Chapter 855

At least everyone in Yin Dang Hang and the Jiǔyàn qū, including the Bai Family, will guard Bái Sōnglán's secluded cultivation.

Bai Qiong hesitated a moment, then finally said: 'Actually, my Xian'er has been stuck in this bottleneck period for over two years, unable to break through; we have tried to help her, but our abilities are limited and our courage insufficient……'

Bái Sōnglán had never mentioned this to Xiao Jiu before.

Xiao Jiu only learned from Bai Qiong's words that the process of a hedgehog cultivating into talent is extremely arduous; each of their spines is both their weapon and their Mìngmén.

Every time they undergo tribulation and evolution, the first thing that changes is their entire coat of spines.

Bái Sōnglán's Xiūwéi has already reached an unprecedented height; this breakthrough of the bottleneck is not merely shedding and regrowing all her spines, but also shedding her entire skin together.

If mishandled, it easily leads to infection, causing the whole body to fester and die.

This was also one of the reasons Bái Sōnglán wanted that gu insect in Xiao Jiu's hand at the time.

Bai Qiong sighed and said: 'Actually, my Xian'er originally very much wanted to save Wu Ling; if Wu Ling were still around, perhaps she could still help her, but……'

Unfortunately, Wu Ling vanished into ashes and smoke.

But they didn't expect that another Guyun Que would appear.

Xiao Jiu still felt uneasy: 'Guyun Que's gu arts will certainly inherit Wu Ling's true transmission eventually, but the time is too short; he won't progress that quickly, so acting rashly still carries great risk.'

'Perhaps he already has everything under control?' Bai Qiong speculated, 'Or perhaps my Xian'er is truly in imminent danger.'

This is the mindset of doing one's best and leaving the rest to fate.

Xiao Jiu originally wanted to try contacting Guyun Que; she even calculated the itinerary, planning to personally go to the Ten Thousand Great Mountains before the year-end inventory to meet Bái Sōnglán.

She really couldn't rest easy.

But she could never get in touch with Guyun Que, while Qiu Honglin's side finally showed some movement.

Qiu Honglin used five of the turtle shell plates shed by the little third, combined with other materials, to refine medicinal pills.

After ninety-nine eighty days, the medicinal pills were finally ready.

Hui Moqiong had people constantly monitoring Qiu Honglin's side, but never detected any problem.

Qiu Honglin had been taking the medicine for several months, and his body showed Visible to the Naked Eye improvement.

After the medicinal pills were refined, Qiu Honglin ground them into powder, put them in a small porcelain bottle, and kept it always by his bedside, treasuring it greatly.

But in fact, grinding the hard-won medicinal pills into powder greatly reduces their efficacy.

This behavior is highly unreasonable.

Hui Moqiong kept a wary eye, had someone steal a bit of the powder from the small porcelain bottle, and gave it to a reliable ghost doctor to analyze the powder's components.

This analysis revealed the problem.

The powder contained absolutely no turtle shell components!

Hui Moqiong instantly felt as if the heavens had collapsed.

Obviously, Qiu Honglin, including his little disciple and even the doctor who treated him, Hui Moqiong had people constantly watching, yet detected no problem at all.

Where exactly did things go wrong?

Hui Moqiong immediately informed Liu Junyan and Xiao Jiu of the matter.

Xiao Jiu's face changed: 'It seems what was bound to come has indeed come; I just didn't expect it to happen so quickly.'

Liu Junyan then asked: 'Mo Qiong, are you really sure that no one around Qiu Honglin has any problems?'

Hui Moqiong assured: 'I've been watching them constantly; there's no way anything could go wrong.'

Liu Junyan stroked his chin, thought, and said: 'Perhaps from the start of pill refining, Qiu Honglin has merely been putting on an act to confuse your view; if nothing unexpected happens, those five turtle shell plates were likely already sent away.'

Hui Moqiong was somewhat dumbfounded, still unwilling to believe the other side could act so flawlessly.

Liu Junyan reminded: 'Send people to investigate the doctor's and disciple's backgrounds, the more detailed the better.'

Hui Moqiong's investigation indeed uncovered a problem.

'That doctor may have been dead long ago.' Hui Moqiong said, 'The person now stealing his identity and living under our surveillance is his long‑missing twin brother.'

Xiao Jiu asked: 'Is it really that doctor who took the turtle shell plates out?'

'No.' Hui Moqiong said, 'That doctor is a genuine physician, his relationship with Qiu Honglin is merely average; the one truly acting for Qiu Honglin is his twin brother.'

The doctor's brother was diagnosed with a congenital illness at birth; it is said he died shortly after birth, thrown into the water, counted as a water burial.

No one expected him to still be alive, and to have become a hidden 'shadow' with countless ties to Qiu Honglin lurking in the dark.

Qiu Honglin is far from being as feeble as he appears on the surface.

This person is adept at pulling strings; there is likely a mastermind behind him.

Soon after, even worse news arrived.

When Hui Moqiong discovered the doctor's problem, he had already sent people to seize Qiu Honglin and his disciple.

The response was quite swift.

By this point, it was already certain that Qiu Honglin was no good; they tore off the pretense, directly arrested him for interrogation, hoping to extract something.

But they didn't expect Qiu Honglin to flee.

His disciple, who had served him for many years, was still there.

When mentioning that disciple, Hui Moqiong's face looked somewhat grim.

Liu Junyan frowned: 'What's wrong?'

'That disciple is also an unlucky wretch.' Hui Moqiong cursed, 'When we found him, he was already dead, deathly pale, bloodless—he must have been bled dry.'

Xiao Jiu sucked in a cold breath: 'Damn Qiu Honglin, he had long planned this day; even his closest associates are merely pieces he planted early on.'

Hui Moqiong shook his head: 'Pitiable, yet hateful!'

Now the situation is that refining medicinal pills is merely a pretense; it is very likely that those five turtle shell plates were already sent away before Qiu Honglin even began 'refining medicinal pills'.

That doctor probably also died during that period.

'Find!' Xiao Jiu said, 'Even if we have to dig three feet deep, we must locate Qiu Honglin as soon as possible!'

Although from the moment she handed over the turtle shell plates, Xiao Jiu had braced herself for an accident, when the moment actually arrived she still could not keep calm.

However, the next day, Hui Moqiong had already learned of Qiu Honglin's whereabouts.

Qiu Honglin……also died.

He had drowned, and his body was found in that stretch of water in Suedi.

Early that morning, the nearby fishermen hauled him out of the water, finding his eyes wide open, bloodshot, his fists clenched tight—utterly the look of someone who died with unresolved grievances.

Even more astonishing, Qiu Honglin's corpse was extremely emaciated, nothing but skin and bones, as if someone had drained his essence and blood.

Liu Junyan said: "He took medicine made from two pieces of turtle shell, bringing upon himself a fatal disaster; it could be said he got what he deserved."