Chapter 2589

Zhu Yanyi paused, her eyes sharp as she fixed Qiao Cuicui. "I said nothing. You argued with this Daoist friend, yet you took your anger out on me. Did you think my face said 'easy to bully'?"

Qiao Cuicui felt a chill. She hadn’t meant to truly harm Zhu Yanyi, only to gain the upper hand since Yu Yinuo had ignored her. But she hadn’t expected Zhu Yanyi to be so unforgiving.

"You… what do you want?" Qiao Cuicui asked, her voice trembling.

"I don't want anything. I just dislike threats," Zhu Yanyi said slowly. "In my life, only two kinds of people can threaten me: those not yet born, and those already dead."

Qiao Cuicui’s heart sank. She didn’t know Zhu Yanyi’s identity and was now doomed to be a casualty. "You can’t kill me!" she cried, turning to the young man beside her. "Senior Brother! Senior Brother!"

The young man, Zuo Ran, looked helpless. She couldn’t sense Zhu Yanyi’s cultivation level, which meant it was higher than her. She had wanted to stay out of it, but Qiao Cuicui had dragged her in. As fellow disciples of Tianyi Sect, she couldn’t ignore her.

She bowed slightly. "This Daoist friend, I am Zuo Ran, an outer disciple of Tianyi Sect. How may I address you?"

Zhu Yanyi’s lips curled. "Since you call us loose cultivators, let’s keep it simple. I dislike pointless etiquette. Speak directly."

Zuo Ran hesitated. "My junior sister is young and speaks without thinking. Please forgive her."

"How old is she?" Zhu Yanyi asked.

"Three hundred and nineteen years old."

"I am one hundred and fifteen. My brother is one hundred and ten. You call her young and foolish? That’s quite a definition of young," Zhu Yanyi said, her tone dripping with sarcasm.

"Haha, I like that," Yu Yinuo laughed. "A three-hundred-year-old is younger than a one-hundred-year-old? First time I’ve heard that."

Zuo Ran looked embarrassed but insisted, "She is indeed immature. Please forgive her."

"Be practical," Zhu Yanyi said coldly. "What is the price for our forgiveness? Without a cost, why should I forgive her?"

Yu Yinuo chimed in, "Exactly. Why forgive a woman like that for free?"

"Junior Brother, calm down," the Wen senior brother said, though her eyes showed curiosity toward Zhu Yanyi.

Zuo Ran turned to Qiao Cuicui. "Bring out your apology gift."

"No!" Qiao Cuicui shook her head. She had called for help to save face, not to part with her treasures.

Zhu Yanyi sighed. "Your apology is useless if she doesn’t want to apologize. Then I don’t need it either."

She looked deeply at Qiao Cuicui. "I’m in a good mood, so no blood will be shed. But for your rude words, I punish you: you cannot speak for a hundred years."

With a wave of her hand, a golden light flashed and vanished into Qiao Cuicui’s throat.

"You…" Qiao Cuicui tried to speak, but no sound came out. She grabbed her throat, panic in her eyes as she looked at Zhu Yanyi like a demon.

Zhu Yanyi ignored her and turned to Zhu Zhibin. "Zhibin, look around. If you want anything, Sister will buy it for you."

Zhu Zhibin smiled, ignoring the chaos. He pointed to a Judge’s Pen nearby. "Sister, I want that pen."

Zhu Yanyi inspected it. "High-grade spiritual artifact. Not bad." She called out, "Shopkeeper!"

A manager emerged, smiling, seemingly unaware of Qiao Cuicui’s plight. "The Judge’s Pen costs two hundred high-grade spirit stones."

Zhu Yanyi tossed a storage bag containing the stones. The manager checked them and handed the pen to Zhu Zhibin.

"Done," Zhu Zhibin said.

"Let’s go," Zhu Yanyi said. Zuo Ran had already knocked Qiao Cuicui unconscious and was dragging her away.

"Wait! Wait!" Yu Yinuo called out. "I’d like to treat you to a meal. I want to be friends."

Zhu Yanyi tilted her head. Yu Yinuo scratched her head. "To be honest, I’m curious. What did you do to make Qiao Cuicui unable to speak?"

Zhu Yanyi smiled lightly. "I didn’t like her rude words, so I locked her throat. Based on the spiritual energy in this world, the lock will release in about a hundred years."