Yun Huizhou’s expression instantly became incredibly complicated. Back in Fengyi City, he had told Lian Li that Su Jun only liked his female disguise, not his true self, and warned him not to be fooled by honeyed words.
As it turned out, he was exactly the same as Su Jun—perhaps even more dense. He hadn’t realized that he had been using his position as a Senior Brother to remain intimately close to Lian Li all this time. From Lian Li’s current perspective, wouldn’t he seem like an utterly shameless and despicable person?
He took a deep breath. Even so, Lian Li had continued to draw his own blood to save him. Since he had woken up, aside from that one warning of “Don’t touch him,” Lian Li had interacted with him quite normally, doing his best to ensure he didn’t notice anything was wrong.
This kid was… a bit too soft-hearted and kind.
Or perhaps, Lian Li simply wanted to maintain their current relationship as senior and junior brothers.
After mulling over all sorts of things, Yun Huizhou harbored a sliver of hope. Perhaps Lian Li hadn’t seen that book after all?
With that thought in mind, he could no longer bear to stay in his room. He stepped outside and let out a whistle. Hearing the sound, Ice Treader soon came galloping toward him from across the grounds.
He looked at Ice Treader’s back and found that the bundles were gone; they must have been taken away by someone.
Yun Huizhou felt a sense of unease. He remembered that before Junior Uncle had knocked him unconscious, he had told Lian Li to stay in the neighboring courtyard.
Ice Treader had followed him at the time, so Lian Li had most likely taken the opportunity then to unload the bundles from the horse’s back.
He led Ice Treader toward the courtyard.
After searching the room, he indeed found his bundle.
The bundle wasn’t open, but it had flattened, looking as though everything inside had been taken out.
He walked over and picked up the bundle, his expression instantly turning into one of utter despair. It was empty; there was nothing inside.
Even the book was gone…
Lian Li must have taken it and destroyed it…
Yun Huizhou tossed the bundle back to its original spot and turned to see Ice Treader peeking in through the doorway.
He walked over and patted Ice Treader’s head, saying, “I had originally planned to take you back to see your birthplace when Lian Li goes to the grasslands to catch horses. But now, it seems the three of us won’t be able to go together. How about you follow along when Master accompanies him instead?”
Ice Treader didn’t understand what Yun Huizhou was saying; he simply shook his head, let out a snort, and began to nudge Yun Huizhou.
Yun Huizhou understood that Ice Treader was asking him for food.
He rubbed Ice Treader’s head and said, “Let’s go to the kitchen. I saw some bean cakes there earlier.”
Ice Treader understood the words “bean cakes” and immediately began stomping its hooves in excitement, nudging Yun Huizhou even harder as if urging him to hurry up and get the treats.
Yun Huizhou listlessly led Ice Treader toward the kitchen.
Meanwhile, Lian Li and Zhao Honglan had already found the East Island Master.
The East Island Master was not surprised by their arrival. He looked at Zhao Honglan and said, “You’ve come to see me because you want to ask about that little girl’s mother, haven’t you?”
Zhao Honglan cupped his fists toward the East Island Master and said, “Yes. Senior East, please tell me about Tingquan’s mother, as well as the matter of the Holy Gu.”
Hearing Zhao Honglan’s inquiry, the East Island Master took a sip of wine and said, “That dates back to the generation of her mother’s master. It’s a messy account from a long time ago. But rest assured, this thing belongs to that little girl. Keep it with a peaceful mind; it will be of great benefit to her.”
Zhao Honglan felt slightly more at ease upon hearing this, but he still said, “Senior East, could you please tell me the details?”
The East Island Master closed his eyes while cradling the wine jar, looking as if he had fallen asleep. Zhao Honglan did not leave, simply waiting there.
After a long time, the East Island Master finally spoke: “Let me think about where I should begin.”
“The current Spirit Cult Leader once had a younger sister. Both of them were direct disciples of the Spirit Cult Leader at that time.”
At that time, the Spirit Cult Leader was already quite old, and both sisters were candidates to succeed them. The elder sister was superior in martial arts, while the younger sister was more skilled in Gu arts. Consequently, during that period, the Spirit Cult was nearly split into two factions. However, since Gu arts were essentially the foundation of the Spirit Cult, the younger sister consistently held the upper hand in the struggle for the position of Cult Leader.
Just as both sides were locked in a fierce struggle for the position of Cult Leader, the elderly Spirit Cult Leader suddenly died.
At the time, the younger sister had already gained the upper hand in the contest. Now that the Cult Leader was dead, the struggle ended prematurely, and the new leader was expected to ascend as soon as possible to stabilize the situation.
However, just one day before the younger sister was to take over, the older sister’s side discovered that there was something suspicious about the previous Cult Leader’s death.
He had actually died from the backlash of his own Gu insects.
As the Spirit Cult Leader, how could he possibly die from a Gu backlash? Someone must have tampered with them, and it would have to be someone the Spirit Cult Leader trusted implicitly to be able to sabotage his Gu insects and cause such a fatal backlash.
The younger sister was accused of being the Cult Leader’s murderer by the members of the older sister’s faction.
Despite her many protestations, all the evidence pointed toward the younger sister, whose mastery of Gu techniques at the time was second only to the Spirit Cult Leader. Having been branded a traitor, she was naturally disqualified from succeeding to the position of Cult Leader; moreover, traitors were to be put to death. At the time, she had already been researching a new type of Gu insect. Had her research succeeded, the previous Spirit Cult Leader might have been able to use it to officially step into the Transcendent realm.
The elder sister also knew that her younger sister was researching this, which was why she did not kill her immediately. This gave the younger sister the opportunity to escape. After living as a fugitive for over ten years, the younger sister took on a disciple. Before she died, she passed the Holy Gu she had developed after leaving the cult to her apprentice.
And this disciple was Qu Tingquan’s mother.
The East Island Matriarch spoke very briefly, but she had roughly explained the gist of the situation.
After listening, Zhao Honglan remained silent for a long time.
Lian Li couldn’t tell what he was thinking, but he actually had many questions of his own. It was just that with Zhao Honglan present, it wasn’t convenient to ask too much.
After a long while, Zhao Honglan finally stood up and said to the East Island Master, “I understand. Thank you for informing me, Senior East.”
With that, he nodded toward Lian Li and departed.
Lian Li couldn’t gauge Zhao Honglan’s attitude, so he asked the East Island Master, “What’s with Senior Brother Zhao?”
The East Island Master shrugged. “I don’t know. I can’t stand people like him who won’t just spit it out.”
Lian Li: “…”
Before meeting the East Island Master, he truly hadn’t expected his Senior Uncle to have such a personality. Thus, he decided to change the subject. “Then, Senior Uncle, was the previous Spirit Cult Leader really killed by that younger sister?”
The East Island Master shrugged again. “I don’t know.”
Lian Li: “Uh…”
“What’s with the ‘uh’?” The East Island Matriarch patted his shoulder. “That’s why I said it’s a tangled mess. I don’t care what exactly happened within the Spirit Cult back then, but that little girl’s mother was indeed a very lovely young lady.”
“And one thing I am certain of is that the so-called Holy Gu was indeed developed after that person left the cult and took on a disciple. That young lady contributed a great deal to it; otherwise, the Gu wouldn’t have ended up inside her.”
