"Who's there!"
Lu Qing immediately chased after him and saw a man's back in the distance.
This person looks familiar; he seems to be one of the people who came to cause trouble for her master and mistress when she first returned home.
"Trying to run in Yutai Mountain? Dream on!"
Lu Qing formed a hand seal, and a wisp of green Qi rose from his palms:
"All living things, heed my command! Earth rats, emerge! Vines, bind!"
As soon as the sound faded, a groundhog crawled out of the ground and grabbed the man's foot.
The man fell flat on his face, and before he could react, the vines quickly wrapped around him and hung him from the tree.
"Let me go! Let me go! Help!"
Lu Qing strolled over slowly, picked up a twig, and whipped the man's buttocks hard.
"What are you shouting for!"
"Tell me, did you put this four-eyed phoenix here to spy on us?"
Lu Qing asked him while holding Si Mu Huang, but he was clearly uncooperative and refused to say a word.
"Fine! You won't talk, huh? I have plenty of ways to make you talk!"
Lu Qing lightly stomped her foot, and several vines immediately appeared behind her:
"Give this guy a good talking to!"
The man's face turned pale, and he hurriedly shouted:
"Stop! Taking such a violent action is illegal. Aren't you afraid I'll call the police and have you arrested?"
"Who said I did it? Who saw it?"
Lu Qing looked at the old woman not far away, and the old woman immediately turned around and looked up at the sky:
"Oh dear, my old eyes are failing me, I can't see anything clearly!"
Lu Qing couldn't help but chuckle.
"See? There are no outsiders here, so even if you call the police, it won't do any good."
"It was these vines that whipped you, it has nothing to do with me."
Having said that, the vines rose high and then lashed his buttocks hard.
In just one moment, the man couldn't take it anymore:
"Stop! Stop! I said it, okay?! Stop hitting me!"
Lu Qing waved to signal the vines to stop.
"I did release the Four-Eyed Phoenix, but it was my master's order, and I dared not disobey!"
"Who is your master? What does he want with my master and mistress?" Lu Qing asked sternly.
“My master is an elder of the Longmen Sect. There is infighting within the Xuanmen Sect and the sects are fighting each other. My master wants to ask Yu Hengzi to come out of the mountains to support the Longmen Sect. He has asked him three times already, but he just won’t agree.”
"To prevent the Sui Shan Sect from inviting him as well, Master asked me to bring Simuhuang here to keep an eye on things and report back immediately if anything happens."
Hearing this, Lu Qing frowned even more deeply:
"Why did internal strife occur between Longmen and Suishan, which belong to the Quanzhen School?"
"The sudden death of Qiu Mingjun, the leader of Suishan Sect, has led the disciples to suspect that the Longmen Sect was responsible. The two sects were already at odds, so the conflict was exacerbated."
Hearing this, Lu Qing couldn't help but feel puzzled.
If it's just a power struggle between sects, why would her master and mistress keep it from her? Are they afraid she'll get involved and cause trouble?
Furthermore, in sect conflicts, regardless of which side wins, there will be disciples who are injured or killed. Given the personalities of Master and Mistress, they would have intervened to mediate even if neither side supported the other. How could they have taken no action at all?
Lu Qing became increasingly puzzled.
"I've told you everything, please let me go!" the man pleaded.
Lu Qing waved his hand gently, and the vines binding him were untied.
The man ran away as soon as he gained his freedom, abandoning even the Four-Eyed Phoenix.
Lu Qing took Simuhuang and Old Madam Gu back.
"Grandma, you should go back and rest first. I need to talk to my master and mistress about something."
"Hey!" Grandma Gu didn't ask any questions and went straight back to her room.
After several rounds of drinks at the restaurant, everyone had eaten and drunk their fill and went back to their rooms to rest.
Lu Qing, carrying the Four-Eyed Phoenix, found Yu Hengzi.
As if he had a premonition that Lu Qing would ask him something, he pretended to be drunk, closed his eyes, and lay on the table pretending to be asleep.
Lu Qing pouted:
"Master, your act of being drunk is completely unconvincing. Get up now!"
Yu Hengzi: "Zzzz..."
Seeing this, Lu Qing raised an eyebrow and smiled:
"Fine! You're really drunk, aren't you? If you're really drunk, then I'm definitely going to take care of the affairs of the Sui Shan Sect and the Long Men Sect!"
As she spoke, Lu Qing made a move to leave, but Yu Hengzi quickly sat up and grabbed her:
"You're not allowed to go!"
"Master, aren't you drunk? Are you talking nonsense or are you serious?" Lu Qing asked with a smile.
Yu Hengzi glared at Lu Qing and sighed heavily:
"Take your master's wife back to her room to rest first, and I'll explain to you later."
Lu Qing nodded and, together with Yu Hengzi, helped the drunk Feng Yuan back to her room.
"Girl, come with your master!"
Yu Hengzi led Lu Qing to the next room.
Lu Qing poured him a cup of strong tea: "Master, have some tea, it'll help you sober up!"
Yu Hengzi smiled:
"Qingqing, it seems you already know."
Lu Qing: "If Master is referring to the conflict between the Longmen and Suishan factions, then I know everything."
“An elder of the Dragon Gate Sect sent a disciple to monitor us with the Four-Eyed Phoenix. I discovered it and found out everything after a brief interrogation.”
"I just don't understand why Master would keep this from me? And you and Master's wife don't seem to care. Do you really want to watch the two factions fight each other and countless people die?"
Hearing Lu Qing's words, Yu Hengzi smiled helplessly:
"That's why your master's wife and I kept it from you."
"If you knew, you would definitely take care of it, and anyone can take care of this, except you."
"Why?" Lu Qing asked, puzzled.
Yu Hengzi sighed and said:
"When the people from the Longmen Sect first came to us, I cast a divination. The divination indicated an ominous sign, pointing directly to the northeast direction."
“Your room is located to the northeast of the temple, and Kyoto, where you are, is located to the northeast of the temple.”
"They're after me?" Lu Qing was surprised, but even more puzzled.
"But I've never had any dealings with either of these sects!"
"Once the divination result was given, your master's wife asked around and eventually found something."
Yu Hengzi took out a box from his bosom, inside which lay a black needle.
"This is... the Soul-Devouring Needle of the Tang Clan!" Lu Qing exclaimed in surprise.
Yu Hengzi nodded: "That's right!"
"This Soul-Devouring Needle was found on the corpse of the Sui Shan Sect Leader; it was this needle that took his life."
"Since it was the Tang Clan's needles that killed the Sui Shan Sect leader, they should seek revenge against the Tang Clan. Why did they involve the Longmen Sect?" Lu Qing wondered.
"I don't know how the Dragon Gate Sect got involved, but this needle still carries Bai Lang's scent. When I saved you back then, you were also wrapped in a similar Soul-Devouring Needle. If the swaddling clothes hadn't been thick enough, you probably wouldn't have survived until I arrived."
A look of shock crossed Lu Qing's eyes:
"So Master's intention was to kill Bai Lang, the leader of the Sui Shan Sect. He killed people to provoke a conflict between the two sects, just to lure me over there!"
Yu Hengzi nodded: "This is my guess. This matter involves too many people, and the divination is extremely complex. Even I cannot decipher the complete information."
"The safest thing to do now is for you to stay quietly at Yutai Mountain, and let the union handle their fighting."
Lu Qing nodded slightly: "I understand, Master, I won't go."
Now that Lu Qing has family and friends, she cherishes her life more than before and is even less willing to cause them worry and sadness.
Since hiding is the best option, what's wrong with her being a coward for a few days?
After figuring things out, Lu Qing handed the Four-Eyed Phoenix to Yu Hengzi and then went back to his room to sleep.
Lu Qing also drank some fruit wine at noon. After relaxing, he felt sleepy and slept until after 3 p.m.
When she woke up, Gu Fei was gone.
Lu Qing searched the mountain but couldn't find her, so he quickly called her, but the phone rang for a long time without being answered.
Lu Qing's heart skipped a beat, and a bad premonition welled up in her heart.
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