Mountain and sea lantern

Chapter 595 Burned by Fire

Upon hearing this sudden request, Situ Gu turned to look at him and asked in a simple and concise telepathic message, "Do you think I'm easy to manipulate?"

"Ah?" Shi Chun looked shocked and muttered in a low voice, "What do you mean by that, senior?"

Situ Gu asked again, "Do you think that because you know the secret between me and Zhen'er, you can use me without restraint?"

Shi Chun hurriedly said, "Senior, you've misunderstood. There's absolutely no such thing."

Situ Gu: "Even if the secret between Zhen'er and me is exposed, it won't cause me much trouble. I just don't want Zhen'er's identity to be revealed, which would attract the covetousness of those who cultivate fire-type techniques. I don't want to bring her any unnecessary trouble. Now that she has fallen into the hands of the demonic path, her identity must have been exposed."

The implication is simple: it's no use trying to blackmail me with this anymore.

Shi Chun hurriedly protested, "Senior, you've really wronged me to death. I wouldn't dare to use you, no matter who else I'm using. Firstly, I don't want anything to happen to Zhen'er. Secondly, for all parties involved, finding the secret method of the Divine Fire is more important than Zhen'er's relationship with you. I'm already grateful that you don't have to use this secret to blackmail me. How could I dare to push my luck?"

"Senior, the reason I wanted to check out the array's core is because something suddenly occurred to me. Last time I was besieged by the demonic path, it was a whole group of demons. I was wondering, is there really only one demon on this mountain? Or could it be a demonic lair already overrun by them?"

These words caused Situ Gu to quickly turn his gaze towards the sacred mountain, his expression becoming somewhat heavy.

Shi Chun continued, “Although I don’t know the demonic cultivators who attacked me, I’ve met them before. I want to take this opportunity to linger a little longer and observe them to see if I can recognize any other demonic cultivators, so I can prepare a backup plan. As for the excuse of going to the ‘Big Dipper Spirit Repelling Array,’ the problem is, apart from the ‘Big Dipper Spirit Repelling Array,’ given your status and character, do you really think people will believe you if you say you’re visiting the sacred mountain?”

Situ Gu fell silent.

Meanwhile, atop the sacred mountain, within the divine palace, a dignified old man, dressed in magnificent robes and possessing handsome features, sat in a high position, instructing the goddess Feng Qingping, who stood below him, on some matters.

This man was none other than Feng Xi, the patriarch of the Phoenix Clan. He arrived two hours before Shi Chun and the other person. Upon arrival, he gained a thorough understanding of the overall situation on and off the mountain and then issued a series of decrees.

What appears to be a calm and peaceful mountain is actually a turbulent undercurrent, as a sudden change has occurred.

Granny Qi and the Bai clan, who had been released less than a day earlier, were suddenly restricted from their freedom again and imprisoned, forbidden from leaving the sacred mountain.

The same thing happened to the Extreme Fire Sect group led by Qiu Ben on the mountain. Before they could even react, they were suddenly attacked and captured. No matter how much Qiu Ben shouted, it was no use. They were all locked up in the dungeon.

The Phoenix Clan Chief was forced to make these arrangements; he had come from the Eastern Divine Continent Royal Court.

He was summoned by the Queen of the Eastern Victory Kingdom.

When the queen met him, she told him directly that someone was causing trouble in the royal court with the incense of death.

Feng Xi also saw the zombie that had been resurrected. He was very clear about the effects of the Resurrection Incense. After personally inspecting the site, he confirmed that the corpse had indeed been resurrected by the Resurrection Incense.

Queen Dongsheng asked him if the materials for refining the Death Incense were in the hands of your Phoenix Clan.

Feng Xi could not deny this, but the materials for refining the Dead Incense had always been firmly controlled by the Phoenix Clan.

The Queen said that the perpetrator not only caused trouble in the royal court with the incense of death, but also stole her important personal belongings. She asked him what to do.
He had no idea what to do.

The Queen's meaning was simple: the Phoenix Clan controls the Death Incense, so why did it commit a crime in the Royal Court? The Phoenix Clan must give me an explanation, or you will bear the consequences!

This was completely different from what Shi Chun had imagined when he mistakenly entered the royal court to cause trouble. He thought that the Phoenix Clan was not under the jurisdiction of Dongsheng Shenzhou, and that the Dongsheng royal court would quietly intervene in the Divine Mountain. He even wanted to use the Dongsheng royal court to muddy the waters of the Divine Mountain so that he could take the opportunity to fish.

However, the queen was too lazy to put in the effort to investigate the sacred mountain slowly. Instead, she directly pressured the Phoenix Clan Chief by forcing him to give an explanation. She said, "If you think that I can ignore you because I can't control what's going on here, then your Phoenix Clan can try."

In short, if the source of the Death Incense cannot be determined, the case should be directly classified as the work of the Phoenix Clan!
That's why Feng Xi personally went to the sacred mountain to make arrangements.

At this moment, a maid brought over a newly compiled list of outsiders who had entered and exited the sacred mountain over the past six months. Feng Xi took it and carefully looked through it.

However, Feng Qingping had to raise a question, "Clan leader, it's probably difficult to find out anything about this. Perhaps it's someone else's stockpile. After all, there have been instances where outsiders used the incense but it died."

Feng Xi's gaze remained fixed on the list as he said indifferently, "Do you think the Queen of Dong Sheng would listen to this explanation?"

Feng Qingping hesitated and said, "What I mean is, what if we arrest these people but can't get any results from the interrogation?"

Feng Xi snorted: "That's easy. Just treat them all as suspects and hand them over to the Dongsheng Royal Court for execution."

Feng Qingping was shocked, "Grandma Qi and the others... and the Extreme Fire Sect, how could the Extreme Fire Sect possibly agree?"

Feng Xi looked up and asked in return, "Then how do you suggest we investigate? Friendship is friendship, but I can't drag the Phoenix Clan into this. Are the recent events at Shenshan related to the Bai Clan? I hope the matter of the Dead Incense has nothing to do with them. If it really is, facing the executioner's blade of the Dongsheng Royal Court and the danger of annihilation, someone in the know will surely come forward."

As for the Extreme Fire Sect, my Phoenix Clan has already done everything we could. Why did they have to get involved and cause trouble? If you want to save people, let them get involved with the Eastern Victory Royal Court.

"Qingping, this matter cannot be resolved peacefully. They've gone too far, slapping the Queen of Dongsheng in the face! They're too arrogant! This won't end easily without a great many deaths. Better to kill the innocent than let the guilty go free—that's the only option. Either you hand them over as compensation, or you hand over the Phoenix Clan guards of the Soul-Reversing Tree and the Incense of Death as atonement. Which do you want?"

He was still unaware that someone had placed a naked male corpse in the queen's room; otherwise, he would have known it wasn't just a slap in the queen's face, but a complete humiliation. Crucially, even the perpetrator himself was unaware of his incredible luck in finding himself in the queen's room.

Feng Qingping felt a chill run down her spine upon hearing this. If she was the one guarding the Soul-Reversing Tree, wouldn't she be the first to be targeted?
Feng Xi tossed the list over, "What we need to do is arrest everyone on this list without missing a single one. The more comprehensive the net we cast, the more likely we are to catch the criminals. As for whether we will kill the wrong person, that's not up to us to decide!"

Feng Qingping glanced at the list, then fixed her gaze on the name 'Bai Qiru', and sighed, "Bai Qiru was expelled from the Bai family, and now he's going to be implicated too?"

Feng Xi: "The Bai family's involvement during this period makes them highly suspicious. They can only blame themselves for being blind. Not only did they want to arrest Bai Qiru, but they also ordered the Bai family members in their stronghold to be placed under house arrest when I arrived. If the Bai family knows anything about this, they either have to confess honestly in exchange for a chance to live, or their entire clan will be wiped out!"

A bitter expression appeared on Feng Qingping's face. Reality is sometimes too cruel, suddenly crushing everything without giving her a chance to explain. She just didn't understand, where did this fool come from, of all people to mess with, to mess with the Queen of Dongsheng? Isn't this just courting death?

She hoped the perpetrator was on the list; otherwise, all those deaths would be innocent.

But no matter how she looked at it, she didn't think any of the people on the list had the ability to cause trouble in the important Dongsheng Royal Court. After her gaze fell on the names of Shi Chun and Wu Jinliang, she paused, then immediately flipped the list over and pointed to the two names, saying, "We don't know where Shi Chun and Wu Jinliang have gone. Not only us, but the Jihuo Sect has also gone to great lengths to find them, but we just can't find them. How can we capture them to explain ourselves?"

Feng Xi: "Then let's continue the search. The person should still be trapped in Jukuzhou. We may not be able to completely cut off all connections with him. We need to keep a close eye on places like libraries."

"Yes."

Just as Feng Qingping agreed, the imposing Feng Jue rushed in from outside the door.

"Clan leader, aunt." Feng Jue, who strode over, bowed and then reported with his hands clasped: "A distinguished guest has come down from the mountain. He says that Elder Situ Gu of the Lian Tian Sect has come to visit."

Feng Qingping was surprised to hear this, "Why is he here?"

Feng Xi stepped down the steps from his high position and said, "This isn't his first time here. I remember he came before, and I think he came for the 'Big Dipper Spirit Repelling Array.' The higher the level of a weapon refiner, the more proficient they are in arrays. It seems he didn't understand this array back then. Maybe he came for the array again. I really can't think of any other reason why he would come here."

Feng Qingping immediately showed the list to herself, "Clan leader, should he be included on this list?"

Feng Xi paused, turned around with his hands behind his back to look at her, "He came afterward, what does it have to do with him? Don't you think there's enough trouble already?"

However, after turning his head, he showed a puzzled look and muttered to himself as he walked forward, "Why did we have to come at this troublesome time? Let's go, we have to give that guy some face, we might need his help someday, let's go and greet him in person."

So the three of them went out of the hall together.

Meanwhile, several figures had already arrived at the gate of the sacred mountain upon hearing the news. They were none other than Huang Ye, the leader of the Northern Mountain, who personally led several of his key subordinates to the scene.

Shi Chun, who was standing next to Situ Gu, spotted Jiang You'er among the group at a glance. When his gaze fell on Huang Ye, the leader of Beishan, who was gesturing and telling him to open the array gate quickly, his eyelids bulged instantly.

He returned here, disguised, but still feeling guilty and worried about being recognized. Since he had discovered someone with the ability to use the Demon Eye here, he cast a spell to lock his aura to prevent it from leaking out as soon as he arrived. At the same time, he kept his right eye's special ability active to survey his surroundings.

As expected, the demonic energy within Huang Ye's body was immediately visible.

I was just telling Situ Gu that there might be other demonic cultivators hiding on the mountain, and I never expected that my words would come true so quickly.

With a gong, the Void Wave Gate opened, and Huang Ye strode out, bowing respectfully before them. "Elder Situ, it's been a hundred years since we last met. I never imagined that I would be opening the gate for you again after all this time."

Upon closer inspection, Shi Chun was secretly alarmed to see the extent of the other party's demonic energy. It was probably another cultivator at the Lesser Completion stage of the Celestial Immortal realm. He wondered who this person with the flamboyant beard was, as he had never seen him before. However, judging from Jiang You'er's role as an accompaniment, his status on the Divine Mountain was quite evident.

Did you meet him a hundred years ago? Situ Gu really couldn't remember who Huang Ye was, but he felt that Huang Ye looked slightly familiar, so he nodded slightly in greeting.

Just then, several figures came from the sacred mountain, and Feng Xi and the other two landed.

Feng Xi strode over and greeted us with a cupped hand and a smile from afar: "Situ, it's been years! What brings you here?"

Shi Chun had never seen these three people before, but their demonic energy was more powerful than the others, none of them weaker than the one with the bristling beard. The leader's demonic energy strength must have reached the upper level of the Celestial Immortal realm.

"The clan leader is here too?" Situ Gu was also surprised.

Listening to these people greeting each other and Jiang You'er and the others making arrangements, Shi Chun finally figured out who these people were. He didn't expect that the Phoenix Clan Chief was also there.

He paid close attention to Huang Ye, the leader of Beishan, and knew that he was Jiang You'er's direct superior and should be from the same lineage.

After the group finished exchanging pleasantries, Feng Xi's gaze fell on Shi Chun's ruddy face, and he said with a chuckle, "Brother Situ, the skin of you, a disciple of the Refining Heaven Sect, is frighteningly red. What's going on?"

Situ Gu calmly replied, "Playing with fire will only lead to getting burned. I've applied some medicine, please excuse my poor appearance."

In reality, she was afraid that her disguise would give her away, so she simply covered her face with red paint and applied some plasters or similar products.

To be honest, this was the first time Situ Gu had ever seen such a simple and crude method of disguise. The disguise was far too obvious, but the effect was also obvious. Even ghosts probably wouldn't recognize him.

(End of this chapter)