Chapter 271: Destination

Zheng Yi pointed toward the dense forest.

"My lord, look in this direction."

She walked forward a few steps, pointing in the air, and along the outlines of the trees and stones ahead, drew a pattern.

"This is the clue Xue Bangzhu left behind."

She turned to Li Miao and said.

"The trees here are basically Chinese scholar trees; only these few are Chinese junipers, and the color of the bark is slightly different. If seen by others, they would likely think it's ordinary, but to a Penglai person, it is extremely conspicuous."

"Because the paths formed by these trees overlap, it is exactly the True Qi circulation path of our Penglai Ear Technique. And these stones, if stood at the correct angle, correspond exactly to the major acupoints that need to be tempered by this technique."

"Only one meridian is missing."

Zheng Yi walked a few steps to the side, stood still, squinted, gestured, and pointed forward.

"It is in this direction, my lord."

"Xue Bangzhu deliberately didn't point out this meridian; she wanted to use this missing meridian to indicate the direction, leading us to move forward in this way."

"The clue she left behind should be in this direction."

Li Miao nodded.

Although Xue Bangzhu couldn't be considered a clever person, she had spent several years pondering, and sure enough, she had figured out a method that only Penglai people could understand.

"No-Trace" had been monitoring her, so she couldn't leave clues openly, or she would be discovered quickly. But trees were everywhere in this mountain forest, and if she just scattered some seeds, "No-Trace" would never notice.

Once these trees grew, she just had to find a chance to cut down the trees of the same species, and it would be a clue that was obvious to Penglai people and invisible to others.

Plus those stones representing the positions of the major acupoints, any Penglai person would be absolutely certain at a glance that this was a message left by a peer.

Xue Bangzhu endured intense pain and lived here for seven years, likely to stretch out the process of leaving clues as long as possible, so as not to let "No-Trace" notice anything wrong.

Once these trees had grown and the stones had been moved to the correct positions and tamped down day by day, she then moved away from this desolate mountain forest.

Li Miao shook his head and glanced at Xue Hanmeng.

"When parents love their children, they plan far ahead for them."

"Unfortunately, she raised an idiot who accepts the thief as her father; it really wasn't worth it."

After saying this, Li Miao walked with Zheng Yi in the direction indicated by the clues.

Xue Hanmeng, however, didn't move, standing in place, blankly looking at Zheng Yi, her lips twitching, her face pale.

"She... how could she understand the clues mother left behind... mother said these clues could only be understood by Penglai sect members!"

"If she really is a Penglai sect member, why would she attack uncle..."

"No, Yingzhou and Penglai share the same origin, and these years Yingzhou has been hunting down Penglai sect members; it's possible some techniques have fallen into their hands!"

She shook her head violently and gritted her teeth, chasing after the two.

But as time passed, her face became increasingly ugly.

Xue Bangzhu hadn't just set up this one clue. She had also considered that Yingzhou might have obtained Penglai techniques, so she had set up four or five similar checkpoints.

Ear technique, light-body technique, internal technique, palm technique, sword technique.

These clues only indicated the direction, without marking the distance, and another clue could appear at any time in between, changing the direction of travel.

And the basis for these clues was not the main part of Penglai techniques, but rather randomly selected parts from the minute details as a basis. Even if one obtained the manual, without having practiced it personally for several years, it was impossible to see the clues at a glance.

And these clues involved almost every technique in the Penglai inheritance; if one had practiced even one less, it was absolutely impossible to reach the end.

Only a direct Penglai descendant like Zheng Yi could discover Xue Bangzhu's hints.

And as Zheng Yi broke through the barriers one after another with ease, Xue Hanmeng's face became increasingly ugly, her gaze constantly shifting between Zheng Yi and "No-Trace," who was being carried by Li Miao.

She did trust her "uncle," but she would absolutely never doubt her mother.

Xue Bangzhu hadn't died in front of her, but had left alone and disappeared. It was "uncle" who found her, told her the news of her mother's death, told her who to seek revenge from, and had taken meticulous care of her for several years, which was why she trusted "uncle" so much.

But she also clearly remembered that before Xue Bangzhu left, she had solemnly told her not to tell anyone about the clues she left behind. If someone found the clues without hints in the future, she must unconditionally trust that person.

It was precisely because she had kept Xue Bangzhu's instructions in her heart that for these years, no matter how "uncle" probed, she hadn't told "uncle" about this matter.

But now, the "peer she must unconditionally trust" that her mother had mentioned had turned her uncle into a bloody mess and was carrying him in his hand.

What this represented, Xue Hanmeng didn't dare to think.

She could only lower her head, following blankly behind Li Miao and Zheng Yi, silently praying that they wouldn't reach the end—if they reached the end, it would mean they were right, and that she really was an idiot who "accepted the thief as her father."

It would mean... what Zheng Yi said when she scolded her, that the skeleton lying on the table in the righteous manor, already rotted beyond recognition, was her mother.

She didn't dare to admit this.

Just thinking about this possibility, regret and anger almost pushed her True Qi out of her dantian and through her brain.

But facts would not change because of her thoughts.

After only a quarter of an hour, Zheng Yi stopped, her gaze fixed on the mountain wall to the front left, and only after a long time did she come back to her senses and sigh.

"It's here, my lord."

She pointed to the stone wall and sighed.

"The patterns on this stone wall vaguely match the artistic conception of our Penglai sword technique; they are naturally formed, and I don't know how Xue Bangzhu found this place."

"This is the reason she moved here; from the very beginning, she was prepared to hide the clues here."

Li Miao turned to look at Xue Hanmeng, who had been silent for a long time, smiled, walked up to her, and waved his hand in front of her.

"Stupid?"

"Why, do you know what kind of thing you are, and you don't dare to face the truth, so you've gone mad?"

Li Miao raised his hand and threw "No-Trace" in front of Xue Hanmeng.

"Here, didn't you always want to save him? Give him back to you, heal his wounds."

Xue Hanmeng didn't move.

Li Miao reached out and gripped her face, forcing her head up.

"You have two choices now."

"Either I give you all a quick end right now."

"I am not a Penglai sect member, and what you said and did tonight is enough for me to dislike you. I won't give an idiot a second chance."

"Or—"

Li Miao flicked his wrist, throwing her in front of the stone wall.

"You can also ignore your 'uncle' for now and take out what your mother left behind."

"Then I will tell you just how much you have made your mother die with her eyes wide open in regret all these years."