“Do you know any acquaintances who habitually use a sword?”
“Does the Immortal Master mean that the master and elders suffered sword wounds? But our manor has no acquaintance who is a sword cultivator...”
Steward Miao’s voice trailed off. Suddenly, his eyes widened, and his expression turned to one of terror. “A sword cultivator... Could it be that he has returned?!”
“No, that’s not right. He’s dead. He’s been dead for so many years. How could he possibly return?”
The old servant gripped the boy’s wrist, his voice trembling. “It’s impossible. It can’t be. How could it... If it really were him, he definitely wouldn’t have harmed the master.”
“Grandpa Steward, what’s wrong? Did you think of something?”
The boy’s wrist was being squeezed until it was beet red, but he didn't seem to care. He simply tugged at the old servant’s arm and pressed for answers. “Grandpa Steward, do you know something?”
Gu Ningyun’s brow furrowed slightly. She brought out her zither and played half a verse of 《Clear Heart》.
Only after the old man and the young boy had calmed down did she put the instrument away. “Steward Miao, who is this person you mentioned?”
Soothed by the melody of 《Clear Heart》, the old servant’s face remained tense, but his voice was much steadier when he spoke.
“He... he was an old friend of the master’s, but he died ten years ago.”
Gu Ningyun scrutinized the old servant’s expression. He wasn't lying, but he was certainly hiding something.
However, there was no ghostly aura or evil qi within the Miao Manor or on the victims' wounds. For the time being, she could rule out vengeful spirits, skeletons, or evil cultivators.
She spread her divine sense again to sweep through the Miao Manor—the kitchen, the storehouse, the side rooms, the bedrooms...
Wait.
Judging by the furniture and decor, one particular bedroom should be Master Miao’s.
Why was there a sword stand in his room?
Gu Ningyun’s divine sense examined the room. The floor and the tabletops were all coated in a layer of dust, yet the spot where the sword stand sat was pristine.
“What were the preferred weapons of your master and the two elders?”
“Replying to the Immortal Master, the master and the two elders were all accustomed to using sabers.”
“Does Master Miao usually keep his saber on a sword stand?”
Steward Miao looked confused. “Immortal Master... why do you ask?”
“Let’s go to your master’s bedroom first.”
Upon entering the bedroom, Gu Ningyun’s eyes immediately fell upon that sword stand.
“Has anyone cleaned this bedroom in the last two days?”
“Replying to the Immortal Master, after the incident, the servants all fled. This old servant and the young master have been busy with the funeral arrangements and haven't stepped foot in here.”
Steward Miao led the boy into the bedroom and suddenly cried out in surprise, “Where did the sword go? It was still here two days ago!”
“Why would a saber cultivator keep a sword in his bedroom?”
As Gu Ningyun’s divine sense carefully examined the spotless sword stand, she suddenly felt a powerful suction.
She only had time to drop a defense array plate before her vision blurred, and she was pulled elsewhere.
Gu Ningyun first checked her own condition. It seemed a wisp of her consciousness had been drawn into a separate space.
She could still feel her physical body and could wake up at any time.
Seeing no immediate danger, Gu Ningyun relaxed. She moved her ethereal, transparent form and began to observe her unfamiliar surroundings.
Shelves of displays, various sundries...
Was this a storehouse?
She turned around and her eyes widened. A sword stand and a mysterious-rank spirit sword?
No, this sword stand was slightly different from the one in the Miao Manor.
Just as she was about to take a closer look at the sword, a sudden commotion erupted outside.
The noise seemed to be coming from a distance; she could only faintly hear the clashing of weapons.
“A reward of one low-grade spirit stone for every ten heads! Kill them all!”
Gu Ningyun felt a jolt of alarm. She drifted toward the door, intending to see what was happening.
To her surprise, as soon as she reached the door, she felt as if something were pulling her back, preventing her from moving forward.
She whipped her head around and looked at the sword stand.
She tentatively walked in a circle around the stand. Well, how about that? She couldn't move more than one zhang away from it.
She leaned against the door and pricked up her ears to listen intently for a long while.
Tsk. A family in town was being swallowed up, and their entire lineage was being wiped out in the process?
Just as she was trying to gather more information, the storehouse door was shoved open.
Gu Ningyun jumped back.
She was a transparent wisp of consciousness, so she didn't actually leave the ground, but she at least leaned back enough to avoid being hit.
A middle-aged man entered, leading a child of about five or six years old.
The two of them didn't seem to see her.
After entering, the middle-aged man thrust the mysterious-rank spirit sword and a jade slip into the child’s arms. His voice was frantic. “Qi’er, take the sword and the cultivation technique and leave. Change your name and never return to Nanwangzhou.”
The child named Qi’er was full of anxiety. “Father, please come with me!”
The middle-aged man pulled the child to a corner of the storehouse and twisted a hidden mechanism.
A shelf piled high with items instantly split in two, revealing a passage.
The middle-aged man led the child into the tunnel, and the shelf slowly moved back into place.
Just as Gu Ningyun was wondering what was going on, a pulling force dragged her into the secret passage as well.
She glanced back. It turned out she wasn't tethered to the sword stand, but to the sword itself.
At the end of the passage was a small secret room.
When Gu Ningyun arrived, the middle-aged man was activating an array.
A teleportation array?
No, it looked a bit different from the ones in the sect.
A simple teleportation array?
The boy stood beside him, distraught. “Father, doesn't the Liu family just want our family’s properties? Give it all to them! Please, just come with me. I’ve had no mother since I was little; you are my only family!”
By now, voices could be heard outside. “Are you sure you saw Jiang Yue enter this room? Search it!”
Gu Ningyun looked at the entrance of the secret room, then at the crouching middle-aged man, her brow furrowing slightly.
“Boss, there’s a secret passage here!”
“Jiang Yue must be down there. Move!”
At that moment, the teleportation array began to glow with a faint light.
The middle-aged man shoved the boy onto the array, his tone firm and brooks no argument. “I am the head of the Jiang family. If I do not die, the Liu family will never be at peace. I have already found a boy's corpse at the mass grave to serve as your decoy. Qi’er, remember: hide your identity and never return to Nanwangzhou.”
“Father, no!”
The array flared with light. At the same time, the secret room was engulfed in flames, as was the boy's corpse the middle-aged man held in his arms.
He had ignited the sundries in the room; he was self-immolating.
Another pulling force struck her. The last thing Gu Ningyun saw was a group of men in black rushing to the entrance of the secret room, only to be forced back by the heat of the fire.
They were teleported to a desolate mountain range. Looking at the surroundings, the spirit energy was thin; it looked like the mortal realm.
The boy suffered from a high fever for three days, calling out for his father in his delirium.
It wasn't until a heavy rain soaked him that he finally woke up.
He had lost his memory.
The boy climbed up from the ground, dazed and weak, but his hands instinctively clutched the sword and the jade slip tightly.
He found a cave to hide in. The jade slip was glowing.
A beam of spiritual light flowed from the jade slip into the boy’s brow. The boy fainted again, and the light of the jade slip gradually faded, eventually turning to dust and scattering in the wind.
Aside from the knowledge in his mind, the boy had nothing left but this sword.
Rate on N.U.
