Chapter 36
Xie Wen anxiously looked at Chu Xianyue's back, clearly having also seen the face of the Palace Master of Huangqi Palace at the very top. He recognized him too. That person was exactly the same as the portrait of Mei Da of the Mei Family that they had seen in the illusion.
During the time they were in the Ghost Palace Master's illusion, Mei Da of the Mei family had already entered Huangqi Palace to seek immortality and enlightenment. He never returned to the Mei family after that, thus becoming the only member of the Mei family to survive.
There are many strange things about the Mei family. If Mei Dazhen is really a member of the Mei family, he should also want to find out the truth of what happened back then.
With this in mind, Xie Wen felt a surge of excitement. During the flower banquet, he seized an opportunity to summon a spirit bird and have it deliver the envelope to the Palace Master of Huangqi Palace.
Xie Wen stared intently at the reaction of the Palace Master of Huangqi Palace at the top. He saw that, taking advantage of a moment when no one was paying attention, the Palace Master of Huangqi Palace unfolded the paper. For a second or two, Xie Wen felt that her expression was somewhat intriguing. Her expression had not changed, but it felt as if it had frozen.
Although Xie Wen did not sign his name when he wrote the note, the spirit bird should have informed the palace master that it was Xie Wen.
Immediately afterwards, the Palace Master of Huangqi Palace raised his head, and that one glance pierced Xie Wen's eyes.
Xie Wen winked at the Palace Master of Huangqi Palace, unable to see the misty look in the Palace Master's eyes.
After the flower banquet, Xie Wen didn't see the Palace Master of Huangqi Palace, but he did see Sui Qian. Sui Qian said politely, "Our Palace Master asked me to come and apologize to you, Miss. You have mistaken me for someone else. Please do not mention this matter again, lest our Palace Master suffer an undeserved disaster."
Xie Wen opened his mouth, somewhat embarrassed, but mostly incredulous: "!?"
How could that be? Back then, Mei Da went to Huangqi Palace to study and became a disciple. Moreover, the current Palace Master of Huangqi Palace looks exactly like Mei Da. How could such a coincidence exist?
But faced with Sui Qian's determined gaze, Xie Wen couldn't question her directly, so he could only suppress his doubts and say, "I'm sorry, I was rash."
Xie Wen sheepishly told Chu Xianyue about the matter, and Chu Xianyue simply said, "I told you, don't be reckless."
Xie Wen said, "I didn't expect her to deny it. Could it be that we really made a mistake? But I don't think there are such coincidences in the world. Besides, there's another point of doubt. It seems that apart from us, we haven't heard anyone else say that Mei Da of the Mei family and the Palace Master of Huangqi Palace looked very similar back then."
Chu Xianyue said, "Then there is only one possibility."
Xie Wen understood Chu Xianyue's meaning. This could only mean that everyone who had seen both Mei Da and Ling Hua, the Palace Master of Huangqi Palace, had been silenced.
Xie Wen felt a chill run down her spine, realizing she had indeed been too reckless and shouldn't have revealed herself so early. She said softly, "Sorry, I might have messed things up again?"
Chu Xianyue said, "You didn't do anything wrong. There's no need to apologize. Just be more careful in the future, and if there's any unusual activity, be sure to call me immediately." Chu Xianyue instructed Xie Wen in this way.
Xie Wen nodded. It was getting late, and it would be inappropriate for Xie Wen to stay in Chu Xianyue's room any longer. So he slunk out of Chu Xianyue's room and said, "Then I'll go back to my room first."
As Xie Wen closed the door, Chu Xianyue sat upright on the cushion, his layers of blue robes flowing down to the floor, magnificent and exquisite. Xie Wen glanced at him again, then slowly closed the door, until the person before him disappeared into the sliver of light.
When Xie Wen came out, rain was falling outside, tickling her cheeks, and spring thunder rumbled in the sky.
The recent spring rains have been incessant, making the air humid. Even Xie Wen's bedding felt damp. Xie Wen wasn't used to this dampness; he felt sticky and uncomfortable, as if he were soaking in water.
Perhaps it was because he was used to living in Feiying Pavilion, where it was dry and sunny, hot when it was hot and cold when it was cold, unlike now, where it was neither hot nor cold, damp and humid, making Xie Wen feel very uncomfortable.
At night, spring rain was falling outside. Xie Wen, feeling uncomfortable, tossed and turned in bed, unable to fall asleep for a long time.
In a daze, Xie Wen heard a strange noise coming from the window. The noise was so subtle that it was almost imperceptible, even amidst the sound of the rain pattering on the flower branches.
She suddenly opened her eyes as a powerful sword intent slashed towards her. Xie Wen dodged and flipped off the bed, the powerful sword intent splitting the bed in two. Xie Wen raised her hand and threw the bedding beside her, temporarily blocking the hidden weapons thrusting from outside the window for two seconds. Xie Wen raised her hand again, unfolded the Yao Fang, and with a swift movement, swung the Yao Fang, deflecting all the hidden weapons back.
A dozen or so people dressed in black cloaks rushed in through the window. Xie Wen drew his longsword and stepped forward to exchange blows with them one by one. These white-masked men were all highly skilled in swordsmanship and would be among the top elite disciples in the Tianyan Sword Sect. They were determined to kill Xie Wen.
Xie Wen snorted coldly and fought with all his might against the white-masked men. Before long, Chu Xianyue from next door noticed the abnormality and flew over. The white-masked men should recognize Chu Xianyue and know that they are no match for him. They all turned around and flew away. Xie Wen and Chu Xianyue immediately chased after them.
Facing countless hidden weapons, the two chased and dodged. Chu Xianyue's sword flashed, and he raised his hand to cut down all the hidden weapons. However, since Chu Xianyue and Xie Wen were new to Huangqi Palace and unfamiliar with the terrain, the black-cloaked figures eventually escaped.
Not long after, in the dead of night, the entire Huangqi Palace was lit up with twinkling lights, the palace was brightly lit, and the peach blossoms were in full bloom. The bells on the Sun and Moon Terrace echoed, and the sirens wailed.
All the disciples from the immortal sects came out of the room yawning. "What's wrong? What happened?"
"Can't a person get some sleep in the middle of the night?"
Amidst the complaints of the middle disciples, the disciples of Huangqi Palace became restless. They began knocking on every door and issuing warnings: "Tonight, assassins have appeared in Huangqi Palace. Everyone be careful."
"An assassin has appeared in Huangqi. Tonight, we will close the entire palace gates and investigate thoroughly."
Everyone snapped to their senses in an instant. Upon hearing that there was an assassin, the crowd erupted in chaos and panic.
Who was attacked by the assassin?
"It seems to be the eldest disciple of Qingheng Immortal Venerable of the Tianyan Sword Sect."
"Has anyone died? How could there be assassins in the prestigious Huangqi Palace? It's supposed to be a major sect, how could things have turned out like this?"
Some were terrified, fearing that a sudden disaster would befall them; others were watching with glee. The Tianyan Sword Sect members had been assassinated at Huangqi Palace, and Huangqi Palace could not escape responsibility for this matter. If they could not provide a reasonable explanation, the two great immortals might even become enemies.
Sure enough, some people suspected that Huangqi Palace was a thief crying "stop thief!", "Isn't it obvious who the most likely assassin is?"
"Yes, besides the people from Huangqi Palace, who else can come and go freely in this place?"
Under the azure rain curtain, accompanied by the pattering rain, the disciples of the immortal sects discussed among themselves under the eaves, their lights still shining brightly even in the dead of night.
Not long after, a semi-transparent golden barrier streaked across the sky, covering half the sky, and slowly moved downwards, eventually enveloping the entire Huangqi Palace.
Such a powerful barrier technique is something that only a handful of immortal sects can achieve. After Chu Xianyue set up this barrier, he jumped down from the deep sky. Now, there is no way to get out of this formation.
In less than a quarter of an hour, everyone was summoned to the foot of the Sun and Moon Terrace of Huangqi Palace. All the disciples of the sect lined up in order and their numbers were counted.
The people of Huangqi Palace were no exception; it could be said that Huangqi Palace was the most troubled party tonight. Given that such an incident had occurred on their territory, they were undoubtedly more eager than any other sect to clear their names.
Ling Hua, the Palace Master of Huangqi Palace, had Sui Qian take a headcount of all the people in Huangqi Palace. Among the four major sects of the immortal sects, Huangqi Palace had the fewest disciples, but there were still several hundred people in total. All the disciples were busy running around, and some female disciples were even pulled out of bed before they could put on their outer clothes. They squinted their hazy eyes and cooperated with the headcount.
Apart from the people from Wuxiang Temple who had just arrived, no one from the other sects showed any unusual behavior.
Crown Prince Jin Anxu cursed and said, "Making such a racket in the middle of the night, only to find that no one is acting strangely, isn't that ridiculous? Could it be that this female cultivator just had a nightmare about someone trying to assassinate her?"
Xie Wen, the victim, not only failed to receive the care he deserved, but was instead doused with cold water, who said, "This is a matter of life and death, how could I treat it like a joke? Stop trying to smear me. If you don't believe me, go to my room and see the signs of a struggle there! You're just spouting nonsense, a liar. Are you so eager to divert attention or shirk responsibility?"
Jin Anxu: "Do you think it's my place, a woman, to lay ashes on my head? I wonder which immortal sect trained you? Don't you have any shame?"
Xie Wen couldn't swallow this insult and was about to step forward when Chu Xianyue flashed in front of Xie Wen, calmly looking at Jin Anxu, and said, "He is my disciple. Do you have any objections? Tell me." His short sentence, devoid of any emotion, yet carried an oppressive force that made it hard to breathe.
Jin Anxu wasn't unaware of Chu Xianyue; on the contrary, he knew Chu Xianyue all too well. Jin Anxu had the utmost contempt for people like Chu Xianyue, who prided themselves on being noble and righteous. All his prestige and glory were bestowed upon him by the dynasty; he had only reached such a peak by stepping on the dynasty's favor.
Does he deserve it?
On the surface, they are guarding the barrier at the entrance to the underworld, protecting the human world and the dynasty. But is that really the case?
The entrance to the underworld has long since ceased its disturbances, and the threat to the mortal realm has vanished. Yet these righteous immortal sects still accept offerings from the dynasty under the guise of protecting it.
The world is now at peace, yet the immortal sects reap rewards without having done anything of merit. They claim to protect the dynasty, but they do absolutely nothing of substance. It's utterly disgusting; Jin Anxu has long been fed up with these hypocritical immortal sects!
Why should I?!
Jin Anxu unleashed all his pent-up resentment towards the Immortal Sect onto the person before him: Chu Xianyue, the pillar of the Immortal Sect, a parasite on the dynasty! As long as he remains, the dynasty will never recover!
Chu Xianyue remained calm and indifferent as always. The two faced off, and the tension seemed to be spreading silently. Fortunately, Jin Huaran arrived and stood between the two, separating them.
Jin Anxu shoved Jin Huaran away without any mercy, "Get out!"
Jin Huaran advised, "Brother, you must not be disrespectful to the Immortal Venerable." Especially at a time like this. Jin Anxu's malice towards Chu Xianyue is so obvious right now, doesn't it only increase the suspicion against him? Now that something has happened to the people of Immortal Venerable Qingheng, everyone is on edge and eager to clear their names. Yet Jin Anxu is practically trying to make others suspect him.
As the crown prince, Jin Anxu represents the entire state of Jin. Jin Huaran isn't worried about Jin Anxu, but rather about the state of Jin and its people being implicated.
Jin Huaran was not angry when Jin Anxu pushed him away. Just as people say, he had always been someone Jin Anxu could summon and dismiss at will, someone he could trample on at will.
As the son of a femme fatale, he was already lucky to have survived and left the cold palace. Even if he had to live in his elder brother's shadow every day, he still had to live.
That was his mother's life, exchanged for his own.
At this moment, Xie Wen and Jin Huaran stood on opposite sides. Xie Wen felt a pang of bitterness in his heart when he saw Jin Huaran being so humble and subservient to the Crown Prince, being beaten and scolded at will, and even being treated worse than a servant.
She couldn't bear to see him like this. Xie Wen pulled Jin Huaran aside and said to Jin Anxu, "He is my friend. No one is allowed to treat him like this. Not even you."
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