"Senior Brother, I heard that the Bixie Sword Manual is… a rather sinister martial art." Ning Zhongze carefully chose her words.
"Oh? Why would you say that?" A strange light flashed in Yue Buqun's eyes.
"When I was young, I think I heard an uncle-master mention it. He said the opening line of the Bixie Sword Manual is: To master this divine skill, one must first castrate oneself."
"What? Castrate first? That's impossible! Junior Sister, are you sure the Bixie Sword Manual really requires that?" Yue Buqun's face turned pale. His body swayed, and he had to brace himself against the table.
"I believe so. Lin Yuantu was incredibly skilled. Even if his descendants lacked talent, it's impossible that every single one of them was too untalented to master the Bixie Sword Art. The only explanation is that Lin Yuantu never passed down the true version."
The more Ning Zhongze spoke, the clearer her thoughts became.
Yue Buqun, however, looked as if he had suffered a heavy blow.
Seeing his reaction, Ning Zhongze understood. He truly had his eyes on the Bixie Sword Manual. Otherwise, he wouldn't look like this after hearing the condition for practicing it.
"Senior Brother, such an evil art has no place in a righteous sect like Mount Hua. If we get involved with it, our sect will become the laughingstock of the martial world."
"You're right, Junior Sister. You're absolutely right." Yue Buqun took a deep breath and forced a faint smile.
After reading the diary, Ning Zhongze began subtly warning him—trying to reason with him.
As for Yue Lingshan, after reading the diary, she felt that everything written inside was nonsense. She refused to believe her father, the famous Gentleman Sword, would practice such a shameful art. And to blame everything on Linghu Chong? She didn't believe that either.
Yet even if she didn't believe it, fear still crept into her heart.
The diary could only be seen by her. Lao Denuo couldn't see it at all. And when she tried to tell him about it, her chest tightened, as if an invisible hand were crushing her heart. The terror made her face turn deathly pale.
"Junior Sister, are you alright?"
"Second Senior Brother… can we go back to Mount Hua?" Yue Lingshan looked at Lao Denuo pitifully.
"Go back? What are you saying?"
"Let's go back. Let's not stay here. Forget about the Fuwei Escort Agency and the Qingcheng Sect. Let's just return to Mount Hua."
She was only eighteen. She had always lived within Mount Hua, rarely even going far beyond its foot. Protected by her parents and senior brothers, she had never faced real hardship. Now, faced with something so strange, she was filled with fear. All she wanted was to go home.
"Junior Sister, are you unwell? Master gave us this task. We just arrived and haven't done anything yet. If we return now, he'll surely scold us. And this is your first mission. Leaving like this might make Master look down on you."
Lao Denuo spoke gently to calm her.
"But…"
"How about this? We'll stay two more days. I'll gather information in Fuzhou City. If no one from Qingcheng shows up, we'll leave. Alright?"
Inside, however, Lao Denuo felt a trace of disdain. An eighteen-year-old girl acting like this. Mount Hua truly had no future. Sooner or later, it would be swallowed by the Songshan Sect.
"...Alright. Two more days." Without anyone else to rely on, Yue Lingshan nodded obediently.
…
"Third Senior Brother, Fourth Senior Brother…"
Early in the morning, Ye Xiu arrived at the training grounds and greeted Liang Fa and the others before starting his practice.
Normally, Linghu Chong would supervise the morning training. That was the duty of the senior brother. Unfortunately, he was lazy and never took cultivation seriously. When he oversaw practice, everyone slacked off. That was why, aside from the exceptionally talented Linghu Chong, Mount Hua had no other standout disciples.
But now Linghu Chong was away from the mountain.
So supervision usually fell to Yue Buqun or Ning Zhongze.
Seeing Ning Zhongze at the training grounds, Ye Xiu wasn't surprised.
Yet today, her expression was different. No gentle smile. Her usually warm eyes were sharp like blades as they swept across the six disciples, back and forth, as if searching for something.
Her gaze unsettled them. Lu Dayou and the others quickly dropped their usual laziness and practiced with full focus.
But Ning Zhongze wasn't paying attention to their swordsmanship at all.
She was trying to figure out which one of them had written the diary.
Every time she thought of asking directly, her heart would pound painfully, stopping her from speaking.
Liang Fa, Shi Daizi, Gao Genming, Lu Dayou, Ying Bailuo, Ye Xiu.
All six seemed suspicious.
Liang Fa was honest and loyal—unlikely to casually call Yue Buqun "Old Yue."
Shi Daizi was loud but slow-witted, not the type to hide sharp thoughts.
Gao Genming was clever and always calculating with his abacus, yet he showed great respect toward Yue Buqun.
Lu Dayou was lively and humorous, always with a monkey at his side. He adored Linghu Chong. The kind of person who would say "It's all Linghu Chong's fault" didn't seem like him.
Ying Bailuo was kind and sincere, deeply attached to his fellow disciples. Not someone reckless.
Ye Xiu was strikingly handsome but quiet and reserved. Diligent in practice. Not someone who would complain about how tiring training was.
As she thought about it, Ning Zhongze's gaze lingered on Gao Genming.
Among them, he seemed the most suspicious.
And yet… he still didn't quite fit.
Whether he did or not, she decided to watch him more closely in the coming days and see if he revealed any flaws.