My Fairy Growth System

Chapter 40: Investigating Xues Residence to Find the Culprit

Suddenly.

The figure of Yu Qingtan heading towards the bedside disappeared.

Clothes and accessories scattered on the ground.

Inside the bed, however, Yu Qingtan, who was sitting cross-legged, opened her eyes.

It turned out that it had always been Yu Qingtan’s shadow clone that had gone out today.

Ever since she encountered accidents twice while browsing the markets, Yu Qingtan had become vigilant towards the outside world.

Therefore, for this break’s plan to lure the snake out of the hole, Yu Qingtan decided to let the shadow clone carry it out.

Sure enough, the plan was a success.

"Xue family, Xue Gui." Yu Qingtan’s eyes squinted.

Then she came out to have some spirit food.

One drawback of the shadow clone was that although it could eat, the feeling of fullness did not transfer to the main body.

Moreover, it could not cultivate, as the cultivation effects would not transfer to the main body either.

However, things like learning knowledge that existed in consciousness and the mind were possible.

After eating, Yu Qingtan took out the Moonlit Magpie Hairpin.

The hairpin was made of jade, with the head naturally shaped like branches, and carved with a full moon and a magpie on it; it was extremely beautiful altogether, making Yu Qingtan very fond of it.

After cultivating with spiritual power for a while, she had claimed ownership of this spiritual artifact, though she could not fully activate it yet, but it was easy to discover the method left by the City Lord and understand how to use it.

"What a great item. It seems that Ouyang Wulong mentioned someone was trying to harm me, and the City Lord specially left this behind, truly a generous person!"

After toying with it for a while, Yu Qingtan then put it into the storage space.

She adjusted her state, practiced the Water Blade Technique and Water Curtain Technique several times, until her spiritual power was exhausted, and then took out a bottle of Spirit Dew. She poured out one drop, took it, and began to sit and cultivate with the Clear Water Technique.

"Using Spirit Dew for cultivation is just great! In less than a month, this bottle of Spirit Dew should be fully refined, and by then I should be close to the eighth level of Qi Cultivation."

Seeing the cultivation progress on the system panel had increased by dozens of points, Yu Qingtan felt satisfied.

...

The next day, Yu Qingtan proactively gave a rough explanation about yesterday’s events to Shen Wanning to prevent her from worrying.

In the afternoon, Yu Qingtan took a nap in advance.

At night, after she finished cultivating, Yu Qingtan again controlled the shadow clone to leave home.

Still wearing black clothes and a mask.

Using the Invisibility Technique, she made her way to her destination along the secluded roads.

The Xue Mansion.

It had been raining frequently lately, and the moon was often covered by dark clouds; tonight was no different.

She hid in the shadows, patiently waiting for a long time.

Two figures slowly approached, bathed in the cold light emitted by the Moonlight Stone streetlights.

"What a coincidence indeed!" Yu Qingtan sneered coldly.

As it happened, the two people were none other than Xue Gui and his lackey.

Xue Gui was in a very bad mood.

Today, he had been scolded by Miss Xiao Yan again.

"That damn woman, sooner or later, I’ll make you submit under me in all kinds of ways." He cursed inwardly, but there was nothing he could do, for she had something on him, and he truly did fancy that woman.

Enraged, Xue Gui made a fuss outside the Tianxiang Pavilion for most of the night before heading home.

Staying overnight at the Tianxiang Pavilion was not a good look for a scion of a major family like him.

Yu Qingtan observed and saw that Xue Gui was not carrying the Identity Jade, likely kept in his storage bag, but the lackey had an identity token hanging at his waist.

Yu Qingtan silently snatched it away.

This sort of thing is easier after the first time.

"Useless, losing even the jade token..." Amidst Xue Gui’s scolding, Yu Qingtan, who had both the Invisibility Technique and Turtle Breathing Technique activated, followed Xue Gui into the Xue Mansion.

After arriving home, Xue Gui went straight to his room and fell onto the bed to sleep; he was exhausted from the day and needed to recuperate thoroughly.

Yu Qingtan followed Xue Gui inside and, while he was asleep, she deftly stole his storage bag.

"First, I’ll collect some interest."

The scolded subordinate returned to his small room, preparing to rest early since he had much to do tomorrow.

Just as he was getting ready to sleep after tidying up a bit, a pair of hands wearing black gloves clamped over his mouth and gripped his throat.

"Want to live? Don’t make a sound!" Yu Qingtan said in a hoarse whisper.

The subordinate trembled with fear; after all, he was only a small fry at the second level of Qi Cultivation—how could he have stumbled into this situation?

He nodded vigorously, signifying he understood.

Yu Qingtan released his throat and pressed a spot on his dantian, sealing his cultivation.

Then she pried open his mouth and fed him a pill she had concocted from some random ingredients.

"You’ve just swallowed my Leopard Fetus Muscle Changing Pill. If you want the antidote, you’d better obey, understand?"

The subordinate, looking at the menacing figure before him clad in black and wearing a black mask, yet shorter than himself, didn’t dare resist and said softly, "I understand, I’ll be obedient."

"Tell me, what has Xue Gui been up to for the past two months?"

The subordinate wasn’t surprised to be questioned about Xue Gui and cautiously recounted what he knew.

As it turned out, Xue Gui was still on duty at the tax department of the City Lord’s Mansion, spending most of his day there loafing around, and strangely, he spent most nights earnestly cultivating, with only the occasional outing for dining and merrymaking with friends.

The place he frequented the most was Tianxiang Pavilion, unsurprisingly.

He visited both the outer and inner pavilions.

In the inner pavilion, he had seen many girls, among whom Xiao Yan was his favorite, and he had repeatedly hosted banquets for her at the pavilion.

"Xiao Yan!" Yu Qingtan’s eyes narrowed, and she emitted a dangerous glint.

She was, of course, familiar with this person.

One of the leading figures of Tianxiang Pavilion’s inner pavilion.

She had been there for over a decade with a cultivation at the later stages of Qi Cultivation.

The disciples of Tianxiang Pavilion’s inner pavilion, if they performed exceptionally well, would be quite popular for the first five or ten years, but then they would gradually fade into obscurity.

After all, once customers got too used to them, they grew bored.

At this point, the women had several options, such as moving to the outer pavilion, becoming instructors, striving to go to Tianxiang Valley, or finding someone to marry, among other paths.

If the flow of guests decreased, their worth would plummet, and the price to buy their freedom would decrease significantly.

Xiao Yan, however, was one of those who remained very popular even after a decade because she was top-notch in both figure and looks, and she had mastered both Dance Artistry and Zither Art, as well as the extremely difficult to master Illusion Dance Technique spell.

"As for today’s events, pretend they never happened, do you understand?" Yu Qingtan took out another pill.

"I understand, I won’t hesitate," the subordinate responded promptly, having no intent to divulge anything. If his master found out he had leaked so much information about Xue Gui to such a dangerous person, he was sure to be beaten to death.

Yu Qingtan nodded in satisfaction and flicked the pill to the subordinate.

The subordinate immediately swallowed it.

Yu Qingtan then left the area, reactivating her Invisibility Technique and began to search the Xue residence.

Soon, she found a room that was unoccupied and where no one was nearby; she stealthily entered.

She canceled her Invisibility Technique and Turtle Breathing Technique, and then took out Master Fu from the System Space.

Master Fu’s complexion had already improved significantly.

Yu Qingtan took out a first-grade, superior-quality Healing Pill and administered it to Master Fu.

Then she waited.

At the same time, she took the opportunity to erase the spiritual power imprint from Xue Gui’s storage bag.

After a little over an hour had passed.

Master Fu furrowed his brow, his still somewhat pale face showing signs of pain.

"Pfft—" he spat out a mouthful of clotted blood, and Master Fu slowly opened his eyes.

Greeting his sight was a face wearing a mask.

A pair of eyes shone brightly next to a tiny Moonlight Stone’s glow.