Mountain and sea lantern

Chapter 543 The Cousin's Face is Big

"Tell Gao He that neither log will be wasted, and the cooperation will continue..."

On the rooftop of Zhulang Pavilion, where the evening breeze blew, Yin Xu held the letter and looked at it over and over again, muttering to himself.

Someone delivered a letter to her, asking her to pass on a message to Gao He. She could understand it, but the contents of the letter were rather confusing. What did the two pieces of wood mean?
Another point is obvious: the person who wrote this letter clearly did not know that Wang Ping was the real person.

Tian Shen, who was delivering the letter, also looked puzzled and pondering.

After much deliberation, Yin Xu let Tian Shen go about his business and returned to her own room. She closed the doors and windows tightly and, after confirming that no one else would appear in the room, took out the mother-child talisman and sent a message to Shi Chun, informing him of the situation described in the letter.

At this time, Shi Chun had already entered the Divine Mountain Formation by digging a hole underground. He was just waiting for it to get completely dark before he would show himself to meet Wu Jinliang and the others.

Upon receiving the message from Yin Xu, he immediately recognized that it was Grandma Qi's doing and understood why she would do such a thing: Wu Jinliang had run away, leaving no middleman.

Grandma Qi was clearly afraid that her arrest would lead to the end of their cooperation.

They've been captured, and without a hostage, they're still expected to cooperate? What's the point of cooperation then? There's no basis for cooperation anymore; it's become a one-sided sacrifice. Isn't this just giving away the "Death-Repelling Incense" for free?

This situation made Shi Chun somewhat doubt himself. Could it be that he was really judging others by his own petty standards, and that Bai's purpose was truly to rescue the Golden-haired Rat clan?
After all, once he was released from prison, he knew that 'loyalty and righteousness' did exist in the world, but they were rare.

Another concern was that even Bai knew that Yin Xu could contact him, so how could others not know? So he fell back into his old habit and became wary again, feeling that he had to be careful about his dealings with Yin Xu.

He pondered and thought until it was completely dark before sending a message to Wu Jinliang, and then sneaking away.

Thanks to the risk-avoidance ability of his right eye, he managed to meet up with Wu Jinliang and the others, except for taking a little longer.

This meeting excited Chu Jingtang and his two companions. They discovered that Wu Heihe's words were indeed true; their leader was truly formidable. He could sneak into this sacred mountain protected by an ancient array just like that. It was truly amazing.

Shi Chun had no time to pay attention to their admiring gazes and quickly led them away.

When they reached the edge of the protective array at the foot of the mountain, they needed to use Wu Jinliang's earth-遁术 (earth-遁术 is a type of magic or technique) to eliminate obvious traces of excavation and conceal the truth that they could directly enter and exit the sacred mountain.

Since the command token was intentionally concealed from a third party, Shi Chun gave Wu Jinliang a look, and the latter knew how to cooperate.

When using the Earth Escape Technique, suddenly pause to bury everyone briefly. Once the light wave ejected from the command arrow has opened and enveloped everyone, control the underground space to prevent everyone from seeing the enveloping light wave.

After going outside, when collecting the command arrow, the earth-遁术 (earth-遁术 is a type of magic that involves escaping into the ground) was interrupted again, burying everyone once more.

Under a sky full of stars, a few people emerged from the grove of heart-wrapping grass and quickly slipped away quietly.

Meanwhile, Feng Jue on the mountain rushed into the temple and found the goddess Feng Qingping. "Aunt, something went wrong during the interrogation over there."

Feng Qingping noticed his expression was off and quickly asked, "What's wrong?"

Feng Jue said with difficulty, "After Qiu Ben returned, he intensified the interrogation of the Bai clan members. As a result, several people couldn't withstand it and died during the interrogation. There were also a few who were seriously injured... and they were gone when they were found."

Feng Qingping's face immediately darkened. She realized that the Extreme Fire Sect had become somewhat unscrupulous after smoothing things over with the Demon Queen. She immediately asked, "What about Bai Qiru in Dazhi City?"

Feng Jue said in a deep voice, "The punishment has been increased, but Bai Qiru still insists that several of her shop assistants have also disappeared. The reason she helped send the three people away was purely because Gao He said he had a way to get Huang Yingying out, so she helped him. Aunt, one thing is certain, Qiu Ben's side should have also discovered that Bai Qiru does not seem to know the identities of Gao He and Wang Ping, and still regards Wu Jinliang as the real person. In other words, the person who made the move outside the city may not really be from the Bai family."

By this time, they already knew the identities of Shi Chun and Wu Jinliang.

This is all thanks to the Demon Queen. The Phoenix Clan was unaware of this before, as the Extreme Fire Sect refused to reveal it. It wasn't until the Extreme Fire Sect Master and the Phoenix Clan Chief went to meet the Demon Queen that, under her questioning, they were asked why she was investigating those people so thoroughly. Only then did the Extreme Fire Sect Master, Su Qiao, have no choice but to reveal the truth and expose Shi Chun and Wu Jinliang's group from the Mingshan Sect.

First, Shi Chun and his gang killed the disciples of the Extreme Fire Sect in the Divine Fire Domain and seized the sect's magic treasures. Second, they were swindled out of a large sum of money by Shi Chun and did not obtain the secret method for finding the Divine Fire that they wanted. The Extreme Fire Sect suspected that Shi Chun had some secrets he was not revealing. They inadvertently learned that Shi Chun had secretly come to this area, so they naturally wanted to get there first and then work on Shi Chun.

Then there was the loss of the Extreme Fire Sect's most precious treasure, the 'Great Sun Golden Ring,' which forced the Extreme Fire Sect to follow the existing clues and investigate with all their might.

The dedication of weapon-refining sects to divine fire is understandable to both the Demon Queen and the Phoenix Clan.

As the pillar of the demon realm's weapon-forging prowess, the stronger the weapon-forging ability, the better it can be used by the royal court. As the demon queen of Xiniu Hezhou, even if she doesn't support it, she can't easily obstruct it.

That's why the Empress Dowager turned a blind eye to this matter.

Little did they know that while the Extreme Fire Sect revealed most of the truth, they also concealed the most crucial secret—the one concerning Situ Gu and Zhen'er. Some of the most core secrets were to be firmly held in their hands and never let go.

However, the wording already covers this, so even if it gets exposed later, it won't be considered a cover-up.

However, the Phoenix Clan didn't care about Shi Chun at all, because they looked down on him.

For Feng Qingping right now, regardless of whether the person who attacked outside Dazhi City was from the Bai family, your Jihuo Sect cannot be so unscrupulous as to kill off members of the Bai family one by one. Is this how interrogation is conducted?
If word got out, it would damage the Phoenix Clan's reputation, especially since Bai Shi had been loyal to the Phoenix Clan for so many years. She immediately left the temple and went directly to the interrogation site to talk to Qiu Ben.

The communication did not go smoothly. Qiu Ben not only did not admit that he had used excessive torture, but also felt that the death was too easy. He only said that he would be more careful in the future.

That's it.

Feng Qingping had just come out of the interrogation room with a dark face when she bumped into Feng Jue, who rushed over to report, "Aunt, news has come from the Boundary Sea that a fierce battle has taken place. Someone used a powerful treasure. According to the survivors, it seems to be the 'Great Sun Golden Ring' that was lost by the Extreme Fire Sect."

Feng Qingping pursed her lips and tilted her head behind her. "Tell them to investigate themselves. Also, notify Dazhi City to stop those mad dogs from the Jihuo Sect from messing around with Bai Qiru. Bai Qiru's parents died while serving my Feng Clan. If Bai Qiru also disappears under mysterious circumstances and we can't find any evidence, we won't be able to explain it to Granny Qi."

After saying that, he turned and left.

The once turbulent cities of Dazhi and Yaoshan suddenly quieted down again, and Shi Chun and his gang seemed to have vanished into thin air. Only the Jihuo Sect was still holding onto the people in the prison.

The business at Chaoyue Pavilion seems to be getting better and better.

Those pretentious scholars, it's unclear whether they came to read books or to see beautiful women.

The position previously held by the Third Miss Dong Liangying has been changed; the woman in red is now sitting behind the counter collecting money and keeping accounts.

Logically, the woman in red was supposed to replace the woman who did odd jobs, but she didn't seem to know what to do. Seeing Dong Liangying doing the work behind the counter, she took the initiative to go and find work to do, saying that she would take over the work from now on.

What could Dong Liangying say about being a relative of an important person? So he obediently stepped down.

The woman in red somehow acquired a comfortable chair and placed it behind the counter. She could sit, lie down, or recline as she pleased. With her arms propped up and head squinted, she listened to the scholars' wide-ranging discussions, sometimes drinking tea, sometimes letting the aroma of wine fill the library, and drinking alone.

Drinking at the bookstore's opening...

Dong Wenshu and the others also forced themselves to remain silent after seeing this.

This sparked a trend of bringing wine to the library. Someone brought wine to the woman in red, saying it was good wine and inviting her to drink with him. The woman in red smiled, shook her head, and remained silent.

There were elegant and refined scholars who would lean over the counter, trying to strike up a conversation with the woman in red, either displaying their literary talent or speaking in a gentle and refined manner. The woman in red would just smile slightly and not respond, like a mute.

When someone asks about the price, they are shown the price list sign in the distance.

However, the romantic gestures of scholars are always varied and creative. Gradually, some began to write letters to the woman in red, using the most eloquent language to express their admiration.

The woman in red seemed to be enjoying the show, but never responded. After a silent laugh, she propped her head up with one arm and squinted as if she were having a sweet dream, slowly swaying the wine bottle in her hand.

Although she gave off an impression of being idle and unproductive, her charm captivated the scholars. Dong Liangying, who did odd jobs, often noticed people staring at the woman in red with their books before losing focus.

But the bookstore's business has indeed improved a lot, and Dong Liangying, who does odd jobs, is quite tired.

That's why, during one dinner, the woman in red boldly asked Dong Liangze, "What are you doing running around outside all day?"

Dong Wenshu chimed in for her son, "He's not young anymore. He'll have to take charge of the household sooner or later, and he should start getting used to social interactions and public appearances."

The woman in red, after taking a sip of her drink, casually remarked, "It's no use getting used to it. The lobby is busy; we need a man to do the work. Come back and get to work."

The family looked at each other, wondering who owned the library.
The woman in red then said to Dong Liangyu, who was gently biting his chopsticks, "If you want to cultivate, it shouldn't be difficult to change your physical problems." She then glanced at the other three siblings and said, "My cousin has quite a few connections. You can tell me which path of cultivation you want to take, and I'll have him find you a renowned teacher."

The family members looked at each other in bewilderment. They had no doubt about the connections of their cousin's uncle, who was, after all, the Empress Dowager's man.

Dong Wenshu thought for a moment and said, "After the goddess spoke last time, I thought about it carefully. Let them choose for themselves. All good things must come to an end. They will eventually have to live their own lives. This family will eventually break up. It may not be a bad thing if they can have more descendants."

The woman in red, taking a sip of wine, glanced at him sideways. "There's no need for us to be so sorrowful, nor do we have to break up our families. We can have a renowned teacher come to our home to teach us."

The family was stunned again. Dong Liangze asked blankly, "Is this even possible?"

The woman in red said "oh," and added, "My cousin has a lot of influence."

Well, the family does believe that.

However, that's not important right now, nor is the infatuation of the scholars in the library with the woman in red. What's important is that the siblings have noticed their father acting strangely; he's started to care more about dressing up...

(End of this chapter)