Chapter 212 Who among them is using Orchid Poison?
Wu Huaiwei's desire to take on a disciple stemmed from her interest in Yu Sui's superior physique and the Nine Provinces Star Sea. Yu Sui guessed that she valued these two things highly, which was why she dared to negotiate with her.
After all, with these talents bestowed upon her, whether or not she should become an apprentice or learn the nine arts of the Yin-Yang School was entirely up to Yu Sui.
Hearing Wu Huaiwei say that she also had conditions, Yu Sui was not in a hurry and nodded, saying, "Please tell me."
“First,” Wu Huaiwei raised her hand from the fence and held up a finger to Yu Sui below, “you will learn whatever I teach you, and you will learn however I teach you.”
Yu Sui readily agreed: "Okay."
“Second,” Wu Huaiwei leaned forward slightly, “you must learn.”
"How can you guarantee that?" Yu Sui asked, puzzled.
Wu Huaiwei pointed at her: "A verbal guarantee."
Yu Sui nodded again: "Okay, I will definitely learn it."
“Third,” Wu Huaiwei squinted, placed her hand back on the fence, and tapped it lightly with her fingers. An invisible wave of energy spread out, and the Milky Way in the sky was reversed and came to Yu Sui’s feet. “You can only leave after you have learned this Reverse Star Technique.”
The stars that were once high above and unreachable are now everywhere. The world before us seems to be made up of stars, and each star has its own name and shape.
Artificial hills, flowering trees, tables and chairs, houses, eaves—Yu Sui surveyed everything around her. Everything she saw was materialized from the power of the stars. She slowly looked up at Wu Huaiwei on the upper floor of the pavilion.
I had heard before that Wu Huaiwei, the saint of the Yin-Yang School, created the Reverse Star Technique, and she was the only one of her kind in the entire Xuan Gu Continent.
Taiyi Communications Institute.
Li Qiuwen and Zou Qian were still questioning Zhang Xiangyun, demanding that he hand over the Listening Wind Ruler, but Zhang Xiangyun gave it to Wei Ren instead.
The Communication Institute studied the Wind Listening Ruler for a long time, and the sorcerers gathered together to discuss it repeatedly, all concluding that there was no problem with counting mountains.
They had recently inspected all the mountains, large and small, with the help of several sages, and found nothing unusual.
If it wasn't a mistake by Shushan, then someone was able to bypass the authority of the Communications Institute to send this message?
But thinking like that is terrifying.
Zou Qian sat at the conference table, scratching her neck from time to time, looking absent-minded.
Li Qiuwen, standing beside him, had a serious expression. In front of him were many wind-listening rulers, which he was checking one by one. Behind him stood three or five communication academy sorcerers, who were reporting to him on the operation of the mountain.
“That disciple’s statement is correct, and there was no suspicious action, so perhaps it is us…” The warlock from the Communication Academy stopped mid-sentence, glancing at the expressions of the two saints, hesitating whether to continue.
Zou Qian tilted her head back and said, "Speak."
The communication institute's sorcerer finally spoke, saying, "If the outside world finds out about tonight's events, it might cause panic. Moreover, we already agreed to cooperate with the six countries when we upgraded the Data Mountain last time, and we'll be going to the six countries in a few days to synchronize and change the existing Data Mountain information."
"If they find out that someone can bypass the Communications Institute and crack the data transmission system..."
Before he could finish speaking, he stopped abruptly when Li Qiuwen looked up at him, and quickly lowered his head.
Zou Qian waved her hand and said, "Let him finish speaking. What do you think?"
The group of communication academy sorcerers standing in the room all lowered their heads and dared not speak.
After receiving permission from Zou Qian, the communication academy sorcerer standing next to Li Qiuwen tentatively asked, "How about we announce to the public that this incident was caused by a malfunction in the operation of the Number Mountain?"
Zou Qian readily agreed: "Okay."
“You…” Li Qiuwen looked at Zou Qian disapprovingly, but Zou Qian interrupted him before he could finish speaking. “That’s a reasonable explanation. Since no obvious signs of human intervention can be found, then it must be a problem with the operation of the Shushan system. We made changes to the Shushan system recently, so it’s normal for errors to occur.”
“Right now, the disciples in the academy are already spreading all sorts of rumors, which will affect the upcoming integration of the mountain reforms with the six kingdoms.” Zou Qian grabbed her neck and turned to look at Li Qiuwen. “You know what’s more important, right?”
After hearing what he said, Li Qiuwen calmed down, looked at the group of people in the room, and finally nodded in agreement.
The sorcerers of the Communication Academy quickly spread the news, informing everyone that the message sent by Zhang Xiangyun that night was due to a malfunction in the operation of the Mountain Array, and they released several segments of the Mountain Array's runes as evidence.
Some people believed it, and some did not.
Zhang Xiangyun and the others, who knew the truth, did not believe it, but if the matter were investigated further, it would be difficult for him to explain.
Zhang Xiangyun was detained at the Communications Institute that night, while Zou Qian and Li Qiuwen re-examined the mountains.
But in the latter half of the night, Zou Qian became drowsy. After walking around the mountains once, she lay down in a chair and yawned.
Li Qiuwen was annoyed and pointed at him, saying, "If you're not good enough, then bring over a sage from the Yin-Yang School."
“Neither of them likes to get involved in the affairs of the Communications Institute,” Zou Qian said, squinting. “And you’re the only one from your Taoist school who’s come here.”
After saying that, he closed his eyes and added, "Not a single person from the Fang family has come yet."
Li Qiuwen said, "There is only one person who practices esoteric arts."
Zou Qian said, "Then go find her."
Li Qiuwen turned and left, feeling that if he said another word to him, he would be driven mad.
Zou Qian slept on the chair for a while, but soon woke up because of an itchy neck. She scratched it, but it didn't help. Frustrated, she got up to find some wine.
Seeing him scratching his neck as he walked out, Li Qiuwen couldn't help but ask, "Why don't you go see Jiang Shulan?"
“She couldn’t do anything about it.” Zou Qian shrugged and walked straight out.
Li Qiuwen watched until he disappeared from sight before shaking his head and turning his gaze back to the mountains.
The sorcerers of the Communication Academy were busy until morning but found nothing unusual. However, none of them relaxed their vigilance. On the contrary, they were more serious than usual, watching the changes in the mountains for all twelve hours of the day.
It wasn't until morning that Zhang Xiangyun was released by the Communications Institute. He left expressionlessly and returned to his dormitory, where he saw Luo Fu and Gu Gan waiting for him.
The two of them had already figured out Wei Ren's movements during this period in just one night.
Gu Gan said, "After his cultivation was abolished in the outer city, he never went to the Farmers' Academy again. He stayed at the academy to recuperate and rarely went out. During this time, only the Farmers' Academy instructor, Gong Lesheng, provided him with assistance."
“Wei Ren went to the Dragon Slaying Cave, but he came out quickly. At that time, with his cultivation level, he really couldn’t have lasted long in the Dragon Slaying Cave.”
"Because he was very arrogant when he first came to the academy, he offended a lot of people, and the disciples who entered the academy at the same time did not have a friendly relationship with him."
Luo Fu sat at the table, deep in thought, and said, "After Wei Ren's cultivation was destroyed, he lived a very low-key life and rarely went out. The only place he went was Gong Lesheng's place."
“People he had offended before came back to cause trouble for him, but one time when they were chased to his dormitory, Mei Liangyu took care of them.”
Zhang Xiangyun, who was sitting at the table with his arms crossed, finally raised his eyelids upon hearing this: "Mei Liangyu and Wei Ren have a very good relationship?"
“These two are in the same dormitory,” Luo Fu reminded him. “They were just unlucky enough to be followed to the dormitory and affect Mei Liangyu.”
"But many people say that when they saw Wei Ren, he was almost always playing with the wind-listening ruler, as if he was constantly exchanging messages with someone."
"In other words, it can be deduced that the mysterious person hiding behind the Listening Wind Ruler only contacted Wei Ren after his cultivation was crippled."
After Luo Fu finished speaking, he looked up at Gu Gan and said, "Wei Ren was attacked in the outer city and almost died. It was Nangong Sui who saved him."
"Oh?" Zhang Xiangyun also looked up at Gu Gan.
Gu Gan remained expressionless and said in a cold voice, "That's because the farmer sorcerer who came wanted to kill Sui Sui and take back the Breath Soil."
"Oh," Zhang Xiangyun drawled, "the farmyard soil."
Gu Gan was too lazy to look at Zhang Xiangyun's sarcastic expression and said directly, "After that, Wei Ren avoided Sui Sui. Sui Sui didn't kill him at the time because she didn't understand the academy's rules, and she wasn't a person with a strong desire to kill."
"So no one suspects it?" Zhang Xiangyun frowned, his tone chilling.
"It doesn't seem so at the moment. Perhaps it's as Wei Ren said; they only communicate using the wind-listening rudder," Luo Fu said.
Gu Ganze said thoughtfully, "If I had to say, I suspect Mei Liangyu."
Zhang Xiangyun and Luo Fu both looked at him, waiting for him to continue. Gu Gan said calmly, "Because Mei Liangyu has also been playing with the Wind Listening Ruler."
Zhang Xiangyun laughed and said, "Then can you go and steal Mei Liangyu's Wind-Listening Ruler?"
Gu Gan, who was standing against the wall, looked down at Zhang Xiangyun and said with a half-smile, "Can you?"
At this point, all three of them looked at the wind-listening ruler placed on the table.
They all suspected that the Wind Listening Ruler had a listening function.
Zhang Xiangyun tapped his fingers on the table, exchanged glances with the other two, and then silently pointed at the Listening Wind Ruler with his eyes. The three of them reached a tacit understanding.
"Then let's steal Mei Liangyu's 'Wind-Listening Ruler' and take a look," Gu Gan said. "Tonight?"
Zhang Xiangyun said, "Okay."
Luo Fu set the time: "We will act as soon as Hai Shi arrives. I will bring the Purple Talisman Zhaoming Divine General to limit the power of his Ghost Daoist family."
Zhang Xiangyun played with the wooden divination stick and said, "Then I'll divine in advance to counter his Taoist techniques."
Yu Sui monitored this scene through the Five Elements Light Core. The three of them thought they were clever enough to believe that the Wind Listening Ruler could listen to their conversation, but the thing that could truly monitor their every move was the Five Elements Light Core, which they never expected.
The three men's probing was nothing to Yu Sui. Even if she knew, she wouldn't rashly tell her senior brother.
It would be good to appropriately lower their guard against the wind-listening criterion.
Yu Sui believed that with Mei Liangyu's strength, these three would not be able to steal the Wind Listening Ruler. They wanted their senior brother's Wind Listening Ruler, but they couldn't steal it, so they could only take it by force.
Last night, after Wu Huaiwei inverted the stars on Moon Mountain, Yu Sui was in a world constructed by the power of the stars.
Wu Huaiwei didn't explain much. Yu Sui called her a few times but received no response, so she wandered around the Yue Shan Pavilion, looking around.
She remained calm even after reaching the end. She went downstairs again and sat down on the ground surrounded by starry scenery, and began to look at the other five elemental light cores.
Mei Liangyu took Yan Xiaochuan back to the academy. Yan Xiaochuan went back to his dormitory and fell asleep as soon as he hit the bed. Mei Liangyu also went back to his dormitory with a yawn. A little while later, Xing Chun knocked on the door and woke him up.
Fortunately, he hadn't fallen asleep yet. He sat at the table with his eyelids drooping and one hand propping up his head as he listened to Xing Chun speak.
A moment later, Zhong Lishan also came over. Xing Chun nudged Mei Liangyu, who looked like he was about to fall asleep, with his elbow and said in a low voice, "Hey, hey, he's acting up again."
Mei Liangyu lifted his eyelids and glanced at Zhonglishan, letting out a snort of laughter.
Every time he argues with Su Tong and sulks, he has this lifeless expression, which he and Xing Chun are both tired of seeing.
"Have you heard about what happened in the outer city last night?" Zhong Lishan asked as he sat down at the table.
Xing Chun turned to look at Mei Liangyu, who said, "More or less."
After saying this, he glanced at the room opposite, whose owner was probably still adrift at sea.
“Nian Qiuyan and Nangong Sui are both there.” Zhongli Shan asked Mei Liangyu with a frown, “Nian Qiuyan being there is to be expected, but why is Nangong Sui there?”
Mei Liangyu said indifferently, "So what if she's here? She didn't do anything, did she?"
Can't we just let her watch the show?
After a moment of contemplation, Zhong Lishan finally spoke: "The Lan Du organization in the outer city that was previously wiped out by the academy was called Xuan Kui. It was a super organization active in the six kingdoms."
Xing Chun said, "I have a vague impression of it; I've heard of it before."
Mei Liangyu nodded slightly, signaling you to continue.
Zhong Lishan continued, "Xuan Kui's main profit comes from orchid poison. Almost 80% of the orchid poison in the six kingdoms comes from Xuan Kui. Now, anyone who sells orchid poison can claim to be a member of Xuan Kui, which makes it seem like Xuan Kui's people are all over the continent."
"Xuan Kui's people are divided into two types: one is responsible for the transportation and sale of orchids."
"Another way to handle the aftermath."
Murder, debt collection, road construction, getting one's own people out of prison, etc.
Zhong Lishan, who was sitting to the side, turned around and faced Mei Liangyu and Xing Chun: "This kind of person will try to get into the ranks of officials in various parts of the six kingdoms, and then use his position to facilitate his own affairs. He may also... infiltrate the academies of various countries, befriend the scions of noble families in various countries, and after getting close to them, let them use the Orchid Poison. After they become addicted to the Orchid Poison, he will then drive these scions of noble families to do things for them."
After listening, Xing Chun nodded: "That's true. They would choose those with weak willpower who are skilled in martial arts, or those from noble families who have low talent and a bad personality."
Mei Liangyu looked at him: "You found out again?"
Xing Chun nudged him with her shoulder: "Although I rarely mention it, don't forget what my family does."
Mei Liangyu suddenly realized and withdrew her gaze, lazily asking Zhong Lishan, "So what did you gain last night?"
“It’s certain that they are Xuan Kui’s people,” Zhong Lishan said. “The Nangong family’s business is very extensive. Nangong Sui is there either because of the Nangong family or because she has become Xuan Kui’s target.”
Mei Liangyu's expression was indifferent, revealing neither joy nor anger, nor could one guess what he was thinking.
She never mentioned the relationship between Yu Sui and Zhang Xiangyun and others.
Zhong Lishan added, "As for Zhang Xiangyun and the others, you can guess which of them is using the Orchid Poison."
Xing Chun and Mei Liangyu thought for a moment, then spoke at the same time: "Luo Fu."
Zhong Lishan nodded: "I guessed it was him too."
[Author's Note]
Thank you so much for your support! I will continue to work hard!
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