Chapter 250 Xue Mushi directly bestowed a divination upon himself, indicating that everything was auspicious.

Institute of Communications.

Zou Qian received many messages, which she handed over to Wei Xizhen without even looking at them, watching him cross out the names on the list of suspects one by one.

Not only in the outer city, but also on the surrounding islands, many corpses of orchids were found. Following Wei Xizhen's orders, none of them were spared.

News also came back that teachers and students were injured.

Wei Xizhen told the injured students to return to the academy first, and the instructors, unless seriously injured and unable to move, to continue patrolling the streets.

Zou Qian stared at the red dot marking the location on the mountain and casually remarked, "The fog is really thick tonight."

Wei Xizhen didn't even look up and said, "Let it be."

Zou Qian stroked her chin, then turned her eyes to look at Wei Xizhen.

He knew perfectly well what the fog was like outside the city tonight, but he didn't intervene.

Zou Qian slightly curled the corners of her mouth, thinking to herself that the people of the Fa family were quite particular about respecting the elderly and caring for the young.

He glanced at the wind-listening ruler he was playing with every now and then, when Wei Xizhen's indifferent voice came from the side: "Whose news are you waiting for?"

“I was originally going to wait for news from Yin Ziwu, but that guy takes money and keeps his mouth shut. I won’t get anything from him tonight.” Zou Qian swayed the Wind-Listening Ruler, leaning back in her chair and rocking back and forth, looking at the high roof of the Communications Institute. “But besides Yin Ziwu, there is someone else who knows where Xuan Kui’s hideout for the Orchid Poison is. I’m waiting for news from that person, but I can’t tell you who it is.”

Wei Xizhen turned the pages of the book in her hand, her long eyelashes trembling slightly, and said in a calm voice, "In the Sea of ​​Fog."

Zou Qian: "..."

He sat up abruptly, stopping the wobbling chair with one foot on the ground, his surprise barely concealed: "You knew?"

"Just a guess." Wei Xizhen glanced at him. "Looks like I guessed right."

Zou Qian: "Are you kidding me?"

Wei Xizhen replied, "The water boat monitors all the sea areas of Taiyi, and any changes in the sea atmosphere will be detected."

Although the water-based records document changes in the sea and atmosphere across all of Taiyi's sea areas, not every location is closely monitored. The sheer number and vast area make comprehensive surveillance impossible; only areas exhibiting significant changes receive follow-up attention.

After having a suspect, Wei Xizhen, considering the other party's abilities, narrowed it down to the Fog Sea. He became even more certain after receiving information from Shui Zhou about changes related to the Fog Sea a couple of days ago.

Zou Qian muttered, "Aside from the strange fire, Shui Zhou is quite fast at other things."

Wei Xizhen pretended not to hear and continued, "However, you should know the special nature of the Misty Sea. Apart from the farmers, no one else can enter the Dream of the Sea Fish and find the Xuan Kui stronghold hidden in the mirage."

Or to put it more bluntly, except for the agricultural sage.

“Don’t we still have two agricultural sages in Taiyi?” Zou Qian said, “that foolish couple.”

Wei Xizhen glanced at him sideways, her upturned eyes seemingly scrutinizing Zou Qian.

"Can you contact them and persuade Shen Tianxue and Pei Daiqing to help?"

"We should give it a try." Zou Qian picked up the Wind Listening Ruler and sent a telepathic message to the two agricultural sages.

Taiyi, Snow Valley.

The grasslands by the sea are lush and green, seemingly stretching as far as the eye can see. The boy standing in the courtyard looks back and sees towering, black and white snow-capped mountains.

He coughed twice, touching his cold throat, and heard the vibration and buzzing of the wind-listening ruler coming from inside the room.

Wei Ren quietly approached the door and heard Shen Tianxue's impatient voice from inside: "Where did you get the Wind Listening Ruler? Throw away this annoying thing!"

Pei Daiqing coaxed patiently, "Okay, okay, you can continue sleeping, I'll go throw it away."

After saying that, he got up and went to the box on the counter to find the Wind-Listening Ruler, then explained, "It's the one you got from Dean Zou last time. Didn't you say you wanted..."

Shen Tianxue: "Throw it away!"

"Alright, alright." Pei Daiqing glanced at the communication notification on the Wind Listening Ruler, turned it off, and turned to leave.

Pei Daiqing had just closed the door when he saw the boy standing in the courtyard.

Wei Ren stood ramrod straight, his eyes fixed straight ahead, with a calm expression that said, "I didn't hear anything."

Pei Daiqing smiled with narrowed eyes; the child had recovered quite well.

"Where are you going?" Wei Ren asked first.

"Go throw something away." Pei Daiqing strode outside. Several towering peach trees were planted outside the fenced courtyard, and now they were full of pink blossoms, contrasting with the green grass on the ground.

Wei Ren followed beside him, carefully choosing his words: "So, what shall we eat tonight?"

Pei Daiqing casually said, "You can handle it as you see fit."

After saying this, Pei Daiqing couldn't help but feel a little emotional.

Saving this kid is a good thing; at least he won't be cooking for a while.

Wei Ren, who has been cooking for the two sages of the farming family since he woke up: "..."

When will I finally be able to go back to the academy?!

Taiyi, Institute of Communications.

Wei Xizhen watched as Zou Qian hung up the Listening Wind Ruler without changing his expression. Zou Qian said expressionlessly, "Shen Tianxue and Pei Daiqing deserve to be judged by the Legalists more than I do."

Wei Xizhen asked him, "If these two refuse to make a move, what makes you so confident that you can enter the Mirage Sea?"

Zou Qian recalled the scene of Yu Sui coming to find him last night.

He knew this person was extraordinary when they were at Yueshan, and at the Legalist execution ground, he didn't even bother to pretend anymore.

Zou Qian didn't care what Yu Sui wanted to do, nor did she care why Yu Sui had two faces in public and in private. There was only one thing that Zou Qian admired.

That means Yu Sui can always find the right person.

For example, Wu Huaiwei, and him.

“I can’t tell you, and I suggest you don’t investigate in secret, because I will stop you.” Zou Qian scratched her neck. “Some things won’t come true if you say them out loud.”

Along the way, Wan Qi hadn't seen anyone. The residents of the outer city were all staying indoors, and there were very few people patrolling the streets. Not to mention the people from the Imperial Guard, he hadn't even seen the Nine Capital Guards or the top-level disciples of the academy.

Facing the deserted streets, shouting to passersby that Princess Nangong was lost was no longer an effective tactic.

Wan Qi couldn't help but ask, "Where are we going?"

"Has the blood testing in this area finished? Otherwise, how come there's no one here?"

"Such a quiet place, even people being chased wouldn't come here..."

Wan Qi suddenly stopped talking halfway through his sentence, stared at the crossroads ahead, and stepped back with Yu Sui, not continuing forward.

The tall buildings built against the mountain ahead were brightly lit in the night fog, and the vermilion walls enclosed the entire area. The three characters "Taixu Hall" were written in a flamboyant cursive style on the grand gate.

What are we doing at Taixu Hall?

Wan Qi's voice grew softer and softer.

He had a bad feeling.

Yu Sui replied softly, "Come and arrest people."

Wan Qi: "Who should we arrest?"

Yu Sui: "You can see Yue Shu on the Wind Listening Ruler; he's still the academy's target."

"At Taixu Hall?!" Wan Qi's voice suddenly rose, and Yu Sui turned around and gestured for him to be quiet.

"Do you know what Taixu Hall is?" Wan Qi said, activating the Listening Wind Ruler. "The gangs in the outer city are not to be trifled with. They don't care whether you're a Taiyi disciple or not. In any case, the academy won't interfere with personal grudges formed in the outer city."

"Besides, how can you be sure Yue Shu is here?"

“Before you arrived, I saw Qiu Cang and Yue Shu fighting, and the two were getting further and further apart,” Yu Sui said. “I left some farm gadgets with them and found out that Qiu Cang and Yue Shu were in cahoots. He let Yue Shu go, and Yue Shu used a communication beast to contact the people of Taixu Hall, asking the Taixu Hall Master Elder to save him.”

Wan Qi was stunned. Just how much had he missed?

Seeing that he was staring blankly without saying a word, Yu Sui waved her hand in front of his eyes: "Do you believe me or not!"

Wan Qi: "This..."

The distance between the two was neither close nor far. Her fair, white hand swayed back and forth, and the innocent and carefree face hidden behind it flickered in Wan Qi's eyes.

Looking at this face, he couldn't bring himself to say something like, "Are you crazy?" He simply reorganized his thoughts and said, "Why don't we tell the Communications Institute about this and have the instructors bring people over?"

“Look!” Yu Sui opened his palm, revealing the Farmer’s Communication Beast in his palm. “My mother is a thirteenth-level master of the Farmer’s Clan. Although I was a layman and didn’t know how to cultivate before, she taught me many of the Farmer’s Nine Schools of Arts. So I know where the communication beast went. He really is right here!”

Yu Sui stared intently at Wan Qi, seemingly feeling that he didn't believe her, and there was a hint of grievance in her watery eyes.

Wan Qi thought to himself, "Who could stand this?"

He gave up struggling and nodded, saying, "I believe you, of course I believe you. You're not the kind of stupid person who would come to your death. We definitely have a plan!"

Wan Qi rubbed his face and looked up at Yu Sui again: "How about this, we'll go into the Taixu Hall first, and then quietly look for the person inside, quietly!"

"We've found the person. We'll send a message to the academy right away. If we can't find the person, it means they've moved them. In that case, we'll leave here. How about that?"

“Okay!” Yu Sui nodded obediently, “I’ll listen to you.”

When Wan Qi saw that she had suddenly become well-behaved, she was taken aback. When she met Yu Sui's eyes, her almond-shaped eyes curved slightly, overflowing with the happy smile of being believed, which moved everyone's heart.

"Then, let's go." Wan Qi stammered a little, and was also a little embarrassed.

Yu Sui then followed behind Wan Qi, her expression becoming calm and composed the moment she looked up.

She couldn't let Wan Qi call people over right now; she had to consider the timing and who should come over if she wanted to have someone from the academy come.

Zou Ye was pleased to hear Yu Sui's words and led Zhang Xiangyun toward the foggy sea.

He was still somewhat wary of Mei Liangyu, fearing that he might really fight to the death. So he circled around the city to make sure that Mei Liangyu was not chasing after him before running at full speed towards Wuhai.

Xue Mushi was also heading towards the foggy sea.

Taking advantage of the thick fog in the outer city and the chaos caused by the pursuit of the instructor, Xue Mushi was able to escape by taking advantage of the commotion, donning a black wind robe and using his wind-riding technique to travel swiftly.

He recalled his discussion with Yu Sui last night before they parted ways in the outer city:

“Ou Rushuang’s attitude toward Zhang Xiangyun and other pawns is to protect them as much as possible, not to abandon them easily, but not to pay too much for them either,” Yu Sui told him. “Some pawns are important, but as long as Ou Rushuang is one of the Twenty-Four Saints of Taiyi, it is not difficult for him to reposition pawns in Taiyi.”

Therefore, even if Zhang Xiangyun were to expose the other Xuan Kui members in the academy, it wouldn't make much difference.

Xue Mushi hesitated and asked, "Then is there no way to attack Dean Ou?"

“He doesn’t care about the pieces in his hand, but he cares about Orchid Poison,” Yu Sui said. “Do you know about the Fog Sea?”

Yu Sui told Xue Mushi about Ou Rushuang taking her to the Fog Sea last time: "Ou Rushuang was interested in the background of the Nangong family, and I took the initiative to curry favor with them. He believed me and took me to the secret stronghold where the orchid poison was hidden."

"The Sea of ​​Fog is somewhat special. The fog in the sea never dissipates, and you can't sense the five elements within it. Although I've been there, I don't know its location within the Sea of ​​Fog. The Sea of ​​Fog produces mirages. Ou Rushuang said that mirages are the dreams of sleeping sea fish. When sea fish sense and refine the sea energy, they fall into a deep sleep, and the sea energy materializes their dreams."

Yu Sui asked Xue Mushi, "Aren't sea fish considered a type of agricultural insect or animal?"

"Fine." Upon hearing this, Xue Mushi roughly guessed what she was going to do. "You want me to use the Dao Gu Insect Body, transforming into a sea fish, to find the location of Xuan Kui's stronghold?"

"Is it possible?" Yu Sui asked as well. "Ou Rushuang said that the Farmer's Beast Tamer can resonate with insect beasts during Qi Refining. After resonating, he becomes the master of the mirage and can control it at will."

Xue Mushi thought for a moment, then pondered, "I think it's feasible, but you don't know which sea fish it is, and I can't possibly transform into every fish in the sea. Since Ou Rushuang resonates with the sea fish, finding a solution from him is the safest approach, but we..."

He and Yu Sui looked at each other, neither of them daring to confront a Saint-level figure head-on right now.

Not to mention that the strength of the saints in Taiyi far surpasses that of the ninth-rate saints outside.

"What about me?" Yu Sui raised her hand and said, "I've been to the Mirage. Ou Rushuang also said that everyone who enters the Mirage needs his permission, so everyone who enters the Mirage should have the mark of a sea fish."

“That’s a good idea, but I don’t recommend you get involved.” Xue Mushi shook his head slightly. “Since Dean Ou is the owner of the mirage, he can tell whose mark is causing the problem.”

“If others are also suitable, then we’ll choose from Zhang Xiangyun and his group,” Yu Sui said. “I’ll have someone keep an eye on Zhang Xiangyun and his group, and we’ll act when the opportunity arises.”

That's how the two of them agreed.

On his way to the Sea of ​​Fog, Xue Mushi encountered several farm instructors and stole a few insect beasts from them, transforming them into insects in case of any accidents on the road, so that the insect-transformed shadows could help him take over.

While dodging the patrolling Yulan Si team, Xue Mushi glanced down at the Listening Wind Ruler.

Yu Sui informed him that Zou Yexi had already led his men towards the Fog Sea, but Zhang Xiangyun was seriously injured and it was uncertain when he would die.

Xue Mushi replied to her, "After finding the location of the mirage, how should we inform the other saints?"

“Dean Zou will bring people over,” Yu Sui said. “I’ve already made an appointment with him.”

Although Xue Mushi didn't know when Yu Sui and Zou Qian had connected, he was still willing to believe Yu Sui.

In Taiyi, only Zou Qian and others, who are also saints, can rival Ou Rushuang.

Otherwise, even if they find the location of the mirage, it will be of no use.

Xue Mushi also believed that this was the fastest way to severely damage Xuan Kui.

Just as he was about to continue his journey, the Wind-Listening Ruler lit up again, and Yu Sui sent a new message: "I will first shift people's attention to Taixu Hall and have Ou Rushuang rush over here to buy you more time."

Xue Mushi: "What happened at Taixu Hall?"

Unless something major happens, Ou Rushuang probably won't go there.

Yu Sui replied, "Yue Shu, who was being pursued, said he knew about the fragments of the Floating Pagoda and asked the elders of the Taixu Hall to save his life."

Is there any fragmented information?

Xue Mushi was immediately encouraged.

He began to believe that tonight was a lucky night; without needing divination, Xue Mushi had directly bestowed upon him a divination that everything would be auspicious.

Taixu Hall.

Inside the main hall, Elder Zong was sitting cross-legged on a couch, practicing Qi cultivation.

His white hair was much more abundant than at the last birthday banquet. The five elements flowed outward from within, were refined in the outside world, and then returned to his body, merging into his divine soul core to enhance its power.

Elder Zong had sensed several times that the energy within his divine soul core had reached its limit, that critical point, and that he wanted to break through again, but after each attempt, he felt extremely powerless.

His soul seemed to be trapped inside the core of light, unable to break free of it.

Elder Zong couldn't help but wonder, does reaching the Saint realm require breaking through the core to unleash one's power?

He knew that once one reached the Saint realm, one would no longer rely so much on the light core that transformed the five elements.

A figure approached from outside the door, bowing respectfully towards the room and saying, "Master, the person has been brought back."

Elder Zong opened his eyes and asked in a deep voice, "Did you encounter anyone else?"

"No, we were careful on our way and avoided the people from Yu Lan Si and Taiyi Academy," Zhao Feiluo, a trusted confidant outside the house, replied. "It's just that Yue Shu is still unconscious due to his serious injuries."

Elder Zong asked, "Is he experiencing a bout of orchid poisoning?"

“Yes,” Zhao Feiluo nodded. “Should we wake him up?”

“Wake him up,” Elder Zong said. “He’s being chased by Taiyi. Just in case, we need to get him to talk before the academy people find us here.”

[Author's Note]

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