Chapter 269

The night after the autumn competition, the bright streets were still lit with candles.

Coming down from Zhuoyue Lake, one could see the South City Street lined with vendors. Such a gathering would continue for another seven or eight days before gradually dispersing.

Seeing Pei Ye and the young lady walked side by side. If not for the young lady introducing each item in detail, Seeing Pei Ye probably would never have guessed how to play with these various small things.

Whenever he showed a look of novelty at something, Li Piaoqing would immediately buy it for him generously, regardless of the young man's refusal, until by the end, he had to buy a small basket to carry them.

Passing by the Immortal Platform office, it was finally a bit quieter. However, Seeing Pei Ye suddenly paused his steps, having caught sight of Shi Zanxue's figure coming out of the gate.

"Eh? Shi Gu Niang." Seeing Pei Ye raised his hand to greet her, "Why are you coming out so late?"

Shi Zanxue turned her head to see the two, nodding slightly: "The case work is very busy."

Seeing Pei Ye thought of their own recent actions and felt somewhat guilty, getting straight to the point: "Shi Gu Niang, I heard your sect wants to take Yang Yan in as a disciple?"

"There is such talk. Young Master Yang was left destitute at a young age; his talent is excellent, his disposition is resilient, yet he is somewhat extreme. Senior Brother Gu cherishes talent and fears he will walk the path of evil, hence this invitation." The woman smiled lightly, "Is Young Hero Pei willing to be a companion?"

"This... let's discuss it later." Seeing Pei Ye said awkwardly, then added, "Yang Yan is young and ignorant, and carries a deep hatred, acting recklessly. I wonder what rules your sect has, could you explain a thing or two first?"

Shi Zanxue smiled and said directly: "Tianshan has always allowed people to come and go as they please. There will be no restrictions on Young Master Yang; whenever he wishes to go seek revenge, he can leave."

"Ah, that is truly..." Seeing Pei Ye paused.

"High moral character." Li Piaoqing said.

"High moral character!" Seeing Pei Ye cupped his hands.

Shi Zanxue smiled: "If there is nothing else, I won't disturb the two of you?"

"Wait, wait, one more question... Shi Gu Niang, how is the investigation of the case progressing now?"

"Mm... it's all slow, painstaking work, and there are no results that can be brought out to talk about yet. However, regarding Tianshan, Uncle An just chatted with me about a piece of hearsay."

"Oh? I'd like to hear the details."

"About the Soul-Snatching Bead." The woman didn't keep him in suspense, "Uncle loves reading the ancient classics of Tianshan. He suddenly saw a line just now and told me that this Soul-Snatching Bead is somewhat like the 'Prison-Guarding Vessel' of 'Wang Mu of Zhou' in our Tianshan legends."

Seeing Pei Ye raised an eyebrow; there was a lot of unfamiliar information in this line: "How so?"

"In the legend, the Eastern Zhou Prison-Guarding Vessel was called 【Zhaoyou】. It was a divine order to observe the outside and candle the inside. In the guarded land, there was no gap to exploit." Shi Zanxue said, "Among them, 'candle the inside' is said to be placed on the human body to record their mind and spirit. All hidden evil thoughts can be perceived, and there is absolutely no chance of escape."

"... You mean, this thing can also 'record their mind and spirit'?"

Shi Zanxue gave a look of approval: "Young Hero Pei looked like he half-understood, but it turns out he is very good at extracting the essence from the weeds."

Seeing Pei Ye smiled; he really hadn't understood those four words, but after all, he knew it was a compliment.

"It was just a casual chat." The woman added with a faint smile, "It was a legend to begin with, and now thousands of years have passed, so the truth cannot be distinguished. Even if this thing remains in the world, I'm afraid it has long been destroyed. It's just because it's somewhat similar that it might provide some inspiration."

Seeing Pei Ye nodded slowly: "Thank you for your kindness, Shi Gu Niang."

"You're welcome." Shi Zanxue smiled at the two.

They parted ways there.

"Wang Mu of Zhou was a monarch of the Zhou Dynasty. Legend has it that he once went to Tianshan to meet the Queen Mother of the West. The Queen Mother held a banquet to entertain him, and upon parting, the two exchanged songs before he drove his carriage east." Watching the woman's back, Li Piaoqing explained, "However, since there has been 'history', there are no immortals in the world. The 'Queen Mother of the West' must not have existed. Later, people also said that Wang Mu was the master of Tianshan. In short, this story is a myth that has evolved and expanded, and its true face cannot be known."

"Tianshan... the capital of Zhou seems to be in Luoyi, this journey is really far enough." Seeing Pei Ye thought, "Wang Mu of Zhou must also be a great cultivator, otherwise the capital being without a monarch for so many days probably wouldn't work."

Li Piaoqing laughed: "How can there be a result from pondering such things? 'Qi Jing loves the Cuantai, Zhou Mu tires of the Purple Palace'. Not every emperor thinks of the country every day. If someone just wants to go out for a stroll, who can stop them?"

"I'm just thinking casually." Seeing Pei Ye also laughed, but turned his head to see the young lady squinting at him.

"What's wrong?"

"Can you stay further away from others? Don't lean in to chat as soon as you meet."

"... I'm asking about Yang Yan's affairs."

"You stay further away from her!"

"Oh!"

"Hee hee!"

The two passed through the Immortal Platform and continued to walk. Ahead was another stretch of bright candle stalls. Under Seeing Pei Ye's bitter persuasion, the young lady finally stopped buying things for him. However, as they walked, Seeing Pei Ye himself stopped in front of a mask stall.

The first eye-catching red face was Guan Yu, followed by Liu, Zhang, and Cao, all present. However, Seeing Pei Ye's gaze didn't linger on these. At this moment, he remembered the joke he had with the young lady on the Guanlu Terrace.

"Wouldn't that be all Cao's soldiers around?"

"That's right, but except for me, I am Zhuge Liang who plans strategies."

"There was no Zhuge Liang at that time—then what about me, what am I?"

"What's special about you? You're just an unknown little general who was just beheaded by Zhao Yun under his horse!"

At this time, there was a Zhuge mask on the stall. This character usually doesn't have a painted face, looking somewhat plain and hazy, but it also has a unique charm.

And right next to it was an ordinary soldier's theatrical mask, with a light white base and simple blue patterns, the same color as her clothes. Thinking of it on the young lady's face, it would be comically good-looking.

Thinking it was because it was novel, the other characters still had stock, but there was only one of this mask left.

Seeing Pei Ye held back his laughter, took the Zhuge mask and put it on his face, and called out to the young lady's back: "Li Piaoqing!"

The young lady turned her head, saw his appearance, and immediately smiled: "You really think of yourself as Zhuge Liang!"

She walked over and said: "Where's mine? I want Zhao Yun's!"

Seeing Pei Ye laughed out loud. He looked at the young lady in front of him and reached back to probe the previous position: "Yours is this—"

The words behind were suddenly choked in his throat.

Seeing Pei Ye's body stiffened, and the place where his hand fell was empty.

A young man in the Fourth Life Clumsy Realm certainly couldn't have touched the wrong position. He turned his head sharply, and there was no one around, but next to 【Zhuge】, that theatrical mask had completely disappeared without a trace.

For the second time, the chill born from his spinal cord gripped his heart and lungs tightly. The young lady beside him was still walking over with a light laugh: "Where's mine?"

Seeing Pei Ye pulled her behind him sharply, drew his sword and took a step, the 【Heart-Slicing Glaze】 already hanging in front of him with a "clang".

The noise around them stopped instantly.

Li Piaoqing immediately gripped the sword hilt, but her expression was still dazed. The people around stopped one after another in astonishment, the vendor froze in place, and many pairs of eyes looked at the young man who had tightened his entire stance in shock.

The candles were bright and the people were quiet; nothing happened.

Seeing Pei Ye put away his stance, but still held his sword and tightened his body, staring at the vendor in front of him: "Did you just have a mask here that wasn't sold?"

The vendor was equally stiff, as if fixed in place by the scene in front of him. He looked blankly at the empty space the young man pointed to: "I... yes, I... you..."

Seeing Pei Ye had no intention of entanglement and handed him four copper coins. The vendor paused, reached out and took them steadily, then lowered his head and began to pack up the stall.

Seeing Pei Ye was stunned for a moment, looking at him, his brows suddenly furrowing: "You—"

Before the words were finished, the vendor's body stiffened sharply, and a "clatter" sounded from under the stall. Seeing Pei Ye raised his hand to hold his sword horizontally. The next moment, a purple shadow crashed in from the side. The person had wide eyes and a beard, sword cold and energy surging, purple robes rising like clouds, a sword pointing directly at the vendor's throat.

But the next moment, the long knife was drawn from the bottom of the stall, the cold light met the sword, and one strike defeated his stance. The person's long sword immediately left his hand, and it looked like it was about to be inserted into his own chest.

A green figure swept past, a gentle energy supporting the purple figure from behind to stand firm, his hand already pinching the out-of-control long sword in front of him. When Seeing Pei Ye blinked again, the long knife the vendor used to cut his own throat had also been firmly pinched in his hand.

As if pressed by one hand, the wind and waves stopped, and all the dangerous and chaotic parties returned to where they should be.

But black blood had already flowed out of the vendor's seven orifices.

The corpse stiffened and fell to the ground.

These few changes happened in the blink of an eye. Until the sword light and knife shadow settled, the faces of the two became clear to the young man and woman.

【Elder Elder Qinghuang】 Xu Yanhe, 【Purple Bamboo】 Xu Jianzheng.

"Why are you in such a hurry to rush up? Now that you've startled the snake, there are no living captives."

"Was it me who startled the snake? Didn't you see his expression was already wrong? Holding the knife was just to buy time for himself to swallow poison! If I hadn't rushed up, you wouldn't even have looked this way!"

"You could have told me first—"

"I already said it was too late!" Purple Bamboo rolled his eyes, turned to the two and cupped his hands, "Young Hero Pei, Young Sect Leader Li, my brother is a bit dull, please don't take offense."

Elder Elder Qinghuang was still steady and serious, greeting them one by one.

Seeing Pei Ye finished his salute and sheathed his sword, looking at the terrifying corpse on the ground: "Two seniors, what is going on?"

Purple Bamboo also looked at it, shaking his numb wrist, his face sinking and brows locking: "I'm also confused, report it to the officials."

——

North of Bowang City, inn, third floor.

Nowadays, every place to stay in the state city is still full, but the autumn competition has ended, so after all, empty spots can occasionally be freed up. This guest was just added in the last two days.

The man sat upright, holding a fine brush and closing his eyes, in front of him was a large scroll covering the table.

It was the map of Bowang City.

There was only one copy of the "Soul-Snatching and Sword-Stealing" case file, but the map was not a unique copy. This missing one was taken from the Lake Works.

The autumn air fluttered the window sash, and the man with cold and old clothes suddenly opened his eyes and dropped his brush, ticking on the South Street.

The young man with a solemn look holding the scroll beside him moved his head: "New movements again?"

But he saw the man frown slightly: "Why did it suddenly tick here."

He added: "However, the autumn air here is very strange to him, which just shows that he hasn't come here in the last two days, so—"

The man ticked lightly in the southeast: "—it should be here."

The young man said: "He hasn't been to the Immortal Platform again?"

"On the autumn air map, that side is indeed colder and lighter. Either he has never been there, or he has only been there that once."

"He couldn't have never been there." The young man shook his head, "I definitely felt the pulse of the connection that day."

He frowned and added: "Could this method have already been discovered by the Huan-Death Tower? Be careful of intentional misleading."

The man shook his head: "The imperial court might have some backup plans, but this is truly the first time we have clashed with the Huan-Death Tower. You should still go to South Street and take a look. We will check the southeast in these two days."

"Good." The young man closed the scroll, put it on the four scrolls beside him, and walked toward the window step by step.

Outside the building, the coachman feeding the horses in the courtyard just happened to look up and stretch, his gaze looking toward the third floor of the inn.

The closed window didn't move at all.

——————

The night was deep.

Southeast of Bowang, a secluded garden.

Pavilions and mountains and water, occupying a large area, it was the largest manor set up by the Seven Serpents Cave in Bowang. Not far outside the city was the Lu River, and boating and fishing in leisure time were all beautiful things.

Such a manor was naturally bustling in its heyday, but now it was cold and silent.

The seal was conspicuously pasted on the main gate.

Deep courtyard, back room.

The night was cold, but there was no sign of fire or candles here. The entire courtyard seemed to be frozen to death in late autumn, with only the cold running water on the rockery gurgling down.

It was as silent as if there shouldn't be any life here, but if one listened extremely carefully, one could hear the intermittent hissing sound in the room, like a drooling old wolf, or a withered evil ghost.

The closer one got to the room, the clearer the sound became, and it gradually became clear—it was actually human breathing.

The room was darker than the courtyard.

Only one or two wisps of pitiful starlight and moonlight leaked in, and the man in the room avoided even them, leaning on a wheelchair motionless, his coarse breathing like that of a dying person.

One of his sleeves was empty, and the other hand rested on his knees.

With this appearance, it was difficult for people to recognize the man who once strode and looked down on everything.

Compared to the withered injury of his appearance, what was more different was the decay of his spirit. For several days, every time Qijiao Shang Huaitong recalled that scene, he would tremble from the bottom of his heart to his whole body. "Sword", a thing he once relied on for pride, now made him curl up as soon as he touched it.

It wasn't until the night before last that there was a change.

The man had a sword under his hand, but still didn't dare to draw it. He closed his eyes, trying hard to find that state of mind.

Suddenly, the window went dark silently, and even that faint starlight and moonlight were blocked.

Qijiao Shang Huaitong opened his eyes sharply, looking at the quiet black cloak that appeared in the room, his wind-breaking breathing held for a moment.

"You look more like a 'Ghost Immortal' now." The teasing voice under the hood was as light as the wind, accurately entering Qijiao Shang Huaitong's ears without the slightest overflow.

Qijiao Shang Huaitong raised his only remaining hand, performed an incomplete etiquette, and lowered his head deeply: "Thank you... sir for teaching me."

His voice was also firmly bound by an invisible force. The two opened and closed their mouths, but in the courtyard, there was only the hissing breathing.

"How did I teach you?" The person said, "I have never seen the Ghost Immortal Register either, I just helped you mend your state of mind."

He sighed lightly again: "If the meridian tree is injured, it can grow back; if the arm is broken, the Yangyi Building has such business; only if the state of mind is ruined, there is no way to go."

Qijiao Shang Huaitong bowed again with trembling hands: "If not for the teachings of the past few nights, I would already be on a dead end."

The person nodded indifferently, flickered a few times in the small courtyard, and continued to draw things on the ground, but left no traces.

Qijiao Shang Huaitong said cautiously: "Sir... what are you drawing?"

"Lost River, Awakened Path."

"..." Qijiao Shang Huaitong was silent for a while, finally lifted his heart, and said in a low voice, "Dare to ask presumptuously... what is your identity, sir?"

"Oh? You don't know? Or are you pretending not to know?"

Qijiao Shang Huaitong immediately broke into a cold sweat and bowed his head: "Junior... has a guess."

"Then you guessed right." The person said slowly, "Your sword talent is quite high, you have no worries, and you have people and things you hate deeply... so I will give you a chance. If you can draw your sword and use your Ghost Immortal Sword one more time, even if it's wrong, I will take you away."

He shook lightly under his robe and raised a hand, pinching a simple and novel theatrical mask on it.

He put it on his face, the white-based blue-patterned pattern was mysterious and unpredictable under the dark moon, and he said softly: "Play for a thousand autumns, a hero dies. I am the Play Master of Shaolong."

Although it has been updated earlier in the last two days, our official update time is still 10 PM, don't misunderstand!

(End of chapter)