Chapter 188: The Gentleman Is Diligent All Day Long

Dugu Qingli's heart also tightened; she hadn't expected that coming to bid farewell to a "friend" would reveal signs of Wu Gu, and on an altar built by the Emperor no less.

It seemed she had accidentally stumbled into some serious political incident.

Yet neither a Demon Path cultivator nor a direct disciple of a Sacred Land treated this political event, capable of making others retreat three steps, as anything to worry about; instead, they were keenly interested in uncovering the truth.

Since it was a "blood vessel," there must be a direction for the blood to flow.

Following the flow of the blood, they soon pointed toward the central house.

It was as if blood vessels from all directions converged here, making this house the heart.

But Lu Xingzhou had already investigated this "heart"; the inside had been filled solid... Previously, seeing it filled solid, he had thought it was a flaw in the architectural design, but now that he looked, it was clearly for another reason.

Lu Xingzhou directly set up a sound-blocking formation, then without a word, punched a hole straight in; water and fire exploded, blasting out a huge hole.

Then talismans ignited, the Five Ghosts Transport technique activated, and in no time they were grunting and heaving until the bricks and stones inside were completely cleared out.

Dugu Qingli: "..."

She had felt more than once that Daoist cultivators were more useful than Wu Xiu... Come to think of it, her master clearly knew everything, so why did he only teach her sword techniques?

With the house cleared, it was very clear to see a pattern carved into the earth's core that closely resembled a heart, but it was in a stopped state; the blood injected here from the surrounding "vessels" was meaningless, filling nothing.

Lu Xingzhou squatted to inspect: "Judging by this, it was originally a Wu method; this form could also correspond to the Emperor's illness. But the Wu method seems to have failed, so this place was abandoned. But I don't understand Wu methods..."

Dugu Qingli didn't understand either: "How does this work?"

Lu Xingzhou looked at her, his expression somewhat inexplicable.

Dugu Qingli curiously checked herself, finding no flowers: "What's wrong with that look?"

"Are you sure you don't know Wu methods?"

"Of course I don't; besides sword techniques, I only know a little ice-elemental magic, and that's due to my talent."

Lu Xingzhou fell silent: "Your technique of plucking hair from a distance isn't a Wu method?"

Dugu Qingli recoiled in horror: "H-how did you know..."

"It really was you!" Lu Xingzhou was furious: "What exactly did I do to deserve you tormenting me like this!"

He had guessed for so many days which bastard was responsible, but aside from the day Pei Chuyun cut some hair and gave it to Dugu Qingli to wrap around her fingers, there could be no other suspect.

It was just that no matter what, he couldn't bring himself to think such a broken thing was done by Bai Mao; he wouldn't even dare to guess there! You could say it was easier to understand if Pei Chuyun had left one strand behind to cast a spell than this.

But it really was!

Dugu Qingli, feeling at fault, retreated again: "It's just pulling your hair, why get so angry? Didn't you also cut a lock of my hair..."

"I damn..." Lu Xingzhou didn't know how to explain, so he just said: "Anyway, you're not allowed to pull it anymore. If you pull it again, I'll..."

Dugu Qingli stared at him steadily, her eyes so clear it seemed to mean: You can pull my hair too, I'm not afraid.

Lu Xingzhou, angered, stepped closer: "If you pull it again, I'll kiss you!"

Dugu Qingli reacted immediately: "You can't!"

"Then you can't pull me either!"

A Nuo squatted aside, feeling that these two seemed more childish than herself; what kind of conversation was this...

"Fine, I won't pull it, who cares about pulling it anyway..." Dugu Qingli said seriously: "I've thought about it later; if you get pulled by accident during battle, it would be dangerous, so you really shouldn't pull it randomly."

Lu Xingzhou let out a long sigh of relief: "That's good. Speaking of which, if this isn't a Wu method, what is it?"

"It truly isn't; it should be counted as a kind of Immortal Art."

The atmosphere cooled down.

Since no one knew Wu methods, even if they saw there was a Wu method here, they wouldn't know its specific function or the reason for its stoppage; wouldn't this investigation be a dead end?

Lu Xingzhou thought for a moment, then suddenly cut his own finger and dripped a drop of blood onto the heart.

The color of the heart brightened, as if it had started beating.

They didn't understand Wu methods, but as long as there was an energy reaction, they could naturally judge the general situation based on the flow of energy.

Lu Xingzhou and Dugu Qingli's expressions simultaneously turned very ugly, and they said in unison: "A Nuo, retreat far away, go straight outside."

A Nuo vanished instantly.

Lu Xingzhou spoke in a low voice: "There is a Demon Corpse underground. This Wu method draws bloodline power from the Demon Corpse and feeds it back to the Emperor; this is like drinking poison to quench thirst."

"Not all Wu methods are evil arts; some Wu methods are considered righteous, but this is a typical evil art," Dugu Qingli said. "Since this method can draw demonic power, it can naturally draw human power too... Once the Emperor decides to use human power one day..."

Lu Xingzhou pressed his lips together; he never hesitated to attribute the worst malice to feudal emperors. For the sake of his own health, the Emperor doing such a thing was simply too normal. And since the Huo family always did such dirty work for the Emperor, how could general black material possibly bring them down?

In fact, some of the Huo family's black material might not even be known to be done on behalf of the Emperor, so what could be used to bring them down?

"The earth veins here have a bit of a problem," Lu Xingzhou concluded after a long inspection: "I don't know if the core material quality was flawed or if someone interfered, causing this Wu method's effect to be very poor. The Emperor might not get much of the demon vein power he wanted, but he did absorb a lot of chaotic demon qi... The thing wasn't as useful as expected, and that was the main reason for its final abandonment."

Dugu Qingli spoke softly: "To build such an altar at the cost of people's labor and money, and then abandon it immediately after one use because it didn't work..."

The Huangji Jingshi Jing was indeed not a good cultivation technique.

But Lu Xingzhou wasn't considering that; his expression was indistinct.

This Wu method itself should have worked better; the Emperor must have investigated, but the person who investigated either intentionally concealed the truth or something else happened, failing to tell the truth, making the Emperor think the effect was poor, so he abandoned it.

Since Lady Ye knew about this, Lu Xingzhou felt there was an eighty percent chance it was related to her, that she caused the result by interfering and blocking. And there was likely also the matter of Huo Heng involved, such as using slightly inferior materials, making Lady Ye's interference and blocking easier and seamless.

If, in order to accuse Huo Heng, he told the Emperor about this, even if he concealed Lady Ye's part and only highlighted that Huo Heng used inferior goods, what consequences would that trigger?

Huo Heng would certainly be noted by the Emperor in his little book, but the altar would be restarted.

Sacrificing demons now would inevitably lead to sacrificing humans later.

This matter cannot be exposed.

After a long while, Lu Xingzhou spoke softly: "It cannot be exposed." Dugu Qingli turned to look at him.

She knew very well Lu Xingzhou's obsession with taking revenge on the Huo family, but with the opportunity right before him, he actually gave it up.

"Giving up revenge?"

"There are many ways to take revenge; it's not like this is the only path, is it worth it?" Lu Xingzhou smiled carefree, straightening his body: "Besides, this isn't a big case; it's not worth that much."

A look of appreciation flashed in Dugu Qingli's eyes, but she didn't say much, instead changing the topic: "Demons have never had the saying of being escorted to the capital and imprisoned; they are always executed on the spot. So there shouldn't be demons in the capital; where this demon came from is also a question. Do you want to investigate?"

"No need to investigate. There are only a few sources." Lu Xingzhou smiled. "The prefects back then were all demons; did you really think the Emperor didn't know? What exactly he was thinking, I have no desire to guess... With your master here, if she says nothing, why should we make a fuss? If the sky falls, the tall ones will hold it up."

These words revealed a hint of dissatisfaction with the Imperial Preceptor. Du Gu Qingli heard it and felt somewhat embarrassed. "Master... it's not easy for her either."

"I know. I'm not blaming her."

"Then..." Du Gu Qingli lowered her eyes. "Am I leaving?"

Lu Xingzhou cut a lock of hair and handed it over. "This one is lustrous. Swap it; throw away the previous one."

"What significance does luster have? Why am I collecting your hair?"

"Then why didn't you throw away the previous ones?"

Du Gu Qingli swiftly threw away all the previous ones.

Lu Xingzhou was like someone seeing a fire's fuse; he quickly stepped on them several times, crushing them into flying ash.

Du Gu Qingli: "..."

"Take it." Lu Xingzhou, without a word of explanation, stuffed the new hair into her hand.

"I don't want it."

"Look, I have yours; you must have mine for fairness, right?"

The human-machine fell into thought.

"As you said, this journey is ten thousand li, and we may not meet again. When friends part, they must leave something as a memento, just like having a companion through life and death, correct?"

Du Gu Qingli wanted to refuse, but suddenly remembered her master's words: Follow nature; this is the Dao.

What is nature?

I wanted to bid him farewell, so I came.

Do I want to keep a memento? Yes.

Then that is settled.

Thus, in the end, she said nothing and silently accepted the lock of hair.

But do I want a deeper entanglement with him?

Actually, I do not.

Although he thinks Bai Mao is very good-looking, and I also think he is very good-looking... but aren't there many things in the world more important than good looks?

Du Gu Qingli put away the hair and finally said, "Since you do not want any follow-up to this matter, I must proceed to my mission. We shall meet again."

Having spoken, she turned and left.

Behind her, Lu Xingzhou remained silent. Du Gu Qingli suddenly felt relieved, thinking this state was very comfortable.

Indeed, Master was right; following nature is enough. If we meet again next time, perhaps we won't need to be so tense as today...

Lu Xingzhou watched her figure disappear and said nothing more.

A huge pile of matters, whether family grudges or public affairs, or the endless emotional entanglements around him, and the dangerous mission she was about to undertake... were all unsuitable to provoke at this moment.

There are many things in the world more important than Bai Mao and blue eyes.

Lu Xingzhou looked down at the shape of the beating heart on the ground, then suddenly reached out and beckoned.

The black flames of the Soul Banner burned silently, destroying the heart pattern completely.

He then returned to the exterior of the altar, took A Nuo's hand, and leisurely returned to the capital.

"So you gave up?" Ye Tinglan was still sitting in the office drinking tea, as if waiting specifically for him.

Lu Xingzhou said indifferently, "Mr., isn't this the result you wanted to see?"

"I only wanted to see your own choice."

"Actually, no test was needed; I would only make this choice." Lu Xingzhou said indifferently. "I just have some regrets."

"Regret not being able to use this to deal with Huo Heng?"

"No. What I regret is that I thought I had received help and guidance, but it turned out to be just a boring test." Lu Xingzhou smiled. "Sheng Yuanyao said the Imperial Preceptor once divined a hexagram for me, saying 'chasing deer without a guide'... Now it seems it has indeed come true. Even the Mr. I worship is unwilling to be this guide official; it seems I am destined not to find one."

Ye Tinglan was silent for a moment, then slowly said, "The hexagram image is but a temporary phenomenon, not unchangeable. A gentleman is diligent all day long; eventually, he will leap from the abyss."

"Mr. also understands hexagrams?"

"A little."

"Then when can my image of 'no guide' change?"

Ye Tinglan smiled slightly. "Perhaps... it is right now?"

(End of this chapter)