Feng Qingping slid open the hidden compartment, revealing several dark red talismans. "Tracking talismans."
Li Nanzhu’s fingertips gently brushed Suisui's skull, and the soul fire flickered slightly in her palm. From outside the courtyard came the sound of patrolling guards changing shifts, their rhythmic, heavy footsteps gradually fading into the distance beyond the wall.
"Something’s not right," she said suddenly, her voice kept extremely low. "The Third Elder’s interest in Suisui is too calculated."
Feng Qingping looked up upon hearing this. "You mean..."
"Evil cultivators," Li Nanzhu uttered those two words, and Suisui's soul fire suddenly flared up. "They are conducting those forbidden experiments, and Suisui..."
Jiang Yifan suddenly clenched the tracking talisman in his hand, and the talisman paper ignited into a cluster of ghostly blue flames in his palm. "You... you suspect the Third Elder is in league with evil cultivators?"
Feng Weilan's blade slid half an inch out of its scabbard. "The Sword Heart Sect cornered us in Chishui City, and now the Third Elder is testing Suisui here..."
"Wait." Feng Qingping suddenly pressed down on Feng Weilan’s wrist. "We don't have any evidence."
Li Nanzhu sighed softly. "The safest way right now is to stay put and wait for the teleportation array to open."
The flames at Jiang Yifan's fingertips slowly extinguished, and the ashes drifted onto the bluestone floor. "But given the Third Elder’s nature, I’m afraid he won't let this rest."
"That’s why we must be even more cautious." Feng Qingping tapped the tabletop lightly. "This courtyard has Clan Leader Jiang’s restriction; they won't dare do anything blatant."
"Three days," Li Nanzhu whispered. "As long as we get through these three days peacefully, we’ll be safe once we return to the Five Elements Dao Sect."
Feng Weilan finally sheathed his blade. "Then we’ll sit tight. However..." He looked at Jiang Yifan. "Are you sure the teleportation array won't have any issues?"
Jiang Yifan was silent for a moment. "There won't be any problems, because every time the teleportation array is activated, it carries a group of Jiang family disciples. The Third Elder won't risk his own clansmen..."
"But he was willing to strike even at you, wasn't he?" Feng Qingping’s sudden remark plunged the atmosphere back into a deathly silence.
"If he did that," Jiang Yifan's voice grew heavy, "it would alert the entire Jiang family. If he wants to do something, he wouldn't cause such a huge commotion."
Feng Qingping suddenly clapped her hands. "Wait, are we overthinking this?" She pointed at the tracking talismans on the table. "If the Third Elder really were in league with evil cultivators, why hasn't he just made a move?"
Li Nanzhu and Jiang Yifan were both startled.
"Because he’s wary," Feng Weilan suddenly understood. "Wary of Clan Leader Jiang, and even more wary of..."
"Our Master!" Li Nanzhu’s lips curled into a smirk. "They don't dare move against disciples of the Five Elements Dao Sect in the open."
"It's settled then." Jiang Yifan finally made up his mind. "For these three days, we won't step outside. Every item sent to us must be inspected before use."
He walked to the window and pressed a certain spot on the window lattice. The entire courtyard was suddenly enveloped in a faint blue light screen. "I've activated the courtyard's protection array. Unless the Clan Leader himself comes, no one can break in." Li Nanzhu noticed that when he mentioned the Clan Leader, his voice carried a complex emotion.
...
The next two days were calm.
Old Chen delivered three meals a day on time, occasionally bringing bits of news from the outside—the people from the Sword Heart Sect were still searching Chishui City, the restrictions at the Jiang family ancestral temple had been repaired, and the Third Elder had been frequently entering and leaving the Clan Leader’s study lately...
On the morning of the third day, at the hour of Chen, Li Nanzhu’s group finally arrived safely at the Green Jade Platform where the teleportation array was located. The morning mist had not yet dispersed, and twelve Jiang family disciples were already waiting within the array.
"It seems we were worried for nothing." Feng Qingping let out a sigh of relief, her fingers lightly brushing the edge of her array disk. "The Third Elder really didn't cause any more trouble these past two days."
Jiang Yifan stood in place, but his brow remained furrowed. "It went too smoothly. Instead, it feels..."
Upon hearing this, Feng Qingping grabbed Jiang Yifan’s sleeve, though her grip was light. She whispered, "Fourth Senior Brother, I don't care what you're thinking right now, but you must come back to the sect with us."
The Jiang family disciples in the array gathered in small groups of two or three. The occasional glances they cast toward Jiang Yifan were filled with obvious coldness and distance. A young disciple of about thirteen or fourteen looked over curiously, but was immediately pulled back by an older companion.
"Fourth Senior Brother..." Li Nanzhu called out softly, not knowing what to say.
She noticed that Jiang Yifan’s fingertips were trembling slightly. This young man, who hadn't even blinked when surrounded by evil cultivators, was now being cut deep by the coldness of his own kin.
Seeing this, Suisui tilted its head, pulled a piece of candy out of its storage bag, and stuffed it into Jiang Yifan’s hand.
"Thank you, Suisui." Jiang Yifan managed a strained smile and reached out to rub Suisui's skull. This intimate gesture drew startled looks from the disciples in the array, and some even began to whisper.
The deacon disciple in charge of activating the array, seeing that everyone had arrived, walked to the array eye. He formed hand seals, and spiritual energy slowly flowed into the array runes. One by one, the symbols on the Green Jade Platform lit up, rippling like water.
"Everyone, please stand ready. The teleportation array is about to activate," the deacon disciple announced loudly.
Li Nanzhu pulled Jiang Yifan onto a teleportation spot, with Suisui perched on her shoulder, its soul fire burning steadily. Feng Qingping and Feng Weilan also took their positions, warily observing their surroundings.
The light from the array runes grew brighter, and space began to distort slightly. Li Nanzhu secretly sighed in relief. It looked like they really were going to leave successfully—
"Wait!"
A harsh shout suddenly rang out from the distance. The Third Elder arrived at high speed with over a dozen disciples from the Hall of Punishment, his indigo magic robes flapping in the morning wind.
The deacon disciple’s input of spiritual energy faltered, and the array’s operation slowed down. Jiang Yifan’s face changed instantly, and he instinctively moved to shield the others.
"Third Elder, what is the meaning of this?" the deacon disciple asked in confusion. "The teleportation array has already started. If it is forcibly interrupted..."
The Third Elder sneered and pulled a jade slip from his sleeve. "By order of the Elder Hall! Jiang Yifan has conspired with outsiders to trespass into the ancestral temple’s forbidden grounds. Seize him immediately! The rest are to remain with the Jiang family until the facts are clarified!"
The Jiang family disciples in the array immediately broke into an uproar, backing away several steps to distance themselves from Jiang Yifan. The young disciple wanted to say something but was held back firmly by his companion.
"There must be some misunderstanding!" Feng Qingping spoke up. "We..."
"The evidence is here!" The Third Elder threw out a memory stone, and an image from the ancestral temple’s forbidden grounds from three days ago suddenly appeared in the air!
Li Nanzhu’s heart skipped a beat. Although the people in the image were indeed them, it had clearly been tampered with! The movements of the four of them in the footage were amplified several times, making it look as though they were deliberately destroying the restriction.
"There’s something wrong with that image!" Jiang Yifan roared. "That day, it was clearly..."
"Still trying to argue?" With a wave of the Third Elder’s hand, the disciples from the Hall of Punishment immediately surrounded them. "Are you going to defy the orders of the Elder Hall?"
Jiang Yifan’s fists clenched until his knuckles cracked. "Where is the Clan Leader! How could he let you do this..."
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