“Aunt Wu, do you know where that person went?”
Gong Shangyu’s eyes brimmed with tears, her voice slightly trembling as she anxiously questioned the steward Wu beside her.
“Uh… if I recall correctly, he headed towards the East City, probably looking for a place to stay.”
Seeing her mistress so unsettled, Steward Wu’s suspicion grew, and she cautiously probed further.
“Mistress, do you… know Lord Lu Feng? It seems you hold him in especially high regard?”
“Lord Lu Feng and his party shouldn’t have gone far yet. Should I immediately send someone to invite them back?”
At the mention of “they,” Gong Shangyu’s previously excited heart suddenly tightened, and she hurriedly pressed for more details.
“Hm? They? Besides the master… besides Lord Lu Feng who just arrived, who else came to the shop?”
Hearing this, Steward Wu quickly replied,
“Reporting to Mistress, accompanying Lord Lu Feng was a young lad, seemingly quite young, with somewhat androgynous features.”
“Oh! Right! He was wearing a slender sword at his waist, wrapped with silver threads. Lord Lu Feng referred to him as his disciple.”
“Hm? Disciple? Silver-threaded slender sword?”
At this, Gong Shangyu’s mind instantly conjured the cold, aloof face of Feng Lingshuang, and that Eros Sword she always wore at her waist.
Her heart suddenly clenched tightly, and her complexion turned pale as death.
Hiss…
This is bad!
Could it be Feng Lingshuang?
Yes!
Yes!
Counting the time carefully, in my previous life, Feng Lingshuang would already have sworn herself to our master as a disciple by now…
But… but in this life, everything has clearly changed compared to before!
I clearly…
A wave of icy panic drenched her mind, yet in the next moment Gong Shangyu forced herself to calm down.
No, if it truly was Senior Sister, Aunt Wu would never have described her as a “young lad.”
After all, Senior Sister’s “bearing” was very mature, and even in male attire, it was hard to mask her gender!
Moreover, the spies she planted in the Northern Region sent word a few days ago that the leader of the Tianjian Sect recently took in a disciple named Feng Lingshuang, who was born with a sword bone.
At first, Gong Shangyu thought this disciple with the same name as her Senior Sister was merely a coincidence.
But when she confirmed the disciple also had the innate sword-bone constitution, she was absolutely certain the new disciple of the Tianjian Sect’s leader was none other than her Senior Sister.
After all, names might repeat, and while the sword-bone constitution is rare, one could find others after diligent searching.
But for both to appear simultaneously, it had to be her Senior Sister Feng Lingshuang.
However, a disciple so close to Master… if it’s not Senior Sister Feng Lingshuang, then who could it be?
Hiss…
Could this be the butterfly effect caused by my reincarnation?
Damn it… So many variables!
Who would have expected Master Lu Li to have taken in another disciple so early?
And a male disciple who wields the sword at that…
Lost in thought, a complex mix of bitterness and vigilance quietly sprouted within Gong Shangyu’s heart.
Suppressing the turmoil inside, she continued to question Steward Wu.
“Aunt Wu, when Lord Lu Feng came to visit earlier, what exactly did he say to you?”
“Besides asking to see me and entrusting me with alchemy, did he inquire about anything else?”
Steward Wu didn’t dare neglect her duty and reported honestly.
“Reporting to Mistress, besides procurement for alchemy, Lord Lu Feng also subtly asked about many internal matters of our pavilion, especially concerning our collection of blood and hair samples from patients. Both he and his disciple seemed particularly interested and questioned in detail.”
Gong Shangyu, a woman of great intelligence, instantly pieced together everything in her mind, especially in light of recent rumors around Yangzhou City: children going missing…
Yes, it had to be City Lord Zhao Zongchang!
That bastard couldn’t find any leads himself, so he directed Xuling Sect’s attention toward my Danding Pavilion, trying to use them to eliminate my pavilion!
And Master… came to investigate this matter.
A flash of understanding crossed Gong Shangyu’s eyes before being replaced by a flicker of worry.
After all, if Master misunderstood Danding Pavilion…
Seeing her expression, Steward Wu carefully asked,
“Mistress, you care so much about Lord Lu Feng… Could it be that Lord Lu Feng is someone very special to you?”
Gong Shangyu closed her eyes, long lashes still glistening with faint tears.
When she opened them again, her emotions had calmed considerably, replaced only by deep affection and a complicated tenderness.
“Hm. He… let’s just say, he’s someone from my past I’ve been searching for many years.”
“In any case, to me…”
“He is a vital family member I cannot afford to lose…”
Hearing this, Steward Wu’s eyes lit up in sudden clarity as she exclaimed,
“I see! Mistress, when Lord Lu Feng left just now, he left behind a communication talisman, stating that if you come out or have news, you can use it to contact him.”
“Should I activate the talisman now and invite Lord Lu Feng back for a chat?”
“Uh… No! No need!”
Gong Shangyu immediately shook her head, her tone firm and decisive.
“Not yet… It’s not the right time.”
She raised a hand to gently wipe away the tear stains on her face and gazed out the window in the direction where Master Lu Li and his disciples had departed.
A faint, genuine smile slowly curved on her lips.
Within it were a few traces of relief, some hope, and above all, a confident sense of control.
“My Master… Oh, Lord Lu Feng, he doesn’t know me… not yet. If I rashly meet him and try to explain, it will only cause trouble and do more harm than good…”
Gong Shangyu’s voice softened, her eyes flickering with a spark of wisdom.
“Moreover, he came to investigate the disappearance cases in Yangzhou City.”
“Since he’s already suspicious of Danding Pavilion, knowing his personality, he will never give up easily.”
Steward Wu listened, partly understanding but still confused.
“Then Mistress, what do you mean?”
Gong Shangyu smiled faintly, confident and assured.
“Don’t worry, Aunt Wu. I have a feeling…”
“Lord Lu Feng will definitely come again.”
“And next time, he will come to find me on his own.”
After speaking, the softness in her gaze instantly sharpened!
Because this time, she would not miss him again.
She would prepare everything and re-enter his life in the most appropriate and dignified manner.
For now, the foremost problem to solve was the trouble brewing inside Yangzhou City.
She could not allow it to be the cause of Master’s ill feelings toward her.
***
Almost simultaneously, Lu Li and his disciples, having successfully settled at the Yunlai Inn in the East City, set up soundproof barriers around their room and began discussing the strange anomalies within Danding Pavilion.
“Qingkong, what’s your opinion on this Danding Pavilion?”
Lu Li asked his disciple after establishing the soundproof barrier.
Gu Qingying pondered for a moment, then organized her words carefully.
“Reporting to Master, the Danding Pavilion… on the surface, appears quite proper and kind, their business flourishing, even offering free medical consultations in Yangzhou City, truly benevolent and blameless.”
“But…”
Gu Qingying furrowed her brow slightly,
“the steward who received us was too smooth and meticulous, almost flawless to the point of appearing deliberate.”
“Although she claimed that collecting patients’ blood and hair was just to better tailor prescriptions to their constitutions…”
“This explanation, though seemingly reasonable, always feels somewhat incomplete to me…”
“Moreover, I can faintly sense a very subtle… array fluctuation deep in the backyard of Danding Pavilion, and it’s not an ordinary protective or spirit-gathering array…”
Lu Li’s eyes flashed with appreciation.
“Hmm… Your observation is quite thorough.”
“That steward is certainly a seasoned veteran; what she said sounds honest but actually dodges the main issue.”
“As for the array…”
Lu Li paused, his tone suddenly deepening from calm to serious,
“I detected it as well. It’s extremely sophisticated, even I can’t see through it…”
“Clearly, they’re deliberately hiding something.”
“So… Master, what shall we do next?”
Gu Qingying looked up tentatively at Lu Li.
Lu Li slowly raised his eyes, his voice steady but carrying an unyielding resolve:
“Tonight, I plan to investigate the Danding Pavilion alone. Let’s see what exactly they’re hiding inside that array in the backyard!”