80. Natural Barriers (Part 8)
"If a spirit beast deceives its master, just throw it away, what do you say?"
Beneath that enormous Azure Sky Immortal Ship, the crowd was even denser than usual, though most of them stood at a distance, peering out and whispering amongst themselves, their excitement and fear barely contained.
What's exciting is that Wei Lin has been bullying many cultivators from the Mortal Valley on a regular basis, but everyone is afraid of his cultivation level and dares not speak out.
What terrifies them is that since Qingxiao dared to attack Wei Lin, he might also turn on them.
Because of Wei Lin, the conflict between Qingxiao and Fanren Valley intensified, and Qingxiao's reputation changed from being the leader of the righteous path to being a shameless scheming person who secretly plotted against others.
Even the gatekeeper disciple of Qingxiao asked the person next to him in confusion, "Hey, newbie, you said the sect leader ordered us not to get into a conflict with this rabble, so why are you sending people to fight instead?"
The disciple he referred to as "the newcomer" was Xi Qi. Because Xi Shu was removed from his position as elder, he was forced to become an outer disciple and was assigned to guard the sect.
Xi Qi replied with a smile, "I don't know either. Perhaps even the sect leader can't stand Wei Lin's behavior of ruling the mountain like a king."
"By the way, senior brother, I think I heard some noise over there. I'll be right back."
Before anyone could answer, Xi Qi left the sect alone and headed straight for the immortal ship.
"Qinghe, you've arrived." He quietly flew to a corner of the ship's side, as if talking to himself.
Surprisingly, a figure did indeed appear from the shadows; it was Ran Qinghe.
She removed the concealment charm and replied with a raised eyebrow:
"I didn't expect that even after becoming a gatekeeper, your cultivation level wouldn't have declined much."
Xi Qi's expression turned ugly for a moment, but then returned to normal. "Junior sister is joking. I just happened to be on duty."
"Junior sister, who are you looking for here? It can't be Wei Lin, can it?"
Ran Qinghe's lips curled slightly as she retorted, "Where I am and what I do is none of your business. Just go back and guard your gate."
Xi Qi finally couldn't take it anymore, and his face turned cold: "I am like this now, all thanks to you, Junior Sister."
Ran Qinghe said, "Oh? Thanks to me, then thank me and go back to guard the gate."
Xi Qi's temples throbbed with anger at her words, but he still managed a forced smile, not forgetting the purpose of his trip:
"If Lou Tinglan hadn't interfered back then, I wouldn't be in this situation. I'm curious, since your relationship is so deep, why did you both go looking for Wei Lin one after the other? Could it be that you've fallen out of love?"
Ran Qinghe's face turned cold. "What does this have to do with him? He merely lent me a swallow that leaves a shadow. Every word he says about the swallow's shadow is true. If it's false, you can go and argue with Qian Zhong."
"Further words are pointless. Excuse me."
Xi Qi smiled and instantly understood the relationship between the two. It turned out that Lou Tinglan was the only one who was infatuated.
In that case, there's no need for him to offer any further reminders.
Watching Ran Qinghe's retreating figure, he uttered a single sentence from afar:
“Junior sister, Lou Tinglan and Qianzhong are still related by blood, and he is actually a burden to you. If you regret it, you can come to me at any time, and I can help you get out of this predicament.”
Ran Qinghe ignored his words, but she was inexplicably concerned about what Xi Qi meant by asking why she and Lou Tinglan had come to find Wei Lin one after the other.
She came to find Wei Lin because of Xiao Lingdang's mother, but what is Lou Tinglan's intention?
She had no time to think, and immediately concealed herself again, sneaking into the inner chamber of the fairy boat.
Wei Lin sat cross-legged at the head of the table, the remnants of a sword wound still visible on his cheekbone. His eyes were closed, his face ashen, and he exuded a low pressure. The few cultivators who usually fawned over him only dared to stand at a distance.
At the entrance, two monks were chatting in hushed tones, one on each side.
"I heard that a few nights ago, a masked cultivator attacked without saying a word..."
"Master Wei has already broken through to the Foundation Establishment stage, how could he have been assassinated?"
"Could it be that Qingxiao finally lost his patience and sent someone..."
"Shh, keep your voice down."
The murmurs arose, and Ran Qinghe became even more certain of Xi Qi's words. Could it be that Lou Tinglan had really come looking for Wei Lin?
The two monks at the door were still gossiping when, unexpectedly, the door behind them was flung shut by a strong gust of wind.
The two cultivators were startled and began to blame each other.
"It's all your fault for making the Immortal Master unhappy. I told you to keep your voice down."
"You're the one talking to me! You were gesturing wildly over there just now, making a bigger commotion than me."
In contrast to the quiet commotion at the door, inside the room, Ran Qinghe's long whip was already wrapped around Wei Lin's throat.
Wei Lin gripped the whip tightly against his throat with both hands, and said in a fit of exasperation:
"I already told you, that female cultivator isn't with me right now. You can go to the Mortal Valley and see for yourself."
Ran Qinghe pressed her voice even harder: "So, you mean, she was originally with you?"
Wei Lin's face was flushed and turned purple: "So what? But I have already promised you, and I have released all the other cultivators except for that female cultivator."
"They weren't there when I was seizing the immortal ship, but now that they see I've profited, they're all coming to grab a share. What if I tie them up?"
Ran Qinghe loosened her grip slightly, keenly seizing upon two key words: "You?"
"Yes, that male cultivator came looking for me in the middle of the night. I already released all the imprisoned cultivators as he requested. What more do you want?"
Ran Qinghe put away the whip, her tone still threatening, "If there's a second time, I won't waste my breath on you."
*
The Valley of Mortals.
"Sister Qinghe, thank you so much!" Little Bell finally couldn't hold back her tears.
The female cultivator thanked her profusely, saying, "We've caused you and your master so much trouble. Your master helped my little bell to cultivate her inner energy, and you've been busy with my affairs." As she spoke, the female cultivator tried to stuff a bottle of pills into her arms, "I don't have anything good here, this is for the immortal master..."
Ran Qinghe declined, saying, "No need. This matter has nothing to do with me. It's someone else doing a good deed anonymously."
The female cultivator thought she was making a polite refusal and thanked her profusely once again.
Seeing that the family was safe and sound, she made an excuse and left. However, she was curious as to how Lou Tinglan, who was in the Discipline Hall, knew about the events in the Mortal Valley and arranged everything so well.
When Mingming came to ask for help, only she and Huajin were present.
However, Hua Jin and Lou Tinglan had never had any relationship, so there was no need for Hua Jin to send him a message.
She left the Valley of Mortals, intending to return to Scarlet Maple and head towards the Immortal Ship. Halfway there, as if suddenly remembering something, she turned to a giant tree behind her and said helplessly, "Come out."
The surroundings were completely silent.
Ran Qinghe: ...
She had no choice but to call it by its name again: "Wood".
The snow-white little beast slowly emerged from behind the tree, its eyes showing a hint of guilt.
Once it reached her, Ran Qinghe grabbed it by the scruff of its neck, lifted it into her arms, and said with amusement:
"Didn't I tell you I had things to do and asked you to stay in Tingfeng Garden? Why didn't you listen?"
Seeing that Mu Tou flicked his tail but didn't reply, she couldn't help but say, "Even if you're going to follow me, you should at least hide better. You're always less than a hundred meters away from me. Even if I pretend to be blind, I should have noticed by now."
She chuckled softly.
In a flash, as if realizing something was wrong, she slowed down her stroking of the fur on the back of its neck.
No, that's not right.
When Xiaolingdang came to her for help, it wasn't just her and Huajin present; the little beast in her arms was also there.
Its eyes always inexplicably reminded her of someone.
A bold guess suddenly popped into her mind.
The wood was something she had picked up in Qingxiao, and it was quite different from the Crimson Maple Spirit Beast. In particular, it always followed her closely, sticking to her back.
Could it be that Lou Tinglan was able to learn about the conflicts in the Mortal Valley so quickly because he could obtain information through this spirit beast?
Recalling the strange occurrences during the previous spirit beast contract, she silently increased her guess from five points to eight.
The reason why Wood couldn't form a regular spirit beast contract with her might be precisely because...
It was originally Lou Tinglan's contracted spirit beast!
Thinking about it this way, it seems that all the doubts can be explained.
She got angry for no reason, let go of the wood, and let it flip over and fall to the ground.
Wood didn't know why she was like this. He only saw that she had been smiling and scolding him just a moment ago, but suddenly her face turned cold.
Its heart tightened. Why didn't she hug it anymore? Could it be that after only a short time, she had grown tired of it and found its body rather boring?
Perhaps if it changed its appearance, it could rekindle her interest.
Although Ran Qinghe's action was just a small gesture, it had already deduced that she was preparing to abandon it and replace it with a new contracted spirit beast.
It was lost in thought. She was so clever, and it had made so many mistakes. Could it be that she had already discovered who she was?
Ran Qinghe walked quickly ahead, forcing Mu Tou to jog to keep up with her.
After boarding the immortal ship, she remained completely silent. She simply sat cross-legged, casually flipping through a few books on cultivation.
As usual, it tried to lean against her knees, but she pushed it away expressionlessly.
It grew increasingly anxious, but maintained a calm and innocent demeanor as it slowly circled around her.
“Wood,” she suddenly called its name.
It immediately sat upright in front of her, making a whimpering sound in response.
"I just suddenly came across an interesting story, would you like to hear it?"
It nodded again.
"The book says that the Heart Demon Oath was originally created by a female cultivator named Feifeng. She changed four contracted spirit beasts in succession. Someone asked her why?"
“She said, ‘Because the spirit beasts deceived her,’ so she created the Heart Demon Oath and planted it in the spirit beasts. The four spirit beasts that were there before all died because of the backlash of the Heart Demon Oath.”
"But... I think this method is far too cumbersome. What if the spirit beast deceives its master..."
"Just throw it away, what do you say?"
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