Chapter 196: Surging Wave Stone

Fourth Life, Qi leaving the body—in the Jianghu, this was a threshold for truly entering the hall and entering the room. Head instructor, chief escort, martial arts teacher... no matter where, they were figures who could act as pillars.

Pei Ye nodded, finally bringing up the matter lingering in his brain: "I want to go to Zhuoyue Tower."

Li Piaoqing was stunned, reacting to his meaning: "When?"

"Right now."

"... There's no need," the girl frowned. "Now the advantage is on our side. As long as we follow the steps, in a short half a year, or a long one year, the whole Seven Serpents will be gasping for breath, let alone Qijiao Shang Huaitong alone?"

"What if he enters the Sword Academy?"

The girl was silent. This was indeed the only place where Seven Serpents could break through Tianshan's cover.

What level Qijiao Shang Huaitong could reach in the Sword Academy, what kind of teachers and friends he could make, were all unpredictable. If he could withstand Cuiyu and feed back into Seven Serpents, the matter would become troublesome again.

"Then even if we want to surround and kill him, we can wait until Cuiyu's power arrives tomorrow," Li Piaoqing said hesitantly. "In short, don't be in such a hurry by yourself."

"I'm worried that some changes will happen," Pei Ye said. "From the incident last night until now, a long time has passed."

"It won't. I already sent a letter to Zhang Mozhu this morning, asking Bai Zhu Pavilion to keep an eye on Zhuoyue Tower," Li Piaoqing said. "If Qijiao Shang Huaitong wants to leave, we will immediately get the news."

"And Seven Serpents' power in Bowang has been cleared away," the girl continued to persuade. "Only one sect master is left on the mountain. Unless he is willing to abandon the sect at this juncture, Qijiao Shang Huaitong has no one to rescue him."

"What about the government? What if he turns Jianghu matters into official matters?"

"That won't happen either. With Tianshan's participation, the government is also under our initiative. If he seeks refuge in the state office, he can naturally die later or not die, but he can never think of leaving again, which is equivalent to giving up the struggle."

Pei Ye shook his head: "I don't think it's that simple."

The girl looked at him.

"Think about Zhao Fu," Pei Ye said. "Seven Serpents, or Huan Si Lou, do they only rely on him?"

"..."

"They probably still have room for operation in the government. To avoid long delays, I should make a trip," Pei Ye stood up. "Don't get dizzy. There's only the logic of pursuing victory; how can we let the enemy ponder countermeasures?"

"... I know all these principles," Li Piaoqing said in a low voice after a silence. She raised a pale face and gripped his wrist. "But Pei Ye, compared to hurting the enemy, I hope more that the people around me won't have any more accidents."

"This is my weakness, I know." She quickly added.

Pei Ye was silent for a moment, gently holding the girl's wrist back. But he still shook his head: "I have to go. I promised Zhang Junxue."

"... Fine. Then I'll go too," the girl took a deep breath and stood up. "Should we call Yang Yan too?"

Pei Ye frowned, but before he could refute, someone suddenly pushed the door and entered. Pei Ye almost thought someone had come to deliver food, because the smell of fireworks and stir-frying simply rushed into his face.

Pei Ye recognized this set of clothing; it clearly came from Bowang Garden.

It was the cook Cuiyu had planted in Zhuoyue Tower. At this moment, he brought news to Li Piaoqing panting, ending the dispute between the two: "Young Master, news from an hour ago, Seven Serpents Sect Master entered Zhuoyue Tower, and Shang Huaitong welcomed him in."

——

Up to this point, the twists and turns of the night could be considered temporarily coming to an end.

Seven Serpents Sect Master would rather abandon the sect he had managed for decades than protect Qijiao Shang Huaitong.

Saving the person and losing the land, both person and land are saved—the logic, although not wrong, had the premise that this "person" really had this value.

A master is like a needle that calms the sea. Once he enters the field, the matter immediately becomes several levels heavier, and it was precisely this heaviness that temporarily suppressed the wind and waves.

The master of the Immortal Platform immediately reacted, rushing to Zhuoyue Tower to have a long talk with this leader of the Bowang martial arts world, ensuring he wouldn't have any desperate moves. And the content of this talk would be requested by Lu Yunsheng in the name of Tianshan for Cuiyu to see.

At the same time, since this Seven Serpents Sect Master had come down the mountain, Cuiyu's one must not be far from Bowang.

Up to this point, the admission ticket for this matter had risen to another level, and the threshold for sparking flames was also increasing. When the flames ignited next time, it would definitely be the time to completely determine victory or defeat.

Thus, the situation stabilized again. The winner wanted to organize the harvest and plan the next steps, while the loser, after making trade-offs, also had to plan a way out.

Of course, there had to be actions. Li Piaoqing sent letters to her sect and Bai Zhu in the first instance, hoping they could each spare a Seventh Life to probe the now-empty mountain gate of Seven Serpents.

However, for Pei Ye, he indeed didn't need to be eager to try anymore.

Li Piaoqing glanced at him with a smile, and the youth returned a slightly helpless smile.

Everything was stable for the time being, and there was really nothing urgent to do for a while, so Li Piaoqing really went to lie down for an afternoon.

This time the girl slept a full sleep. When she pushed the door open again after waking up, the courtyard was already shrouded in stars and moon.

Under the cool wind of the tree, the youth was sitting and talking with the tall woman, while a little further away, Lu Yunsheng was leaning quietly on a lounge chair, and the youth holding a saber was talking to him while writing something with a brush.

Hearing the sound of the door pushing, all four cast their gazes over. Pei Ye must have already told Zhang Junxue about the Ladder-Ascending Pill, because the woman stood up subconsciously after seeing her.

Li Piaoqing smiled gently, took a brocade box from the room, and walked down the steps to the two of them.

"Sister Zhang, this morning Pei Ye said you were in urgent need of this pill," Li Piaoqing smiled slightly, placing the brocade box on the woman's lap.

"Yes, I—" Zhang Junxue didn't expect the girl to be so straightforward. She looked down at this box, and the long string of words she had prepared for a long time got stuck in her throat—she had just been asking Pei Ye to modify them.

"Originally he wanted to give his to you, but if I take this one back, it will also be left dry for at least a few months, so Sister Zhang, just take it and use it first," the girl sat on a stone stool to the side.

"... Alright, then, thank you." Li Piaoqing was a real stranger to her. Zhang Junxue was at a loss for a moment, then turned to untie a heavy cloth bag and put it on the table. "This is that... money."

"There are one hundred and forty taels in here," as if afraid the girl would insert a sentence, Zhang Junxue immediately continued, "How much is still missing, I'll find a way to make it up to you within a month."

Then she looked at the girl with her two hands pressed together.

What made her relieved was that the girl nodded seriously: "I bought it for one hundred and sixty taels. Sister Zhang just needs to make up twenty taels."

Zhang Junxue nodded immediately and repeated dully: "Alright, I'll get it to you within a month."

Then she was silent.

When there was no necessary content to talk about, the woman was infinitely close to a mute.

Fortunately, the girl could always dig out suitable topics, so the two could actually chat one sentence after another. And Pei Ye, who should have been lubricating from the middle, had long since run to Yang Yan's side.

Lu Yunsheng and Yang Yan had been chatting for a long time.

Lu Yunsheng had come chasing this clue, while Yang Yan had escaped unjustly from the destruction of his home and sect. The two originally had some vigilance and hostility toward each other, but now, under the bridge-building of the youth and girl, they also had a foundation for trust and communication.

However, Yang Yan had already discussed with Pei Ye before this that the secret of the jade pendant would absolutely not be revealed at all. In this disaster involving "treasure," Tianshan was also a behemoth that needed cautious contact.

At this time, the conversation between the two had come to an end, and Pei Ye and Lu Yunsheng had some other things to talk about.

About the soul-snatching bead.

This was what Lu Yunsheng was seeking in this plan. Tianshan still only knew a little about the matter and needed this clue to push the investigation forward.

Pei Ye had no reason not to cooperate. It was Huan Si Lou that happened to target him, not him targeting Huan Si Lou. Now that this accidental crisis had passed, it was right to cooperate with the girl to downplay himself from this matter. There was no reason to hold the bead and go find trouble with Huan Si Lou.

Moreover, even if he held it in his hand, it was of no use. Only by handing it to Tianshan and the Immortal Platform could they get some useful information more efficiently.

It was just that, just as Tianshan didn't completely trust the Bowang Immortal Platform for the time being, so Lu Yunsheng wouldn't hand the bead over, and Pei Ye wouldn't easily trust Tianshan either.

"I have no use for it either, Mr. Lu. Now that we stand together, it's the same whoever holds the bead. Even if it's kept with you, it's not convenient for you to guard it for the time being," Pei Ye handed the soul-snatching bead to Lu Yunsheng on the lounge chair and said truthfully. "Wait until someone with enough weight comes from Tianshan in a few days, and when I've inquired clearly, we'll decide where this bead goes, is that okay?"

Lu Yunsheng took the bead in his hand and observed it, then handed it back to the youth without any objection, smiling and nodding: "Young hero's sincere words, naturally that's fine."

Pei Ye smiled and said goodbye, returning to the side of Li and Zhang.

Only then did he tell the girl that someone had reported that her master had entered the city while she was sleeping, but he had been staying with other masters and hadn't come over yet.

A message was passed, saying to let the girl rest assured, and he had received all the letters sent over.

Up to this point, the urgent matters were finished, and the five sat in the small courtyard chatting casually. It was mostly Pei Ye and Li Piaoqing talking—Lu Yunsheng had a steady personality, answering more than asking; Yang Yan kept a stiff face and wasn't used to seeing so many strangers; Zhang Junxue was committed to playing the role of a silent shadow. However, she loved listening to everyone talk, and Pei Ye could feel relaxation from the woman.

The moon reached the center of the sky, and the words gradually became sparse. Several people all looked at the night sky and the moon quietly, their hearts lingering with unknown past events and the road ahead.

Only Pei Ye and Li Piaoqing still chatted a sentence or two.

The same bright moon and stars, the same drizzle like silk, but the tranquility of tonight seemed to come from two different worlds compared to last night.

The night passed quietly like this.

And for the entire Bowang City, tonight and last night were no different.

For the vast majority of people in the city, it was the same. Except for a few residents living nearby who heard some movement, no one knew what had happened by the lake and in the martial hall last night. Under the interference of the Immortal Platform, almost no surface currents emerged.

Perhaps only when the dust settled and people suddenly discovered that "Cuiyu" appeared more and more and "Seven Serpents" disappeared more and more, would a small part of what happened last night be revealed.

Now, all the people in the city were still looking forward to the upcoming martial competition with great interest, and for a small number of literati and martial guests, another relaxed grand event would arrive even earlier.

The Luzhou Poetry Meeting.

It was the day after tomorrow.

——

Two days passed without incident.

Seven Serpents' attitude finally became clear through the Immortal Platform. It was very simple—they didn't admit it.

The fight by the lake was naturally a Jianghu feud between Cuiyu and Seven Serpents. It didn't affect the common people, and the people who died were all Seven Serpents'. The Immortal Platform naturally had no reason to blame.

As for the "soul-snatching" matter, Seven Serpents was naturally also a victim.

Why would the soul-snatching villain have anything to do with Seven Serpents? If it was said that he was Cave Master Xu Cang, that would be fine, but clearly, the case reported by Cuiyu herself—this person was fake.

For the sake of convenience and disturbing the situation, who couldn't be impersonated by a villain? This time, it just happened to be impersonating Cave Master Xu Cang. Moreover, there had been other sect masters who were friendly with Seven Serpents who were murdered before, and now the culprit had been found.

The case naturally didn't advance by debate, but the evidence was indeed hazy for a while, and for the local Immortal Platform to thoroughly investigate the number one sect in the locality, there were indeed intricate and complicated aspects.

But Cuiyu's response was also very simple—no need to do this kind of wrangling, nor to pull back and forth with you on this chessboard. Once Tianshan people come, they will immediately contact the Shaolong Prefecture Immortal Platform to take over this matter.

The Immortal Platform of West Long Road had already entered the field long ago, and now that it had spread to Shaolong, terms like "soul-snatching" and "Soul-Returning Tower" also needed the Immortal Platform of a higher level to cast some attention.

Thus, the situation under the undercurrent was temporarily deadlocked and stable.

And in the bright Jianghu, a suddenly released piece of news fluctuated the entire Bowang City.

This news fell directly to Bowang from the official side, and then stirred up a piece of wind and talk in both the martial arts and literary pools.

It was a letter sent to Bowang, and the source was the Shaolong Prefecture Sword Academy.

Just as young people who practice the sword regard the Dao-Opening Meeting as a holy land for sword practice, as a plan vigorously promoted by the Great Tang and striving for results, the Dao-Opening Meeting wouldn't just keep a cold face and wait for geniuses to come to the door and squeeze their heads.

Although the definition of "virtue" was a bit high, they were indeed thirsty for talent. Excavating and cultivating Tang sword talent was also a part of the Sword Academy's duties.

They would keenly capture news of some budding sword materials, and after careful evaluation, issue invitations of different ranks to them; they would also occasionally send people to search the localities, striving not to let good jade escape the net.

But Bowang had never received this kind of attention.

That was the encounter of geniuses, the patent of the great states. The Sword Academy, precisely because it had always stood high in the clouds, didn't need to pretend to show its status—it was really trying hard to seek students, but there were very few materials of suitable quality.

At this moment, the mood of the state office receiving this letter was like Bai Zhu Village suddenly receiving a personal letter from the Cuiyu Sect Master, saying he wanted to select the most promising child to accept as a true disciple.

This letter was first circulated in the state office, then because it involved some disturbances in the city, the opinion of the Immortal Platform was asked, and finally, it was reviewed by the Inspector before being announced to Bowang City.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 197 =====