Chapter 48

A hint of cunning flashed in Lian Xing's eyes as she asked playfully, "Then guess again: am I the elder sister or the younger?"

Her voice was nimble and lively, naturally carrying an innocent childishness without any affectation, leaving the Mount Mount Emei disciples secretly astonished.

Had the speaker not been standing right before them, they would have assumed the voice belonged to a simple, beautiful, and sweet young girl in her early teens, still untouched by maturity, rather than the majestic mistress of a palace.

Du Gu Senior Dugu Dugu Dugu Yihe remained unmoved; after a brief moment of thought, he stated, "Second Palace Mistress, Lian Xing."

"Oh my, you actually guessed correctly; how boring," Lian Xing sighed with regret.

Du Gu Senior Dugu Dugu Dugu Yihe steered the conversation back to the main point, saying, "Palace Mistress Lian Xing, instead of staying in Yunzhou, you ran to Mount Mount Mount Emei to commit murder. Should you not give this old man an explanation?"

"An explanation? What explanation?"

Lian Xing opened her clear, bright big eyes and asked in confusion, "Why should this palace give you an explanation? Just based on your 'Double Kill of Sword and Dagger: Forty-Nine Moves,' do you think you are a match for this palace?"

"This palace will not hold it against you for attacking just now, but if you speak recklessly again, be careful that this palace kills you."

She spoke these words lightly, showing no intent to kill, yet her contempt was extreme, causing the atmosphere in the arena to suddenly grow tense.

Du Gu Senior Dugu Dugu Dugu Yihe's aged face turned terrifyingly gloomy.

From their brief exchange earlier, he had roughly gauged Lian Xing's strength; it was comparable to his own, both around the sixth or seventh layer of the Grandmaster realm.

Furthermore, the Ming Yu True Qi was overwhelmingly domineering, and the "Shifting Flowers to Receive Jade" technique, which uses an opponent's force against them, was a natural counter to his "Double Kill of Sword and Dagger."

Under such circumstances, even with his richer combat experience, achieving victory would be extremely difficult.

If there were no one else here and only Lian Xing stood before him, Du Gu Senior Dugu Dugu Dugu Yihe would still have ways to deal with her, as he had secretly learned several unorthodox and domineering martial arts.

But now, under the watchful eyes of the crowd, he could absolutely not use them.

After all, the Mount Mount Emei Sect was a force of the righteous path.

How could a vice sect leader who cultivated evil arts explain himself to his fellow martial artists?

Yet, could he simply allow the other party to flaunt their power on Mount Mount Emei's territory?

That was absolutely unacceptable!

Just as Du Gu Senior Dugu Dugu Dugu Yihe was pondering a countermeasure, Lian Xing suddenly giggled: "Alright, I won't tease you anymore! This palace is in a good mood today, so I will tell you."

Pointing her slender, jade-like finger at a discarded small golden cylinder on the ground, she said in a clear, youthful voice, "Old man, look at what that is."

Following her gesture, Du Gu Senior Dugu Dugu Dugu Yihe narrowed his eyes, then suddenly bent down to grab the small cylinder; frowning slightly, his gaze revealed deep thought as he murmured, "This is..."

Lian Xing did not wait for him to guess and stated directly, "The Heaven-Ending Earth-Destroying Bone-Piercing Heart-Penetrating Needle! Old man, surely you have heard of it?"

Never heard of it?

How could anyone never have heard of it!

No one knew who created the "Heaven-Ending Earth-Destroying Bone-Piercing Heart-Penetrating Needle," but since its emergence, it had enjoyed immense fame.

This was solely because every time it appeared before the world, it signaled the demise of a Grandmaster.

It was said that this hidden weapon took the form of a cylinder, concealing inside one hundred and thirty silver needles as fine as ox hairs.

When fired together, piercing flesh and pinning bones was trivial for them; they also possessed the effect of breaking protective shields and true qi, making even late-stage Grandmasters dare not withstand them head-on.

If poison were applied to the needles, they would be even more terrifying.

The most glorious achievement known for the "Heaven-Ending Earth-Destroying Bone-Piercing Heart-Penetrating Needle" was the ambush and killing of a Heavenly Being!

Although that Heavenly Being was not at their peak at the time, they were nevertheless a Heavenly Being.

The fearsome reputation of the "Heaven-Ending Earth-Destroying Bone-Piercing Heart-Penetrating Needle" was enough to make any Grandmaster exercise twelve parts of caution, or even flee at the mere sight of it.

Main Text

Looking at the discarded small golden cylinder and then at Jiang Jiang Yulang, who had been tortured beyond human recognition, Du Gu Senior Dugu Dugu Dugu Yihe suddenly began to understand as he connected Lian Xing's words.

Narrowing his old eyes, Du Gu Senior Dugu Dugu Dugu Yihe asked tentatively, "Could it be... that this young man used this hidden weapon to ambush the Second Palace Mistress?"

He felt somewhat incredulous.

If true, did this not mean that under the ambush of the "Heaven-Ending Earth-Destroying Bone-Piercing Heart-Penetrating Needle," Lian Xing had not only survived but remained completely unharmed?

If that were indeed the case, he would have to re-evaluate Lian Xing's strength.

At the very least, Du Gu Senior Dugu Dugu Dugu Yihe himself was not confident he could achieve such a feat.

However, another possibility occurred to him: "Or perhaps this ambushing youth was so useless that he revealed his intentions prematurely, allowing Lian Xing to prepare?"

Just as he was lost in these random thoughts, Lian Xing pointed to some silver needles on an empty patch of ground nearby, saying, "Isn't this obvious?"

Du Gu Senior Dugu Dugu Dugu Yihe looked in that direction and immediately fell silent.

Lian Xing smiled and said, "He used a hidden weapon to ambush this palace, and this palace killed him; is this not entirely reasonable? Did this palace need to report to your Mount Mount Emei Sect first?"

Frowning, Du Gu Senior Dugu Dugu Dugu Yihe looked at Xiao Xiao Mimi's corpse and asked again, "Then does the Second Palace Mistress know who she was? Why did she die here? Furthermore, where did this young man obtain the 'Heaven-Ending Earth-Destroying Bone-Piercing Heart-Penetrating Needle'?"

Lian Xing smiled gracefully and replied, "Old man, you seem to have misunderstood; this palace is only telling you these things because I am in a good mood, but you have no qualification to interrogate this palace. You want to know? Go investigate yourself."

Having spoken, Lian Xing turned around directly, sweeping her long sleeves as she said, "Let us go."

The maids of the Shifted Flowers Palace followed behind.

The disciples of the Mount Mount Emei Sect all looked involuntarily at Du Gu Senior Dugu Dugu Dugu Yihe.

With an expressionless face, Du Gu Senior Dugu Dugu Dugu Yihe said coldly, "Search! Search this place thoroughly! This old man wants to know what is going on here!"

The Mount Mount Emei disciples obeyed the order and departed to search.

Among them, Grandson Xie Grandson Xie Yunzhen, Sun Sun Xiuqing, and Shi Shi Xiuyun watched Lian Xing's retreating figure, then looked again at the devastated original site of the Earth Spirit Palace, their minds filled with contemplation.

The closer they got to Leigu Mountain, the more groups of people they encountered; fortunately, the reputation of the "Central Plains Escort Agency" was significant, so no one provoked a Grandmaster without cause.

On the road, they saw some people who would start fighting over a single disagreement or even a wrong glance, making Jiang Sishui feel deeply that his decision to hire bodyguards was correct.

He was somewhat absent-minded today; after finishing his meal, he returned to his room to write in his diary.

[In novels, when the difficulty for the female lead and male lead to unite in marriage is relatively high, such a plot usually occurs.]

[For instance, arranging an accident that leads to physical intimacy between them.]

[And such an accident invariably involves one party being afflicted by an aphrodisiac poison; if not relieved in time, they will die from burning desire, thus giving the other party an opportunity.]

[Snap, a perfect match!]

[I thought such clichéd plots existed only in the author's wildest fantasies, yet I never expected that one day I would actually encounter such good fortune.]

[What is this called? A heaven-sent marriage? Striking great luck? Or perhaps a fate plagued by peach blossoms?]

Today's diary entry was updated rather early, so the women hurriedly opened it, eager to see what new content had been written.

Upon reading the opening passage, all the women froze in shock, their expressions becoming unreadable as various emotions churned within them.

However, those who reacted most strongly were none other than Huang Rong and Zhao Zhao Zhao Qiying.

One was explicitly stated by Jiang Sishui to be his favorite, while the other was his first love.

It could be said that these two were currently the closest to Jiang Sishui.

Judging by the content of the diary, could it be... that someone had stolen their home base?!

In an instant, Huang Rong and Zhao Zhao Zhao Qiying felt their hearts tighten painfully.

[Last night, unable to find an inn, we settled down in an abandoned manor; during that time, another group traveling by night also moved in.]

[Since the initial commotion was somewhat loud, it woke me up, so I got up to investigate.]

[Finding nothing amiss, I returned to sleep.]

[Just as I was about to enter the room, I suddenly noticed a young girl in white standing in the courtyard.]

[By sheer coincidence, she had been afflicted with an aphrodisiac poison, and just as I was hesitating whether to act like a beast or worse than a beast, she threw herself at me.]

[I am no Liu Liu Xiahui capable of remaining chaste with a beauty on my lap; how could I withstand such a test?]

[So I carried her into the room and helped her neutralize the poison.]

[The process was very pleasant, and since this was my first time experiencing such a thing in two lifetimes, I must admit, it is truly addictive.]

At an inn less than a hundred li from Leigu Mountain, Huang Huang Yaoshi and his family, having just come ashore, were eating their meal.

Suddenly, Huang Rong's pretty face turned ashen; she pressed her thin lips together, slammed her chopsticks heavily onto the table, turned around, and headed straight back to her room.

Huang Huang Yaoshi and his wife, Feng Heng, exchanged bewildered glances, unable to understand why their precious daughter, who had been fine just moments ago, had suddenly changed her demeanor.

"Rong'er, you..."

"I'm not eating anymore! I'm going to sleep!"

Without looking back, Huang Rong entered her room and slammed the door shut with a loud "snap."

Huang Huang Yaoshi and Feng Heng stared at each other in silence.

Inside the room, Huang Rong buried her face in her quilt, feeling an indescribable sorrow in her heart.

Yet even she did not understand why she felt so sad.

She had not even met Jiang Sishui yet, nor had she decided whether to be with him in the future, so what did it matter to her if he became intimate with another woman?

Huang Rong understood this logic, and she tried to use it to convince herself.