Before the Flower Goddess went to the Demon Realm to search for the whereabouts of the Star God and Li Yuan, she encountered Elder Chi, one of the "Four Elders of the Ink Pavilion" in the Demon Palace of the Demon Realm. Before their agreement, Dou Shen left a message: if he could not arrive at the agreed place on time, it meant that something had happened while he was retrieving the Twin Lotuses. The Flower Goddess did not need to wait for him and could leave on her own. If she had any information about the Twin Lotuses, he would send her a message about the agreed place, and they could discuss it in detail in the Demon Realm then.
Upon receiving the message, the Flower Goddess immediately went to the Demon Realm to investigate.
Upon arriving at the main city of the demon realm, the Flower Goddess noticed that the defenses were much tighter, suggesting that something had happened in the demon realm again...
Meanwhile, the Flower Goddess disguised herself as an ordinary citizen of the demon realm, found an inconspicuous corner, and seemingly casually inquired about what was happening in the demon realm.
"Why is the guard so tight today?" Flower Goddess asked someone she randomly picked up on the street.
The man looked the Flower Goddess up and down, and seeing that she was just an ordinary woman, he replied generously, "You've just arrived in the city, haven't you?"
The Flower Goddess listened patiently and nodded.
The man continued, "You don't know this, but recently people have been sent from the south. The higher-ups are worried that some disloyal people might infiltrate them, so they've made the guards keep a closer eye on them."
Looking at the Flower Goddess, he comforted her, "But you don't need to worry. They mainly check people in groups. They won't pay much attention to people like you who are just passing by."
The Flower Goddess thanked them and went to a teahouse to sit down.
Teahouses and taverns, these small, traditional workshops, are precisely the most convenient places to gather information.
As soon as the Flower Goddess sat down, she heard several people sitting together at the next table talking about something—
"Have you heard? The people sent from the south this time are actually a trap."
"How so?"
"Do you remember when the patrol team searched extensively for Elder Mo Ge?"
"Mo Ge, that wasn't the time with Dou Shen..." The Flower Goddess was taken aback, then continued listening.
"How could I not remember? That search was nothing compared to this one. I was questioned as soon as I stepped out of the house about whether anyone was hiding inside..."
“That’s right, and I later heard that it was all staged by the higher-ups…” someone suddenly said casually.
His words drew most of the people's attention. Seeing everyone gathered around him, the man smiled and said, "Wasn't the incident last time caused by the loss of the twin lotus flowers?"
"Yeah, yeah."
"Yes, that's right, we know all of that. But what does that have to do with what you called 'directing and acting'?"
"Hey, don't rush, let me explain slowly..."
"There's more to the story of the missing twin lotus. Do you know how it was lost?" the man asked.
"Stop keeping us in suspense, we know all this. Isn't it Elder Chi of the Ink Pavilion?"
"That's right, that's right. If that's all, we're not listening to you anymore." The crowd's expressions began to turn sullen, as if they would leave immediately if they heard the man's nonsense.
The man was not in a hurry and slowly said, "You only know that it was people from the Mo Pavilion who stole the Mo Pavilion's items, but you don't know the connections between them."
"After stealing the twin lotus, Elder Dou Shen of the Ink Pavilion didn't even keep it on his person; instead, he 'hid' it back into the Ink Pavilion. Don't you think that's ridiculous?" The man paused, then continued:
"Moreover, it was actually Xuan Mei, the Second Elder of the Ink Pavilion, who found the twin lotus. Who is Xuan Mei? You know about the black butterflies she keeps. It has to be said that the higher-ups really valued those twin lotuses this time. So Xuan Mei had a backup plan, putting 'Black Iris Powder' on the twin lotuses beforehand. After the twin lotuses went missing, she immediately found their whereabouts through the black butterflies in her possession." At this point, he paused, took a sip of tea, and waited for everyone's thoughts.
"So, the Second Elder knew that the First Elder had taken the twin lotus flowers, and sent the patrol team to arrest the First Elder in order to punish him?"
"No, no, no, I heard that the Second Elder and the First Elder have always been at odds. She feels that the First Elder's position as the head of the Four Elders of the Ink Pavilion is undeserved, since the First Elder didn't put in much effort to become an elder and was even appointed as the head of the Four Elders by the Former Demon Lord. The Second Elder must be resentful and can't stand the First Elder sitting in a higher position than her, so she 'directed and acted out' this drama?" someone speculated.
His idea was agreed upon by many people.
Everyone was very familiar with Elder Dou Shen, and many of them had been saved by him and were grateful to him. Moreover, they were unwilling to believe that Dou Shen had betrayed them.
Therefore, after the claim that "the Second Elder orchestrated the whole thing to frame the First Elder," they were clearly more inclined to believe the latter.
The man who had spoken earlier silently drank his tea, not interrupting, leaving everyone to speculate.
The Flower Goddess narrowed her eyes, looked at the seemingly ordinary person, and her gaze met the other person's eyes.
Their eyes met, and the man raised his teacup to gesture to her, but the Flower Goddess looked away.
This person... there's something about them that feels familiar...
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