"I was too exhausted last night and didn’t have the chance to ask. Miss Peacock, why were you targeted by assassins?" Meng Jingzhou acted with valor and a sense of righteousness.

Peacock pondered for a moment. The three men had saved her life last night; she trusted them and saw no harm in telling them, "This isn’t a good place to talk. How about we discuss it back in my room?"

The three men and two women, five in total, went to Peacock’s room.

As Peacock poured tea for the four of them and set the teapot down, she began slowly, "This story starts after my master left the Daoist temple."

"My master ran the Daoist temple named Mountain River Temple, and it was only him and me."

"In his youth, my master incurred many romantic debts and was often sought out by lovers. Over time, seeing that my cultivation level was sufficient to protect myself, he decided to travel under the guise of visiting other places and left the temple to avoid his debts."

"Once they learned my master had left, those lovers stopped coming to the temple as often. It was quiet and I was left alone."

"One day, as I was meditating in my room, I heard a loud noise from the courtyard. When I went out to check, I found a bloodied man who had crashed into the yard."

"The man was handsome, but gravely wounded; his clothes were soaked with blood."

"Without a second thought, I brought him into the house, cut open his clothes and treated his wounds."

"The man slept for almost a week. I don’t know what cultivation technique he practiced, but his wounds gradually healed."

"After he woke up, he was taciturn and didn’t even say ’thank you.’ He stayed in the temple without leaving, and I couldn’t just throw him out, so I let him stay."

"Another month passed and his injuries had healed. Suddenly, he grabbed my wrist and told me he had fallen for me and wished I would go with him."

"I didn’t even know his name or identity, and he was very insistent, gripping my wrist so hard it hurt. After I struggled free, I immediately rejected him."

"The man’s lips curled into an indifferent smile, saying he had never been refused in his life, and I was the first. He also said that anyone he took a liking to had only two options: become his or die. If I didn’t go with him, he promised to send endless assassins after me. Then he left."

"I wasn’t sure if he was bluffing or what, but his words had an evil tone, and I was terrified. So, I packed up that very night, thinking that if I came to a bustling city, the assassins he sent wouldn’t dare to find me."

"That’s how I ended up in Chunjiang City, where I met the young lady and the three gentlemen."

"So audacious?" Meng Jingzhou raised an eyebrow. Neither he, the Saint Heir of the Heavenly Court Sect, nor the roguish Young Sect Master beside him behaved that way.

"Miss Peacock, rest assured, with us here, no assassin will be able to harm you!"

"Amitabha, so that’s what happened."

"It seems last night’s assassin was the first. More will likely come to take Miss Peacock’s life."

Shi Chan took out a string of sandalwood Buddha Beads from his sleeve and offered it to Peacock, "This string of beads, blessed with the poor monk’s prayers, can withstand attacks from those at the Nascent Soul Stage for a quarter of an hour, and the monk will sense it too. Please accept it, Miss Peacock, for your protection."

"Nascent Soul Stage?"

Peacock’s eyes widened in disbelief. Such a gift must be worth a fortune in Spirit Stones—she couldn’t afford it even if she sold herself.

"I, I can’t afford this."

Shi Chan smiled gently and pushed it into Peacock’s hands, "Buddha once said, saving a life is more meritorious than building a seven-story pagoda. The poor monk will surely be repaid; you need not give anything, Benefactor. All I hope is that you avoid doing evil and strive to do good deeds in the future—that will be repayment enough."

"Then, thank you so much, Master."

Peacock wrapped the Buddha Beads carefully in a handkerchief and tucked them into her chest, handling them as if they were a treasured possession.

"This is the second time I’ve received a boon from Buddhism," Peacock said with a contented smile.

"The second time?"

"The first was a story my mother told us. My sister and I weren’t born yet, and I was very young, so I don’t remember it well."

"Sister, you must remember it better than I do, right?"

Fu Ling hummed softly and began, "At first, our father and mother could not conceive for a long time, until they heard that an abbot at Ancient Forest Temple was skilled in helping people have children. So, mother went to Ancient Forest Temple and found the abbot, Master Yuxin."

"After returning, Mother truly became pregnant."

"Mother often said that the birth of both of us was a blessing from Buddhism, a boon granted by Buddha, and that we should do good deeds and accumulate virtue in the future to repay the grace of Buddha’s descent into the world."

"After my sister went missing, Mother also went to the Ancient Forest Temple to seek Master Yuxin, but unfortunately, by that time, Master Yuxin had already passed away."

Lu Yang’s expression turned strange. Were the methods of Master Yuxin for seeking a child that effective, or were they really legitimate?

Lu Yang turned his head and asked Shi Chan, "Have you heard of the Ancient Forest Temple and Master Yuxin?"

Shi Chan gently shook his head, "There are so many temples in the world, this monk cannot recognize all of them. As for Master Yuxin, I have never heard of him. Perhaps he’s a high monk who hides in plain sight."

Clang, clang, clang.

Peacock’s room door was knocked on.

"Is Miss Peacock there?"

Peacock immediately became alert, staring intently at the door, feeling a strong sense of crisis.

"Who is it?"

"From the Government Office."

Peacock didn’t understand and became even more vigilant. What did the people from the Government Office want with her? She had explained everything when she reported the case last night.

Lu Yang frowned when he sensed with his Spiritual Sense that indeed constables were outside the door, at the very least dressed as constables.

Moreover, their Cultivation Level wasn’t low, with at least the Golden Core Stage, and there was also a faint smell of blood on them, obviously, they had just killed someone.

Lu Yang signaled with his eyes that with them there, everything was fine; all she had to do was open the door.

Peacock bravely opened the door to find three unfamiliar constables.

The constables saw three men and two women in Miss Peacock’s room and were also taken aback.

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"Which of the two ladies is Miss Peacock?"

The leading constable couldn’t tell Fu Ling and Peacock apart; it would be embarrassing to mistake someone else for her.

"I am. May I ask what’s the matter?" Miss Peacock said indifferently.

"It involves Miss Peacock’s privacy, so could Miss Peacock please step outside for a moment?"

Peacock became even more alert and shook her head firmly, "You can trust everyone here, you can speak in front of them."

The leading constable hesitated a moment, then chose to respect Peacock’s wish.

"It’s like this. Based on the reason you gave when reporting the case last night for being targeted by assassins, as well as the employer the assassin named, we reported the situation overnight and have now locked on to the man who wants to kill you based on this information."

"The Prefectorial Governor considers this a severe threat and asked us to act immediately."

"Just now, in a joint operation in the city, we took down this man’s stronghold and arrested him. A total of three at the Divinity Transformation Stage, fifteen at the Nascent Soul Stage, and several at the Golden Core Stage were involved in the operation."

"We’d like to confirm with Miss Peacock. Is this the man?"

With that, the constable pulled a piece of paper from his bosom. The man in the picture looked handsome and carried a hint of malevolence.

Peacock: "..."

You government officials sure work fast.