25. Changing Faces (Part Seven)

◎Can't he? ◎

Ran Qinghe: ?

This method feels strangely familiar.

She twitched her lips: "If I said it wasn't me, would you believe me?" She wouldn't use the same tactic twice. She spread her hands and said helplessly, "I'm not that interested in your Discipline Hall's affairs, and I don't need to eavesdrop on anything."

Lou Tinglan pursed her lips without replying, but a smile appeared in her eyes. Then, she flicked a spark of spiritual fire from her fingertip, burning the communication talisman to ashes.

Indeed, she wasn't interested in the Discipline Hall, but she might not be interested in him.

He composed himself, turned to look at Lou Shuang, hesitated for a moment before asking, "Is he... still alive?"

Since Lou Shuang repeatedly mentioned his father, he might know some of the inside story. Why did his father abandon him in the Disciplinary Hall back then? And why did he never return? These questions lingered in his mind for a long time.

"I don't know," Lou Shuang replied crisply.

He never knew what Lou Yunya wanted to do. Lou Yunya was a man who always did whatever he wanted. He and Lao Wu had worked hard to keep his position as the head of the hall, but what was the result? All they got in return was that he abandoned everyone without saying a word.

Lou Tinglan's eyes dimmed for a moment, but Lou Shuang's answer was exactly what he expected, so he couldn't really say he was disappointed.

“But I think he’s not dead,” Lou Shuang said with inexplicable certainty. “People born with spiritual bodies don’t die so easily.” He casually uttered the secret that everyone knew back then, a secret that was kept under wraps.

"Do you think I'm right?" His gaze turned to Ran Qinghe, as if asking a question, yet also affirming her.

Ran Qinghe curled her lips into a smile and replied, "How would I know?" Her smile lasted only a moment before her expression turned cold again. "What do you mean?"

Lou Shuang calmly said, "Others may not be able to see it, but I have repeated it so many times that it is hard not to notice. In the Mirror of Past Lives, you committed suicide by stabbing your hairpin into your heart. You were clearly already dead, yet you were able to come back to life and successfully comprehend the Dao. That is already a miraculous event."

"Furthermore, according to the time calculation in the Mirror of Past Lives, it has only been five years since your coming-of-age ceremony. In other words, you have already formed your core at the age of twenty. I can't think of any other answer besides a naturally born spiritual body."

He caught a glimpse of her hand reaching for the long whip at her waist, and smiled nonchalantly, "I'm not trying to threaten you with this, I just want to remind you that 'a common man is innocent, but possessing a treasure is a crime'—an age-old truth you should understand."

"Lou Yunya possessed such a high level of cultivation, yet in the end, he still met a tragic end, his soul and spirit vanished without a trace. I just want to remind you not to follow in his footsteps."

However, as soon as he finished speaking, blood began to slowly seep from the corners of his eyes, mouth, and ears.

"I never expected that speaking to this extent could trigger a mantra," he muttered to himself.

"In short, the best way to protect yourself is to stay away from the people in the Discipline Hall." As he said this, Ran Qinghe could clearly feel his gaze sweeping over Lou Tinglan.

Lou Tinglan stroked the hilt of the Tranquil Sword and composed himself: "Sixth Elder should return with me now."

Due to the limitations of the mantra, Lou Tinglan had a vague premonition of danger and did not want him to say anything more.

Lou Shuang didn't wipe the blood off her face, letting it flow freely, looking rather disheveled: "You're most familiar with the rules of the hall, so tell me, how will the Discipline Hall judge what I've done, and how will Lou Yi judge it?"

Lou Tinglan patiently advised, "Sixth Elder, there is no need to worry too much. Although the Elder has used the Mirror of Past Lives repeatedly, fortunately, he has not made any serious mistakes. The Hall will only hold the Elder accountable for using forbidden techniques and stealing treasures. Moreover, the Hall Master is not a person who shows favoritism."

These words were spoken with utmost sincerity, but Lou Shuang found them ridiculous, as if they were saying that all his efforts had been in vain.

As for Lou Yi, how could he easily let this matter go? He would probably throw him back into the Tower of Babel prison, where he would continue to suffer from the gnawing resentment and repeat the days of unbearable pain.

He won't go back.

Lou Shuang forced a smile: "To be shameless, according to age, I should be your older brother, but as Lou Yunya's brother, it is not unreasonable for you to call me Sixth Uncle, so I should be considered your elder."

"Finally, I'll just do my duty as an elder and lend you a hand."

His words were utterly reckless and defiant. Lou Tinglan tried to stop him, but he ignored her and continued:

"Those in the cultivation world all consider themselves superior to those in the mortal realm, clinging to a fleeting dream of ascending to immortality, and truly believing themselves to be immortals."

"Some of them, sometimes, are not even as human as people."

"Do you know how your so-called uncle, Lou Yi, got his position as the head of this hall?"

"He betrayed his elder brother, deceived his superiors and subordinates. In order to secure his position, he threw all those who opposed him into the Tower of Babel prison, yet he pretended to be virtuous and shameless. The five elders were the same, acting as his accomplices, they were even worse. That Qing..."

The backlash from the mantra arrived in an instant before he could finish speaking.

His throat felt as if it were being choked by a ghost, and he could no longer utter a single word. His body, like an empty shell devoid of energy, slumped helplessly onto the chessboard in front of him.

Lou Tinglan quickly stepped forward to support him and slowly sent spiritual energy into his body. "Sixth Uncle, whatever you want to say, it's not too late to say it after the incantation is lifted." But his dantian was like a bottomless pit, and no matter how much spiritual energy was sent in, it had no effect.

He clenched his teeth, his breath coming out in gasps, his entire face contorted and deformed, his mouth full of blood. He still tried to speak, but only managed to exhale in vain.

Lou Tinglan was very familiar with the various methods of the Discipline Hall, but strangely, the Discipline Hall's mantras always only controlled the cultivators' sea of ​​consciousness, thereby guiding them to speak the truth. However, the mantra cast on Lou Shuang controlled his thoughts, as if afraid that he would reveal some truth.

Ran Qinghe leaned forward, turned two fingers, and mobilized the spiritual energy in her dantian to replenish his spiritual energy. However, even for someone born with a spiritual body, it only slightly relieved his pain.

Lou Shuang's fingers trembled as she stopped her from continuing the ritual.

The backlash from the mantra far exceeded his expectations, rendering him unable to utter a single word. In a daze, a feeling of falling into an abyss washed over him, as if he were being pulled back into the tower prison.

He tilted his head, staring at the sky outside the window. Although the mortal realm was below the cultivation realm, the sky was still clear and bright. The larkspur grass on the ground, without his spiritual power to sustain it, withered and decayed in large swaths, its azure petals scattering and disappearing, leaving only withered yellow stems.

Suddenly, he grinned. So what if he couldn't speak? His body could still move. He wiped the blood off his hands and laboriously pulled a sachet from his chest. The sachet was crudely embroidered, with only a few sparse stitches, but it could be roughly made out to be the shape of a lotus flower.

Lou Tinglan frowned, but still followed his wishes and opened the sachet for him.

Surprisingly, the sachet contained no spices, only a jade pendant. The jade pendant was split in the middle and had been carelessly bound together with two strands of thread. The water-ripple patterns on it undoubtedly proved that it was an item from Qingxiao.

His pupils dilated slightly, and a hint of tension, which he himself was unaware of, crept into his voice. "What happened to Father back then, was it related to Qingxiao?"

Under the control of the Mantra, Lou Shuang was unable to respond, but even without nodding or answering, Lou Tinglan understood his meaning from his eyes.

He seemed to think that he had said everything he needed to remind him of, and his fingertips trembled slightly as he guided them to his forehead. With the last bit of spiritual power he had left, he silently wiped his brow, which was the center of his mind and the foundation of his Dao.

Lou Tinglan snapped out of her daze, but it was too late to stop his self-destruction.

He suddenly smiled, a smile that, though unrecognizable, was still a standard, gentle one. His body gradually peeled away, starting from his fingertips, dissipating without light or sound, becoming as tiny as dust.

Lou Tinglan sat quietly in place, unable to distinguish the emotions hidden in his heart—whether it was sadness or, more importantly, confusion.

He didn't understand why Lou Shuang would rather self-destruct than return to the Discipline Hall, and why Lou Shuang harbored such deep prejudice against the elders in the Discipline Hall, or even his uncle.

Could it be that his uncle truly imprisoned him in the Tower of Babel due to personal favoritism? And what about the mantra curse on his body? Who planted it?

And what he cared about most, what Lou Shuang desperately wanted to say at the end, was exactly.

His uncle always avoided talking about what happened back then, and when Lou Shuang asked him about it, he would always change the subject. But Lou Shuang didn't believe that his uncle, Lou Yi, was the way Lou Shuang described him. After all, the meticulous care and earnest teachings Lou Yi had given him in his youth were genuine.

Therefore, he was unwilling to completely negate him based on a single, one-sided statement.

Ran Qinghe saw him staring blankly at the jade pendant, his fingertips tracing its edge. She wanted to say something, but the words stuck in her throat. She had never had any experience in comforting people.

She hesitated for a moment before finally speaking, her voice softer than usual: "I told you before, that old man Lou Yi... is not a good person."

Lou Tinglan suddenly raised her head, her eyes swirling with unreadable emotions, her voice low but resolute: "He won't."

She continued, "How do you know that a dying person speaks good words, and that Lou Shuang would slander him without any reason?"

Lou Tinglan, unusually angry, repeated sharply, "I told you, he won't."

Ran Qinghe froze, her heart clenching. If she couldn't understand, she couldn't understand. Why did she yell at her? The more she thought about it, the angrier she became, even mixed with a hint of inexplicable grievance. She sullenly rushed towards the door.

Just as they arrived at the door, they bumped into Qi Feng, who had been shaken off by Lou Shuang earlier and was rushing over.

He arrived late, a smile always on his lips: "It really took me a long time to find this place. If it weren't for the intense spiritual energy fluctuations here, I probably would have searched for ages."

Ran Qinghe ignored his joke and angrily cracked her whip as she left, slamming the gate of the Imperial Preceptor's Mansion with a deafening crash. The plaque above the gate was knocked off in half, leaving only the character "府" (mansion).

Qi Feng was taken aback, then turned to Lou Tinglan, who was sitting quietly in the room, and asked, "What's wrong with Miss Lancao?"

Lou Tinglan lifted her eyelids and glanced at him, her cold eyes filled with deep, dark ink: "I remember the hall master said that you come from the Buddha Hand Sect and are skilled in talisman techniques, is that right?"

Qi Feng met his gaze calmly and replied, "Yes."

Lou Tinglan asked, "What about the communication talisman?"

Qi Feng replied calmly, "Why did you suddenly bring this up, Senior Brother? Of course I know how to use a basic talisman like a voice transmission talisman."

Lou Tinglan got up and followed Ran Qinghe's footsteps.

He suddenly felt that the timing of Qi Feng's departure and reappearance was too coincidental.