Chapter 74 You seemed very happy when you were with him. ...
As soon as the two reached the bottom of the stairs, they saw a dancer standing quietly beside the stairs.
Upon seeing them, the dancer stepped forward and bowed, a slightly stiff smile appearing on her face. She spoke very slowly, enunciating each word clearly: "The master has prepared seats for our distinguished guests. Please follow me."
Shen Zhengyuan glanced at her and coldly uttered two words: "Lead the way."
The dancer's smile widened slightly, but it was merely a twitch at the corners of her mouth; her eyes remained as dark and deep as a pool, devoid of any smile or anger.
Even with such a beautiful face, maintaining such a forced, unsmiling expression only makes her look eerie and terrifying. A normal person would probably be so frightened that they would turn around and run away. I wonder what those people who came to Qilu Pavilion in the past wanted to see.
They followed behind the dancer to the seats that Liu Yan had prepared in advance.
This seat happened to be next to those disciples of the Azure Cloud Pavilion, the only difference being that their tables were decorated with various exquisite pastries.
The pastries served to the disciples of Biyun Pavilion were few in number and, in appearance, inferior to those served to them, even less appealing than those served to other guests.
It seems that Liu Yan and her fellow disciples have a really bad relationship, and she is now making no attempt to hide her dislike for these former disciples. Her fellow disciples see this but do not seem to want to cause trouble, which is a far cry from their aggressive attitude towards Liu Yan yesterday.
It seems that only they slept soundly last night, while all of Pavilion Master Liu's fellow disciples must have been unable to sleep, as the bruises on their faces are becoming increasingly obvious.
However, those seated with Pavilion Master Liu had more paper, pens, and rosters than others, indicating that they were now judges and would only be on stage at the very end.
Han Shannan's gaze involuntarily fell on their senior sister.
The senior sister, who was smiling at Han Shannan yesterday, seemed to have returned to normal today. When she noticed Han Shannan's gaze, she snorted coldly and scolded, "You lecher! What are you looking at? Look again and I'll gouge your dog eyes out! I haven't settled accounts with you for peeking at our accounts yesterday!"
"you!"
Just as Han Shannan's anger flared up, he heard Li Chenjin cough lightly beside him. He immediately shut up, rolled his eyes at himself, leaned down, and whispered in Li Chenjin's ear, "Why did she suddenly become normal again? Could it be that she was too frightened last night and that's why her temperament changed so drastically and she didn't have time to scold me?"
Li Chen subtly shifted his gaze, looking at the group without making a sound, and softly reminded them, "If you're going to observe, you can't just observe one person. Observe the others as well."
Following Li Chenjin's words, he looked at the other people from Biyun Pavilion, only to have his eyes meet those of someone looking at him.
But after making eye contact with him, the person hurriedly looked away, casually straightening her clothes as if she wasn't the one who had just looked in their direction.
Besides her, the others also looked very strange. Some were chatting and laughing with their senior sister, some looked blank, and others had stiff expressions and evasive eyes. In short, no matter how you looked at them, something was very wrong.
Before Han Shannan could investigate further, he was drawn to the sound of a mechanism turning. Looking towards the source of the sound, he saw the statue in the center slowly sinking into the ground, just as before.
Whether it was his imagination or not, at the moment when the statue's eyes were level with the ground, its half-closed eyelids suddenly blinked, startling him so much that he almost jumped up.
But apart from him, no one else reacted. Even Li Chenjin, who had been staring at the statue, remained calm, as if what he had just seen was just his illusion.
After the statue disappeared into the ground, a high platform that could accommodate dozens of people rose up immediately afterward.
The battle for Biyun had officially begun, but the hall was completely silent. No one spoke, and the only sound was their breathing. Han Shannan wanted to speak, but dared not utter a sound.
After the high platform was fully raised, Liu Yan, who had not shown herself until now, slowly appeared.
However, she only appeared to announce the rules of the Biyun Competition. After explaining the rules, she left again, leaving the selection to her fellow disciples who already loathed the Biyun Competition.
This is the ultimate way to kill someone by destroying their spirit.
The rules for this battle for the Azure Clouds are quite simple:
Ten people form a group and dance impromptu to the music. The person with the highest score stays, while the other nine are eliminated and will be asked to leave the Weeping Dew Pavilion.
These rules seem simple, but they are difficult for ordinary dancers. After hearing the rules, Li Chen was only glad that she had revealed her identity yesterday, otherwise she was afraid that she would have been asked to leave as soon as she stepped on the stage.
Han Shannan watched from below the stage for a long time. Among the first group of ten people to go on stage, there was a woman in white whose dance was excellent and attracted attention.
With a slender waist that could be encircled by one hand, she danced, her water sleeves fluttering, her exquisite face radiant with a gentle smile, and her eyes sparkling with a subtle brilliance, like a fairy descending to earth, her dance astonishing.
Although the other nine dancers were not bad, they paled in comparison to her. Moreover, during this time, many people in the audience felt inferior and asked to leave.
After such a stunning opening, the following performances seemed rather bland and boring, making Han Shannan lose patience to watch them any longer.
Seeing that he seemed to be unable to stand, Li Chen raised his hand and gently tugged at his sleeve.
Han Shannan noticed the pulling on his sleeve and immediately squatted down. Then he heard Li Chenjin say, "I just asked you to observe, did you notice anything else that was wrong?"
Han Shannan asked blankly, "Aside from those people from Biyun Pavilion, what else is wrong?"
Li Chen sighed softly and continued, "Haven't you noticed that this place has gotten smaller, and there are fewer people?"
Han Shannan said, "So many people left just now, so naturally there will be fewer people."
Li Chen sighed again, beckoned to him, and gestured for him to come closer.
Han Shannan immediately understood, turned his head and leaned close to Li Chenjin's lips. Li Chenjin raised his hand to cover his lips and whispered, "Do you remember how many people were at yesterday's banquet? Didn't you notice that there are already quite a few fewer people here before the Biyun Competition begins today?"
"Think about it again. So many people left just now, why isn't this place empty? And..."
"With so many people leaving, how come there isn't a single empty seat in this lobby?"
Han Shannan gasped, feeling a chill run from the back of his head to the top of his head.
He straightened up, looked around, and found that the place was indeed as strange as Li Chenjin had said.
There were at least several hundred people who abstained and left, but now, looking around, the hall is still packed.
Even more strangely, when he realized this, it was as if a voice in his mind kept telling him:
This place has always been this way, and it has never changed... This place has always been this way, and it has never changed... This place has always been this way, and it has never changed...
He hurriedly crouched down, getting close to Li Chenjin, and muttered, "Why don't I remember there being fewer people? Compared to yesterday, it seems like nothing has changed..."
Before Li Chenjin could speak, Shen Zhengyuan, who had remained silent until now, suddenly spoke coldly: "Useless."
"you!"
Han Shannan was about to get angry, but Li Chen pressed down on his shoulder and suppressed him.
She leaned close to his ear again and whispered, "This place is constantly changing. If I'm not mistaken, those who left haven't truly left."
Han Shannan shook his head, "But why do I feel..."
"Don't think about anything else for now. Calm your mind. There's no need to go and find out the truth. After today's battle at Biyun is over, someone will answer your questions. If you feel bored now, you can go and investigate some information, but remember to be careful and don't get discovered again," Li Chen said. "I've hidden an invisibility talisman in Jiu Niang Yuanzi's nest. It's effective for the time it takes for an incense stick to burn. Remember to keep track of the time."
Upon hearing this, Han Shannan asked, "Invisibility talisman, who gave it to you? It couldn't have been him, could it? Is he reliable? He wouldn't use a fake talisman to trick us and make a fool of ourselves, would he?"
Li Chen smiled and said calmly, "Don't worry, that invisibility talisman is as real as it gets. I got it from the cultivators when they were giving gifts to Zen Master Mingcun. It's definitely a good thing."
"Don't overthink it, just go quickly. Remember to come back early, so as not to arouse suspicion."
Upon hearing that the talisman was not made by Shen Zhengyuan, Han Shannan felt extremely relieved and turned to run towards the stairs.
Li Chen watched him go upstairs until his figure disappeared before slowly turning his gaze away.
As soon as Han Shannan left, their table fell silent, without a sound.
She didn't know what to say to Shen Zhengyuan, and Shen Zhengyuan didn't seem to want to talk to her either. As for the dozen or so people who came with Shen Zhengyuan, they held their breath and dared not make any moves unless Shen Zhengyuan spoke.
She glanced at Shen Zhengyuan and saw that he was watching the dance intently. She raised her eyebrows and pursed her lips. She picked up a piece of pastry, took a bite, and then reached for the teapot.
She fiddled with the pastries, teapot, cups, and table, and after fiddling around for a while, she finally got to her sleeve.
After taking out the storage bag from her sleeve, she fiddled with it for a while and finally produced a storybook, which was the one she hadn't finished reading before. She even thoughtfully folded a corner for herself so that she could easily flip through it later.
Shen Zhengyuan watched her for a long time until she opened the storybook and hid it under the table to read it secretly, just like a naughty student in a classroom who was sneaking away from the teacher and trying to catch a slack off.
He stared at Li Chenjin for a long time before saying, "You seemed very happy when you were with him."
"Huh? What?"
Li Chen was engrossed in secretly reading the storybook when he suddenly heard Shen Zhengyuan say something that left him momentarily stunned.
Then she heard Shen Zhengyuan say in a calm tone, "You are happier with him than with me. Whether it was more than seven hundred years ago or more than seven hundred years later, you are always happier with other people than with me."
Li Chen glanced at him strangely, but turned the page of the storybook to the next page and said, "I say, Sect Leader Shen, more than seven hundred years have passed, and your overthinking nature hasn't changed at all."
"If you're really bored, you might as well go to the Weeping Dew Pavilion and burn some incense. If anyone asks, I'll cover for you and say you went to change your clothes."
Shen Zhengyuan didn't reply, and Li Chenjin thought he had quieted down, but after a while, he spoke again: "If I were to kill him, would you kill me?"
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