“Gu Xiaosan…” Qi Zhengyan and Zhang Yuanshan blurted out at the same time.
This odd condition of death, in addition to the strength that killed Xia Chulin with ease, made Meng Qi and the rest felt like they were reliving yesterday’s events. They only thought of only one person: Gu Xiaosang, Holy Maid of Luo Denomination.
Ajati Finger was the secret of Advent of Ajati Matriarch that would not be passed down. It contained the highest mystery of returning to Vacuum Hometown and embracing Ajati Matriarch. In previous generations, only founders of sects, goddesses, and a few Venerable Guardians who made great contributions could cultivate this skill. Therefore, Meng Qi and the rest were quite sure that Gu Xiaosang must be here. Those Venerable Guardians were Top Class Masters at the very least and strong men of the Exterior. Thus, even Samsara travelers would not have the Group-rivaling task. Otherwise, they could just kill everyone here and not give themselves so much unnecessary work this way.
It was even more impossible for this to be the work of Cult Lord of Luo Denomination. He had gained the evil saint of Vacancy Dharmakaya and ranked sixth in the Celestial Rankings. It was probably no difficult task for him to destroy the entire world.
Hearing several people blurting out “Ajati Finger” and “Gu Xiaosang”, the expression of the all-along calm Luo Shengyi darkened. He spoke in a low voice, “Is it Gu Xiaosang, the reincarnation of Ajati Matriarch who ranks fourth in the Ranking List of Young Masters?”
“Yes, that’s her,” Meng Qi answered frankly, as Luo Shengyi was their teammate. He has opened his Seven Apertures and was a powerful fighter. If Meng Qi hid this and allow Gu Xiaosang to kill Luo Shengyi in a sneak attack, it was not just an issue of being deducted 200 Karma points. The strength of their whole team would be decreased at least 40%. When that time came, they would have very slim chances of winning.
Luo Shengyi restrained his surprise and nodded. “Ajati Finger deserves its reputation…”
After sighing, he looked at a shocked and grieving Xia Dandan and said, “300,000 Karma points. Grand Luo Golden Talisman can resurrect Chulin once. It’s not hopeless.”
300,000 Karma points… Meng Qi was surprised. That was the exact price to leave World of Samsara. In other words, only by giving up the hope of leaving this Samsara nightmare that can one save a life. This is a hard choice to make.
But either way, there existed a glimmer of hope. Sometimes people can only survive carrying a little hope.
Xia Dandan smiled with a tinge of sadness. “Brother, 300,000 points is just like a painted pie, inaccessible like Buddhism Bliss Land. I don’t expect it, I only hope to kill Gu Xiaosang to avenge Chulin.”
Luo Shengyi said, sincerely and full of pride, “If Chulin isn’t killed by someone else, I, Luo Shengyi, will kill Gu Xiaosang to avenge her.”
Hearing his words, Meng Qi’s mouth twitched. The shrewd and vicious Gu Xiaosang, with her strong Kung Fu and abundant resources, would be difficult to kill. That was unless she had a sudden relapse and turned into Little Zi.
Meanwhile, the servants and guardians of Windcloud Heights carefully examined the corpse. They all wore pale faces of fright when they saw the strange deaths.
A portion of them went to inform their lord, while the rest stayed to watch Meng Qi and the rest.
Among them, one old and wise man said, “My esteemed guests, you seem to know the murderer, judging by your conversation earlier.”
Luo Shengyi had always acted like their leader, but he did not know much about Gu Xiaosang. He tilted his head and looked at Meng Qi.
Meng Qi paused a moment and said, “Amitabha. The murderer is our acquaintance. Vicious and insidious, she’s the new master of Devil Cult. Her strength is just slightly below the Cult Lord of Devil Cult.”
He had yet to figure out the strength of everyone in this world yet, so he had to make up something. Either way, it was fine to depict Gu Xiaosang as a very powerful person.
“Only slightly below Devil Hu? Is she at the peak of Secrecy-reaching and is about to accomplish Trance-entering?” The man paled with shock. It was hard for him to believe because Cult Lord of Devil Cult and his heightslord enjoyed the same reputation all this while. They were the two mainstays of Right Sect and Evil Cult, stronger than others. If the murderer was only slightly beneath Devil Hu, was she as strong as the head of Wanjian Sect, Tai Shang Elders of Star-picking Tower, and the Portal-guarding Elder of Xiaoyue School?
But only these strong masters were capable of assassinating a strong man who had accomplished Secrecy-reaching within the heights.
“Amitabha. Monks don’t lie,” Meng Qi said with a sincere face.
The man in charge was startled and asked, “When did Devil Cult have such a master? Little monk, what’s her name and what does she look like? Please describe her in detail. It would make it easier for me to order my disciples to search for her.”
“Her name is Gu Xiaosang and she would sometimes call herself Little Zi. She’s a girl about 18 or 19 years old. She has good features and a comely appearance with a bright temperament…” Meng Qi roughly recalled his memories of Gu Xiaosang.
The man in charge nodded and ordered the guardians on his sides, “Such girl must be very outstanding. You ask our disciples to search carefully for her. Remember, don’t make a blind attack. Upon finding her, just yell and retreat.”
He turned to Meng Qi and the rest and said, “My esteemed guests, please stay within Flowers Hall. Don’t go outside or walk around. Just wait for my heightslord’s summon.”
After everything that had happened, he could only cancel the heightslord’s summon earlier and await his decision. Besides, he was not clear about the background of this powerful group comprising monks, Taoists, and civilians. They were rather suspicious and he must not allow them to casually move around.
“We’ll do as per your arrangements,” Luo Shengyi answered, smiling.
Xia Dandan pursed her lips. “Can I carry Chulin’s body into Flowers Hall? If you need to examine the body and discern his kungfu, you can come to the hall.”
The man in charge allowed her to do so because there was another corpse for him to deal with.
“Wait a minute,” Fu Zhenzhen suddenly said.
She was sweet and graceful with acquaintances, but afraid of strangers. Thus, she seldom spoke with others. Her words froze them and they all looked at her in surprise.
Her face turning red and staring at her toes, she said, “There are some types of poison that are specially used on corpses and their clothes to attack anyone who touches them.”
Xia Dandan jumped backward, away from her younger brother.
“Chulin’s death made me unable to control my emotions. I forgot such an easy trap.” Luo Shengyi sighed and waved his tunic. A breeze swelled Xia Chulin’s clothes. Jiang Zhiwei and those who had opened their Eye Apertures examined his body. They all saw a light blue glow appearing on his clothes.
The man in charge was terrified, thankful that he did not move the corpse due to his weak strength. It was fortunate that he merely checked the form of Chulin’s death and his surroundings. Otherwise, he would have died.
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“Zhenzhen, can you remove these poison?” Zhang Yuanshan signaled Fu Zhenzhen to deal with the corpse.
Fu Zhenzhen raised her head slightly and replied, “I recognize this poison. You’ll be safe as long as you don’t directly touch his skin.”
“Gu Xiaosang is also good at using poison?” Meng Qi whispered to Jiang Zhiwei.
Jiang Zhiwei was always on guard. She shook her head and said, “Maybe she has a teammate who is good with poison.”
Later, Xia Dandan, with a somber face, tore off a piece of cloth and wrapped it around her hands. She carried Xia Chulin back to Flowers Hall, planning to bury him somewhere after leaving Windcloud Heights.
After two hours, Meng Qi and the others finally met the heightslord of Windcloud Heights, Gu Kongshan. He was an old man around 50 years old. He was a stalwart man with black hair, a straight back, and an aura of authority without being stern. He was tailed by three men and two women, a mix of young and old. They were either Elders or his favorite Disciples.
“Where are you from?” Gu Kongshan asked them directly.
Luo Shengyi had a rough idea of the distribution of forces and geographical positions here from Xia Chulin, so he casually lied that they were from a remote province.
Gu Kongshan noncommittally nodded. He said with a somber expression, “We didn’t find Gu Xiaosang. She must have left the heights in the chaos. You must be careful and don’t leave where you live.”
He did not say more nor ask about their strength. He just told them to return to their rooms after exchanging greetings.
Back in the yard he was arranged to stay in, Zhang Yuanshan said in a low voice, “Gu Kongshan seems to suspect us a little.”
Luo Shengyi said with a small smile, “He doesn’t know where we’re from. If such things happen to me, I’d be skeptical too. But he would take us along anyway. When we combine our strength, we’re pretty powerful. If we all have the same goal, we can explore the way and overcome difficulties for him. We could even be his scapegoats. If we are Devil Cult spies, he could just countermine to impair Devil Cult’s strength. Spies are not horrible; what’s horrible are unknown spies.”
Jiang Zhiwei and Qi Zhengyan did not like the autocratic Luo Shengyi. They went back to their respective rooms to harmonize their Qi-circulation after discussing and making plans.
Meng Qi was in a hurry to return so he could cultivate the fifth level of Golden Bell Shield. Without delay, he just chatted a little more with the rest in his room.
He had not cultivated for long when Fu Zhenzhen and Zhang Yuanshan knocked on his door.
“What happened?” Meng Qi looked at them in surprise.
Pointing at Fu Zhenzhen, Zhang Yuanshan said with a smile, “Zhenzhen composed a kind of medicine powder which could expel poisonous insects. So we’re to spray some in your room.”
“There’s such a good thing?” Meng Qi said happily, surprised.
Fu Zhenzhen and Meng Qi were rather familiar with each other now. She laughed behind her hands. “I worry that our enemies might use poisonous insects to launch a sneak-attack at night, so I mixed realgar, Five Generation Seed, Poisonous Root, and other medicine to expel most poisonous insects.”
So it was just to expel insects. Meng Qi laughed quietly to himself as he watched Fu Zhenzhen scatter the powder by the door and the windows. He felt quite happy to have a teammate who was a master of medicine and poison.
The night was quiet. Meng Qi sat up in bed and a golden flow flew through his meridians, making him look like a bronze statue.
A rap on the door woke Meng Qi.
“Who is it?” Meng Qi recollected his running inner force and genuine Qi and asked vigilantly. If it was Gu Xiaosang outside his door, he could only be shameless and yell for help.
“It’s me.” It was Jiang Zhiwei’s voice. “I’m here to teach you Yama Inviting.”
Meng Qi was quite relieved to hear the words ‘Yama Inviting’. It could not be a fake Jiang Zhiwei, so he opened the door to let her in.
Jiang Zhiwei had changed her clothes and was dressed as she was when Meng Qi first met her. Her light yellow long hair, a little wet, was over her shoulder. She had a kind of indolence and unprecedented quality at that moment.
Seeing Meng Qi’s surprise, she laughed without shyness and said, “After my bath, I remembered I hadn’t taught you Yama Inviting, so I came here to bother you. Little monk, don’t you welcome me?”
She tossed a long sword, borrowed from the heights, to him as she talked.
“I absolutely welcome you. It’s my honor.” Meng Qi took the long sword and straightaway asked her about sword art without any unnecessary words.
Jiang Zhiwei did not stand on ceremony, either. She sat beside the table and spoke with fervor and assurance with the occasional demonstration. She had an outstanding gift for sword arts and she concentrated her attention and worked hard. She not only knew how but also why to use a sword. Therefore, when teaching, she could explain profound theories in simple terms and go straight to the heart of the matter, enabling Meng Qi to learn it quickly.
Meng Qi was good at bladesmanship and his occasional questions about bladesmanship also helped her discover and understand new things.
Jiang Zhiwei taught carefully and Meng Qi learned carefully. The watchman’s clapper rang before they knew it, signaling it was late night.
“We should stop here tonight. We should maintain our strength for any sneak-attack.” Jiang Zhiwei covered her mouth, yawning.
Meng Qi nodded. Remembering something, he asked, “Zhiwei, have you opened your Nose Aperture?”
Jiang Zhiwei answered with a smile, “In Sword Washing Pavilion, the development of sword art must be accompanied by the advance of cultivation. Since I could invent Yama Inviting myself, I naturally have opened Nose Aperture.”
Not finishing her words, she raised her fingers to her lips, signaling Meng Qi to be quiet. She waved her left hand to put out the candle.
Meng Qi stopped talking and waited quietly. After a while, a noise came from outside the door.