Fairy, you call this repaying a debt of gratitude?

After Qiu Wuhen and Zhang Jingchu left Shen Wei's courtyard, they naturally did not go to the West City Restaurant.

Even Qiu Wuhen didn't know if there were any restaurants in the west of the city; that was just a pretext he made up on the spot.

The streets were already covered with thick snow, and the cold wind was biting; there were very few pedestrians left.

Once the two had walked far enough away from Shen Wei's courtyard, the surroundings became even more deserted.

Seeing that no one was around, Qiu Wuhen turned to Zhang Jingchu and questioned her:

"Hey, what were you thinking just now? So reckless! I really want to ask you what kind of training you received from above! How could you be so short-tempered? If we had angered him, the two of us might not have been a match for him. Wouldn't we have just been asking for trouble?"

Faced with Qiu Wuhen's questioning, Zhang Jingchu calmly replied:

"Naturally, we need to attract his attention, preferably to make him suspicious now. Maybe he's already caught up with us."

After learning the deeper meaning behind Zhang Jingchu's seemingly reckless behavior, Qiu Wuhen's anger subsided somewhat.

"Then what's the point of doing this?"

Qiu Wuhen paused for a moment, then continued:

"Have you forgotten that what the higher-ups want is never a murderer? Since the third young lady of the Gu family is no longer here, there's no need for us to cause trouble and provoke him. What's the real reason behind your actions?"

"There's no deeper meaning to it. I just couldn't find any trace of Gu Lengyue, so I did this."

"You didn't say that at the entrance of the Gu residence. Back then, you were holding things that the third young lady of the Gu family had used, and you were so confident that you could find her. Where did that arrogance go?"

Qiu Wuhen chuckled and added:

"What's wrong? Has the dog's nose lost its sense of smell?"

Zhang Jingchu ignored his sarcasm and silently gazed in a certain direction outside the city.

Seeing that she remained unmoved, Qiu Wuhen pressed on, asking again:

"If we can't find Gu Lengyue, what's the point of bringing Shen Wei here? Do you expect us to beat him up and force him to reveal Gu Lengyue's whereabouts?"

"No, although I couldn't find Gu Lengyue, I found traces of Gu Hanfeng."

"Hey, are you kidding me!?"

Qiu Wuhen's expression changed drastically, his tone filled with disbelief.

"You've seen Gu Hanfeng's corpse before; he looked absolutely dead! How could he possibly still be alive?"

"My divine body would never lie to me." Zhang Jingchu said firmly, "Even if it's not him, I want to see who this person is who can leave behind an aura exactly like Gu Hanfeng's."

Upon hearing about the Divine Seeker Body, Qiu Wuhen still decided to believe her.

After all, this physique is extremely special. It is said that with just a trace of spiritual energy fluctuation, one can accurately determine the location of others.

So Qiu Wuhen continued to ask:

"Then tell me, where exactly is Gu Hanfeng right now?"

"He seems to be not far from us and is heading this way. Let's go and meet him later. Of course, if it really is him, we shouldn't reveal ourselves yet."

"So, your purpose in luring Shen Wei here was actually to incite a fight between the two of them? And then take the opportunity to gather intelligence and obtain clues about the third young lady of the Gu family?"

Shen Wei has a grudge against Gu Hanfeng, and if he finds out that Gu Hanfeng is still alive...

Qiu Wuhen suddenly put himself in that situation, wondering what it would feel like if the person he had killed appeared before him again.

That impact was a bit too strong.

"I never intended for the two of them to fight."

Zhang Jingchu gently shook her head, her tone tinged with hesitation.

"I just subconsciously felt that doing this might be more helpful in finding Gu Lengyue, so I did it. Now that I think about it carefully, the result probably won't be as we hoped."

"Speaking of which, are you sure Shen Wei is the murderer who wiped out the entire Gu family? He's so young. If he really has the strength to kill a Nascent Soul cultivator, his talent is just too abnormal."

"It can't be wrong."

Zhang Jingchu said with certainty, "The demonic energy on his body is very special, completely different from that of ordinary demonic cultivators, and very easy to identify. However... his temperament does not seem like that of someone who could cause such a bloody incident."

"Maybe he's faking it."

Qiu Wuhen scoffed, his tone full of disdain. "I've seen plenty of people like that, two-faced. Do you know about that shocking case in front of the capital seven years ago? That Lu Wengong was a role model for all Confucian scholars in the entire dynasty, the greatest Confucian scholar in the land, and a trusted minister of the Emperor. His entire household was wiped out. Such an act was a slap in the face to the Emperor. But do you know why the Emperor didn't investigate further? Not only because he couldn't find the murderer, but also because of the rumor that Lu Wengong was colluding with the demon race! The Emperor was furious when he heard this. He didn't just want to investigate the murderer; he was practically gloating."

Zhang Jingchu, who had maintained a calm expression until now, suddenly frowned when Qiu Wuhen spoke so jokingly about the case from seven years ago. She coldly uttered a sentence:

"I'm not interested!"

After saying that, he crossed his arms, turned around, and walked away. His aura instantly turned colder, clearly indicating that he was angry.

******

On the other side, Shen Wei withdrew his divine sense and found that the two had not gone far, nor had they gone looking for a hotel to stay in.

This seemed to confirm his suspicions.

They were not as they claimed to be.

But Shen Wei couldn't quite figure out their motives.

He initially thought the two were there to investigate the massacre of the Gu family, but after examining Gu Lengyue's room, they abruptly changed their story and left, which was too unusual.

After much thought, Shen Wei became increasingly convinced that the two men were not there for him, but to gather intelligence, which was most likely related to Gu Lengyue.

Although he didn't know the secrets hidden behind Gu Lengyue, they were definitely no less than his own.

The thought of it being related to a young girl made Shen Wei's worry outweigh his vigilance.

He was still uneasy, and even though he knew the two were suspicious, he decided to follow them to see what secrets they were hiding and whether they would be detrimental to Gu Lengyue.

Shen Wei concealed his aura, walked very lightly, and always kept a safe distance from the two, carefully following behind to ensure that he was not noticed.

They followed them all the way until the two left the city.

Once outside the city, the two no longer concealed their presence. With a swift movement, their flying speed noticeably increased, and they sped off towards the west side of the city.

"This speed... is at least at the level of a Golden Core cultivator."

Shen Wei analyzed the situation in his mind, his vigilance growing even stronger.

After a moment's hesitation, he gripped the long sword at his waist, flashed forward, and chased after it.

A moment later, the two stopped in a sparse grove of trees.

The branches in the forest were covered with snow. When the cold wind blew, the snowflakes fell in a flurry, and the surroundings were so quiet that only the sound of the wind could be heard.

Shen Wei chased them into the woods, but suddenly lost track of them, as if they had vanished into thin air.

However, within the range of his divine sense, he detected a powerful being and a familiar being heading straight for him.

A strong sense of unease rose in Shen Wei's heart, and the Shadowless Sword at his waist was instantly drawn and firmly grasped in his hand.

A moment later, a figure appeared before him, dressed in a moon-white brocade robe, with a strange temperament and a face that was both sinister and somewhat feminine.

That was a nightmare he couldn't shake off even in the dead of night, and it was also the person he had personally killed—

"Gu Hanfeng!?"

Upon seeing the person who arrived, Shen Wei was shocked. His pupils contracted sharply, and his tone was full of disbelief and doubt, as if he could not believe his eyes.

Upon seeing Shen Wei there, Gu Hanfeng also showed surprise, but quickly regained his composure, a smile playing on his lips:

"I didn't expect to run into you here. But it's alright this way."

"Long time no see, Shen Wei. You probably didn't expect I'd still be alive, did you?"

However, the shock only lasted for a moment. Shen Wei immediately came to his senses, his eyes filled with murderous intent, and asked in a deep voice:

"Are you human or a ghost? You clearly died by my sword earlier..."

Gu Hanfeng scoffed, his tone full of mockery:

"Are you sure the person you killed back then was really me?"

Upon hearing this, Shen Wei fell into deep thought. He recalled what Gu Lengyue had said that night, and those things he had overlooked but found utterly amiss became exceptionally clear at this moment.

But this wasn't the time to think about such things. Shen Wei raised his black sword, pointing it directly at Gu Hanfeng, his eyes filled with murderous intent.

"If I were you, I wouldn't have come looking for you again after I got away!"

"Since I was able to kill you the first time, I can naturally kill you a second time!"

Upon hearing this, Gu Hanfeng's smile deepened.

"Shall we give it a try?"