Chapter 137 The Mastermind

The mastermind behind it all?

Ye Li looked surprised.

At the same time, Chu Wei crawled a few steps on his knees, looking up in her direction, "When the Heavenly Pivot Spirit Venerable was alive, he came to the Golden Sand Illusionary Realm. He must have found out something, which is why he held that flower so tightly in his palm. I will definitely find the mastermind behind this and not let my master die unjustly."

As he drew closer, fearing she would be exposed, Ye Li put down the wine pot and hurriedly left.

With a clang.

Chu Wei seemed to wake up from a dream, his forehead throbbing with a belated pain from the alcohol.

He frowned, forcing back the wine he had just drunk.

After regaining his senses, he looked at the wine glass and finally realized what was going on.

Master destroyed his own spirit that day, his soul scattered, so how could any vengeful spirits come looking for him?

He gripped his wine glass, his eyes flashing.

No, that wasn't Master.

...

The room across the street.

Ye Li slowly opened her eyes, a look of confusion on her face.

Judging from Chu Wei's reaction, he was pleasantly surprised to see her "ghost".

This was nothing like the cruelty of the masked man when he tortured her, or the obsessive and sinister desire to bring her back to life.

Moreover, Chu Wei has been investigating what happened back then, wanting to clear Li Yuehua's name.

It was also mentioned that the mastermind was behind it all?

Who is the mastermind behind this?

For some reason, she felt that she was inextricably linked to that masked man.

If the masked man wasn't Chu Wei...

Ye Li's heart tightened. If it wasn't Chu Wei, then it was Feng Jingxuan.

Perhaps he has been misleading her all along?

-

The next morning.

The disciples were having breakfast on the first floor, with Ye Li at a table with Mu Chen and Mu Xi.

Her gaze swept around and landed on the side of Jinxiao Gate.

Feng Jingxuan was sitting in the crowd, laughing and talking about something funny, making the female disciples surrounding him blush.

Suddenly, Ye Li's view was blocked.

She slowly looked up and saw that it was Chu Wei who had come down.

Mu Chen and Mu Xi immediately stood up, one pulling out a chair and the other pouring tea, their cooperation was very tacit.

After Chu Wei sat down, the surroundings seemed to grow colder.

Although Ye Li didn't look up, she could feel his gaze fixed on her, filled with suspicion.

Did he realize that she was the one who was pretending to be a ghost yesterday?

Sure enough, just as Ye Li was thinking this, Chu Wei asked, "Did she go out yesterday?"

Ye Li pointed to herself, "Me?"

Chu Wei didn't look at her, so he obviously wasn't talking to her.

Mu Chen and Mu Xi both shook their heads, "No."

Not even once.

The two nodded frantically.

Indeed, in their eyes, Ye Li stayed in the inn all night and behaved herself very well.

Chu Wei frowned upon hearing this, but said nothing more.

Knowing that her crisis was over, Ye Li ate a few more bites of steamed buns.

During breakfast, she kept looking in Feng Jingxuan's direction, lost in thought.

During this time, she even caught Feng Jingxuan's gaze, and he gave her a flirtatious wink.

Seeing his frivolous and lively demeanor, Ye Li's heart sank.

Fu looked at Chu Wei again, wondering if their acting was too good, or if she hadn't found the key to the problem...

-

After breakfast, the disciples of Tianmen Sect went their separate ways.

Feng Jingxuan and the Grand Elder set off first, followed by Kongshan Sect and Lotus Sect.

Lu Ziting walked towards Chu Wei, "Sect Leader Chu, we are ready."

Just as Chu Wei was about to speak, his gaze fell on Su Ying'er beside him.

Su Ying'er wasn't on the list, so her sudden appearance here is obviously illogical.

Su Ying'er sensed Chu Wei's gaze and stepped forward sweetly, "Sect Master Chu, I heard about the matter of Tian Shu Ling Zun and I was so sad that I couldn't eat or sleep. I also want to do my part to help everyone find clues as soon as possible so that the soul of Tian Shu Ling Zun can rest in peace."

These words were spoken with heartfelt sincerity; anyone who heard them would believe that a kind-hearted girl wanted to help everyone solve the case.

Hearing this, Lu Ziting felt honored, and his gaze towards Su Ying'er softened considerably.

Chu Wei looked at Su Ying'er, "Do you know Tian Shu Ling Zun?"

Su Ying'er was taken aback. "Ying'er doesn't know him."

"Then why are you sad?"

Su Ying'er's smile became more strained. "Although Ying'er doesn't know Tian Shu Ling Zun, since Ying'er is a disciple of Tianmen Sect, Tian Shu Ling Zun is Ying'er's elder, and I should do my part."

Chu Wei: "You don't even have a spirit body, how can you exert your full strength?"

His voice carried no sarcasm; it was simply a straightforward statement of facts.

The more this happened, the more embarrassed Su Ying'er became.

Facing the onlookers of the other disciples, Su Ying'er, with tears in her eyes, called out aggrievedly, "Senior Brother."

Lu Ziting shielded her and bowed to Chu Wei, "Sect Leader Chu, Ying'er only wanted to help. I will take good care of her and won't cause any trouble for anyone."

It was getting late, and Chu Wei didn't want to waste time on such a trivial matter. He nodded slightly and left first.

Su Ying'er looked at "Jiang Li" following behind Chu Wei with resentment in her eyes. If it weren't for this Jiang Li stealing her top-grade water spirit root, how could she have been humiliated in front of so many people?

Moreover, if she hadn't been spouting nonsense to her senior brothers about Ye Li watching them the whole time, she wouldn't have been in such a sorry state, having to personally go out to find a spirit beast.

She will make her pay the price.

-

The mirage in the desert extends even deeper into the heart of the Golden Sands Fantasy Realm than the Golden Desert itself.

Under the blazing sun, the group walked through the desert and soon became dizzy and lightheaded from the heat.

Su Ying'er wiped the fine sweat from her forehead and leaned weakly against Lu Ziting. "Senior Brother, Ying'er can't walk anymore."

Seeing that her face was pale, Lu Ziting told her to wait where she was and go ahead to find Chu Wei.

"Sect Leader Chu, we've been walking for quite a while now, why don't we take a rest?"

Chu Wei frowned, thinking that the Lotus Sect disciples were tired, so he nodded.

Lu Ziting cupped his hands in greeting and was about to leave when he heard a woman's cold voice say, "We've already rested three times. If we keep resting, we won't be able to reach the Mirage Area before dark."

Lu Ziting paused, turned around, and saw that it was Jiang Li who was speaking.

His voice turned cold as he faced the culprit who had shattered the peace of the Lotus Gate.

"Are we really going to exhaust all our disciples' energy just to get somewhere? If someone gets hurt because of this, can you take responsibility?"

Ye Li was amused by Lu Ziting's righteous indignation. "Is it a waste of the disciple's energy or a waste of Su Ying'er's energy?"

Instead of feeling guilty after being exposed, Lu Ziting flicked his sleeves and said frankly, "So what if I am? Ying'er is also a disciple of the Lotus Sect. Or are you still holding a grudge against us for mistaking you for Ye Li last time, and that Ying'er accidentally bumped into you and is now taking revenge?"

"It's not really a retaliation, but Su Ying'er wasn't originally on the list. If the process is delayed because of her, and it gets back to the Grand Elder, do you think she'll be punished?"

Lu Ziting frowned, clearly finding Ye Li's words to be reasonable.

The disciples of Tianmen Sect are bound by sect rules in every word and deed, and Ying'er's actions were indeed ill-considered.

He frowned. "Fine, since you insist on being so aggressive, let's continue on our way. Anyway, Ying'er is kind and won't hold it against you."

Kind?

Ye Li scoffed at this, and before Lu Ziting left, she suddenly said, "You said that when Su Ying'er bumped into me that day, she mistook me for Ye Li, and it was an unintentional mistake. Then, who did she originally intend to bump into?"