Chapter 246: A Muffled Blow?

After being dragged to the Punishment and Arrest Bureau at noon, Xie Jinhuan and the young Miss Jiang Xian spent the entire day in the archives, flipping through no fewer than several hundred case files, only to discover that the Chiwu Sect was even more mysterious than imagined.

The Chiwu Sect first emerged roughly twenty or thirty years ago, around the time of the Northern Zhou's Wu Gu calamity; at that time, both the Emperor and the Crown Prince who succeeded him were killed by witchcraft, causing the Wu Sect's Zhuji Sect, the state religion, to become a target of universal hatred, while the court and the country fell into chaos.

Later, Empress Dowager Guo appeared, seized control of the government, and purged internal and external enemies; subsequently, the folk saying "The state perishes due to the Red, demons approach Zhou's land" spread, with small-scale disturbances occurring everywhere among the people. After investigation, all evidence pointed to Empress Dowager Guo and the Guo family, but the clues ended there, and no progress had been made over the past ten-plus years.

Xie Jinhuan could not figure out where this group came from, but what could be confirmed was that since this group targeted Empress Dowager Guo and the Guo family, they were certainly not merely chaotic evil Daoists, but more likely a faction with conflicting interests, such as powerful aristocratic families, vassal kings, or even the Daoist, Martial, and Buddhist sects who held grievances against the Zhuji Sect.

This range of suspects was too broad, and Xie Jinhuan had no leads yet; Miss Jiang Xian said she would go out to patrol the streets for clues and notify him if she found anything, so he took his leave and returned to Duanli Street.

By dusk, the city lights began to flicker on.

Xie Jinhuan walked near the residence of the Eldest Princess, deliberated slightly, and first went to the nearby Parrot Alley to take a look.

Duanli Street, being close to the Imperial City, was in an excellent location, but most of those living in Parrot Alley were impoverished nobles; tracing their ancestry back, their forebears were mostly kings, dukes, generals, and ministers who had entered the pass with Zhou Taizu, but after three hundred years, their family fortunes had long been completely ruined, leaving them with nothing but their status, and at night, even lights were rarely seen.

Xie Jinhuan passed through the alley and arrived outside the rented courtyard; from afar, he could hear "gugu jiji~" sounds coming from within. Leaping over the wall to take a look, he saw a small table added below the steps in the backyard, with various snacks arranged on it.

Meiqiu squatted on the table, shaking her head and eating, looking so happy she had forgotten her own surname.

However, Bu Yuehua was nowhere to be seen; there were no lights or fires in the courtyard, nor any movement. Only after approaching closely could faint breathing sounds be heard from the main room.

Xie Jinhuan walked to the bottom of the steps and knocked lightly on the door:

"Hua Shijie Hua?"

Dong dong~

After waiting a moment, a woman's surprised voice responded from inside the room:

"Xie Jinhuan? Why have you come?"

Xie Jinhuan heard no sound of hurriedly putting on clothes, so he pushed the door open slightly and glanced inside.

The room had just been rented and contained little furniture; a rosewood frame bed was placed near the back window. A woman in a dark blue long dress was sleeping fully clothed on the bed; she had now sat up and was rubbing her temples, appearing to have just been napping.

"Why is Hua Shijie Hua sleeping while still dressed? Is your body still unwell?" Xie Jinhuan walked up, glanced over her slightly, and asked with concern.

Although Bu Yuehua had been struck by a sword at Lishan, it was merely a flesh wound with no serious consequences, but spiritual soul injuries were difficult to heal in less than a month; originally, she had been fine in the morning, but after her teaching master arrived and mentioned the matter of marriage...

... she, being alone at home with nothing to do, fell into a daze and started daydreaming, not knowing when she had fallen asleep on the bed.

Seeing Xie Jinhuan suddenly rush over, Bu Yuehua slightly sorted her thoughts, then smiled and said:

"I am fine; I was just bored being alone and accidentally fell asleep. How are things at Lishan?"

"It has been settled; next, we just need to find the culprit who set up the trap for me."

"Oh..."

Because she had been daydreaming in the room during broad daylight, Bu Yuehua felt slightly embarrassed in her heart. She wanted to get up to entertain him, but there was nothing in the room to offer, so she smiled and said:

"I don't know when Junior Sister Mu will arrive. Hmm... I am fine being alone; you need not worry and should go back to accompany your beloved."

Xie Jinhuan was indeed anxious to return to accompany his wife, but bringing Senior Bu all the way here and leaving her unattended was clearly inappropriate. After thinking for a moment, he said:

"I taught you the Martial Dao Divine Scripture a few days ago; you surely haven't memorized it all yet. It is still early; why don't I teach you first?"

"..."

Hearing these words, Bu Yuehua could not help but blink her eyes, feeling a bit of apprehension.

After all, sitting here, she was the fully dressed Hua Shijie Hua, but once entering the dream realm, who knew what would happen.

Last time, it was a roasted chicken demoness whose buttocks were barely covered; this time, who knew what form she would take...

"Hmm... Are you sure this illusion technique cannot be controlled independently to shape the illusionary realm?"

Xie Jinhuan sat by the bedside and said helplessly:

"I am merely a martial artist; the illusion technique is indeed uncontrollable. How about I close my eyes this time? You check and confirm there are no problems, and then I will open my eyes."

As a master of illusion techniques, Bu Yuehua did not truly believe these words, but Xie Jinhuan's behavior had always been upright, and he was teaching her a cultivation technique, so after thinking it over, she said nothing, drew her legs up, and sat cross-legged on the bed, waiting.

Xie Jinhuan sat properly beside her, pretended to raise his hand and form a hand seal, while secretly praying in his eyes for the ghost to behave itself.

But Ye Hongshang was not a submissive little wife; at that moment, she appeared from the side, looking with interest at the nervous and waiting Bu Yuehua:

"Are you sure you won't let big sister mess with her?"

Xie Jinhuan did not mind teasing Hua Shijie Bu, but from Bu Yuehua's perspective, the illusion technique was cast by him, and messing around would make his motives very hard to explain, so he quietly blinked.

Seeing this, Ye Hongshang nodded slightly, said no more, and began to serve as the two-headed dragon connecting the two of them.

Bu Yuehua closed her eyes and waited anxiously; as the clear voice of the incantation sounded by her ear, a sense of dizziness arose in her mind, and then her spiritual consciousness sank into darkness.

Waiting until she woke again, she smelled a faint floral scent at her nose, and heard distant birds singing in an empty mountain.

"Ji ji zha zha..."

Having learned from past losses, Bu Yuehua's first reaction was to check her body; finding that both her chest and buttocks were covered by fabric, she secretly sighed in relief. Opening her eyes to look, she found that although her clothes had changed into a hezi skirt, revealing a patch of snow-white skin, she was still mostly dressed properly.

She scanned her surroundings and saw that the place was still an overseas beach, with a hundred-zhang stone cliff towering at the end of her vision, stars and the moon hanging in the sky; the scene was not much different from last time.

"It seems this illusion technique has no problems... Xie Jinhuan?" As Bu Yuehua spoke, she turned her gaze, but saw the beach was empty, with no trace of Xie Jinhuan.

But Xie Jinhuan's voice came from beside her ear:

"Whoa...!"

The voice was very small, as if emitted by a thumb-sized little person.

??

Bu Yuehua was stunned; following the sound, she discovered that standing on her shoulder was actually a white-robed Young Master no more than two inches tall, with an expression of extreme shock, looking up at her cheek.

"Eh? Xie Jinhuan, you..."

Bu Yuehua was well-versed in the ways of the Jianghu, but how could she have ever seen such a scene? Glancing at the little person on her shoulder, she dared not move recklessly.

Xie Jinhuan opened his eyes and found himself standing on a deep blue mountain ridge; he was also stunned for a moment. Turning his head to see the quiet face resembling a mountain range, his eyes turned to shock:

"Hua Shijie Hua, why have you become so huge?"

Bu Yuehua was afraid that speaking too loudly would blow Xie Jinhuan away; she slightly spread her hands:

"This is the illusion created by you; how would I know? Moreover, it is not that I have become bigger, but that you have become smaller. Look at the stone cliff."

Xie Jinhuan looked at the distant stone cliff and finally realized his proportions were off. Although this situation was somewhat mystical, it was not awkward; rather, it was quite novel. He immediately sat down on her shoulder:

"The illusionary realm simply defies common sense; do not mind such trifles. The cultivation technique is in the sky."

Bu Yuehua also found it novel; she wanted to raise her hand to touch little Jinhuan but feared offending him, so she pretended everything was normal, sat on the beach, and gazed up at the starry sky.

Xie Jinhuan sat on the giantess's shoulder; having never experienced such a transformation, he curiously looked around.

Halfway through, a sense of déjà vu arose in his heart, as if he had experienced such a scene before, but just as before, he could not recall the source.

Xie Jinhuan pondered in vain and could only set aside his distracting thoughts to seriously study the Martial Dao Divine Scripture.

Xie Jinhuan grew rapidly; since entering Rank 1 at Sanjiangkou and undergoing blood and fire tempering at Huo Feng Valley, Lishan, and other places, his cultivation had now climbed to the mid-stage of Rank 1, and the upper limit of his cultivation technique had begun to manifest.

"The Joyful Heart Sutra" was a cultivation technique he had figured out himself; previously he had only conceived up to the peak of Rank 1, and had not yet begun to conceive how to cultivate the Super Rank. Now that he was nearing the end, if he did not quickly figure out a Super Rank cultivation technique, he would have no technique to support him in the future, forcing him to stand still or take a wrong path and waste time.

Moreover, he held the Zheng Lun Sword and possessed the Ling Guang Divine Gift, yet these two supreme treasures, which did not quite match the Martial Dao, had never been utilized.

Therefore, what Xie Jinhuan must do next was definitely to continue refining "Alternating Candle Pouring," and then supplement it with Thunder Arts and Fire Arts; otherwise, he would squander a great deal of combat power for nothing.

After pondering for a moment, Xie Jinhuan's peripheral vision suddenly noticed something amiss; turning his eyes, he discovered the scenery beneath the shoulder was particularly magnificent.

Because he had shrunk so much, looking down from above, beneath his neck lay Bai Xi, unblemished, soft snow peaks, with a bottomless abyss sandwiched between them, so vast it was indescribable...

Xie Jinhuan had merely glanced casually, but A Piao clearly doted on him; a sinister wind blew from behind somehow, knocking him down.

"Eh? Whoa..."

Then his whole body bounced twice on the Bai Xi skin, fell into the endless abyss, and was wrapped in an alluring milky scent and softness...

?!

Bu Yuehua was also studying the cultivation technique; seeing this, she was startled and wanted to raise her hand to catch him, but feared she might knock Xie Jinhuan to death, so she could only lift her chest and use her hand to block him vaguely, preventing Xie Jinhuan from falling to the ground.

After the little person was supported by her chest, Bu Yuehua's face turned red; she carefully pulled Xie Jinhuan out:

"How did you fall down?"

"Uh... my foot slipped, sorry."

"Is that so?"

Bu Yuehua felt Xie Jinhuan slipped quite accurately; her eyes were half believing, half doubting.

Xie Jinhuan himself found it hard to explain how he had fallen into the Miss's chest; after awkwardly offering a brief explanation, he returned to the shoulder and continued to observe the star chart...

——

On the other side, the Taichang Temple.

The night grew deeper, and personnel within the government office gradually dispersed.

Lu Yan walked alone on the street; the feeling in his heart could only be described as stifling.

After all, running to Huo Feng Valley and encountering a dispute, he could understand it as heavenly creations going to the capable; he lost and accepted his fate.

But this time returning to Northern Zhou, Xie Jinhuan openly killed people; Lu Yan pursued him according to the law, only to be counter-accused with the big hat of "colluding with demonic Daoists." Most crucially, Chen Chi and the people of the Censorate were all half believing, half doubting, letting Xie Jinhuan investigate, and even detained the Fire Decree for him.

Wasn't this elbowing outwards?

Xie Jinhuan's reputation in the Righteous Path was indeed great, and he did possess some real skill in pursuing demonic bandits, but Lu Yan's stance was not crooked either.

Lu Yan felt a bit cold-hearted in his heart, but the Zhuji Sect held the reins of the cultivation Dao in Northern Zhou; he could not openly refute the imperial court's orders. For now, he could only let Xie Jinhuan investigate; after all, he had no problems, so no matter how Xie Jinhuan investigated, the result would be the same...

However, what if this fellow fabricated something out of nothing and framed him with some charges...

While pondering this secretly, Lu Yan returned to his residence in Jingcheng.

As the Vice Minister of the Taichang Temple, and even the second-in-command of the Daoist sects in Northern Zhou, Lu Yan's residence was near the Imperial City; the mansion was quite elegant, but regardless of which Daoist sect, they all valued a pure heart and few desires; finding a crowd of servants to attend to them violated the religious decrees, so there were only a few disciples learning the arts within the mansion.

Lu Yan had suffered consecutive injuries, and his wounds had not yet healed; originally on leave at Wuling Mountain, he had rushed to Jingcheng only after the incident at Lishan. At this moment, he intended to return to the main room to meditate and rest.

But whether he was seeing ghosts or not, he did not detect anything unusual in the room; yet when he opened the door, he suddenly sensed something amiss!

Hush~

Although his reaction was extremely swift, Lu Yan had only just raised his right hand; before he could throw out the spell formation, he heard a dull "Boom—" sound, followed by a violent tremor of his soul and his vision going black. Before losing consciousness, he discovered a black cloth covering his head, blocking all vision...

(End of this chapter)