Chapter 80 Locking the Phoenix Tree (Thirteen) Violating Morals and Morals, Despicable and Utterly Shameless…

She lowered her eyes to look at her junior brother's hand resting on the quilt, silently reciting the Heart-Cleansing Mantra a dozen times in her heart before barely suppressing the inexplicable restlessness. As soon as she looked up, she met Gu Lianzhou's eyes, which were close to hers.

His pupils were extremely dark, and reflected the dim light filtering through the window paper, they appeared almost translucent like glass.

"Senior brother, you don't look well." Gu Lianzhou's eyes were full of worry. "Entering the illusory realm just now must have been extremely taxing on your mind. It was my oversight that I forgot you were just recovering from your injuries and instead caused you trouble."

As he spoke, he nimbly got up and got off the bed, grabbed her arm and pulled her onto the couch, pressing her down without giving her a chance to explain. He was quite domineering and said, "You lie down and rest. I'll go find Yu Qi and the others first and bring back some good food later."

Seeing how quickly he recovered, Song Qiling couldn't help but feel a little bewildered: "You...aren't sad anymore?"

Gu Lianzhou looked puzzled: "Why should I be sad?"

As if he had thought of something, his eyes suddenly flickered, and then he said "Oh" knowingly.

"This isn't the first time I've been treated like a jinx. I'm used to it. As long as it doesn't involve my senior brother, it's not worth taking to heart."

His fingers, hanging down, twirled the ribbon on the side of his clothes, unconsciously caressing it for a moment, a smile playing on his lips. "From now on, Senior Brother, you shouldn't open that damn illusion for me anymore."

After he finished speaking, he turned and walked towards the door, opening the doors and windows to ventilate the room.

The spring sun was shining brightly, and it slanted in through the crack in the door, casting a dazzling patch of light on the floor tiles.

The wind outside immediately swept in, bringing a touch of coolness and dispersing the swirling smoke inside.

He raised his hand to fan away the remaining smoke, then turned to look at Song Qiling on the bed. "Turn it off after a while. Don't get too cold. Your injury is most vulnerable to cold winds. Be careful not to cough again."

He spoke so earnestly, as if she had some kind of tuberculosis.

Song Qiling was so overwhelmed by his series of acts of care that she almost thought she had become a cripple, so she could only helplessly reply, "I don't mind, I am indeed a little tired, I'll take a nap first."

After saying that, he closed his eyes and pretended to sleep.

Seeing this, Gu Lianzhou breathed a sigh of relief. After most of the smoke in the house had dissipated, he gently closed the doors and windows and walked out of the courtyard.

The lake stone alleyway outside the courtyard is bathed in sunlight, and the shimmering light on the stone slabs is like spilled tung oil, slowly spreading on the bluish-gray glaze.

The sound of footsteps echoed forlornly between the brick walls.

As he walked, he suddenly stopped, his ten fingers hidden in his sleeves tightened abruptly, his nails digging deep into his palms, yet he felt no pain.

Memories from the illusion surged forth like a tide.

In the crimson abyss where lava churned, the senior brother's tears fell onto the scorching rock, hissing as white smoke rose. As he gripped the man's chin, the slickness of skin lingered on his fingertips, and... his repeatedly outrageous behavior...

His heart felt like it was being gripped tightly by an invisible hand, each beat causing sharp pain that made it hard for him to breathe.

He deceived his senior brother.

From beginning to end, my senior brother was not the only one who stepped into the illusory realm.

His shameful desires were exposed to his senior brother in their ugliest form, and he imprisoned his senior brother in a virtual world in the most offensive manner.

It violates moral principles and is utterly despicable.

Calling someone "senior brother" is nothing more than a mask for dirty desires. Now that mask has been burned away by lava, the twisted true nature inside has been revealed.

His senior brother, out of consideration for his pitiful pride, did not expose his actions in the illusion, but he was already too ashamed to face his senior brother.

How should I look at him now, senior brother?

Fear? Disgust? Or...?

Gu Lianzhou lowered his eyes and saw his own shadow curled up at his feet, thinned as paper by the sunlight. Its outline was blurred, swaying weakly back and forth with his movements, yet it could not escape the judgment of the light.

It's completely rotten.

It's completely rotten.

He's rotten to the core, inside and out.

-

Song Qiling was awakened by a sudden wave of heat.

The old wooden bed creaked under the weight of her sudden sitting up.

A breeze seeped in through the window cracks, but it couldn't dispel the lingering burning sensation from my dream.

The scenes in the illusion repeated themselves in the dream like a revolving lantern. Amidst the rolling lava, the junior brother's lips curled into a cold smile, but the words he uttered changed tone, like an echo from hell—"Senior brother, I'm so hungry."

So hungry, so hungry, so hungry...

The voice was like countless ants crawling up her back, repeating and overlapping in her ears, finally turning into a chilling murmur: "They've all come to us, how can we not eat them?"

He lightly hooked her chin with his fingers, his scarlet mouth parted to the sides, revealing sharp fangs underneath, and was about to bite her.

Song Qiling shivered involuntarily as she hugged the blanket.

...Is this illusion trying to devour her like a fruit?

Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed that there was still some cold tea left in the ceramic teapot on the low table beside the bed. Ignoring everything else, she picked up the handle and tilted her head back to gulp it down. The dryness in her throat was relieved a little, but the frustration in her chest did not dissipate in the slightest.

She raised her hand to press her throbbing temples, her palm brushing against the cold sweat on her forehead. She paused, then belatedly realized that her undergarment was already half-soaked with sweat, the fabric clinging to her back, leaving her feeling sticky all over.

I need to take a shower.

Suddenly, the arrow wound on her shoulder throbbed with pain. The scabbed wound was itchy from being soaked in sweat. She reached back to grab it, but the movement was too hasty and pulled on her muscles, causing her to gasp in pain.

Well, with Gu Lianzhou not around, she didn't have the ability to fill the bathtub with hot water anyway.

After feeling dejected for a moment, she got up from the bed, picked up the kettle, and went to the kitchen.

After quickly washing herself with a basin of water and changing into clean new clothes, Song Qiling sat down again, pondering the last words that person had said to her.

What did he mean by "see you again"?

If we don't go to him, will he come looking for us?

Had she known that things would turn out this way, she would never have taken it upon herself to open the illusion for her junior brother. Now, she's just gotten herself into trouble for no reason.

He sighed inwardly, when suddenly he heard a commotion outside the courtyard. It was the sound of a heavy object falling to the ground with a "thud," mixed with a man's shouts.

Suspicious, Song Qiling carried the copper basin outside and, while splashing water, managed to discern the source of the commotion.

The sound came from the neighboring courtyard. Men were shouting slogans and carrying heavy objects into the yard. They must have been porters helping with the relocation.

Thinking of this, she couldn't help but pause slightly, remembering what her junior brother had told her this morning: he had rented a small courtyard in Hushi Lane, which was only a wall away from her residence.

Now that I think about it, it must have been on the other side of the courtyard wall.

Before the confusion in her heart had subsided, a knocking sound suddenly rang in her ears. Three long knocks followed by two short ones, neither hurried nor slow, which was the secret signal she had agreed upon with her junior brother.

Song Qiling raised an eyebrow and saw the door open from the outside. Gu Lianzhou, carrying a food box, met her, who was carrying a copper basin.

Water droplets hanging from the rim of the basin fell one after another, landing on the dry mud surface and splashing out a small, damp, dark mark.

Gu Lianzhou smiled slightly, a gentle smile appearing in his eyes: "Senior brother, you're up."

Song Qiling pursed her lips, her gaze flickering as she looked at the food box in her junior brother's hand.

An unspoken silence filled the space between them.

The lingering nightmare kept flashing through her mind, and now, when she woke up and faced her junior brother again, a hidden sense of embarrassment quietly arose in her heart.

Even though he knew nothing about what was happening in the illusion, she couldn't help but connect the two of them.

The illusory appearance belongs to Gu Lianzhou.

They were originally one.

If the illusory form wants to eat her, then perhaps the junior brother also...

"Did I wake you up?" Gu Lianzhou turned around and closed the door, his gaze passing over the courtyard wall and landing on the empty space. "I hired someone to tidy up the house, and we can move in tonight. Please bear with me for a moment, senior brother. Right now, the porters are carrying the wardrobe. It's heavy, and it's bound to make some noise when it bumps and knocks. It will quiet down in a while."

He strode over to Song Qiling, took the copper basin from her hand, and teased, "Why aren't you saying anything? Are you overjoyed?"

Upon hearing this, Song Qiling chuckled and said, "Don't mention it. I'll miss you too."

At this point, fearing that Gu Lianzhou might change his mind, she quickly added, "But you haven't gone far. You're only separated from me by a wall, so it's very convenient for us to move around together."

Gu Lianzhou nodded and said "yes," taking in his senior brother's restraint. His long eyelashes drooped slightly, concealing the dark undercurrent in his eyes, and he stepped into the house. "I bought some food and snacks at Jixiangju, including your favorite crab shell pastry."

Hearing that there was food, Song Qiling regained some of her vitality and followed Gu Lianzhou towards the bedroom. "Crab shell pastry? How does it compare to the one at Zuixianlou?"

"It should be pretty good." Gu Lianzhou smiled as he placed the copper basin on the wooden shelf, moved to the table, opened the food box, took out stacks of dishes, and arranged them neatly.

In an instant, the aroma of the dishes wafted over.

He took out chopsticks and handed them to his senior brother. Seeing that her mood was gradually improving, Gu Lianzhou felt much more relaxed and said, "I met with Yu Qi and the others."

Song Qiling picked up a piece of stir-fried water bamboo shoots with her chopsticks and, upon hearing this, made a "hmm" sound and asked, "How is it? Did he blame you?"

"He scolded me," Gu Lianzhou said with a smile. "If Liu Dai hadn't stopped him, he probably would have attacked me."

"..."

It sounds like something he would do.

Song Qiling felt guilty and said, "I'm sorry, I dragged you into this."

Gu Lianzhou, however, said nonchalantly, "It's nothing, Senior Brother, don't take it to heart. But there is something that Senior Brother is very concerned about."

Song Qiling looked up at him. "What is it?"

Gu Lianzhou said, "Today I inquired about the Prince of Nancheng from Yu Qi and learned that he has been preparing for the Old Madam's birthday banquet and has been frequently out and about. He also has dealings with the Murong family. He is not, as you said, locking himself in his room and refusing to see guests. Moreover..."

He stared at Song Qiling and lowered his voice, saying, "The Prince of Nancheng has been interacting frequently with Chu Yue recently, and has even invited him to his palace, treating him as an honored guest."

Song Qiling's brow twitched sharply, and she almost instinctively retorted, "Chu Yue? Where did they meet? Is he really at the Prince's Mansion in Nancheng now?"

Gu Lianzhou nodded: "This matter cannot be faked. I heard that the Prince of Nancheng is obsessed with cultivation and has recently become even more engrossed in alchemy in order to seek the way to immortality. It is only natural for him to win over the sorcerers of the Tianji Sect."

"It's quite strange that this happened right after I was injured while sneaking into the Prince's mansion." Song Qiling knew Chu Yue's character well, and her heart couldn't help but pound. "Is Chu Yue trying to cut off my escape route?"

Gu Lianzhou, unaware of the inside story, simply watched his senior brother's self-pity and finally couldn't help but ask, "Senior brother, what exactly is your purpose in inquiring about the Prince of Nancheng?"

Song Qiling looked up at him, remained silent for a moment, and then smiled slightly, "To resolve a long-standing case."

Gu Lianzhou frowned, then heard his senior brother add, "A... murder case."