Huang Rong from The Return of the Condor Heroes: Brother Jing, let's get a divorce.

Yang Guo had already prepared his explanation.

"Little Dragon Girl is a descendant of the Ancient Tomb Sect and once saved my life. She came this time because there is something left behind by our founder in the Ancient Tomb, which requires the cooperation of the Quanzhen Sect for verification. She will leave naturally after the matter is settled."

Yang Guo continued his fabrication without batting an eye: "As for Li Mochou, she's just like any other person now. I kept her around to interrogate her about the details of the Lu Family Manor massacre. The Beggars' Sect is investigating this old case, and she's a key witness."

Qiu Chuji stared at Yang Guo for a long time.

"What you said is all correct, every single point is reasonable." Qiu Chuji took a sip of tea, his voice steady, "But in my more than fifty years of life, there is only one thing I have seen very accurately."

"What is it?"

"The way you look at women."

Yang Guo almost choked.

Qiu Chuji did not intend to delve into the matter, and put down his teacup and stood up.

"You are the sect leader, and I cannot and do not want to control what you do. I will only remind you that hundreds of people in the Quanzhen Sect are watching you. What you do in private is your business. But in public, the sect leader is the sect leader, and the Quanzhen Sect cannot afford to lose face."

Yang Guo stood up and said solemnly, "Grandmaster, rest assured, I can handle this situation."

Qiu Chuji stopped at the door and turned back to ask one last question:

"You went to the third floor of the library the day before yesterday?"

Yang Guo paused for a moment, then said, "I'm going."

"Did you see that person?"

"I saw him."

Qiu Chuji remained silent for a moment, nodded, asked no further questions, and went out.

Yang Guo stood there in deep thought for a while.

Qiu Chuji indeed knew of the old Taoist's existence, and judging from his reaction, he seemed to be somewhat wary of the old man.

Yang Guo regained his composure and began practicing his martial arts.

He closed the doors and windows and sat cross-legged on the hard bed.

Following the old Taoist's instructions, he needed to circulate the Nine Yin Manual in both forward and reverse directions simultaneously, using the red and black beads in his lower dantian as a central point of contact.

He had already thoroughly mastered the method of practicing the Nine Yin Manual, starting with the Lung Meridian of Hand-Taiyin, and the true qi would circulate along the meridian.

Practicing the Nine Yin Manual in reverse reverses the Ren Meridian, causing it to surge upwards from the bottom. He had walked this path countless times. The key now was that both paths had to be followed simultaneously.

Yang Guo closed his eyes and divided his thoughts into two.

A stream of energy, guiding the Nine Yin True Qi being practiced, entered through the Taiyin Lung Meridian on the right hand, traveled upwards along the inner side of the arm, passed the Jianjing acupoint, and entered the Jiang Palace in the chest.

This genuine warmth was long-lasting and flowed very smoothly.

The other stream guides the reverse-flowing Nine Yin True Qi, starting from the Yongquan acupoint on the left foot, rushing upwards along the leg meridians, passing through the perineum and the ruins of the Dantian, and heading straight for the Ren meridian in reverse. This stream of true qi is cold and intense, taking the exact opposite path.

The two streams of true energy collided at their chests.

Yang Guo clenched his teeth, feeling a sharp, throbbing pain in his chest.

The opposing true energies instinctively repelled each other, squeezing each other wildly within the Crimson Palace, neither willing to yield.

He quickly guided the two streams of true energy downwards, sending them into the red and black bead in his abdomen. Sensing the arrival of the two forces, the bead began to slowly rotate.

The true energy cultivated through proper means was absorbed, as was the true energy cultivated through reverse methods. After spinning three times, the red and black bead exhaled a wisp of breath as thin as a spider's thread.

This aura is completely different from before.

It is not pure innate energy, but a spiral flow of two colors intertwined.

The crimson and pitch-black colors were intertwined and inseparable, but they dispersed after traveling an inch upward along the Ren meridian.

Yang Guo cursed under his breath, and then they dispersed.

He refused to believe it and tried again.

The second time, the reddish-black energy flowed away three inches before dissipating.

The third time, five inches.

The fourth time, it broke below the navel.

Yang Guo opened his eyes, his forehead covered in sweat. These four attempts alone had taken up most of the day, leaving him extremely exhausted.

The difficulty of practicing both positive and negative methods far exceeded his expectations.

He closed his eyes and rested for a while, then tried again more than ten times after regulating his breathing.

At its best, the dark red energy barely traveled most of the Ren meridian before dissipating at the Tanzhong acupoint.

Although we are still far from achieving a "perpetual motion cycle," the progress is clearly visible. This path is definitely achievable.

Yang Guo finished his practice, stood up, wiped the sweat from his face, changed into a clean Taoist robe, and went out the door.

The sunlight was just right in the courtyard.

When Yang Guo arrived at the sect leader's council hall, Li Zhiqing was already waiting at the door.

"Sect Leader, the Beggars' Sect's carrier pigeon message has arrived." Li Zhiqing handed over a bamboo tube.

Yang Guo pulled out the wooden stopper from the bamboo tube and took out a roll of thin paper to examine it.

This was the first batch of messages sent by Huang Rong from the Beggars' Sect headquarters.

There were three items written on the paper:

First, the old case files from the Jiaxing Prefectural Government have been retrieved. The official record of the Lu Family Manor massacre is extremely brief, only stating the four words "banditry and arson".

The official who closed the case was Yang Wensong, the prefect of Jiaxing at the time. Three months after the case was closed, he was promoted to transport commissioner of Liangzhe Circuit, but died suddenly six months later.

Secondly, among the Jianghu forces active in the Taihu Lake area fifteen years ago, there was a water bandit organization called "Jinfan Hall".

This gang specialized in trading along the shores of Taihu Lake, employing ruthless methods and habitually using kerosene to set fire to ships. Less than two years after the incident in Lujiazhuang, Jinfantang disappeared without a trace, and its leader also vanished without a trace.

Thirdly, the Beggars' Sect headquarters is currently reviewing earlier records.

There are no leads on the slender, sharp weapon yet, but a retired disciple recalled that someone used an extremely thin silver needle sword on the shore of Taihu Lake, and that person was said to have close ties with a powerful clan in the south.

After reading it, Yang Guo folded the note and put it in his pocket.

Yang Wensong was promoted three months after the case was closed, and died suddenly six months later. If this wasn't murder to cover up a crime, what else could it be?

Jinfan Hall was known for its use of kerosene. This gang of river bandits was probably hired as henchmen to do dirty work, used and discarded, and then the entire organization vanished without a trace.

Silver Needle Sword, from a prominent southern clan.

Yang Guo connected these clues in his mind and vaguely grasped an outline.

The people who destroyed the Lu Family Manor were no ordinary bandits.

Behind this operation were government officials secretly cooperating, river bandits acting as henchmen, and even highly skilled individuals personally carrying out the killings. Such a high-level ambush could not be explained simply by a personal grudge.

What exactly is hidden in Lu Family Village that warrants such a grand display?

"Sect Leader?" Li Zhiqing whispered a reminder when he saw Yang Guo looking dazed.

Yang Guo snapped out of his daze and ordered, "Go and call Lu Wushuang here. Tell her I need to speak with her."

Li Zhiqing immediately ran off to deliver the message. After a short while, Lu Wushuang came over from the guest room in the backyard.

She changed into a light purple narrow-sleeved shirt, her hair was simply tied up in a bun, and her face showed signs of fatigue from not having slept well.

As she approached the entrance to the council hall, she glanced at Yang Guo and called out "Master" in a low voice, sounding awkward.

Yang Guo waved away the bystanders and waited until Li Zhiqing closed the door and left before reading the three messages from the carrier pigeon to Lu Wushuang one by one.

Lu Wushuang stood there, her face growing paler and paler.

"Yang Wensong." Lu Wushuang pronounced the name, "I remember him. When I was a child, my father would always prepare generous gifts to send to the Jiaxing government office during festivals. My mother complained that he was spending money extravagantly, but he said that the relationship with the government must not be broken."

Yang Guo pressed further, "Is your father very close to this prefect?"

"It should be. One New Year's Eve, Prefect Yang even brought his family to our village for the New Year's Eve dinner. I remember his wife gave me a gold lock, but later the village burned down, and the gold lock was gone."

Yang Guo tapped his knuckles twice on the table.

A prefect who was very close to the Lu family was quickly promoted after the massacre of his family, and then died suddenly.

This was definitely not a spur-of-the-moment revenge killing, but a carefully planned conspiracy, with even the aftermath meticulously arranged.