Chapter 60 Immortal Lord 060%
Mo Xuanxiao did have something to discuss with her, and it was something important, something extremely urgent.
As Xie Qingxun's disciple, he couldn't disobey his master's orders. He couldn't see Qu Yaoyao, so he could only use this euphemistic way of explaining it, treading on the edge of the rules. Di Shu hadn't expected his boldness and coldly warned him, "You'll definitely anger our Master if you do this."
Not only Mo Xuanxiao would be punished, but he would also be unable to escape blame.
Just as he was about to stop them, the closed door on the upper floor was forcefully pushed open, and Qu Yaoyao ran out wrapped in Xie Qingxun's outer robe. She went down the stairs one by one, and saw only the ground below the empty stairs.
Following the melodious flute sound, Qu Yaoyao fixed her gaze on the hibiscus tree that soared into the sky. Raising her head slightly, she spotted a graceful white figure perched atop its lush branches. Mo Xuanxiao stood tall and straight, leaning against a branch, a jade flute in hand. His handsome face, his eyelashes lightly closed, seemed lost in thought.
"Mo Xuanxiao." Qu Yaoyao called him.
Mo Xuanxiao came back to his senses and looked down to see a figure under the tree. He dropped his jade flute and jumped down. The white hem of his clothes fluttered in the night wind, and he looked as elegant as a crane spreading its wings and flying in the wind.
For a moment, Qu Yaoyao was dazed as she looked at his figure, and was actually a little amazed by him.
"Madam Yao." Mo Xuanxiao landed in front of Qu Yaoyao on the tiptoes, turned his wrist, and the jade flute disappeared very quickly.
Qu Yaoyao pulled her outer robe closer to her body, her pupils wide open from shock. She looked at his face and asked, "Is there something wrong with the vanilla garden?"
Mo Xuanxiao's expression was somewhat difficult to describe. He nodded slightly and said, "It's still because of the Honghu plant."
He was considerate enough not to frighten Qu Yaoyao, so he didn't directly explain what had happened. After a brief introduction, he whispered, "Xu Yuan is dead."
Xu Yuan, the eldest senior brother of the Cang Lei Sword Sect, who picked up the Hong Hu plant and fought with the ugly man with two swords last night, is dead.
Even though she was mentally prepared, Qu Yaoyao was still startled when she heard those simple four words. For a moment, panic, confusion, sadness, fear, and a host of other emotions washed over her. Afterward, Qu Yaoyao couldn't remember the tone of voice she had used when she asked Mo Xuanxiao to take her to the Ten-Step Herb Garden.
Xu Yuan's death was not an accident. His body was covered with knife wounds of various sizes, and his body was chopped into two pieces.
Qu Yaoyao insisted on going to Xu Yuan's room to check. Just as she arrived at the East Garden, a breeze swept in with a faint smell of blood, and the beauty of the Yu Palace was no longer there.
After entering Xu Yuan's room, the heat that Xie Qingxun had caused her had dissipated, and now she only felt cold and numb all over.
"Are you okay?" Seeing Qu Yaoyao stagger, Mo Xuanxiao quickly reached out to support her. It was not until Qu Yaoyao came out wearing Xie Qingxun's outer robe that he realized what Di Shu meant by "both of them are busy". He felt a little uncomfortable at this moment.
Qu Yaoyao didn't pay attention to these things. Her face turned pale. After seeing Xu Yuan's remains, she retched and trembled uncontrollably, and hurriedly ran out of the room to breathe fresh air.
At this time, a handkerchief was handed to her. Qu Yaoyao took it and wiped her mouth. Seeing that Mo Xuanxiao was a little embarrassed, she said, "Sorry."
She rarely saw such a bloody scene, which was even more disgusting and horrifying than Xie Qingxun's previous self-mutilation by bleeding.
Mo Xuanxiao completely understood her. The girl in front of him was obviously a few years younger than him, but beneath her pretty appearance she was stronger and braver than her peers.
Qu Yaoyao forced herself to regain her composure quickly as she heard Mo Xuanxiao's explanation: "I just briefly examined Xu Yuan's body. The knife wounds on his body are different from ordinary knife wounds. The skin and flesh are twisted and uneven, like a knife and a saw."
"Is it a serrated knife?" Qu Yaoyao guessed.
She had barely managed a glance just now, and those scars were indeed somewhat different. Currently, the Wanmen Immortal Sect had gathered no fewer than ten thousand disciples. While there weren't many who wielded serrated blades, they couldn't be counted on two hands. Qu Yaoyao and Mo Xuanxiao exchanged a glance, each with a name in mind.
"Ugly man with two swords." They both spoke at the same time.
This is also the reason why Mo Xuanxiao was anxious to report this matter to Qu Yaoyao.
After discovering Xu Yuan's tragic death, Mo Xuanxiao immediately blocked the news and sent people to guard the place, not allowing anyone to enter. However, his ability was limited. After all, he had no say in the Ten-Step Herb Garden, and with his status, he couldn't capture the ugly man with two swords.
Now the Ten-Step Herb Garden belonged to Qu Yaoyao. Even if the people from the main sect came to investigate, they would first ask for her opinion. After the people from the main sect arrived, Qu Yaoyao nodded in agreement and said, "First, detain the ugly man with two swords for questioning."
He is now the most suspicious.
The ugly man with the two swords was drinking with his fellow disciples to vent his frustrations after losing the competition. After being captured by the main sect's men, he was still drunk and a little unconscious, and he didn't know that Xu Yuan had been killed.
After nearly an hour of investigation, Qu Yaoyao and others discovered that the ugly man with two knives was not the murderer, because when Xu Yuan was killed, he was drinking in the tavern inside the Xianzong, and there were no less than dozens of people around him who testified, from various sects and factions.
"If it's not him, who else could it be?" Everyone was puzzled. Qu Yaoyao suddenly asked, "Is the Honghu plant still on Xu Yuan?"
Mo Xuanxiao had searched his room thoroughly, and the people sent by the main sect had counted his clothes, but they did not find the whereabouts of Honghu Zhu.
"Do you think there is a possibility that because Xu Yuan has the Honghu Plant and won the competition, someone wanted to take the opportunity to snatch it away, but was afraid of being discovered, so they used a serrated knife to forge evidence of murder by an ugly man with two knives to distract our attention?" Qu Yaoyao speculated.
Mo Xuanxiao thought about it carefully and said, "It's possible."
Seeing that Qu Yaoyao still had something to say, he saw through her at a glance, "Madam, do you have an idea?"
Qu Yaoyao felt a little embarrassed. She scratched her head and said modestly, "I'm not very smart and can't think of any good ideas. I just feel that if this hypothesis is correct, then in such a short time, the murderer would not have had time to hide the Honghuzhu."
"Madam means—"
"Search every room in the Ten-Step Herb Garden. The Honghu plant must still be on the murderer."
“…”
Wangxu, Chengyu Palace.
The temperature in the hall had already gone cold, and there was a half-empty teacup on the table, making it lonely and quiet.
When Di Shu hurried in, the window was wide open. Xie Qingxun was standing with his hands behind his back, looking at the hibiscus tree outside the window with a cold expression on his face.
"Master," Di Shu whispered, "Disciples from the main sect have been dispatched to the Ten-Step Herb Garden to conduct a search, and everything is progressing smoothly."
Xie Qingxun didn't react. He looked at the Fusang tree with an unclear expression. He asked, "Who proposed the search?"
Di Shu glanced at him and said, "It's... Madam Yao."
Xie Qingxun still didn't react, but he curled his lips slightly and said, "She is smarter than I thought."
It was just that her cleverness happened to suit Xie Qingxun's wishes. Funny to say, Xie Qingxun had never thought of dragging Qu Yaoyao into the chess game, and even thought of ways to pull her out. However, this girl didn't appreciate it at all and insisted on becoming a chess piece that he needed to use.
"Now that we're in the game, it's hard to figure out how to get out." The low murmur was so cold that it was impossible to discern the emotion.
.
The main sect's search caused quite a stir in the Ten-Step Vanilla Garden. The uninformed cultivators complained one after another, and Qu Yaoyao didn't care.
After nearly two hours of searching, it was already late at night, and they did find the Honghu plant. However, the result was unexpected: not just one cultivator was found to have the Honghu plant, but at least ten, and none of them were the ugly man with the two swords.
"Where do you get all the swan plants?"
These cultivators who possessed the Honghu plant were very frightened and answered almost every question, but their answers were all similar, that is, they picked it up in front of their own door.
Qu Yaoyao has seen these Honghu plants. Each one is real. They are of different sizes but none of them is the one in Xu Yuan's hand. Moreover, each one has an alibi.
This brought the case of Xu Yuan's tragic death back to a stalemate. What was worse was that due to the large-scale search by the main sect, many people saw that there were still cultivators with the Honghu Plant. For a time, there was a lot of discussion and all kinds of opinions were said.
Seeing that the sky was getting brighter and that there were still cultivators who had to get up early to participate in the competition, Qu Yaoyao had no choice but to give up. She had tried her best, but still found no useful clues.
"Honghu plants, Honghu plants..." Qu Yaoyao murmured, "How come there are so many Honghu plants in the Ten-Step Herb Garden?"
Mo Xuanxiao couldn't answer this question, and no one else could answer it.
Following Xu Yuan's tragic death, the Cang Lei Sword Sect's accountability followed, and the escalating impact of the incident followed. Upon learning that Qu Yaoyao had been investigating all night, Sect Leader Huang took time out of his busy schedule to visit the Ten Steps Vanilla Garden to comfort her, "Madam, don't worry about what happens next; the sect will handle it."
At this point, the entire sect hadn't taken the appearance of the Honghu Plant and Xu Yuan's tragic death too seriously. After the previous Honghu Plant forgery incident, coupled with deliberate guidance from someone, most people directly blamed the Demon Realm for this. Sect Leader Huang said, "There are so many people at the Immortal Sword Conference, and there are so many eyes. Someone from the Demon Clan must have infiltrated here. Madam Yao, don't worry, the main sect will definitely find the murderer."
It’s a good thing that the Zongzong will continue to track down the murderer of Xu Yuan on behalf of Qu Yaoyao.
Qu Yaoyao had little experience judging cases and truly knew nothing about them, so she felt more at ease handing this matter over to the head sect leader. However, she hadn't anticipated that Mo Xuanxiao would be punished for this incident. The reason for this was that he had disrespected his teacher and disturbed the Immortal Venerable's wife by playing the flute outside Chengyu Hall. By the time she learned of this, Mo Xuanxiao had already been released from the Du'e Courtyard, receiving twenty lashes, and was kneeling outside Chengyu Hall.
"Why should he be punished?" Qu Yaoyao couldn't understand at all.
She ran to Chengyu Hall to look for Xie Qingxun, but was turned away. Di Shu stood in front of the hall door and said respectfully, "Master has gone to bed, Madam, please go back."
Qu Yaoyao looked at him, "Doesn't he never sleep?"
Di Shu choked and could not answer, so he could only repeat the same sentence: "Madam has been busy all night, you should go back and rest early."
She was indeed busy all night investigating the case, but she was not the only one busy. Mo Xuanxiao was always by her side and his work was not much easier than hers.
The punishments in the Du'e Court were harsh and severe. Even though twenty lashes wouldn't hurt anything fundamental, it would still leave the skin torn and flesh exposed, which was definitely not pleasant. Now Mo Xuanxiao was kneeling outside the Chengyu Palace, his white clothes stained with blood and his eyes dark blue. His lips had lost their color due to the pain and he looked very weak.
"Madam Yao." Seeing that Qu Yaoyao insisted on seeing Xie Qingxun, Mo Xuanxiao was worried that she would anger him, so he tried to persuade her in a hoarse voice, "I did make a mistake, and Master deserves the punishment. Madam, there's no need to plead for me anymore."
Qu Yaoyao couldn't see Xie Qingxun, so she ran over to pull him away. She felt a little guilty and said, "You did your job well, and there's nothing wrong with that. If there's anything wrong, it's my fault. I shouldn't have let you go to the vanilla garden alone last night."
I should leave Xie Qingxun behind and go with him.
"Madam Yao..." Di Shu's expression was a little complicated. He tilted his head to look at the palace door, wanting to remind her that his master could hear what she said at the door.
Qu Yaoyao didn't care about him at this moment. Seeing that Mo Xuanxiao was determined to accept the punishment, she stood there helplessly for a while and asked, "How long are you going to kneel?"
"It won't take long." Mo Xuanxiao lied with his face downcast, "Just kneel for three full hours."
In fact, Xie Qingxun punished him by making him kneel for the entire day.
"Three hours..." Qu Yaoyao murmured, "It will take a long time."
The girl, who had always been obedient, would never force her way into the hall. She seemed to have given up struggling and finally returned to her bedroom obediently.
Seeing her leave, not only did Mo Xuanxiao breathe a sigh of relief, but even Di Shu secretly wiped his sweat. He moved his stiff shoulders, looked coldly at Mo Xuanxiao kneeling on the ground, and kindly reminded him, "If you still want to stay in the Immortal Ruins, stay away from Madam Yao from now on."
Mo Xuanxiao said nothing, his back broad and straight.
There was a slight breeze, rustling the leaves, and the sky had been a little gloomy since early morning.
Both sides of Chengyu Hall are planted with precious flowers. Thanks to Qu Yaoyao's careful care, these flowers are growing well and are beautiful. Ever since Qu Yaoyao had a quarrel with Xie Qingxun over the flowers, picking of these flowers has been prohibited and Xie Qingxun has placed a protection ban on them.
Another gust of wind blew, and the air was filled with the rich fragrance of flowers, bringing a very light lotus fragrance, which was very similar to the scent on Qu Yaoyao.
Just as they were thinking of Qu Yaoyao, the girl in a beautiful pink dress ran up the stairs and reappeared in front of them like a dancing butterfly, holding a large bundle in her arms.
"Why are you back again?" Di Shu was stunned.
Qu Yaoyao squatted beside Mo Xuanxiao and opened the bundle to reveal the bottles and jars of various spiritual medicines inside. She panted and said, "You still have to participate in the competition later, so you can't get hurt."
If he loses the competition, Qu Yaoyao will be guilty of a serious crime.
Mo Xuanxiao was also a little surprised. He looked at the girl with rosy cheeks, and his heart beat rapidly. "You just went back..."
Go back and help him find medicine?
Xie Qingxun only told Mo Xuanxiao to accept the punishment, but he didn't say he couldn't apply the medicine. Qu Yaoyao didn't think too much about it. Seeing the large amount of blood on Mo Xuanxiao's body, she didn't dare to touch it easily. She could only say, "I'm afraid of hurting you. Take it off yourself."
The whips mainly hit Mo Xuanxiao's back, and he couldn't wipe them off by himself.
How could Mo Xuanxiao possibly take off his clothes in front of Qu Yaoyao? He gently covered his collar and politely refused. Qu Yaoyao thought he was afraid of Xie Qingxun's blame, so after thinking for a moment, she said, "Then I'll take it off for you."
"If Xie Qingxun blames you, you can say that I forced you."
After she finished speaking, she raised her hand to pull Mo Xuanxiao's clothes. Mo Xuanxiao hurriedly stopped her and uncontrollably touched the back of her soft hand.
"Madam, please don't do this." It was the first time that Mo Xuanxiao was stripped of his clothes by a girl. Even though he knew that Qu Yaoyao was kind enough to help him apply medicine, his ears turned red uncontrollably.
Di Shu's scalp tingled as he watched. Seeing that Mo Xuanxiao was unable to resist and was about to have his clothes taken off, he quickly ran over to stop them. For a moment, the three of them were entangled with each other.
As they were pulling and tugging, the tightly closed door of the palace suddenly opened. Although no one came out, Qu Yaoyao felt a pulling force around her waist, pulling her from outside the palace into the room.
Chi——
Because Qu Yaoyao had clung to Mo Xuanxiao's clothes and refused to let go, she had a piece of fabric in her hand after being dragged into the hall. Xie Qingxun viciously dragged her onto his lap, his face grim and unfriendly. He pinched Qu Yaoyao's chin with his slender, pale fingers, and said a few words without emotion, "Qu Yaoyao, you are so brave."
She actually dared to strip another man's clothes in front of him.
Do you think he can't see anything in there?
The author has something to say: Thank you for your blessings~ O3O
Thanks to the little angels who irrigated the nutrient solution: Shichi 50 bottles; Zidu 11 bottles; Boye 5 bottles;
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