Chapter 46
There's a saying: "Speak of the devil and he shall appear."
Shi Yunzhou watched Lin Jichen and Anzhi strolling downstairs. However, since the two had changed into fashionable clothes and hairstyles in the capital, it took him a while to recognize them.
What are they doing here?
Zhou Xuanzhi looked at the two people outside the window; they were indeed looking for someone. Thinking of Gu Qingci and Murong Jing from earlier, he already guessed something: "They're probably following Miss Gu."
Even Lin Jichen, who was practically missing a screw in his head, noticed that something was off about the two of them.
“I feel like I’ve seen this Miss Gu before, and the thought of a man having all sorts of feelings for her makes me feel uncomfortable. It’s like my precious cabbage has been eaten by a pig.” Shi Yunzhou gestured with his hands.
"I really don't know where this feeling comes from," Shi Yunzhou said in frustration. "I'm not even that familiar with her, so how could I have such feelings for her?"
Indeed, Shi Yunzhou didn't seem to have any special feelings for Miss Gu. Looking at his junior brother who was still lost in thought, Zhou Xuanzhi comforted him, "Perhaps you should take on a disciple."
"..." At the age of two hundred, one can descend the mountain alone to gain experience, and it takes several hundred years of experience before one can take on disciples. Isn't it a bit too early to say this now?
An Zhi and Lin Jichen below were starting to regret their actions. Murong Jing, relying on his familiarity with the capital, had shaken them off in no time. They should have put a tracking talisman on Gu Qingci.
Anzhi turned around unintentionally and saw Shi Yunzhou upstairs greeting him, so he responded warmly.
When An Zhi pulled her to Shi Yunzhou's side, Lin Jichen refused. It was quite obvious that her refusal was useless; they were all from the same school, and she had to maintain appearances.
"What are you doing here?" Shi Yunzhou asked.
“We’re following Miss Gu,” Anzhi replied softly. “We don’t know how she and that guy surnamed Murong became so close. We suspect that Murong is involved.”
"The one surnamed Murong?" Zhou Xuanzhi wanted to point out that Murong Jing's surname was Mu, but seeing that An Zhi didn't seem to care about the man's surname, he didn't say anything.
"So you were following them?"
Lin Jichen held out her hand and gestured, "Not including me, look at her and say it." She pointed at Anzhi.
"So you got dumped by someone who's not even fifty? You've wasted your life." Shi Yunzhou naturally wouldn't miss any opportunity to tease Lin Jichen.
"Heh." Lin Jichen sneered.
Anzhi had only heard of this junior brother Shi Yunzhou from legends, and they hadn't had much interaction before. He never expected to be scolded like this after just a few days. He lowered his head in shame.
"It's strange, though. You live with Miss Gu, yet you don't even know who she associates with, and you still claim to be a disciple of Tianyu Mountain? It's a good thing Master didn't take you as a disciple back then, or you would have completely lost face."
Zhou Xuanzhi heard his junior brother's words getting increasingly harsh, but unfortunately, he couldn't stop it. He didn't even know how many times he called out "Shi Yunzhou".
Lin Jichen listened quietly to the whole thing, his expression unchanged, and he didn't even get angry.
"Are you done?" she asked calmly after listening to Shi Yunzhou's words, her expression seeming to say, "That's it, that's it?"
Zhou Xuanzhi helplessly held his forehead. Lin Jichen wasn't indifferent; in fact, he was extremely concerned. This verbal battle was now inevitable.
Anzhi quietly raised her head; the people in front of her didn't seem to care much about her.
Sure enough, Lin Jichen sneered and said, "You brought Gu Qingci to me, and you didn't even do your homework beforehand. Now you're blaming me?"
"Lin Jichen, don't you think what you're saying is..." Before Shi Yunzhou could finish his laugh, Lin Jichen interrupted him. Lin Jichen continued with a cold laugh, "You don't know anything about Lin Jichen either, do you? Compared to me, you should know that guy surnamed Mu much better!"
How could a male disciple of the Exorcism Division possibly make contact with investigators? If she can't even do these things, what right does she have to sit here and criticize herself?
He wondered if he had ever been to the capital before, and how he could possibly know Murong Jing. Shi Yunzhou was utterly baffled.
"Didn't you all listen to the elders discussing this all day? Why didn't you think of taking this opportunity to get to know him? You're not the young master of Huanhai, so it shouldn't be that difficult for you to understand a disciple of the Exorcism Division! Or did you simply not care about Murong Jing before? You're a very incompetent young master!"
What a joke! Murong Jing, who only recently appeared before us, who would have thought he'd suddenly become so close to Gu Qingci? Who has time to investigate? But whoever said it first is right.
This time, Shi Yunzhou laughed and said, "Senior Sister Lin, are you trying to shirk responsibility?" His expression was no longer as carefree as before, but rather gloomy and chilling. "You've been guarding Miss Gu almost every step of the way, and now you don't even know when Miss Gu got together with a cultivator from the Exorcism Division. You're not being very responsible!"
"So? Which elder are you planning to tell? Tianyu Mountain or the Exorcism Bureau? Are you even three years old this year?" Lin Jichen said with a face full of disdain, "You really are a good... no, you're not Tianyu Mountain anymore..."
"Wait a minute." Zhou Xuanzhi suddenly interrupted Lin Jichen loudly, "Miss Gu should have recognized Murong Jing from the beginning." Zhou Xuanzhi was quite certain that if these two continued talking, they would start fighting. They really were enemies.
"They are both from the capital. Miss Gu couldn't possibly not have heard of Murong Jing, and the two of them must have met on some occasion." The disciples of the Exorcism Bureau take turns serving by the emperor's side, and Miss Gu is the daughter of the emperor's younger brother. It is said that the emperor is very fond of this niece and often calls her to his side.
Lin Jichen was genuinely confused. Anzhi was just gossiping, but what were these two people to him? Did the Exorcism Bureau have any taboos or prohibitions? Why were they in such a hurry?
"You two's attitude is a bit off, isn't it? It's normal for me to care about Gu Qingci since we spend so much time together. What's your stance on forbidding her from making friends? The Exorcism Division hasn't said anything, so why are you so against it?"
Anzhi, who was standing to the side, finally got a chance to speak, "And we two have noticed these past two days that Murong Jing has been taking good care of Miss Gu. We're just curious how they got together."
I knew Lin Jichen and Shi Yunzhou were at odds, and seeing them today confirms it. This trip wasn't in vain. Anzhi looked at the group and regretted speaking up; otherwise, he could have watched the show a little longer.
The inn was quiet for a moment; no one spoke or moved. Then, the waiter came up, seemingly oblivious to the awkward atmosphere, and said, "Gentlemen, we have a story to tell today. Would you like a private room prepared?"
Shi Yunzhou is the boss, and since the boss happens to be here, it's natural that arrangements need to be made.
The gentleman was still in the same place, continuing to tell the story he hadn't finished telling last time.
"The tree spirit poisoned the well in this house. At first, people had nightmares and hallucinations. Who would have thought it was poisoning? Even the female immortal didn't think of it at first. The poison is extremely dangerous. Once poisoned, one cannot be separated from it, otherwise, one will die from the poison. That's why the family died after they left."
"Didn't they say the death would be extremely gruesome? He was poisoned the next day?" Shi Yunzhou was still a bit angry because he hadn't gotten to the bottom of the argument with Lin Jichen.
"This female immortal was truly kind-hearted; she didn't utter a sound no matter how much that family humiliated her. She lived and ate with them for quite some time before discovering that they had been poisoned."
"The female immortal fought with the tree spirit again while she was seriously injured. Because of that family, no one knew what the fight looked like. But after that, all the illnesses of that family were cured, and slowly he actually got up." The man sighed and continued, "This female immortal, seriously injured and poisoned, fell into a coma in the wild."
Among the listeners, some felt indignant on behalf of the female fairy, while others said she was foolish.
Lin Jichen didn't know the beginning of this story yet, and this part in the middle already puzzled her. She looked at Zhou Xuanzhi with admiration, wondering how he could sit here and listen to such a story.
Seeing Lin Jichen's disdainful expression, Shi Yunzhou asked, "Are you interested in the first half of this story?"
Shi Yunzhou was a cold-faced person. Even his sharp tongue couldn't change his expressionless demeanor, making it impossible for people to tell what he was planning.
To be honest, she wasn't very interested in the story, and she didn't know why Zhou Xuanzhi had stayed behind to listen. But there was probably a reason for what he said.
"The female immortal was rescued by a poor scholar. The scholar, seeing the fabric of the female immortal's clothes, thought she was a young lady from a wealthy family, so he wanted to send her to the government. But who could have imagined that something bad would happen to the scholar's village that day? When he returned home, the entire village was engulfed in flames, and the most terrifying thing was that there wasn't a single living person in sight."
Because of those words, the inn fell silent. Everyone looked at the man on the stage, waiting for his story.
"The master said that this female immortal is from Tianyu Mountain, and that she defeated a thousand-year-old fox demon," Zhou Xuanzhi explained. "Although I'm not very interested, I still feel I should listen to it."
Shi Yunzhou shared the same attitude.
"Alright, then let's listen." Lin Jichen had nothing to do today, so he sat down to listen to the story.
"The scholar was naturally terrified by the sight, but after that he put the fairy on his back on the ground. His parents and sister were still in the fire. When he rushed in, he found that there was no one in the room. While the fire was not too big, he went to check other people's houses, but the result was the same."
"Something happened to the female immortal on earth and in the village, so he went to report it to the authorities. He had just arrived at the female immortal's side when, for some reason, a demonic wind arose and rushed straight towards the scholar. The wind also carried a chilling killing intent, and the scholar suddenly felt that if he were caught in this demonic wind, he probably wouldn't survive."
"He looked at the female immortal still lying on the ground, and at the approaching demonic wind, and was caught in a dilemma. He knew he couldn't get far with the female immortal, but if he ran away and left the unconscious woman lying on the ground, it would be sending her to her death. After a struggle, he still ran away with the female immortal."
Such stories are abundant in mortal folk tales. Lin Jichen thought of men who sold themselves to bury their fathers and men who stole other people's clothes; she had to admit that mortal scholars were indeed good at making things up. Looking at Anzhi beside her, whose face already showed her disgust, she knew that they were thinking the same thing.
"The demonic wind gradually approached. The scholar looked at the demonic wind behind him and put down the female immortal. He thought that since he was a healthy person, he might be more to the monster's liking. It was at this moment that the female immortal woke up. The moment she opened her eyes, the world changed color, from dark to bright. With a wave of her hand, the demonic wind was forced back. The female immortal summoned her sword, pointed it at the demonic wind, and the demonic wind retreated."
Anzhi shook her head; she really wanted to complain. If this female immortal could change the world with just the opening of her eyes, how could she have been knocked unconscious by a tree spirit?
The scholar looked at the female immortal. She was very beautiful, and although she was seriously injured, she still protected herself, which moved the scholar deeply. However, what the female immortal said next moved the scholar even more. She said that she would try to rescue these people, but she was injured and it was inconvenient for her, so she needed to go with the scholar.
"The female immortal calculated that the source of this demonic wind was the capital, so she wanted to take the scholar to the capital. This was a good opportunity for the scholar, as he could take the exam. So the two of them traveled together. Logically speaking, the female immortal could have taken the scholar to the capital by flying on her sword, but she used all the strength she had just recovered to repel the demonic wind, so the two of them had to walk."
"Can this even be considered?" Anzhi looked at the people around him; they didn't seem to care much. But they were still listening to the story—was there some hidden meaning they hadn't yet discovered?
"Why are we suddenly going to the capital? Is it in such a rush?" Lin Jichen felt that the idea of walking to the capital together lacked logic.
"What logic do you need for a story?" Shi Yunzhou said impatiently.
"But since you're already here, let's hear the whole story!" Zhou Xuanzhi naturally couldn't let his junior brother continue.
"Don't you need logic when you listen to stories?" Lin Jichen asked with a look of disgust.
Shi Yunzhou sneered and retorted, "Look at things in real life, is there anything that follows logic?"
Lin Jichen was about to say something when An Zhi stopped her. Then she saw An Zhi wink at her. She followed An Zhi's gaze and saw that everyone around her was looking at her with disdain.
After giving Shi Yunzhou a disdainful look, Lin Jichen shrank back.
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