32 The Pride of Heaven (Part Four)
She did it for herself, not for him.
Exhausted, she casually collapsed onto the bed. The blockage of her spiritual energy was making her restless. She closed her eyes and continued to regulate her spiritual energy, but the image of Lou Tinglan leaving kept flashing through her mind.
That back, usually as slender as a pine or bamboo, was damp with morning dew, losing all its former elegance. And the barely perceptible resentment emanating from it—was it wounded by a vengeful spirit, or…?
She seemed rather pitiful. But in an instant, she realized what she was thinking, suddenly pulled the blanket over her head, punched it hard, and vented, "What does this have to do with me?"
After another period of meditation, she finally got out of bed, feeling agitated.
She comforted herself, thinking that the person who blasted the spiritual vein at the foot of Luoxue Peak in the dead of night was obviously after her, so how could she just sit idly by?
If this problem cannot be removed in advance, it will eventually become a hidden danger. If it affects her selection, then all her efforts over the past few days will have been in vain.
The more she thought about it, the more reasonable it seemed, so she went out into the bright morning light.
As dawn broke, most of the disciples gathered at Thousand Cliffs Hall, located halfway up the mountain. Thousand Cliffs Hall was specially set up during the selection process to provide a place for disciples from different sects to interact.
Normally, they would either meet here at the Discipline Hall's martial arts arena to spar and compete with each other, or gather here to study talismanic arts and formations. But today, the crowd was filled with constant noise.
"You didn't see it last night, the huge crater at the foot of the mountain is about to be blown through." In the center of the crowd, a man gestured wildly, making exaggerated movements.
"Who is it? Have you found out?"
Someone interjected, "Not yet, but everyone says it's the one from Qingxiao." This person spoke with great conviction, and the Qingxiao he was referring to was, without a doubt, the one she was talking about.
Ran Qinghe sensed something was wrong, narrowed her eyes, and squeezed into the crowd.
The boy in the center, with his legs crossed, spoke first. He was dressed in red, with intricate gold patterns embroidered on the sleeves, like tribal totems. A few strands of hair were casually braided into a small braid by his ear, swaying gently with his movements. But what attracted the most attention was the raccoon dog nestled in his arms.
The raccoon's fur was snow-white all over, except for the tips of its two ears, which were slightly stained red.
The red-clad youth lazily said, "I didn't expect the Discipline Hall to be so efficient. In just one night, they've gotten to the bottom of things."
The man said sheepishly, "Not yet, I've only heard about it."
The boy in red casually tossed the book that was spread across his face onto the table: "I heard you spoke with such certainty, spreading rumors in the Discipline Hall. It's quite convenient to get locked up in the Tower of Babel, don't you think?"
At that moment, Ran Qinghe suddenly squeezed forward and grabbed the cultivator who was spreading rumors.
"If I remember correctly, I have never seen you on Snowfall Peak. You are not a sect disciple here to participate in the academy selection, are you?"
Ran Qinghe looked him up and down. Judging from his spiritual power, it was very weak. He seemed to be a pawn that had been pushed out by someone.
As she was questioning him, the snow-white cat that had been lying on the boy's lap suddenly leaped and pounced on her. Caught off guard, she let go and instinctively grabbed the cat. The cultivator she had grabbed seized the opportunity to disappear into the crowd behind him, vanishing in the blink of an eye.
She was furious. The man had clearly been instigated to spread rumors here. If she had caught him, she could have followed the trail to find the person behind him. But all of that had been ruined by this little cat in front of her.
She lifted the cat by the scruff of its neck, but it only wagged its tail ingratiatingly, thrashing its limbs forward and staring at her with its amber eyes.
These eyes do resemble someone's remarkably.
Forget it, why bother arguing with a clueless raccoon? She casually tossed it back and added to the red-clad youth, "Keep an eye on your spirit beast."
The red-clad youth's lips curled into a slightly wicked smile. He picked up the raccoon dog, stood up, and casually blocked her path.
"I wonder if you are the Qingxiao person that person mentioned? I am Hua Jin from the Feifeng Sect. May I ask who you are?"
No wonder he was holding a raccoon dog. Fei Feng was a master of beast taming, and from sect elders to ordinary outer disciples, everyone would choose a contracted spirit beast at the beginning of their cultivation. Fei Feng could borrow some of the spirit beasts' talents, such as the sharp eyes of the Southern Sky Eagle and the swiftness of the Earth Lion.
Presumably, this raccoon dog is his contracted spirit beast.
The raccoon in Hua Jin's hand still stretched out its paws, reaching out its body to try and hook onto her clothes, probably because it was attracted by her innate spiritual body.
She didn't take it to heart. Seeing that this person had spoken up for her earlier, she became more friendly and said, "I am not from Qingxiao. My name is Ran Qinghe."
The man suddenly exclaimed in surprise, "What a great name!"
Ran Qinghe suppressed the look on her face that seemed to be looking at her like she was an idiot, closed her eyes tightly, and was about to walk to the left to avoid him when he followed her to the right, blocking her way.
"I'm new here, and... this cat has fallen in love with you at first sight. Perhaps we can exchange skills and knowledge?"
"It's quite a coincidence that both Qinghe and I are wearing red. It's said that in the mortal realm, only couples wear red when they get married and perform the sworn brotherhood ceremony..."
Ran Qinghe frowned, but Hua Jin continued to talk incessantly, spouting nonsensical words. She interrupted him, saying, "I have important matters to attend to, so I'll take my leave first."
But Hua Jin seemed not to understand the refusal in her words, and then continued to chatter on: "Qing He is worried about that person's fabricated story. A woman as beautiful as Qing He would never do something like blowing up a spiritual vein. Anyone would think that it is just nonsense."
She lost her patience and interrupted, "I blew it up."
Hua Jin said, "I knew it, it couldn't be you, Qing He..." He suddenly realized, "Eh, what..." His smile froze on his face, and he stood there stiffly.
Taking this opportunity, she finally shook him off.
She already had a guess in her mind. His actions were too obvious. First, he imitated her method to destroy the branch of the Luoxue Peak spiritual vein, and then he had people spread rumors among the cultivators. It was as if he was leading her to him.
But she did not live up to his expectations.
She turned and headed towards the deep pit in the northwest.
She cast a concealment spell to avoid the patrolling disciples of the Discipline Hall and probed forward. Just as she expected, this person made no attempt to conceal her spiritual energy aura around them and was secretly watching her every move. He only made his move last night when she was out.
She suddenly remembered the talisman that Zhao Gan had used to ambush her. That talisman was one she had drawn herself. She had drawn countless talismans in Qingxiao. Some of them had a slight problem and she had just thrown them away. Now it seemed that those talismans had been collected by someone.
Last night, Lou Tinglan probably went to investigate her residence because she sensed her spiritual energy. However, the one thing she didn't understand was, what was that person's purpose in doing so?
However, based solely on her account, few would believe her, given that she always presented herself as upright and virtuous.
At that moment, swallows in the Discipline Hall, riding the gentle breeze, hovered in mid-air and happened to let out a few clear chirps.
A sudden thought struck her, and a look of understanding flashed in her eyes. She remembered that the swallows in the hall seemed to be there for taking pictures.
Unfortunately, Feiyan was only controlled by the people of the Discipline Hall.
She casually picked up a spirit leaf and tried to use her voice to call out to that serious little boy, but there was no response. This lack of response wasn't due to rejection, but rather because the spirit leaf on the other end wasn't activated at all, as if it were in a place isolated from spiritual energy.
The mortal realm?
Ran Qinghe suddenly realized this possibility, but the timing didn't match up at all. Although the mortal realm was located in a place with scarce spiritual energy, it was obviously difficult to travel back and forth in a short period of time.
Aside from the mortal realm, one must be able to isolate oneself from spiritual energy while still having ample time to travel freely back and forth.
She immediately thought of a place: the Tower of Babel.
This explains why, when Lou Tinglan was seen that morning, there seemed to be a few barely perceptible wisps of resentment remaining on him. The Tower of Babel is locked within by numerous evil spirits and vengeful spirits; no one who enters can escape unscathed.
She turned and strode quickly toward the Tower of Babel, but stopped abruptly halfway there, her fingers unconsciously clenching.
Although what Lou Tinglan did had nothing to do with her, she still needed to ask him for a swallow. She pursed her lips, as if trying to convince herself, severing the vague and inexplicable feelings in her heart. She was doing it for herself, not for him.
At the base of the Tower of Babel, the guards were extremely tight. It seemed that the Discipline Hall had only increased security after she had escaped the tower's prison several times. Two shifts of disciples rotated on duty, leaving no opportunity for anyone to take advantage. Moreover, it was daytime, and the slightest movement would alert the guards.
But this only worked on others. Ran Qinghe lightly touched the ground with her toes and silently flipped onto the eaves of the tower. Breaking through the tower's restrictions was already second nature to her.
The tower was filled with a heavy, rotten stench; every breath carried a sweet, decaying smell. The air was thick and heavy, and all was silent, as if some unseen entity had swallowed up all sound.
Suddenly, a dark shadow carrying a chilling wind pounced from the shadows. Without warning, and seemingly unable to control its force, it slammed her hard to the ground with a dull thud.
Ran Qinghe hissed, rubbed her aching shoulder blades, and shouted into the air, "Stone, you're so strong, you might as well just break my bones!"
The vengeful spirit, which had been baring its fangs and claws just moments before, immediately withdrew its aura upon hearing this, its enormous form curling up in a pitiful state. Seeing that Stone had confirmed the newcomer's identity, a circle of vengeful spirits quietly gathered around, chattering amongst themselves:
"Stone, you really don't know your own strength. I told you to test who it was, why did you knock Hehe down?"
A slender, vengeful spirit floated to her side, circling around her with concern. "Hehe, let me see quickly, are you hurt anywhere?"
This is Xiaohua.
Stone, Little Flower, Little Water—these were the names she gave these vengeful spirits when she was imprisoned in the Tower of Babel.
Ran Qinghe propped herself up on her knees, patted the hem of her clothes, and said, "I didn't see you react this much when I came back last time. What's wrong?"
Xiao Shui, who was standing nearby, couldn't wait to interject, "You don't know, the cultivator who just broke in was incredibly powerful. He lunged at Shi Tou to test him, and if he hadn't dodged in time, he would have almost scattered him."
Ran Qinghe asked alertly, "Did you see anyone go that way?"
"Oh my, that person passed through the tower gate's restrictions and seems to be heading down to the next level."
The lower level was where Nascent Soul cultivators were imprisoned. For him, who had just broken through to the next level, it was no less than a dragon's den or a tiger's lair.
Perhaps, in the mortal realm, Lou Shuang's words were heard and taken to heart by him.
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