Su Qingzhuo felt embarrassed. Could he admit he had forgotten to ask her name? He only felt the woman before him would not harm him, and she carried the glow of merit. His Illusion-Piercing Eye could not pierce her disguise. That matched his master's signs for a benefactor, so he simply decided she was the one, never even asking her surname before spilling everything like beans from a bamboo tube.
Heat climbed up Su Qingzhuo's face. He wanted to dig a hole and bury himself on the spot.
Enjoying the way Su Qingzhuo's expression shifted like a painter's palette, Yunxi found him amusing, foolish in an oddly sincere way. She swept a hand over her Glazed Jade Mask, restoring her true features. "I am Wei Yunxi of Haoran Sect. Remember it?"
"Hiss!"
This time Su Qingzhuo drew in a breath of cold air. He stammered with excitement: "Y-you are Wei Yunxi?"
Realizing his rudeness, he hurriedly cupped his hands:"Su Qingzhuo greets Wei Yunxi Zhēnjūn."
Yunxi touched the Glazed Jade Mask again and returned to her previous face. She waved a hand."No second person can know you have met me, not even your guards. Investigate what I told you, slowly and quietly. Do not alarm anyone in your clan. Understood?"
"Yes, Zhēnjūn."
He agreed readily, though worry crept back in. "Zhēnjūn, has the Su family truly been targeted by evil cultivators?"
Yunxi shook her head. She still did not know whether the Su family realized their own secret realm had become a hideout for evil cultivators, nor what role they played in it, accomplices, unwitting pawns, or the next target. She could only say:
"If your master foresaw the Su family being pulled into a vortex, it means someone in the shadows has fixed their eyes on the Su family. That is why you must find the truth, so you can help your clan escape the crisis."
"I understand."
"If anything unusual happens, send me a message. But you may not reveal anything about me to anyone in the Su family."
Su Qingzhuo nodded. Only then did Yunxi rise. "Do not act so rashly next time. Not everyone will be as easy to talk to as I am."
Su Qingzhuo gave an awkward smile and nodded. He wanted to personally see Yunxi out of the teahouse, but she stopped him. "No need. You are the Su family's young master. How could you lower yourself to escort a mere loose cultivator?"
She flicked her sleeve and woke the three Golden Core guards.
Su Qingzhuo cleared his throat. "Escort this Daoyou out."
The three still held weapons in hand. Their young master's attitude had changed too quickly for them to keep up.
Yunxi smiled. "There is no need to trouble the three of you. I will take my leave."
She walked out of the teahouse on her own.
"Young master, should we stop her?" the lead Golden Core guard asked, frowning.
Su Qingzhuo's brows lifted. "Can you stop her?"
The three men flushed with shame. They were about to call for reinforcements when Su Qingzhuo stopped them.
"I was rude first, and she did not hold it against me. I have explained. Let it go, and do not report this to my elder brother."
"Yes, young master."
Su Qingzhuo returned to his window seat and watched Yunxi's figure disappear from Qianling City.
His face remained composed, but his thoughts had long since flown elsewhere. He silently rejoiced that he had yielded quickly. Otherwise, he might not even know how he died.
He had already heard the latest rumors about Wei Yunxi Zhēnjūn at this very teahouse, that she fought three Nascent Soul cultivators of the same rank at once, won completely, and returned to the sect unscathed. Such overwhelming strength. He had suspected exaggeration.
After seeing her with his own eyes in Qianling City, he believed. If Wei Yunxi Zhēnjūn had been merely bluffing, she would have been nursing wounds at the sect, not traveling ten thousand li to Qianling City.
But then Su Qingzhuo frowned. Wei Yunxi Zhēnjūn would not come to the Su family's base for no reason. Coupled with what she asked him to check, eight or nine times out of ten a problem lay inside the Su family.
With that thought, Su Qingzhuo could no longer sit still. He returned to the Su manor and imposed a gag order on the three Golden Core guards.
The guards also felt they had failed today, lost face, and nearly put the young master in danger. They certainly would not go back and trumpet their dereliction. They chose to quietly ignore the entire incident.
Yunxi had already left Qianling City. Leisurely, she swung by the nearby Qianling Mountain Range, like any loose cultivator hunting for resources. Once among the trees, she flashed into a return route for the sect.
Elsewhere, after eight years of seclusion, Wei Yunqing finally stabilized at early Nascent Soul and emerged.
Wei Yunqing first met Yun Ze Zhēnjūn, handed over the spirit stones owed for her time at Yunmen Temple, then prepared to return to the sect.
She calculated that less than a year remained before the Five Region Grand Tournament. The time to make her name had come, so she had to hurry back to secure a spot.
"Many thanks to Yun Ze Zhēnjūn for your care, and for expelling the evil soul. Please accept this bow."
Wei Yunqing said all the right words, but aside from the spirit stones for her seclusion, she offered no proper gift.
Yun Ze Zhēnjūn did not mind. As long as no incident occurred at Yunmen Temple, he was content. He politely saw her off.
After leaving Yunmen Temple, Wei Yunqing headed straight for the cross-region teleportation array. She did not want to grind her way back by training on the road. It was dangerous and a waste of time.
Heaven had other plans. Midway through transmission, the teleportation channel malfunctioned and threw her into the middle ring of the Qianling Mountain Range.
Gripping her longsword, Wei Yunqing faced the lunging Jungle Wolf King. Even as she fought, she grumbled, "Unlucky again. Why do accidents always find me? Hiss!"
Failing to dodge in time, the back of her hand was raked by the fourth-rank Wolf King, leaving three bone-deep grooves. Rage reddened her eyes. Her figure blurred as she launched a furious counterattack.
If Yunxi had known Wei Yunqing had been dumped into the Qianling Mountain Range, she would have said it was karmic entanglement, then guessed the Heavenly Dao was giving Wei Yunqing special tutoring, afraid her combat power lagged too far, so it tossed her here.
Meanwhile, in line with his agreement with Yunxi, Xiao He had deliberately stirred up the Su family. The more alert members immediately sensed something wrong and sent people to "invite" him.
Xiao He only said a few ambiguous things. After confirming that the Su family's secret realm had truly vanished, he turned and ran. He did not end up a "guest" of the Su family.
Su family clan grounds, council hall side chamber.
"Patriarch, the man fled. Our investigation shows he is Xiao He, a former Xiao family disciple struck from the rolls in Xiaohe City. He once joined with evil cultivators and exterminated his own clan."
Su Qifeng frowned. "He is a fallen evil cultivator."
"Yes."
"Why would he come to investigate the Su family's missing secret realm?"
"Unknown. It seems he was looking for someone."
"Once a secret realm closes, no one can enter or leave. How did he find a realm under our clan's control?"