Chapter 113: Another Case of Secrets Exposed

Although they are bamboo, this Hundred-Year Black Bamboo is different; it possesses the resilience of bamboo, and because Zhuzhang Laoren has nourished it with Spirit Vein Water year-round, it is filled with Spirit Qi, making it much harder than ordinary weapons.

While Lingxiang was grinding ink, she had to use the Spirit Qi in her body to fuse the Spirit Qi of the purple-leaf golden cloud with the ink, so as to paint gold on the fan later. At this time, Zhuzhang Laoren helped shape the bamboo slips for the fan face so that Lingxiang could carve them.

The room door had been closed for three days, and Lingxiang had not come out once; even Xinyi, who had returned from patrolling, was very puzzled. This little girl's mind was full of twists and turns, impossible for ordinary people to guess; he truly did not know what she was tinkering with again.

But what made him even stranger were Long Qi and Rendong.

Ever since he returned, he saw the two of them staring at each other with wide eyes, saying nothing, and he did not know what they were doing. Even when he went up to ask, the two of them merely glanced at him, then continued to look at each other without moving.

This was truly rare; usually, the two of them never looked highly upon each other, so could it be that they had taken a fancy to each other now?

……

Rendong entered the room and was lying on the couch thinking about his future cultivation, but while lost in thought, he was startled by a "clatter" sound outside the room. He could not help but be curious about what had happened outside.

When he went out to look, he saw that the room Lingxiang had strictly forbidden was actually open, and Long Qi's hem could be vaguely seen.

Could it be that he opened this door? No! Lingxiang had just entered this room a moment ago.

Rendong carefully probed into the room, only to see Long Qi with his back to the door, like a stone statue.

"What are you doing?" Rendong asked.

Long Qi was greatly startled and hurriedly turned around, hiding his hands behind his back.

"You... why are you... why did you come out..."

Hearing him stammer like this, there must be something going on.

"What are you hiding?"

Just as Rendong was about to step forward to check, he stepped on something. He looked down and saw it was a book. He hurriedly lifted his foot, but after lifting it, he discovered that written on it was...

Spring Night Illustrations!

……

"Uh..." Xinyi returned from bathing and saw the two still staring at each other. "You two..."

Before he could finish his sentence, he heard Long Qi shout: "This matter has nothing to do with you!"

Xinyi was extremely puzzled, and at this moment, Rendong actually spoke up too: "We have kept watch all night, you should go sleep, do not bother the two of us!"

Extremely strange; how could these two be so in sync?

Only then did he notice that there were several books placed in front of the two on the table, but they were placed face-down.

Just as he was about to reach out to take one to flip through, Long Qi and Rendong both moved to press them down at the same time, saying in unison: "Do not touch them!!"

……

Three days passed, and Lingxiang had never stepped out of the room. Even when Maidong came, she did not open the door; the door had been

sealed with a Talisman by Lingxiang, and it could not be opened no matter what.

Zhuzhang Laoren was still very thoughtful; he had actually finished all twenty-two fan slips needed for the bamboo fan and tossed them all to Lingxiang, so Lingxiang only needed to consider how to attach Talismans to each fan leaf.

She had originally thought about painting the ink mixed with purple-leaf golden cloud directly onto the bamboo slips. The ink was excellent Lacquer Smoke Ink, and with the Spirit Power of the purple-leaf golden cloud supporting it, she thought it would not be easy for the ink to fade later. But after all, it was being painted on bamboo slips, so it was hard to say.

Lingxiang was a bit troubled for a moment. Looking at the twenty-two bamboo slips again, two of them were thicker than the others and were taken from the bamboo skin; she figured they were meant to be the outer fan bones, while the remaining twenty slips were thin and resilient.

"Ha! This old man, saying he was unwilling, yet he was quite thoughtful; he even finished applying the glaze." Lingxiang immediately laughed.

With a flash of inspiration, Lingxiang took a small carving knife from her Universe Bag. Since she was afraid of the ink fading, and these bamboo slips were so thin and resilient, it would be better to carve the Talisman seals into hollow patterns, then paint gold on the edges of the hollows; it would even look a bit more grand.

Thinking this, she set to work carving. But this Hundred-Year Black Bamboo was carefully tended by Zhuzhang Laoren; if she did not use the method of Guiding Spirit into Artifact, she truly could not damage it in the slightest. Even using this method, it really consumed quite a bit of Lingxiang's Spirit Power.

However, making this fan only took Lingxiang two days; for the remaining day, she was truly quite tired. After arranging the bamboo fan, she hung it in the room to air-dry in the shade, and she herself climbed onto the bed and fell fast asleep, sleeping so soundly she was completely unconscious.

However...

After sleeping for a day, she finally woke up at the hour of the dragon that day. It was a good sleep, and Lingxiang felt refreshed all over. She opened the door and was just about to stretch, but two people were standing at the doorway like door gods, only these door gods were not facing outward, but toward Lingxiang, with solemn expressions on their faces.

It must be said that Long Qi and Rendong had waited for a long time without a word. As soon as they saw Lingxiang's door open, one on each side, they immediately carried her into the room.

Just having woken up, her mind was still a mess. Could these two have gone insane to treat her like this?

Lingxiang's face was full of astonishment. She was stunned for a long while, and when she came to her senses, she was already sitting on the bed, while Long Qi and Rendong were sitting opposite her, one on each side. This...

It was like a trial in the mortal world...

Long Qi and Rendong did not speak, only staring at Lingxiang. Lingxiang felt uncomfortable being stared at; she twisted her body and wanted to get up, but she did not expect the two opposite her to order her to sit still in unison...

"Uh... this..." Lingxiang felt inexplicably confused. Why were these two so strange? "I only closed the door for a few days, why must you be like this..."

Before she could finish, she saw Long Qi and Rendong reach into their robes, take out several books, and toss them onto the table. Lingxiang peered at them: "Lingering Fragrance Illustrations", "Beautiful Spring Night", "Spring Night Illustrations", "Joyous Secret Play"...

This...

Aren't these her treasured rare editions!

How could they...

"Uh..." Lingxiang did not know how to speak for a moment, but then she thought, she was their master, and these books should have been in the room next door. And that room next door was forbidden to enter before, so how did the two of them get them?

Since they obtained these rare editions, they must have broken into that room, which meant they had violated their master's orders.

Since she had already been discovered, it was better to strike first...

"Ahem..." Lingxiang cleared her throat. "Did I not warn you two not to step into that room? How dare you two violate your master's orders? This is truly... too outrageous... outrageous..."

She had intended to exert her full authority, but the two in front of her were truly solemn, not allowing her even a shred of prestige. Before she could finish her sentence, she had already lost some of her momentum.

"You... you two... what is the meaning of this..." Lingxiang still held her neck stiffly, shouting righteously, "I... I only took them for collection. They are just books, what is the big deal!"

Rendong seemed unable to watch anymore and said in a deep voice: "Although as disciples, we should not interfere too much in our master's affairs, as a woman, how can you privately read such vulgar books? If people found out, would it not damage your reputation?"

Hearing this, Lingxiang huddled on the bed and muttered: "I said it was private, and I clearly hid them well, how could anyone know... Besides, those who cultivate transcend the mortal world, how can they be so concerned with such worldly matters..."

"Worldly matters?" Long Qi said in a deep voice at this moment: "You truly do not consider yourself a woman anymore, ignoring the boundaries between men and women, and now you even read these kinds of books. Could it be that some cultivation manual taught you this?"

"That... that is not it..." Lingxiang stammered, looked at the two opposite her, and then a plan came to her mind.

She looked at Rendong and said: "Look, am I not busy with your affairs these days? A few days ago, they each chose a magical artifact, but you did not. Your Spirit Root is special, and you cannot be like them, so I worried for a long time before thinking of a good method."

As Lingxiang spoke, she got up, walked past the two, and took the fan hanging in the room.

"Look, I personally made a magical artifact for you. I think it should be very compatible with your Spirit Root."

Upon hearing this, Rendong's expression softened somewhat, and he looked toward Lingxiang's hand, seeing only a gold-traced black fan that looked quite exquisite.

The fan was about ten inches long, with strange patterns painted on the handle; as Lingxiang slowly opened it, there were actually hollowed-out talismans on the fan face, each leaf different from the others, and below them were carved hidden patterns traced in gold, which were very grand.

"This... was this made especially for me?" Rendong was somewhat caught off guard; Lingxiang usually seemed so careless, yet she had such skillful hands?

"Naturally it was made for you, otherwise why would your master have been cooped up in the room all these days?" Lingxiang said, handing the fan over.

Rendong took it with both hands, his face still filled with disbelief, but after stroking the fan for a moment, his expression softened a great deal.

He glanced at Long Qi, then slowly opened the black fan in his hand. He felt that this fan was incomparably light; even if it were not used as a Dharma artifact, it would still be an excellent accessory.

This was made by Lingxiang's own hands for him, and Rendong could not help but glance at Long Qi again, his face full of pride.

"It is just that this fan was finished not long ago; firstly, it has not been named, and secondly, it has not undergone Spirit Gathering," Lingxiang spoke up at this moment: "Do not underestimate these two things. If it can get a good name, it will be easier to perform Spirit Gathering, and once the spirit is gathered, it will be of great benefit to your cultivation!"

"This... does this mean I have to name it?" Rendong asked doubtfully.

"If you have a name you like, that would naturally be for the best, and it would save me a lot of thought, after all, it will be by your side often in the future." Lingxiang said, taking up a carving knife, "If you have decided, your master will carve it for you now."

"By my side often, huh..."

Rendong said, glancing at Long Qi, while the latter was currently ashen-faced and could not utter a single word.

"Then let's call it Suidong."

"Suidong Fan..." Lingxiang pondered, "That is not bad." She then took the Suidong from Rendong's hand, and after some carving, an intaglio inscription appeared on the handle; the calligraphy was graceful, adding a touch of softness to the fan.

"Now you can take it out and try it out. If it feels handy, I will choose some suitable cultivation techniques for you to practice later," Lingxiang advised.

Upon hearing this, Rendong glanced at Long Qi once more, then took the fan and went into the courtyard, his heart filled with inexplicable joy.

Seeing Rendong leave the room, Lingxiang could not help but let out a sigh of relief and walked to the bedside to sit down.

It truly took a great deal of effort, but breaking them down one by one was indeed effective, and as for the rest...

Lingxiang raised her eyes to look at Long Qi, only to see him knitting his brows, his face livid...