Chapter 48 I may not be able to beat you, but I'm quick-witted. Luo Du'an and Zhan Yantai...

Luo Du'an and Luo Du'an, the top expert of Zhan Yan Platform, are cousins. Although closely related by blood, their appearances are completely different. Luo Du'an resembles his birth mother more, with fair skin, captivating eyes, and a less imposing, less intimidating physique. He always wears a smile, making a good first impression. Furthermore, he is eloquent and adept at understanding people's hearts. Therefore, even though his cultivation is inferior to his cousin Luo Dushou, he is highly regarded among the younger generation of Zhan Yan Platform.

With a 50% beauty and a 50% dressing up, she was considered outstanding among the cultivators.

Therefore, it was the first time Qi Zhi had ever received such a direct expression of affection from someone like this. She turned her head and thought for a while, "I don't care what you want to do, but you absolutely cannot harm the disciples of my Divine Palace."

Luo Du'an laughed and said, "That's natural."

The two walked back.

The old man from the Flame-Slaying Platform has already examined them one by one. "It's poisoning. It should be a kind of poisonous herb from the Western Wilderness. It's very toxic, but not difficult to cure."

The poisoning of a disciple of the Divine Palace was truly unheard of. Several unharmed disciples jumped up, shouting, "Who dares to poison a disciple of the Divine Palace?"

Qi Ying seemed to realize something and frowned as she glanced at Qi Zhi.

Qi Zhi raised an eyebrow defiantly, but said nothing.

The male disciple who had tried to speak up for Qi Zhi during the day suddenly spoke up, "Could it be that little girl who did it? These fellow disciples were all bandaged by them."

All eyes turned to Lu Qing.

Lu Qing and Luo Sen were each wrapped in a cloak, resting by the fire. Lu Qing's two long eyelashes formed two fan-shaped shadows, which were reflected in the firelight on her delicate face, creating a play of light and shadow, a glimpse of her youthful beauty.

Everyone was reluctant to wake her.

The disciple from the shrine finally couldn't resist and went over.

Wu Chen hadn't slept and had been staring in this direction. Upon seeing this scene, his face darkened.

Yu Jitang was also awakened. He propped himself up on his arms and craned his neck to look around, asking in a low voice, "Aren't you going to help her?"

Wu Chen stared intently at Lu Qing's still-sleeping face. "No rush, let's wait and see."

Yu Jitang was surprised. "You can hold back this?" He turned around and saw that Wu Chenlu's eyes, which were exposed, showed some emotion, which was rare for him. This guy was not as calm as he said.

Yu Jitang was happy to watch the show, so he simply kept quiet.

The shrine disciple approached and reached out to push Lawson.

Lawson was startled awake. "What's wrong? What happened?"

Seeing his bewildered expression, the disciple from the Divine Palace said, "Something has happened to one of our fellow disciples. You two go and take a look."

Lu Qing was also startled awake, her eyes glazed and somewhat agitated. Wu Chen's lips curled slightly behind his mask; this little girl, when she couldn't sleep well, she had quite a temper.

Lu Qing and Luo Sen went over to take a look, "Huh~ have they been poisoned?"

The disciple from the Divine Palace retorted, "You can tell I've been poisoned without even checking?"

Lu Qing looked at him as if he were an idiot. "His face is bluish-purple, he's spitting blood, and he's unconscious. Anyone who can see should know that he's been poisoned."

The disciple from the Divine Palace, taken aback by her retort, looked displeased. "They were all treated by you, and everyone used the same medicine. Those who received treatment from you were all poisoned, while those who bandaged themselves were fine. How do you explain this?"

Everyone was waiting for Lu Qing to explain, but they all knew she couldn't really explain it clearly. For a herb-gathering boy with no background and mediocre cultivation to face the Divine Palace and the Flame-Slaying Platform, it would be quite an achievement if he could even speak coherently.

But to everyone's surprise, the still-sleepy Little Chili exploded, instantly flaring up, "Explanation? What explanation do you need! According to you, the two of us are completely naked, yet we can poison people just by treating their wounds. That means we ourselves must be poisonous! Touching you is poisonous, looking at you is poisonous, even talking to you can poison you. Huh, how come you're still standing perfectly fine? That doesn't fit your brilliant and wise deduction! Also, almost everyone here with injuries was treated by the two of us. They arrived earlier than you, and many of them are more seriously injured than you. According to you, does that mean everyone standing here is dead?"

"You!" The Divine Palace disciple was furious, thinking to himself that she was indeed sharp-tongued. No wonder Senior Sister Qi Zhi, a fairy-like figure, could not win an argument with her. "Don't think that you can get away with just shouting. Others are fine because you didn't use any tricks. You only took revenge because you had a prejudice against the disciples of the Divine Palace."

Lu Qing chuckled, "This is the first time I've met you today, how could we have any old grudges! Besides, when we first met, we even agreed to set off together with Young Hero Qi Ying tomorrow morning. Now you suspect that I poisoned you all in front of so many people! Come on, come on, come on, help me figure out why."

"You!" The disciple hadn't expected a girl with no background to be so assertive. She showed no fear or grievance whatsoever; her mere words exuded an imposing aura. He had originally intended to use this incident to curry favor with Qi Zhi, but instead, Lu Qing had humiliated him beyond measure.

Luo Du'an smiled and spoke, "Please calm down, everyone. This fellow Daoist from the Divine Palace is just worried and confused; Miss Qi, please don't take it to heart. This matter is too strange, and if we can't find out the truth, everyone may be in danger. Therefore, I ask Miss Qi and this young man to cooperate and not wander around for the time being. Whether it was done by a demon or by someone with ulterior motives, you may all be in danger."

"If I couldn't see that you were the one pulling all this strings behind the scenes, I'd be a complete idiot!" Lu Qing looked at Luo Du'an with "gratitude" and praised, "You see, anyone with a brain can figure out that we have nothing to do with this. I don't know which idiot came up with this trick. My sister and brother-in-law should come and teach him a lesson."

Luo Du'an, thick-skinned and ruthless, maintained his smile. "Don't worry, Miss Qi. If someone is really behind this, we will definitely find them for you. I'll have the doctors treat them first and see if they can cure this poison."

"Wait a minute." Lu Qing wasn't going to follow his script. She looked at Qi Zhi, defiantly asking, "What do you say?"

"What did you say?" Qi Zhi replied coldly, "If you did it, I will definitely not let you off."

"Since you are the right-hand man of the Witch God's servant, you must have some abilities. Your divine servant probably didn't choose you because of your pretty face. Come, I'm standing right in front of you. If you want to convict me, don't let this opportunity slip by."

Qi Zhi's gaze was almost icy. She hated the girl in front of her—unrestrained, eccentric, and willful, able to openly display her most secret thoughts in broad daylight. Qi Zhi gritted her teeth, "I have no evidence, so I won't arbitrarily convict you."

"Oh, really? That sounds like you have a conscience." Lu Qing chuckled.

“Even without direct evidence that you did it, you are still a suspect until the real culprit is caught.” Qi Zhi sneered. “Now, you should try to clear your name. If you can’t clear your name, I will never agree to let Fellow Daoist Luo let you go.”

Lu Qing suddenly stepped forward, leaned close to Qi Zhi, raised an eyebrow at her, and whispered, "See, you let it slip."

Qi Zhi was stunned. "What?"

Lu Qing scoffed, "The ones who were poisoned were disciples of the Divine Palace, not members of the Blazing Flame Platform. And don't tell me the Blazing Flame Platform disciples hadn't even shown signs of poisoning yet; they were already bandaged up when you arrived. If it were truly poisonous, they would have been writhing in agony several times over by now. So, the victims are disciples of the Divine Palace. What kind of nonsense is it to hand us over to the Blazing Flame Platform?"

Lu Qing lowered her voice, speaking in a volume only those around her could hear, "To make things difficult for me, you actually went so far as to poison your fellow disciples. I never imagined that I was more important to you than your fellow disciples. I am truly moved by this sentiment."

"You're talking nonsense!"

The surrounding disciples of the Divine Palace all heard Lu Qing's words. Even though Qi Zhi's image as an ice-cold beauty was deeply ingrained in their minds, Lu Qing's words still aroused doubt in their hearts. They weren't mindless; Lu Qing's explanation did indeed make more sense. Moreover, they weren't disciples of Nukun Peak, and had only met Qi Zhi and Qi Ying by chance on the way.

Qi Zhi wasn't particularly good at verbal sparring; she was the senior disciple on Nu Kun Peak. Wu Chen was a person who valued rules; if a disciple made a mistake, they would be punished according to the rules. In the Divine Palace, she had Wu Chen behind her, and no one dared to easily offend this icy beauty from Nu Kun Peak. In the cultivation world, the Divine Palace was her powerful backer, and everyone had to show her some respect. Because Wu Chen didn't talk much, she also learned to be taciturn; if something was amiss, a single glance was enough for others to understand.

But Lu Qing didn't care about that. She was the kind of person who was fearless and unwilling to suffer any loss. In addition, she was naturally very perceptive, and even Wu Chen couldn't handle her, let alone Qi Zhi.

Qi Zhi knew she couldn't win an argument with her, so she said fiercely, "I don't want to see you again."

Lu Qing shook her head. "That won't do. Since you say we're suspects, then we naturally have to stay with the people from the Divine Palace until we're cleared. What kind of nonsense is it for you to hand us over to the people from the Flame-Slaying Platform? Could it be that you've already made a deal with the people from the Flame-Slaying Platform?"

Lu Qing had fallen asleep and didn't see Qi Zhi and Luo Du'an's private conversation, but everyone else remembered. Lu Qing's unintentional action caused a subtle shift in how everyone looked at Qi Zhi and Luo Du'an.

Qi Ying took a deep breath, his heart filled with indescribable disappointment. He wouldn't believe for a second that Lu Qing and Luo Sen had poisoned them. It was obvious that Luo Du'an was using the Divine Palace disciples as a pawn to control the two, luring the couple rumored to know the whereabouts of the Spirit Fruit into a trap. He refused to believe Qi Zhi couldn't see through it.

Qi Ying's face turned cold. "Since that's the case, these two will stay with us for now. What does Fellow Daoist Luo think?"

Luo Duan realized he had underestimated this little girl. However, this was not the time to turn against the disciples of the Divine Palace. He clasped his hands in a fist salute and said solemnly, "I was just thinking that there might be a misunderstanding between us, and I was afraid that both sides might act impulsively and cause trouble. Fellow Daoist Qiying, please don't misunderstand."

Lu Qing took off his cloak and tossed it to him. "Master Luo, I don't like being falsely accused. Now that things have come to this, everyone needs an explanation. I'll go with them. I don't believe the disciples of the Divine Palace can do anything to me without any evidence. Thank you for your trouble. Please go back."

Lawson had no choice but to take off his cloak as well and hand it to Luo Du'an. He looked pitiful and dared not disobey his elder, and said with a forced smile, "Master Luo, I'm sorry, my aunt is just like this, please don't take it to heart."

The aunt and nephew, one with a stern face and the other with a lenient one, left Luo Du'an with no choice but to smile and leave, unable to retaliate.

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Author's Note: Thank you to all the little angels who voted for me or watered my plants with nutrient solution between 2020-07-02 21:30:09 and 2020-07-03 13:42:18!

Thank you to the little angels who watered the nutrient solution: You Suo Zhu and Someone Passing By (1 bottle);

Thank you so much for your support! I will continue to work hard!