Chapter 21 What was that sound that was emitted?

The man quickly closed the door, covered Jiang Zhishui's mouth with one hand, and pinned her against the wall.

Outside the door, the sound of several hurried footsteps gradually faded into the distance.

Jiang Zhishui clenched her fists, preparing to deliver a heavy blow to the other person's abdomen.

As soon as she threw a punch, it was precisely intercepted by her opponent.

The hand covering her mouth pressed down slightly, making it even harder for her to breathe.

With her hands pinned against the wall, Jiang Zhishui let out muffled groans, struggling but unable to move an inch as she was firmly restrained.

Just as Jiang Zhishui was about to bite him, the other person lowered his voice and said, "It's me."

Jiang Zhishui froze, recognizing Jing Qianheng's voice.

Jing Qianheng slowly released his grip. "What are you doing here?"

In the darkness, Jiang Zhishui could only see a blurry shadow. Her mouth was covered, making her feel suffocated. She took a deep breath before whispering, "That's what I should be asking you."

Jing Qianheng didn't say anything, but grabbed her hand and walked into the house.

Jiang Zhishui couldn't see clearly, so she followed carefully. Jing Qianheng touched a candlestick, turned it slightly, and a hidden door behind the table opened with a whoosh.

Jing Qianheng led her through the small door, and Jiang Zhishui, looking surprised, followed him down the steps.

Beyond the small door were downward stairs. Jiang Zhishui had many questions she wanted to ask, but she held them back and let Jing Qianheng lead her away.

As they passed through the alley, footsteps came from directly ahead. Jing Qianheng quickly turned around with Jiang Zhishui, while elongated figures appeared from the other direction. Caught in a pincer movement, Jing Qianheng pushed open a door not far away and pulled Jiang Zhishui inside.

Behind the door was a room filled with bottles and jars, with rows of shelves filled with various transparent bottles that emitted a faint glow.

Jiang Zhishui asked curiously, "What is this?"

Jing Qianheng walked to the other side, where there was a wall separating them, and there was another cubicle inside.

Jiang Zhishui looked at it for a long time, felt it was strange, and dared not touch it.

"What are you looking at?" Jiang Zhishui walked to Jing Qianheng's side and saw that he was engrossed in reading a book. She leaned over and looked up, and Jing Qianheng immediately closed the book.

A gust of wind blew Jiang Zhishui's hair as the book closed, and she blinked, looking at Jing Qianheng with a somewhat bewildered expression.

Jing Qianheng asked in a low voice, "What is your relationship with the people here?"

Jiang Zhishui asked, "What happened to the friends I knew before?"

Jing Qianheng put down his book, turned to look at her, and asked, "Friend?"

His voice was soft, but it carried an inexplicable displeasure: "You really have a lot of friends."

Jiang Zhishui asked, "And you, what are you planning to do here?"

Jing Qianheng turned around and continued flipping through the books on the shelf, his tone calm: "Stealing."

Jiang Zhishui followed beside him, watching him flip through the documents. Only then did she remember what she had promised him, and she blurted out, "Is it to find the technique to seal demons?"

Jing Qianheng paused for a moment, then turned and walked to the other table. The tabletop was messy, with many doodles on the paper and several open books.

“The Thousand Machines Sect was indeed the number one sect in magic before, but much of its information was burned in the fire of that rebellion…” Jiang Zhishui had just finished speaking when he walked away again. She had no choice but to follow him and asked, “Why didn’t you tell me you were coming here?”

"Why should I tell you?" Jing Qianheng looked up at her.

Jiang Zhishui was speechless for a moment, unable to refute anything.

What he does or where he goes is none of her business.

Just then, the sound of a door opening came from behind. The two quickly hid in the corner of the last bookshelf.

Someone rushed in and started searching.

The corner of the bookshelf was narrow and dark. In her haste, Jiang Zhishui pulled Jing Qianheng inside, and they sat facing each other. Jing Qianheng felt uncomfortable and wanted to move away, but the other person had already entered. Jiang Zhishui reached out and grabbed his collar, opened her mouth, but didn't say anything: "Don't move."

The person not far away was searching for something in a great hurry, making a lot of noise. With a loud crash, the cup was smashed to the ground.

A furious outburst rang out: "What's wrong with this?!"

The man smashed a lot of things, and the books on the table were also torn apart.

Jiang Zhishui and Jing Qianheng huddled together, not daring to utter a sound.

After making a fuss for a while, the man finally quieted down. He angrily kicked over a chair, then slammed the door shut and left.

The room fell silent. After a long while, Jing Qianheng spoke, "Let go."

Jiang Zhishui said with a mournful expression, "...I had a cramp."

She was hiding in the corner, too tense, and had been in one position for too long. When she moved, her calves cramped and ached, and tears welled up in her eyes.

Jiang Zhishui grabbed his collar, looked up at him with teary eyes.

Jing Qianheng sighed softly and bent down to hug her, but she gripped his hand tightly and said urgently, "Don't touch me, don't..."

Jiang Zhishui gasped softly, resting her forehead against his chest. "Let me lean on you for a while, just a little while."

Jing Qianheng's hand froze in mid-air, remaining still so that she could lean against him.

In the confined space, hiding and crouching, Jiang Zhishui hissed in pain. When she looked up, a face suddenly appeared behind Jing Qianheng.

"ah!"

Wow!

Jing Qianheng instantly stepped forward and grabbed the man's neck.

Jiang Zhishui hopped and skipped over, grabbing the wall as she jumped to stop him, saying, "Wait, don't hurt him!"

Lu Cheng was choked and pushed against the wall, his face flushed red, and he cried out in a hoarse voice, "Zhishui, save me!"

Jing Qianheng reluctantly let go, and Lu Cheng collapsed to the ground, panting heavily.

"This isn't the place to talk," Jiang Zhishui said. "Let's go outside first."

As she spoke, she limped out. Jing Qianheng watched her back, walked up to her, and picked her up in his arms without saying a word.

Jiang Zhishui looked surprised, but she didn't know what to say. If she was like this, she wouldn't be able to slip away quickly, and if she was discovered again, she would only implicate him more.

The three walked through the woods. Lu Cheng followed for a while, then suddenly stopped and exclaimed, "Strange, something's not right. Why am I following you?"

Jing Qianheng ignored him, so Jiang Zhishui patted his shoulder and said apologetically, "Qianheng, put me down, I can walk by myself."

Lu Cheng stepped forward, staring at Jiang Zhishui, his anger flaring: "What's wrong with you?"

Jiang Zhishui pulled Lu Cheng aside and made up a story, saying that in order to retrieve her master's things, she had resorted to this desperate measure, asking her fellow disciples to help her search all parts of the Thousand Machines Sect, in order to secretly get the things first.

Lu Cheng knew that it was his master who had seized Elder Bai Zang's magic weapon and refused to return it, so they were in the wrong. He originally wanted to wait a couple of days before discussing it properly, but he didn't expect that Jiang Zhishui, who seemed so obedient on the surface, actually had a plan all along.

Lu Cheng didn't know what was wrong with him. After wandering around for a while, he ran to the West Courtyard, which he didn't usually go to. By some strange twist of fate, he stumbled upon a mechanism. Once inside, he discovered that the Thousand Machines Sect actually had hidden secrets, including this eerie secret room.

The magical artifact that Shen Rang forcibly seized was a spirit-tempering weapon. When inlaid on any weapon, it can maximize the weapon's destructive power.

Elder Bai Cang was previously embedded in a long whip. Jiang Zhishui had witnessed her wield the whip and pierce through four or five demons in one go; its power was immense. Elder Bai Cang was lazy by nature, but had extremely good luck. She would always unexpectedly obtain some fortuitous opportunities and acquire things that others could not obtain in several lifetimes.

Because of this, she couldn't keep up with all the things she had, so she built her own treasure pavilion. The treasure pavilion was managed by Ying Xue, and the reason why Jiang Zhishui was able to steal the protective blood jade was with Ying Xue's tacit approval. Therefore, Elder Bai Cang only gave her a few verbal reprimands as a formality and did not intend to do anything to her.

Lu Cheng wanted to report to Shen Rang, but Jiang Zhishui stopped him and said, "Those bottles don't look like good things. They've been reinforced with several spells, and there are a lot of them. They must have been doing this for a while now. Do you think your master wouldn't know?"

What do you mean by that?

Jiang Zhishui knew Lu Cheng to some extent, but after not seeing him for many years, she couldn't be sure what kind of person he was now.

She considered it for a moment and said, "I think it would be better if we investigated first before telling Sect Leader Shen. This secret room must have been built by someone inside the Thousand Machines Sect. Moreover, if we rush to tell him, it will alert him and he might take precautions, making it difficult to investigate further."

Lu Cheng pondered for a long time, but was eventually persuaded.

On the way back, Lu Cheng looked at him strangely and asked, "What were you doing hiding behind that bookshelf? And what...what was that sound you were making?"

Lu Cheng simply couldn't believe that Jiang Zhishui's behavior had become so audacious and reckless.

"Cramp! My leg is cramping!" Jiang Zhishui could tell from his expression that he had misunderstood.

"Who is he?" Lu Cheng stared at Jing Qianheng with a suspicious expression and muttered, "He went too far with me. I felt like he was about to kill me."

Jiang Zhishui glanced at Jing Qianheng's back and briefly explained Jing Qianheng's background.

Lu Cheng reluctantly arranged a room for Jing Qianheng to stay in.

The commotion that night quickly subsided; it seemed this wasn't the first time such an incident had occurred to the disciples of the Thousand Machines Sect. Lu Cheng had mentioned that strange noises frequently broke out here, and some of the disciples on night watch often claimed to have seen ghosts, but despite several extensive searches, they hadn't found the ghosts they spoke of.

Within the secluded valley, the heavy fog, refracted by the moonlight, inevitably revealed some strange shapes. Unable to find the so-called ghostly figures, they could only reassure themselves that they were merely tree shadows or the shadows of some wild beasts running by.

——

The next morning, Lu Cheng came to find Jiang Zhishui, saying that his master, Shen Rang, wanted to see them.

"You still told me?"

Lu Cheng quickly replied, "No, I didn't say that. Master just returned from his trip and as soon as he heard you were here, he said he wanted to see you."

The three walked into the main hall, where a white-robed immortal sat in the seat of honor. He stood up and said with a smile, "Little Zhishui, you've grown so much."

Shen Zhishui stepped forward and bowed: "Greetings, Sect Leader Shen."

Shen Rang didn't waste any words and went straight to the point: "Is your master very angry? Did he scold me?"

Jiang Zhishui honestly replied, "I did scold him, more than once."

Shen Rang smiled awkwardly, invited the two to sit down, took a sip of tea, looked at Jiang Zhishui with a hesitant expression, and hesitated several times before stopping himself from speaking.

“Actually…” Shen Rang said with a troubled expression, “…I didn’t mean to keep the spirit-tempering artifact, there was just a problem in the middle.”