Offering Salted Fish to Master - C10





 Chapter 10

Slim waist



Liao Tingyan looked at the blood trickling slowly from the corner of the ancestor’s mouth, her expression filled with concern. Was he injured?

Sima Jiao raised his hand, wiped the blood from his mouth with his thumb, and smiled unconcernedly at the woman in white robes. “Back then, I nearly killed all the elders and palace masters of Gengchen Immortal Mansion. Now you, alone, want to kill me? You’re overestimating yourself.”

He excluded the earlier sisters who had fallen quickly to his power. These women belonged to two distinct groups with different origins.

The white-robed woman struggled to sit up. She took out a jade bottle from her sleeve, poured out a pill, and swallowed it. Almost immediately, her body visibly recovered, appearing even more dangerous than before. She then drew a brilliant white sword.

“This is my master’s sword, the inheritance of our Moon Palace—Moonlight. Today, I will not rest until one of us is dead.” She spoke each word deliberately, her eyes filled with hatred and determination. She resembled a female protagonist preparing for a desperate counterattack against a formidable foe. “The Fengshan clan of the Sima family is a decadent clan that should have been exterminated long ago.”

Liao Tingyan heard the massive chains outside swishing, and the jade tablets inscribed with “seal” emitted soft buzzing sounds. The entire central tower trembled slightly. The woman’s attacks grew even fiercer, displaying a reckless and aggressive fighting style that suggested the possibility of mutual destruction.

Finally unable to withstand the onslaught, Sima Jiao coughed up another mouthful of blood. He stood, his expression now serious, and braced himself against Liao Tingyan’s bed, barely managing to remain upright.

The central tower was charged with their erupting spiritual power. With Liao Tingyan’s level of cultivation, any sudden move could be deadly. Fortunately, she was positioned behind Sima Jiao in a safer spot, waiting for the battle to end.

They didn’t fight for long. Soon, after a thunderous boom, the woman dressed in white, her body bloodstained, was flung far away, barely clinging to life. Sima Jiao fared no better; he staggered twice and collapsed onto Liao Tingyan’s bed, his eyelashes drooping and blood pouring violently from his mouth, appearing close to death.

Liao Tingyan tugged at her hair, realizing she appeared to be the only one still able to move on the battlefield. She cautiously rose from the gap on the other side of the bed and tentatively asked her boss, “Ancestral Master? Are you alright?”

“Liao Tingyan,” came the reply, but it wasn’t from Ancestral Master. It was the white-robed woman, barely clinging to life. “I know you’re a disciple of Qinggu Tian. Your master would call me Grand-Aunt Master.”

Liao Tingyan thought, "What? Sister, your status is so high? Immortal cultivators live long lives, and with many generations coexisting, determining status becomes truly difficult."

The woman’s burning eyes reflected the madness of someone at the end of their rope. “Sima Jiao has no strength left to resist. Quickly kill him!”

Liao Tingyan gasped, “Huh?”

“As long as you kill him, our Moon Palace will support you in the future. Whether it's resources or status, you can easily obtain them,” the woman said, struggling to communicate. “Don't be afraid. If you take the Fengshan Blood Condensed Flower, which is stained with Sima Jiao's blood, you will instantly gain profound cultivation. Then, take my Moonlight sword, cut open his chest, remove his heart, and place it in that jade pool over there. He will then be completely dead.”

The steps she outlined were detailed and seemed quite feasible. Anyone with ambition would likely be tempted to follow her words.

Liao Tingyan glanced at the unresponsive Sima Jiao. To be honest, when she saw him bleeding earlier, she had briefly considered trying the red lotus petal with blood, wondering if it would rapidly increase her experience.

Sima Jiao opened his eyes, his face bearing a smile as he looked at her, silently mouthing a few words—“Come. Kill me.”

Liao Tingyan, “What?! What is the ancestor saying? Is he uncomfortable? He is lying there with something digging into his waist, clearly quite painful.

She hesitantly reached for him, lifted him with effort, and properly placed him on the bed, covering him with a blanket.

Liao Tingyan: “Better?”

Sima Jiao: “…”

White-robed woman: “…”

The woman dressed in white coughed as if she was about to die, hoarsely shouting, “What are you doing? Quickly! Quickly kill him! He’s a demon. If he doesn’t die today, more people will die someday!”

Liao Tingyan inserted her earplugs, determined not to heed the girl's words. She considered herself an innocent bystander, unwilling to immerse herself in the conflicts of this world. In her twenty-plus years of life, she had never taken a life; in fact, she had never even killed a chicken. Sure, she might have dealt with spiders and mosquitoes, but nothing larger than that! It was unreasonable to expect her to commit murder based on a few spoken words. Had her years as a law-abiding citizen meant nothing?

Even with earplugs, she could still hear the white-robed girl shouting with her dying breath: “You’re aiding a tyrant! Sooner or later, you’ll regret it—”

Liao Tingyan disagreed. This world had nothing to do with her; these people were not her concern. She felt no connection to that girl and held no grudge against Sima Jiao, so she wouldn’t be swayed to kill him. It was that simple.

The girl seemed to have died, and the entire floor fell silent. Liao Tingyan sat on the edge of the bed, glancing over at her boss, whom she had placed there. He was looking at her with a strange, half-smiling expression.

Liao Tingyan removed her earplugs and asked, “Are you alright, Ancestor Master?” If her boss were in trouble, she would need to consider her future path.

Sima Jiao coughed up a mouthful of blood for her to see, his voice weak: “What do you think?”

That looked bad. He seemed unable to move, lying there motionless and speaking with difficulty.

“Fuck! There should be some form of healing medicine at times like this,” Liao Tingyan whispered, looking right and left.

At that moment, Liao Tingyan noticed a sudden gleam in Sima Jiao’s eyes. Suddenly, she felt herself being forcefully pulled down by a hand, crashing into Sima Jiao’s embrace. Her vision blurred, and when she opened her eyes again, she found herself floating outside the window in Sima Jiao’s arms. The place they had just occupied, including the walls and bed, had been completely shattered.

Liao Tingyan exclaimed, “What the hell?!”

Sima Jiao, who had moments earlier been gasping for breath as if on the verge of death, now abandoned all pretense of weakness and floated steadily in the air outside the central tower. Judging by the strength of the arms holding her, it was clear that his earlier weakness had been an act. Liao Tingyan clung to Sima Jiao’s waist with a stiff expression, simply hoping not to fall, as there was nothing beneath her feet.

A flame appeared in Sima Jiao’s hand, suddenly morphing into a sea of fire that immediately engulfed the entire central tower and the surrounding sky for a hundred metres.

Liao Tingyan saw dozens of figures appearing in the sky—men and women, young and old—all exuding a dangerous aura as they surrounded Sima Jiao. Although they outnumbered him, she noticed that their expressions were particularly grave and unpleasant.

Compared to their tension, Sima Jiao stood alone, appearing confident and composed. Liao Tingyan intentionally treated herself as an accessory, quietly clinging to him. In such a precarious situation, even a fool would understand that this was a battlefield tonight. If the ancestor hadn’t protected her a few moments earlier, she would already be dead.

The dozen or so people present looked grim, their minds filled with uncertainty. In truth, they were not united; each held their own thoughts. The Gengchen Immortal Mansion had existed for many years and was such a vast power that even a small branch held differing opinions, let alone the entire mansion. Regarding Sima Jiao, their perceptions varied widely.

Some harbored grudges from five hundred years ago and wanted to kill him; others coveted the flesh and blood of the Fengshan clan members and aimed to take a share; yet others desired for the Gengchen Immortal Mansion to stay as it was, wary of Sima Jiao’s increasing power and hoping to control him.

Tonight was a new moon. Those present, aware of the secrets of the Sima clan, had secretly infiltrated and been watching for a long time. The white-robed woman they had encountered earlier was merely a vanguard. Until just now, many had still been hesitant, but among them was one who had a blood feud with Sima Jiao and acted impulsively. Little did they know that Sima Jiao’s weak appearance was a disguise; he had instead outmanoeuvred them and now surrounded them with his sea of fire. The others silently cursed the elder who had failed to remain patient and initiated the attack.

This flame was unlike any other, and even the most experienced dared not act recklessly. Although it seemed like they had surrounded Sima Jiao, they were effectively trapped by his sea of fire.

“Lord Cizang, I’m afraid this is a misunderstanding. We have no ill intentions,” a tall, thin man spoke first. “At least our Heaven Palace means you no disrespect.”

Sima Jiao’s gaze landed on a sinister-looking elder. “Which palace’s trash are you? After being imprisoned by you for five hundred years, I can barely remember anymore.”

Liao Tingyan thought, “Oy! Even at such a moment, he still stirs up hatred—truly worthy of being called an ancestor. I admire that.”

The old man’s nose twitched with anger. The attack just now had come from him. He glared at Sima Jiao with hatred but showed no intention of speaking to him. Instead, he turned to the others and incited, “Don’t be fooled by him. He’s clearly at the end of his strength. If we join forces tonight, we can certainly finish him! If we don’t kill him now, who among us will be able to escape in the future!”

Some individuals wavered, their eyes flickering, while others retreated, lowering their heads, indicating their unwillingness to participate. In the end, about half retreated. They had all witnessed Sima Jiao’s madness five hundred years ago, and the memory still haunted them, preventing them from acting rashly. The rest, motivated by greed, hatred, or simply differing loyalties, ultimately chose to attack Sima Jiao.

Feeling a surge of panic as she found herself at the center of the battle, Liao Tingyan clung tighter to Sima Jiao's waist. This situation didn’t seem like it was meant for her, but the ancestor had thrown her into this—an immense pressure to handle.

"What are you afraid of?" Liao Tingyan looked up, realizing that the words were spoken to her by the ancestral master. He lowered his head briefly to look at her and continued, “I don’t want you to die, so you won’t die. Didn’t I say that even in my weakened state, they’re still too weak for me?”

"Impressive", she thought.

What happened next revealed what true impressiveness looked like. Sima Jiao, with his sheer strength, killed seven notable leaders from the Gengchen Immortal Mansion. This made Liao Tingyan realized that during their earlier encounter in the tower, when he faced that woman in white, he was likely just pretending. “What a drama queen! Was he just bored? He even coughed up blood, making it seem so realistic.” If she had listened to the girl at that time, she probably would have been reduced to ashes.

As those seven people were burned into dried, human-shaped corpses, the remaining seven onlookers couldn’t help but look at Sima Jiao with terrified eyes. They had assumed that after so many years of confinement, he would be weaker. Unexpectedly, he remained as terrifying as ever. Could it be that the Fengshan clan was so powerful that even with the layers of formations and prohibitions, they couldn’t subdue him?

“Lord Cizang, these people disrespected you and deserved this punishment. Once we return, we will deal with the branches they belong to properly,” one speaker said, now more cautious.

But Sima Jiao had no intention of letting them leave. He surveyed the nine remaining individuals and suddenly smiled, saying, “I still need one person to stay.”

Everyone was stunned.

The person who spoke first suddenly let out a miserable cry, instantly transforming into a man engulfed in flames, unable to resist. The others looked grim. A kindly-looking old man widened his eyes and exclaimed in a low voice, “Not good! Could it be…?”

Before he could finish, the corpse of the white-robed woman flew out from the tower, followed by nine other corpses that positioned themselves around the central tower. These nine beings belonged to the bloodlines of the eight palaces of Gengchen Immortal Mansion and the main sect from five hundred years ago. It was the ancestors of these nine bloodlines who had set up the imprisonment formation here.

“I’ve endured these bothersome seals for far too long.” As Sima Jiao’s words faded, the nine corpses quickly descended, settling into their designated positions. In an instant, the earth shuddered, and mountains trembled. The enormous chains of the central tower collided with each other, producing thunderous clangs that echoed wildly before they all broke simultaneously and crashed down onto the palace below, reducing it to ruins in an instant.

Amid the exclamations and the sounds of destruction, Liao Tingyan heard Sima Jiao let out a light, joyful laugh.

After experiencing this chaotic series of events, Liao Tingyan stood there expressionless, her mind blank, and could only think: "This ancestor had an exceptionally slim waist."

Sima Jiao surveyed the scene before him with satisfaction, noticing that the strange demon realm spy he was holding in one arm appeared stunned with fear. In a cheerful mood, he lifted her chin and asked, “Look at these people. Each one stepping out is a feared powerhouse. But now, look how ridiculous they appear. What are your thoughts now?”

Liao Tingyan replied, “Your waist is very slim.” The truth buff was going to get her killed again. Why did this person keep using the truth buff for no reason?

Sima Jiao wore a mocking smile that showed his disregard for family ties and the opinions of others. However, it wavered slightly as he paused, confusion momentarily crossing his face. He furrowed his brow and leaned in, staring at her with disbelief as he questioned whether he had genuinely misheard her words.