Chapter 93 Taking its Place

On the other side.

When Shen Lijun and Chu Qingyang heard the servants talking about how the demons causing trouble at the Hu family mansion had been captured by five demon hunters, they roughly understood that they were trial disciples.

I also heard from the servants that Miss Hu was kneeling in the ancestral hall.

So the two of them moved closer to the ancestral hall, becoming more and more cautious as they got closer, since such places usually have stronger protective magic arrays than other places.

The ancestral hall is located at the rear of the Hu family compound, surrounded by white-walled buildings like stars around the moon. A tall tower sits in each of the four cardinal directions, and Hu family disciples are on the towers looking out and patrolling, able to see all the movements in the distance.

Unbeknownst to them, two outsiders had already reached the side of the ancestral hall and were whispering about breaking through the magic array to investigate.

"I'll meet you outside," Chu Qingyang transmitted his voice to Shen Lijun. He observed that the ancestral hall's magic array was sturdy and heavily guarded, making it impossible to force his way through. Only Shen Lijun offered a glimmer of hope.

Shen Lijun nodded and used his puppet transformation technique. Because he had a magical artifact to conceal his aura, the Hu family disciples did not notice anything unusual. His body was covered with a metallic luster, and he transformed into an iron sand puppet. Ignoring the restrictions, he entered the ancestral hall in Chu Qingyang's sight.

The courtyard of the ancestral hall was very spacious, about two hundred feet in size, and could accommodate more than a thousand Hu family disciples. Shen Lijun looked around and found the courtyard empty except for two stone lions placed at the entrance of the ancestral hall.

Whether it was due to a soundproofing array or not, the ancestral hall was eerily quiet. It was as if Miss Hu was not even there. Shen Lijun took a deep breath, walked through the door of the ancestral hall, and tried to catch a glimpse of her.

Fortunately, the ancestral hall was well-lit, and as soon as he entered, he saw the other person kneeling on the prayer mat. His anxiety was relieved; he was relieved that he wasn't alone.

Shen Lijun's gaze bypassed Hu Ruoyan and landed on the memorial tablet kneeling in front of her. The Hu family ancestral hall enshrines the memorial tablets of clansmen who have made contributions from the ancestors to the present day. They are densely packed, and there are at least tens of thousands of them at a glance.

He wasn't interested in the memorial tablet. He was wondering whether he should knock Miss Hu unconscious and search inside for any secrets. Just then, he saw a name on the tablet and a look of surprise appeared on his face.

He stepped forward, wanting to get a better look, when a soft female voice sounded from behind: "You've infiltrated the Hu family's ancestral hall, what is your purpose?"

Shen Lijun froze, turning his head to look. He saw that Hu Ruoyan had stood up from the futon at some point, her dark eyes staring at him, making him feel uneasy for no reason.

"How did she find me?" Shen Lijun was on the verge of tears, frantically thinking of a solution. In an instant, he made a decision: according to his previous idea, he would just knock her out.

Chu Qingyang waited outside the ancestral hall for two hours. At first, he was calm and composed, but then he became puzzled and confused. He was anxious and then annoyed. Why hadn't he come out after going in for so long?

Just as he gritted his teeth, wanting to contact Shen Lijun using the communication jade slip, a figure appeared on the wall of the ancestral hall. The puppet that Shen Lijun had transformed into stepped out.

"What's wrong with you?" Chu Qingyang asked telepathically.

Shen Lijun looked helpless and poured out her grievances to him: "Don't even mention it. There was a trap set inside, and it took me a lot of effort to escape. There are no clues in the ancestral hall. Let's go and look around elsewhere."

"It's good that you're alright..." Chu Qingyang was about to nod when he suddenly remembered something and asked suspiciously, "After the magic array was activated, Hu Ruoyan didn't notice you?"

Shen Lijun chuckled: "I didn't notice. She's been unconscious ever since I went in."

She said with some emotion, "You probably don't know, but she fainted from hunger in the ancestral hall. She was the eldest daughter of the Hu family, yet she fell into such a state of destitution. It's pitiful and lamentable."

Chu Qingyang pondered for a moment and said, "Kneeling in the ancestral hall should be the punishment imposed on her by the head of the Hu family. The Hu family and Baiyan Sect intended to form a marriage alliance, but when Xie Wenheng came to propose marriage, Hu Ruoyan refused, which caused tension between the two families. However, making her faint from hunger is a bit too much."

The final tone was one of strong disapproval.

Before leaving the ancestral hall, they did a good deed by making a noise to attract the Hu family disciples to investigate and rescue the unconscious Miss Hu. The two of them then took the opportunity to slip away to another place.

The Hu family's back garden.

Lou Yuqing and her companion arrived at the agreed time. They had also heard the commotion at the ancestral hall and guessed that it was caused by Shen Lijun and the others, so they quickened their pace of exploration.

Seeing her gossip points soar to 50,000, Lou Yuqing closed the gossip panel with satisfaction. The Hu family was truly a blessed place; in such a short time, she had accumulated so many gossip points.

Different members of the Hu family have different "gossip value" thresholds. The Hu family head, his wife, Hu Ruoyan, and Hu Ruofeng trigger the most gossip value.

She understood that they were key figures in the mission, and she also learned that on the day of the ancestral worship ceremony, in addition to the Hu family branch gathering here, major forces in the city would also come, including the sect leader and young sect leader Xie Wenheng of the Baiyan Sect.

If they remain holed up inside the sect, things will be a bit tricky. But once they come out, it will be our chance to obtain the Snow Lotus. We only need to wait three days for the mission to end.

Seeing Shen Lijun and Chu Qingyang arrive, Lou Yuqing composed herself, took out the barrier-breaking bead to open a passage, and the group came and went silently.

At this moment, the communication jade slip lit up.

"Junior Sister Yuqing, I'm at Wanfu Inn." Ling Yunxiao's voice reached Lou Yuqing's ears. She thought to herself that he had indeed come out, and replied, "We just came from the Hu family and will be there soon."

A moment later, the five disciples of the Wendao Sect gathered at the inn, forming a sizable group that attracted the attention of the people outside the small world.

Apart from the people from the Wendao Sect, the disciples from the other six sects did not look too good.

The Yunxiao Sect was even more worried for Qi Qingxiong. With his swordsmanship, he would definitely stand out. However, the Wendao Sect had a large number of members, and Qi's situation became precarious. If he ran into them head-on, it was obvious that he would be doomed if he fought against five opponents.

"What incredible luck they had!" Luo Buqi exclaimed indignantly, staring at the light screen. "I'd like to see how many snow lotuses you'll have left to share!"

The problem isn't scarcity, but inequality. If anyone is dissatisfied with the distribution, they will start to fight over it, leading to infighting and ultimately tearing the team apart.

At the inn.

Ling Yunxiao breathed a sigh of relief when he received Lou Yuqing's reply. When he arrived at the agreed location, he found it in a mess and thought something had happened to her.

Fortunately, after asking the waiter, he learned that she had appeared that morning. He patiently sent her messages every now and then. When he heard that she had been to the Hu family, he was both amused and exasperated. It turned out that the two of them had just missed each other.

"We're here!"

Lou Yuqing and her three companions entered the inn, which surprised Ling Yunxiao. They were all from his own sect. He led them to their room and asked, "Luo Buqi was eliminated by you?"

"Yes, he was just unlucky." Lou Yuqing explained what happened, and then said, "When Senior Brother Chu and I were fighting him, Senior Sister and Senior Brother Shen joined in, and the four of us eliminated him together."

A strange look flashed in Ling Yunxiao's eyes. Someone was actually this unlucky. He then calmly said, "The Hu family patriarch told me that the Snow Lotus is in the hands of the White Rock Sect Master, and that I should go and beg for it. I don't believe it. What do you say?"

Lou Yuqing didn't speak immediately. She had already assumed that Xue Lian was in Baiyan Sect, but Ling Yunxiao overturned that judgment. Considering his previous reliable performance, she decided to wait and see.

Si Nidie frowned and said, "Senior Brother Shen saw the snow lotus in the cave of the White Rock Sect Master and even picked it. It can be basically determined that it is real."

Shen Lijun paused for a moment, then nodded to Ling Yunxiao: "That's right, I picked them."

"You picked it?" Ling Yunxiao looked surprised.

Shen Lijun said slowly, "No, it turned into powder."

"When you encountered the snow lotus, did your points change?" Ling Yunxiao asked a question that no one had paid attention to. After receiving a negative answer from Shen Lijun, he said, "There are two possibilities for the points not changing. One is that the snow lotus is real and you need to successfully pick it to add points. The other is that the snow lotus is fake, so you don't add points when you encounter it."

Si Nidie's expression changed drastically: "Fake?"

Lou Yuqing suddenly remembered the shopkeeper and slaughterhouse owner who had raided them at night: "My senior brother Chu and I found out that the snow lotus was in the mine of the Baiyan Sect. My senior sister found out from the foreman that it was in the Baiyan Sect Master's herb garden. In fact, my senior brother Shen saw the snow lotus in his cave. The head of the Hu family also said that it was related to the Baiyan Sect Master. If the snow lotus is fake, it means that all three of them are lying."

Ling Yunxiao tapped the table lightly with his finger and said, "The head of the Hu family cannot be trusted; there is a lot of exaggeration in his words."

Chu Qingyang added, "The testimonies of the two people who assassinated me and Junior Sister Lou are unreliable; it's possible they were lying."

Recalling the overseer's drunken state, Si Nidie had to admit: "Xuelian's news may not be true."

After discussing it, the three groups realized that the location of the snow lotus was questionable and suddenly fell silent.

"There's one more thing," Ling Yunxiao said, staring at everyone. "Have you completed your second task?"

A single word awakened me from my dream!

Everyone looked at their mission prompts.

"My mission is still to investigate hunters."

"My mission is still to investigate the White Rock Sect."

Lou Yuqing looked at Ling Yunxiao: "And you?"

“Just like you, nothing has changed. We are still investigating the Hu family.” Ling Yunxiao smiled at her. “We need to confirm the true location of the Snow Lotus. Whether we ask the Hu family head or the Baiyan Sect Master, they will definitely know.”

He didn't mention the hunters because they were small targets and difficult to investigate. They had limited time and couldn't afford to waste it. The territories of the Hu family and the Baiyan Sect were right in front of them, making it easier for them to investigate.

Lou Yuqing's eyes lit up slightly, and she said excitedly, "This is exactly the same as our original plan. The sect leader of Baiyan Sect will also be present at the Hu family's ancestral worship ceremony, which is the perfect opportunity for us to make our move."

"First, we need to consider how to infiltrate the Hu family. I..." Ling Yunxiao was interrupted by Si Nidie halfway through his sentence.

She grinned and said, "That's not a problem. Junior Sister has the Barrier-Breaking Pearl, so the Hu family's magic array and restrictions are useless to us."

"I see." Ling Yunxiao swallowed his original words. He had left a shadow clone in the Hu family. With a thought, his main body could reach the location of the clone.

Chu Qingyang suggested, "The ancestral worship ceremony is still three days away. Why don't we investigate the slaughterhouse first? I saw a snow rabbit stone carving there before, and something about it felt off."

Ling Yunxiao's eyes sharpened immediately: "I saw it at the Hu family's house too."

Everyone fell silent without prior arrangement.

After a long pause, Lou Yuqing spoke up: "It seems there is some connection between them."

The group left the inn and headed to the slaughterhouse, only to return disappointed as dusk approached, having gained nothing but the snow rabbit stone carving.

late at night.

Lou Yuqing suddenly felt a light. When she opened her eyes, she saw the stone sculpture emitting a soft glow in the room. She felt as if she had seen this scene somewhere before.

"Huh, it even glows?" While Lou Yuqing was lost in thought, Si Nidie was also startled awake by the light. She circled the snow rabbit stone sculpture several times and even pinched the rabbit's head to test its feel.

Lou Yuqing exclaimed in surprise, "I remember now, the material of the stone carving is exactly the same as the rock wall I touched in the Snow Mountain Grottoes." Unfortunately, this discovery was of no use.

"It would be good to use it for lighting." Si Nidie had examined the snow rabbit stone carving during the day with her Heavenly Eye Technique, and found that it had no spiritual energy at all, making it undoubtedly an ordinary object.

As they were commenting on the stone sculpture, a figure emerged from the next room. In the dim light, Shen Lijun's face was faintly visible in the darkness. He glanced back at the sleeping Chu Qingyang before leaving the inn.

Unbeknownst to him, shortly after he left, Chu Qingyang opened his eyes, looked towards the door, and a thoughtful expression flashed in his eyes: "What is Shen Lijun doing out so late at night?"

After Shen Lijun came out of the Hu family ancestral hall during the day, Chu Qingyang felt that he was acting strangely. Could it be that... the other party had discovered the clues about the snow lotus and wanted to keep it for himself?

With that thought in mind, Chu Qingyang no longer hesitated and chased after Shen Lijun. As for notifying Lou Yuqing and the others, that idea didn't even cross his mind.

The next day.

Lou Yuqing stretched and, upon stepping outside, saw Shen Lijun and Chu Qingyang leaning against the corridor railing. She greeted them, "Good morning!"

Shen Lijun turned his head, his eyes full of dark circles. Chu Qingyang looked a little better than him, but he was also weak and listless: "Good morning, junior sister."

Lou Yuqing paused, bewildered, and asked, "You guys went thieving last night?"

"No, we just sparred a bit." Shen Lijun put his arm around Chu Qingyang's shoulder, a friendly smile on his face. "Junior Brother Chu, don't you think so?"

Chu Qingyang also laughed and said, "Yes, Senior Brother Shen and I couldn't sleep, so we went out and fought a few matches. Junior Sister, don't worry, we'll recover soon."

Upon hearing this, Lou Yuqing praised, "You two senior brothers have so much energy. We had already agreed that my senior sister and I would go to the mines of Baiyan Sect, while you would go to Old Xue's village. Remember to invite Senior Brother Yunxiao to come along."

Shen Lijun and Chu Qingyang nodded in agreement.

Lou Yuqing glanced back at Ling Yunxiao's room. He lived alone, and the door was closed, so he was probably still meditating and resting.

Watching her and Si Nidie's departing figures, Shen Lijun and Chu Qingyang turned around at the same time and said in unison to Ling Yunxiao's door, "Junior Brother Ling, open the door, it's time to investigate."

Their voices had an eerie, ethereal quality that sent chills down your spine even in broad daylight.

Ling Yunxiao did not respond.

The gentle expressions on their faces vanished abruptly, and they raised their hands to bang on the door: "Junior Brother Ling, we're not happy if you slack off like this!"

The room remained quiet.

A dark glint flashed in Shen Lijun's eyes, as if he had crawled out of an abyss: "Junior Sister Lou won't be happy either. Do you want to disappoint her?"

Chu Qingyang knocked on the door, coaxingly asking, "Junior Brother Ling, Junior Sister Lou asked us to take you along. Can you bear to refuse her kindness?"

After a long while, there was complete silence.

Shen Lijun and Chu Qingyang grew increasingly agitated, their voices overlapping once more: "Junior Brother Ling, open the door! Open the door, Junior Brother Ling!"

There was a bang.

They could no longer contain themselves and used magic to blast open the door. However, the figure of Ling Yunxiao they had imagined was not inside. The room was empty, without even a single hair.

At this moment, outside the small world.

The real Shen Lijun and Chu Qingyang watched as the imposter, using their faces, attempted to persecute their lone companion, and their hearts were filled with mixed emotions.

The strange looks from the people around them made them feel very uncomfortable. Being eliminated wouldn't have been a big deal, but the fact that their bodies would be used by the people in the small world after they were eliminated made them feel ashamed.

"Senior Brother Shen." Chu Qingyang looked at Shen Lijun with resentment, "When you had an accident in the ancestral hall, you should have at least called out. Now, your body has been controlled by someone, and you've eliminated me too. All of us disciples of the Wendao Sect will die at your hands."

Shen Lijun was displeased and snorted, "Don't forget that your body was also controlled. If they are unfortunately eliminated, you will definitely have a part in it. Moreover, if you hadn't gone out with the imposter alone because of your greed, he wouldn't have been able to do anything to you."

Chu Qingyang's thoughts were exposed, his face flushed red, and he stammered, unable to speak. He knew he was wrong; if he had called his junior sister and the others upstairs, the outcome would have been different.

Gu Bugai glanced at the two men indifferently. Although disciples from the same sect are natural allies, they would not hesitate to fight when necessary. It was a pity that they failed, which gave the enemy an opportunity to take advantage of them, which made them seem somewhat foolish.

I wonder when my little apprentice will find out.

Two flowers bloom, each representing a different branch.

Lou Yuqing and her senior sister had just arrived near the mine when they saw a group of cultivators flying out of the mine. She recognized the leader from the arena; he was Qi Qingxiong from the Yunxiao Sect.

"Senior sister, those people are disciples of the Cloud Soaring Sect and the Star Pavilion. They've joined forces," Lou Yuqing said telepathically to Si Nidie from behind a tree.

Si Nidie gazed in the direction of the mine, her expression somewhat grave: "This person has consolidated the disciples who remained at the mine, and their numbers are two more than our team."

Outside the small world, Chu Qingyang said bitterly, "There should be four more. I hope they can expose the imposter's true colors soon and not fall into the other party's trap."

That night, he followed the imposter Shen Lijun all the way to the slaughterhouse, thinking that there was really a clue to the snow lotus. He was in high spirits, but the next moment, he was ambushed by the imposter Shen Lijun and the slaughterhouse owner. Oh, and there was also the hunter Lao Xue who had escaped.

It wasn't until he appeared in the square that he believed he had really been eliminated, which made him extremely frustrated. The enemy was too cunning.

Shen Lijun said coolly, "Who told you to have such wicked thoughts?"

Taking everything for yourself is no easy task.

Chu Qingyang glared at him, unable to refute him.

The disciples of the Yunxiao Sect were delighted to see this. Senior Brother Qi was indeed worthy of being called Senior Brother Qi; he had turned the tide of the battle in the blink of an eye.