prefecture, "Alas, the Master Uncle is mature and steady, skilled and experienced. By his seventies, he had already become a dominant figure in the Northwest, known as the ’Blade of Reincarnation,’ killing his foes without needing a second move."

"Marrying the Master Uncle, whether it’s seizing the opportunity to become a member of the Supreme Elders or eventually outliving him, would be a guaranteed profit..."

Shuting sighed, "Why is Master so unwilling?"

...

In the following days, Lin Xing spent each day in the yard preparing talisman paper and practicing his spiritual vision skills, leading a rather comfortable life.

However, sometimes when he went out, he noticed that many of Jing Shiyu’s subordinates and numerous followers of the Heavenly Will Sect always seemed to be in a hurry, as if something major had happened.

Yet, in Mirror World, strife was constant, one wave subsiding only for another to arise. Lin Xing wasn’t particularly concerned; he remained focused on his own matters.

But eventually, Master Bai couldn’t stand the solitude and began going out regularly, coming back to boast to Lin Xing about the news she had gathered.

"I thought it was something serious, but it turns out the news about our battle in the canyon has leaked."

"The whole city is now saying it was Jing Shiyu and you who killed Jing Yuwei and the envoy from the Xingxiao Sect."

"Jing Yuwei’s former subordinates also stirred up trouble, demanding an explanation from Jing Shiyu, but I heard they were suppressed."

"But that’s not the biggest trouble."

After waiting a long time and realizing Lin Xing wasn’t going to ask any further, Bai Yiyi couldn’t help but huff and continue on her own, "I heard that Jing Shiyu’s Master Uncle has already arrived at Upper River County to thoroughly investigate the whole affair."

Seeing Lin Xing still focusing on perfecting his skills, Bai Yiyi couldn’t help asking, "Lin Xing, don’t you care about this at all? The Heavenly Will Sect is a major cult, and if Jing Shiyu can’t hold them off, they might come after us!"

Lin Xing casually said, "What can caring do, and what can not caring do? In any case, we must hurry and cultivate. Only with sufficient strength can one withstand the storms in Mirror World."

Regardless of the external conflicts and turmoils, Lin Xing still dedicated himself daily to preparing more talisman paper and practicing his spiritual vision skills.

Just the lack of opportunities to train through death matches made Lin Xing somewhat unaccustomed and slightly regretful.

And with the presence of Master Bai, he always passively heard a lot of external news.

Like someone from Jing Shiyu’s group being taken away.

Or some shop owner somewhere being captured for interrogation.

Or a clash between Jing Shiyu’s disciples and representatives from the Heavenly Will Sect’s main temple, where they were taught a lesson.

And there were tales of the Master Uncle from the Heavenly Will Sect amassing wealth in the city, causing widespread resentment.

Overall, from the perspective of Lin Xing, who wasn’t usually too concerned about the situation, things didn’t seem to be going well for Jing Shiyu.

Through all this, Lin Xing gradually understood that the structure of the Heavenly Will Sect wasn’t quite what he had initially imagined.

Lin Xing had once thought it might be a sect with a strict hierarchical order.

Listening over this period, he felt that their Holy Daughter seemed like an entrepreneur, while the elders of the Heavenly Will Sect were like angel investors, always safely hidden behind the scenes.

The Holy Daughters ventured out with the sect’s investments to pioneer; if they failed, they were expendable, but if they succeeded, the elders would skin them.

And if there was only one Holy Daughter left, after being skinned, might she have a chance to become a partner?

Lin Xing thought there were probably still many challenges to be faced.