Chapter 26
Some cultivators who have gone astray possess certain secret techniques. These aren't really secret techniques, but rather cultivation methods forbidden by the major immortal sects, achieved through the sacrifice of mortals. These techniques were originally sealed away by their respective sects.
But now it is highly likely to appear in Jianye Town!
Xiao Mu naturally didn't believe that anyone still knew this skill. He asked, "Could it be that we've gone in the wrong direction? Perhaps the Gou family isn't after Gou Tingxuan for a ghost marriage? Maybe they have other reasons for capturing Miss Ma?"
Zhou Xuanzhi didn't deny Xiao Mu's guess, but they couldn't afford to gamble on the worst-case scenario. After thinking for a long time, he said, "I'll try to find a way to investigate."
It seems impossible to uncover the Gou family's schemes at this point. The other side knows who he is; could they be connected to Tianyu Mountain?
Just then, a wisp of smoke appeared out of thin air beside Xiao Mu. A delicate fragrance of flowers and herbs wafted into the noses of the three of them. They recognized the scent; it was the fragrance of Tianyu Mountain incense.
"What's going on?" Shi Yunzhou asked, looking at the wisp of smoke.
Xiao Mu looked at the wisp of smoke with a worried expression: "This is for Miss Ma." He didn't know Miss Ma's current situation. Generally, incense is lit in emergency situations.
Zhou Xuanzhi breathed a sigh of relief. He said, "If it really is Miss Ma's, then it proves that she is still safe." At least now it can be proven that Miss Ma is alone and can even come into contact with fire.
Xiao Mu was actually feeling very guilty. He wondered if this wouldn't have happened if he hadn't taken Miss Ma with him. He thought that if he had slept less and practiced harder while studying on the mountain, he might have been able to hold out until Zhou Xuanzhi and the others arrived.
Xiao Mu closed his eyes and banged his head against the headboard.
Seeing Xiao Mu like this, Shi Yunzhou was at a loss for words. He had never comforted anyone before, and he looked at Zhou Xuanzhi hoping he could say something.
“Actually, you don’t need to blame yourself for this. Even if you stay at the inn, they will still come looking for you.” Zhou Xuanzhi handed Xiao Mu another glass of water.
"Yes, the Gou family all know that; they know their own strength." Xiao Mu held his head in his hands and asked, "How do you think they know so much about us?" Although their main purpose in coming here was to investigate Junior Uncle, how did things get beyond their expectations and capabilities?
Zhou Xuanzhi and Shi Yunzhou vaguely guessed that this matter might be related to their master, but they didn't know how their master had offended them. However, their master had been recuperating in the back mountain since the "Battle of the Mountain Gate," so if it really was their master, then it must have happened at least six hundred years ago.
But Master would never do such a thing. Master has a good reputation. Perhaps it is their fault?
Seeing that the two of them looked worried and were not speaking, Shi Yunzhou said, "Now that our identities have been exposed, there is no need to hide them anymore. Let's not go down to the coffin shop."
"The matter of the ghost marriages has been largely resolved. We will send all those women into reincarnation in the future. Next, we need to consider how to deal with the Gou family."
Now that their identities have been exposed and the Gou family members have appeared before everyone, there's nothing left to pretend about.
In short, Shi Yunzhou and Zhou Xuanzhi returned to the coffin shop and bid farewell to Huang Zhang.
Huang Zhang not only didn't stop them from leaving, but also gave them a large sum of money, telling them, "You have nothing to do with the coffin shop now. If the Gou family comes to ask, you should say the same thing. It's not easy for me to make a living in Jianye Town by doing small business. Please be magnanimous and don't mention me."
Shi Yunzhou accepted the large sum of money. Zhou Xuanzhi did not stop him after seeing that Shi Yunzhou accepted the money without any remorse.
On the way back, Shi Yunzhou still asked, "Why do we have to pay this money?" Disciples of Tianyu Mountain are always given money when they leave the mountain. Shi Yunzhou is the young master of Huanhai, so he's never short of money.
Shi Yunzhou looked at Zhou Xuanzhi and asked, "Who will pay for the repairs of the houses that were damaged yesterday?" The Gou family? That was impossible. The passersby certainly didn't have much money on them, so only the disciples of Tianyu Mountain could afford it. He stuffed the money pouch into Zhou Xuanzhi's arms, "It will also leave you with a good reputation."
Xiao Mu, who was still recovering from his injuries in the room, blushed when he saw the pen. He scratched his head and said embarrassedly, "If it weren't for you guys, I really would have felt bad."
"After receiving the compensation, we also found someone to help us rebuild." The shop owner has no complaints now. He lost money and rebuilt the shop, and now he's taking his family out for fun.
Xiao Mu nodded, "That's good."
Zhou Xuanzhi couldn't take credit for this, so he pointed to Shi Yunzhou and said, "You should thank your junior brother. If it weren't for him, I wouldn't have thought of it either."
"Thank you so much, Junior Brother!"
Feeling somewhat uncomfortable with the thanks, Shi Yunzhou waved his hand and left without saying a word, arms crossed.
How could I not worry? He asked, "Whom did you hire for help?"
Zhou Xuanzhi was about to say something when he shut his mouth. He smiled and kept everyone in suspense: "Someone you would never expect."
We had asked people from the local garrison to help us before, but they hadn't arrived after so many days. Judging from Zhou Xuanzhi's appearance, it means that the garrison has finally sent someone, and it's a highly skilled person who can solve all these messes here.
"Alright! Since Senior Brother doesn't want to say, I won't ask anymore. This expert will naturally appear when the time comes." I shouldn't worry about it now; I should focus on recovering from my injuries.
That person was really ruthless. Although he didn't kill me, I can't even get out of bed now, and I'm not feeling well.
The elders of Tianyu Mountain are all in the capital right now. This Immortal Alliance Conference is unusually well-attended by all the sects, even the Exorcism Bureau from the capital is involved. That speaks volumes. Presumably, their sects consider the events in Jianye Town to be trivial matters, not worth their time.
When disciples of immortal sects go out to train, their sects rarely participate, except for extremely important events. Such events have been countless over the years.
Another point is that disciples will never grow if they don't get training; they can only grow under the protection of the sect, which is not a good thing.
"Forget about thinking about it too much," Xiao Mu lay down on the bed. He'd finally got two days of rest, so he might as well rest properly. He'd still have to handle things in Jianye Town himself in the end, so he should focus on healing his injuries first.
There hasn't been any fog in Jianye Town for several days, and everyone is starting to feel a bit uneasy. Hearing people on the street saying that the fog might not disappear completely, Zhou Xuanzhi felt uneasy.
An abnormal celestial phenomenon that has been present for a long time will not simply disappear.
Shi Yunzhou, who was sitting with him in the teahouse, shook his head and said, "I also think it shouldn't be like you said."
For the past few days, he'd been thinking that those who cultivated using the life essence of mortals were all demons and monsters. How could they possibly be cultivators? This kind of thing hadn't happened for hundreds of years. After all, what happened over seven hundred years ago was too tragic.
"I don't want to believe it either, but it's all recorded in my master's notes, so I have no choice but to believe it." Zhou Xuanzhi felt a little scared when he thought about the contents of the notes.
A notebook? Shi Yunzhou looked at the notebook his senior brother handed him and flipped through it. His master had written down all sorts of things she had encountered during her trials in the mortal world, as well as the tasks assigned to her by the sect. The records were very detailed, detailing every step of the investigation and every bit of progress.
Looking at the notes, it seemed as if he had truly followed in his master's footsteps and participated in those events.
Zhou Xuanzhi explained, "The notes mention the two traitors from before, and the woman's aura is neither demon, human, nor cultivator."
If that woman hadn't caused such a commotion, she would have been the new peak master of Nanyu Peak. Her later transformation into someone neither demon nor cultivator is truly lamentable.
Speaking of this matter, Shi Yunzhou always felt sorry for that male disciple of the Qingxu Sect. He clearly had a bright future, yet he gave up everything for such a person and betrayed the Qingxu Sect. It is said that he always stayed true to himself and did not become a follower of that woman, relying on absorbing the essence of mortals to cultivate.
But those mortals were captured by his own hands, how hateful!
"This really does resemble the aura of the person Xiao Mu mentioned." Shi Yunzhou shuddered at the thought. "It doesn't make sense for them to be accusing the girl of horse racing."
Zhou Xuanzhi was also puzzled, "I haven't figured this out either."
Jianye Town is truly a small place with a lot of evil influences; they dare to disregard the law and arrange a living person for a ghost marriage. And what is the Gou family doing? It's incomprehensible. Don't the Gou couple realize that the expert they hired isn't the person they imagined?
The person I saw in the coffin shop that day was already unfathomable, and the person who injured Xiao Mu was clearly even stronger than the first one.
"Do you have any ideas?" Zhou Xuanzhi asked.
Xiao Mu's body hasn't fully recovered yet, but he's still capable of taking action. He looked at Zhou Xuanzhi with great determination and said, "Miss Ma is still in the hands of the Gou family; we can't let anything happen to her."
"How do you plan to get her out?" The Gou family must be on high alert right now, just waiting for them to come to them.
But Xiao Mu didn't say it directly. Instead, he changed the subject to something else: "Jianye Town has been quite lively these past few days."
The issue of arranging ghost marriages has come to the forefront. Families whose daughters have gone missing now wish they could make families whose sons have died pay with their daughters' lives!
Especially with Su Qiwen's subtle instigation, these families only need a pretext to set the entire Jianye Town ablaze.
"you mean?"
"We'll split into two groups. You and I will go to the Gou family, while Xiao Mu will set the fire."
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