Chapter 25
After settling things with the Ye family, Zhou Xuanzhi and Shi Yunzhou went out onto the street. The matter of the ghost marriage wasn't completely resolved, and Fang Xiashen had mentioned there were still clues. The things the Gou family said at the coffin shop that day might be related to the Gou family.
Their master's affairs were none of Xiao Mu's concern, and they didn't want to involve him, so the two of them went about their own business, walking around the streets. Perhaps the "custom" of arranging ghost marriages still existed in Jianye Town; some families had already moved away in recent days.
Thinking of everything he saw at the Gou family that day, Shi Yunzhou was very indignant. "Hasn't Xiao Mu found anything yet?" How dare a mere mortal be so arrogant, deciding a person's life or death without going through the government? They really are lawless!
Xiao Mu has been very busy lately, and he has contributed the most to the Ye family's affairs. Moreover, such a family is not something that an outsider can investigate in a short time: "Give Junior Brother Xiao some more time, after all, this is within the Gou family's sphere of influence."
Around this time, fog rolled in again on the streets of Jianye Town. The fog wasn't thick, but it terrified the people on the street. Those who lived nearby went home, while those who lived far away sought refuge in nearby shops.
Seeing this, the two also fled in all directions with the crowd. This time, the fog seemed different from before. They didn't detect any demonic energy within it, but there was a trace of spiritual energy.
They followed the crowd into the tavern. The tavern was full of passersby, their expressions filled with fear and resentment, yet not one dared to step out.
The matter of the ghost marriage has now been brought to the forefront, and business at the shop has been slow lately, so Huang Zhang decided to close it for a couple of days. However, business still needs to be done, so someone needs to take turns keeping watch at the shop.
"Will Xiao Mu get into trouble alone in the shop?" He had a feeling that this fog wasn't caused by the monster from before, but by the "expert" from the Gou family. As for his purpose, it was probably him and his senior brother.
The street is deserted now; it's eerily quiet.
"Didn't you realize it too? It's because of us, so it has nothing to do with Junior Brother Xiao." Although Zhou Xuanzhi said this, he was still a little worried.
But what about that girl, Ma? What if the fog was trying to harm her? It was at this moment that they heard the sounds of fighting coming from afar.
"Junior Brother Xiao!"
"Miss Ma!"
Then they heard the sound of the house collapsing, and Xiao Mu's spiritual power was fully displayed here.
The two hurriedly headed towards the direction of the spiritual energy, but for some reason, there was no sound at this moment, and Xiao Mu's spiritual energy also began to weaken.
Could something really have happened? It seems like Xiao Mu's spiritual power was only revealed for a moment. How strong must this person be to defeat Xiao Mu in such a short time?
The two arrived at a collapsed, abandoned courtyard. Ordinary people stood a short distance away, too afraid to move. They were unharmed, but they were all staring at a particular spot in the ruins.
Following their gaze, they saw Xiao Mu lying on the ground, covered in blood and panting heavily. Thankfully, he was still conscious. Seeing the two men, he tried to stand, but lacked the strength, so he gave up struggling and said with all his might, "Miss Ma... has been... taken away..."
Zhou Xuanzhi helped Xiao Mu sit up and asked, "Did you see who it was?"
“A man.” Xiao Mu tried his best to recall everything that had happened. Today, he had taken Miss Ma out to buy some things. Suddenly, fog rolled in, and the two followed the flow of people into a shop. When the shop assistant saw that there was no one on the street, he was about to close the door when a hand reached out and stopped him.
A middle-aged man, dressed in simple clothes and carrying a sword on his back, appeared before everyone.
No one was surprised when someone suddenly appeared; many people in the martial arts world dressed like that, so he wasn't too conspicuous in Jianye Town. But the moment he appeared, Xiao Mu became uneasy. He stood in front of Miss Ma, handed her a stick of incense, and whispered, "If something happens later, find a way to light it."
Just then, the man saw Xiao Mu. He drew his sword from behind his back, pointed it at Xiao Mu, and said with disdain, "I heard you're from Tianyu Mountain. Today I'd like to test you."
Just as Xiao Mu drew his sword, the man's sword was already aimed straight at his face.
At this moment, Miss Ma had already hidden behind the crowd, took out a tinderbox from her bosom, and tremblingly tried to light it.
Xiao Mu parried with his sword, but another sword came. In this battle, Xiao Mu was completely powerless to defend himself.
The people inside the shop had lost all interest in watching the spectacle; they took advantage of the moment to jump out of the windows and escape, no longer caring about the fog outside.
Miss Ma was also pulled out by kind people. She wanted to go in and see Xiao Mu, to see if she could help in any way. But she could no longer see what the people inside were doing. The people around her pulled her away, telling her to stay away from this dangerous place.
At that moment, the spiritual energy inside vibrated, causing the entire shop to collapse.
Dust filled the air, and the thick fog obscured the view from the outside. Once the dust settled, people took a few more steps toward the ruins of the tavern and saw the man still standing there.
The man sheathed his sword, looked at the girl named Ma in the crowd, pointed at her, and asked, "I'm taking her away. Do you have any objections?"
At this point, who would dare to object? He had already defeated a cultivator, so they naturally knew they were no match for this man. They shook their heads and retreated.
Looking at the man, Miss Ma recalled being sold to the Gou family and forced into a ghost marriage. She didn't understand why this family dared to do this when the entire Jianye Town was investigating ghost marriages.
She stepped back, but the man pressed closer step by step until he was right next to her, then reached out and grabbed her collar.
A man and a woman vanished from sight, and they heard coughing sounds coming from the ruins. Before they could get closer, they saw two young men enter the rubble and help the monk up.
Hearing what Xiao Mu said, both of them were somewhat frightened. The three of them combined might not be a match for him. The situation in Jianye Town seemed far from simple.
The reason they were able to bring Miss Ma out of the Gou family before was because they were caught off guard, but rescuing her this time won't be so simple. It seems this matter needs careful consideration.
They took Xiao Mu to the courtyard they had previously rented. Xiao Mu lay on the bed, thinking that he should have consulted his grandmaster before going down the mountain, because this trip down the mountain had been full of disasters.
Hearing Xiao Mu cough, Zhou Xuanzhi entered the room and, seeing the blood on the floor, asked, "How are you?"
"I'm alright." Xiao Mu's weak voice was somewhat unusual.
Zhou Xuanzhi walked to Lin Jichen's bedside, stretched out his hand and said, "Let me see."
"How come I didn't know you studied medicine?" Xiao Mu joked.
Hearing the teasing remark, Zhou Xuanzhi relaxed. "It's good that you're alright." He sat down on a round stool not far away, his back to Xiao Mu. There was no sound behind him, and he remained silent for a long time before finally speaking, "Is there anything you want to ask?"
He had guessed something beforehand, but hadn't been able to confirm it, so he asked, "Did you come to Jianye Town because of Junior Uncle's matter?"
"Do you know Fang Xiashen from Yunzhou City?" Zhou Xuanzhi didn't wait for Xiao Mu's answer. "She's the one who gave us the clue. We didn't originally intend for anyone else to be involved, but Senior Sister Ming was worried and sent you this time. I'm really sorry you got hurt."
Hearing Zhou Xuanzhi say this, Xiao Mu felt a little uncomfortable. He waved his hand with difficulty and said, "Don't be like this. We are all fellow disciples. After all, Junior Uncle has taught me. I should do my part for Junior Uncle."
Since there are no female cultivators on Daoguo Peak, the place with the most female cultivators on Tianyu Mountain is Nanyu Peak. Also, since Shi Wanqing's back mountain is adjacent to Nanyu Peak, some of the male disciples often sneak off to the back mountain to observe how hard these senior and junior sisters practice their skills.
After their behavior was discovered by their junior uncle, they inevitably received a "lecture" and were then sent back to their respective homes, informed of the reason for the lecture. Their master, feeling somewhat embarrassed, would also be lectured by him. What an unforgettable memory! Thinking of his junior uncle's ambiguous smiling face, he was now breaking out in a cold sweat.
"Do you remember any distinguishing features of the person who abducted Miss Ma?" Upon hearing Zhou Xuanzhi's question, Xiao Mu thought back carefully.
However, the time between the person who abducted Miss Ma and his actual abduction was neither long nor short. Long enough, he could have fought the man; short enough, he didn't even have time to test whether the man was human or demon. Nevertheless, he did sense the man's aura, which was quite strange.
“His aura was strange, it had spiritual energy, demonic energy and ghostly energy,” Xiao Mu thought carefully. The moment the man drew his sword, he did feel like a mortal, “and he also had the aura of a mortal.”
Upon hearing Xiao Mu's reply, Zhou Xuanzhi couldn't think of anything for a moment. He suddenly stood up and walked towards the door, but he turned back after reaching the door.
Xiao Mu had never seen Zhou Xuanzhi like this before. He asked, "What's wrong with you?"
Zhou Xuanzhi said with an extremely serious expression, "The matter of Jianye Town is probably not easy to resolve."
"What do you mean by this?" Could it be that he has discovered something again?
Seeing Lin Jichen lying on the bed, Zhou Xuanzhi turned around and said, "Take good care of your injuries first. If anything happens, call me. Don't do anything."
While Xiao Mu is recuperating, they need to investigate some things. It will be a fierce battle.
"Okay." Although I don't know what he's nervous about, having someone to protect him makes life quite pleasant.
It was getting dark, and the thick fog outside hadn't dissipated yet. Moreover, things were becoming increasingly complicated, and thinking about this gave Zhou Xuan a headache.
Seeing his senior brother like this, and thinking of the Gou family's affairs, Shi Yunzhou went into Xiao Mu's room and asked, "How's your investigation into the Gou family's young master going?"
Xiao Mu nodded and said, "I found out some things. The Gou family can be considered a prominent family. Some members are businessmen and some are officials. This branch originally had officials, but they retired and returned to their hometown. The Gou family patriarch's children were not very good at studying, and their business skills were also mediocre. The younger generation was not good, but the grandchildren were full of talents, especially this Gou Tingxuan."
Xiao Mu coughed for a while after saying this, and Zhou Xuanzhi handed him a cup of water. After drinking it, he continued, "Su Qiwen should know this person. He is his senior brother. He passed the imperial examination at a young age. Those who want to participate in the imperial examination should have heard of this person. He wrote many poems and articles, and many great scholars praised them. Unfortunately, on his way to the capital to participate in the imperial examination, he encountered bandits and was killed."
“The Gou family didn’t live in Jianye Town before. They moved there because a master lived in seclusion there. According to rumors, Gou Tingxuan is a gentleman.” Xiao Mu continued, sipping the water in his cup. “Judging from what others say, he probably despises the Gou family’s ‘deceptive’ ways.”
Zhou Xuanzhi asked, puzzled, "The reason the Zhang family killed Miss Ye was because their son loved her and even after his death, he insisted on marrying her. According to you, Gou Tingxuan shouldn't have made such a request."
Xiao Mu shook his head. The Gou family had lost a son, and now an unknown cultivator had come to their home. He dared not linger near the Gou family's residence. He had overheard this news at a teahouse near the academy.
"For specifics, you should ask the servants of the Gou family. We have no way to go in right now, do we?" Xiao Mu spread his hands, no one expected that the Gou family would know that he and his senior brother came from Tianyu Mountain.
"Then why does it have to be Miss Ma?" Shi Yunzhou asked, standing to the side with his arms crossed.
Xiao Mu had something to say about this. He accidentally aggravated his wound while moving, and after a while, he said, "Everyone said it was related to their birth charts. I checked their birth charts, and they are not compatible and are even incompatible."
In Jianye Town, the most important thing in arranging a ghost marriage is the birth date and time. Ye Lingxi, who was specifically requested by the second son of the Zhang family, had her birth date and time calculated. How much more so for a large family like the Gou family.
Zhou Xuanzhi seemed to understand something, and said, "Then it has nothing to do with arranging a ghost marriage."
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