After asking this question, Xu Yuan Huai stared intently at his sister, his gaze scanning her from head to toe. Everyone could see his concern as they turned to look at Xu Yuan Shuang.

“The person who abducted me was Xu Qian,” Xu Yuan Shuang said softly.

Xu Qian?!

How did he set his sights on us? This shouldn’t be happening—we’ve never provoked him…

Everyone’s expressions changed suddenly, showing both confusion and vigilance.

“Did he do anything to you?” Xu Yuan Huai pressed.

As soon as the words left his mouth, he realized his impropriety. Such matters should be discussed privately between siblings, not in front of an audience. How could his sister possibly answer such a question?

“He only asked me some questions…” Xu Yuan Shuang proceeded to explain the entire incident in detail to everyone.

When they heard about Xu Qian using the Emotion Gu on Xu Yuan Shuang, strange looks appeared on everyone’s faces.

She quickly added, “He didn’t do anything to me. He just took my sachet and left.”

After saying this, Xu Yuan Shuang felt she might have appeared suspiciously defensive. She opened her mouth but decided against further explanation.

Ji Xuan coughed once, his expression grave. “It seems Xu Qian has targeted us. He’s also collecting Dragon Qi, which means he must have ways to detect Dragon Qi hosts.”

Xu Yuan Huai erupted in anger, “Then why didn’t he go after the Buddhist bait? Why not target the Dragon Qi hosts around us? Why specifically my sister?”

The young man’s face was filled with rage, his fists clenched and jaw muscles tensed.

The Banana Leaf Daoist spoke gently, “Young Master Yuan Huai, don’t let anger cloud your judgment. Xu Qian is gathering intelligence about us. A wise person plans before acting. The fact that he didn’t directly abduct anyone but first investigated shows he’s cautious. But it also confirms what our Young Master said—his cultivation level is at most that of a Golden Gong.”

Qi Han Dan Xiang from the Heart Gu Sect narrowed his eyes, speaking with confusion: “According to Miss Yuan Shuang’s account, this person used techniques from the Shadow Gu Sect, then employed Emotion Gu, and the mind-affecting technique working in conjunction with the Emotion Gu originated from my Heart Gu lineage. This…”

He gave Xu Yuan Shuang a strange look. “This is impossible.”

“Why is it impossible?” Xu Yuan Huai raised his eyebrows.

Qi Han Dan Xiang explained concisely, “One can only have a single Spirit Gu.”

Ji Xuan pondered, “Has there never been anyone in Gu Tribe history who cultivated two types of Gu?”

“First, while the seven Gu Tribe branches share common roots, they maintain their separateness. Each tribe’s secret techniques are never shared outside. Second, the implantation of a Spirit Gu is itself an extremely dangerous process. Many infants die because they cannot withstand the transformation of a single Spirit Gu, let alone two.”

He paused briefly before continuing, “However, nothing is absolute. The branches intermarry, and in the Gu Tribe’s thousands of years of history, there have indeed been a few geniuses capable of hosting two Spirit Gu. But such people appear less than once every few hundred years. If our Gu Tribe had such a genius, I would certainly know about it. Moreover, Xu Qian possesses three types of Gu as one.”

The Banana Leaf Daoist stroked his beard, “So what Miss Yuan Shuang saw might have been mere appearances.”

Qi Han Dan Xiang shook his head:

“This matter isn’t that simple. If he were a Heart Gu Master, controlling the subsidiary Emotion Gu wouldn’t be difficult. Like myself—though I’m a Heart Gu Master, I can control venomous insects, so I could masquerade as a Poison Gu Master.

“But this person is a Shadow Gu Master, so he cannot simultaneously be a Heart Gu Master. To understand the truth, I’m afraid I would need to return to the Gu Tribe.”

Ji Xuan waved his hand. “No need. We have our mission to focus on.”

He turned to comfort Xu Yuan Shuang, saying, “Though you weren’t injured, you should still rest well. A Ritual Master’s body is naturally more delicate.”

Xu Yuan Shuang nodded silently and returned to her room. Xu Yuan Huai quietly followed his sister inside and closed the door behind them.

The stern young man stared directly at his sister, his gaze sharp. “That Xu Qian, did he…”

“What are you implying?” Xu Yuan Shuang snapped.

After a moment of silence, Xu Yuan Huai said coldly, “You can tell me. If that beast took advantage of you, I’ll kill him with my own hands.”

Xu Yuan Shuang had been abducted by a strange man for two hours and was affected by his Emotions Gu. He couldn’t believe nothing had happened. He even suspected his sister had traded her chastity for her life. Otherwise, why would Xu Qian release someone he had no connection to?

Xu Yuan Shuang glared back, her beautiful face frost-like. She was already naturally proud and aloof and now appeared even more severe.

Seeing her reaction, Xu Yuan Huai became more convinced of his suspicions. He gritted his teeth: “I’ll kill him eventually.”

At that moment, someone knocked on the door.

The siblings fell silent. Xu Yuan Huai maintained an expressionless face as he looked toward the door and said, “Come in.”

The door opened to reveal a Tianji Palace spy wearing a cloak and veiled hat. He bowed: “Greetings, Young Master Yuan Huai, Miss Yuan Shuang.”

Tianji Palace was an organization directly under Xu Ping Feng’s control, established by him. Their spies only respected Xu Yuan Huai and Xu Yuan Shuang, maintaining a neutral attitude toward Ji Xuan, despite him being a strong candidate for future city lord.

The spy smiled, “I told you Miss Yuan Shuang would return unharmed.”

After his sister’s abduction, Xu Yuan Huai immediately contacted the Tianji Palace spies, mobilizing his father’s forces to search for her. Strangely, when the spy heard that the kidnapper was a master skilled in shadow manipulation with mysterious methods, he showed no urgency. Instead, he had confidently stated that Xu Yuan Shuang would return.

“Unharmed?” Xu Yuan Huai’s face darkened.

Xu Yuan Shuang gestured for him to calm down. Thinking of Xu Qian’s strange change in attitude, she scrutinized the spy. “Do you know something?”

The spy didn’t answer directly, instead saying, “Young Master and Miss, what you need to do now is find that Dragon Qi host and capture them. Only then can we use them as bait to draw out Xu Qian. He possesses two crucial Dragon Qi.”

Xu Yuan Huai’s eyes lit up. “Good.”

At Qingxing Garden…

Xu Qi An returned to his lodgings in a poor mood, his face somewhat gloomy. He didn’t head straight to the master bedroom to find Luo Yu Heng, nor would he court rejection by seeing Mu Nan Chi. Instead, he went to the stable to see his beloved mare.

The little mare was obediently eating her feed. Upon seeing Xu Qi An approach, she whinnied and extended her head for attention.

Xu Qi An stroked her cheek and fed her a handful of beans. His free right hand pressed against the mare’s neck, transferring energy to strengthen her muscles and bones.

With his Heart Gu, Xu Qi An could now sense the mare’s emotional changes. When she bit his sleeve, she wanted him to ride her; when she walked particularly bouncily, she was expressing displeasure at Mu Nan Chi always riding her. In the mare’s simple wisdom, it was this woman who prevented her master from riding her.

While feeding the horse, Xu Qi An analyzed the situation.

“Could Xu Ping Feng have deliberately sent the siblings out to gain experience? He knows my character and that I normally wouldn’t harm my flesh and blood. Is he trying to use them to restrain me?”

Xu Qi An crushed some salt and sprinkled it on the beans, then shook his head:

“No, that’s not right. He should know I’m not inflexible. If Xu Yuan Shuang and that little brother tried to kill me, I’d strike back without mercy. So perhaps Xu Ping Feng doesn’t know they’ve come out? Were they encouraged by someone else, or did they simply couldn’t resist the urge to travel and gain experience?

“Tch, troublesome. I’ll deal with these siblings depending on how things develop.”

As long as their future confrontations didn’t cross his bottom line, Xu Qi An was willing to tolerate some hostility from the siblings.

He then felt somewhat ashamed. Fortunately, Xu Yuan Shuang had been cooperative. If she had been more stubborn, he might not have just torn her clothes but stripped her completely to threaten her.

She was his sister—that would have been very awkward…

“No, it’s already awkward enough—the little undershirt was green,” Xu Qi An’s mouth twitched.

After feeding the mare, he ambled back to their temporary residence. It was now dusk, almost time for the evening meal.

Xu Qi An had planned to greet the Imperial Teacher, but was met with cold rejection—Luo Yu Heng had quite the temper.

“This Imperial Teacher won’t do. Always getting angry, scolding me… I feel less like her dual cultivation partner and more like her son… If I were a masochist who liked the domineering type, I’d be fascinated by this ‘angry’ personality, but I’m not a masochist. Better wait for the next Imperial Teacher,” Xu Qi An internally complained.

During dinner, Luo Yu Heng emerged gracefully but maintained complete silence, never looking at Xu Qi An. The boundaries between them were drawn.

Following Daoist dining etiquette, she sat with perfect posture, taking small bites with her chopsticks. Her small mouth was rouge-red, her features delicate and beautiful, maintaining an air of cool detachment.

“I can now suppress the karmic fire on my own. You need not come to my chamber tonight,” Luo Yu Heng suddenly announced.

“What? Wasn’t it supposed to be seven days?” Xu Qi An’s eyes widened, unable to hide his disappointment.

What happened to our agreement, Imperial Teacher? Where’s your sense of commitment?

Luo Yu Heng spoke coolly, “Just for tonight. After last night’s cultivation, I can now suppress the karmic fire myself.”

You just don’t want to dual cultivate with me, right? Sure enough, your angry personality is too proud, too domineering, too arrogant to want to dual cultivate with me. This must be an amplification of Luo Yu Heng’s inner resistance… Xu Qi An sighed.

“Fine.”

From her words, did she mean no dual cultivation tonight but continuing tomorrow?

Xu Qi An pondered but dared not ask, as the Imperial Teacher was like a powder keg, ready to explode at the slightest spark.

That night, after extinguishing the candles, he lay on the outer chamber’s bed, hands behind his head, reviewing the day’s intelligence.

“Ji Xuan’s team is quite formidable. White Tiger, Liu Hong Mian, and Ji Xuan are all Fourth-Rank Warriors (Beast Clan). Qi Han Dan Xiang is a Fourth-Rank Heart Gu Master, Xu Yuan Shuang a Sixth-Rank Ritual Master, and Xu Yuan Huai a Fifth-Rank Warrior.

“The old Daoist called Banana Leaf barely reaches Sixth-Rank, seemingly the weakest, but such old hands can’t be underestimated. Ji Xuan wouldn’t bring him along without good reason.

“This team won’t be easy to deal with, but they’re not quite strong enough to handle me. So my real enemies must lie elsewhere. As Xu Yuan Shuang said, Ritual Masters can use artifacts and formations to help a well-coordinated team achieve Third-Rank combat power.

“Third-rank power is never something to be taken lightly.”

In the darkness, he stared at the ceiling for a long time before a bold idea suddenly struck him.

“Luo Yu Heng is here, and Sun Xuan Ji is standing by in Yongzhou City. It’s almost impossible to directly confront the Buddhist Second-Rank Arhat, two Third-Rank Vajras, and Xu Ping Feng’s formation team.

“But what if I could bring in more allies? For instance, the two masters of the Heaven Sect’s Rising Dragons?

“Then we’d have the strength for a confrontation, balancing out the Transcendent Realm forces. And Luo Yu Heng is at the peak of Second-Rank, just one step away from First-Rank. Our side might be stronger.

“This way, I could not only gain the experience—no, Dragon Qi—for myself, but even hold the Arhat hostage to force him to remove my Demon-Sealing Pins. As a Second-Rank Arhat and top Buddhist figure, he must know how to undo them.”

Xu Qi An’s eyes brightened at this thought.

This would solve his concerns about Monk Shen Shu’s remains.

“Brilliant!

“This is the fastest way to restore my power. The Supervisor said all variables would come into play this winter. If I follow conventional methods searching for Shen Shu’s remains, who knows when I’d recover my cultivation?”

Excited, he took out his Earth Book fragment and messaged Li Miao Zhen:

“Miao Zhen, I have urgent matters to discuss.”

Li Miao Zhen ignored him, refusing the private chat.

Xu Qi An persistently sent private chat invitations, knowing well that no one could endure the Earth Book’s chat notifications forever.

Sure enough, after a few minutes, Li Miao Zhen couldn’t stand the constant notifications and irritably messaged back:

“What do you want? Do I know you?”

…Why are you suddenly acting like Luo Yu Heng?

Xu Qi An wrote: “Naturally, I have important matters to discuss. Where are you now?”

“My master, Elder Xuan Cheng, and I have reached Xiangzhou, but we’re still one step behind.” Li Miao Zhen replied:

“You’re in Yongzhou with that lecher, right? My master and elder will be heading there soon.”

Xu Qi An responded: “That’s excellent news.”

Li Miao Zhen raged: “Excellent my foot! If I’m caught and taken back to the Heaven Sect, I’ll never be allowed out again. By the way, does the lecher know about this?”

“I haven’t told him. He still doesn’t know he’s been branded a wanted man by the Heaven Sect.”

“You’re so evil, haha!”

After gloating, Li Miao Zhen lamented: “These past few days, I’ve witnessed many disagreeable things but couldn’t intervene. It’s been quite frustrating.”

Some Supreme Forgetting you are… Xu Qi An silently mocked.

“When your master and elder reach Yongzhou City, contact me. I need their help,” Xu Qi An wrote:

“If we play this right, we might help you and Li Ling Su avoid this crisis.”

“You have a solution? Tell me, tell me quickly!” Li Miao Zhen excitedly replied.

“You’ll know when the time comes.”

Xu Qi An ended the conversation and put away the Earth Book fragment. Just as he was about to meditate before sleep, he heard familiar passionate gasps.

Didn’t she say dual cultivation wasn’t needed tonight… He was stunned for a moment, then listened carefully, noting that tonight’s sounds were different from yesterday’s.

The main difference was that tonight showed more self-control.

“It seems last night’s dual cultivation did ease the karmic fire. She thought she could endure for one night.”

Xu Qi An hesitated briefly before deciding to follow the will of the Emotion Gu and honor their agreement. He put on his boots and quietly approached the bedroom.

Creeak…

The bedroom door opened slightly, and Xu Qi An slipped through the gap.

On the bed, Luo Yu Heng had been struggling to resist the karmic fire and suppress her desires, barely maintaining a certain balance. Seeing Xu Qi An enter, she nearly broke down, trembling as she said:

“You… get out…”