Chapter 123 To Give or Not to Give
After Zhang Xiangyun finished speaking, an eerie silence fell over the room.
Yu Sui, who was observing their confrontation from inside the carriage, was also surprised for a moment before his gaze fell on Nian Qiuyan in the house.
Nian Qiuyan, however, remained completely unaffected, maintaining his gentle and polite demeanor. His dark eyes, which he looked into at Zhang Xiangyun, revealed neither joy nor anger, nor did they seem to be inclined to grant Zhang Xiangyun's request.
The Legalists initially decided to adjudicate Gu Gan because the forbidden "Milky Way Water" from the Upside-Down Moon Cave had disappeared.
As an indestructible drug-making contaminant, the Milky Way Water was kept under the protection of the Legalist school in the Upside-Down Moon Cave, a forbidden area. Although the Ghost Daoist school could not completely destroy it at once, they could speed up its destruction.
Therefore, Gu Gan's trespassing into the Upside-Down Moon Cave wouldn't have caused such a big fuss; at most, he would have been punished with a few days of detention and some points deducted.
The whole commotion was caused by the disappearance of the Milky Way Water and the fact that Gu Gan was captured in the Upside-Down Moon Cave. Although his suspicion was cleared by the Di Su Tian Libra brought by Yu Sui, the academy has not yet found the missing Milky Way Water.
The Legalists have always kept this matter in mind.
Yu Sui had previously focused his attention on the Pagoda of the Buddha and hadn't bothered to investigate anything related to the Milky Way Water. Now, listening to Zhang Xiangyun's words, it seemed that besides Gu Gan and the others, the one who entered the Upside-Down Moon Cave and took away the Milky Way Water that night was Nian Qiuyan.
If it were autumn geese... After her initial surprise, Yu Sui found it somewhat reasonable.
Nian Qiuyan's strength is indeed not to be underestimated.
Even though everyone knows that he only performs three divinations a day, no one knows how powerful those three divinations can be.
It is said that the sage Changsun Zi of the Taiyi Fangji school once said that Nian Qiuyan's three divinations could block three sages.
From this perspective, Nian Qiuyan could have easily entered the Upside-Down Moon Cave and taken the Milky Way Water all by herself.
But what did he take the Milky Way water for?
Yu Sui's gaze swept over Zhang Xiangyun and Luo Fu, wondering what their relationship was with Nian Qiuyan.
"What if I give you the Milky Way Water? Do you have a way to bring Taiyi out?" Nian Qiuyan asked with a smile.
"Oh?" Zhang Xiangyun looked at him leisurely, a half-smile on his face, and said, "So you're not handing over the Milky Way Water to me because you want to take Taiyi out yourself?"
Nian Qiuyan did not answer.
Zhang Xiangyun tapped the stair railing with his fingertip, and a radiant star chart emanated from the ground, centered on him. The stars on the ground twinkled and connected to form lines, gradually extending towards the position where Nian Qiuyan was standing.
"You've been hanging out with Mei Liangyu's gang for so long, do you really think you're all clean? Have you forgotten what you do for a living?" Zhang Xiangyun's eyes were filled with coldness mixed with mockery as he stood on a slightly higher spot, looking down at Nian Qiuyan. "Mei Liangyu probably never imagined that he would care so much about the Upside-Down Moon Cave, even making an enemy of that unlucky fellow Gu Gan, all for the sake of finding the Milky Way Water. But he never expected that the one who stole and hid the things was his trusted brother."
Nian Qiuyan chuckled softly, "I'll take that as a compliment."
Zhang Xiangyun raised an eyebrow and asked, "Will you give it to me or not?"
"Why should I give it to you?" Nian Qiuyan asked in return.
Zhang Xiangyun said, "I didn't ask you for it before because Mei Liangyu was keeping an eye on it, which was troublesome. Now that he has shifted his attention, you should give it to me."
Before Nian Qiuyan could answer, Zhang Xiangyun sneered, "If you don't give it to me, I'll have to go ask Mei Liangyu for it, and while I'm at it, I'll also ask Kong Yiyi..."
“I told you, you can’t bring Taiyi out, so it’s useless for you to take it,” Nian Qiuyan interrupted him.
“I don’t need to take Taiyi out; it can stay right here.” Zhang Xiangyun tapped the ground with his hand, staring at Nian Qiuyan, and said with a smile, “It can fulfill its value here. What the outside world wants is the finished product, not the raw material.”
Nian Qiuyan's eyes flickered slightly: "Aren't you afraid of being discovered by the saints of Taiyi if you're making orchid poison in Taiyi?"
"Don't play dumb with me. You must know who makes Orchid Poison in Taiyi," Zhang Xiangyun said exaggeratedly. "Nian Qiuyan, have you forgotten that you are also a member of Xuan Kui? Your family has been doing this business since your grandfather's generation. You must have made at least tens of thousands of portions of Orchid Poison yourself. What are you pretending for now? Or... do you want to get rid of your identity as an Orchid Corpse?"
Zhang Xiangyun chuckled, leaning half her body against the stair railing, seemingly struggling to hold back her laughter.
That's absolutely hilarious.
Yu Sui noticed the name "Xuan Kui" that Zhang Xiangyun mentioned. It was a familiar name for an organization. She had heard it from Elder Yan. It was related to Chu Jin and seemed to be an organization that bought and sold orchid poison under Chu Jin's orders.
If the orchid poison on Chu Jin's side was made in Taiyi and then transported to Qingyang, Qingyang would have no way of tracing its origin.
Judging from Zhang Xiangyun's words, some of the Taiyi Saints were not completely unaware of the production of the Orchid Poison, and some even participated in it.
Yu Sui leaned against the car window, watching the bustling crowd outside. Her dark, bright eyes quietly scanned the surrounding streets and alleys. Taiyi contained more than she had imagined.
Zhang Xiangyun laughed for a while before stopping. He raised his hand to wipe his face, looked at Nian Qiuyan again, covered his lips with his fist, coughed twice, and then continued, "I don't need to take the Milky Way Water out of Taiyi, don't worry. Can you give it to me now?"
Nian Qiuyan asked, "Who needs it? I will deliver it to them personally."
Zhang Xiangyun smiled, his eyes crinkling, and pointed to himself: "I am what I need."
Nian Qiuyan said gently, "You are not worthy."
Zhang Xiangyun laughed too, glancing behind him out of the corner of his eye, and said to Luo Fu with an exaggerated expression, "Wow, he said I'm not good enough?"
Luo Fu said calmly, "Then remove the outer divination array and let Mei Liangyu in."
Zhang Xiangyun snapped his fingers: "Good idea."
Just as he was about to do as instructed, Nian Qiuyan frowned slightly, but still said calmly, "Exposing me is the same as exposing yourselves. Even if you let Mei Liangyu know my identity, you still won't get the Milky Way Water. I can make sure you never get the Milky Way Water. Do you dare to gamble with the Milky Way Water?"
Zhang Xiangyun was about to snap his fingers a second time, but after listening to Nian Qiuyan's words, he seemed thoughtful, gently rubbing his two fingers together without making a sound.
Luo Fu looked at Nian Qiuyan and asked, "Can I interpret what you just said as you being unwilling to hand over the Milky Way Water and wanting to betray Xuan Kui?"
Nian Qiuyan: "No."
Zhang Xiangyun waved his hand and laughed, "Haha, interesting. The reason the higher-ups asked you to get the Milky Way Water is because there's a shortage of materials. With the Milky Way Water, we can be self-sufficient and never lack the crucial raw materials. As for you, since you accepted the job and obediently stole the Milky Way Water from the Upside-Down Moon Cave, but you're unwilling to hand it over to Xuan Kui, isn't that betrayal?"
Nian Qiuyan said, "You two can't represent the organization yet. I don't trust you with this. Who asked you to come to me for the Milky Way Water? Tell him to come to me, or tell me his name and I'll go find him."
“I didn’t expect to have the chance to return the same words to you so quickly. Want to know who asked you for the Milky Way Water?” Zhang Xiangyun snapped his fingers a second time. “You’re not worthy.”
As soon as he finished speaking, the stars on the ground spun rapidly, dazzling the eye. The air within the divination array was drawn away, and gravity intensified, causing Nian Qiuyan's shoulders to tremble slightly.
"I'll ask you one last time, will you give it to me or not?" Zhang Xiangyun asked.
Within the divination array, the gravity was so strong that Nian Qiuyan could barely lift his head. He struggled to rub his neck, chuckled softly, and said with a hint of helplessness, "What you're doing is rather frightening. I'll give it to you."
"Did you bring it with you?" Zhang Xiangyun asked.
Nian Qiuyan said, "I brought it."
Zhang Xiangyun laughed: "Who are you trying to fool?"
Nian Qiuyan laughed along, "It's what you didn't want."
Zhang Xiangyun pondered for a moment, took two steps forward, and when he took the third step, he realized something was wrong. He frowned and looked down.
Luo Fu, who had been standing against the wall, suddenly straightened up: "Step back."
He said it to Zhang Xiangyun, but it was too late.
Zhang Xiangyun took a step back, and where he had just stood, a black talisman appeared and then spontaneously combusted and disappeared.
“A Taoist invisibility talisman,” Luo Fu said, his gaze fixed on Nian Qiuyan, who hadn’t moved since entering the room. “What did you put here?”
When Mei Liangyu took Nian Qiuyan out of the outer city, he gave him a bunch of life-saving gadgets. Knowing his combat prowess, which was calculated by the Three Divinations, Mei Liangyu was afraid that he might die in an accident, so he gave him the sword and ring he had obtained from Sui Tianjun.
The Taoist instantaneous invisibility talisman is one of them.
If Nian Qiuyan were to use the sword ring, it would cause too much noise, and Mei Liangyu outside would find out, so he couldn't use it. He had deliberately waited longer at Mingzhu Fang just to retrieve something.
The thing was concealed by the Invisibility Talisman, and silently approached Zhang Xiangyun, sneaking inside his clothes, pressing against his skin, and burrowing into his flesh.
Zhang Xiangyun's expression changed slightly. Seeing this, Luo Fu raised his hand and swung a golden lightning bolt at Nian Qiuyan. Just as the lightning bolt was about to hit Nian Qiuyan, Zhang Xiangyun blocked it with a wave of his hand. He grabbed Luo Fu's hand, signaling him not to move.
Nian Qiuyan was caught in the blast from the clash of two forces; lightning bolts wrapped around his neck, knocking him back and slamming him against a door.
"Wait a minute," Zhang Xiangyun called out, his expression grim. "It's that Love-Love Gu."
Luo Fu: "..."
Nian Qiuyan, whose neck was being strangled, let out a low chuckle.
The farmer's love for Gu was originally used to tame poisonous beasts and prevent them from devouring their master. Therefore, the person afflicted by Gu would be connected to the life of the one who cast the Gu. Thus, the injury to Nian Qiuyan was the injury to Zhang Xiangyun.
Luo Fu withdrew the Golden Thunder, but Zhang Xiangyun did not withdraw the Divination Formation.
He stared at Nian Qiuyan, who was smiling, with a gloomy expression: "You have quite a lot of things in your hands."
After taking a deep breath, Nian Qiuyan asked, "Isn't it uncomfortable to be pressed down by the gravity of the divination array?"
Zhang Xiangyun coldly replied, "I'm not in pain."
When Nian Qiuyan saw him blatantly lying, she just smiled and said, "While you're freeing yourself from the curse, think carefully about whether you want to tell me who wants the Milky Way Water."
"Are you out of your mind?" Zhang Xiangyun sneered.
“I’ve calculated it, I’ll live longer than you.” Nian Qiuyan still had the heart to joke at this moment.
"It's best to avoid calculating fate too often. Every time you do, there's more chance of something going wrong." Zhang Xiangyun dispelled the divination array, calmed himself down, and put his clothes and hat back on. His words were clearly malicious. "I'll give you time to think it over carefully. Before I tell Mei Liangyu or Kong Yiyi who you are, decide whether or not to give Yinhe Water."
Nian Qiuyan's body was freed, and he rubbed his neck, which was sore from being pressed, with his head down. His expression was not visible in the dim light.
When he slowly looked up, he was the only one left in the room.
Zhang Xiangyun and Luo Fu have already left.
The Five Elements Light Core followed the two of them.
Yu Sui discovered that the two were very familiar with the terrain of the outer city. They skillfully avoided the bustling areas and ventured into deserted alleys, getting further and further away from the chaotic and contentious Mingzhu Fang.
Zhang Xiangyun looked extremely pale after being controlled by Nian Qiuyan's Love Poison. Luo Fu glanced at him and said, "It will take some time to remove the poison. In the meantime, you'd better not see him."
"I know," Zhang Xiangyun replied, suppressing his anger.
A beast carrying the message landed on their shoulders. After hearing the report, Zhang Xiangyun sneered, "That brainless Qu Zhenghao should just target Mei Liangyu. He doesn't want to make money off the Nangong family."
Luo Fu asked, "Has Nangong Sui come to the outer city?"
Zhang Xiangyun said, "If Mingzhu Fang really loses money, it's Nangong Sui's problem. The money Nangong Sui lost in Taiyi, her sister made back in just a few days."
Luo Fu said, "Then let's leave it at that and go back to the academy."
In the deserted streets, the night wind lifted a corner of the carriage curtain, and the streetlights cast their light on the carriage. The rolled-up curtain swayed, but it was difficult to see the girl's face inside.
[Author's Note]
Thank you so much for your support! I will continue to work hard!
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