Chapter 126
Chapter 126: The Mysterious Place
Shi Zi Chu reached out to take the paper slip from Pei Luo Xiu’s hand.
After reading it, she held the slip up before Xing Lan.
The text on the slip was brief, and Xing Lan finished reading it with a quick glance.
Shi Zi Chu handed the paper slip back to Pei Luo Xiu, about to speak, when familiar figures appeared at the corners of several streets.
Chu Zhi Rou had not expected to run into Xing Lan so soon. Her eyes brightened as she exclaimed, “Master, peak master!”
“Venerable Xing Lan.”
In the blink of an eye, the three sects, five schools, and seven clans had gathered in one place.
Shi Zi Chu twitched the corner of her mouth slightly.
This place really is small!
Ye He Qi revealed the folded paper slip in his hand and spoke in a soft voice, “Daoist Shi, the message.”
Shi Zi Chu was about to step forward when Xing Lan grabbed her arm, “Jiu Jiu.”
There was no such thing as a free lunch, especially not when it was a message from the clan chief of a powerful family.
Shi Zi Chu turned to look at Xing Lan’s indifferent face, and her raised leg halted, returning to the ground.
Ye He Qi raised an eyebrow.
His expression remained gentle and refined as he passed the paper slip to Pei Luo Xiu.
Pei Luo Xiu glanced at Shi Zi Chu before taking the slip and handing it over.
When Shi Zi Chu sneaked her hand toward the slip, Xing Lan’s cold expression showed a barely noticeable hint of helplessness.
Shi Zi Chu curled her fingers and unfurled the paper slip.
Chu Zhi Rou, ignored by everyone, bit her lip, her eyes showing signs of unwillingness.
Ye He Qi’s gentle, smiling gaze swept over her, and no matter how unwilling Chu Zhi Rou felt, she could only stand there obediently.
After reading the slip, Shi Zi Chu handed it over to Pei Luo Xiu, who then passed it to Ye He Qi.
“I have no idea what this means,” Shi Zi Chu said in a soft voice. “Do any of you have any thoughts?”
Wan Yan Qian spoke first, “On my way here, I met a few strange people. They kept muttering, ‘Who killed me?’ I tried asking them a few questions, but they wouldn’t answer.”
After speaking, she shrugged, a little helpless.
Yan Zhou Bai’s calm and composed voice followed, “The people Miss Wan Yan encountered, I met them too. They looked like puppets, controlled by someone.”
Chu Zhi Rou bit her lip, her voice weak, “Could it be that we need to find the one who killed them?”
Everyone fell into deep thought.
Finally, a personal disciple from the Long Song Sect spoke up, “Daoist Chu’s words are not without reason.”
His words sparked agreement from several others.
Pei Luo Xiu cast a glance at Shi Zi Chu before speaking seriously, “This is not Water Road Village.”
With that, she raised the paper slip she had found.
— Find Water Road Village.
The five simple words on the paper slip were concise and clear.
Shi Zi Chu gave a light smile, her voice gentle and friendly, “Perhaps, as Junior Sister Zhi Rou said, we must find the murderer to leave this place.”
Suddenly being singled out, Chu Zhi Rou looked up.
Seeing Shi Zi Chu’s cheerful smile, she quickly lowered her eyes, her expression filled with hatred.
Her attempt to hide her animosity appeared weak in the eyes of the others.
Shi Zi Chu sighed, her gaze toward Chu Zhi Rou full of helplessness and tolerance.
Her gentle expression seemed to embrace a child throwing a tantrum.
“Perhaps there are many clues in the city. Why don’t we split up and search?” Shi Zi Chu said, her eyes turning toward Xing Lan.
This wasn’t a suggestion she would normally make, but Xing Lan spoke so little.
Xing Lan nodded in agreement, showing no objections.
Naturally, no one else voiced any objections.
The group quickly dispersed.
Pei Luo Xiu reluctantly looked at Shi Zi Chu before finally lowering her head and leaving.
Once everyone had gone, Xing Lan’s hand, which had been holding Shi Zi Chu’s arm, slowly slid down, and then naturally and gracefully took her hand.
Shi Zi Chu smiled brightly, teasing, “Master, are you afraid I’ll get lost?”
Xing Lan responded with a simple “mm.”
…
As night fell, the group of cultivators unconsciously gathered back at their previous location.
Pei Qing You had asked about Water Road Village several times, but Pei Luo Xiu just pulled a long face and ignored him.
Seeing that Pei Qing You was met with a closed door, the others did not wish to make things awkward for themselves.
Thus, before Shi Zi Chu and Xing Lan returned, everyone stood quietly in place.
The steady, calm sound of footsteps approached, and a sea of figures turned to look.
Soon after, they saw Venerable Xing Lan walking towards them with Shi Zi Chu on his back.
The group stared, wide-eyed.
When Xing Lan got closer, they realized that Shi Zi Chu was lying with her head tilted, fast asleep.
Chu Zhi Rou mustered up courage and stepped forward, offering a small stack of paper slips in her hands, “Peak Master, these are the clues I found in the city. Please take a look!”
Shi Zi Chu, nestled in Xing Lan’s shoulder, murmured sleepily, “So noisy.”
Xing Lan gave her a cold, indifferent glance.
Chu Zhi Rou took a step back, her eyes turning red with unshed tears.
Perhaps due to the suppression of cultivation by the secret realm’s rules, Xu Zhou Ye gained the courage to snarl at Shi Zi Chu in front of Xing Lan, “Shi Zi Chu! This is a secret realm full of danger, what are you being so picky about!”
Xing Lan sent out a burst of spiritual power.
Though Xu Zhou Ye was at the ninth layer of Qi Refining, he still couldn’t withstand Xing Lan’s strike.
Xu Zhou Ye was sent flying, caught by two disciples behind him.
Blood surging in his chest, Xu Zhou Ye struggled to swallow the blood in his mouth.
Chu Zhi Rou quickly bowed and pleaded, “Peak Master, the secret realm is dangerous, and Senior Brother is just worried that Second Senior Sister might get hurt. Please, forgive him this once.”
Shi Zi Chu tilted her head, looking at Chu Zhi Rou with an innocent expression, “But, Master is right here with me.”
With Xing Lan here, was she still worried about being hurt?
The innocent-looking Guan Zhuang muttered a Buddhist chant, his voice calm as he mediated, “Everyone, the sun has set. I sense the increase of Yin energy.”
His words were a subtle hint—can we please just find Water Road Village already?
Clan Chief Nan Rong suggested, “Why not gather all the paper slips? Disjointed messages are no help.”
Xing Lan nodded in agreement.
Before long, all the paper slips collected by the cultivators were in the hands of Clan Chief Nan Rong.
He called a few clan chiefs over to assist.
After sorting and summarizing, the message was still somewhat fragmented but not critically so.
Guan Zhuang, turning his prayer beads, spoke seriously, “It’s dark now.”
As his words fell, the last bit of sunlight disappeared, and the surrounding area became pitch black.
The group of cultivators quickly lit candles.
“They’re here.”
A cold, deep voice rang out, and sword light flared.
The vicious ghosts torn apart by the sword light did not even have time to scream.
Shi Zi Chu jumped down from Xing Lan’s back.
“South-east, the locust tree,” Ye He Qi pointed to a location. “We might need to look for the locust tree.”
Shi Zi Chu nodded.
With a clear destination, Xing Lan led the way, and the group followed in a grand procession.
The city was shrouded in deep, oppressive darkness, hiding countless vicious spirits. The light from their spiritual power never flickered as they continued.
As they approached the locust tree, the Yin energy grew heavier.
Xing Lan swung his sword, cutting through countless vicious ghosts.
Yet, more and more continued to crawl out from the tree.
“Perhaps we’ve been misled by the people in the city,” Ye He Qi said, holding a folding fan, his peach blossom eyes filled with a deep gaze. “The key to breaking this is the locust tree.”
Shi Zi Chu glanced sideways at him.
Guan Zhuang stepped forward, his golden Buddha light causing the vicious ghosts to scatter.
“Why don’t we, from the Bodhi Sect, try to help guide them?”
Xing Lan stepped back a few steps.
Guan Zhuang quickly advanced with his disciples, the Brahma chant echoing in the air.