Normally, the martial artists from Eastern Xia wouldn’t need to participate in the second day’s tournament competition. Conserving their energy while observing the contests between experts was considered preferential treatment. However, after the opening, everyone was in no mood to watch the excitement—because Scholar Shu had gone missing.
Wang Xun and Mo Chuan led people to search Xiaoyao Valley separately, circling the entire area, but found no one. The only place left unsearched was the Hall of Longevity, which was off-limits to unauthorized personnel.
The disciples of the Xiaoyao Sect insisted they hadn’t seen Old Scholar Shu, and the martial artists from Eastern Xia didn’t dare cause trouble on someone else’s territory. They returned to the competition grounds and reported the matter to Mo Daoyun, leaving the Martial Alliance equally shocked.
However, the Martial Assembly wouldn’t pause for this reason. Mo Daoyun feared that Shujuan’s disappearance might have hidden motives, so he ordered the Eastern Xia martial artists to remain where they were while commanding the Martial Alliance disciples to continue the search.
At this time, another small incident occurred at one of the martial arts platforms—someone from the Yunyan Escort Agency had also gone missing.
It was Mingyue Zhou.
With the chief missing, the competition naturally couldn’t proceed. Tianhun and Tianpo were so anxious they could have razed the city, yet they had to forcibly restrain themselves. The lakeshore was packed with people, and the Xiaoyao Sect disciples who had come to watch and cheer were equally confused. Suddenly, someone said, “The head escort of Yunyan Escort Agency? I think I saw him with an old Taoist elder from the Xiaoyao Sect this morning.”
The speaker was an unknown minor figure from another sect, but it was enough to trigger a war of words between both sides. In the midst of the argument, someone else said, “I also saw that scholar from Eastern Xia appearing together with an elder from the Xiaoyao Sect at Nine Linked Mountains yesterday.” When the Eastern Xia martial artists heard this, they also surged forward, and the scene became too chaotic to control.
Finally, at the suggestion of the Shaolin Abbot, the Xiaoyao Sect’s leader had no choice but to send disciples to summon all those in the sect who could be called “elders” for a face-to-face confrontation, including the elders of the Hall of Longevity without exception.
Meanwhile, on Nine Linked Mountains, Mingyue Zhou, bound like a dumpling, glared furiously at Young Marquis He before him. “He Yu, there’s no one else here. Are you going to release me or not?”
Ye Qi smiled and said, “In a while, people from the Martial Alliance will come searching. If you’re not tied up, it’ll be hard to explain yourself.”
Mingyue Zhou snorted coldly. “You deliberately lured me here because you want to use this to attack the Xiaoyao Sect, aren’t you? Aren’t you afraid I’ll expose that it was your doing?”
Ye Qi chewed on a blade of grass, unconcerned. “Then I’ll expose that you’re the young prince of the Yan Kingdom. Who’s afraid of whom?”
Mingyue Zhou wore an expression of speechlessness, finally holding back. After a long moment, he asked, “You and I are mortal enemies. Aren’t you curious why I’ve appeared here?”
“If you intended to invade, why would you venture deep into the tiger’s den?” Ye Qi glanced at him, the corner of his lips curling slightly. “You came here to investigate something, didn’t you?”
Changling and the others had been waiting outside the Hall of Longevity for quite some time. When they saw Elder Wu Chenzi and Elder Wu Youzi emerge from the hall, she and Jiagu’s figures flashed lightly and swiftly into the courtyard, leaving Seventh Uncle outside to keep watch.
At this time, most of the Xiaoyao Sect disciples were by Qiong Lake. The few young Taoists left on guard were no match for Changling and Jiagu. Hearing the commotion, before they could even turn their heads, they were knocked down one by one in the courtyard.
Changling immediately spotted the locked meditation chamber.
The door lock was just an ordinary round copper lock, which for a seasoned lock-picking professional like Changling was child’s play to pick open.
Changling quickly pushed the door open. The room had an outer reception area with simple furnishings. Walking inward, apart from smelling faint incense, she could vaguely hear the sound of a wooden fish being struck.
She wasn’t unfamiliar with similar traps. From the moment she entered, she held her breath until she lifted the thick curtain.
What met her eyes was a small room containing a bed, a table, a chair, a small Buddha statue placed on a cabinet, and the back of an old monk sitting cross-legged before a prayer cushion.
Upon hearing the movement, the monk stopped striking the wooden fish in his hand and slowly spoke, “What person does the benefactor seek?”
Changling hadn’t had time to regulate her breathing. At these words, her heart suddenly constricted.
This tone was neither warm nor cold, as if nothing weighed on his mind, yet as if all things were clear in his heart. There could be no second person like this in the world.
Changling stood frozen in place, gripping the doorframe, her knuckles turning white. She wanted to speak but couldn’t make a sound.
The next moment, the old monk turned around, revealing that familiar benevolent face.
His kasaya had faded to white with age, and the prayer beads hanging around his neck were still the string carved with wooden lotuses. The old man saw the exquisitely beautiful woman gazing at him with reddened eyes. His brow furrowed slightly as he said again, “Has the female benefactor sought the wrong person?”
She had left her master’s tutelage at fifteen and returned to the Central Plains. Until now, it had been fourteen years since she had seen her master.
She still remembered that on the day she completed her training, her master accompanied her to the border pass and checked the water and provisions on the camel, patiently instructing her on various matters.
As he rambled on, somehow she suddenly refused to leave. Her master understood her thoughts and softly chanted a Buddhist invocation, smiling faintly. “You are originally a person of the mortal world and should naturally return to the mortal world. Though the world is vast, if there is a Buddhist connection, we master and disciple will eventually meet again.”
Changling slowly walked forward, knelt before Monk Jiaye, and kowtowed. “Master.”
The slightly moving prayer beads paused. Jiaye suddenly froze, a flash of confusion passing through his eyes, which then transformed into disbelief—the old monk’s breathing began to grow heavy. He extended his hand, his fingertips trembling slightly. “Ling’er?”
Changling slowly straightened up, reached out to wipe away her tears, and nodded. “Your disciple has returned.”
Having thought it was a final farewell, now suddenly reunited, Jiaye neither pursued the various causes nor asked how she had returned from death. He only looked at her once and asked, “You can cry now?”
In such dangerous circumstances, these words seemed somewhat inappropriate, but Changling understood the concern behind them—after she cultivated the Shemo Heart Method, she could no longer experience joy or sorrow like ordinary people. At that time, her senior martial brothers all envied her, but only her master was deeply worried, often saying, “If you haven’t severed worldly ties, how can you cut off the seven emotions and six desires?”
Changling’s nose grew sour again. Before her master, she seemed to instantly return to her youth. “Yes, I can cry now, and I can laugh too.”
Jiaye was deeply comforted, all his mixed emotions transforming into what appeared to be tranquil contentment. “Good, very good.”
At this moment, Jiagu, having finished sealing acupoints outside, bounded into the room. Seeing the master and disciple kneeling opposite each other, he first said, “Senior martial brother, you really are here!” Then with an “Aiya,” he added, “Grand-disciple, what are you standing there for? First rescue your master, and talk slowly later!”
Changling was about to rise when she saw Jiaye raise his hand in a stopping gesture. “I’ve been struck with the Eighteen Silver Needles of Xiaoyao Valley. My eight extraordinary meridians are sealed. If I rise now, the needles will surely attack my heart…”
Jiagu was alarmed. “Then what should we do?”
Jiaye said, “Concentrate your internal power in your fingertips, tap the vital points where these eighteen silver needles are located, then gradually extract them using Pure Yang internal power, and the needles can be removed.”
Hearing his senior martial brother speak this way, Jiagu knew he had a plan and immediately sat behind him, following Jiaye’s instructions.
Changling also wanted to help but was stopped by Jiaye. “One person is sufficient for removing the needles. Although your master doesn’t know how you entered, surely the Xiaoyao Sect people will soon come to their senses. Even after these eighteen silver needles are removed, I’ll need a full day before I can move…”
Having said this, Jiagu had already extracted one silver needle. Jiaye’s brow furrowed slightly as he continued, “You should sit. There isn’t much time, and your master has important matters to tell you.”
Changling nodded. “Please speak, Master.”
When the people dispatched by the Martial Alliance found the “unconscious” Mingyue Zhou at the summit of Nine Linked Mountains, Ye Qi had naturally already left the scene.
Worried that something might go wrong with Changling and his master, he had rushed ahead. Halfway there, he saw Wu Chenzi and Wu Youzi hurrying toward the Hall of Longevity.
Ye Qi hadn’t expected the Xiaoyao Sect to see through this diversionary tactic so quickly, so he followed closely behind. Outside the Hall of Longevity, he saw a large crowd of disciples gathered at the courtyard entrance and vaguely heard someone say, “Fortunately we returned in time. The person is still here; it’s just that whoever attacked our junior martial brother has escaped.”
Wu Chenzi asked, “Did anyone see who it was?”
“Didn’t see clearly.”
Wu Youzi said, “Send people to search immediately!”
Only then did Ye Qi breathe a slight sigh of relief and quietly left. When he saw Seventh Uncle and learned that Changling and the others had safely returned to the wooden house, his heart finally settled completely.
“However, they didn’t rescue Master Jiaye,” Seventh Uncle said. “Also, Miss Changting hasn’t said a word since coming out, and her complexion doesn’t look too good. Young Master should go take a look.”
Ye Qi immediately rushed to the wooden house. Pushing open the door, he saw Changling sitting with her back to the window, her solitary figure looking forlorn. His heart “thudded” as an ominous premonition arose.
“It doesn’t matter that we didn’t rescue him this time,” Ye Qi said, closing the door and slowly walking behind her. “I’ll think of a way. First, tell me what happened.”
Changling showed no reaction.
Ye Qi took another step forward, extending his hand, wanting to place it on her shoulder but not knowing how to let it fall.
“Changling, no matter what happened… I’m here. I…”
Before he could finish saying “I,” he saw her suddenly turn around and embrace him with outstretched arms.
Ye Qi’s body stiffened. Instinctively, he wrapped his arms tightly around her. She said nothing, yet his heart twisted into a knot.
He knew that she was actually like everyone else with flesh and blood. No matter how rational she was, no matter how much mental preparation she had made beforehand, when confronted with reality, the pain in her heart would not diminish by even a fraction.
Just as Ye Qi was about to properly comfort her emotions, he heard Changling say, “Still alive.”
Ye Qi froze, not immediately grasping the meaning of these words. Then he saw Changling lift her head, tears brimming in her eyes, yet her brows curved like a crescent moon as she spoke with extreme lightness yet extreme gravity, “My eldest brother—he’s still alive, right here in Xiaoyao Valley, right here beneath Nine Linked Mountains.”