71 Breaking Through the Boundary (Part Nine)

The soul lamp goes out.

Ran Qinghe's steps froze on the spot. The mountain wind whipped at her clothes, and every word in the communication talisman struck her heart like a tidal wave.

The guilt and confusion that had arisen from scheming against Lou Tinglan were now replaced by an even stronger sense of unease.

She suddenly turned around and flew towards the main peak where Yunya Academy was located. The disciples along the way only felt a gust of wind pass by and could not even see her figure clearly.

She barged into the Elder Hall where Lou Guan resided, ignoring the astonished gazes of the disciples standing solemnly on both sides, and looked directly at Lou Guan, who sat at the head of the table.

Lou Guan seemed to have anticipated her arrival, and was leisurely sipping his tea without even lifting his eyelids.

"Second Elder!" Ran Qinghe's voice trembled slightly from her rapid breathing, but she tried her best to remain calm.

"What did the Second Elder mean by his telepathic message just now? Why don't I need to go to the Valley of Mortals? Do you know Ye Buchen's whereabouts?"

Lou Guan slowly put down his teacup and looked up. "I just know that you can't find him, so I advise you not to waste your time."

"What do you mean?" Ran Qinghe reached for the long whip at her waist, her eyes filled with doubt.

Lou Guan noticed her little action, and a very faint, almost mocking smile appeared on his lips.

"Put away your doubts. I have no interest in doing anything to a traitor who has defected from the sect."

Betrayed the sect? Abandoned disciple? These words struck Ran Qinghe's ears like a heavy hammer. Her pupils contracted sharply, but she quickly recovered and feigned composure, saying:

"Impossible, Ye Buchen has never left the Valley of Mortals..."

"Heh," Lou Guan chuckled lightly, stood up, his wide robe sleeves brushing against the table, bringing a chill. "It seems Ye Buchen doesn't fully trust you either, he hasn't even revealed a bit about his own background to you."

She walked down the steps and stopped in front of Ran Qinghe: "Fine, they're not going to give up until they've hit rock bottom. Come with me."

Lou Guan turned and walked towards a hidden corridor behind the main hall. The corridor was deep and seemed to stretch on forever.

Ran Qinghe's heart pounded wildly, a strong sense of foreboding almost engulfing her, but she had no choice but to hurry to catch up.

At the end of the corridor was a bronze door hidden in the darkness, its intricate runes and restrictions shimmering faintly.

Lou Guan slapped his hands across his chest, and the heavy door creaked open, releasing a chilling scent that even carried a faint hint of incense ash.

The interior was empty, with nothing on the ground as far as the eye could see, except for the countless lamps embedded in the surrounding walls.

The lamps are simple and antique in style, some bright and some dim, and each one has a name engraved under it.

Ran Qinghe was almost blinded by the light and couldn't help but ask, "Where is this...?"

Lou Guan replied, "The Soul Lamp Hall."

The Soul Lamp Hall is where the sect enshrines the life-bound soul lamps of its disciples. If the soul lamp dims, the disciple is injured; if the soul lamp goes out, the disciple dies.

Ran Qinghe instantly understood Lou Guan's purpose in bringing her here. Her heart suddenly felt like it was being squeezed, and her breath caught in her throat.

Lou Guan led her directly to an inconspicuous corner on one side of the main hall. The lamps there were noticeably older.

Lou Guan raised his hand and pointed to one of the lamps.

The lamp had a dull bronze base and a dim, lifeless flame, devoid of any light.

Ran Qinghe lowered her gaze, staring intently at the name engraved below the lamp base.

Ye Buchen.

In an instant, she felt all her strength drain away, and she staggered back half a step before barely managing to stand still.

"Did you see clearly?" Lou Guan's icy voice rang in her ear. "The soul lamp has been extinguished, which means that the cultivator's life is over. Your master, Ye Buchen, has already perished."

Lou Guan paused, his gaze sweeping over Ran Qinghe's instantly pale face, and continued in a cruel calm:

"Ye Buchen was once a disciple of Lou Yunya, who imparted all his knowledge to Ye Buchen, but..."

"Ye Buchen later strayed from the path of cultivation, betrayed his sect, and willingly fell into depravity, wasting his time in the Valley of Mortals. If it weren't for Lou Yunya's lingering affection for him, how could his soul lamp have remained in this corner of the hall?"

"Impossible." Ran Qinghe subconsciously denied Lou Guan's so-called truth. Ye Buchen had never mentioned anything about the Discipline Hall to her, and as for betraying his sect, that was probably even more absurd.

Lou Guan's lips curled into a smile. "Your talismanic arts were taught to you by Ye Buchen, weren't they?"

"How could a cultivator who has been trapped in the Valley of Mortals ever be able to use the unpredictable talisman techniques of the Buddha's Hand Sect?"

"And your alchemy skills..."

"Enough!" Ran Qinghe coldly interrupted Lou Guan's unfinished words. "Do you think that by randomly carving a name on a lamp base, you can make me believe that he is dead?"

"As for talisman techniques and alchemy, it's not only your Discipline Hall that's skilled in these arts, nor is it only Lou Yunya."

She retorted sharply and logically, arguing that since Ye Buchen had never mentioned it to her, the one-sided statements made by others were just baseless rumors.

Lou Guan laughed and said, "Whether you believe it or not is entirely up to you. You should know that a person's traces in this world are hard to erase. Even without the Soul Lamp, the Discipline Hall will have countless pieces of evidence to prove this fact..."

*

Ran Qinghe eventually returned to the Valley of Mortals.

The small courtyard in the valley remained exactly as it had been when I left, completely silent. The little stools scattered about in the courtyard seemed to still hold traces of the lively atmosphere.

The wind swept through the empty valley, carrying the fresh scent of grass and trees, but it could no longer dispel the gloom that lingered in her heart.

The lifeless bronze lamp in the Soul Lamp Hall was imprinted on her mind, impossible to shake off.

“…I don’t believe a single word of it…” Ran Qinghe muttered to herself as she rushed into the simple cave where Ye Buchen had lived and began frantically searching for it.

If what Lou Guan said is true, then she should have already realized that Ye Buchen's soul lamp was about to go out, but she still deliberately made a one-year agreement with her.

If what Lou Guan said is true, then as Lou Yunya's disciple, Ye Buchen has not even achieved Foundation Establishment, which is even more absurd.

She tried to find even the slightest evidence to prove Lou Guan's deception.

She searched every nook and cranny that might hold clues: cabinets, under beds, boxes containing medicinal herbs and talismans...

Finally, as her fingertips brushed against a slightly loose brick on the ground, Ran Qinghe abruptly stopped.

She carefully pried open the brickwork, revealing a shallow pit containing a neatly folded piece of animal skin and a tattered storage bag.

Her heart suddenly raced, and she almost held her breath as she took out the parchment.

The handwriting on it was familiar to Ye Buchen, yet slightly messy.

"My disciple Qinghe, your lifespan has come to an end. There is nothing I can do but think of you. Do not dwell on it."

The short line of words stung her eyes, but she couldn't shed a single tear.

Her gaze fell again on the tattered storage bag. The bag was dusty and the edges were worn and frayed. It was the one Ye Buchen had used for many years. He always said that old things were more convenient to use and he couldn't bear to replace them.

She took a deep breath and probed it with her spiritual sense.

The storage bag wasn't very large, but it was filled with all sorts of medicinal herbs, pills, magical artifacts, and talismans—all of which she had brought to Ye Buchen when she was at Qingxiao or Yunya Academy.

He barely touched them, and effortlessly returned them to her.

Just like him, he passed through her long life without leaving a trace.

She always urged him to intensify his cultivation whenever she brought him pills, but he kept these cultivation resources sealed away almost untouched.

Why? Is he truly neglecting his cultivation, or does he clearly know he cannot break through to the next realm?

When this thought popped into Ran Qinghe's head, she was startled for a moment. So, was Ye Buchen's stagnation in cultivation related to Lou Guan's so-called betrayal of the sect?

A sudden, inexplicable anger rose within her, not towards Ye Buchen, nor towards Lou Guan, but towards... Lou Yunya.

Even though he had long since disappeared or even perished, countless unexplained incidents were caused by him.

Her divine sense slowly swept across the storage bag, but finally stopped on a small item in the corner.

It was a small wooden puppet carved from ordinary pear wood. The puppet's carving was not exquisite, even somewhat crude, and it could only be barely made out that it was a female cultivator. Its face was blurry and there was nothing special about it.

Ran Qinghe's heart skipped a beat.

When she came to the Valley of Mortals before, she saw Ye Buchen carve several wooden toys for the children who were learning martial arts from him.

She said rather sarcastically at the time, "If they don't want to learn, just send them home. Are you going to coax them into learning?"

“When I first started learning, I didn’t see you go to such lengths.”

At the time, Ye Buchen simply smiled and didn't reply. However, no one expected that he would later secretly make this and keep it so carefully.

At this moment, this inconspicuous little wooden puppet suddenly broke through her carefully constructed facade of composure.

All the things she had been deliberately suppressing about Ye Buchen surged forth like a flood bursting its banks, crashing against her mind.

He stayed in this spiritually barren valley, teaching her to identify spiritual herbs and guide her qi into her body...

Even when she drew her first yellow talisman with its distorted strokes, he laughed as he took it and blatantly lied, praising her extraordinary talent...

How could such a person stray from the path and willingly degenerate?

But how to explain the extinguished soul lamp in the Discipline Hall? Two completely different understandings were fiercely battling and tearing at her mind.

Suddenly, a deliberately light footstep sound came from the direction of the door, accompanied by subtle fluctuations of spiritual energy.

Someone's coming!

Ran Qinghe's eyes narrowed, and she instantly suppressed all her emotions. She quickly stuffed the storage bag into her bosom, restored the brick to its original state, concealed all her aura, and disappeared into the deepest shadow of the room.

Almost the instant she hid, two figures entered the courtyard. They did not immediately go into the room, but stood cautiously in the courtyard, observing the situation.

"This place where Ye Buchen lives is really shabby." The shorter disciple said with a hint of disdain, "This is it? And those little brats run here every day like they've found a treasure."

"Alright, let's see if Ye Buchen left anything behind. Even the little bit of resources that his disciple Ran Qinghe leaves behind is enough for us to advance to the next realm."

The voice was extremely familiar; she felt as if she had heard it somewhere before.

Judging from the noise, the two men finished checking the yard and started walking into the house. As soon as they entered, they began to search everywhere, their movements rough and unrestrained, making Ye Buchen's already simple belongings even more chaotic.

Ran Qinghe watched from the shadows, her anger rising. She reached for the long whip at her waist, about to strike, when the two of them started chatting.

The short man continued, "It seems that Ye Buchen has truly disappeared and his whereabouts are unknown. In that case, isn't this a golden opportunity for us to take action?"