Chapter 93: Reunion in Chen State

  That cry entered Shen Bailian's ears, like a gentle breeze blowing through the bamboo forest, a clear stream flowing over the rocks, making one's heart tremble. Shen Bailian turned back in a daze and suddenly saw a tall white figure reflected in her eyes.

  That young man's cold face was the same as when they parted, only a thread of soft light slid through his icy eyes, quietly gazing at him. Under the sunlight, the blue and white clean Taoist robe fluttered gently in the wind, and the hustle and bustle in front of the city gate seemed to have instantly moved away from Shen Bailong, only to hear the person in front say with a hint of joyful calmness: "Brother Bailong, we parted ways at Qinglong Town, I didn't expect to meet again so soon."

  Shen Bailian was taken aback for a moment and said softly: "Yes... what a coincidence."

  "I've only heard that you were going to Jiangdu, why are you in Chenzhou at this moment?" Murong Ziyin asked suddenly after a pause, with little doubt in her expression, but rather a hint of inquiry.

  Shen Bailian fell silent for a moment, simply saying, "The matter in Jiangdu has been settled, and I came to Chenzhou afterwards." To avoid Mu Rongziying asking further questions, he immediately asked back, "Ziying, why did you come to Chenzhou? Didn't the sect leader summon you that day?"

  Murong Ziyin looked at him deeply, her eyes seeming to see through Shen Baiying's thoughts, making him involuntarily look away and not dare to meet her gaze again. Fortunately, Murong Ziyin did not ask further questions, but replied lightly: "I came here under the order of our sect leader. In various places in Central Plains, many arrays have been set up for thousands of years. Our sect leader is kind-hearted and often orders disciples to go down the mountain to check if there are any anomalies in the arrays, so as not to harm the people. This time, I was ordered by the sect leader to come down the mountain for this matter. There is a Xiantian Bagua Array in Chenzhou among all the arrays, after investigating this array, I will return to the mountain and report back."

  Shen Bailian nodded, and suddenly his heart moved, asking: "But I don't know what the honorable master of your sect... is called?" When he asked this question, a complex thought that couldn't be spoken arose in his heart. He left the Qionghua Sect when Qingzhen True Person passed away, and the sect was without a leader, with only a few elders in charge. Now, more than ten years had passed, and a new master must have already taken office, but he didn't know which of his fellow disciples it was... could it be him?

  Murong Ziyin's long eyebrows slightly furrowed, and the inquiring meaning in his eyes as he looked at Shen Baiying became even thicker. He said calmly: "The leader of our sect is the legitimate disciple of the previous generation's leader, Taiching Zhenren, with the Daoist name of Suoyao."

  "Xu Yao?" Shen Bai Ling was shocked and blurted out, "Why is it actually her?"

  Murong Ziyin retorted: "Brother Baiying, why did you ask this question? Could it be that you actually know our sect's leader?"

  "I... " Shen Bailian hastily suppressed her surprise and laughed dryly, "I'm just a nameless, sect-less wild person, how would I know the leader of a prestigious sect? It's just that I've heard your sect's leader is a woman, it's a bit hard to believe."

  Although the leader is a woman, she has the spirit of not letting her eyebrows be inferior to others. All the disciples in my school are convinced and respectful. Even the other schools on Mount Kunlun do not dare to underestimate her.

  When it comes to the leader of the Qionghua School, Mu Rongziying's usually cold face also shows a hint of respect. "Master once said that when the Qionghua School encountered a great chaos in those years, the previous leader Taiching Zhenren was killed by evil forces, and many disciples who had achieved success in their cultivation were destroyed. If it weren't for Xiaoyao's leadership during the crisis, leading the Qionghua School to recover and rebuild, I'm afraid this thousand-year-old school would have been destroyed.

  When I entered the school, the Qionghua School was already recovering gradually. Now all the disciples in the school are diligent in their cultivation, which is all thanks to the leader's efforts."

  Shen Bailian wanted to speak but stopped, his true concern was not who would take over the position of leader, but rather the whereabouts of a person he had been secretly worried about. With Taiching's death, the new leader would naturally be chosen from among his disciples, however, the one who had been expected to succeed him had betrayed and left, Su Yao and Su Xiang were limited in their abilities, Su Yu and Yun Tianqing had left together, so the one who should have become the new leader was that person... but why did Su Yao end up becoming the leader instead?

  It's been over a decade since the old incident, but for him, it was like an open wound that had left a permanent scar. Even the slightest touch seemed to bring back deep-seated pain. After leaving Qionghua, he didn't dare think about it, didn't want to think about it, as if by doing so, he could pretend nothing had ever happened and find some peace of mind. However, everything changed after meeting this young man in front of him. The past that he thought he had forgotten, the old dreams that he had deeply buried in his heart, were all awakened overnight. It was as if this young man's resemblance to someone from his past was too much to bear, and every time he saw him, it was like being constantly reminded of his own guilt and regret, which had been quietly growing and spreading like a web, entwining him, impossible to shake off or get rid of.

  Xuanxiao Shidi... what's wrong with you...

  Shen Bailian stared blankly at the young man in front of her, but what appeared before her eyes was another face, also with a jade crown and white robes, also as cold as distant mountains and snow, also with a passionate heart... The young man stood just a few feet away, where was that person?

  "...... Brother Baiying?"

  A low, calm and slightly surprised call awakened Shen Bailian from his daze. When he came to his senses, in front of him were Murong Ziyin's clear and bright eyes, but was there a hint of worry flashing under her tightly furrowed sword-like eyebrows?

  Shen Bailian pursed her lips and lowered her gaze, saying in an unnatural low tone: "I just remembered some unimportant things... I'm sorry."

  "It doesn't matter." Murong Ziyin didn't think much of it, her eyes swept across his face and saw that his expression had returned to normal, so she put her mind at ease. "Baiying brother, if there's nothing else, I'll take my leave first. After passing through the Xiantian Bagua formation, we can meet again, what do you think?"

  "Excellent. Once all matters are settled, we'll meet again in front of this city gate." Shen Bailian forced a faint smile in response.

  Murong Ziyin then took out an object from his sleeve and handed it over: "Let's use this as a signal. When the time comes, just infuse your true energy into it, and this jade sword will rush to my side. At that time, I'll come to meet you."

  Shen Bailian took a look at it in her hand, and indeed it was a small white jade sword, crystal clear and very delicate, which was the thing used by the Qionghua Sect to convey messages. She no longer pushed it away, nodded and put the jade sword into her bosom.

  Murong Ziyin casually nodded slightly, and with a reverse hand gesture, he summoned a sword shadow that lightly stepped on it. Only to see the purple light flashing, carrying him soaring into the sky, in the blink of an eye, only leaving behind a long residual shadow.

  Until the purple light disappeared from view, Shen Baiying took a step towards the city. The complicated thoughts that had been entwining his mind were also thrown to the back of his head with the departure of Ziying. At this moment, the most important thing was to find the divination master as soon as possible and get news about Yuanyu's daughter. If it was feasible, he could also ask him to calculate where Xuanxiao was...

  Shen Bailian pondered in his heart, and his footsteps quickened. He recalled that the senior Guaxian had mentioned in his letter that he was fond of Chenzhou's delicious food, and thought to himself: This high-ranking person is so fond of eating, he must not want to be too far away from those delicious dishes, just need to ask where the most famous restaurants and wine houses are in this city, it shouldn't be hard to find him. So he asked along the way, and gradually arrived at the market in the south of the city.

  Chen State City is adjacent to the Huai River, with convenient water transportation and prosperous commerce. The market is the most bustling and lively. On both sides of the street, there are tall shops and expensive buildings, displaying all kinds of rare and precious goods. Many merchants from the north and south have set up stalls, calling out to customers non-stop. It's truly a dazzling sight, making one's eyes spin with wonder. Shen Bailian walked along the road, taking in the sights, paying special attention to the food stalls, but never saw any elderly people who seemed like they might be cultivators.

  After walking for half a day, suddenly the sound of gongs and drums filled the sky, causing a great commotion. Looking ahead, many people had gathered together, but it was unclear what they were looking at. Shen Bailian's curiosity got the better of him, and he walked over to take a look. With just a few quick movements, he slipped past several people and made his way to the front of the crowd. Those ordinary people barely caught a glimpse of a shadowy figure flashing before their eyes, but when they looked again, there was no sign of him, so they simply thought they had seen things. Looking at the center of the crowd, there was a large empty space where several men and women were standing. Some were holding poles that seemed to stretch up to the sky, climbing them with ease like monkeys; others were dancing with knives and swords, suddenly tossing their heads back and inserting the blades into their throats until they disappeared, eliciting cries of shock but emerging unscathed. There were also two young men dressed as southwestern barbarians, holding long whips and commanding two giant elephants to perform various actions such as bowing, lifting trays, and standing on their heads, which was quite entertaining and drew laughter from the surrounding crowd.

  Shen Bailian was mesmerized, and in the midst of the crowd, she heard people discussing and laughing. A woman chuckled and said, "The acrobats are nothing special, but this elephant with big teeth and a long nose is quite interesting!" A nearby scholar overheard and couldn't help but snicker: "No wonder they say women have long hair but short sight. What's an elephant? I've heard that in the mountains of the southwest, there are many elephants, but they're rarely seen in the north. To be able to tame such a massive creature like this is quite impressive." The woman who had spoken earlier raised her eyebrows and scolded: "What's wrong with women having long hair? You bookworms are useless! If you think short hair means broad vision, then I'll help you shave your head bald to broaden your horizons!" With a flick of her hand, a silver light flashed in her palm, accompanied by a whirring sound. The scholar let out a startled cry as two strands of his hair floated gently to the ground.

  The scholar turned pale with fright, almost falling to the ground. Shen Bailian's eyes gleamed like lightning as she clearly saw that the woman had just shot out two small flying darts, which were extremely skillfully controlled, barely grazing the scholar's face without harming his skin, merely to scare him. Looking at the woman again, her face revealed a cold smile, and with contempt in her eyes, she said: "I thought you were boastful but had some skills, but it turns out you're so incompetent. Two poisonous darts have already scared you witless, and fighting with someone like you is truly tarnishing my reputation as Tang Huanqiu, the female knight of Shu!" Before she finished speaking, a long whistle pierced the air, followed by cries of surprise from the crowd.

  Shen Bailian hastily turned her head to look, and it was originally those two poisonous darts that brushed past the scholar's face and shot into the empty space, precisely nailing themselves onto the buttocks of a large elephant. The elephant had a plate on its nose playing tricks, but suddenly felt pain, and the plate instantly fell to the ground and shattered. The elephant trainer shouted and whipped it, but the elephant swept its trunk over and flung him several steps away. The other elephant nearby was also frightened and immediately started running wildly, and the surrounding crowd saw this scene and hastily cried out while dodging in all directions. Coincidentally, that scholar's mind had been unsettled from the start, and he lost his footing and fell to the ground without paying attention. When he looked up again, the elephant was already right in front of him, its trunk raised high, and one of its massive elephant feet was about to step down on him.

  That self-proclaimed Sichuan heroine, Tang Hanyu, was shocked and shouted: "Don't be afraid, I'm here to save you!" She drew her waist knife and was about to rush forward. Shen Bailian saw this from the side and couldn't bear to see a good young man being trampled by the elephant, so he also wanted to take action. However, just as he did, he suddenly saw something shoot out from the street corner and hit the elephant's foot. The elephant let out a long trumpet and its body swayed to one side, missing the scholar by a hair's breadth. Tang Hanyu arrived just in time and pulled the scholar out from under the elephant by his collar. The elephant trainer finally rushed over and drove the elephant back into a huge iron cage not far away.

  Shen Bailian was stunned, his eyes wide with wonder. He had seen it clearly, the thing that had knocked the elephant off balance was small and thin, yet it had been able to move a wall-sized elephant. The force it contained was unimaginable. However, when he looked closely at the object after it fell to the ground, he was extremely surprised to see that it was just an ordinary wooden chopstick lying quietly in the dust.

  On the side, Tang Huanqiu didn't have as good eyesight as him. She only saw that the bookworm was shouting and yelling, then his leg was opened, and she thought it was just the bookworm's own doing. She scolded him, "You're quite an actor, I really thought you were a ordinary bookworm, but it turns out you have good kung fu skills! Ah, could you be the famous 'Life-Taking Bookworm' of Jianghu?" The bookworm struggled free from her hand with a worried expression and said, "Don't joke around, miss. I couldn't even take back my collar from your hands, how can I take anyone's life?"

  Shen Bailian was just about to help the scholar out of his predicament when he suddenly felt a gaze coming from the street corner, which was exactly where the wooden stick had come from earlier. His heart skipped a beat as he also turned around to look back.

  Only at the corner of the street, in front of a small noodle stall, sat a middle-aged man staring intently at him. The man's expression was wooden and unremarkable, wearing coarse black clothes, looking like an ordinary passerby. Shen Baiyun wondered why the man was staring at him, his gaze fell on the man's hand placed beside the noodle bowl, and suddenly froze.

  All that was seen was that the middle-aged man's hand held a wooden chopstick, lightly pinched, as for the other one... it was unknown where it had gone.