A Sect from a Spirit Vein

Chapter 343 - 303: Zhang Lemei Returns to the City

The moon hung high in the sky, and the night was deep.

In Lingsha City, everything fell silent; the cultivators attended to their injuries, kept watch, and began to take turns meditating and regulating their breath.

After confirming that there was no new information from the intelligence group for a while, Lu Qian was finally persuaded by several elders to meditate and regulate his breath to recover his vitality.

Indeed, he himself was barely holding on.

Currently, Lu Qian held four Thousand-Mile Mirrors in his hand.

Three pairs originally belonged to the Yunshan Sect; one pair was used to contact Zhang Lemei, the cultivator remaining at Yunshan Sect, another to contact the alert team at Golden Dawn Peak, and another to contact the intelligence group sent to gather information from the battle at Fucang Mountain.

The fourth Thousand-Mile Mirror was issued by the Xuanguang Sect to direct and mobilize Yunshan Sect’s forces.

However, now that relations had completely deteriorated, this mirror never lit up again. Lu Qian wasn’t even sure if Hee Yangchen was still at the other end. He bravely tried to communicate again, but the mirror provided no response, suggesting that Xuanguang Sect had lost patience in communicating with this "rebel."

It seemed, then, that an expedition from Xuanguang Sect would soon arrive.

This necessitated proper rest and preparation, so the elders each went into meditation as well.

By the time the east turned white and the morning light emerged, Lingsha City began to bustle gradually, with batches of cultivators coming in from various parts of the county one after another.

These were the resident cultivators from various sects of the Shuangye Alliance, along with the enforcement teams from Shuangye Square. According to Lu Qian’s orders, they retreated in dispersal while collecting all the Spirit Seeds within their territories in small groups and escorting them to Lingsha City.

Zhang Lemei and her group arrived in Lingsha City around 7:00 AM; given the distance between Kongming Mountain and Lingsha City, they should have arrived earlier.

The Yunshan Sect still had fourteen cultivators at Mid-Stage Qi Cultivation and sixty-one at Early-Stage Qi Cultivation, along with twenty-four Spirit Seeds left on Kongming Mountain. Under Zhang Lemei’s arrangements, the Early-Stage Qi Cultivators and Spirit Seeds retreated first, while the Mid-Stage Qi Cultivators re-entered the mortal territories formerly belonging to Bichao Mountain, quickly gathering five new Spirit Seeds born in the last three years. The time was tight, making it inevitable that something could be missed, but there was no other option.

Afterward, everyone regrouped at Golden Dawn Peak. Once Zhang Lemei confirmed everyone’s safety, they retreated in batches to Lingsha City. These Junior Cultivators at Early-Stage Qi Cultivation were critical to the future of the Yunshan Sect, so she fulfilled her responsibilities, staying behind. As a result, their arrival at Lingsha City was delayed.

She held onto the inquisitive Tan Yunxing while entering the city, noticing the ruins and chaos all around, which caused her to frown.

Lingsha City hastily divided a few areas for use by the Yunshan Sect, the Zhou Family, Spirit Snake Peak, and Zhuquan Sect. With Zhang Lemei’s arrival at the Yunshan Sect’s location, she immediately spotted Jiang Qingfeng busily working amidst the crowd.

"Qingfeng!" Zhang Lemei waved, "Why are you here alone?"

Jiang Qingfeng, having just recognized Zhang Lemei’s figure, trembled at heart, tears welling up in his eyes, hurriedly lowered his head, and said softly, "Senior Sister Zhang, the other senior brothers are in a meeting."

Zhang Lemei responded with an "Oh": "I brought everyone from Kongming Mountain; please help arrange things, as everything here is so ruined that there are no intact shelters. Sect Leader rushed us over, and it seems we’ll have to rely on ourselves to get things done."

Jiang Qingfeng bit his lip, not daring to speak, and simply nodded.

Zhang Lemei, pulling Tan Yunxing aside, said, "You go ahead with your work, and after your meeting, let Old Tan know to come find the two of us."

She took only a few steps when Jiang Qingfeng’s trembling, teary voice called from behind, "Senior Sister Zhang, Senior Brother Tan, Senior Brother Tan... can’t come back..."

In an instant, Zhang Lemei stopped. She tightly grasped Xiaoyunxing’s hand, squeezing so hard that Xiaoyunxing began to cry out loudly, but she seemed oblivious, suddenly turning around to glare at Jiang Qingfeng.

From Jiang Qingfeng’s blurred vision, he could only see this stout woman trembling all over: "Qingfeng, what do you mean he can’t come back? Oh, I know, he has something important to handle, right?"

Zhang Lemei rambled, "Old Tan always has something to do, always devoted to the sect. It’s fine, we’ll just wait a little, just wait."

Jiang Qingfeng could no longer hold back his tears, mustering all his strength to say, "Senior Brother Tan... was killed in action..."

A moment later, all present cultivators heard a scream; looking up, they saw a woman dragging a wailing child, stumbling all the way toward the place where the deceased cultivators were kept.

Unnoticed, this mid-stage qi cultivation woman tripped over the ruins, tumbling to the ground, covered in dust and dirt, and then rushed forward.

Through the chaos, she finally saw Tan Hong lying quietly under a piece of white cloth.

His body had been cleaned, and Zhang Lemei’s rough fingers brushed across Tan Hong’s cheek.

Old Tan had turned white, grown thin, dried up and shriveled, unlike before.

But he was still that Old Tan, and unknowingly, they’d been married for over twenty years. How could she be mistaken?

Zhang Lemei stared blankly for a moment, suddenly becoming very calm.

At that moment, she felt no happiness, no anger, no sorrow, nothing at all, just this motionless Tan Hong before her.

She inexplicably recalled that day decades ago when Tan Hong proposed becoming Daoist partners. Embarrassed, she asked, "Senior Brother Tan, I’m not pretty, and I have a bad temper, won’t you regret it?"

With a blushing face, Tan Hong only shook his head and then tightly grasped Zhang Lemei’s hand.

Now, Zhang Lemei held Tan Hong’s hand, finding it cool to the touch, as a chill slowly spread, engulfing her heart.

Decades had passed in a flash, filled with countless arguments, yet always believing they’d journey on together.

But how could Old Tan suddenly leave her now?

Tan Yunxing’s crying grew louder. At four years old, he couldn’t grasp the concept of life and death. Was he crying due to the pain of Zhang Lemei’s tight grip, or because his father lying on the ground wouldn’t respond?

Yet his cries abruptly snapped Zhang Lemei back to reality.

Boundless pain, sorrow, bitterness, and grief suddenly surged, brewing amidst Xiaoyunxing’s cries into a rising tempest of rage.

"Senior Sister Zhang—" Jiang Qingfeng, helplessly trailing behind, was abruptly shoved aside by Zhang Lemei. Holding Xiaoyunxing, eyes blazing, she stormed toward the city’s assembly hall.

Inside the hall, Lu Qian was sharing intelligence with several elders and Sect Leaders of the Shuangye Alliance. The casualty reports from both sides of the earlier Fucang Mountain battle had finally been acquired, and now they were determining Yunshan Sect’s next course of action based on these reports.

"Xuanguang Sect suffered losses far exceeding our expectations. Now, perhaps, besides Lingsha City, we might also maintain control over Golden Dawn Peak for a long time."

Just as Lu Qian was speaking, noise from outside suddenly erupted.

"Elder Zhang, you can’t–"

"Get out of the way!"

Instantly, Zhang Lemei’s piercing voice echoed through the hall: "Lu Qian, get out here!"