"This is just a remote, impoverished little town. Even if the elder wants revenge, it won't cause much of a stir." Shangguan Xin, the black-robed figure, spoke coldly, unceremoniously deflating her.
"It doesn't matter. If one elder isn't enough, we'll just add a few more." Ye Lanshan took a sip of tea, her spirits high, a hint of calculation flickering in her eyes.
"Didn't you say you wanted to return to the Moon Kingdom as soon as possible?" Shangguan Xin was starting to find Ye Lanshan hard to figure out.
"Yes, but what does that have to do with me killing people from the Holy Land? I can do it along the way." Ye Lanshan was now quite carefree, the pent-up frustration in her heart finally easing a little.
On the road back to the Moon Kingdom, Ye Lanshan and Shangguan Xin kept at it, and it did draw the Holy Land's attention. Now, a mysterious black-robed man had been added to the Holy Land's wanted list.
"Killing so many Holy Land people along the way—what a relief." Ye Lanshan squinted, strolling leisurely. She was still dressed as a frail scholar, while Shangguan Xin wore a purple robe that matched his purple eyes perfectly.
"Master, look, I caught another Green Grass Snake." Ying Huarong came running over noisily, holding a first-tier Green Grass Snake, adding some liveliness to the calm.
"You're such a glutton." Ye Lanshan tapped Ying Huarong's head. She was hungry too, so she pulled out a big pot, used a wisp of Red Lotus Karmic Fire to boil water, chopped the snake into pieces, and tossed them in. With just a bit of seasoning, the aroma filled the air.
"Only you could make such full use of things." Shangguan Xin was used to her bizarre antics by now, but using fire elemental energy to cook was something only Ye Lanshan would do.
"Flattery, flattery." Ye Lanshan accepted with a smile. This kind of relaxed demeanor was something she'd never dared to imagine before. Even in her days in the cultivation world, she rarely let down her guard.
Even as the top genius of the cultivation world, after her master disappeared, her closest ally betrayed her, and several of her sisters died, she lost any such peaceful state of mind. There was a time she dreamed of being like Tao Yuanming, free from the pursuit of fame and fortune, cultivating leisurely and letting fate take its course.
But she couldn't. The cultivation world was seething with undercurrents, forcing her to unleash all her abilities and become someone everyone feared.
Yet when she reached that height, the people she cared about left her one by one. She finally understood the loneliness of the peak, and her heart gradually froze and closed off in that environment.
In that setting, she stopped trusting anyone. Only cultivation could calm her mind.
"Stop. That's all you get this time. No more." Ye Lanshan took chopsticks from her spatial storage and knocked Ying Huarong's hand away.
Ying Huarong looked at the tiny bowl in front of her, pouted, and poked at the snake meat with her chopsticks, but ultimately yielded to Ye Lanshan's authority.
"We're almost at the capital. Ying Huarong, be careful and don't let anyone trick you again."
Mentioning this, Ye Lanshan couldn't help shaking her head. This divine beast really would sell herself out for food. Last time, she was even lured into a brothel. If not for her divine beast status and formidable power, she'd have been eaten long ago.
"I know." Ying Huarong was no longer as naive as when she first met Ye Lanshan. Having been influenced by humans, she'd learned to be more cautious.
"You're finally here. If you'd taken any longer, I'd have thought the Holy Land had captured you." Mu Xinlian joked half-seriously. She didn't actually believe they'd been caught, but Ye Lanshan's journey had been far too slow, leaving Mu Xinlian anxious.
"Alright, let's head back to your Mu family first." Ye Lanshan fanned herself, still playing the frail scholar.
"So, just the few of you came back? The others are still in the Sunset Mountains?" Mu Xinlian frowned. She'd assumed Ye Lanshan would bring everyone back, since that was a considerable force.
"Don't worry. With me here, the Mu family will become the strongest clan and claim the highest position." Ye Lanshan smiled confidently.
"What makes you so sure you can help us eliminate the Yue family?" Mu Ziming walked over just in time to hear her. His doubt was understandable—anyone else would question such a claim.
"I have a divine beast. You must know the power of one, right?" Ye Lanshan glanced at Ying Huarong and smiled faintly. This time, she would stir up the capital.
Mu Ziming paused, noticing Ying Huarong. He'd initially thought she was just an ordinary little girl, not a divine beast.
With a divine beast, their odds certainly improved, but it still wasn't enough. Even the Sun family, after long preparation and with the Holy Land's help, had failed to usurp the throne. How could they succeed?
Still, the emperor's attitude toward them was indeed ambiguous, and Mu Xinlian's persuasion had planted the seed of rebellion.
"Don't worry. I never do things without certainty." Ye Lanshan saw the struggle and hesitation in Mu Ziming's eyes.
At this moment, most of the army was away from the capital, and the Yue family's forces had been scattered to search for her. The Yue family's presence in the capital was thin. What Yue Jinghong never expected was that she was right under his nose, casually plotting his downfall.
"Oh, right, I forgot to mention a big event in the capital." Mu Xinlian suddenly remembered something, her expression turning serious.
"Oh? What is it?"
"Do you know the Lu family? For some reason, they've been suppressing the already fractured Ye family. Even with Yue Yinuo barely holding it together, it's on the verge of collapse."
Ye Lanshan sat in her chair, tapping her fingers on the table. Her face revealed no emotion, and her eyes gave nothing away.
"It seems I need to visit the Ye family."
Mu Ziming disagreed with Ye Lanshan going to the Ye family now. Exposing her identity too early would be disadvantageous.
Ye Lanshan understood his concern and assured him repeatedly that she wouldn't reveal her true identity—she'd just take a look.
"Your Ye family is something else. First, Ye Suzhe's failed rebellion, now Ye Lanshan's defection. How do you still have the face to show yourselves? If I were you, I'd be too ashamed to live and kill myself." A group of idle rich kids surrounded a Ye family disciple out buying supplies, mocking him loudly.
The Ye disciple remained silent, enduring their ridicule.
Ye Lanshan's eyes darkened. It seemed the Ye family was truly despised now.
"Hey, what are you looking at? Looking for a beating?" One of them noticed her staring and barked aggressively.