Chapter 148

At this moment, seeing Miao Zhen and Miao He locked in their room, rummaging through chests to pull out a box, bowing to it before opening it and taking out a wooden carving of the Mountain God Pan Gong.

They placed the Mountain God reverently on the table, bowed again and again, then took out talisman paper and wrote four large characters upon it: "Great Disaster, Come Quickly."

Then they formed hand seals and chanted incantations, igniting the talisman before Pan Gong until it burned to ash.

After completing all this, Seeing Miao Zhen's face turned slightly pale.

Her cultivation was insufficient; she could only send one message.

Miao He hurriedly wiped her sweat, asking anxiously: "Will Master Da and the others receive the message this way?"

"If Master Da said it works, then it should work."

Miao He's small face wrinkled in worry: "If Dai Yong dies, will the Academy arrest Little Auntie and demand she pay with her life?"

Seeing Miao Zhen pursed her lips: "I don't think we can rely solely on this message—we must go down the mountain to find Chen the Shopkeeper and have him send a letter to Mount Sanqing. If this fails, that one might still succeed. Even if they want Little Auntie to pay with her life, they won't dare act immediately."

She said: "We split up. You go down the mountain immediately to find Chen the Shopkeeper. I'll find Big Brother. Little Auntie said he's our stronghold."

Miao He nodded at once and stood up: "I'm going now."

Both turned to look at the black cat crouching beside them and asked: "Pan Xiaohei, which of us are you following?"

Pan Xiaohei glanced at them, turned, and leapt out the window, running off—he wouldn't follow them; he'd go straight to Pan Yun.

Seeing Miao Zhen watched him run off and said: "He's definitely going to Little Auntie. Good—he'll tell her our plan. Let's split up now."

Miao He agreed and immediately stepped outside—it was already dark.

Yet she still walked outward.

The Academy had a night curfew; no one could leave. Miao He hid behind a tree for a long while, confirmed she couldn't force her way through the gate, then began walking along the wall.

During this time, Pan Yun had often taken them wandering, and she remembered a small gate nearby leading into Grand Upper Pure Palace—it was unguarded.

Even if it was locked, she could climb over the wall.

Under the dim moonlight, Miao He found the small gate, saw its heavy lock, stepped back, summoned her lightness skill, and flew onto the wall's crest—several leaps landed her inside Grand Upper Pure Palace.

She crept cautiously all the way to the main gate of Grand Upper Pure Palace.

The gate was tightly shut, but no one was there.

Miao He exhaled, hurried forward, glanced nervously left and right, then strained to lift the gate bar—only to find it wouldn't budge.

Miao He froze, spread her legs, sank her qi into her dantian, gathered spiritual energy into her hands, and heaved upward—but could only lift it slightly.

Her face turned crimson, yet she couldn't move it an inch.

A voice suddenly spoke: "Don't waste your strength—this gate bar usually requires two adults to lift. How could you possibly move it?"

Startled by the sudden voice, Miao He jolted—the gate bar clattered down. She trembled, looked around, saw no one, and asked shakily: "Who? Come out—I'm not afraid of you."

From the shadows beside the wall, a man stepped forward, amused as he looked at the little fatty: "It's dark. Why are you trying to go down the mountain? Did someone bully you?"

He hadn't mentioned "bully" yet, but now that he had, Miao He's grievance surged—her voice cracked with tears: "They're bullying Little Auntie! I'm going down to find my Master and Master Da to demand justice! Brother, please help me open the gate!"

The young man stepped forward, effortlessly removed the gate bar, and asked: "Even if I open it for you, you still can't leave—there's a long corridor from here to the mountain gate. Do you know why no one guards this gate? Because patrols of Daoist Priests walk the corridor, and the Disembarkation Pavilion is heavily guarded. How will you bypass them?"

Miao He froze: "So heavily guarded?"

"Yes, extremely," the young man said, planting the gate bar on the ground. "But I can take you out without passing the corridor. Tell me—who is your Little Auntie? And who's bullying her?"

"My Little Auntie is just my Little Auntie. She's being bullied by our sect's rivals—they're jealous of our sect, jealous of Little Auntie, so they bully her. I don't know who's behind it, and Little Auntie didn't tell me—but I know the surname is Zhang."

"Zhang, huh~~" The young man gave a sly smile. "What sect are you from? That even makes the Zhang family jealous."

"My sect is Mount Sanqing's Sanqing Temple."

The young man's smile froze—he slammed the gate bar back into place, his face stern: "Sanqing Temple where Zhang Li is?"

Miao He stepped back two paces, wary: "Y-you—who are you? Listen, my Master and Fourth Auntie are terrifying, my Master Da is the strongest, my Second Auntie is an official—if you dare bully me, they'll avenge me!"

The young man: "Good—you know how to use your connections. But your rhetoric is poorly executed."

He sized up Miao He and asked: "Are you Miao He?"

He slapped his own head: "I'm an idiot—you said your Second Auntie is an official. Only two people on Mount Sanqing have disciples. You can't be anyone's student but Tao Ji's."

He grabbed Miao He, ignored her kicking legs, and flew back into the Academy: "Stop struggling, or I'll drop you. I'm a classmate and close friend of your Master and Fourth Auntie. We're going to save your Little Auntie—do you know where they are?"

Miao He instantly went still, ignoring the howling wind, and shouted loudly: "Tai Su Academy! They're in Tai Su Academy!" Tai Su Academy was close to Grand Upper Pure Palace—but he was flying the wrong way. He didn't care; he landed on the roof, tucked Miao He under his arm, ran a short distance, then changed direction and flew again.

Soon, he rose and fell, flying into the Academy and landing near the gate of Tai Su Academy.

He carried Miao He straight inside.

The crowd around Tai Su Academy had dispersed—they'd wanted to watch, but Lin Jingle and Zhang Ziwang's reputations kept them from lingering after dark.

Now Tai Su Academy was much quieter.

Only a few Tai Su Academy students involved in treatment remained, along with the Academy's senior instructors.

Xue Tai Xu and the others had also received word and arrived—they now sat together in the ward, watching four patients lying side by side on four beds.

One ward, four beds—all occupied.

Cui Huai Gong, Nong Zhiyi, and Dai Yong each had a paler face than the last. Only Pan Yun, lying on the innermost bed, had a ruddy complexion and steady breath—without even taking her pulse, the old hands in the room could tell from her face and breathing alone that she was perfectly healthy.

Even Xue Tai Xu couldn't help turning to Lou Tong and asking: "Lou Shimei, are you certain she suffered internal injuries?"

Lou Tong: "I'm certain."

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Pan Yun coughed, weakly saying: "Xue Yuanzhu, I truly am injured. Otherwise, I'd have demanded justice tonight. Cui Huai Gong is a talent from Yushan County—and all of Yushan County belongs to our Mount Sanqing line. We send out only a few each year; we can't let him be bullied without cause."

Xue Tai Xu turned to Lin Jingle and the others: "She does look seriously injured. Fine—let her stay in Tai Su Academy for a few days to recover."

Zhang Ziwang nodded. Lin Jingle said nothing. In that moment, they reached an unspoken agreement.

Pan Yun lowered her eyes, pondering why they'd tacitly allowed this.

She understood Lou Tong and Xue Tai Xu—they'd never said it outright, but clearly favored Mount Sanqing. She guessed her senior siblings had good ties with them.

But she didn't understand Zhang Ziwang and the others.

Even Zhang Zhu Zhu Zifang, who'd rushed over, hadn't spoken a word in opposition.

What, do they really want her to stall for time so Wang Feiyin and the others can come and be her backing?

Pan Yun immediately thought of Zhang Liuzhen lying in bed—was it for him?

The young man carried Miaohe up the stairs; Zhang Zhu Zhu Zifang, sitting by the door, heard the footsteps and turned his head—when he saw the person, his expression changed slightly. "Li Wenying? What are you doing here?"

"Can't I come?" Li Wenying set Miaohe down, stepped inside, glanced around, and couldn't help exclaiming, "Everyone's here in such numbers—what's so important that it's drawn so many people?"

Zhang Ziwang nodded to him. "Li younger brother, you've arrived just in time—take a look at this child's Upper Dantian. Is there any hope of saving it?"

Pan Yun turned her head and saw Miaohe already sprinting past everyone to her bedside, her eyes slightly red. "Little Master, where are you injured?"

Pan Yun coughed and half-raised her body. "I'm fine—just a bit of internal injury."

She pulled Miaohe down to sit beside her on the bed.

Miaohe moved to help her lie down and take her pulse, but Pan Yun pulled her straight onto the bed, leaned her head onto Miaohe's lap, and could now see everything happening in the room.

Miaohe's reason returned; she carefully studied Pan Yun's face, confirmed the flush was genuine and not feverish, and relaxed. She quietly felt her pulse, then gently released her hand, sat back comfortably, and curiously turned her gaze toward the group by the door.

The two disciples leaned together to watch the spectacle.

Li Wenying examined Nong Zhiyi's Upper Dantian and shook his head. "It's beyond saving. Who did this? What a ruthless method."

Zhang Ziwang looked at Pan Yun.

Li Wenying glanced up at the child nestled against Miaohe, then calmly corrected himself: "What a decisive method. What did he do to provoke you?"

Pan Yun gasped, feigning weakness. "Respected Senior Brother, I didn't mean to—I was terrified, panicked, and didn't even realize I'd struck his Upper Dantian. He hadn't done anything else except lead four others to ambush a classmate."

Li Wenying murmured, "Ambush? When did our Academy become this wild?"

Zhang Ziwang stood. "Since all four are severely injured, they'll stay at Tai Su Academy for treatment. We'll interrogate them once they regain consciousness."

No one objected.

Pan Yun raised her hand, speaking softly. "Venerable Academy Head, I don't want to share a room with them. I'm a girl, and they once tried to kill me—I'm afraid they'll retaliate if we're together, and it'll damage my reputation."

The Academy Head replied, "Then move to the next room. Also, relocate Cui Huai Gong to another chamber."

Pan Yun exhaled in relief. "Thank you, Venerable Academy Head."

(End of Chapter)