Chapter 371 Su Wan was captured by the powerful corpse Yin Sect

Unconsciously, two years had passed in the blink of an eye.

As the bluestone paths of the county town gleamed from the spring rain, a newly potted mint plant now sat in front of Lin Che's fortune-telling stall.

He had gotten the seedling from an old herb farmer at the alley entrance last year, and now it was growing lush and green, releasing a cool, refreshing scent with every breeze, becoming a small scenic spot in front of the stall.

Over these two years, Lin Che's life had been no different from usual.

He set up his stall at Chen Shi (7-9 AM) and packed up at Shen Shi (3-5 PM), never breaking his rule of three readings.

Wang-shen's tofu stall was still at the alley entrance, though her son had gotten married last year and now occasionally helped carry the load.

Lin Yi, who had come for a reading about the county exam, also passed the imperial examination last year. He specifically came to the stall, kowtowed three times, and even brought a jar of his homemade rice wine.

Li Lao San's daughter also started private schooling. Every time she passed the stall, she would sweetly call out, "Mr. Lin!"

The only change was Su Wan.

Since that lively banquet two years ago, Su Wan would return to the county town once or twice a year.

Initially, she wore the outer disciple robes of the Hengyue Sect, later changing to the light blue robes of an inner disciple. By the time she returned last year, the cuffs were already embroidered with silver cloud patterns, signifying a direct disciple.

Each time she returned, Su Wan would always make time to sit at the fortune-telling stall for a while. Sometimes she brought wild fruits from the Hengyue Sect mountain, other times she just sat and chatted about matters of the cultivation world.

Lin Che had heard her describe how the Hengyue Sect's mountain gate was wreathed in clouds, how difficult it was to break through the bottleneck from Qi Refining Stage to Foundation Establishment Stage, and he had also heard her speak of the cruelty of the cultivation world.

Disciples would fight fiercely over a spiritual herb, and fellow disciples would secretly assassinate each other to seize cultivation techniques.

Whenever she spoke of these things, a hint of weariness would always flicker in Su Wan's eyes, and she would softly say, "The county town is still the best; even the wind here is warm."

After the start of summer this year, Su Wan had not yet returned.

Lin Che occasionally thought of her, assuming that perhaps cultivation was too busy, and didn't dwell on it.

It wasn't until an evening in mid-July, just as dusk was falling, that Lin Che was packing up his stall, preparing to go home, when he saw a small maidservant, covered in wounds, stumble over. It was the same maidservant who had followed Su Wan before.

The maidservant's hair was disheveled, her clothes stained with blood, and her face had several scratch marks. As soon as she saw Lin Che, she knelt down with a thud, her voice choked with sobs: "Mr. Lin! Please save Miss! She… she's in trouble!"

Lin Che's heart sank. He helped the maidservant up by her arm: "Don't rush, speak slowly. What happened to Miss Su?"

The maidservant gasped for breath, tears streaming down her face: "Half a month ago, Miss followed her master to the extreme north to search for Ice Soul Lotus, and on the way, they encountered people from the Corpse Yin Sect."

"Those people were so fierce; they attacked immediately. Master was injured protecting Miss, and Miss was taken by them!"

"Corpse Yin Sect?" Lin Che frowned.

At this moment, Lin Che recalled that two years ago, when Sky Child came to him for a reading, he had mentioned that the Corpse Yin Sect was an evil sect in the cultivation world, known for its ruthless actions and its fondness for capturing cultivators to refine soul artifacts.

"Yes! Yes!"

The maidservant nodded, pulled out a broken jade pendant from her bosom, and handed it to Lin Che with both hands.

"Miss threw this to me before she was taken, saying that if she couldn't return, I should give this jade pendant to you, saying you would surely find a way to save her…"

Lin Che took the jade pendant, his fingertips touching its cool surface. A faint spiritual energy fluctuation still lingered on it.

He had given her this jade pendant two years ago on Su Wan's birthday, casually, during a reading, saying it could ward off minor misfortunes. He hadn't expected it to become a token of distress today.

Lin Che caressed the patterns on the jade pendant, silent for a moment, then looked up and asked the maidservant: "Do you know where the people from the Corpse Yin Sect took Miss Su?"

"I… I don't know…"

The maidservant bit her lip, her voice even lower.

"The scene was too chaotic at the time. I only heard them say they were going to Duanhun Cliff, and that they would use Miss's soul to refine a Soul Devouring Lamp on the night of the full moon…"

"Duanhun Cliff…"

Lin Che softly repeated the name, and the faint golden patterns on his fingertips unconsciously appeared, then vanished in a flash.

He knew Duanhun Cliff; it was a famous dangerous place in the cultivation world. The cliff bottom was filled with miasma, and countless resentful spirits roamed there. Ordinary cultivators dared not approach it easily.

Seeing him silent, the maidservant thought he also had no solution and cried even harder: "Mr. Lin, please save Miss! Miss is so kind; she even said that when she returned this time, she would bring you the freshest peaches from the mountain…"

Lin Che took a deep breath, put away the jade pendant, and said to the maidservant: "You get up first. Go to Su's house and deliver the message, tell Su not to worry too much. I will find a way to save Miss Su."

"Really?"

A glimmer of hope flashed in the maidservant's eyes. She quickly wiped away her tears, knelt and bowed, saying: "Thank you, Mr. Lin! I'll go tell Su right away!"

Watching the maidservant's retreating back, Lin Che, carrying his fortune-telling stall's cloth bag, didn't go home. Instead, he turned and walked towards the outskirts of the city.

The street lanterns had already lit up, their warm yellow light reflecting on the bluestone path, but it couldn't illuminate the gravity in his eyes.

For the past two years, Lin Che had deliberately avoided matters of the cultivation world, wanting only to live a stable life guarding his small fortune-telling stall.

But he couldn't ignore Su Wan's situation.

That girl who always said the county town's wind was warmer, that girl who would sit at his stall and chat for a long time every time she returned—he couldn't watch her fall into danger.

When he reached the river outside the city, Lin Che stopped, pulled three copper coins from his cloth bag, and gently tossed them into his palm.

The moment the coins spun, the golden threads on his fingertips suddenly lit up, outlining a complex rune in the air.

The rune flashed, and a faint halo appeared on the river surface, vaguely revealing a path leading north.

"Duanhun Cliff… night of the full moon…"

The night wind blew, and the reeds by the river rustled. Lin Che's figure gradually disappeared into the night.

Only his fortune-telling stall's cloth bag, left by the roadside, lay quietly there, the four characters "Lin's Divination" on the blue cloth glowing with a different light under the moonlight… At Duanhun Cliff, Su Wan lay on the ground, covered in blood, her breath weak, as if she could perish at any moment.

The Corpse Yin Sect expert stood with one hand behind his back, glanced at the full moon, and said indifferently, "There's still half an hour. Once the time comes, this old man can extract your soul and refine a Corpse Puppet."

Su Wan struggled to lift her head, staring at the Elder of Corpse Yin Sect before her, and said, "A dignified Nascent Soul Stage expert, actually making a move against a junior like me in the Qi Refining Stage, aren't you afraid of damaging your reputation if word gets out?"

The Elder of Corpse Yin Sect looked at Su Wan lying on the ground, snorted disdainfully, "If you didn't possess a top-grade spiritual root in your body, do you really think this old man would let you live until now?"

"Even Sky Child is not someone this old man takes seriously, let alone a junior like you who is only in the Qi Refining Stage. I best advise you, do not struggle, otherwise, you should understand what your end will be."