“How does Daoist Qiu know?”
Shen Zhuoqing asked with a stern expression.
Obviously, since even Shen Qing was investigating the matter, if there were any new clues, the first person to know should be Shen Zhuoqing.
However, Qiu Zaiqi had no intention of clarifying the details to them, simply saying, “Senior Daoist Shen is in charge of this matter? If there is nothing else, please help us speak a word to the guards at the main gate so that we can head down the mountain to investigate.”
Seeing that Qiu Zaiqi refused to elaborate, Shen Zhuoqing remained silent for quite a while.
Until the surrounding atmosphere grew somewhat quieter, with vague, uneasy glances from disciples shifting between them.
Liu Ziyi suddenly recalled Xiliu’s unusual behavior from the previous night.
The sword spirit, which had suddenly taken human form, seen a sharp increase in intelligence, and seemed to recall several memories, had stated: Don’t take my word for it; I reckon Qiu Zaiqi probably harbors suspicions already too. Don’t let his sword-obsessed cultivation fool you; he’s actually as meticulous as a hair.
If he himself could spot the anomaly in Shen Zhuoqing destroying the gu worms right from the start, Qiu Zaiqi could naturally do the same!
No wonder he felt the atmosphere between the two of them was bizarre and oppressive; normally, Qiu Zaiqi was polite yet indifferent to everyone except himself.
Just as Shen Zhuoqing was about to speak, Liu Ziyi hastily piped up: “Ah—”
Crossing his arms with a thoughtful expression, he said:
“It’s not that we want to hold you up, but the junior brothers at the gate are just following the Sect Master’s orders. No matter how much we talk our way through it, it’ll only cause trouble for them. In the current situation, leaving the sect through the main gate is beyond our power.”
“Still… Qiu Zaiqi, what did you discover? Care to share it with me?”
With Liu Ziyi stepping in to question him, Qiu Zaiqi’s attitude softened somewhat, and he glanced sideways at him. “What use is telling you?”
Liu Ziyi smiled. “Didn’t you say that person is at Tianya Inn? Tianya Inn falls under the jurisdiction of our Fujian Sect. Whenever I sneak—ah, whenever I head down the mountain for trials, I always go to Tianya Inn, and I’m extremely familiar with Boss Lin Tianya there.”
This wasn’t a lie. If Qiu Zaiqi had truly grasped any crucial clues, he would also worry that Innkeeper Lin Tianya of Tianya Inn wouldn’t cooperate, causing them to miss their window of opportunity in vain.
“Let’s go together. Maybe we can catch the gu-poisoner immediately,” Liu Ziyi said.
Hearing this, Qiu Zaiqi seemed somewhat hesitant. Yet on the surface, he frowned and retorted, “You just said it was beyond your power, but now you can go out together?”
“If you’re willing, I can certainly take you away from Tianxuang Cliff by another path. How about it?”
As expected of an expert at sneaking down the mountain for fun, Liu Ziyi offered a smiling, confident guarantee without the slightest hint of a guilty conscience.
Naturally, the moment his voice trailed off, Shen Zhuoqing behind him spoke up:
“Xiao Liu—”
“Hey—”
Liu Ziyi acknowledged him with a sound, reaching behind to press down on Shen Zhuoqing’s hand without turning around to face him.
Instead, he continued addressing Qiu Zaiqi: “That path isn’t safe, though. I can only take you alone.”
“Think it over?”
Only after saying all this did Liu Ziyi turn around.
He lowered his voice to tell Shen Zhuoqing:
“Don’t worry, Senior Brother. As long as Pu Yue is still with us here, Master won’t blame us.”
After pondering it for a moment, Shen Zhuoqing finally nodded and agreed to Liu Ziyi’s proposal.
Seeing Shen Zhuoqing relent, Liu Ziyi turned his attention back to Qiu Zaiqi.
“Let’s go.”
Qiu Zaiqi ultimately chose to trust Liu Ziyi.
The alternative path down the mountain branched off from a trail leading toward Wuwang Peak, overgrown with weeds.
Liu Ziyi had accidentally spotted magical beasts wandering about during a previous stroll, which was how he noticed the hidden path behind the weeds.
Back then, as he flew past on his sword, he saw that the path behind the weeds abruptly ended at a sheer cliffside, and before he could even register what was happening, he was yanked down by a distorted spiritual energy field at the cliff’s edge.
Come to think of it, that had been his first time sneaking down the mountain.
Probably no one would have guessed that it was a measure born of necessity for him. After all, once he managed to control Xiliu amidst that chaotic turbulence, he found himself right at the waist of Tianxuang Cliff’s back mountain, with the bustling expanse of Luozhou lying right before his eyes—
“The spiritual energy here is chaotic. Can we really get down this way?” Qiu Zaiqi couldn’t help questioning.
Even before stepping into the thicket, his spiritual sense had detected an unprecedented sense of disorientation. All sorts of Dao intents mingled within, some twisting like demonic whispers, others serene like murmuring streams, making it utterly impossible for anyone to get their bearings.
“Of course. I take this way down the mountain most of the time—at least seven or eight times.”
Liu Ziyi said, “The path here used to be quite difficult to navigate, but I’m familiar with it after walking it so many times. You just stand behind me and channel your spiritual energy to me, and I’ll carry you down!”
With that, Liu Ziyi turned to look at Shen Zhuoqing. “Senior Brother, you should stay in the sect, right? Master might come looking for us.”
“How can that be?”
“Unacceptable.”
Two voices rang out in unison.
Qiu Zaiqi looked at Shen Zhuoqing, who had uttered the “unacceptable,” leaving Shen Zhuoqing to speak first: “Xiao Liu, you are injured. What will you do if you run into danger outside the sect?”
“Don’t worry, Senior Brother~ I’ll drop him off and come right back through the mountain gate. You’ll come pick me up then, won’t you?” Liu Ziyi smiled.
“No, Xiao Liu.”
Shen Zhuoqing’s emotions grew visibly severe. The man who had calmly voiced his disapproval a moment before seemed to undergo an abrupt transformation as he furrowed his brow, declaring with a near-absolute finality: “You cannot leave the sect right now.”
“You cannot leave my sight. The moment you leave—something will happen… You are injured, it will definitely happen.”
“Senior Brother…”
Seeing him begin to babble incoherently after a single sentence, Liu Ziyi felt a mixture of helplessness and irritation.
He understood that Shen Zhuoqing knew something and was being tormented by his inner demons, yet he refused to share a single word with him.
Acting like this every single time only made him feel both annoyed and distressed.
“I’ll go inform Master and have him let us down the mountain. Xiao Liu, don’t go.”
Shen Zhuoqing made his final decision, completely ignoring the opinions of the two people before him as he raised a hand to grab Liu Ziyi, though his sleeve was brushed aside like a dark cloud.
Liu Ziyi instinctively dodged his touch.
“There’s not enough time; Master will ask too many questions,” Liu Ziyi said, refusing to believe Shen Zhuoqing didn’t understand this logic.
As the Sect Master, Shen Qing naturally couldn’t allow them to wander down the mountain, especially since the entire Fujian Sect was under lockdown over this incident. How could they explain themselves to other cultivators if they went down?
Even if they were dispatched under orders to investigate, it wouldn’t be their turn.
Notifying Master at this juncture was equivalent to cutting off their final escape route.
Furthermore, to earn Qiu Zaiqi’s trust, he had already exposed his private, secret shortcut.
He feared Qiu Zaiqi would only grow more suspicious given this behavior.
At this thought, Liu Ziyi turned back to look at Qiu Zaiqi.
Meeting his gaze, Qiu Zaiqi gave a low assurance to Shen Zhuoqing: “Please rest assured, Senior Daoist Shen. Since I am heading down the mountain with Liu Ziyi, I will certainly bring him back to Tianxuang Cliff safe and sound.”
“Besides, I imagine Tianya Inn cannot trap that gu-poisoner for long; our time is very tight.”
These words apparently carried some weight.
Shen Zhuoqing, whose previous grab had met empty air, was still staring in Liu Ziyi’s direction. Watching his junior brother turn his face away and refuse to meet his gaze, he suddenly felt as though his heartbeat had stalled for a long, agonizing moment. The chaotic Dao intents at the cliff edge only threw his thoughts into greater disarray—
Ultimately, he ceased voicing objections, simply furrowing his brow and turning his face away with a voice drained of all strength:
“Fine… I can’t stop anything anyway…”
The final phrase faded into a whisper so faint that only he could hear it.
Shen Zhuoqing lowered his gaze to steady his thoughts, before finally shifting his focus back to Qiu Zaiqi:
“I must ask Daoist Qiu to ensure Xiao Liu is safely returned to my Tianxuang Cliff.”
“Off you go.”