Chapter 67: Offended

Chen Ye never expected that this woman would be so persistent, impossible to shake off no matter how hard he tried.

Looking at her appearance, her face slightly flushed and sweat beading on her forehead, could it be that she ran all the way here to chase him down?

Chen Ye couldn't help but wonder in his heart: does she truly intend to take action against him in Hundred Seas Valley?

The gazes of Lu Fusheng, Hou Lu, and Chang Shou shifted back and forth between Chen Ye and Mo Sui Xin several times, keenly noticing the abnormal expressions on both of their faces.

It seems Chen Ye spoke the truth earlier; there truly was a grudge between him and the Incense Burning Sect.

And now, it seems the people of the Incense Burning Sect have come seeking revenge.

Lu Fusheng felt this was somewhat difficult to handle.

Although what Chen Ye said made sense and the logic was on his side, the Incense Burning Sect was a colossal power; how would they, rootless and unaffiliated rogue cultivators, dare to offend them lightly?

Yet just moments ago they had been chatting happily, and he had even accepted such a precious gift from Chen Ye; now that Chen Ye was in a critical danger, could he really become a coward and stay out of it?

Lu Fusheng instinctively looked toward his two friends; at the same time, Chang Shou and Hou Lu were also looking at him.

They had known each other for many years; a single glance was enough for them to understand what the other was thinking.

They did not wish to get involved in this muddy water, but to withdraw now would truly go against righteousness.

Lu Fusheng sighed softly and quietly transmitted a voice to his two brothers: "This matter started because of me; two elder brothers, please step aside for now."

Hou Lu immediately transmitted a reply: "We brothers have been friends for many years; why draw such a clear line?"

Chang Shou also nodded solemnly and transmitted: "That's right; Hundred Seas Valley has its established rules. Even if the righteous forces are powerful, they cannot ignore reason."

Lu Fusheng looked at his two brothers with deep gratitude, then stood up and bowed respectfully to Mo Sui Xin with clasped hands.

Just as Lu Fusheng was about to speak, he saw Chen Ye stand up as well, grab his hand, and say: "This Miss has come looking for me. Thank you, Daoist friend, for guiding me. We met by chance; there is no need to see me off so far."

Chen Ye forcefully pushed Lu Fusheng back down, then strode toward Mo Sui Xin and said to her: "Let us speak in private."

Mo Sui Xin nodded, turned around, and walked out of the flower bed. She did not care about the three of Fu, Lu, and Shou; as long as Chen Ye did not run away, that was enough.

Chen Ye smiled at the three of Fu, Lu, and Shou, said no more, and followed Mo Sui Xin away.

Lu Fusheng opened his mouth, but in the end, not a single word came out.

Only after the two had walked out of sight did Lu Fusheng sigh and say: "Brother Chen is a true gentleman; we are not worthy of him."

Both Hou Lu and Chang Shou also wore expressions of shame on their faces.

Out of righteousness, Lu Fusheng wanted to stand on Chen Ye's side.

Who would have thought that Chen Ye had no intention of testing them at all; with a single phrase "met by chance," he had removed them from the situation.

Not putting friends in a difficult position—that is what a true friend does.

Chen Ye and Mo Sui Xin walked forward together until they stopped before a magnificent, imposing waterfall.

That waterfall hung like the Milky Way inverted; the water rushed down, crashing into the cold pool below and splashing up countless droplets.

Crystal-clear water droplets, refracted by the sunlight, transformed into brilliant arcs of seven-colored rainbow light.

The scenery was breathtakingly beautiful; unfortunately, the person beside him was not Su Chunyi, but that cold-as-stone young woman from the Incense Burning Sect.

Chen Ye gathered his thoughts, turned to look at Mo Sui Xin, and said calmly: "Miss, you have traveled tirelessly all this way to chase me; there must be something extremely urgent. You might as well speak plainly."

Mo Sui Xin's gaze fixed tightly on Chen Ye, as if trying to see right through him.

After staring for quite a while, she slowly opened her mouth and asked: "Were you just acting a moment ago? You and those three—could it be that you are not merely acquaintances who met by chance?"

Hearing this, Chen Ye raised his eyebrows slightly, a hint of alertness flashing in his eyes, and retorted: "What? Does the Incense Burning Sect now act so tyrannically? Must anyone who has exchanged a few words with me suffer by association?"

Mo Sui Xin shook her head gently and explained seriously: "Daoist friend, you misunderstand. Our Incense Burning Sect, as a great righteous sect, has always upheld justice. How could we arbitrarily take out our anger on others, let alone bully the weak without cause?"

Chen Ye pressed on: "Then is Wei Changsheng not a disciple of the Incense Burning Sect? You traveled together with him; could you not know what he did before?"

Mo Sui Xin's face showed a look of confusion as she said: "What did he do? I truly do not know. This time I came on my master's orders to help Senior Brother Wei. My sole purpose is to exchange for your Heavenly Book Secret Art. As for your previous grievances and entanglements, I am not familiar with them."

Chen Ye carefully observed her expression; seeing that she did not seem to be pretending, he simply recounted everything that had happened between him and Wei Changsheng in full detail.

However, he omitted the matter of Wei Changsheng being captured by Monk Fang Yuan, since he had not witnessed it with his own eyes and the truth of the matter was hard to verify.

After Mo Sui Xin finished listening, the anger instantly appeared on her originally cold face. She said: "Senior Brother Wei did not mention a single word about this matter. He only said that you possess the Ten Thousand Souls Banner and are suspected of being from the Demonic Sect, but he was at a loss to find concrete evidence. He also said that Su Chunyi of Qinghe Sword Sect was bewitched by you and supported you everywhere, making it impossible for him to uncover the truth."

Hearing Mo Sui Xin's account, Chen Ye did not relax his guard. This tactic of one playing the red face and the other the white face was nothing new; he would not judge by what she said, but by what she did.

After complaining about Wei Changsheng, Mo Sui Xin looked at Chen Ye again and explained patiently: "The Incense Burning Sect is vast in scale, with three mountains and five halls under its banner, numbering hundreds of disciples. Each hall operates like an independent small sect, with distinct styles of conduct. I come from the Seven Stars Hall, while Senior Brother Wei belongs to the Changsheng Hall. Since the Sect Master decided to open the mountain gates widely and accept many disciples, the sect rules have been somewhat relaxed, and the barriers between the various halls have become increasingly obvious."

Chen Ye sneered slightly and said: "You cannot claim the Incense Burning Sect is a famous righteous sect when disciples do good deeds, yet when they commit evil acts, you dismiss them as isolated cases."

Mo Sui Xin did not refute; after pondering, she nodded in agreement.

"What the Daoist friend says is absolutely correct; this matter is indeed a fault of our Incense Burning Sect. Before Senior Brother Wei receives punishment, anything I say now will inevitably seem like an excuse. To express my apology, I will be honest with you: the reason I tracked your movements today is that I cast a divination for you. The hexagram showed that you face a threat to your life today; I merely wished to exchange for your Heavenly Book Secret Art before you met with misfortune."

Chen Ye's face was full of confusion as he pressed: "Divination? Is what the Miss speaks of the art of fortune-telling?"

Mo Sui Xin nodded gently and said: "Indeed. Your whereabouts were known to me through divination. Otherwise, how could we have met so coincidentally just as you entered the valley? It is only that the time you spent passing through the illusion array was too short, exceeding my expectations; otherwise, we would have entered Hundred Seas Valley first."

"No, that is absolutely impossible unless the Miss is at the Return to Emptiness realm."

Chen Ye's heart was full of doubt. When Su Chunyi had wanted to divine Wei Changsheng's location earlier, she suffered a backlash merely because Monk Fang Yuan was traveling with Wei Changsheng.

And before entering the valley, he had been traveling in the company of Monk Fang Yuan all along; how could Mo Sui Xin possibly calculate his whereabouts so easily?

If she truly was an unparalleled powerhouse at the Return to Emptiness realm, he would without a second thought present the Heavenly Book Secret Art to her with both hands.

If she truly was at the Return to Emptiness realm, he would without a second thought present the Heavenly Book Secret Art to her with both hands.

Mo Sui Xin explained: "Daoist friend, you misunderstand. This is my innate divine ability. I can cast three divinations per day; one of them is true. Regardless of whether the divination is correct or not, and regardless of whom it concerns, the target will not detect it, nor will it cause a backlash due to low cultivation."

"Innate divine ability? Is the Daoist friend at the Penetrating Mystery realm?"

Chen Ye had heard Mo Ci say that cultivators at the Penetrating Mystery realm could comprehend one innate divine ability. The body was unreasonable; perhaps some people's abilities were extremely powerful, while others were useless. Mo Ci had not mentioned what his own ability was, but he spent his days sighing and lamenting, saying his luck was bad and that the ability he comprehended was completely useless, serving no purpose at all.

Mo Sui Xin looked young, but since Su Chunyi was at the Penetrating Mystery realm, it was possible this young lady was also at the Penetrating Mystery realm; that would make sense.

However, Mo Sui Xin still shook her head.

"From the time I could remember, I already possessed the ability to divine for others. My master said this is an innate divine ability, equivalent to having obtained in advance the skill that cultivators at the Penetrating Mystery realm can comprehend."

Chen Ye, this rogue cultivator, exposed his shortcoming of having limited knowledge once again.

What innate divine ability? He had truly never heard of it, and Mo Ci had never mentioned it either.

But the main point is not here; if what Mo Sui Xin said is true, then her claim of being in mortal danger is no mere exaggeration.

Although still wary of this Miss in his heart, Chen Ye had no choice but to find out what this divination was about.

Chen Ye asked, "Miss, you say I am in mortal danger. Where exactly does this danger come from?"

"I only divined that you will die from a severe poison, but the specific way you will be poisoned was not revealed by the hexagram."

"What about the time and place?"

"Within today; the place is unknown."

"Miss, if I start now by not drinking water or eating food and survive the day, can I still be poisoned?"

Mo Sui Xin shook her head and said, "If this hexagram is true, no matter how you try to avoid it, it will be useless. I once divined the death date of a fellow disciple; even though the Sect Master personally intervened to protect him, he could not escape his fatal calamity."

The chief elder of the Changsheng Hall back then was just like that; even though the entire sect prepared for it, in the end they could only watch his soul and spirit shatter and die, with not even a sliver of a chance to save him.

Chen Ye felt a chill run down his spine. Clearly there was no King of Hell, yet how could this Miss be just like the King of Hell, commanding you to die at the third watch and you cannot survive until the fifth?

Chen Ye seemed to suddenly think of something and hurriedly asked, "Wait, Miss, you said you cast three hexagrams daily, one of which is true. What about the other two?"

"The other two have already been proven false."

Chen Ye asked excitedly, "How were they proven false? Tell me first what you divined."

Mo Sui Xin explained, "For the first hexagram, I divined that you would flirt with me like a rogue. For the second hexagram, I divined that you would invite me to drink wine. However, when we met, both of those hexagrams had already gone wrong. Fellow Daoist, you showed consideration for a friend and did not put the other in a difficult position; you are clearly a gentleman of virtue, so the third hexagram must surely come true."

After hearing this, Chen Ye fell silent for a moment. Suddenly, he walked quickly to Mo Sui Xin's side, his expression becoming somewhat frivolous, and said, "Miss, forgive my rudeness."

Before Mo Sui Xin could react, Chen Ye reached out and put his arm around her shoulders, saying, "Well, well, where did such a pretty young lady come from? Would you like to accompany me for a drink?"