Shen Zhaozhao blinked, the solemnity on her face vanishing instantly, replaced by a knowing "I knew it" expression: "Of course, if you're dragging a dog to find something, you should at least let the dog smell the target first, right?"
"You're completely clueless; it's like looking for a needle in a haystack."
"???"
Upon hearing this, Murong Xiao immediately flew into a rage!
Like a cat whose tail had been stepped on, he suddenly took a step forward, using his thin body, still covered in mud, to completely shield Tu Shanche behind him. His finger almost poked Shen Zhaozhao's nose, and his face turned red with anger: "Shen Zhaozhao! Who did you call a dog?! Say it again and see what happens! You dare to insult my brother?!"
Shen Zhaozhao didn't even bother to lift her eyelids, only giving him a disdainful sidelong glance, and casually tossed out a sentence: "Oh? So, are you going to listen to my method or not?"
"..."
Murong Xiao's finger, which was pointing at Shen Zhaozhao, froze in mid-air.
His small face, still streaked with tears and anger, crumbled at a visible speed. His eyes went from fierce to surprised and suspicious, and finally, only humility remained.
The next second—
"Thump!"
Murong Xiao bent his knees with such decisiveness that he crashed straight back to the ground, his forehead slamming heavily into the pile of decaying leaves once more. His voice was muffled, carrying a tragic air of "a great man can bend and stretch": "Senior sister, I was wrong."
Tu Shanche: "..."
Tu Shanche looked at his precious little prince, who was so respected in the upper realm, kneeling in the mud without any regard for his image, and a wave of indescribable bitterness rushed to his nose, almost making it hard for him to breathe.
He opened his mouth, trying to get his Xiao'er to hurry up, but his throat felt like it was blocked by something, and he couldn't utter a single word.
In the end, she could only weakly raise her hand, her fingertips trembling slightly, and gently touch her younger brother's mud-covered hair.
Shen Zhaozhao pressed her throbbing temples: "Alright, get up. The way you two are acting makes it sound like I'm some kind of vicious villain."
"..."
Upon hearing this, Murong Xiao nimbly scrambled to his feet from the mud. He pouted and whispered in Tu Shanche's ear, "I don't know if my senior sister is a villain, but she's truly ruthless and vicious..."
Tu Shanche couldn't hold back, and a short "chuckle" escaped from his throat. The light smile instantly brightened his warm golden eyes, and the corners of his eyes curved into a beautiful arc.
Murong Xiao was caught off guard by the laughter, his heart pounded so hard it almost jumped out of his throat, and he felt dizzy. Two suspicious red clouds instantly rose on his cheeks.
Shen Zhaozhao completely ignored the little brat's pathetic infatuation: "Since the only person who can be sure that he has come into contact with that otherworldly thing is your unlucky immortal, the most urgent thing right now is to dig him out first, and at least find out what that thing is, so that we can deal with it accordingly."
The smile in Tu Shanche's eyes faded, replaced by a layer of unease.
He lowered his beautiful, moon-like silver eyelashes, his voice tinged with helplessness: "But... Immortal Venerable Mo Yuan descended to the mortal realm only to calm his mind, and his whereabouts are already elusive and unpredictable. Recently... he seems to have suffered some kind of shock, and now there is no news at all."
"To find him in this vast Lingzhou... would be as difficult as ascending to heaven."
"That's right!"
Murong Xiao seemed to suddenly remember something, and his eyes lit up: "Senior Sister, our sect leader probably knows the whereabouts of the Immortal Venerable."
Shen Zhaozhao and Tu Shanche were both taken aback, their gazes immediately fixed on Murong Xiao.
Murong Xiao felt a little uneasy under his gaze: "Well... that jade pendant that you showed off a while ago, Senior Sister, that was actually Immortal Venerable Mo Yuan's personal possession."
"I figured at the time that the Immortal Venerable must have been restless after descending to the mortal realm and accidentally lost it, and then our crazy sect leader just happened to pick it up."
Shen Zhaozhao suddenly realized: "Then our most important task now is to catch that lunatic and find out exactly where he found the jade pendant. Maybe if we follow that path, we can dig out your reclusive immortal."
Tu Shanche blinked his clear golden eyes, clearly still processing the information overload.
He subconsciously tugged at Murong Xiao's sleeve, his voice carrying a barely perceptible unease: "Xiao'er...you...you just said, what did your senior sister...expose?"
Murong Xiao shrugged indifferently: "Oh, Senior Sister thought that Immortal Venerable Mo Yuan's personal jade pendant was too conspicuous to sell for money because it was a single piece, so she found a low-level secret realm and used the earth vein spirit core of that secret realm to smash the jade pendant with a 'bang'."
"It broke quite evenly, and sold for quite a few spirit stones."
Tu Shanche: "?!?!"
Tu Shanche's beautiful face instantly drained of color, his gentle golden eyes filled with genuine terror: "You...you all...do you know what you've done?! A Celestial Venerable's personal belongings, how could they be, how could they be—"
"Oh, don't be afraid, fox!"
Shen Zhaozhao waved her hand, cutting off his obvious "crime of disrespect": "If your weak Immortal Venerable really blames us, our Sect Leader will take the fall."
"However, our sect leader is always elusive. Instead of exhausting ourselves searching for him all over Lingzhou, we should just do our own thing step by step. Who knows, he might suddenly show up on his own when he gets the urge to act."
"That's right!"
Murong Xiao thought of their "Stylish and Unparalleled Sect" name. Although he had not yet met his sect leader, judging from his senior sister's description, he was definitely not a decent person. If the Immortal Venerable had killed him, so be it. Consider it as clearing away evil for Lingzhou.
Thinking of this, Murong Xiao's face no longer showed any trace of the tragic solemnity he had shown when he knelt down. All that remained was an infinite longing for new things. He tugged at Tu Shanche's sleeve and shook it, his eyes sparkling.
"Brother, the grand auction at Yuntai Immortal Market is about to begin. It's the biggest event in Lingzhou. Back in the Upper Realm, you were always either exterminating demons or suppressing rebellions. Now that you finally have some free time, why don't we go check it out?"
Tu Shanche looked at his younger brother's face, which was full of "wanting to play," and then at Shen Zhaozhao's self-righteous "the sky is falling on the sect leader" attitude. The stern lecture about the dignity of the immortals and the laws of the upper realm that was in his throat finally turned into an almost inaudible sigh.
He had never been able to handle Murong Xiao, and now he was even more exhausted by the two clowns' back-and-forth banter. He could only nod helplessly and say, "...Okay."
As soon as the itinerary was set, the helplessness in Tu Shanche's eyes vanished instantly.
He gently pulled Murong Xiao behind him, his warm golden eyes suddenly piercing the seemingly ordinary, lush grove of trees not far away. His clear, spring-like voice now carried an undeniable chill, each word deliberate and forceful.
"You've been listening for quite some time, don't you intend to show yourself?"
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