Zong Ci slept for a long time.
He was really tired, exhausted from body to mind, just like a traveler who finally got a break after many days of aimless trekking. So almost as soon as he closed the window and climbed onto the soft bed, the boy fell into a deep and sweet dream.
When Zong Ci woke up, it was already bright.
The glass lamp in the room was still hanging on the table, and the leisurely fragrance of the mermaid cream helped him fall asleep.
The rain outside still showed no sign of stopping, but it changed from heavy downpour to dripping, hitting the eaves, sliding down the cracks on the slanted edges, and sinking into the ground.
Zong Ci got up, gave himself a dust-removing spell, changed his clothes, pushed open the door of the cave, and walked towards the courtyard.
He squatted in front of the sword-washing pool, scooped up a handful of cold water with both hands, and gently splashed it on his face.
Just as he had completely dispelled his sleepiness and wiped a handful of cold water off his face, he suddenly saw a sudden hint of green reflected on the water surface through his fingers.
Zong Ci's heart tightened, and he adjusted his facial expression before putting his hand down and saying respectfully, "Hello, senior."
"Um."
Qingxuzi, who came uninvited, nodded and glanced at him sharply like a sword. "Where did you go last night?"
last night
Zong Ci's heart skipped a beat, but his voice remained calm: "In reply to your question, I went to Sunset Forest with an outer disciple the day before yesterday to complete a group mission, and we only came back late last night."
"oh?"
Seeing that there was nothing wrong with his expression, the Taoist boy in green took two steps forward and said indifferently, "There is death energy in you."
The distance between the two of them was suddenly shortened because of this action. When Zong Ci raised his eyes, he happened to meet those glass-colored eyes.
It was obvious that Qingxuzi was just a child with no intimidation now, and even when he stood up he was only as tall as his chest, but Zong Ci still couldn't control the waves in his heart.
Zong Ci has always been somewhat afraid of this master.
It was the master who held his hand and walked him into the immortal gate, watched the little boy grow up to be the sword master Lingyun whose sword shook the world, and finally brought him down to earth with his own hands.
In addition, Qingxuzi has a strong desire for control and does not tolerate any flaws. When they are together, Zong Ci is always cautious and tries his best to do his best, not wanting to disappoint his master.
Later, Qingxuzi left the mountain gate and traveled around the world. Apart from exchanging letters, they had not seen each other for hundreds of years. But the memory of the past was too deep, so deep that fear was engraved in the bottom of his heart.
This kind of mood has nothing to do with cultivation. Even if Zongci's cultivation is very high, it will be of no use.
Because he will always be Qingxuzi's disciple.
"Something went wrong during the mission." Zong Ci smiled bitterly. "Originally, we planned to find the nest of the drongo, but it was getting late, so we had to find an open space to meditate. Unexpectedly, we were attacked by a black-backed hairy spider in the middle of the night, and encountered a python by the river. It was difficult to resist for a while, and I accidentally got separated. When we went back later, the other three disciples seemed to have had some accidents and died one after another. The scene was very..."
He paused at the right moment, revealing a frightened expression. "Later, the elders from the Law Enforcement Hall arrived. Originally, I was supposed to go to the Law Enforcement Hall to await my fate, but for some reason, the Sect Master of Tianji suddenly appeared. The Sect Master said that one of the disciples was a ghost cultivator, and he cleared my name, so I returned to the sect."
Zong Ci knew that the Law Enforcement Hall would definitely report what happened last night to the Sect Master. Although Qingxuzi had long stopped interfering in the affairs of the Sect, if Zong Ci was found to have lied and Qingxuzi happened to find out something, it would inevitably lead to complications.
So he chose to tell the whole story, half true and half false, and cleverly avoided all suspicious points, neither revealing the identity of the ghost cultivator nor the unusual appearance of the Tianji Sect Master, but instead revealed these things vaguely.
As expected, the first thing Qingxuzi noticed was not the unclear content of Zongci's speech, but he directly grasped the key point of the passage.
The leader of Tianji Sect.
Qingxuzi did not take the young disciple who betrayed his sect to heart, but after all, he violated the sect rules and he had to be expelled from the sect.
Seven hundred years ago, Qingxuzi also tried to kill someone, but Ling Chou was not distracted at that time.
A person in the Crossing Tribulation Stage against a Spirit Severing Stage should have been crushed to death with just one finger, but Ling Chou had a backup plan. So after coming out of retreat this time, Qingxuzi directly agreed to the demon clan's request for an alliance, because he himself had a score to settle with the Lord of the Ghost Realm.
... ... However, it is rare to find ghost cultivators who are worthy of the Tianji Sect Master's dispatch.
The Taoist boy in green lowered his brows and looked at the young man squatting on the ground.
The young man lowered his eyebrows and closed his eyes. His long eyelashes were like crow feathers, dotted with tiny, crystal clear water droplets.
His expression still contained a hint of confusion and the bewilderment of just waking up.
For some reason, Qingxuzi suddenly remembered the young man who secretly got up in the middle of the night and applied medicine to him with a grin on his face.
Noticing that Zong Ci seemed to be still waiting for his answer, Qingxuzi frowned and said, "If the Law Enforcement Hall wants to arrest you, just show them your disciple card from the main peak. With me here, no one in this sect can order you around."
"If something like this happens in the future, remember to inform me before you go, and let me know as soon as you come back."
The black-clothed young man moved his fingertips slightly and nodded, "Yes."
Qingxuzi looked at his well-behaved appearance, but there were still some lingering doubts in his heart.
He put his hands under his sleeves and made a gesture, and an extremely imperceptible cold light quietly attached to the young man.
The gap in their cultivation was too great. After Qingxu had done all this, the latter still seemed unaware and continued to bow his head in the sword-washing pool.
When Ling Yun was young, he could always catch him doing bad things accurately, all because of Qingxuzi's secret.
After doing all this, the Taoist boy calmed down his troubled emotions, stepped out of the courtyard, and headed towards the Lingguang Hall below the main peak.
Although Qingxuzi was in a state of meditation last night, his spiritual consciousness also detected unusual movements in the demon clan's territory. In addition, the ghost cultivator and the leader of the Tianji Sect, these two things couldn't be such a coincidence that they happened on the same night. There must be another hidden story.
####
In the second half of the night, the rain accompanied by thunder continued without stopping.
Unlike the commotion in the clan territory outside, there was silence inside the Chixiao Palace.
Last night, the Demon King activated the clan protection formation, and many demon cultivators were awakened from their sleep and walked out of their caves to watch. As soon as the sun rose, the teahouses and restaurants near the entire Chixiao Palace were filled with discussions.
A red bird, a green dragon, a white tiger, and a nine-tailed demon fox, all of them were fighting under the night sky in full view of everyone.
The monsters were usually gigantic, and the four of them showed their true form in the sky, almost blocking out the sun. If they hadn't opened the clan protection formation, I'm afraid the hill next to the Scarlet Sky Palace would have been overturned by them.
As expected, early this morning, Tai Yan Sect sent people to the demon tribe to inquire about what happened last night.
The person sent by Taiyan Sect is the leader of Danfeng Peak. Normally, this leader is also somewhat like the deputy leader of the sect. He often handles the affairs of the sect on behalf of Qingyun when Qingyun is not around.
It was reasonable that the leader of Taiyan Sect should be allowed to meet the leader of the demon tribe. But now the person sent to negotiate with the allies was only a trusted minister.
Just now when the Danfeng Peak Master landed at the Chixiao Palace, he heard the demon tribe members discussing outside. He caught a few words like "sword cultivator", "white clothes" and "sword light", and paid special attention to them, but he didn't expect that he couldn't ask anything.
"Last night was a family affair of my demon clan. As for more, we cannot reveal more."
The head of Danfeng frowned. "It is a noble family affair. Our sect naturally has no intention of offending you. But may I ask where is His Majesty the Demon King now?"
The minister looked at his nose and his heart, then raised his eyes to look at the steward who was standing by.
The demon servant immediately stepped forward and saluted, "Your Majesty is in poor health and cannot meet guests."
It is really impossible to get any useful information from the demon clan, and last night the clan protection formation blocked everything inside the Chixiao Palace, making it impossible to explore.
"I see. Since there is nothing else to do, I will return to the sect. If there is anything the nobles need help with, please feel free to ask."
The leader of Danfeng brushed off the non-existent dust on his clothes and stood up. "The time before the war is short. Since the two factions have formed an alliance, they should help each other when they encounter difficulties. Yesterday, we saw that the alliance was not in line, so our sect came to disturb us. I hope you can understand."
"We understand. Of course we understand. Taiyan Sect is worthy of being the number one sect in the world. We admire such magnanimity." The minister immediately agreed.
The two of them praised each other for a few words before walking out of the clan territory together.
The demon servant steward stood at the back, gazing at their receding figures. He turned around and saw Lin Ren hurrying over here, rarely bringing many servants with him to support the occasion.
The young man in white had lost his usual indifference and was in a hurry. As soon as he saw him, he asked him a barrage of questions: "Where is your Majesty? What happened last night? Why didn't you come to the court this morning? What did the people from Tai Yanzong come for?"
This string of questions, like a string of pearls, confused the demon servant. He bowed and said, "To answer your question, Your Majesty has already ordered the palace gates to be sealed, prohibiting anyone from asking questions. I dare not speculate on His Majesty's intentions."
"No one is allowed to ask questions?"
Lin Ren was stunned. He looked at the steward with a little hope, but the demon servant was still holding the palace lantern and remained silent.
After so many years of working in the palace, he is not stupid and naturally knows what this silence means.
"No one is allowed to ask" means that even Mr. Lin has no right to ask.
In fact, he had long known that without the shell of warmth, he was nothing.
Lin Ren smiled self-deprecatingly in his heart, clenched his fists, and turned away.
If it was any other concubine, maybe they would just pretend and stop there. But Lin Ren was still worried, so he could only look for His Majesty in the palace little by little to see where he was.
The demon servant stood where he was, watching the most favored young man in white walking away from afar, and sighed.
Not all places in the palace are allowed to be visited. Even the most favored prince has areas that cannot be entered, such as the well-known Demon King's bedroom.
Few people know that there is a place in this palace that is absolutely forbidden.
The demon servant knew something vaguely, but did not dare to pry too much into it for fear of offending the Holy Emperor.
Rong Lian was indeed within that forbidden area.
This is the edge of the Chixiao Palace, a desolate area that can no longer be considered an imperial city. Many years ago, when the Chixiao Palace was still in the demon tribe's territory, this palace was even next to a human village. On weekdays, demons rarely set foot here, but humans often bravely climbed over the wall to explore.
Looking around, there are many dilapidated palaces standing in rows, and traces of peeling red paint can be seen on the pillars. It is obvious that no one has lived here for a long time, and it is extremely desolate.
In this dilapidated courtyard, a man in a crimson crown was standing in front of a green tombstone, his brows and eyes were tightly closed, his whole body was luxurious, and he was out of place with the background.
Colorless rain fell from the clouds, but Rong Lian did not summon up his spiritual power. Instead, he let the cold rain wet his hair, eyebrows, and lips, and finally fell on his body.
The red clothes were soaked through, and in such a hazy rain, they looked like a burning fire, becoming clearer and brighter.
He still tightly grasped the two broken pieces of the amulet in his hand. When he let go, the broken pieces of the jade amulet had left deep marks on his palm.
Rong Lian stared at the palm of his hand, then suddenly closed his eyes, his expression dark and complicated.
—He suspected that there was something wrong with his memory.