Face slap

Although Lian Qiao was unconvinced, to be honest, when it came to being black-hearted, she was indeed just a little bit behind Lu Wu Jiu.

Delayed by their entanglement with Jiang Li, by the time they found the guest room on Piao Miao Peak, they were still a step too late.

The disciple sharing the room with Xie Mingran looked bewildered: “Junior Brother? He said there was an emergency at home and left in a hurry with his baggage as soon as the mountain gate opened this morning.”

It seemed that Xie Mingran must have felt guilty after discovering he had used the wrong Gu last night, and thus fled as soon as the gate opened.

Lian Qiao immediately chased after him towards the mountain gate, but from the gate downwards, there were three completely different paths, each with several forks.

It was impossible to catch up just by chasing.

Lian Qiao grew anxious and said to Lu Wu Jiu: “Hey, where’s that dog of yours? A dog’s nose is the most sensitive, quickly let it out to find him.”

Lu Wu Jiu frowned slightly: “…It’s a Taotie.”

Lian Qiao was speechless.

What kind of Taotie wags its tail at people all day long!

“Alright, alright, where is your dog-like Taotie then?”

Lu Wu Jiu paused for a moment, then spoke slowly: “You think I needed you to tell me? I sent it out to find him long ago.”

Lian Qiao took a closer look and only then noticed the Taotie motif on his sword was gone.

Speaking of this Taotie, one had to mention a past event.

The Tian Yu Lu family inherited the fire element spiritual root from the five elements, their Luminous Pure Fire capable of burning all things.

It was said that this Taotie was a young beast that Lu Wu Jiu had subdued.

Because the creature was too fierce, he sealed it within his own sword to use ferocity against ferocity.

Unexpectedly, over time, the young beast thrived on the abundant demonic blood nourishing Lu Wu Jiu’s sword, finding it far better than hunting for itself.

Thus, this shameless Taotie willingly acknowledged him as its master and transformed into a sword spirit.

As a result, the power of Lu Wu Jiu’s sword was greatly enhanced by the ancient beast’s blessing, becoming a unique divine weapon under heaven.

The outside world even gave this demonic sword a beautiful name—the “Piercing Flower and Drinking Blood Sword.”

The so-called meaning was that the more blood it drank, the more vibrant its patterns became.

To this, Lian Qiao’s evaluation was a single word: gaudy.

But what she didn’t understand was, how could such a flashy thing become so popular for a time?

After Lu Wu Jiu’s sword was forged, many young masters from aristocratic families followed suit in refining demonic swords.

Unfortunately, they could either not find such a rare and powerful beast, or they hunted insufficient demonic blood and were instead devoured by their sword spirits.

No one else ever managed to forge such a perfectly compatible divine weapon.

Eventually, it devolved into merely carving beast patterns on the sword’s body, a superficial imitation.

However, in Lian Qiao’s eyes, this so-called divine weapon was nothing special.

The Taotie had been raised to be increasingly plump, either hiding in the sword to sleep lazily or finding trouble with her, just as ostentatious as its master.

However, just as Lian Qiao was grumbling internally, Lu Wu Jiu’s Piercing Flower and Drinking Blood Sword suddenly began to tremble violently—

The sword hummed, pointing directly to the southeast!

The two immediately flew over on their swords.

As soon as they landed, sure enough, the Taotie was holding a man in its mouth; it was precisely Xie Mingran.

At this moment, Xie Mingran was clearly scared out of his wits by the Taotie, desperately shouting: “What is this thing? Get away, go away!”

Although the Taotie was built like an ox, it had the mind of a child and was too playful.

The more Xie Mingran tried to hide, the more excited it became, occasionally batting at him with its claws to deliberately scare him.

Xie Mingran let out a wail, already on the verge of fainting from fear, not needing Lian Qiao or the others to even make a move.

From a distance, Lu Wu Jiu rebuked it: “Come back.”

Only then did the Taotie turn its head, reluctantly grumbling: “You came so fast, I haven’t even had a chance to play yet!”

Lu Wu Jiu shot it a glance: “You like to play so much? How about you go back into your sword and play properly?”

“No, no!”

The Taotie sullenly retracted its claws and transformed on the spot into a toddler no taller than one’s knee.

With rosy lips and white teeth, it even had two small horns tied up with red string on its head.

Then it properly ran over, bowed to Lu Wu Jiu, and in a childish voice, sought praise: “Master, aren’t I amazing?”

With that, it even made a face at Lian Qiao.

Lian Qiao forced a smile: “Haven’t seen you in a few days, your skin is itching for a beating again, is it?”

The Taotie immediately scurried behind Lu Wu Jiu. Lian Qiao, unable to dodge in time, nearly crashed into Lu Wu Jiu’s chest. She braked quickly, her heart still pounding: “Move aside, I’m going to teach it a lesson today.”

Lu Wu Jiu had a bit of a headache: “It’s eight years old this year. Are you?”

Lian Qiao was angry: “It clearly started the provocation first! It’s the best at acting cute, you never believe me!”

Lu Wu Jiu was likely used to this kind of scene. He shot a cold glance at the toddler: “Taotie—”

The Taotie immediately lowered its head and reluctantly apologized.

This time, it was Lian Qiao’s turn to lift her chin smugly: “Alright then, I’ll be the bigger person this time and won’t argue with you!”
With that, she turned to the terrified Xie Mingran in a good mood: “You should know who I am, right?”

Xie Mingran nodded hastily: “Of course, I know. You are Senior Sister.”

“Good that you know.”

Lian Qiao didn’t beat around the bush. “Speak. Did you use the Gu on Jiang Li?”

Xie Mingran’s expression changed: “How did you know?”

Lian Qiao said: “Not only do I know, but I also know you used the wrong Gu, didn’t you?”

Xie Mingran was even more surprised, his eyes darting between the two of them: “Could it be… could it be that the original Gu is in your hands?”

Lian Qiao pressed her lips together: “You don’t need to know that. I only ask you, where did you get your Gu? Did you steal it?”

“No!”

Xie Mingran immediately denied it. “This Gu… I picked it up!”

“Oh? Picked it up? Where did you pick it up?”

“Near the Sutra Pavilion. Someone else stole it and accidentally dropped it. I was on night duty and happened to pick it up. I was momentarily possessed and used it on the young mistress.”

Xie Mingran looked terrified. “Senior Sister, please let me go this one time. Senior Sister Jiang is harsh and cruel. If I’m caught and taken back, I’ll surely be sliced into a thousand pieces and die without a complete corpse!”

Lian Qiao had always been sharp-tongued but soft-hearted, a fact known to everyone in the sect, so this Xie Mingran was clearly playing the sympathy card.

Unfortunately, his story had too many holes.

Lian Qiao raised an eyebrow slightly: “You really picked it up? There are no inscriptions on this Gu. If you picked it up, how did you know what kind of Gu it was, and just so happened to use it on Jiang Li, whom you’ve always admired?”

Xie Mingran’s lips trembled.

Lian Qiao narrowed her eyes: “Xie Mingran, you’re lying. You clearly knew this was a Love Gu, didn’t you?”

Xie Mingran covered his face, and the already timid man instantly collapsed to the ground: “This Gu… I did steal it.”

It really was him!

Lian Qiao seized the opportunity to press further: “In that case, where is the Kongtong Seal? If you hand it over, everything may be treated with leniency.”

“Kongtong Seal?”

Xie Mingran was confused. “The Kongtong Seal is missing too? I only took the Love Gu!”

Lian Qiao was also surprised: “You didn’t steal the Kongtong Seal?”

Xie Mingran shook his head quickly: “It’s the absolute truth, Senior Sister. Even if you gave me a hundred more guts, I wouldn’t dare steal the Kongtong Seal! That day, I was punished by Senior Sister Jiang to kneel outside. In the middle of the night, I suddenly noticed a disturbance at the Sutra Pavilion and went to investigate, only to run into a figure coming out…

The guards on duty all chased after that person, and the back door was open for a short while. I wanted to broaden my horizons, and as soon as I entered, I happened to see the shelf where the Love Gu was placed. I had a momentary lapse in judgment. Later, the senior brothers on duty returned, and in my panic, I hid behind the shelves outside. Then I slipped out while the senior brothers were discussing inside. Who knew that when I used the Gu last night, I found out it wasn’t a Love Gu at all, but a Gu that makes one itch for no reason…”

Xie Mingran broke into a slight sweat as he spoke.

Lian Qiao finally understood what was wrong. She asked carefully: “When you were hiding on the shelves outside, did you drop the Gu you stole?”

Xie Mingran looked astonished: “How did you know?”

Lian Qiao rolled her eyes dramatically in her mind. So that’s when the two Gus were switched.

Not only did she know, she had been made to suffer because of him!

At this moment, Lian Qiao truly wanted to kill him.

However, she understood now that what Xie Mingran said was likely true.

With his abilities, it didn’t seem possible for him to break through the eighteen layers of restrictions in the Treasure Pavilion. This person was at best just fishing in troubled waters.

No wonder. The Kongtong Seal and the Love Gu were completely unrelated items. What she couldn’t understand before was why this person would steal both things at the same time.

If… these things were originally stolen by two different people, then it would make sense!

She looked at Lu Wu Jiu, who then questioned Xie Mingran: “Did you get a clear look at what that person looked like? Any distinguishing marks?”

Compared to the Kongtong Seal, the Love Gu was a trivial matter.

Xie Mingran naturally told them everything he knew. He thought carefully for a long time before finally remembering something: “I remember! That person seemed to…”

Before the words could leave his mouth, suddenly, a cloud-piercing arrow shot over from a distance with a whoosh, piercing through his throat in an instant.

Everything came to an abrupt halt.

Xie Mingran clutched his throat and slowly looked down in disbelief, then looked up at Lian Qiao, as if he still had much to say.

But when he opened his mouth, what poured out was not sound, but a mouthful of blood.

“Xie Mingran!”

Lian Qiao quickly rushed forward.

But it was too late. Xie Mingran gripped her sleeve tightly, his heart filled with unwillingness, but he couldn’t say anything. After a few twitches, his eyes widened in resentment as he fell.

Lian Qiao tried to seal his spiritual meridians and inject spiritual energy, but it was all useless.