Mountain and sea lantern

Chapter 603 I can’t help myself
The three, who seemed to have died once, were quite surprised to hear this.

The bald elder then pointed to Ju Shihong, "You're coming back to the Lian Tian Sect with me."

"Huh?" Gu Shihong, who was sweating profusely and about to get up, was taken aback, and then instinctively said, "No, no, you were kidnapped from the Lian Tian Sect. The Lian Tian Sect must already know that I am the traitor."

The bald elder said, "I am the person involved. If I say you are the traitor, then you are the traitor. If I say you are not, then you are not. You may have been kidnapped while trying to protect me. I need people around me who can directly contact your faction, and I also need assistants."

Gu Shihong was stunned. Now that he said that, it seemed that returning now wasn't such a bad thing.

Gong Yuanzhi and the other person looked at each other in bewilderment.

After the three of them got up, Gong Yuanzhi patted her still somewhat uncomfortable head and asked in surprise, "What did you do to us?"

The bald elder said indifferently, "Does the demonic path these days not even know about the 'Heart-Binding Curse'? If I were to completely disappear, you would all die. Those who obey me will prosper, those who oppose me will perish, and those who are disloyal to me will die!"

Gong Yuanzhi and the other two were immediately terrified, each hesitant to speak.

Their accomplice was killed without saying a word, which made them afraid to argue.

The bald elder's body was already shimmering with ethereal energy, and clothes flew out from his cloak, swirling and dancing with the ethereal energy before landing and transforming into Zhen'er's true form.

As for the bald elder himself, he had already rolled his eyes and slumped to the ground, head down, drooling from the corner of his mouth.

"He..." Gong Yuanzhi pointed and asked, "Is he alright?"

Zhen'er spoke in her normal female voice, "He was quite capable in controlling his spiritual sense and put up a stubborn resistance, so I had to use force. Now his spiritual intelligence is damaged, and his mind is probably not normal."

As if to confirm what she said, the drooling, white-bearded, bald elder sat there chuckling and raised a finger, saying, "One."

Then he raised another finger and chuckled, "Two, one, there are two..."

Gong Yuanzhi immediately felt a toothache and sighed, "He just mastered the 'Searching for the Gods Technique' and was about to rely on it to make great use of it, but now..." He shook his head, unable to say anything to blame him.

Zhen'er said, "My return is your greatest support. Go back and tell your leader that Situ Gu's deadline is approaching. There is no need to delay or cause trouble. I will not meet with him for the time being. Let him come to see me after things have calmed down."

As she spoke, she slowly drifted down the mountain, her skirts fluttering like flying flowers. Her words, seemingly spoken to herself, drifted into the ears of the three behind her, "Our lord cannot perish so easily; he will return sooner or later. We must rebuild the demonic path and await our lord's return..."

Before long, she and Gu Shihong were sitting in a carriage, heading towards the Xunmen Central Cluster of the Northern Kingdom Capital.

On the train, Zhen'er asked Ju Shihong about her specific situation within the Lian Tian Sect, so that she could better deal with everyone in the sect.

It turned out that she was quite easy to deal with after returning. Because she was closely watched by Situ Gu in the Lian Tian Sect and rarely went out to contact people from other sects, and she seemed to be quite willful in front of Situ Gu, so it didn't seem to be a problem that she was being disobedient after returning.

When it came to her relationship with Shi Chun, Gu Shihong hesitated.

"What are you trying to hide?" Zhen'er asked indifferently.

Ju Shihong was slightly speechless. After thinking about it, since the other party didn't care, he had no reason to hide anything. He immediately told them, "According to what I found out over Liangqiu Mountain, your original body seems to often clamor for Shi Chun and want to have a child with her... Also, according to what I heard from the Divine Fire Domain, your original body seems to often hug and kiss Shi Chun."

He shut up after saying that, and that was all he wanted to say.

Zhen'er also fell silent, not too surprised. She wasn't surprised that the original owner of the body who had left the Divine Fire Domain had an affair with a man; it was part of her escape plan.

What truly surprised her was that the person who brought this original body out of the Divine Fire Domain was not some powerful sect, but just a nobody, a rogue.

She didn't learn much specific information in a short time, and she didn't know much about Shi Chun's character, not even how the so-called place of exile came about. Everything would take time to understand and digest.

However, the fact that the original owner kept saying she wanted to have a child with Shi Chun caught her off guard. If she really met Shi Chun, she wouldn't be able to accept hugging and kissing such a nobody, let alone having a child with him.

She suddenly felt a little reluctant to see that Shi Chun, despite being somewhat curious about him.

The car stopped outside the Xunmen Central Hub. The two got out and walked to the Xunmen entrance leading to Yanzhou, where they were stopped by the guards.

Upon learning that the two were disciples of the Refining Heaven Sect who had been abducted during this upheaval, someone immediately went to Yanzhou to inform them and have the messenger verify their identities.

A short while later, a group of Lian Tian Sect members appeared through the Xun Gate. Upon seeing that it was indeed them, they immediately led them away to inquire about the situation.

What else could it be? They were inexplicably kidnapped and then inexplicably released, without even knowing who their kidnappers were.

As for Gu Shihong, it was naturally because the kidnappers threatened Jin'er's life, forcing him to surrender, a fact Jin'er can attest to...

In the courtyard behind Chaoyue Pavilion, there was a slight festive atmosphere with lanterns and decorations. The owner, Dong Wenshu, was a person who valued etiquette and insisted that some etiquette could be simplified but not eliminated.

Among the spectators were several uninvited guests, including Li Xianghong, the city lord of Dazhi City, as well as Wei Mo and Young Master Nan.

The two did not use their original identities, but someone had already made preparations in advance. With a previous order, they became neighbors of the library when they arrived here.

The process was simple: the neighborhood buildings damaged by the fight between the Sword Saint and the Demon Sixteen had been purchased and rebuilt by order of Wei Mo.

As long as the price wasn't an issue, the original owner would naturally make a move. This sum wasn't particularly large, nor was it small, but to achieve the Queen of Dongsheng's intentions, it was nothing.

So when the two arrived, they went straight to visit each other as new neighbors. Unexpectedly, they stumbled upon a happy occasion and naturally decided to have a drink at the wedding.

As for City Lord Li Xianghong, she came on business, ordered to find Situ Gu, but unexpectedly stumbled upon Situ Gu accepting disciples here. What the heck? She was completely bewildered. Situ Gu accepting Dong Wenshu's eldest daughter as a disciple? Why?

Wei Mo and the young master of the South were equally bewildered.

What baffled them even more was that right after the apprenticeship ceremony ended, the Sword Saint Fuque appeared in the library and asked Dong Wenshu's youngest son, Dong Liangze, if he was willing to become his apprentice. He asked the question proactively.

Dong Liangze was overjoyed and readily agreed.

Then Sword Saint Fuque said, "There's no time like the present, let's do it now, since all the decorations are already ready."

Li Xianghong was so shocked that her jaw almost dropped. She never dreamed that she would encounter such an unbelievable and bizarre thing on her long trip. She even wondered if she was dreaming.

Even more bizarrely, when Dong Wenshu's youngest daughter, Dong Liangying, poured wine for a guest who was drinking, she addressed him respectfully as "Master".

Young Master Nan knew who this so-called master was, after all, he had witnessed the Divine Fire Alliance competition.

Li Xianghong was unaware of the situation, and since she no longer dared to monitor the library, she was clueless. Only after asking did she learn that it was Li Hongjiu, a leading figure among the new generation of cultivators!
Dong Wenshu's youngest daughter has become a disciple of Li Hongjiu, the closed-door disciple of the Yanbao Sect Master. In other words, the Yanbao Sect Master has become Dong Liangying's grandmaster.

No, what's wrong with this family all of a sudden?
However, the facts are the facts. After Li Xianghong finally accepted it, she looked at Dong Wenshu's family again and realized that this family was no longer someone that anyone could easily provoke in the cultivation world. At least, her City Lord's Mansion would have to be obedient and respectful from now on.

Li Hongjiu had also met Young Master Nan on Lihuo Island and seen how close he was to Shi Chun. So, he occasionally raised his glass in greeting, but since the man wasn't using his real identity, he didn't expose him.

The backyard was quite lively, but Shi Chun, who was silently watching from behind the window of the library, had a cold and aloof smile on his face, occasionally stroking his chin and staring at Young Master Nan and Wei Mo at the wedding banquet.

The two hadn't even changed their clothes, so how could he not recognize them? He just hadn't expected that even a regional lord would come in person.

The second young lady, Dong Liangyu, seemed to sense something in the crowd, occasionally glancing back at the window of the library...

After all the ceremonies were over and they had drunk a cup of wedding wine, Li Xianghong invited Situ Gu aside to talk.

Seeing that the other party disliked formalities, she didn't try to get close to him and got straight to the point: "Elder Situ, the Phoenix Clan Chief asked me to pass on a message to you, saying that your disciple has been freed and has safely returned to the Refining Heaven Sect."

Situ Gu was somewhat surprised, and gave a slight "Okay, I understand."

The sect may not know he's here yet; he'll confirm it later.

Li Xianghong then said, "Now that Elder Situ's beloved disciple has returned safely, Phoenix Clan Chief, please return Jiang You'er to us for disposal."

This is no exaggeration; the Phoenix Clan also wants to extract information from Jiang You'er.

Situ Gu calmly replied, "He couldn't pay, so he committed suicide."

This is Shi Chun's explanation, simple and direct. He also felt it was appropriate and was too lazy to explain, so he just said it like that.

"Dead?" Li Xianghong was taken aback, then quickly changed her words, "If Elder Situ feels that I am not qualified to take people, I can inform the clan leader and have him come to talk to you in person."

Situ Gu: "Even if Feng Xi comes, it's no use. He's really dead."

“Then…” Li Xianghong asked tentatively, “Where is the body?”

Situ Gu: "I forgot. It was the corpse of a snake demon. It took up space, so I just threw it away. It was on the way here, but I can't remember the exact location. If you want to find it, go find it yourselves."

After saying that, he didn't want to waste any more words and turned to leave.

Li Xianghong watched him go in silence, but couldn't help but grumble to herself. She found him too arrogant. He captured a member of the Phoenix Clan and killed him without a second thought. Did he think he could just say "committed suicide" and call it quits? Who knows if he really committed suicide?

However, she was truly helpless and could neither do nor dare to do anything to the other party. She could only turn around and contact the sacred mountain to report the situation.

Situ Gu, who had turned and left, had already reached the library pavilion. He went directly to Shi Chun and told her about Li Xiang Hong's announcement. He said he needed to rush back to verify whether Zhen'er had returned, and if so, to check on how Zhen'er was doing.

The original intention was to ask Master Chun to leave together. As for the newly accepted disciple, it was just a formality, and he couldn't be bothered to care.

Unexpectedly, Shi Chun hesitated and said, "Senior, I won't go back with you for now. You go back and verify whether Zhen'er has returned safely. I believe the news will spread soon, and I will find out sooner or later."

Just as Situ Gu was about to turn and leave, he turned back again, frowning, and said, "You promised to take her away and settle her down. Are you going to go back on your word?"

Shi Chun waved his hand, "Senior, you are overthinking it. I wouldn't dare to break my promise to you. The main problem is that it's inconvenient for me to leave right now. There's still a net waiting for me at the exit of Jukuzhou. I can't openly show myself in the Liantian Sect either. In short, I have no choice but to stay here for the time being. Senior, please go back for a few days and make some peace. Once I've dealt with the current matters, I will go to the Liantian Sect to find you."

Situ Gu stared into his eyes for a while, then turned and left without saying anything.

Even if the other party goes back on their word and refuses to take Zhen'er away, he can't force her with Zhen'er. If that doesn't work, he can only keep her around to continue making things difficult for himself. What's more important now is to return to the sect as soon as possible to check the situation.

(End of this chapter)