Flying on a sword with a wounded body.
Even though most of his spiritual energy had recovered, it was still quite strenuous.
If not for Chou Zaiqi pressing his palm tightly against Liu Ziyi’s left shoulder blade from behind to continuously channel spiritual energy, carrying two people would have been a struggle even for a sword.
Even the Xiliu sword summoned out by Liu Ziyi let out a few disgruntled, ringing hums.
Yet these were completely ignored by Liu Ziyi, who instead let Chou Zaiqi step up.
This was Liu Ziyi’s first time carrying someone on his sword, and his control was a bit lacking, but he continued to pilot it with a composed facade, terrified that Shen Zhuoqing off to the side would spot any clues and intervene to stop them on a whim.
It wasn’t until Xiliu soared into the air, clearing the edge of the cliff by a mere step, that Liu Ziyi turned his head slightly and whispered to Chou Zaiqi:
“Push harder with the power, otherwise if our spiritual energy gives out later, we’ll fall to our deaths right here in this ravine.”
The moment the words fell, Liu Ziyi heard a sigh by his ear, and the spiritual energy transmitted to him instantly grew much more abundant. Only then did he wave his fingers to guide the sword downward toward the mountain.
Despite the chaotic air currents and spiritual energy fields, Liu Ziyi, who had been here numerous times, was as comfortable as a fish in water, not to mention that Chou Zaiqi stood even steadier behind him, requiring no concern on his part whatsoever.
Seeing that Liu Ziyi was managing so smoothly, Chou Zaiqi dismissed the idea of landing first to chat further.
He asked directly: “Is your senior brother always like this?”
“Ah, probably not. Ever since the day we returned from Lingzhou, he’s been like this, always acting so peculiar.”
Not expecting Chou Zaiqi to be so blunt, Liu Ziyi blurted out his response before backtracking:
“Well, maybe not peculiar, but it always feels like he’s making a big fuss over nothing.”
“Look, take the injuries on my hands for example. Ever since the three of us went to the back mountain and ran into danger, he’s been like this.”
“Worry makes one anxious. Hasn’t he ever worried about you this much before?” Chou Zaiqi said.
Recalling the expression he had witnessed just moments before, he felt that the terror in Shen Zhuoqing’s eyes didn’t look fake, and even the desolate heartbreak after being avoided by Liu Ziyi clearly seemed like an emotion inadvertently leaked.
Hearing this question, Liu Ziyi didn’t offer a reply.
He simply manipulated Xiliu to dodge one hanging branch and cliffside rock after another, running through past scenarios in his mind before finally saying:
“I don’t know.”
“In the past, he kept me strictly pinned down to cultivation, so I never really got hurt.”
“You hate Shen Zhuoqing when he’s like this?”
“I don’t hate him, I just feel it’s very unlike him, and it looks really uncomfortable.”
Liu Ziyi stated bluntly, “I know you must suspect that the matter of the Gu insects has something to do with my senior brother, but I can guarantee you that it absolutely has nothing to do with him.”
Chou Zaiqi likely hadn’t expected Liu Ziyi to guess what he was thinking. After falling silent for a good while, he said: “Alright.”
He also openly admitted that he indeed suspected Shen Zhuoqing. “I wonder why Daoist Friend Shen chose to destroy that Gu insect? I would think there must be a better way to preserve it; it’s an important clue.”
“Unclear, but perhaps he had his reasons.”
Liu Ziyi reasoned; Shen Zhuoqing hadn’t told him anything yet. Since he was facing Chou Zaiqi, an outsider, he could hardly turn his elbow outward and betray his own sect, could he?
After fobbing him off with that single sentence, he stopped talking.
The atmosphere stagnated instantly, leaving only the sound of the wind parting as they flew on the sword, frost and snow speckling the crowns of their heads and shoulders.
Only then did Chou Zaiqi suddenly speak up: “Actually, you don’t feel uncomfortable; you’re just worried about Shen Zhuoqing.”
A statement without beginning or end that caused Liu Ziyi’s hand movements to freeze.
It wasn’t until he snapped out of it and violently swerved away from the cliffside ahead that Liu Ziyi realized Chou Zaiqi was responding to what he had said earlier.
Wasn’t it just his comment about feeling uncomfortable seeing Shen Zhuoqing act that way!
And as ill luck would have it, with Chou Zaiqi pointing it out like this, Liu Ziyi seemed to finally understand what that chaotic, vexed feeling in his chest actually was.
Admittedly, his senior brother Shen Zhuoqing was strict, but fortunately he had never nagged him over other matters, and even the scoldings and teachings in the past were only because he had violated the precepts himself.
He couldn’t quite bring himself to like Shen Zhuoqing, but deep down he still regarded the other as a good senior brother. In terms of being a senior brother, Shen Zhuoqing had done nothing wrong, which was precisely why he wouldn’t spill Shen Zhuoqing’s secrets.
“Perhaps?” Liu Ziyi replied in a bland, indifferent tone after a long pause.
That kind of appearance truly made people worry.
However:
“Still, I feel annoyance outweighs worry.”
Saying this, fearing that Chou Zaiqi would continue interrogating him about Shen Zhuoqing, Liu Ziyi spoke first, entirely cutting off whatever Chou Zaiqi was about to say next.
“Chou Zaiqi, can you stop using that mind-reading trick of yours?”
It would be a disaster if Chou Zaiqi still had both eyes intact; relying on just a single eye to observe such minute details amidst shifting glances was simply unimaginable.
“Pfft,” Chou Zaiqi behind him was indeed distracted by this remark, letting out a light chuckle before saying: “It’s not as mystical as you make it sound.”
The two of them descended the mountain, and the spiritual energy began to stabilize.
At this point, Liu Ziyi had enough spiritual energy in his body to fly the sword himself, so Chou Zaiqi withdrew his hand. It was also his first time riding a sword, so he felt a bit of novelty. In the past, disciples of the Vibrating Blade Sect mostly traveled using talismans or mounts, rarely encountering such a convenient method.
Liu Ziyi escorted him to the entrance of the Ends of the Earth Inn, landed the sword, and stowed Xiliu back at his waist. Chou Zaiqi then turned around, intending to accompany him all the way back to the mountain gate.
With someone as composed as Shen Zhuoqing suddenly and solemnly declaring that trouble was coming, Chou Zaiqi felt an extra pinch of caution. “Let’s go, I promised Shen Zhuoqing I’d deliver you safely to the mountain gate.”
To his surprise, Liu Ziyi shook his head in refusal.
“You really think I’m just seeing you off?”
Of course not, Chou Zaiqi answered silently with his eyes.
Yet he still cautiously inspected the path leading back up the mountain. The road in front of the Ends of the Earth Inn no longer had much snow cover, but early spring was far from warm, and this chill felt like some inexplicable omen, causing Chou Zaiqi to recall Shen Zhuoqing’s silent murmurs over and over again.
What on earth had Shen Zhuoqing said? Chou Zaiqi was unclear.
However, he had already made up his decision:
“I don’t care what else you want to do, but I never break my word.”
Seeing Chou Zaiqi adopt such a stubborn attitude, Liu Ziyi could only sigh, waving a hand in surrender: “Fine, fine, I figured as much.”
“Tell me the clues you know before you leave, and I’ll obediently head back.”
Liu Ziyi negotiated a condition with a smiling expression.
Seeing him let out a breath and click his tongue faintly, Chou Zaiqi ultimately withdrew the hand that had instinctively hovered back toward the hilt of his blade. Liu Ziyi was injured; how could he possibly resort to using force to threaten him?
Liu Ziyi had precisely seized upon this weakness to act shamelessly.
“Let’s talk in a safe place.”
With that, Chou Zaiqi motioned for Liu Ziyi to follow his pace. Not only did he slow down his steps, but he also cast a simple protective barrier around Liu Ziyi to ensure no accidents befell him.
Liu Ziyi followed Chou Zaiqi, walking toward the side of the Ends of the Earth Inn.
Outside the inn, Chou Zaiqi divulged all his conjectures and discovered clues to Liu Ziyi.
As the person infected with the Gu, Pu Yue still retained a shred of lingering Gu aura around his wound. The moment the secondary Gu was obliterated by Shen Zhuoqing, Chou Zaiqi had immediately gathered those traces of Gu aura in secret, which was also the reason why he had sent a transmission letter to the Vibrating Blade Sect at the earliest opportunity, as he needed his sect to mobilize its resources to identify the Gu.
That Gu aura had already been authenticated by the seniors of the Vibrating Blade Sect.
It was a high-tier Gu insect, resembling an ordinary poisonous Gu on the surface, but harboring hidden lethality underneath. The person who refined the Gu likely possessed profound inner strength, and their aura resembled that of the Tianxuan Gu tribe from the north. The Tianxuan Gu tribe was not only skilled in raising Gu, but also adept at concealment; they had likely fled to the foot of the mountain long ago.
The dead Gu insect was a secondary Gu; the Tianxuan Gu tribe raised Gu using their own bodies, which would inevitably consume their physical vitality, meaning they couldn’t have fled very far.
With Tianshuang Cliff blocked on all sides by frost and snow and roads impassable, making it difficult even for cultivators to cross, the person who planted the Gu could only rest and recuperate right here at the Ends of the Earth Inn.
“Of course, it’s merely a conjecture; the collected Gu aura is too faint. If that Gu insect were still around, we might be able to further pinpoint the culprit. If the one extracted truly was just a secondary Gu, perhaps we could gather more traces of aura from Pu Yue.”
“It’s just too dangerous, completely unadvisable.”
Upon hearing this, Liu Ziyi furrowed his brows and repeated: “High-tier Gu insect?”
“That’s right,” Chou Zaiqi asked, “What is it?”
Recalling the marginal annotations he had seen in that ancient text, Liu Ziyi couldn’t help finding it strange. Yet on the surface, he shook his head and said, “Nothing,” while keeping the matter of the demonic power weighing heavily on his mind.
Instead, he continued: “Destroying the Gu insect indeed makes sense, but if my senior brother really harbored some hidden motive, wouldn’t that be far too obvious?”
Hearing this, Chou Zaiqi nodded: “Perhaps. If he had taken it back and accidentally lost it somewhere, it would have been much more covert than that.”
“Alright, enough said. Can we head back now?” Chou Zaiqi asked.
Liu Ziyi shook his head once more, and before Chou Zaiqi could grow irritated, he added: “I’ll go have a word with Boss Lin so it’s easier for you to handle things, and I’ll leave right after.”
Just as he promised, after hearing Chou Zaiqi’s explanation and clarifying the matter with Boss Lin of the Ends of the Earth Inn, Liu Ziyi obediently followed Chou Zaiqi back toward the mountain gate of the Fuajian Sect.
Entering the foot of the Fuajian Sect’s main peak practically meant stepping inside the sect’s grand protective array, where they would likely encounter no danger to speak of.
It was just that the flight of stairs was a bit long and would take some time, so Liu Ziyi urged Chou Zaiqi to hurry back and continue his investigation.
Seeing that there was no danger nearby, Chou Zaiqi nodded in agreement.
Only before leaving, he cast one protective barrier after another upon Liu Ziyi’s person.
Liu Ziyi felt as though he had never been safer in his entire life.
Bidding farewell to Chou Zaiqi, Liu Ziyi walked for half an hour until he reached the mountain gate.
After all, to put Shen Zhuoqing at ease, he had explicitly said things like having the other pick him up right at the mountain gate, and Chou Zaiqi clearly wasn’t going to pamper him either, leaving him nowhere else to go.
Shen Zhuoqing proved punctual as well. From a good distance away, Liu Ziyi caught sight of that familiar figure seated inside the pavilion by the mountain gate, though the junior brothers on guard duty were nowhere in sight, having wandered off to goodness knows where.
“Senior Brother.”
Hearing the voice, the person raised his head, revealing a faint, gentle smile.
That smile couldn’t exactly be called strange, yet it inexplicably caused Liu Ziyi’s heart to skip a beat. There seemed to be a hint of strain within that smile, making it obvious at a glance that Shen Zhuoqing was forcibly enduring some kind of emotion.
Was it the inner demon?
At this thought, Liu Ziyi picked up his pace. Rushing up to the mountain gate, he arrived by Shen Zhuoqing’s side, only to be halted in his tracks by a single sentence from Shen Zhuoqing: “Xiao-Liu, you’re back.”
“Yes, I said I would come back, so of course I did.”
Liu Ziyi lowered his eyes, his gaze shifting slightly to sweep a subtle, imperceptible glance across Shen Zhuoqing’s hem and cuffs:
There was nothing out of the ordinary, yet Shen Zhuoqing had chosen to sit there for so long. He only stood up right when Liu Ziyi was about to step forward and urge him, and the moment he moved, his hands instinctively braced against the edge of the table, tucking his fingers away out of sight.
His movements were exceptionally swift and light, yet they failed to escape Liu Ziyi’s notice.
“Senior Brother, you arrived awfully fast. How long have you been waiting here?”
Liu Ziyi withdrew his gaze and smiled, stepping forward with the two sweet little dimples curving on his cheeks.
Shen Zhuoqing likely hadn’t paid much attention, his focus drawn entirely by that smile as he replied: “Not long, less than three quarters of an hour.”
Taking the main route to the mountain gate was much faster than flying a sword along the minor trails.
Yet the moment Shen Zhuoqing gave that reply, Liu Ziyi’s hand had already stealthily brushed against the scabbard of Shen Zhuoqing’s sword, Yinshue, at his waist. A warm sensation brushed against his fingertips, and the faint, un-dissipated remnant of spiritual energy lingered at the tip of his nose.
Liu Ziyi stood extremely close to Shen Zhuoqing, their toes practically touching. At this angle, Shen Zhuoqing had to tilt his head slightly just to clearly see Liu Ziyi’s expression.
And the moment Shen Zhuoqing sensed something was amiss and hastily tilted his head to look, he found that Liu Ziyi had anticipated his line of sight. Their gazes collided, and within the dark pupils of that face adorned with honey-sweet dimples, there was not a single trace of a smile.
He heard Liu Ziyi ask:
“Senior Brother, I’d reckon you’ve only been sitting here for less than half a quarter of an hour, haven’t you?”
Dirt and stains on sect uniforms could be cleared away with spells, but the warmth generated by sword flight and the residual spiritual energy left behind by incantations could never be masked:
“Senior Brother, you lied to me.”