Chapter 160
Wen Chaoyu moved a rattan chair and lay down in the yard to bask in the sun.
The newly arrived disciples of Jingyue Peak surrounded her, chatting and laughing, in high spirits. They served Wen Chaoyu tea and massaged her legs, taking excellent care of her.
"Uncle Wen's throwing knives never miss their mark. Show us a couple more times!"
"Yes, everyone in our palace uses swords, but nobody uses knives, let alone throwing knives!"
"There's a bird's nest in that tree, Uncle Wen, quickly knock it down, there might be some eggs inside!"
...
Ever since Wen Chaoyu showed off her skills yesterday, her disciples have been pestering her, clamoring for her to demonstrate her throwing knives. Wen Chaoyu had no choice but to spend the whole night playing with the younger generation. She never expected that her disciples would be so interested in throwing knives, and they are still surrounding her today and won't go anywhere else.
Wen Chaoyu's ears were practically calloused from all the noise. Just as she was about to find an excuse to go back to her room to avoid it, she suddenly saw Man Jiangxue walking out of the maple forest. She leaped towards her and asked, "I'm so annoyed by those brats. When are you going to let me leave?"
As soon as Man Jiangxue arrived, the disciples scattered like birds and beasts, disappearing without a trace. They all obediently returned to their places, not daring to show their faces. Man Jiangxue climbed the steps and entered the Chenxing Hall, saying, "Your legs are your own; you can leave whenever you want."
Wen Chaoyu looked at her with a skeptical expression: "Really?"
"Why would I lie to you?" Man Jiangxue lifted the curtain, and seeing that there was no one in the bedchamber, she turned and went out again.
Wen Chaoyu followed behind her, hands clasped together, and asked, "Are you really willing to let me go?"
"There's nothing more for you to do. You can stay or leave as you please." Man Jiangxue pushed open Yin Qiu's door and glanced inside.
"Why didn't you say so earlier!" Wen Chaoyu said irritably. "I'm leaving now!"
Seeing that the room was empty, Man Jiangxue frowned, turned around and asked, "Where's Xiao Qiu?"
“I haven’t seen her come back,” Wen Chaoyu said. “Didn’t she go to the medical pavilion to see Lu Huaiwei?”
Man Jiangxue glanced at the sky and said, "They left at noon, and it's almost evening now. They still haven't come back?"
"You're asking me? Who should I ask?" Wen Chaoyu shrugged. "You talked with Yijun for so long in Mingguang Hall, and she didn't come to find you?"
Man Jiangxue shook her head, paced back to Chenxing Palace, and Wen Chaoyu followed her. After thinking for a moment, she said, "Could it be that Lu Huaiwei is not doing well? Should we go and see her?"
Man Jiangxue stood there for a while, and for some reason, a bad premonition suddenly arose in her heart. Just as she was about to respond to Wen Chaoyu, she suddenly saw Bai Ling hurriedly cross the courtyard and enter the corridor, and asked, "Uncle-Master, has Xiao Qiu returned?"
Man Jiangxue's heart tightened, and she asked in return, "She's not in the medical pavilion?"
Bai Ling's expression changed slightly, and she said in a low voice, "I just came from the Medical Pavilion. Meng Jing said that she and Senior Sister Ye left a long time ago, and asked me to come to Jingyue Peak to see if Xiao Qiu has returned. This..."
"They left a long time ago?" Wen Chaoyu quickly sensed something was wrong. "Where did they go?"
Bai Ling stared blankly at Man Jiangxue: "I don't know..."
Wen Chaoyu then asked, "Is Ye Zhilan in the Mingguang Hall?"
Bai Ling said, "No, I was reporting official business with Senior Sister Ji in Mingguang Hall before I went to the Medical Pavilion. I didn't see Senior Sister Ye."
"Oh no!" Wen Chaoyu quickly looked at Man Jiangxue and exclaimed, "Ye Zhilan wouldn't—"
Before she could finish speaking, Man Jiangxue had already stepped down the stairs. After taking only a few steps, she used her lightness skill to fly towards the Mingguang Palace. Bai Ling and Wen Chaoyu exchanged a glance and immediately followed Man Jiangxue. When the three of them arrived at the Mingguang Palace, there were only Xie Yijun and Ji Wanshu inside. Ye Zhilan and Yin Qiu were nowhere to be seen.
"Jiang Xue?" Xie Yijun asked, seeing the three of them looking serious and acting so hurriedly, "What's going on here...?"
Bai Ling asked anxiously, "Where are Senior Sister Ye and Xiao Qiu? Have you seen them?"
Xie Yijun looked bewildered and glanced at Ji Wanshu: "Didn't they both go to the medical pavilion to visit Huaiwei?"
“Meng Jing said that Xiao Qiu and Senior Sister Ye left together,” Bai Ling said. “There’s no one on Jingyue Peak, and there’s no one here either. Several hours have passed. Sect Leader, something’s not right!”
Xie Yijun's eyes flashed, but before she could reply, Man Jiangxue flew out again without a word, heading somewhere unknown. Everyone was on edge at that moment. Xie Yijun's expression changed several times, and she hurriedly said, "Immediately send down the order to find Zhilan and Yinqiu!"
Bai Ling accepted the order and immediately instructed her disciples to begin searching for the person. Ji Wanshu frowned and followed her out of the hall. Wen Chaoyu saw this and immediately chased after her. The two of them arrived at Ye Zhilan's residence without touching the ground. Man Jiangxue was walking quickly out of the house, holding a letter in her hand.
"Uncle-Master!" Ji Wanshu asked hurriedly, "Have you seen them?"
Man Jiangxue's expression turned cold, her eyes filled with intense killing intent. She said nothing, casually stuffed the letter into Ji Wanshu's arms, and left the place on her own.
Ji Wanshu quickly unfolded the crumpled letter, and saw several large characters written on it: "Meet me at the top of Xifeng Mountain tomorrow at noon."
·
When Yin Qiu woke up, the night outside the window was already deep.
Perhaps because of the clear skies of the past few days, a bright moon shines tonight, hanging like a hook in the sparse night sky, perfectly framed by the skylight on the wall.
Yin Qiu's whole body ached, her eyelids were heavy, and she could barely open her eyes. She lay on the cold ground, staring at the moon for a while to recover. When she tried to sit up, she found that her hands and feet were bound with rough hemp ropes, and even her neck was encircled with one. The other end of the ropes was tied to the wall beside her, confining her to an extremely narrow space.
Where is this?
Once Yin Qiu was fully awake, she struggled to sit up and leaned against the wall to survey her surroundings.
The room was lit only by a dim oil lamp, which was of little use and was not as bright as the moonlight. Looking around, there was nothing there except a table and a chair. It was neither a woodshed nor a cellar. In short, it was very simple and very quiet. Apart from the howling wind swirling outside, there was almost no other sound or sense of other people's presence. It was as if this corner was some deserted island isolated from the world, with only Yin Qiu there.
The biting cold seeped from the ground, seeped through her clothes and spread to her whole body. Yin Qiu was only wearing a thin shirt and skirt, which did not keep her warm at all. She was shivering and her lips and teeth were trembling. As she looked around, she heard a series of steady footsteps coming from outside. They came from afar and soon stopped at the door.
Yin Qiu's brows furrowed, and she stared intently at that spot. The next moment, the door was pushed open, and a familiar figure carrying a food box slowly walked in.
Their eyes met, and the two stared at each other for a moment. Ye Zhilan then closed the door behind her, and without saying a word, she moved her legs and squatted down in front of Yin Qiu.
Perhaps seeing that Yin Qiu was pale and shivering from the cold, Ye Zhilan looked at her for a while, then took off her outer robe and wrapped Yin Qiu up tightly, and poured a bowl of water and brought it to Yin Qiu's lips.
Yin Qiu glanced at her, said nothing, and lowered her head to drink the bowl of water.
Ye Zhilan took out another bowl of porridge and two small dishes of light side dishes. She didn't say anything, but only looked at Yin Qiu for her opinion. Yin Qiu nodded slightly, and Ye Zhilan fed her again. The two kept silent, neither of them speaking, until Yin Qiu shook her head to indicate that she couldn't eat anymore. Only then did Ye Zhilan stop and put everything back in the food box.
After drinking water, eating, and putting on more clothes, Yin Qiu felt much better and let out a long sigh. She looked at Ye Zhilan with complicated feelings, wanting to ask many questions but not knowing where to begin.
Even though she had been captured and brought to this place, and had seen Ye Zhilan with her own eyes, Yin Qiu still felt like she was in a dream and could hardly believe it was real.
She never expected that Ye Zhilan would be Xiao Qi.
After all, the reason Ye Zhilan was imprisoned in the Punishment Hall was largely because she was in charge of the formation of the Dark Guard disciples. Therefore, Yin Qiu and the others only suspected that she might be the mastermind behind the Dark Guard disciples, and almost never connected her with Xiao Qi.
It should be noted that Xiao Qi anticipated that the Dark Guard disciples would target Yin Qiu, and even specifically asked Wen Chaoyu to go to Wei City to protect Yin Qiu. This proves that Xiao Qi and the people behind the Dark Guard disciples are not in cahoots, and may even be on the opposite side. Ye Zhilan happens to be involved in this suspicion, so even Man Jiangxue did not think that she would be Xiao Qi.
But it turned out to be her.
Could it be that Xiao Qi and the secret guards are the same person behind the scenes? But isn't that a contradiction? She wants to send people to kill Yin Qiu, but she also wants people to save Yin Qiu. What kind of logic is that?
The residual body heat on her outer robe quickly dissipated, and Yin Qiu began to feel cold again. She remained silent, but Ye Zhilan finally spoke up: "Bear with it for now. I can't untie you, and I can only keep you locked up here. You'll be able to see Man Jiangxue tomorrow."
Yin Qiu, feeling heavy-hearted, asked upon hearing this, "What are you going to do?"
Ye Zhilan said, "Let's put an end to this."
Yin Qiu frowned, and after a moment said, "The destruction of Xiling was not because Uncle refused the marriage alliance. Mu De was executed by the King of Yongye long ago. You cannot put all these crimes on Uncle's shoulders alone."
Ye Zhilan chuckled softly, "I know," her eyes were cool, but her tone was very relaxed, "Worry about yourself first."
"You know?" Yin Qiu ignored the second half of her sentence and asked in surprise, "You know what?"
Ye Zhilan dragged the wooden chair to Yin Qiu's side, and said as she sat down, "My purpose in dealing with Man Jiangxue has never been for national or personal vendettas. I understand everything you just said."
Yin Qiu asked in surprise, "Then why do you still want to deal with your martial uncle?"
Ye Zhilan leaned back in her chair, looking languidly at Yin Qiu, and said, "I don't want to answer this question for now. Tomorrow, you may die, or you may survive by chance, and so will I. So this is our last chance to talk. If there's anything you don't understand, I can tell you everything now."
Hearing her words, Yin Qiu sensed that a bloody storm was bound to break out the next day. Her heart sank slightly, and her expression became solemn, but she tried her best to suppress her anxiety and said, "Alright, can you answer any other questions truthfully except for why you are targeting your martial uncle?"
Ye Zhilan nodded.
Yin Qiu sorted out her thoughts and asked, "That year when I was kidnapped to the Ziwei Sect headquarters, you gave Wen Chaoyu the mask. How did you get your hands on the mask material?"
Ye Zhilan said, "It's very simple. Vice Elder Li is a heavy drinker. If you get him a few pounds of strong liquor, he'll find out everything. He told you himself how to open the secret room where the materials were placed after he was drunk. The old man doesn't remember anything after getting drunk. Besides, I had planned this for a long time. It wasn't something I did on a whim the year you were kidnapped. As time goes by, he won't remember anything. Otherwise, how could I have studied the art of disguise in the palace? Of course, I already knew how to steal the mask materials many years ago."
No wonder she was able to do this so flawlessly; it turns out she already knew how to activate the secret chamber mechanism.
"What about Senior Sister Lu?" Yin Qiu asked again. "Was it your doing that she fainted in the hot spring?"
Ye Zhilan laughed. "That's right," she said calmly, brushing off her skirt. "I was the one who sent her to the bathhouse, and I was the one who knocked her unconscious. Even when she was severely injured by Qin Zheng on her way back to the palace, it was I who had Nangong Min instruct Qin Zheng to do so. Nangong Min has long wanted to capture you and bring you back to the Ziwei Sect. We had already discussed the plan. As for Huaiwei, she is in charge of affairs outside the palace and travels to various prefectures all year round. She is also a disciple of Wuhui Peak. If I wanted to find a scapegoat, she would undoubtedly be the perfect candidate. Didn't you all believe it?"
In other words, from beginning to end, only Nangong Min and Qin Zheng knew who she was from the Ziwei Sect, and even Wen Chaoyu always thought that Xiao Qi was Lu Huaiwei.
Seeing her smiling, Yin Qiu couldn't help but get angry: "Despicable! Senior Sister Lu was driven to suicide by you and is now on the verge of death, and you can still smile?"
"Who hasn't tried to commit suicide?" Ye Zhilan's smile didn't fade. Suddenly, she pulled up her collar, revealing a scar on her chest, and said, "I've tried to die before, hanging myself, drowning myself. I've done anything that could end my life. What's so scary about committing suicide?"
Yin Qiu glanced at the scar and said somewhat stiffly, "I don't know what you've been through, so I can't make any judgments, but Senior Sister Lu is innocent. You hurt her like that, don't you feel any remorse at all?"
Ye Zhilan paused for a moment, then said calmly, "I have no heart." She pulled her collar back and said, "My heart rotted long ago, many years ago."
Yin Qiu looked at her without saying a word.
“If a person wants to live without suffering, he cannot have a conscience,” Ye Zhilan said. “Only by extinguishing humanity can one become invulnerable to swords and spears, and ruthless enough to stop at nothing to achieve one’s goals. You are still young and have not yet truly experienced suffering, so you will not understand.”
Yin Qiu lowered her eyes and remained silent for a moment before saying, "I don't want to understand either." She took a deep breath and continued to ask, "What about Ding Lianzhen? You've been staying in the palace and can't leave the sect leader's sight. How did you find the time to go to Tianchi to meet her?"
“I don’t have to be around Xie Yijun all the time,” Ye Zhilan said. “The senior sister of the palace has so many things to be responsible for, from top to bottom, in every aspect, and I have to personally check and handle everything. Ever since Xie Yijun took me as her disciple, I have subtly given her a fixed impression that I have to take a few days every month to go to Shangyuan City to oversee the disciples’ purchase of the items needed for the palace. I am the one who deals with the merchants and settles the money. If it were someone else, there would be a chance that someone like Ding Lianzhen would embezzle funds. So if I want to leave the palace, Xie Yijun will not have any suspicion. Besides, even if I just make up some excuse, how could she not agree? After all, Ding Lianzhen has been in Tianchi for more than a year, and I don’t go to see her often. I’ve only been there three times in total.”
"Three times?" Yin Qiu pondered for a moment, puzzled. "Perhaps you haven't been to Tianchi many times, but what about the Yao Dingcheng refugee incident? You had Ding Lianzhen poison me, and you also had her watch over Liu Ba to poison the refugees. You should have been there in person then. How do you explain that?"
“That’s easy to explain,” Ye Zhilan smiled gently, looking at Yin Qiu with interest. “Don’t forget, ever since the snow disasters and the resulting refugees in various places, I’ve also come down from the mountain and haven’t stayed in the palace all the time.”
Jincheng! Yin Qiu suddenly remembered and exclaimed in realization, "You went to Jincheng and stayed there for a month. During that month, you could go anywhere you wanted, and you could even disguise yourself as Senior Sister Lu to instigate Ding Lianzhen to poison her."
“Exactly,” Ye Zhilan said. “I used Huaiwei’s face to approach Mr. Ya of Zhengya Hall and used the land deed of Duan Family Manor to ask him to kill those refugees for the Ziwei Sect. In fact, the land deed was fake, but he didn’t know it until his death. Isn’t that tragic? And the man that Liu Ba saw after poisoning was also Ding Lianzhen in disguise. In short, even if you find out about these things, it’s Huaiwei’s business and has nothing to do with me.”
Yin Qiu paused for a moment: "But Ding Lianzhen stays at the post station every day and has contact with Senior Sister Lu every day. Didn't she notice anything strange at all?"
“Of course she wouldn’t notice,” Ye Zhilan said. “First of all, Huaiwei and the real Chengxiu don’t actually have any relationship. She and Ding Lianzhen don’t see each other every day at the post station. Huaiwei only transferred Chengxiu to work in the prefecture city because she felt sorry for her. I had already told Ding Lianzhen that in order to prevent people from investigating her in the future, I couldn’t actively send her to any prefecture city. Things had to be done in a way that would be seen by outsiders. She had to ask Huaiwei herself, and Huaiwei has always been kind-hearted. She wouldn’t refuse.”
"So in Ding Lianzhen's eyes, it was inevitable that Huaiwei would agree to her request, while in Huaiwei's eyes, Cheng Xiu was living a miserable life and needed her help. The two of them each had their own duties and had no contact with each other at all. Moreover, I had emphasized to Ding Lianzhen that no matter what, she could not show any relationship with me. Only I could go to her, not the other way around. Even when the two of us were alone, we had to abide by this rule."
Ye Zhilan's smile held a hint of disdain as she said this: "Isn't it ridiculous? Even in that ghostly state, she's still afraid of death. Naturally, she'll obey my every command, afraid I'll kill her. So even if she has some interactions with Huaiwei, she'll just think I'm being polite to her. Besides, Huaiwei never stays in any state for long, and the two of them rarely meet. So Ding Lianzhen basically won't suspect anything, understand?"
She had taken advantage of Ding Lianzhen's fear of her, using only a few words of coaxing to make Ding Lianzhen completely believe her and dare not disobey in the slightest. As a result, Ding Lianzhen listened to her and stayed in the boiler room all day without contacting outsiders. Even when she met Lu Huaiwei, Ding Lianzhen dared not reveal anything.
Yin Qiu felt a chill run down her spine and could only sigh, "You're quite cunning."
“A vile woman like her doesn’t deserve to be treated kindly,” Ye Zhilan said coldly, but quickly softened her tone. “Just as you have fallen into my hands, I am willing to feed you and give you a coat. That’s the difference between you and her. I’m not entirely devoid of humanity either.”
"Should I thank you?" Yin Qiu thought to herself, but maintained her composure and said, "The piper I met on the way to Cloud City, was that you?"
Ye Zhilan said, "Yes, I wanted to test whether the Gu poison was successful. After the test, I returned to Jincheng to meet Wen Chaoyu, and then went to Weicheng."
Yin Qiu said, "Then you must know who the other murderer who destroyed the Ruyi Sect is, right?"
“Of course I know,” Ye Zhilan said, “but I can’t tell you who he is right now, since it’s not certain whether I’ll die tomorrow.”
Yin Qiu adjusted her posture and asked doubtfully, "Why can't you tell me? Even if you survive tomorrow, you and he are not on the same side. Do you think he would help you?"
“He will not only not help me, but will also try to kill me,” Ye Zhilan laughed contemptuously. “He will naturally worry that I will expose him, but if I can win a way out, I can make a deal with him, and things will be far from over.”
"So you're saying he didn't even know you existed?" Yin Qiu tried her best to keep her mind clear. "Then why didn't you contact him sooner?"
“He really doesn’t know I exist. He doesn’t even know Meng Wugui,” Ye Zhilan said. “This man did evil deeds and thought he could get away with it, but he didn’t expect that his crimes had already been seen by Meng Wugui and me. If I hadn’t kept it from him, he would have killed me to silence me and would never have let me stay in Yunhua Palace. None of us are good people. We will never join forces easily unless the time is right.”
Yin Qiu said, "What about the secret guards? Since you are Xiao Qi, then you are not the mastermind behind the secret guards. That's why we haven't suspected you."
“It’s all just a coincidence, isn’t it? Things in this world are sometimes so unexpected,” Ye Zhilan said, playing with the bracelet in her hand. The luster of the gold beads reflected in her eyes like scattered lights. “I did select the Dark Guard disciples myself, but I can swear to God, I didn’t know that they were sent by that person to monitor Man Jiangxue. I was indeed wronged in this matter, but it was also a blessing in disguise. It led you astray, making you suspect that I was the person behind the Dark Guard disciples, but you never suspected that I was Xiao Qi.”
So when she said she didn't know the origin of the secret guards, she wasn't acting; it was true.
"He gave Nangong Min the blueprints for the underground mechanisms of Liucang Mountain," Yin Qiu asked. "Is that right?"
Ye Zhilan shook her head: "No, to be honest, he just reaped the benefits without actively contributing to the destruction of Ruyi Sect. In fact, he can't be considered another culprit in the destruction of Ruyi Sect."
Yin Qiu was naturally surprised and asked, "Not him? Then who is it?"
Ye Zhilan smiled slowly again, staring at Yin Qiu and said, "It's me."
Yin Qiu's expression changed, and this time she was truly stunned.
"On the surface, only the Shen couple and your parents seem to know about the underground mechanisms in Liucang Mountain. Later, your father told Nangong Min," Ye Zhilan observed Yin Qiu's reaction and said slowly, "but they don't know. Actually, I know about this too."
Yin Qiu was shocked and asked in surprise, "How did you know?"
“You have to understand, I’ve been planning how to deal with Man Jiangxue for a long time,” Ye Zhilan said. “When I discovered that she had a close relationship with Shen Mandong, I set my sights on the Ruyi Sect and searched for a lot of rumors about it. The first thing that struck me as suspicious was the death of your grandparents.”
Ye Zhilan knew she was no match for Man Jiangxue, so she could only try every means to deal with those close to her and torment her in this way. If she could put Shen Mandong and Ruyi Sect to death, Man Jiangxue would be greatly affected. But to take action against Ruyi Sect, she needed a breakthrough point.
But this breakthrough was not hard to find. Not to mention martial arts sects, even the imperial government always had some shady dealings. Ye Zhilan understood this principle very well. After collecting information in secret for many days, she heard about the Yin couple's experience at Ruyi Gate.
“Nangong Min must have told you about your father’s background,” Ye Zhilan said. “Mrs. Yin were the managers of the Shen family, and they managed the Ruyi Gate very well. But they were suddenly murdered and became mute and blind cripples. Have you ever thought about why they suffered such a calamity?”
Yin Qiu moved her lips, but no words came out.
Seeing her reaction, Ye Zhilan curved her lips into a smile and continued, "After hearing about the Yin couple's situation, I secretly interviewed many people and found that not a single person knew what they had gone through. Moreover, most people were very evasive when asked about it and were unwilling to talk about it in detail. Do you think this makes sense? You know, there are no secrets in this world. As the saying goes, 'A wild goose leaves a trace, the wind leaves a sound.' It is impossible to completely clean up anything that has already happened. Perhaps God was helping me, or perhaps hard work pays off. I finally found a witness who was willing to speak out for the Yin couple, and he told me everything."
Yin Qiu asked, "So what exactly happened?"
Ye Zhilan said, "Mr. and Mrs. Yin were in charge of all the details of building the underground mechanism. Do you understand what I mean by that?"
Yin Qiu paused for a moment, then suddenly raised her eyelashes.
“Building such a mechanism and burying it deep halfway up Liucang Mountain is no small project and would require a lot of manpower,” Ye Zhilan said slowly. “Even if it is carried out secretly at night and the traces are erased during the day, those who do it should know. They can’t have amnesia. But during my investigation, I never heard anyone mention the underground mechanism. Isn’t that strange?”
Yin Qiu frowned, and after a long pause, finally spoke: "The matter of the underground mechanism cannot be spread; it must be kept secret. The best way to keep it secret is to kill everyone involved. And my grandparents were the main people in charge, so..."
“So they definitely won’t have a good ending,” Ye Zhilan said. “It was Sect Leader Shen who harmed them, and harmed your father’s parents. Your father deliberately approached Shen Mandong years later, also for revenge. As for the person who told me the truth, he didn’t participate in the construction of the underground mechanism, but he had dealings with the Yin couple and inadvertently learned about it. Later, a group of people suddenly disappeared from the Ruyi Sect, and Sect Leader Shen claimed that they were killed by the Ziwei Sect, which was of course a lie. So that witness survived by chance and kept the secret from everyone. The reason he was willing to tell me was because I told him about dealing with the Ruyi Sect; otherwise, he would never have said it. More importantly, he saw who I was. If he hadn’t told me, I would have killed him.”
At this point, Ye Zhilan sneered, "Although in the end I still killed him."
Yin Qiu clenched her fists tightly, trying her best to suppress the turmoil in her heart, and asked, "Then how did you get the blueprints?"
Ye Zhilan said, "Naturally, it was obtained from the Nine Immortals Hall. Since they made the items, they must have the blueprints. Do you know why Meng Wugui became one of the Nine Immortals of the Nine Immortals Hall? It's because I killed one of the hall masters. After he died, Meng Wugui took his place. And the reason Meng Wugui joined the Nine Immortals Hall was definitely to investigate this matter. The fact that she could use you to attract the secret guards to show themselves means that Meng Wugui also knows what the person behind it did. Unfortunately, she was still a young girl when the Ruyi Sect had its incident, so she still doesn't know how the blueprints were leaked."
"The leader of the Nine Immortals Hall is not easy to deal with. You could kill him so easily?" Yin Qiu said. "And you could even threaten him to hand over the blueprints?"
Ye Zhilan took out a bamboo flute from her sleeve and said, "Don't forget, I can use Gu poison to make him wish he were dead."
Yin Qiu's breathing became rapid, and her heart was extremely heavy: "Then you sent the blueprints to Nangong Min, helping her to conquer Liucang Mountain. Even Nangong Min didn't know that the blueprints were given to her by you."
“I didn’t tell her,” Ye Zhilan said. “Of course I wouldn’t give her all my secrets, so I only used the whereabouts of the Holy Sword to reach an agreement with her.”
“The Holy Sword isn’t at the Observatory,” Yin Qiu said. “You’ve lied to her.”
But Ye Zhilan laughed and said, "The Holy Sword is at the Star Gazing Platform. I'm not lying." As she spoke, she leaned closer to Yin Qiu and looked at her, saying, "After the incident in Wei City, that person would definitely have moved the Holy Sword to another place, so you couldn't find it. It's really not my fault. Since you went to the Star Gazing Platform to look for the Holy Sword, it must have been Nangong Min who told you. Even if you deliberately spread rumors to pin the blame on Nangong Min, I can't just sit and wait to die. Do you really think that, seeing Nangong Min about to turn around and bite me, I would obediently stay in Yunhua Palace and wait for her to expose me?"
“The Holy Sword was given to my mother by my father,” Yin Qiu said. “How could that person have obtained the Holy Sword?”
Ye Zhilan's eyes were deep, and her gaze towards Yin Qiu contained a hint of pity that was hard to tell if it was genuine or not. She gently reached out and touched Yin Qiu's cheek, whispering, "What else could it be? Of course, it's because he killed your mother and took the Holy Sword for himself."
Her palms were icy cold, like a piece of frozen ice that had been sealed for many years, and the chilling aura made Yin Qiu's whole body stiffen.
Yin Qiu's eyes widened, and she choked out, "He...he killed my mother? My mother...is dead?"
Ye Zhilan's eyes sparkled as she softly said, "He threatened Shen Mandong with your life, forcing her to hand over the Holy Sword and then live in anonymity far away, never to return. Your mother agreed to his request to protect you."
After saying that, she withdrew her hand, her smile cruel and triumphant: "But the moment your mother turned around, he killed her with a single sword. I saw it all clearly from the shadows."
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