"From what War God Qingyuan is saying, does that mean someone from my demon mountain went to the pill chamber of the Liao Yin Immortal Realm to cause trouble and even murdered the Medicine King?" Li Minghan asked.
"That is correct," Qingyuan replied.
"Ridiculous. Since ancient times, immortals and demons have kept to their own sides and stayed out of each other's affairs. Besides, most of my demon people live peacefully and freely in Fanli Valley, enjoying easy lives. Why would they suddenly run all the way to your Liao Yin Immortal Realm just to cause trouble? Are your immortal soldiers so idle that they have nothing better to do than come to my Wuming Demon Mountain and stir up trouble?"
"Why must Lord Shentu speak with such sharpness and contempt? The innocent have nothing to fear. If your conscience is clear, then let us search and we will know the truth."
"How dare you. This is the territory of the demon clan. It is not some place your broken band of immortals can search whenever you please. Guards!" The demon soldiers at the side immediately drew their weapons.
"Lord Shentu, Qingyuan means no offense. It is only that the Medicine King of the Liao Yin Immortal Realm truly died by demonic energy. I have only come on behalf of the Immortal Sovereign to ask for an explanation. If you refuse to cooperate, then I can only return and report truthfully to the Immortal Sovereign, and let him decide what to do next," Qingyuan said.
"What, are you using your Immortal Sovereign to threaten me? Do you think I would be afraid just because you brought up the Immortal Sovereign? Go back and tell Situ Fanzhi this. If he wants me to hand anyone over, then let that apothecary named Li Luoning and his little disciple come and get them themselves. Otherwise, there is nothing to discuss."
In the Flatland,
after spending the entire day without finding Qingping, Hua Ruoying returned to Nanzhe's residence, exhausted.
She walked into the hall in a daze and dropped into a chair, staring blankly ahead.
Nanzhe put down the book asked, "Still have not found him?"
"The Flatland is not even that big. I do not know where Qingping could have run off to," Hua Ruoying said,.
"Do you want me to send people to help you look for him?"
"I want keep looking on my own."
At that moment, a ghost soldier entered and whispered a few words into Nanzhe's ear.
"I see," Nanzhe said, waving him away.
Then he rose and walked over to Hua Ruoying. From inside his sleeve, he took out something wrapped up, set it on the table, and pushed it toward her.
"I bought it on a whim." Nanzhe dropped the words coldly and left.
Hua Ruoying unfolded the silk cloth wrapped ——Earrings.
In a rock cave behind the residence,
countless chains were shaking wildly. The low growls made the ghost soldiers around them shiver in fear. The violent struggle caused the cave to tremble now and then, sending broken stones raining down. Locked at the end of the chains was none other than the long-missing Bingguo, the riding yellow beast.
Standing high above and looking down, Nanzhe gave a satisfied nod and signaled to the ghost soldiers nearby. At his command, they all pulled together, forcing Bingguo down to the ground.
"It is said that the riding yellow is an auspicious beast rarely seen in this world. But now that I look at you, you are nothing special. I know you are quite intelligent. You should understand what I am saying. If you obediently submit to me, you will not have to suffer too much," Nanzhe said, looking down at Bingguo.
Bingguo roared furiously at Nanzhe, and the sound shook the cave so violently that more gravel fell from the walls.
"A beast is still just a beast. You truly do not know what is good for you." Nanzhe waved a hand.
"My lord, we have already found that person's whereabouts," a ghost soldier came to report.
"Good, I will be beack soon."
Qingping had run aimlessly the whole way. he had sitting by the river, sad and miserable.
"Your Sister Ruoying has been searching everywhere for you." Nanzhe's voice suddenly sounded behind him.
Qingping jumped up and tried to run.
"Hah. Where else do you think you can run?"
Nanzhe let out a light laugh and flicked out a golden rope. It wound itself around Qingping's ankle at once.
With only a gentle tug from Nanzhe, Qingping was slammed hard to the ground.
Nanzhe raised his hand again, and the golden rope immediately bound Qingping where he lay. As soon as he was tied up, Qingping felt as if his whole body had burst into flames, the pain unbearable.
"This is... the Binding Immortal Rope. That is something from the immortal sect. How do you have it?" Qingping looked down at the rope around his body and spoke through the pain.
"And why should I not have it?" Nanzhe said as he slowly walked over. He reached out, seized Qingping by the jaw, and yanked him up from the ground.
"Ever since the puppet control art was forbidden, your shadow demon clan has disappeared along with it. I have heard that the soul of a shadow demon can tame every demon beast in the world. I wonder if that is really true," Nanzhe said.
Bound by the Binding Immortal Rope, Qingping fought to endure the pain, sweat pouring from his forehead in heavy drops.
Immortal sect weapons had always been the natural enemy of demons. And the more the Binding Immortal Rope was resisted, the tighter it became. Qingping could already clearly feel the scorching pain as it bit deeper and deeper into his flesh.
"You... who... are you..." Qingping asked.
"After spending time with Hua Ruoying, you little demon have gotten much smarter.Fine. Then I will at least let you die understanding the truth."
As he spoke, Nanzhe slowly removed his mask.
"It is you!"
Inside Mirror Cloud Residence,
Li Luoning was sitting in thought, trying to sort through everything that had happened these past days in his mind.
[Why did that person want the Medicine King dead? And why did he have the same face as me, yet want to oppose me at every turn? What exactly was the stone Senior Brother investigated before? And what was the Dragon King really looking for when he came to my Mirror Cloud Residence?]
Yun Qingyi and Mi Xingzhe walked in together from outside.
"This one is not as pretty as the old one,"
"You will have to make do with it for now. You insisted on covering the crack on the cabinet, and this was the best I could find on short notice," Yun Qingyi said
"What happened?" Li Luoning asked.
"Master, Niannian's old Empty Valley Fairy was taken away by the Immortal Sovereign, was it not? These past few days he has kept saying that the crack on the cabinet looks ugly and asked me to find him a flower to cover it. The Empty Valley Fairy is not exactly a common flower, and there was no way to find another one so quickly, so I found him a Chinese lantern plant instead," Yun Qingyi explained.
"But this one really is ugly. It is not even as pretty as the blue snow flowers in Master's courtyard," Mi Xingzhe muttered unhappily.
"I konw , I konw, but the Empty Valley Fairy is not some ordinary wild flower you can find anywhere. Btw the last one ,who gave it to you," Yun Qingyi said.
"I don't know."
"Niannian, the Empty Valley Fairy truly is rare. If you do not like this one, then go find a blue snow flower in the garden and put it in your room for now. But it has not rained recently. How did your cabinet suddenly end up with a crack in it?" Li Luoning asked.
"I have no idea when it happened. But when I came back this time, I saw several cracks where the Empty Valley Fairy used to sit. And at night it sometimes glows. Mi Xingzhe said.
Li Luoning suddenly thought of the half-petal of the Empty Valley Fairy found in the Medicine King's hand and immediately stood up and hurried straight into Mi Xingzhe's room.
"Where was it?"
"Right there." Mi Xingzhe pointed at the low table stood.
Li Luoning stepped forward and placed his hand on the low table. His fingers moved in circles as he quietly chanted a spell. Before long, a bronze mirror slowly emerged, and with it, the cracks disappeared.
"The cracks were because of this mirror? Who would hide a mirror here for no reason?" Mi Xingzhe asked.
"This is the Medicine King's voice-summoning mirror. It seems he had long guessed he might meet a violent end and left a message behind on purpose. This may also be why the Dragon King came to Mirror Cloud Residence that day," Li Luoning explained.
"There is a seal on the voice-summoning mirror, and we cannot open it. How are we supposed to check the message the Medicine King left?" Yun Qingyi asked.
Li Luoning suddenly thought of the dragon scales the Dragon King had sent and at last understood the connection. He carried the voice-summoning mirror back to the study, picked up the other dragon scale, laid the mirror flat on the table, and suspended the scale above it, channeling spiritual power into it.
As the power passed through the dragon scale and entered the mirror, the message left by the Medicine King slowly appeared.
[Nanzi consorts with demons, betrays the immortal sect. Born as a flower, blood turned to beast. I fear he may one day stir murderous intent. Be wary of him.]
Inside the Upper Clarity Hall,
"Immortal Master Xianyi, you say this voice-summoning mirror was left by the Medicine King. Do you have proof?" Situ Fanzhi asked.
"When the Medicine King was murdered, the half-petal in his hand was indeed meant to point toward something, but not to identify the killer. It was a clue he left behind. And the Dragon King met his end near my Mirror Cloud Residence that day, which means the real killer likely silenced him because of this voice-summoning mirror as well," Li Luoning said.
Later,
"Greetings, Immortal Sovereign," Ouyang Shinan.
"Immortal Ouyang, do you have any objection to what is shown on this voice-summoning mirror?" Situ Fanzhi asked.
Unhurried, Ouyang Shinan looked at the mirror. After thinking for a moment, he said,
"May I ask where Immortal Master Xianyi obtained this voice-summoning mirror?"
"This voice-summoning mirror was hidden in my disciple's room by the Medicine King before he was killed," Li Luoning answered.
"In Yun Wannian's room?"
"Yes."
"Before my foster father was murdered, Yun Wannian had caused a great disturbance in the pill chamber and ruined many precious herbs and treasures. Why would my foster father leave such an important message in his room for no reason?" Ouyang Shinan asked.
A trace of scorn flashed through Ouyang Shinan's eyes let out a faint laugh and continued, "This mirror came from Yun Wannian's room, and Dragon King died near where he's room. No matter how one looks at it, all of this seems impossible to separate from you. So why is it that with only one sentence, the blame is pushed onto me?"
Li Luoning naturally understood what he was implying,he said, "Be clearly. The Medicine King treated me like both teacher and friend, and the Dragon King treated Xianyi as if I were his own child. No one from Mirror Cloud Residence could possibly commit such a treacherous act."
"Then how do you explain that both of these deaths are tied to you and your Mirror Cloud Residence?" Ouyang Shinan pressed.
"My Mirror Cloud Residence has absolutely nothing to do with this. And besides..." Li Luoning had just begun to continue when Situ Fanzhi cut him off.
"That is enough.A single voice-summoning mirror is indeed not enough to prove anything. The person who murdered the Medicine King has now been identified, but the Dragon King's death still requires further investigation. We cannot wrongfully accuse Immortal Ouyang based on only one voice-summoning mirror," Situ Fanzhi said.
"Wise as always, Immortal Sovereign," Ouyang Shinan replied.
Just as Situ Fanzhi was about to end the matter there, Qingyuan entered from outside the hall.
"Qingyuan, did you not take soldiers to Wuming Demon Mountain? Why have you returned so quickly?" Situ Fanzhi asked.
"Lord Shentu would not allow us to search for the criminal. He said..."
"Said what?"
"Lord Shentu said that if we truly wish to know the truth, then Immortal Master Xianyi and Yun Wannian must go there themselves. Otherwise, no matter who else goes, he will refuse to cooperate." Qingyuan glanced at Li Luoning as he spoke.
"Why does he specifically want Xianyi to go?"
"It seems Mirror Cloud Residence truly has very close dealings with the demon clan," Ouyang Shinan said.
"Lord Shentu did not explain the reason," Qingyuan replied.
"Immortal Sovereign, Xianyi is willing to go and investigate the truth," Li Luoning said without hesitation.
"Very well. Although Shentu Zhuojia has a violent temper, he is not a stupid or unreasonable man. If he has specifically called for you, then he must have his reasons. Xianyi, I will trouble you to make this journey once more," Situ Fanzhi agreed.
"Immortal Sovereign, ever since Lord Shentu emerged from seclusion last time, his temperament has become truly strange. When I spoke with him before, it took only a few sentences before he seemed ready to turn to violence. Immortal Master Xianyi is only an apothecary. For him to go alone may not be safe. I believe he should take a company of immortal soldiers with him, in case anything happens," Qingyuan said.
Situ Fanzhi thought for a moment and then nodded. "Very well. Qingyuan, take three hundred heavenly soldiers with you. If Shentu Zhuojia dares behave recklessly, then I permit you to force your way in and search, so long as no innocents are harmed."
"Qingyuan obeys."
After the council ended, everyone turned to leave the hall. Ouyang Shinan was the last to go. Before stepping out, he looked back at Situ Fanzhi, and the two exchanged a slight nod.
Inside Mirror Cloud Residence,
"What? Master and Niannian are supposed to go there and demand the person back?" Yun Qingyi cried out in disbelief, jumping up from his chair so suddenly that he pulled at his wound.
"Brother Qingyi, sit down quickly. Be careful with your wound." Mi Xingzhe immediately went over to steady him.
"Yes. It is most likely because of what happened the last time we brought Niannian out. It just so happens that this trip would let your master take the chance to look into the Pull..." Li Luoning had started to mention Pulling Demon, but with Mi Xingzhe there, he stopped himself.
"To look into what?" Mi Xingzhe asked curiously.
"Nothing." Li Luoning brushed it off.
"Why has Master been talking in half-sentences so often lately? What is there that I am not allowed to know?" Mi Xingzhe complained, pouting.
"To look into why they kept abducting you again and again before," Yun Qingyi quickly stepped in to smooth things over.
"Niannian, go to the storage room and choose a few emergency medicines to carry with you. This trip may end in close combat, so bring extra medicine just in case," Li Luoning said, finding an excuse to send him away.
Once Mi Xingzhe had left, Li Luoning finally turned to Yun Qingyi.
"Qingyi, there is something I want to ask you."
"Please ask, Master. Qingyi will answer truthfully."
"When you were in the human world, did you have any brothers?"