Chapter 38

Xu Zhi Nan's body was still a bit weak, so they only talked for half an hour before dispersing for the time being. As to whether they should go to Mount Shu to question Li Bu Yu and considering Li Bu Yu's high and powerful position, they could not make up their minds yet.

When they returned to the guest house, all three of them were filled with questions, so they all looked pensive. It was hard to digest what they had learned all at once.

Zhong Kui scratched his hair in annoyance: "This is getting confusing. Zong Ming He ate human cores? Wasn't that the work of Zong Zi Xiao's mother in collusion with Wuyun Sect?"

Fan Wu She clasped the armrest with one hand and heard a slight creak as a crack was made in the sturdy pearwood.

Xie Bi An pondered, "There is also a theory that he was framed by Zong Zi Heng. Anyway, that's when the two brothers broke up, and it's an undisputed fact that Wuyun Sect colluded with the Lion Alliance to steal the human cores. Unexpectedly, this had something to do with Zong Ming He behind it."

Fan Wu She said in a low tone, "You guys only think about Zong Ming He taking the human core, did you forget that Zong Ming He's golden core was also dug out?"

"Oh yeah, and who dug out Zong Ming He's human core…"

It is already clear who’s the suspect.

"Zong Zi Heng will do anything for the throne. Brotherly love, parental kindness, which of these does he put in his eyes? It is not surprising that he would eat his own father's human core." As Fan Wu She spoke, his gaze slowly moved towards Xie Bi An, a pair of pupils so dark that they seemed to be able to suck in everything in sight.

But Xie Bi An did not notice.

Zhong Kui shook his head, "I don't think Zong Zi Heng ate Zong Ming He's core."

"Why?"

"They are direct bloodlines and Zong Ming He is highly cultivated. If Zong Zi Heng had such a great tonic human core, with his natural talent, I'm afraid he wouldn't lose to Zong Zi Xiao in the duel at Wuji Palace."

"But Zong Zi Xiao has Yin soldiers." Xie Bi An said, "He doesn't even need to exert much effort. The Eighteen Horsemen of Yan Yun could trample down a city."

"In the Wuji Palace duel, Zong Zi Xiao didn't summon a single Yin soldier." Fan Wu She said coldly.

"Seriously? But the legend ..."

"In the Wuji Palace duel, the two men only used the Zongxuan sword technique." Zhong Kui said, "You should not listen to the blind white lies of those storytellers. It turns out that the two brothers were equally gifted, but Zong Zi Xiao broke through to the eighth Chongtian of the Zongxuan Sword because he ate his own father's human core."

Fan Wu She turned his face away, suppressing his anger.

Xie Bi An dawned on him, "So if Zong Ming He's core was really eaten by Zong Zi Heng, he ought to break through to the eighth Chongtian as well, and he might not have lost."

"Then Zong Ming He's core ..." Zhong Kui narrowed his eyes, "Could it ..."

Xie Bi An was startled and unconsciously lowered his voice, "Master, you don't think that it was Li Bu Yu who ate it, do you?"

Fan Wu She said, "Zong Ming He was suppressed in the Demon Binding Formation, he is the most suspicious. Then it’s reasonable and fair to suspect him for digging out Zong Ming He's golden core.”

Zhong Kui rested his cheek and thought hard for a while, "It doesn't seem like that either, Li Bu Yu's cultivation level doesn't seem to have made a great leap."

"Could it be that his current cultivation isn't profound enough? Besides, Zong Ming He was powerful, but he was not a top cultivator either."

"Zong Ming He's core should have a greater effect." Zhong Kui muttered.

"Why? It's not like they're related."

Zhong Kui shook his head, "Compare to who ate Zong Ming He’s core, I really want to know whose cores he had eaten. Maybe more than one person.”

Both the disciples sensed that Zhong Kui seemed to be hiding something, but they were not in a position to ask if Zhong Kui did not want to say.

Once again, silence fell in the room.

After a long time, Xie Bi An said, "Master, have you ever thought about what will eventually come out of this matter, and what if Li Bu Yu admits that he was the one who suppressed Zong Ming He's corpse in Diancang Peak? What can be done about it?"

"But if Zong Ming He had colluded with the Lion Alliance, then there must be another hidden agenda for what happened back then."

"Even if there was another hidden agenda, so what?" Xie Bi An said, "A hundred years have passed, and only three people are still alive who had anything to do with what happened back then, and their grudges have already returned to the dust."

Zhong Kui wondered, "Why do you suddenly seem not to care about the truth? Just a short while ago, Li Bu Yu's martial nephew had just died at the hands of the Core Stealing Demonic Cultivator, and these matters, perhaps, are related."

"Maybe there isn't." Xie Bi An took a deep breath. He didn't know why, since he had come to Chunyang Sect, there had always been an unspeakable uneasiness in his heart, as if he was increasingly resistant to knowing too much. He put it down to the fact that he was worried about Zhong Kui, "Master, I suspect more and more that the reason your life has become less in the Book of Life and Death is because we are obsessively investigating this matter. It concerns the head of the number one immortal sect in the world. It is dangerous no matter how you think about it. Now that it has been confirmed that the evil spirit is not Xu Zhi Nan's junior brother, Li Bu Yu did not kill an innocent person indiscriminately, and his feud with Zong Ming He is not for us to dictate. I feel that it is no longer necessary to investigate further, instead ... instead of getting ourselves killed instead."

Fan Wu She looked at Xie Bi An. He vaguely felt Xie Bi An's uneasiness, an uneasiness that did not only come from his concern for Zhong Kui, but also seemed to be the same as his own. Wanting to know what secrets Zong Ming He was carrying, but at the same time fearing to know. It was just that he knew why he was so conflicted, while Xie Bi An was more instinctive, like fainting on the eight trigrams platform and dreaming of "Xiao Jiu". Xie Bi An was haunted by the memories of his past life, only he didn't know it.

"You think if I stop this, my life expectancy will go back up?"

"I ..."

"The cause has been planted, it is bound to bear an effect." Zhong Kui said in a rare moment of seriousness, "Bi An, if we are involved in this matter, it is a fate that cannot be disobeyed. Maybe if we go on, as you said, we will be in danger of being killed. But misfortune is a blessing. Maybe the light at the end of the tunnel is my road to self-help.”

Xie Bi An was silent.

"Moreover, master has a bad feeling." Zhong Kui stroked his beard and sighed, "What you say is actually not unreasonable, even if there are many hidden secrets behind it, they are all a hundred years old and it might be useless to find out, but I feel that this matter is very deep and not as simple as it appears."

Xie Bi An sighed, "Master's concern is also right."

Zhong Kui smiled cheerfully, "Anyways, they say I love to meddle in nosy matters, so I will do so to the end."

"Master, there is one more thing that this disciple does not understand." Fan Wu She said, "Xu Zhi Nan has spent the rest of his life working on breaking through the Indestructible Heavenly Flame, the Cold Jade Snow Elixir might be his last chance, why did he refuse?"

"Yes, I find it strange too." Xie Bi An said, "Did you notice the expressions of Zhaowen and the others? Obviously none of them expected their Sect Leader to reject it immediately, without even giving it a second thought."

Zhong Kui bristled, "Could it be that hatred is born out of love? It's amazing that this Xu Zhi Nan had an affair with Qi Meng Sheng. When Qi Meng Sheng was young, she was a famous demonic girl in the immortal cultivation world, and the Cangyu Sect has always been both good and evil. Although it's not like the demon cultivators that everyone cries out for, the orthodox immortal families in the Central Plains would not care to deal with the Cangyu Sect if it wasn't for Shen Nong Ding, not to mention the old-fashioned Chunyang Sect that doesn't get close to women. No matter what everyone thinks, the two of them have nothing to do with each other."

Xie Bi An thought about it, "Could it be that Xu Zhi Nan was seduced by Qi Meng Sheng and almost failed to keep his heart of Dao, so he holds a grudge?"

"Xu Zhi Nan doesn't look like such a person." Fan Wu She said.

"You know what kind of person Xu Zhi Nan is?" Zhong Kui couldn't help himself, "Little fart, always pretending to be old-fashioned when you talk."

"Hahahahaha---" Xie Bi An laughed nonchalantly.

Fan Wu She just snorted coldly.

"However, Xu Zhi Nan really doesn't look like a narrow-minded person. As for why he refused to lend the Seven Star Life-Sustaining Lamp, it's indeed puzzling. That magic treasure is powerful, but it can't fight or defend. Its only function is to hang on to the breath of a dying person. It is said to be a treasure of the Sect, but usually it is not used at all. Qi Meng Sheng's life is at stake, and they are willing to offer the Cold Jade Snow Elixir. Who wouldn't do such a good deal?" Zhong Kui shook his head, "Forget it, I got carried away."

"If Qi Meng Sheng really dies, I don't know if the next Sect Leader will be this Yun Xiang Yi or Yun Zhong Jun.”

"Doesn’t matter." Zhong Kui shrugged, "It doesn't matter who is the head of her Cangyu Sect, but the bad nature of guarding the Shen Nong Ding and pulling out the hair from the geese passing by* won't change. Sooner or later, she will be crushed."

---

Xu Zhi Nan's health was not good after he came out of seclusion. The fire of the extremely positive Yuanyang is too intense for a Chunyang Sect cultivator who has reached the Patriarchal level. Difficulties must be overcome in order to move forward with this technique. This technique can only go one of the two ways at this point, either to break through to a new realm, or to take care of himself and live out his old age in peace with the conditioning of the Cold Immortal Elixir.

Xu Zhi Nan is a genius of the Chunyang Sect who is rarely found in a hundred years. Naturally, he is not willing to stop here, so he embarks on this arduous path of inquiring Dao. The closer he gets to the point of breakthrough, the greater the load on his body, and this is the ultimate test of whether he will be able to be reborn.

That is why his refusal of the Cold Jade Snow Elixir was all the more incomprehensible.

The master and disciples had to stay in Chunyang Sect for the time being and wait for Xu Zhi Nan's health to improve before discussing what would happen afterwards.

In the past few days, Xie Bi An and Fan Wu She followed Chunyang Sect's cultivators in their morning exercises, eating and resting together, and found that their life was really boring and harsh. It is probably the only way to suppress one's natural instincts. But this kind of repression often backfires. How many Chunyang Sect cultivators are unable to give up elegant and graceful girls and give up decades of cultivation to return to the red earth. What is more difficult to cultivate than this Yuanyang technique is the heart.

On this day, the two brothers were sitting in the courtyard drinking tea, listening to the distant shouting from the practice field, when Xie Bi An sighed softly, "These Chunyang Sect cultivators are really talented, no wonder the female cultivators can't forget them."

Fan Wu She gave a distracted "hmm".

"Brother Lan ... was born good looking, and his mother is a famous beauty in the immortal cultivation world. You can see that he is now flirting around. I can't imagine that he grew up in such a conformist place when he was a child."

Fan Wu She said disdainfully, "He was just born to be horny, it's useless to go and become a monk."

Xie Bi An laughed and said, "There are no men who are not lustful, otherwise why would Chunyang Sect have so many rules and regulations?"

Fan looked askance at Xie Bi An, "Then is senior brother also lustful?"

"I'm ..." Xie Bi An didn't expect to be turned against him, "Why are you dragging me into this?"

Fan Wu She moved closer to Xie Bi An and gazed deeply into his eyes, "I'm just curious about what senior brother is thinking and doing when he's 'horny'."

 

---- 

PS: I just passed away seeing how Fan Wu She is so ‘curious’ BAHAHAHA

 

pulling out the hair from the geese passing by* [雁过拔毛]---- metaphor: people love to take advantage, and if they see benefits, they must take advantage of it.

 

Edited on 22 Mar. 21 (Emzie)

 

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