Gu Qinghan and Nalan Yunyan were ultimately unable to prevent the bond of friendship from forming between You Suqi and Qian Yu because someone interrupted them before they could.
The Sect Master of the Luoxia Immortal Sect—Cloud-Weave Star Venerable.
This powerhouse, whose cultivation had reached the peak of the Venerable Realm and who was hailed as the undisputed number one in the world beneath the Saints, actually appeared in person to take Qian Yu away after her victory over You Suqi.
The implication was self-evident.
Qian Yu, who was originally famous within the Sect for being a little piece of trash, had now caught the Sect Master’s eye.
When she emerged again, her status would be incomparable to what it once was.
A meteoric rise at such a speed was so dreamlike that it left people speechless.
Even long after Qian Yu had departed, the surrounding Luoxia Immortal Sect disciples did not disperse for a long time.
They were still discussing the events that had just unfolded.
It was certain that within half a day, the name of Qian Yu would resound throughout the entire Luoxia Immortal Sect and beyond.
Nalan Yunyan’s cold, arrogant, and majestic brows were tightly furrowed.
After hesitating for a moment, she looked toward Gu Qinghan, who had inexplicably ended up standing in the same spot as her, and asked:
“Hey, you. Did you think the Sect Master’s expression was a bit strange just now?”
As the Young Clan Head of the Nalan Family, Nalan Yunyan had met Cloud-Weave Star Venerable many times.
In her memory, the impression the other woman projected was always that of a kind yet majestic elder.
But just now, when she appeared to take Qian Yu away, Nalan Yunyan felt that her emotions seemed a bit off.
That always unhurried, gentle Sect Master seemed to be surrounded by an air of excitement, as if she were impatient and could not wait to bring Qian Yu back.
It was normal for a Sect Master to be excited when a Peerless Prodigy appeared in the Sect, but Nalan Yunyan just felt something was wrong, sensing that something eerie was hidden beneath Cloud-Weave Star Venerable’s excitement.
Thus, having no one else to discuss it with, she could only turn her gaze toward Gu Qinghan beside her.
She had sought out the wrong person.
The black-haired girl dazed for a long time before realizing that “you” referred to her.
She then tilted her head expressionlessly.
She could barely perceive her own emotions sometimes, let alone those of others.
“If your concern for the Sect Master’s expression is essentially a concern for Qian Yu’s safety, there is no need. The Sect Master will not harm her, at least not for now,” Gu Qinghan said.
“Heh.”
Nalan Yunyan felt a sense of relief in her heart.
Before she could ask why the other girl said that, a cold sneer escaped her lips first.
“Laughable. Why would I care about Qian Yu’s safety?”
Qian Yu was just a common little lackey of hers, but she was a “pain” in Gu Qinghan’s heart that could not be erased.
Only by maintaining this stance could she appear superior to Gu Qinghan.
If the other girl knew she was actually a little worried, wouldn’t she look stupid?
Besides, as the eldest lady of the Nalan Family, she didn’t really care about a small follower, nor could she possibly still remember that hug and the words of comfort the girl had given her back then.
“So, Nalan Yunyan, you weren’t concerned about Qian Yu just now, were you?”
“Naturally.”
Nalan Yunyan gave a cold sneer and nodded.
Gu Qinghan stopped talking and returned to her silence.
Although her perception of emotions was somewhat lagging, she wasn’t truly a blockhead.
The exchange of looks during the Fox Tail Sword Spirit incident, the way the other girl inexplicably appeared here, and the question just now—all of it made Gu Qinghan feel that the relationship between Nalan Yunyan and Qian Yu was a bit different.
The other girl seemed to care for her deeply.
This was very strange.
According to Qian Yu, her relationship with Nalan Yunyan was entirely one of coercion and bribery.
The other girl was not good to her at all, which was why she had come to seek refuge with Gu Qinghan.
Then why was Nalan Yunyan concerned about Qian Yu?
Recently, every time the other girl mentioned Qian Yu in front of her, that inexplicable sense of disdain and superiority that almost overflowed was also concerning.
It was as if there were some secret between her and Qian Yu that Gu Qinghan didn’t know about.
The more Gu Qinghan thought about it, the more she felt something was wrong.
When she set aside her suspicions, she was a girl who cared only for cultivation, but when doubt truly sprouted in her heart, her experiences from her past life gave her extremely high executive power.
She decided to test the girl personally once Qian Yu came out from Cloud-Weave Star Venerable’s side.
If… she could come out.
If her memory served her right, that Sect Master, who was hailed as the number one person beneath the Saints today, dreamed of transplanting a Sacred Body into herself.
The strangeness Nalan Yunyan sensed was likely because of this.
Heavens forbid, she had already given up on the delusion of a transplant, only to unexpectedly see another Sacred Body.
Furthermore, the girl didn’t have any deep backing behind her.
This was practically a gift from the heavens.
Cloud-Weave Star Venerable had confessed these things to Gu Qinghan later on.
However, she was still not very worried about Qian Yu’s safety.
Aside from Nalan Yunyan’s Pure Element Affinity Saintly Physique and the two types ranked nineteenth and thirty-seventh, all other Sacred Bodies, no matter how powerful, could not satisfy the conditions for transplantation due to various reasons.
The concealment talent of the Nine-Tailed Sky Fox had masked a portion of Qian Yu’s Sacred Body aura, but Gu Qinghan had already observed her just now—she was not the Pure Element Affinity type.
What was even safer was that Qian Yu would not be able to draw the other two types of Sacred Bodies that carried the risk of transplantation.
Because only one type of Sacred Body could appear in the same era.
The thirty-seventh-ranked Sacred Body was currently with the Demon Race, belonging to the opponent Nalan Yunyan would face later.
And as for the nineteenth-ranked one…
Meeting Nalan Yunyan’s questioning eyes, the pensive Gu Qinghan’s gaze became “gloomy.”
The owner of that nineteenth-ranked Sacred Body was the little follower who had been trailing behind Nalan Yunyan—Tang Qiurou.
Although she didn’t know how the other girl’s Sacred Body eventually came to be, it had nothing to do with Qian Yu’s current safety.
As long as the girl didn’t have “god-defying” luck and awaken that specific Sacred Body early, no matter how ambitious Cloud-Weave Star Venerable was, she would be forced to play the role of a gentle elder, bestow some rewards, and let her go.
“Gu Qinghan! What are you doing? You’ve been staring at me since just now!”
Nalan Yunyan’s angry questioning came from the side, but the deep-in-thought Gu Qinghan simply turned and left silently, completely oblivious to what the other was shouting.
She was thinking that while the conclusion was clear, where did this faint feeling of her heart skipping a beat come from?
Cloud-Weave Star Venerable’s confessions were just private talks meant to make herself feel better.
If not for today’s events, she would have almost forgotten them.
Why then did she have the illusion of wishing Qian Yu knew about these things?
Strange…
Behind her, Nalan Yunyan’s questioning grew louder.
This person… this person just left like that?!!!
She didn’t acknowledge her at all.
At this moment, no matter how many times she recited Qian Yu’s advice that “true experts challenge themselves,” Nalan Yunyan desperately wanted to fight Gu Qinghan on the spot.
“Senior Sister Nalan, I have brought the two people you asked me to fetch. After a preliminary interrogation, among the Inner Disciples around them, there are indeed many who have done things for Junior Sister Tang Qiurou.”
Amidst Nalan Yunyan’s anger, a girl from the Nalan Family walked forward, bringing the two Inner Disciples who were still delighted about having their heads patted by Qian Yu.
“Mm.”
“However, there is one more thing that must be reported to you…”
Just as Nalan Yunyan was about to nod, she heard the Nalan Family girl continue:
“They said that one of their Senior Sisters used to specialize in purchasing items for Tang Qiurou. Later, she inexplicably died from qi deviation.”
“Based on the description, I feel… the situation was very similar to when Xiao Ya passed away…”
Nalan Yunyan froze, and her aura instantly turned ice-cold.
Xiao Ya was the second person who had always followed her since her lowliest days, alongside Tang Qiurou.
Her death had always left an indelible sense of guilt and self-blame in Nalan Yunyan’s heart.
In fact, the reason her relationship with Gu Qinghan had soured to the point where she wanted to slash the girl’s face was because she suspected Gu Qinghan was involved in Xiao Ya’s death.
Now, someone was telling her… that such a person existed, whose sudden death was very similar to Xiao Ya’s.
How could Nalan Yunyan not care?
Just as she was about to order her subordinates to take those two Inner Disciples back to her Cave Residence for personal interrogation, a cute girl with twin tails approached with reddened eyes.
“Senior Sister! Qiurou wants to apologize to you. Before, it was because Qiurou couldn’t handle losing that I hoped others would lose too. It won’t happen again!”
Tang Qiurou walked up to Nalan Yunyan, clutching the hem of her clothes with her right hand, apologizing while appearing on the verge of tears.
Her weak tone and the tears in the corners of her eyes appeared incredibly sincere and pitiful.
The coldness in Nalan Yunyan’s eyes dissipated slightly.
“It’s good that you know you were wrong. My subordinates should be able to handle losing and let it go.”
She had indeed been angry at Tang Qiurou’s earlier series of “sore loser” behaviors.
For a moment just now, she had even suspected that Xiao Ya’s death was related to Tang Qiurou.
Thinking about it now, how could that be possible?
The two of them had been good sisters for many years even before they met her.
No matter how many small schemes Tang Qiurou had behind her back, she wouldn’t be that heartless.
“Were you talking about Xiao Ya just now?”
Nalan Yunyan felt much better, and at that moment, the Tang Qiurou who had just apologized spoke up again with reddened eyes, sighing as if intentionally or unintentionally:
“I remember she used to tell me often that Junior Sister Qian Yu looked very cute and fluffy. If she knew that Junior Sister Qian Yu is now our companion, she would probably be very happy, right?”
Xiao Ya thought Qian Yu was cute?
Nalan Yunyan knit her brows.
Why had the girl never mentioned this to her?
Furthermore, Xiao Ya was a very lively and cheerful girl.
If she truly liked Qian Yu, she would definitely have taken the initiative to make friends with her.
Then why had she never heard Qian Yu mention her?
Was it because they never met… or…
Seeing that the doubt in Nalan Yunyan’s heart had been successfully awakened by her “unintentional” sigh, Tang Qiurou’s tearful, pure face suddenly curved into an extremely eerie smile.
She knew that as long as it concerned Xiao Ya, the other girl would definitely investigate.
In that case, there would be many, many interesting pieces of evidence waiting for her to discover.
Qian Yu~ even if you are a Sacred Body, even if you are a prodigy, once you are implicated in such a matter, you will surely die without a burial site.
This eldest lady of hers had never been a kind-hearted person.
Thinking this, the smile at the corners of Tang Qiurou’s mouth deepened.
She lowered her head, and the corners of her mouth pulled wide in a mechanical, jagged grin.
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