Xu Qianlan was truly furious. All her painstaking efforts to win over Jiang Che couldn’t compare to a single instigating remark from that bastard.
The sharp spiritual power she released in anger was about to strike Zhao Zi’ang, but at the very last moment, it suddenly veered off course, grazing past Zhao Zi’ang and slamming hard into the ground nearby, blasting open a small pit with dirt flying everywhere.
“Hmm?!” Xu Qianlan’s heart trembled, and she whipped her head around to scan her surroundings.
The silent courtyard was empty except for her and the collapsed Zhao Zi’ang.
Only not far away, a flash of white darted through the grass—it seemed to be a rabbit, disappearing in an instant.
“Rabbit?” Xu Qianlan frowned deeply, suspicion and unease swirling in her mind.
But just then, a figure appeared as if out of thin air, standing silently before the unconscious Zhao Zi’ang.
It was none other than Yun Yan, Sect Master of the Shenxiao Sect.
He stroked his white beard, his cloudy old eyes glancing at the mess and the toppled rockery, with a trace of curiosity as he looked at the still-fuming Xu Qianlan.
“Xu Head, what has made you so angry?”
“Yun Yan, I respect you as an elder, but step aside! I have to kill this guy! This guy is full of wicked thoughts! He’ll definitely do evil in the future! If I kill him now, it’ll save the Shenxiao Sect from disgrace!”
“Xu Head, you’re this angry—let me guess, did this child try to stir up trouble between you and Jiang Che?”
Still fuming, Xu Qianlan’s willow brows shot up at his words, her tone sharp and urgent.
“You know about it?!”
“I know a little.”
Yun Yan’s expression remained unchanged, his smile mild as always.
“If you know a little, why keep him?!”
Yun Yan raised his hand gently, as if soothing an agitated cat.
“Ah, Xu Head, calm your anger. This child… you can’t kill him just yet.”
“Why not?”
Xu Qianlan arched her brow, full of confusion.
Yun Yan replied with deep meaning in his tone.
“The child has just returned. Killing him now would damage the sect’s reputation. More importantly, all the strange incidents in the sect these past years are basically tied to this child.
Once I finish investigating his purpose, I’ll help you kill him myself!”
Xu Qianlan’s face was still grave, murderous intent lingering. “Is there really any need to investigate? Just kill him and it all ends!”
She was truly fed up with all these roundabout twists.
Yun Yan just shook his head at her words, his tone calm.
“This child is probably just one of many pawns.
Only by keeping him alive can we follow the thread and uncover the mastermind. Also, haven’t you always wanted to clear Jiang Che’s name about what happened three years ago? He’s the key clue.”
At the mention of helping Jiang Che, Xu Qianlan finally relaxed her brows a bit.
“But if we capture him and interrogate him thoroughly, won’t he confess? I don’t believe we can’t pry open his mouth.”
Scenes of those two male disciples in the dungeon who nearly got entangled together, and the inexplicable death of Yang Xiong, flashed through Yun Yan’s mind. He replied with a hint of helplessness.
“No, that will only alert the enemy, and besides, we have no solid evidence.
Don’t worry, Xu Head. When the time comes, I will give you a proper explanation.
First, tell me—what did this child do three years ago that made you so furious?”
Xu Qianlan frowned tightly, clearly reluctant to bring up those days when she’d been used.
She hesitated for a moment, then finally gritted her teeth and spoke, humiliated and resentful from having been tricked.
“Three years ago… this guy told me it was Jiang Che who sent him, that Jiang Che wanted me to refine an Xuan Shui Dan for him. After it was done, Jiang Che would… would give me a surprise…”
As she said the word “surprise,” Xu Qianlan’s voice dropped, and an uncontrollable blush crept over her cheeks.
At that time, she naively thought Jiang Che had finally come to his senses.
She had gone out herself to look for the missing herbs, even though she could have sent her disciples to gather the materials.
Yun Yan narrowed his eyes at her words. Women these days—just a few words and they get swept away.
Suppressing her anger, Xu Qianlan said, “Then I’ll leave this guy to you! I’m going back!”
With that, Xu Qianlan headed straight for her Xuandan Peak.
Yun Yan stroked his white beard and sighed softly, glancing at the Zhao Zi’ang lying on the ground.
There was one more thing he didn’t say. He had discovered that after Zhao Zi’ang returned this time, his talent had grown even greater than three years ago, and there was a thread of Tianming’s aura on him—but it clearly did not belong to him. That was why it was so unstable and could be sensed by Yun Yan.
…
A few days later.
Hu Qiao’er and Wang Hao had finally entered Lingjian Peak as they wished.
However, Wang Hao’s talent was too low, so he could only cultivate as a Servant Disciple and had to do menial chores like fetching water and chopping wood.
As for Hu Qiao’er, she was directly made an Inner Disciple and given a room with a small courtyard.
Only Jiang Che was still brooding over everything about the Shenxiao Sect, unable to make a decision.
Fortunately, Lingjian Peak was sparsely populated, and with Yun Yan’s deliberate concealment, he was able to stay on Lingjian Peak for the time being.
However, he did not stay in his old room.
Because Bai Rushuang suddenly finished her seclusion, and as soon as Yun Fan found out, he took Jiang Che away from that room immediately.
Fearing Bai Rushuang would discover them, Yun Fan thought it over and secretly arranged for Jiang Che to stay in Hu Qiao’er’s courtyard.
After all, Hu Qiao’er’s place had better conditions and few disturbances; Yun Fan was most at ease leaving Jiang Che there.
Yun Fan often brought food to Jiang Che in secret and shared recent news, like how Zhao Zi’ang, for some unknown reason, was covered in injuries the day after he returned.
Jiang Che was indifferent, but Yun Fan seemed quite amused by it.
“A’Che, is that right?”
“Qiao’er-jie, you don’t need to use so much force, relax a bit and it’ll work better.”
Inside Hu Qiao’er’s room, Jiang Che and Hu Qiao’er were sitting cross-legged facing each other.
Their hands were clasped together.
Hu Qiao’er gripped Jiang Che’s hand tightly, wishing she could lock all ten fingers with his.
She had worked so hard to get Jiang Che to stay. For this, she even had to threaten Wang Hao quite a bit.
Because Wang Hao had originally wanted Jiang Che to stay with him, so the two boys could look after each other.
But the real reason was to quickly take Jiang Che as his master and activate his Bai Shi System.
In the end, he couldn’t win against Hu Qiao’er.
Right now, Hu Qiao’er was having Jiang Che teach her Yin Qi Ru Ti, and Jiang Che didn’t refuse.
The two of them were thinking the same thing.
Hu Qiao’er understood that Jiang Che must be worried she’d get hurt, so he didn’t want to tell her too much.
So Hu Qiao’er secretly vowed to get stronger no matter what.
Jiang Che also wanted Hu Qiao’er to get stronger and be able to protect herself, but he didn’t think that far.
“A’Che, I think it’s really nice like this!”
Hu Qiao’er changed her hand position again, intertwining all ten fingers with Jiang Che.
Jiang Che sighed.
“Qiao’er-jie, if you keep this up, your body won’t relax, and it’ll be hard for me to help. What I’m teaching you is Yin Qi Ru Ti and Nei Shi. You need to calm your mind.”
Hu Qiao’er answered reluctantly, letting go, and allowed Jiang Che to simply hold her hand.
“Qiao’er-jie, take a deep breath and relax. In a moment, my Shen Shi will enter your body and help guide you, so don’t get nervous.”
Jiang Che tried his best not to say anything too suggestive, because he noticed that ever since Feng Yaqin appeared, and after he and Hu Qiao’er had been apart for a while,
Hu Qiao’er’s attitude toward him had gotten stranger and stranger.
“Mm!”