Arriving at the wing room, Chen Sanyi said humbly: "Compared to the Yaoguang Sect of Sect Leader He Qing, my place is a little shabby, I hope Sect Leader He Qing will not despise it."
He Qing said: "Master Chen, that's not true. Your sect is located in a place with beautiful scenery. It is definitely not simple."
"Master Heqing, you are too polite, but..." Chen Sanyi's smile faded, and he looked fierce, leaving only his facial muscles to force a smile, "At night, no light can penetrate this mountain, and it is very easy to get lost. If you have nothing to do, please do not walk around casually. If you want to go for a walk, just ask my disciples to lead the way."
He Qing nodded slightly: "Master Chen, please rest assured. Master Chen was so cooperative with me in Beifeng at the beginning. Now that I am here as a guest, I should return the favor."
Chen Sanyi seemed not to understand He Qing's sarcasm and nodded with relief. Then he and He Qing played a back-and-forth drama before finally leaving.
Yue Qingru lay at the door, and only after making sure that Chen Sanyi had gone far away did she let out a long sigh of relief and said, "Finally he left. I was a little scared every time I saw him."
He Qing sat leisurely on the reception couch. He caught a glimpse of Yue Qingru's wolf ears that were so scared that they looked like airplane ears, and couldn't help laughing.
Gu Changnian shook his head and said in a heavy tone: "This person is good at disguising himself, and he doesn't tell the truth."
Qi Guanrui agreed, "Yes, now I know why He Qing said that this person was treacherous and cunning. If I come here by myself, I may not be able to find out anything."
Lu Li walked over to He Qing and sat down. He leaned his head on He Qing's shoulder without paying any attention to the presence of others. He asked innocently, "So, Master had a good chat with him. Brother, did you say that Master is also good at pretending and never tells the truth?"
Gu Changnian looked at Lu Li fiercely, his eyes full of dissatisfaction and warning, but he explained to He Qing: "Disciple did not mean that."
He Qing knew that Lu Li was deliberately targeting Gu Changnian. The two of them disliked each other and couldn't stop each other. He simply ignored it and pushed Lu Li's head away and said to Qi Guanrui: "Second Young Master, have you noticed anything along the way?"
Qi Guanrui sat down after He Qing lifted his robe, and used his finger as a pen to draw a golden pattern in the air, explaining, "Although I haven't walked through the entire Yuling Palace, I can roughly estimate about 70% of it. There are killing formations in the east and the south where we are. The formations are not very sophisticated and can be easily broken. The west is a regular barrier, which is mainly a trick to prevent pilgrims from entering by mistake. The problem is the round-domed hall in the north, which is connected to the back mountain and is separated from all the formations of the Guanyu in front, so it can't be seen through."
"Chen Sanyi said that the seal is in the forbidden area of Yuling Palace, which should be in the back mountain." He Qing looked at the map and covered his lips for a moment before he said thoughtfully, "Second Master, don't be too anxious. I will talk to Chen Sanyi for a few days and then decide how to explore the back mountain."
"Okay." Qi Guanrui couldn't help thinking, although seeing He Qing again seemed completely different from forty years ago, he vaguely felt that she was more dazzling now than then.
※
That night.
Lu Li came to He Qing's room as usual as if he was in an empty place. The person on the couch was sitting cross-legged in meditation. It seemed that his soul had left the room and was wandering around somewhere unknown.
He entered into a state of meditation and left his body in someone else's territory without even asking for protection. He was really brave.
Lu Li chuckled and sat down at the table. He poured himself a cup of tea and watched He Qing sip it with his eyes closed. His eyes were explicit and ambiguous, as if he was not savouring the tea in his hand.
About an incense stick of time later, He Qing's soul returned to its place. As soon as he opened his eyes, he met Lu Li's eyes, who was looking at him with his chin in his hand. He immediately started to complain: "Compared to the barrier of that old man Qi Guanxiao, the barrier of the Yuling Palace can be regarded as paper." Then he looked outside the room: "You knew he was watching you, but you still came to me."
He Qing refers to Gu Changnian.
Although Gu Changnian tried to hide his presence deliberately, He Qing was still able to sense his presence because of their close distance.
Lu Li tilted his head and said gently and bluntly: "If you want to see Master, you can't care about so many things."
He Qing's eyes wandered for a moment, and he pretended to be calm and set up a barrier, and brought the topic back to business: "If nothing unexpected happened, Chen Sanyi probably did something similar to Qi Guanxiao. I just don't know whether he is just greedy for the magic god's skills, or like Qi Guanxiao, he intends to abandon the immortal sect."
Lu Li smiled leisurely but said nothing, as if he was appreciating the panic that just flashed across He Qing's face.
He Qing felt uncomfortable being stared at by him, and said impatiently, "What do you think? Do you want to kill this person or take him in?"
"I listen to Master." Lu Li said slowly, "I will do whatever Master says."
He Qing turned his face away and said unhappily: "I'm telling you, my life is no longer in danger. If you have this attitude, I don't bother to care about you."
Lu Li's smile deepened, and his eyebrows slightly raised: "Oh, I remember Master said that we are grasshoppers on the same rope."
"Humph, can that rope stop me? Once your identity is exposed, I will kick you out of the sect. Then I will say that I was deceived by you and cry bitterly. With my acting skills, who can doubt me?" He Qing said it very much like that, but his tone sounded a little weak.
Lu Li was amused and gave up the idea of teasing her. He walked over to the couch and lay down, resting his head on He Qing's legs. He confessed, "I want to collect some monsters, not too many, but if Chen Sanyi is unwilling to hand them over, then Master will have to trouble you."
Why do you collect monsters?
This question had already rushed to He Qing's lips, but he pursed his lips tightly and held it back.
She looked at Lu Li's peaceful and harmless face for a long time before she asked softly, "Lu Li, you cooperated with me and stayed by my side just to hide yourself and take back those monsters, right?"
Lu Li was silent for a moment, then slowly opened his eyes and looked into He Qing's eyes, and said meaningfully: "Master, do you have any guesses in your mind?"
This time He Qing did not dodge, he looked back straight and said with certainty: "Yes."
Lu Li looked at her deeply with his dark eyes for a long while, chuckled and closed his eyes again, adjusted his posture and sighed: "Then Master, you guessed wrong."
"…"
※
The moment he saw the barrier being opened outside the room, Gu Changnian, who was hiding in the dark, stood up straight and looked at the rippling transparent cover in disbelief, with disappointment and heartache in his eyes.
Why?
Why has he done this, but the master still refuses to turn back?