Chapter 456 Inventory of the Harvest, Clues to the Spirit Ink

Huang Xuan ultimately chose the Taoist path.

He became a disciple of the Shangqing Sect of Maoshan.

Lu Ya, having accepted a disciple on behalf of his master, is preparing to return to the mountain gate soon to bring her back to the Maoshan Ancestral Hall to complete some tedious but necessary procedures.

According to Ouyang Rong, Maoshan has only a few lineages with single-lineage transmission and few disciples in the Ancestral Hall. However, it is one of the Three Pure Ones in the South and joins forces with the other two mountains. The disciples share the same generational names, so the resources for cultivating Qi are not bad.

Naturally, they would attach great importance to a cultivation seed like Huang Xuan, who possesses an innocent and spiritual eye, and would spare no effort to nurture her.

Ouyang Rong was reassured about this, and even Xie Lingjiang, who was somewhat disappointed and grumbling, had to admit it.

When will Master Lu leave?

"It'll be in the next few days. I need to take care of things at the Prince's residence. There are some things I need to explain to the Prince and the Heir Apparent."

"Alright, let me know when you leave. I'll ask for leave to see you off, and to see Xiaoxuan off as well."

"Very well, Young Master Ouyang, you are very kind."

"It's all thanks to Master Lu for his hard work. The Imperial Observatory might be looking for Xiao Xuan later."

"It's alright. Regardless of whether they can find her or not, as long as Miss Huang enters our sect, we will ensure her safety."

"That's good."

Ouyang Rong nodded, then turned to look at the newly built courtyard on the outskirts of the city. There were many other small courtyards around it, similar in size and style to this one.

This entire building complex is now occupied by many people, mostly working-class families from the Xunyang Grottoes area, similar to Huang Xuan's family.

In a spacious room in the courtyard, Huang Xuan was chatting with her father, Huang Feihong.

Ouyang Rong and Lu Ya were talking at the entrance of the courtyard.

Not far from the courtyard, a carriage was parked, and the coachman was feeding it hay.

As evening fell, a red sun slowly sank into the undulating waters of the Xunyang River in the distance.

Ouyang Rong withdrew his gaze.

He had just finished his evening shift and made a special trip to visit Huang Xuan and her family.

Currently, their old courtyard in Xingzifang has been destroyed and is uninhabitable, so Ouyang Rong quietly arranged for Huang Feihong to move to this newly built government-subsidized housing.

Miao Si recovered and woke up yesterday. Ouyang Rong went to the medical office today to visit Rong Zhen.

The lady's injuries are quite serious, and she will need to rest for quite some time.

To be honest, seeing her pale face made Ouyang Rong feel a little embarrassed. He should have been a little gentler that day.

Ouyang Rong didn't know why he showed mercy; perhaps, as Rong Zhen said, he and she did have some past colleague camaraderie.

It's also possible that Rongzhen trusted him as a colleague without ever doubting him—whether it was accepting Yan Liulang's assignment from Ouyang Rong to investigate a case or letting him participate in setting up the formation.

It's also possible that... something she said when she thought he was dead softened his heart a little.

For various reasons, Ouyang Rong did not kill her, and while surrounded and in danger by the Yunmeng Yue women, he also managed to take the unconscious girl with him.

To be honest, there was no irreconcilable conflict between Ouyang Rong and Rong Zhen.

Ahem, except for things like bellybands.

Ouyang Rong always felt that Rong Zhen's motivation for relentlessly investigating the Zhu Lingxu case was to pursue the truth and fulfill her duty, so he didn't find her particularly annoying.

Although it's a bit too clingy, like a piece of chewing gum...

Ouyang Rong, however, quite admired it.

However, after these visits and expressions of concern, Ouyang Rong gained a small amount of merit points.

Whether it's meritorious or not, he doesn't care; it's not his main purpose. He mainly wants to find out the latest arrangements from the Imperial Observatory from Rong Zhen... Hmm, to continue being the mole.

Lu Ya glanced at the carriage that was about to depart and asked:

"Young Master Ouyang, won't you stay for a meal?"

"No, my aunt is waiting for me to go back for dinner, so I won't stay any longer."

"good."

"Isn't Master Lu going back to the Prince's Mansion?"

"Since Miss Xie is there, this humble Taoist will not return for now, mainly because..."

Ouyang Rong saw Lu Ya stop mid-sentence, glance back at Huang Xuan in the courtyard, and then lower his voice:

"It would be best for me to stay by my junior sister's side these next few days. I'll stay here tonight."

“That makes sense. Master Lu is indeed cautious. With that, I feel much more at ease.”

"Hmm." Lu Ya shook his head and asked again, "Is Young Master Ouyang sure this place is safe?"

"Yes, as long as Xiao Xuan isn't discovered by the Imperial Observatory, Huang Feihong will be fine. I'll be watching over her."

"Even if Lady Rongzhen re-investigates this matter and discovers Huang Feihong, we can simply make him confess the truth. Just say that Xiaoxuan was taken away by the Taoist priest, and that you three Qing should take good care of her and not let anyone snatch her away."

"That's natural."

Lu Ya nodded solemnly: "I've come to tell Brother Huang about this matter."

"That's good."

"By the way, where's that little ink spirit?"

Lu Ya asked casually.

Ouyang Rong replied calmly:

"She's with my junior sister. I don't know if she's at the Prince's Mansion or Jingyi Pavilion now. Miaosi and my junior sister get along well, and I haven't interfered much in their affairs."

"I see."

Ouyang Rong smiled and glanced out of the corner of his eye at Lu Ya, who seemed quite concerned about Mo Jingmiao's thoughts.

Unlike Huang Xuan, who inexplicably chose to follow Lu Ya back to the Shangqing Sect.

After awakening, the enigmatic woman who called herself the Ink Fairy chose to stay.

He didn't listen to Lu Ya's kind and approachable conditions much, refused them, and hid behind Xie Lingjiang, squinting and warily sizing up the Taoist priest with narrowed eyes.

Just as Huang Xuan had mentioned before, the young woman in Confucian robes disliked Taoist priests with bovine noses.

Lu Ya felt somewhat helpless about Miao Si's choice, but he couldn't force her to.

After all, Ouyang Rong allowed Huang Xuan to make her own choice and did not interfere or force her.

Lu Ya was too embarrassed to bring up the matter of Miao Si again.

One cannot be too hypocritical when being a Taoist priest.

Xie Lingjiang, on the other hand, was in a slightly better mood after this.

We can't let the seeds of cultivation be lost, and then this rare little ink spirit that can communicate with literary energy also run away, leaving none behind.

Although Miao Si disliked Taoist priests, she didn't have much objection to Huang Xuan's choice, seemingly acquiescing to it.

However, the two were, after all, partners who spent every day together, and when they parted, the two, one big and one small, were still somewhat reluctant to say goodbye.

However, unlike Huang Xuan, who was merely a suspect, Miao Si was already regarded by Rong Zhen and others as an accomplice of the Butterfly Love Flower Master when she was in the courtyard of the conflict.

Therefore, Miao Si can only stay in the Prince's mansion or by Xie Lingjiang's side to avoid being discovered by outsiders, which is why she did not come today.

Seeing that everything was alright, Ouyang Rong bid farewell to Huang Feihong and his daughter inside the house.

A moment later, under Huang Feihong's embarrassed yet grateful gaze, he turned and boarded the carriage.

On the way, inside the carriage, Ouyang Rong sat upright with his sleeves folded, remaining silent for a moment before turning back to look at the expressionless Taoist-robed youth watching them leave from the courtyard gate in the distance.

"He's been subtly probing me, so it seems he's still quite concerned about Xiao Mo Jing's whereabouts... He's definitely hiding something from me."

Ouyang Rong looked thoughtful.

The light streaming in through the car window shone on his face, flickering between bright and dim, and his murmurs came out in fits and starts.

"This Master Lu seems to prefer speaking in veiled terms. His previous suggestion to take Miaosi back to the Jade Purity Sect for treatment suggests he intends to make it a fait accompli and have the Three Pure Ones and Three Mountains keep this little ink spirit..."

"Hmm, I wonder if he suspects me. I don't think so, since he seems to have accepted Miaosi's refusal..."

"Perhaps in Master Lu's eyes right now, my junior sister and I want to leave behind our brilliant ideas more for the sake of the literary energy needed to break through to the next level. That's quite a good excuse..."

As Ouyang Rong muttered to himself, the carriage returned to the city, entered Xunyang Ward, and arrived back at his residence in Huaiye Lane.

After returning home, Ouyang Rong first had a meal with his aunt, Zhen Shuyuan.

I received a lot of concern and care about my injuries.

Only after discovering that it did not affect Ouyang Rong did Zhen Shuyuan allow him to return to Yinbingzhai.

When Ouyang Rong returned to the courtyard, he walked straight through the open space where clothes were drying, ignoring a certain shade of purple.

Back in his study, the white-haired maid was not there. Ouyang Rong closed the door himself and looked around the silent room.

Night had fallen, and the room was quite dark.

However, after his eyes adjusted to the darkness, Ouyang Rong walked to the bookshelf, squatted down, and groped his way out from the floor beneath the bookshelf to find a hidden bundle.

Ouyang Rong returned to his desk with his bundle.

A ray of light from afar slipped in through the cracks in the window and fell on the face of the young man sitting at the table.

It accentuated the somewhat resolute lines of his face.

Ouyang Rong calmly opened the bundle and took out several items one after another.

If Rongzhen, who was recuperating at a medical center in the distance, were here at this moment, she would surely recognize the familiar items in the bundle, and might even devour the person at the table who was carefully playing with them.

"A square face...that's interesting."

Ouyang Rong first took out a golden mask with four fierce eyes, resembling a fanged demon.

Gold does have some weight, and this gold mask is even heavier than his bronze mask.

"Previously, I saw that Rongzhen used this item to set up an array, but later, when she called out Miaosi's true name, she was able to suffer such great damage, which should also be due to this square face.

"Never mind, I'll try to find out from Miaosi later."

Ouyang Rong nodded, first putting down the square face mask and the bronze mask together, setting them aside, and then his gaze fell on the sword box.

At present, the snow-white longsword Zhishuang has been returned to the eldest female ruler, Xuezhongzhu.

In the sword case, only the craftsman's work and a moonlight longsword remained.

The Moonlight Sword has been nurtured for a long time. Once drawn, its sword energy should be able to blind people within a radius of several dozen feet once, which can be considered a backup plan.

However, the Xuanhuang Earth Dragon's whiskers were used up during the escape, so it was a bit of a pity that I didn't get them.

However, the stories he heard from Lian Qing and Yan Zhang about the five ancient mythical insects and the Xuanhuang Earth Dragon were quite intriguing, and he also gained some hidden information.

Ouyang Rong put down the sword box, picked up a black dragon pill, and sighed softly.

This time, the situation was turned around without the need for this elixir, which saved us another opportunity.

However, this pill has a strong effect, and Ouyang Rong was not sure if his dantian would burst, so he should use it with caution and not swallow it unless absolutely necessary.

This time, we also owe a great deal to the skillful craftsmanship of dependent origination and emptiness.

This is his biggest trump card right now.

Ouyang Rong closed his eyes and entered the Pagoda of Merit.

[Merit: 811]

Ouyang Rong let out a long breath.

The last time I practiced the Shangqing Secret Arts, I used up my merit points, but now I've finally gained some.

By the way, the Shangqing Secret Teachings.

Ouyang Rong took out the booklet, his eyes showing deep thought.

"I'll ask Miaosi privately another day and see if what I think is true, that Lingmo is related to her?"

While pondering.

Inside the courtyard, a familiar sound of footsteps approached; it was Ye Weilai.

The white-haired girl outside the door hummed a little tune as she gathered up the clothes drying in the courtyard.

It seems they were unaware that Ouyang Rong was in the room.

"Cough cough."

Ouyang Rong coughed.

Ye Weilai's humming faded, and a questioning voice followed:

"Why isn't my love lighting the lamp?"

"She was just asleep, it's okay, you can come in."

Ouyang Rong gathered everything up from the table, hid it, and then returned to the table and sat down again.

A moment later, the door opened, and Ye Weilai walked in carrying a pile of clothes.

"Master, this thing..."

She took out a neatly folded piece of fabric from the clean clothes in her bosom, stepped forward, and prepared to speak.

"Leave it there, don't give it to me. Wrap it up, I need it tomorrow."

"yes."

Ye Weilai complied, but her eyes held a strange look.

Ouyang Rong stood up and went to take a bath, intending to rest early tonight. He walked past the table next to the door where a certain bundle was placed without glancing at it...

(End of this chapter)