Facing Vajra Du’nan, Xu Qi’an was both nervous and alert, his back taut, yet at the same time, he felt a weight lift from his shoulders as the anxiety in his heart eased.
The reason for these complicated feelings was that, as a Warrior Monk, Vajra Du’nan was just as coarse as any martial artist.
Therefore, Xu Qi’an did not have to worry too much about being discovered by this Vajra.
However, it was precisely because the other party was a martial artist that he possessed a terrifying intuition, just one more glance in the crowd, just a hint of hostility, and he might well sense it.
At that point, even the Heaven Gu’s “shifting stars” ability might not help.
It truly was two extremes.
Li Lingsu clearly understood this as well. He straightened the thin veil hanging from his hat, lowered his head slightly, and moved forward with a calm expression.
The two passed by each other.
Phew… The Holy Son breathed a sigh of relief. When the other’s figure had disappeared, he said with lingering fear, “The oppressive presence of a third rank Vajra is truly astonishing.”
What oppressive presence? It was just your own mental pressure! Xu Qi’an nodded and said,
“If there’s an emergency, contact me immediately.”
He planned to return to Qingxing Garden.
He had originally wanted to continue looking for Dragon Qi hosts, but after running into Vajra Du’nan, he thought it better to be cautious, since it was clear the other was active in this area too.
Besides, he still had not found where the Buddhist monks were staying or figured out their recent schemes, and this made Xu Qi’an uneasy.
He had a strong case of LYB PTSD: anything not under his control would make him want to lay low, even at the risk of missing a chance.
“Understood.”
Li Lingsu nodded, then heard Xu Qian ask, “Do you have any lovers in Yongzhou City?”
“No.”
Li Lingsu shook his head. “But I do think Miss Gongsun Xiu is quite nice. It’s just that I haven’t had the time to develop things further with her. I can tell that she’s quite curious about me as well. And curiosity is often the beginning of affection.”
As he spoke, the veil inside his hat lifted slightly as he raised his chin.
“Indeed, Miss Gongsun is a remarkable woman.” Xu Qi’an nodded, agreeing with his taste.
A smile spread across Li Lingsu’s lips and he was just about to say something modest, when Xu Qian said:
“I’ll head back first. Luo Yuheng and Mu Nanzhi are both at Qingxing Garden. I’m worried they’ll start fighting.”
… Li Lingsu’s smile instantly froze!
Bastard, are you showing off to me?!
“Take care, senior,” he forced a smile.
After bidding farewell to Xu Qian, Li Lingsu headed towards the inn. Remembering what had been said, he muttered in puzzlement:
“Why do Senior Uncle Bingyi and Master want to arrest me and Li Miaozhen? We’ve always cultivated properly and abided by Heaven Sect doctrine, we haven’t done anything wrong. Could it be that my flirting with Senior Aunt Lingyu was discovered by the Heavenly Venerable?
“No, with the Heavenly Venerable’s demeanour, he would never care about such matters. As for Master wanting to arrest me, that’s a joke, he practically raised me himself, treating me like his own son.”
“Xu Qian, that wily old man, just likes to exaggerate everything.”
Lost in thought, he soon arrived at the inn. He had just stepped into the main hall when Li Lingsu suddenly froze, then backed up to the door in surprise, turning his head to look to the left.
On the left wall of the inn, someone had drawn a nine-petaled lotus in white chalk.
This was a secret code used by the Heaven Sect for contact.
No way… Li Lingsu’s expression was complicated.
He hesitated, then pulled out the hat he had just stowed away from his brocade pouch and put it on again.
There was only one hat in the pouch, it was empty apart from that.
With his handsome face covered, Li Lingsu entered the inn. He immediately suppressed his aura and the ripple of his primordial spirit, making himself look like an ordinary person.
Xu Qian had continually used the “shifting stars” spell on him. As long as he covered his face, and did not deliberately reveal Heaven Sect techniques, even passing close to his master he would not be recognised.
“Honoured guest, are you staying or just dining?”
The attendant did not recognise him and came over eagerly.
Li Lingsu took out his room key and gestured. The attendant realised he was already a guest and, after peering at him curiously, withdrew without another word.
The Holy Son glanced at the main hall, seeing no sign of the elders from his sect.
Passing through the hall, he climbed the stairs to the second floor, walking slowly along the long corridor.
The inn was of moderate size, with guest rooms on the second and third floors and balconies outside.
As he walked quietly along the corridor, Li Lingsu heightened his hearing to the utmost, listening for the slightest sound in the rooms he passed.
He filtered out noise, pointless chatter, and those ambiguous noises, and, just as he was about to reach the end of the corridor, he finally heard a familiar voice.
“Master, just kill me. I don’t want to live anymore…”
It was the mortified, desperate voice of a young woman.
Li Miaozhen!
The snake-hearted girl Li Miaozhen, who just watched coldly as her senior was persecuted, unmoved!
Li Lingsu slowed his steps, took a deep breath, and forced down his suddenly racing heart.
Xu Qian had not lied, elders from his sect really had come to Yongzhou.
At that moment, he heard Lady Bingyi’s cold voice: “Perhaps I should strip you naked and throw you in the street. Perhaps then you’ll grasp the meaning of supreme forgetting of emotion.”
Senior Uncle Bingyi was as fond as ever of using a chilly tone to say terrifying things… Li Lingsu muttered inwardly.
Leaning on the railing with both hands, he pretended to be watching the diners, but was in fact eavesdropping.
As the Holy Son, he knew perfectly well how his sect operated, they never cared if anyone eavesdropped.
“If you’re going to strip me, go ahead. Just untie the Spirit-binding Rope first. I’ve been tied up with this thing for ten days. Even when I go to the privy, you have to keep hold of me outside,” Li Miaozhen protested loudly.
Pfft! Li Miaozhen, even you have days like this… Li Lingsu nearly burst out laughing.
“If I don’t tie you up, you’ll meddle in more business and cause more trouble. We have no time to deal with any more mess.”
Lady Bingyi replied blandly.
That’s right, that damned Li Miaozhen always did like to meddle in everything.
The Holy Son had long thought his junior sister Li Miaozhen was on the wrong path. What was the meaning of supreme forgetting of emotion? It was reigning over one’s emotions, becoming absolutely rational, that was true detachment.
Everything Li Miaozhen had done, was that something a Heaven Sect disciple should do?
No wonder Senior Uncle Bingyi wanted to punish her.
“Our first priority is to find Li Lingsu and bring him back to the Heaven Sect,” Lady Bingyi added.
Looking for me? Li Lingsu tensed up, the gloat fading from his lips.
Li Miaozhen snorted. “That guy is probably off having fun with some woman right now.”
You’re slandering me!
Li Lingsu was furious, then heard his master, Daoist Xuancheng, speak in a calm voice:
“Once we find Li Lingsu, I’ll suppress him beneath the mountain and confine him for three years. Not until he comprehends supreme forgetting of emotion will he be released.”
They really had come to arrest me and Li Miaozhen…
Li Miaozhen retorted, “And if he never changes his ways?”
Daoist Xuancheng was silent for a while, then said slowly, “Castration does not hinder cultivation.”
…
Li Lingsu withdrew his hands from the balustrade, turned silently, went downstairs silently, left the inn silently, and walked on the street in silence.
He walked faster and faster, and then suddenly broke into a run, his retreating figure panicked as if a terrible beast was chasing him.
Senior Xu, save me!!!
…
Gongsun Mountain Villa.
At the foot of the mountain, the sparrow standing atop the huge archway did not see the target and gave up surveillance.
It fluttered its wings and flew into the villa.
At this moment, Gongsun Xiangyang was enjoying dinner, drinking with several beautiful maidservants for company.
As the head of the family, he would not appear frequently at the Martial Assembly. Disciples of Longshen Castle and members of the Gongsun clan were tasked with maintaining order and acting as referees.
The preliminary rounds were not yet over, and the level of those competing in the ring was relatively low.
Only in the battle for the top one hundred would the Longshen Castle Lord or Gongsun Xiangyang need to act as referee in person.
The maidservants wore simple clothes, chest wrappings and undergarments, covered with thin gauze. In the warm, spring-like room, they drank and joked nonstop, laughter echoing.
During their frolicking, their heaving chests were exceedingly enticing.
Gongsun Xiangyang had always been a lecherous old rake fond of fine wine and beauties.
“Tap, tap!”
A faint sound came from the window.
The maidservants were unaware, but the slightly tipsy Gongsun Xiangyang raised his hand for silence, glanced at the window, and said calmly:
“All of you, leave.”
The maidservants exchanged glances, silently stood up, bowed, then picked up their dresses but did not dare put them on, quickly leaving.
Once they were gone, Gongsun Xiangyang opened the window to let the sparrow in.
The little sparrow flew into the room, unerringly reached the table, and began pecking at rice and pastries.
It’s too bloody freezing, so cold even a hardy sparrow can’t stand this hellish weather… Xu Qi’an grumbled in sympathy as he enjoyed the warmth from the brazier and quickly filled his belly.
“Have you found the person I asked you to look for?” Xu Qi’an asked.
Gongsun Xiangyang shook his head. “That lad hasn’t appeared since showing up at the Liubo Gambling House. My people are still searching.”
Xu Qi’an suggested, “Try the inns. Ask the staff.”
Gongsun Xiangyang nodded. “But the Buddhist monks have made a move today.”
I know about that… The sparrow remained silent, waiting for Gongsun Xiangyang to continue.
“Just before dinner, news came in that monks have been spotted all over the city. They’re searching, for you…”
“For me?” The sparrow tilted its head, black-bead eyes fixed on Gongsun Xiangyang.
“They have your picture and are looking for you,” Gongsun Xiangyang confirmed.
Not setting up a covert ambush, but searching for me openly?
Even monks brawling now don’t bother with rules?
Xu Qi’an frowned deeply at what he heard.
Normally, a proper hunter should sneak around quietly, waiting for the right moment.
Aren’t they afraid of alerting their prey? No… Maybe that’s exactly what they want… A thought struck Xu Qi’an as he considered a possibility.
The Buddhist sect wanted to drive him out this way, hindering his progress in searching for the Dragon Qi host, so they could beat him to it. Then, they’d use the host as bait to lure him in.
This wasn’t baseless speculation, but a reasonable inference based on the bait-and-trap tactics used earlier by Vajra Du’nan.
If they want to lure me, they need enough bait. An ordinary Dragon Qi host wouldn’t be enough, but if it were one of the nine Dragon Qi strands, that would be tempting.
Even if I play it safe and don’t take the bait, they lose nothing. They can just take away the host and still get what they want.
Xu Qi’an was in no hurry; he already planned to hunt the Arhat. If the Buddhist sect found the Dragon Qi host early to lure him in, he’d simply play along.
I still have to look for Dragon Qi hosts, it’s best if I find one first. If the Buddhist sect gets there before me, then I’ll move straight to the second phase: turning hunter into prey.
Having said a few instructions, Xu Qi’an fluttered out of the bedroom to continue his surveillance.
He had to be on guard in case Ji Xuan and others came after him.
…
Qingxing Garden.
Night had fallen. Luo Yuheng stood at the window, facing the biting cold wind.
The wind swept her temples and tugged at her robe, making it billow behind her. Paired with her peerless beauty, she truly had the air of an ethereal immortal.
However, a faint trace of worry between the brows of this mature National Teacher marred her usual ethereal aura, but also made her seem a little more human, reminding everyone that she was a woman of the mortal world.
She had to endure what all mortal women must endure.
Why hasn’t he returned yet?
Is he not coming back…?
Has he been scared off by my excessive demands yesterday, and already fled…?
Luo Yuheng was especially anxious.
If he didn’t return, how was she to survive the ordeal of karmic fire ahead?
Deep-seated fear consumed her.
As the night deepened, her fear and unease grew stronger. She didn’t even feel like eating dinner, though with her cultivation, she had long since ceased to require food.
“Sigh~”
The National Teacher let out a soft sigh, opened the door, and walked gracefully towards the hot spring deep within the garden.
Whenever she felt restless, she liked to either meditate by the pool deep in Lingbao Temple, or bathe.
She had kept this habit for many years.
All along the way, the maids and servants of Qingxing Garden regarded this devastatingly beautiful ‘immortal’ with bedazzled eyes.
The maids felt inferior, the servants felt parched, their gazes burning.
She was tall, and though dressed in a rather loose Daoist robe, her figure was excellent, with long legs, and a waist belt accentuating her slender waist.
But one shouldn’t be fooled by her Daoist garb; everyone in Qingxing Garden knew she had a man.
And she spent her days in her room, making love with him. The two maids who waited on the main room had long made this public knowledge.
Luo Yuheng reached the poolside, flicked out a few talismans, isolating the hot spring from the outside world.
Then, her two snow-white feet slipped out of her cloud-patterned slippers, her bare feet as white as snow, stepping onto the stones by the pool.
With delicate jade fingers, she pinched her belt and gently pulled, causing the robe to slip open to both sides, a tender azure dudou wrapping within, her chest filling it out…
The Daoist robe slid off her round shoulders, her fair, jade-like skin seemingly without friction.
Luo Yuheng coiled up her hair, and, wearing white silk trousers and her tender azure dudou, stepped into the hot spring.
Amidst the rising steam, she slightly raised her beautiful face, closed her eyes, long lashes dropping as she enjoyed the spring.
No idea how much time had passed before Luo Yuheng opened her lovely eyes and glanced at the bank.
There, a new figure had appeared, taking off his robe and muttering, “National Teacher, you’re too much, you know I’m spent and you’re still trying to tempt me.”
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