A Second Visit to the Hall of Sinners

Lu Yang thought to himself: *Does it make any difference which one of us goes to prison? Fairy, if you serve time for me, aren't I still right here in the spiritual space? It's not like locking you up keeps me out of the Hall of Sinners.* The Immortal Fairy's willingness to take responsibility for her own actions was truly rare. Even if it was completely useless. Still, it was undeniably rare. "Do I have to be locked up too?" Bai Ye asked, taking over from Master Zhuiyue. "When night falls, Tree Ancestor, you may just come out," Luo Hongxia said. Bai Ye had done nothing wrong, so how could she be put in prison? "Oh, all right then." Bai Ye retreated, returning control of the body to Master Zhuiyue. "Tree Ancestor, please wait. There is one more matter that requires your consent," Luo Hongxia called after her. "What is it?" "Previously, the palace was unaware that you possessed spiritual intelligence. We have continuously felled and sold moon laurel trees without consulting you, and my heart weighs heavy with guilt. These moon laurel trees are your property, so the spirit stones earned from selling them ought to belong to you. Would you please tell us when you first developed spiritual intelligence, so the palace can calculate the spirit stones to return?" Bai Ye struggled to fully grasp Luo Hongxia's point, but she gathered the gist: they wanted to give her spirit stones. "Spirit stones are useless to me. You keep them. As for cutting down trees and selling them, just carry on as you always have." "The Tree Ancestor is truly benevolent and righteous." Luo Hongxia bowed deeply. The moment the Moon Laurel Tree Ancestor developed spiritual intelligence and became a sentient being, ownership of the Great Snow Mountain's moon laurel trees shifted from the immortal palace to Bai Ye. However, back then, the palace had no knowledge of Bai Ye's existence, so felling and selling the moon laurel trees lacked criminal intent and did not constitute a crime. Now that the palace knew about Bai Ye, they could no longer fell or sell the moon laurel trees without her consent. ... The Hall of Sinners. "Palace Master, what brings you here?" Elder Molan, dressed in a black lotus gown, asked in surprise. What surprised her even more was that Luo Hongxia had brought two young children inside. "You have children?" Because she was responsible for guarding the Hall of Sinners, Elder Molan rarely had the opportunity to leave, and she had no idea what was happening in the outside world. In an instant, she envisioned a tale where Luo Hongxia and Daoist Buyu secretly harbored feelings for each other, but because Daoist Buyu had countless enemies, they dared not make their relationship public and could only meet in secret, even having two children together; and now that Daoist Buyu had advanced to the Tribulation Transcendence stage and no longer feared his foes, Luo Hongxia finally dared to go public with their love, taking the children around to introduce them to everyone... The corner of Luo Hongxia's eye twitched. The look Junior Sister Molan was giving her felt distinctly off. Junior Sister Molan had always possessed an overactive imagination; who knew what absurd thoughts were running through her head right now. "There was a slight accident in the palace recently, and the disciples all shrank. Lu Yang was no exception. This little fellow is Lu Yang." "How extraordinary!" "Then is Lu Yang here to tour the Hall of Sinners again?" "He plans to stay for five days." Elder Molan froze for a moment, then understood what Luo Hongxia meant. "You really do intend to follow in your master's footsteps and do a stint in our Hall of Sinners, don't you?" Lu Yang: "..." *Elder Molan, you definitely have some kind of misunderstanding about me.* "And who is this one?" "Her identity cannot be disclosed. All you need to know is that she committed theft, and due to special circumstances, she is to be locked in the Hall of Sinners by day and may move about freely by night." Concerned about her image, Master Zhuiyue did not want outsiders knowing she had turned into a little girl, and had requested that Luo Hongxia keep it a secret. "Someone with connections?" In her thousand years guarding the Hall of Sinners, Elder Molan had never seen a prisoner enjoy such freedom. Luo Hongxia: "..." What could she say? In a certain sense, she really was someone with connections. Normally, Elder Molan would be responsible for locking people away. But since Luo Hongxia had come in person, Elder Molan didn't bother lifting a finger—such an important matter was best left to the palace master. As soon as they entered the depths of the Hall of Sinners, Qu Ling's venomous voice rang out: "My good disciple! Who would have thought you'd dare show your face here!" "To dare imprison your own master—what outrageous treachery!" "Shut your mouth," Master Zhuiyue snapped in displeasure. "Even I have to be locked up when I make a mistake. What gives you the right to talk?!" Normally, if anyone dared speak to Qu Ling like that, she would have flown into a rage. Yet for reasons unknown, being rebuked by this pint-sized child instilled an instinctive dread in her, leaving her afraid to lash out. "Who are you?" Qu Ling eyed Master Zhuiyue with suspicion and uncertainty, at a loss as to why she felt afraid of this little girl. "You don't deserve to know." "You—!" Luo Hongxia glanced at Qu Ling. "Seeing as you were once my master, I advise you to show some respect to her. Otherwise, you'll regret it later." Qu Ling huffed coldly and fell silent. "Are you... Fellow Daoist Lu Yang?" Xue Shilou rubbed his eyes, wondering if his recent bloodline awakening was causing his vision to fail him. Just a few days ago, Fellow Daoist Lu Yang was well over a meter tall; how had he shrunk down to barely a single meter? Lu Yang cursed inwardly. He had forgotten all about this. He had intended to keep his shrinking a secret, but now an outsider like Xue Shilou knew. The Immortal Fairy strove to defend Lu Yang's dignity in front of outsiders. "Ahem. I am currently cultivating an immortal art of eternal youth. A minor mishap occurred in my training, causing me to shrink for a few days every year. The outside world is too dangerous, and I have far too many enemies, so I came to the Hall of Sinners for some peace and quiet." "So that's how it is." Xue Shilou came to a sudden realization. "Then you must be careful with your cultivation, Fellow Daoist Lu Yang. That technique sounds awfully dangerous." "For real?" Xuanyuan Tianhen looked entirely skeptical. "Naturally it's true," the Immortal Fairy said nonchalantly. She did her best to mimic an official from the Ministry of Justice inspecting conditions in the Imperial Prison, but Lu Yang's body was simply too small. No matter what expression or posture she adopted, she couldn't pull off the look. The prisoner Lu Yang had previously seen locked in the Hall of Sinners for theft had already finished his sentence and been released, neatly vacating a cell for Master Zhuiyue. The Immortal Fairy was assigned the cell right next door. After making the bed, the Immortal Fairy hopped onto it with delight and lay down, struck by a familiar sensation. "This immortal feels like she does the exact same thing in the spiritual space." "Not quite, though. The bed in the spiritual space is still much comfier." The Immortal Fairy closed her eyes and sent her consciousness back into the spiritual space. "Little Yangzi, come have a snowball fight!" Lu Yang sighed. "Fairy, there really is no difference whether you're serving time or not." Earlier, they had remarked that the cultivators imprisoned in the Hall of Sinners were of too low a level. Now the bar was high enough—even an immortal was locked inside. ... "Master, Lu Yang disappeared after passing by the hot springs! Could something have happened to him?" Having not seen Lu Yang for an entire day and night, Lan Ting frantically sought out Luo Hongxia. "...It's not really an accident. He's just staying in the Hall of Sinners right now." "Huh? That doesn't count as something happening?" But then Lan Ting understood—it was because he had wandered into the hot springs by mistake. She firmly believed Senior Brother Lu Yang must have had his reasons for doing so. "If you want to see him, you can visit him in the Hall of Sinners." Luo Hongxia felt there was no hope left for this precious disciple of hers; she might as well just hand her over to the Dao Seeking Sect.