The entire sect is obsessed with love, but I'm the only one who's truly insane.

Shao Fei rarely saw Lin Du so calm. She didn't even have any hostility about her, and her clear black and white eyes showed no fluctuation.

Lin Du in this state truly resembles a disciple of a celestial being.

"You must answer whatever I ask, or I can't guarantee you'll return to the Flying Star Sect alive, understand?"

Shao Fei looked at Lin Du in front of her with a bewildered expression and nodded with difficulty.

Lin Du leaned his arm on the table, tapping his fingers on the surface. "Let's start from when you met Qi Zhun."

Searching souls damages one's yin virtue and consumes one's divine sense. Last time, Cang Li taught her a lesson for a long time. Qi Zhun was an exception, but Shao Fei was different. Last time, only Shao Fei's most recent memories were searched, and she knew nothing about the past. Now she can only slowly coax her to confess.

As Lin Du listened to Shao Fei slowly and meticulously recount the events, he himself was recalling the day he had his soul searched.

Time was of the essence then, so she skipped over many details. People don't remember what clothes they wore or what they were thinking on a particular day long ago.

Qi Zhun had received a message that he needed to do something for someone, which is why he happened to pass by and saved Shao Fei.

Lin Du had a premonition that it wasn't an accident. If Yin Zhong was truly skilled in divination and astrology, then this passing by might not have been a mere accident.

She had just reviewed the plot again. Mo Lin had his spirit bone dug out, while Shao Fei was born with blocked meridians and could not cultivate. Her meridians were opened by a master. At first, a Gu worm was used to parasitize her dantian to absorb spiritual energy. After the spirit bone was replaced, the Gu worm in her body was replaced to attract spiritual energy. Only then was the Gu worm in her body removed and she became a righteous cultivator.

In later parts of the story, this spirit bone was almost never mentioned again and disappeared without a trace.

Lin Du asked Shao Fei, "Was your meridian system also repaired by Qi Zhun?"

Shao Fei pondered for a moment, then nodded and shook her head. "Qi Zhun said that his old friend had a way to fix my meridians, but because I was born with blocked meridians and have no attraction to spiritual power, it's a double impasse. The only option is to temporarily plant the Spirit-Devouring Gu in my body and become a Gu Master."

"In this way, the spiritual power of the Gu worm is also my spiritual power."

"Qi Zhun said, 'Don't ask questions that you shouldn't ask,' so I didn't dare to ask any more."

"On the day I opened my meridians, that person was wearing a mask and told me that instead of planting spirit worms, it would be better to change to spirit bones. Natural spirit bones can attract spiritual energy, so I don't have to rely on worms to cultivate and can embark on the right path."

"After all... throughout history, there has never been a record of a Gu Master ascending to immortality; at most, a Gu Master can only seek longevity."

"But if it were possible, which cultivator wouldn't want the chance to ascend?"

Upon hearing this, Lin Du finally reacted, letting out a long reply, followed by a strange smile on his face.

She leaned forward, staring into Shao Fei's eyes. "Didn't that person also tell you that if you undergo bone replacement next time, you can seek him out?"

Shao Fei was taken aback. "How did you know?"

"Then do you know how to find him?" Lin Du suddenly reached out and smoothed her frizzy, messy hair back. "You must know, right?"

This time, Shao Fei was genuinely terrified. The hand that brushed against her ear was shockingly cold, completely devoid of warmth.

Lin Du really doesn't seem like a living person.

"Yes... I remember, it was a weapon-refining shop, located at the very end of Xunkong Alley on the west street of Yunxiao City."

"Good girl." Lin Du patted her head. "You'd better tell the truth, or I'll have to search your soul myself. The precepts and rules are nothing but empty words to me."

Whether she wants to be this outlaw or not depends entirely on how well Shao Fei behaves.

"One last question," Lin Du smiled, "Do you know about love potions?"

She kept a close eye on Shao Fei's expression, and when she saw a flash of surprise in her eyes, she understood what was going on.

"So you know, who told you?"

"Yes, it's from the Gu manual that Qi Zhun gave me."

Lin Du straightened up. "Then do you know who has a naturally born spiritual bone?"

This time, Shao Fei's eyes were filled with confusion. "I...I don't know..."

Upon hearing this, Lin Du lowered his eyes to look at her, as if he were looking at someone who had narrowly escaped death.

The door creaked open, and the radiance of the luminous pearl fell on the hem of the person's gold-threaded crepe skirt, like ripples in the snow and moonlight.

A cold, detached female voice came in, "I overheard some things outside just now, and there are some things I may need to correct. I checked your pulse earlier, and it's true that your meridians were blocked before, but now most of them are open."

Summer stepped into the house, her cold face like a night-blooming cereus under the moon. "Unblocking the meridians cannot be achieved overnight. You must have endured many days of excruciating pain soaking in herbal medicine, right?"

"But there's something you don't know: there are only people with severed meridians, but no one with a completely severed spirit. My master and I have read through countless ancient books, and we have never seen a single person with both severed meridians and a completely severed spirit."

Xia Tian closed the door again and placed the medicine he had prepared for Lin Du on the table. "So, actually, as long as you open your meridians, even if your aptitude is poor, you can still cultivate."

Shao Fei's already terrible complexion turned almost deathly pale in an instant. "I...I don't understand what you mean..."

Xia Tian urged Lin Du to drink the medicine quickly with a useless look in his eyes. Lin Du's face turned bitter. With a death-defying attitude, he picked up the bowl of dark soup and gulped it down in one go. His little face was scrunched up and his hands and feet curled up because of the murky taste.

"The meaning is simple. There has never been any such thing as needing to change one's spiritual bones, nor is there any such thing as using Gu worms to absorb spiritual energy. However, your aptitude is indeed not good, and your affinity for spiritual energy is very low, so using Gu worms to absorb spiritual energy is also a way."

Xia Tian paused, a hint of pity in his eyes. "But you should know that even if you don't become a Gu Master, you can still cultivate after opening your meridians. With your unwavering determination, if you walk the righteous path directly and have some fortuitous encounters that refine and improve your aptitude, you will achieve great things."

Shao Fei's face was even more contorted in pain than Lin Du's, who had drunk an exceptionally murky-tasting medicinal soup. "What does this mean? It means that I..."

"You've been deceived," Xia Tian said insincerely. "Of course, it's also possible that those people are ignorant. In any case, your perception is wrong."

[Current progress of the Mo Lin quest: 90%, reward: 1 Divine Mind Pill, which can be used to strengthen one's divine consciousness.]

Lin Du stuffed three pieces of candy into his mouth before finally getting rid of the taste of medicine. "There's one more thing, which I'm sure you already know."

"When a Gu Master tries to remove the natal Gu from their body, no matter how gentle the method, it will always leave a backlash."

Shao Fei knew, of course, that becoming a Gu Master was not a good choice. Her spirit had been teetering on the brink of collapse and was extremely fragile all this time, and now it had been shattered by the final blow.

The woman, her eyes red, looked at the two righteous disciples before her and cried out in despair, "But did I have a choice? Tell me, my life was a dead end from the start. I don't have your resources, I don't have the ancient medical books you have at your fingertips. How was I supposed to know they were lying to me? I just want to survive and become as strong as possible. Tell me, what should I do!"

"You're all so high and mighty, telling me they lied to me, telling me my path could have been different! You spout nonsense about righteousness and evil, but what can I do?"

"I am but a weak woman, I have never read the books you have read, nor possess the talents you have. You have never seen those vicious bandits, those filthy and vile places, yet your clothes are spotless, and you yourselves are impeccably clean!"

"I just wanted to survive. Just because I'm unlucky, just because I have a terminal illness, I was abandoned and forced to associate with filth. That's why I was labeled a villain. Lin Du, tell me, if you were me, what would you do?"

Lin Du suddenly smiled, lowering his eyes to rub the thin callus on his middle finger, "You've had a tough time, but you've also worked very hard and are very smart."

"But you're not the only one who crawled out of the mud, nor are you the only one abandoned by your parents."

"It's just that I run fast and far, and I try to read more books," Lin Du said calmly, raising his eyes to meet Shao Fei's haggard and ferocious face. "That's all."

"My experience may not have been as terrible as yours, but I want to tell you, if I were in your situation..."

Her voice was soft, yet carried an unmistakable pride and awe: "If I were born in the abyss, I would surely climb upwards when I glimpse the light of day."

"But Shao Fei, from what you just said, you clearly know they are evil people, they are wrong, it's wrong to harm others, and you also know you'll stop at nothing, don't you?"

Lin Du stood in front of Shao Fei, his pale, delicate face filled with condescending indifference. "You know it's wrong, so you have a choice."

"You can say that we, the disciples of the righteous path, are condescending and hypocritical, but it was never me who killed innocent people, but you who knowingly committed evil."

After all, in her previous life, Shao Fei was clearly a free person after being rescued by Mo Lin, and she had the right to choose.

But she still chose to do evil.

Lin Du has prevented all of this from happening, but history has proven that Shao Fei chose the worst path.

Large tears rolled down Shao Fei's cheeks, her face contorted with despair and despair. She shook her head frantically, the chains on her hands rattling and clanging.

"No, no, I was forced into it... I just wanted to live... If you were in my shoes, you wouldn't be any better off than me... What do you proud sons of heaven know..."

"Junior Martial Aunt is better than you," Xia Tianwu suddenly said. "She knows everything, which is why she hasn't killed you yet."

She could clearly see that Lin Du's unfinished words contained many things about a desperate and gloomy state of being.

Inside the room, a person, driven to despair, frantically pounded their head, making loud thumping sounds.

Lin Du clicked his tongue, turned around and saw the medicine bowl. He took the bowl and plate out, and opened the door to let the smell dissipate.

The little corpse puppet was still guarding a pot of strange medicine in the courtyard, the bubbling sound of which was being drowned out by the woman's wailing from inside the house.

"...The sound...the sound is drowned out..." The little corpse puppet said with a sullen face, "It's over, it's over, Grandma, Grandma, I can't hear whether the sound of the bubbles is loud or soft, Grandma."

Granny Ma was annoyed by the desperate screams and the little corpse puppet's complaints. She came out of the house and found Lin Du frantically washing dishes, trying to get rid of the stale smell in the casserole and bowls.

"Are you really going to turn my yard into a complete mess?"

Lin Du looked innocently at Granny Ma, "That little girl's hopes for life have been shattered, what's wrong with crying a little? Anyway, she doesn't have many days left to live, and she's not good material for making a corpse puppet. Her body is all broken and she has the Gu you hate the most."

Grandma Ma was silent for a moment, then said, "If you have nothing better to do, go watch the pot for me and put it out when it boils violently."

"What's in the pot?" Lin Duzhen walked over and smelled a pesticide-like odor.

"I made this for the people of Qinglu Village, didn't you beg me to?" Granny Ma replied coldly.

"Oh, weed killer." Lin Du carried a stool to replace the little corpse puppet. Still annoyed by the noise from the people in the room, he used his spiritual power to seal his five senses.