Chapter 141

Chapter 141: Knock Knock at the Door

After learning the final ranking results, part of Rong Shu’s attention fell on Huo Yi Han. Among the three nominal senior brothers, the one who felt most unfathomable was Huo Yi Han. Moreover, she had interacted with him the least and still did not understand his temperament. All the same, he probably also did not think well of her.

Because she was not currently inside Heaven’s Evolution Sect, Rong Shu had no way to investigate Huo Yi Han’s particulars on her own. She thought of Fu Yong Kang, contacted him, and tested whether he would sell documents and intelligence. Fu Yong Kang readily agreed. When he learned the inquiry concerned Huo Yi Han, he even gave her a discount and sent over a bundled dossier.

The dossier was very detailed, but Rong Shu focused on the information after Huo Yi Han’s Foundation Establishment and discovered that his cultivation advancement was neither fast nor slow. Each step looked steady and methodical, and his breakthroughs seemed to come without bottlenecks, almost effortless. His advancement to late Foundation Establishment had occurred several years ago; during that time his extraordinary alchemy talent simply overshadowed it. [He might already be able to break through to the Golden Core Stage. And he may be a hidden enemy.] Although he had never openly shown dissatisfaction with Rong Shu, with the example of Feng Lin before her, she had to stay on guard.

As night deepened, Rong Shu finished refining another furnace of pills in the courtyard. She stretched, then turned to glance at Little Hamster dozing on the table and thought: [Almost time; I need to check in with senior brother.]

Just as she was about to take out the Nine Palace Mirror, a sudden knocking sounded: “Knock knock.”

Right after, a man’s voice came from outside the courtyard gate: “Fellow Daoist inside, a sect elder has a temporary summons; please come with me.”

Rong Shu had only taken a few steps toward the door when she halted. She took out her identity token; it had received no new notice from the sect.

Another voice called from outside, a woman this time: “Fellow Daoist? Fellow Daoist? The sect elder has issued a secret summons; please do not delay.”

Her mind stirred. [A secret summons? Does that mean it would not be sent through the identity token?] From the sound of it, there seemed to be several people outside, both men and women. [But why a sudden summons for no apparent reason?]

Rong Shu thought it over, did not act rashly, and immediately contacted Cheng Bu Fan. She did not know, but Cheng Bu Fan should. Before Rong Shu could receive his reply, the people outside seemed to conclude no one was inside and prepared to leave. They murmured: “Maybe they’re not back yet…” “Then we’ll come look again later…” “…”

Nothing in those exchanges revealed anything amiss, and a string of footsteps sounded outside, growing farther away. Even so, Rong Shu did not open the door to check. In that brief delay, a message arrived from Lin Dao: “What’s wrong?”

Rong Shu replied: “Senior brother, a group suddenly came to my door saying a sect elder summoned me.”

Lin Dao responded at once: “Ignore it. In the dead of night, who knows whether what’s knocking outside is human or ghost.”

“Mm, I understand,” Rong Shu answered. She had the same misgivings. If it truly was a sect elder’s summons, at worst she could say she had been asleep and did not hear it.

Outside the door, in a dim and secluded corner by the wall, a few whispers rose, tinged with pity, regret, and unwillingness: “Didn’t come out.” “What a pity, not a curious brat.” “Could they be out of the room?” “Impossible. I’ve watched this place for days. That brat has stayed inside and rarely goes out.” “Anyway, as long as we didn’t reveal any flaws just now, let’s find the next target.” “…” Things wriggling in the darkness slowly withdrew.

Along a passageway, a second-rank disciple of Violet Moon Sect came home, a stalk of grass between his teeth as he hummed a tune, his face flushed with drink. He had just opened the protective formation on his residence and was about to enter when footsteps sounded from a patch of shadow outside, and a voice followed: “Fellow Daoist, a sect elder has a temporary summons; please come with me.”

The Violet Moon Sect disciple hiccuped, his eyes bleary, vision unfocused, though he clearly heard the words. He muttered: “What, what could a sect elder have to say that can’t wait till daylight…” He drew back the right leg he had placed over the threshold and walked toward the shadows. One step… another step… until his figure was completely swallowed.

A moment later, the disciple’s figure reappeared from within the shadows. This time “he” looked perfectly normal, with no trace of drunkenness. The Violet Moon Sect disciple walked straight into his residence and slowly shut the door.

Inside the shadows, whispers rose again: “Heh heh…” “Another one…” “Too easy. These sect disciples are truly foolish.” “It’s only been a few days, and we’ve already riddled them with holes.” “…” Footsteps in the darkness sounded and slowly left the place.