Originally, both He Zixuan and He Zixiao were supposed to be captured, but Li Xiuran had arrived in time to rescue He Zixuan.
Apart from He Zixiao, others from the Tianzhao Sect had also been taken. The sect master, He Jingyuan, was in the main hall, furious and raging. Amid the chaos, Li Xiuran, as a disciple of the Tianzhao Sect, naturally had to remain by his side.
They were waiting outside the hall, coincidentally nearby.
Ji Chuling, uneasy, had come out to look for them, only to see them standing near the Yinyuan Stone, which immediately made her feel uncomfortable.
No one knew what had been said, but suddenly He Zixuan burst into tears, and it looked like she was about to collapse right into Li Xiuran’s soft-hearted embrace.
Ji Chuling, furious, turned on her heel to leave, only for Li Xiuran to call after her.
When she turned back in anger, she saw that, yes, he was soft-hearted, but he still kept his distance and simply looked at her.
Ji Chuling ran over at once. “Are you all right?”
“I’m fine. What about you?”
“Hmph. You’ve been back so long, and you didn’t even come see me once. Now you suddenly care enough to ask?”
“The Hidden Gods Clan didn’t join the demon extermination battle, you were safe,” he replied evenly.
Ji Chuling opened her mouth but couldn’t find a retort. She hated how calm Li Xiuran could be even in situations like this, yet she also knew he was right, so she hadn’t actually intended to start a fight over it.
But seeing them banter like lovers, He Zixuan couldn’t stand it anymore. “Miss Ji, must you pick this very moment to come and steal him away? I know you and Xiuran share a fated bond; nothing can change that. But can’t you at least hold yourself back for one moment?”
Li Xiuran had never seen his strong senior sister break down like this, and he was startled. Ji Chuling had been irritated at first, but when she turned to look at He Zixuan, her eyes red and face forced into a brave smile, her anger faded. As a fellow woman, seeing another fall apart from heartbreak while also losing her younger brother… it wasn’t right to quarrel with her now.
“I… I didn’t mean to…” Ji Chuling said awkwardly. But beside her, Li Xiuran reached out, gently taking her hand and rubbing it in reassurance.
“Senior Sister,” he said firmly, “I know you’re upset. Don’t worry, we’ll find a way to rescue Senior Brother and the others as soon as possible.”
He Zixuan looked from Li Xiuran to Ji Chuling, then closed her eyes wearily.
Just then, Jingzhan and Si Chun flew over. They had noticed the group gathered there and, thinking nothing of it, came over, only to realize the atmosphere was strange, and the air grew awkward.
“How’s your sect faring?” Li Xiuran asked.
“One of the sect master’s personal disciples was captured, someone my father was very fond of. He often used him and my older brother as examples to lecture me. And one of the young elders’ wives… she’s gone mad trying to rush off to save him,” said Jingzhan.
“Chuixue Pavilion’s defenses are stronger,” Si Chun added. “Though many were injured, no one was captured. It’s clear now who the targets were. Those involved have been taken to the main hall for inspection. This time, we’ll have to wait for the Hidden Gods Clan’s report.” He looked at Ji Chuling.
Ji Chuling said, “Our floating island is far away. After the incident at the Constellation Island, we went back to guard the artifacts our clan had brought out. We didn’t even know anything had happened outside.”
Jingzhan noticed He Zixuan’s red-rimmed eyes and patted her on the shoulder. “Don’t worry, that boy will be fine. He’s the sect master’s son, after all. The demons will want to use him, they won’t kill him easily.”
After all, they shared the same sect lineage, senior and junior brothers alike. When it came down to it, Jingzhan still cared.
He Zixuan immediately slapped his hand away, saying nothing. The air grew tense again.
With nothing else to do, they could only wait for news. The awkward silence was unbearable for Jingzhan, who began looking around until his gaze landed on the Yinyuan Stone.
He grinned and said to Si Chun, “Hey, you gave up last night. The sky’s still dark, and the moon’s still up, why not give it another try? Maybe you’ll find your match this time!”
“Are you looking for death?” Si Chun rolled his eyes.
“Aw, come on! Didn’t your last one fall through? Maybe there’s still hope. Oh wait, right, he’s already been reflected once…”
Si Chun’s face immediately went cold. “You are looking for death.”
Jingzhan instantly deflated, laughing weakly. “If only Xie Qingrong were here, let him try it! If that guy saw his destined one’s face in the Yinyuan Stone, I can already picture his reaction. It’d be priceless.”
As he spoke, he idly channeled spiritual energy into the stone, drawing a symbol on it.
“What are you doing?” Ji Chuling asked curiously. “Didn’t you already test it before?”
Jingzhan said, “I’m bored. Maybe the result will be different today. This time I’ll draw properly, a bigger one.”
“You really are—” Si Chun began to snap at him, but Jingzhan’s arm swung out and accidentally brushed her. Irritated, Si Chun swatted him back.
At that exact instant, the Yinyuan Stone flared to life.
“Ah!” Ji Chuling shrieked.
Jingzhan froze. Si Chun turned his head to look and his scalp went numb, his hair practically standing on end.
The image within the Yinyuan Stone clearly showed the two of them, Jingzhan and Si Chun, standing side by side in front of it.
“Baili Jingzhan!” Si Chun shouted, weapon drawn.
Jingzhan yelped, the commotion drawing Mo Xuanli and Gu Baiqing over.
When they landed, they saw Si Chun pressing an umbrella against Jingzhan’s throat. Jingzhan was cornered against the Yinyuan Stone, both hands raised in surrender.
“What happened here?” Gu Baiqing asked.
Everyone tensed slightly at his presence. Ji Chuling, however, blurted out, “Big Brother Gu, did you see that? Si Chun and Jingzhan showed up together in the Yinyuan Stone! Could they be a pair?”
Both Mo Xuanli and Li Xiuran turned their heads toward her in unison.
Mo Xuanli thought: ‘Big Brother Gu’?
Li Xiuran: Should he suggest the silly girl change how she addresses him?
Ji Chuling’s way of addressing Gu Baiqing was actually something Gu Baiqing had told her to change during their late-night chats, otherwise, she would accidentally call him “Big Brother Mo,” which wouldn’t sound good if others overheard.
But at this moment, Gu Baiqing didn’t pay attention to anyone else’s reactions; he was just staring in shock at the Yinyuan Stone.
Si Chun and Jingzhan?
Isn’t this a ridiculous mix-up of couples?
The rumored pairing of his disciple is just gone like that?
If Half-Step Mad were here, Gu Baiqing would definitely grab him by the collar and demand to know what was going on!
Si Chun saw Mo Xuanli and Gu Baiqing and looked even grimmer. “No, no, definitely not… How could I possibly be paired with that brat?”
“Right, right, I also think there’s something wrong. Last night, nothing showed up!” Jingzhan said, more concerned about saving his own skin.
Suddenly Mo Xuanli spoke up, “Is there something wrong with this Yinyuan Stone?”
Everyone paused. Jingzhan immediately widened his eyes and said, “Definitely. Please step aside, miss, we’ll do an experiment and see.”
Si Chun frowned but let Jingzhan go ahead.
Jingzhan quickly had everyone step back, then after looking around, he pulled over Li Xiuran who had the highest safety factor to stand before the Yinyuan Stone.
Li Xiuran’s face darkened, but he allowed Jingzhan to conduct the experiment.
The next moment, they indeed saw the Yinyuan Stone reflect the two people standing there accurately.
“See! Told you!” Jingzhan exclaimed.
Excited, Jingzhan pushed the confused Li Xiuran away, then glanced at the pair of master and disciple and said to Gu Baiqing, “Elder Luofeng, why don’t you try it alone?”
Gu Baiqing, confused by what was happening, stepped forward to try. When he was alone, the Yinyuan Stone showed nothing.
“Nothing…” Gu Baiqing frowned. If it only shows with two people together…
“Add one more and try again,” Jingzhan’s voice came. Gu Baiqing turned to see Mo Xuanli being pushed forward by Jingzhan.
Gu Baiqing steadied the unbalanced Mo Xuanli, and the moment they touched, the crowd gasped.
“See!”
Looking again, even though Gu Baiqing had already let go, the Yinyuan Stone still reflected two figures, one in white and one in black, like a dreamlike mirror with a colorful background clearly showing their silhouettes.
Gu Baiqing couldn’t help but think, Is this the image Mo Xuanli saw last night? There was a feeling as if the two inside the stone were standing in another world.
Gu Baiqing looked closely at Mo Xuanli’s figure in the Yinyuan Stone and at the same moment, Mo Xuanli was looking back at him through the stone.
Their eyes met briefly before Mo Xuanli averted his gaze.
But Gu Baiqing clearly saw the look of surprise in Mo Xuanli’s eyes.
Gu Baiqing felt indescribable emotions and stepped back to let the image in the stone fade.
“There really is something wrong. Why?” Li Xiuran frowned.
“Why else? The whole thing is obviously about Xuanli,” Jingzhan analyzed. “Taixu Hall really spares no effort to find a son-in-law. They even tampered with the Yinyuan Stone, had me thinking I’d be lonely for life.”
Li Xiuran suddenly remembered Ji Chuling going up there and his face darkened.
“It’s fake?”
“It’s fake!”
Almost simultaneously, Ji Chuling and He Zixuan both exclaimed, though with different tones.
Jingzhan patted Li Xiuran’s shoulder.
Li Xiuran looked at the two women: one disappointed, the other hopeful. He said nothing, walked over to Ji Chuling, and without hesitation took her hand. “Why trust a Yinyuan Stone? Am I not worthy of your trust?”
In an instant, the two women’s emotions flipped completely over Li Xiuran’s words.
Gu Baiqing watched dumbfounded, thinking, Now this is a real protagonist. When the male lead in a harem story is devoted to just one, the subtle charm of that is truly overwhelming. His own disciple should really learn from this.
Besides, Li Xiuran and Ji Chuling’s relationship had been really healthy: meeting, knowing, loving, with psychological and emotional equality and independence. That’s how it should be.
He wondered when his own disciple would learn this.
He Zixuan fell silent, probably having given up hope. Ji Chuling didn’t dare get too close to Li Xiuran in front of others, so she turned to chat with Gu Baiqing and asked about what had happened on Constellation Island.
Gu Baiqing saw nothing unusual around them and decided to wait for others to come find them, staying to talk with Ji Chuling, unaware that several people were watching him and Mo Xuanli closely.
Before Gu Baiqing could answer Ji Chuling’s questions, Mo Xuanli suddenly changed the subject and asked, “What are your clan members doing?”
Ji Chuling’s attention shifted, and she began answering about the plaza, “They’re extracting demon blood from those creatures. In the future, it’ll be useful for entering the Demon Realm.”
Mo Xuanli kept asking, Ji Chuling kept answering, and eventually it became a conversation just between the two of them.
After a long while, someone finally came out from the main hall to look for them, much later than Gu Baiqing had expected.
When Gu Baiqing led the group back into the main hall, he immediately sensed the atmosphere was very off especially the looks from the Zixiao Sect members, which carried clear warnings.
Could there be danger here?
Gu Baiqing was confused and about to lead Mo Xuanli back to the group, but was stopped by the stern-looking Zong Lei in front of him. “Disciple Mo, hold on. We have questions about tonight’s events.”
Because Mo Xuanli was the first to discover the problem and the first to return, he was called to be questioned alone. Gu Baiqing naturally returned to his seat while Mo Xuanli stood before everyone, waiting to be asked.
Zong Lei first explained how many people had been abducted across the cultivation world, then went over the whole incident, mostly what they already knew. As for why those disciples were taken and others couldn’t use the teleportation array, it was because they had unknowingly ingested something that left some Demon Realm substance inside their bodies. That substance acted as a teleportation medium, but these had now been removed by the Hidden Gods Clan, so those people were safe.
However, there was no definite answer about what they had eaten, after all, most were captured, and those remaining interacted with many people daily, especially during the grand competition, making statistics impossible. So this information was useless.
Mo Xuanli didn’t quite understand why Zong Lei was talking so much, but he still listened patiently.
When Zong Lei finally finished, his gaze sharpened. “After repeated discussions and analysis, we’ve concluded that there must have been a spy working from within to make this possible. Yet the spy was not drawn out by the Hidden Gods Clan’s formation, that’s what baffles us. This person must have some special means to evade their search.”
Hearing this, Mo Xuanli kept his face composed, but his heart tightened. Something felt off.
Gu Baiqing also frowned slightly, glancing at Fu Zhiyi in silent inquiry. But Fu Zhiyi merely shook his head, raising an eyebrow as if to say, let them finish their act first. Judging by his expression, he’d clearly been furious before they arrived. Meanwhile, Chu Fei was glaring daggers at Zong Lei, his whole body rigid, as though Fu Zhiyi had cast a binding spell on him.
A chill crept up Gu Baiqing’s spine. Something wasn’t right. Not right at all.
This atmosphere, it felt exactly like an interrogation.
And in the whole story, the only time the entire cultivation world had ever held a public interrogation… was when Mo Xuanli’s identity was questioned. Could it be…
“The spy must have had opportunities to plant teleportation formations in multiple places, and those who were captured must have had contact with him. To do this without arousing suspicion, the spy must be someone familiar and trusted. Most importantly, this person must have once entered Constellation Island, otherwise it would’ve been impossible to set up the formations there so quickly.”
At those words, the faces of the new arrivals all changed, they understood exactly what Zong Lei was implying.
Mo Xuanli’s expression darkened. “The Hall Master summoned me alone… because you suspect I am the spy?”
Zong Lei sneered. “I merely have a few questions. First, when the Hidden Gods Clan captured the spies, all other young disciples were present, yet you did not appear until the next day. Where were you, and what were you doing during that time? Second, why were you wandering around various places in Taixu Hall, and for what purpose? Third, on Constellation Island, why did you act alone? And fourth, last night, you left early. You were supposed to leave with your master, but when others saw you on Constellation Island, you and your master were separated. Why?”
The rapid barrage of questions left Mo Xuanli stunned and even Gu Baiqing’s face turned pale.
Everyone present knew that several of those questions involved Gu Baiqing and not in ways that could be openly explained. How was anyone supposed to answer that?
“Answer!” Zong Lei pressed sternly.
Mo Xuanli’s lips parted, but no words came.
Zong Lei narrowed his eyes. “Are my questions so difficult to answer? Or have you decided to confess without even realizing it?”
Confess your d*mn self! Gu Baiqing nearly swore aloud. What kind of questions are these, are you trying to dig his grave?!
Suppressing his irritation, Gu Baiqing said coldly, “Why don’t you just ask me directly? Or are you afraid I’ll answer?”
Fu Zhiyi finally spoke up. “I’ve already said, even if not every question concerns my junior brother, several of them do. How do you expect his disciple to answer? If you’re accusing Xuanli, aren’t you also accusing Baiqing? Are you suggesting master and disciple are spies together? Planning to brand the entire Zixiao Sect as traitors? Don’t forget, the one who first reported the spy’s message was Xuanli himself. He also destroyed the Spirit-Gathering Array and killed several demon generals. To call him a spy, how ridiculous. It was even he who first realized it was a diversionary tactic and rushed back to save people. Without him, far more would’ve been captured.”
“Fu Zhiyi! Your sect also lost people, aren’t you afraid of raising a tiger only to invite calamity? Mo Xuanli is indeed suspicious. What’s wrong with us asking a few questions? Who’s to say there aren’t schemes like luring the enemy in deep or a self-inflicted injury ruse? Who knows what kind of skin someone is wearing behind their back?” He Jingyuan of the Tianzhao Sect, having lost his son, was indeed anxious and actually began targeting the Zixiao Sect.
Fu Zhiyi was so angered that his beard bristled upward.
Gu Baiqing frowned and said, “If you have evidence, then bring it out. Is it dignified to speak baseless nonsense? If all you can do is flap your mouths, I don’t mind using my hands with you!”
As he spoke, Morning Snow had already been drawn by Gu Baiqing and stood at his side. The lightning flickering across Morning Snow made everyone involuntarily choke.
