“Hey!” Nan Zhu yelled in surprise, caught completely off guard. He had not expected this woman to barge in so forcefully.
She had already darted upstairs. What else could he do but follow? By the time he reached the upper floor, it was too late to stop her. Baili Xin had already pushed open Yu Qing’s door and rushed in to check.
The room was naturally empty. Nan Zhu barged in just in time to see Baili Xin kneeling on one knee, bending over to check if anyone was hiding under the bed.
Seeing her like this, although Nan Zhu liked her, he was also somewhat displeased. “Baili, someone else’s room, and a man’s room at that. Barging in without permission, do you think that is appropriate?”
Baili Xin completely ignored him. Seeing no one in the room, she immediately got up and left. After going out, she directly barged into Mu Aotie’s room, looked around, and still found no one.
This time, Nan Zhu blocked her at the doorway, his face darkening as he said in a deep voice, “What exactly do you want to do?”
He could not be happy right now. What they were about to do could not be known by others. This woman’s reaction felt abnormal to him. Given the experiences of the three martial brothers, it was hard for him not to be vigilant.
Baili Xin answered a question with another question. “Where did the two of them go?”
Nan Zhu found this strange. “What does it matter to you where they went?”
Baili Xin: “How does it not matter to me? Do not forget whose name you used to sneak in here. If anything happens to you, I cannot escape involvement. And now you say it does not matter to me?”
“Uh…” Nan Zhu was speechless. If she put it that way, it made some sense, but he could not help but question, “Baili, are you overreacting?”
Baili Xin: “Am I overreacting? Did you sneak in here really just to watch the matches at the Morning Sun Assembly?”
Nan Zhu naturally stubbornly denied it. “Of course. What else would we do if not watch the assembly?”
Baili Xin waved her hand, pointing at the room. “Where are they? Where did they sneak off to in the middle of the night? Do not tell me they went out sightseeing in the dark.”
Nan Zhu stared back. “They went for a walk nearby. What is wrong with that? Is it not allowed?”
Baili Xin: “It is fine if you fool me, but you had better fool others too. After the commotion outside started, I saw your expression was abnormal. Tell me honestly, where did they go, what did they do, and is the commotion outside at Kunling Mountain related to them? Tell me early so we can think of a way to help them if something is wrong!”
Nan Zhu continued to be stubborn. “You are overthinking it. They just went for a walk down the mountain. How could that cause such a huge commotion?”
Baili Xin: “Let me tell you, we are tied together now. If something happens, no one can escape. I will not harm you, I will only help you. Do you not understand yet?”
Nan Zhu would be willing to become close to her, but there was still a distance between them after all. Some things truly could not be told to outsiders.
Just then, a shout came from downstairs. “Brother Zhu, are you there?”
Nan Zhu and Baili Xin were startled. They recognised Ke Ran’s voice and did not know why this guy suddenly came running. They immediately set aside their dispute and went downstairs together, only to see Ke Ran standing outside the door, peering in.
Seeing them appear, Ke Ran smiled and cupped his fists in greeting. “Brother Zhu, Sister Baili.”
The two who came downstairs returned the greeting. Nan Zhu stepped forward and asked, “Does Brother Ke need something?”
Ke Ran jerked his chin towards the outside. “Did you see that? Kunling Mountain is making such a huge fuss. I do not know what happened.”
Nan Zhu pretended to be relaxed. “Who knows? It is their sect’s business. We cannot interfere, and it is not good to ask too many questions.”
“That is true.” Ke Ran nodded, looking as if he just came to ask if they knew anything. Then he seemingly asked casually, “Eh, where are Brother Zhang and Brother Dou?”
This question was the real key to his visit. He was in another small building and often paid attention to the movements here. His reaction was the same as Baili Xin’s. Seeing such a huge commotion outside, yet finding that Yu Qing and Mu Aotie not only did not come out to watch the excitement but did not even show their faces, he faintly felt something was wrong and immediately ran over to find out the truth.
Nan Zhu chuckled. “Those two guys are in deep cultivation. I just went up to call them, and they even told us not to disturb them.”
While saying this, he carefully glanced at Baili Xin, afraid she would say something random. Fortunately, Baili Xin stood there expressionless, not saying a word, and did not expose him.
Ke Ran said “Oh” and smiled. “It is a good thing to be able to calm down and maintain a cultivation state.”
Seeing that the other party blocked him outside the door and had no intention of letting him sit inside for long, he casually exchanged a few pleasantries and left. However, his occasional backward glances under the night curtain appeared quite meaningful.
With the outsider gone, Baili Xin asked in a low voice again, “Where exactly did they go?”
Nan Zhu sighed. “They really just went for a walk down the mountain.”
Baili Xin was speechless. Unable to force him to speak, she could only wait with him in silence.
Not long after, a Kunling Mountain disciple, Wu Tian, came up the mountain. He warned everyone that something had happened within the sect. He ordered the attendees on the mountain not to run around and to temporarily remain confined to the mountain. Meanwhile, a curfew had been imposed down the mountain. They would not be polite to trespassers. If any misunderstanding occurred, it would be bad for everyone.
Nan Zhu naturally asked what had happened. Wu Tian only said it was inconvenient to tell. After delivering the message, he left, coming in a hurry and leaving in a hurry, looking very busy.
The mountain was under curfew. How would Old Nine and Old Fifteen come back?
The less he knew about what had happened, the more anxious Nan Zhu became while waiting. He no longer had the mind to covet Baili Xin’s beauty and paced restlessly in the hall.
Baili Xin, on the other hand, leaned against the doorframe with her arms crossed, quietly watching the night outside.
About a quarter of an hour later, the two people in the room suddenly looked up at the roof together because they heard footsteps walking upstairs.
The two exchanged a glance, then immediately ran upstairs together. Pushing open Yu Qing’s door, they saw Yu Qing turning his head to look at them with a face full of astonishment, surprised by Baili Xin’s direct intrusion.
Nan Zhu turned around and ran to Mu Aotie’s room. Pushing the door open, he saw that Mu Aotie had also returned safely. Seeing that these two guys had actually broken through the curfew down the mountain silently and returned safely, he immediately felt a sense of relief.
“Where did you go?”
Before Nan Zhu could ask about the situation, Baili Xin had already launched an interrogation against Yu Qing…
The deaths of Diling and Ye Ling’er shocked the entire upper echelon of Kunling Mountain. The thieves were so rampant, treating the defences of the world’s number one spiritual plant sect as nothing. They killed when they wanted and ran when they wanted, all during the heavily guarded Morning Sun Assembly. Where did this leave the face of a great sect that had stood for a thousand years?
This was absolutely intolerable. The Kunling Mountain sect immediately ordered the entire sect, coordinating with the garrison troops on the periphery of Kunling Mountain, to ensure the culprit was captured!
However, the culprit was like a clay ox entering the sea, seemingly vanishing completely.
The entire Kunling Mountain was busy all night, exhausting all means, but no trace of the culprit was seen again.
Inside Meteor Hall, a thin, refined, and elderly man sat at the head of the brightly lit room. It was Zhao Dengzi, the sect leader of Kunling Mountain, who had arrived in person. News of the manhunt from all over Kunling Mountain was therefore constantly being relayed to this place.
Elder Wan Liqiu accompanied him at the side. In terms of seniority, he was a generation older than the sect leader and considerably older in age.
Qin Fujun stood at the side with her hands clasped, her expression somewhat gloomy and listless. Because her command of the capture was ineffective, she had been replaced. Her senior martial brother had taken over to lead the capture personnel at Meteor Hall.
After hearing another report of no discoveries for the time being, Zhao Dengzi looked at the sky outside and suddenly spoke. “It is already dawn, Elder Wan. Do you think the chances of catching the culprit are still high?”
Wan Liqiu was silent for a moment. The matter had been reported to the sect, and how to decide was now the sect’s business. For him, whether the chances of capture were high or not was no longer important. What mattered was the sect leader’s thoughts. After pondering briefly, he replied, “No trace of the culprit has been found again up to now. The chances are probably slim.”
Zhao Dengzi said calmly, “Why would the culprit run to Meteor Hall to commit the crime? Who do you think the culprit might be?”
Wan Liqiu immediately denied that the crime was committed because of Meteor Hall. “The culprit probably did not come for Meteor Hall. They were likely just passing by, and Diling happened to be here. If Diling had not discovered it in time, who knows what the culprit might have done in the sect.”
The implication was that Meteor Hall was not only without fault, but had actually made a contribution.
Zhao Dengzi glanced at him and nodded slightly. “Perhaps.”
Wan Liqiu continued, “As for who the culprit is, no clues have been found yet, so no conclusion can be drawn.”
Zhao Dengzi: “With trouble happening at this time, could the culprit be among those participating in the assembly?”
Wan Liqiu: “The sect leader’s assumption is that an outsider took the opportunity to sneak in. In my opinion, the possibility is not high. First, given the other party’s ability, there is no need to sneak in deviously. Second, to kill Ye Ling’er and Diling under the noses of so many disciples without being discovered is not something a person of ordinary cultivation can do. Without considerable strength, one would not have such boldness. The culprit is at least a High Mystic expert!”
Zhao Dengzi pondered and nodded slightly in agreement, then slowly said, “In that case, the culprit may have already left Kunling Mountain. During the assembly, there is not much point in continuing to cause a commotion. If there are clues, we can continue to investigate secretly. For now, let us handle the aftermath.”
Wan Liqiu understood his meaning. Currently, for the entire sect, the Morning Sun Assembly overshadowed everything else. Some important figures would arrive, and the entire cultivation world was watching. Unless necessary, it was best to stop at the right point. He immediately bowed slightly and said, “The sect leader’s words are reasonable.”
Zhao Dengzi said nothing more and strode away. He left the hall and departed with his entourage, riding on a large bird with outstretched wings.
Dawn broke, and the restlessness of Kunling Mountain throughout the night seemed to have subsided.
Wan Liqiu, who was seeing him off, sighed lightly and looked back at his closed-door disciple. “The sect leader mentioned handling the aftermath. Go and bury Ye Ling’er and Diling.”
“Yes.” Qin Fujun went submissively.
While directing a few fellow disciples to carry the two spiritual beast remains down the mountain for burial, she encountered a familiar female disciple along the way. The person sized her up, suddenly pulled her aside to whisper, “I know you are sad about what happened, but a person with such an elegant temperament as yours cannot be so unkempt!”
After speaking, she secretly pointed at her chest, then patted her arm to show comfort. Then she indicated she had business to attend to and walked straight up the mountain.
Qin Fujun had no reaction to her departure. She lowered her head and was completely dumbfounded.
Following the other person’s hint, she discovered a handprint on her chest, slightly towards her armpit. Moreover, it was a muddy handprint. If it were not for the daylight, it would not have been easy to notice. The question was, where did the muddy handprint come from?
She raised her own hands to look. They were very clean, not even a speck of dust could be seen. How could a muddy handprint be left on her chest?
She knew her own palm shape. Looking at the size of the handprint, it was not her own. The key question was, why would someone else’s handprint be left on her chest?