In the bushes, Duan Xianxing and Li Nanzhu's breathing almost came to a standstill.
Cang Dongqing's footsteps grew closer, the rustle of her skirt sweeping against the grass sounding like a death-dealing spell.
Li Nanzhu pressed down hard on the trembling Suisui in her arms, frantically exchanging glances with Duan Xianxing. Cold sweat dripped from Duan Xianxing's forehead as he mouthed wordlessly: "Run?"
Li Nanzhu shook her head slightly. Escaping now would only lead to a more complete exposure. Even though Duan Xianxing was now permitted to enter most areas of the Sword Heart Sect, being found sneakily trespassing on the sect's back mountain was another matter...
By now, Cang Dongqing was only three steps away, a sliver of spiritual energy condensing at her fingertips.
Li Nanzhu's hand had already reached into her storage bag, ready at any moment to activate the array disk her fifth senior sister had given her. This disk had been specially modified to teleport them directly back to the vicinity of their residence.
Right at this critical juncture—
"Junior Sister."
Qi Yunze's voice drifted through the mist. The morning sun cast a golden glow over his slender figure as he held a long sword, its tip still dripping with morning dew.
Cang Dongqing paused, quickly retracting her spiritual energy.
"Eldest Senior Brother?" She had already put on a gentle smile as she turned around. "Why are you here?"
The morning mist flowed slowly through the woods. Qi Yunze's gaze swept over the bushes where Li Nanzhu and the others were hiding as if by accident. His eyes lingered for a brief moment on the slightly swaying grass before quickly moving away.
"Morning practice." He shook the morning dew from his sword tip, his voice cold and clear like a spring. "I didn't expect to run into you here, Junior Sister."
The bead bracelet around Cang Dongqing's wrist shimmered faintly. She subtly shifted her body, blocking Qi Yunze's view of the bushes.
"Eldest Senior Brother, the competition is coming up, so I came to see how your preparations are going." She took a green jade bottle from her sleeve and said with a smile, "This is a heart-nurturing pill I recently obtained. I wanted to give it to you."
Qi Yunze's gaze softened slightly. "You are very thoughtful, Junior Sister."
He suddenly raised his hand, and a streak of sword qi swept over the bushes.
Duan Xianxing and Li Nanzhu tensed up, but then they heard a few rustling sounds—several mountain birds flapped their wings and took to the sky.
"Look, mountain birds." Qi Yunze sheathed his sword. "The little creatures in the morning mist are always particularly active."
Cang Dongqing stared at the still-swaying grass, a hint of suspicion flashing in her eyes.
"Eldest Senior Brother..." She suddenly lowered her voice. "Do you think..."
"It's time to go back." Qi Yunze interrupted her, his gaze falling on the bead bracelet on her wrist. At this moment, the faint light on the beads had somehow dimmed significantly.
"Morning dew is bad for the sword. I haven't paid my respects to Master yet today; why don't you come with me, Junior Sister?"
Cang Dongqing's fingertips trembled slightly, and she touched the bead bracelet uneasily.
"Yes, Eldest Senior Brother."
She hesitated for a moment but eventually turned and left with Qi Yunze.
The sound of their footsteps faded into the distance until they completely vanished into the morning mist. Only then did Duan Xianxing let out a long breath. "That scared me to death! We were almost caught!"
Li Nanzhu, however, was still staring in the direction Qi Yunze had left, her heart pounding like a drum. "Seventh Senior Brother... don't you find it strange?"
"What's strange?"
"Qi Yunze." Li Nanzhu lowered her voice. "I feel like... he definitely noticed us just now."
Duan Xianxing scratched his head. "No way? Didn't he say those were mountain birds..."
Li Nanzhu shook her head and pointed at the ground. There was a shallow sword mark right where Qi Yunze had been standing. In the morning light, the mark formed a clear arrow pointing down the mountain.
"This is..." Duan Xianxing's eyes widened. "Is he pointing the way for us?"
Li Nanzhu didn't respond, lost in thought. Seeing this, Duan Xianxing crouched quietly in the grass, no longer disturbing her.
"What on earth is Qi Yunze trying to do..." Li Nanzhu stared at the sword mark indicating the direction, her heart racing.
"In the original story, he was clearly devoted to Cang Dongqing. Why would he help us in secret?"
Suisui squirmed gently in her arms, its bone claws anxiously grasping her collar. Duan Xianxing waited patiently, his gaze occasionally scanning the surroundings to ensure their safety.
"Has the plot deviated again?" Li Nanzhu's fingertips brushed against the sword mark. "Looking at the current situation, his stance is clearly firmly with the Sword Heart Sect..."
"Plus, the way he spoke to Cang Dongqing just now shows he definitely has feelings for her."
Li Nanzhu never doubted the attraction between the male and female leads. Perhaps the plot had changed because of her involvement, but the butterfly effect shouldn't happen to someone she had never interacted with.
The halos of the male and female leads weren't so easily shaken.
After a long while, Duan Xianxing couldn't help but whisper, "Junior Sister, let's get out of here first."
Li Nanzhu snapped back to her senses. "Right, let's go back first."
Just as they were about to quietly head down the mountain in the direction Qi Yunze had indicated, Suisui suddenly jumped out of Li Nanzhu's arms.
"Suisui?" Li Nanzhu and Duan Xianxing looked at the little skeleton in confusion, but they soon understood why Suisui had done that.
"This is?!"
Suisui stuffed a piece of white paper into Li Nanzhu's hand. She immediately recognized it as the one Cang Dongqing had been holding earlier!
She didn't know if it had been accidentally dropped during the conversation with Qi Yunze, but Suisui had found it and brought it back.
"Suisui, you've done a great job! I'll reward you with candied fruit when we get back." Duan Xianxing excitedly rubbed Suisui's head.
Li Nanzhu quickly unfolded the paper. To her surprise, there were no spiritual energy fluctuations from it at all. It was just an ordinary piece of white paper, without even any writing or talisman runes.
"What's going on..." Duan Xianxing flipped the paper over in disappointment. "I thought it was some kind of secret."
Li Nanzhu was thoughtful. She held the white paper up to the sunlight and gave it a sniff, suddenly noticing a very faint scent.
"Is this... ink orchid fragrance?"
Duan Xianxing leaned in and sniffed. "It seems so, but what does that prove?"
Li Nanzhu shook her head and folded the paper back up, putting it into her storage bag. "Let's go back. The eldest senior brother's competition is about to start."
To their surprise, they didn't encounter any patrolling disciples on the way down. Only after safely returning to the Five Elements Dao Sect's residence did Duan Xianxing completely relax.
"That was too intense!" He slumped onto a stone stool and took a large gulp of a spiritual drink.
Li Nanzhu held Suisui, her mind racing with a thousand thoughts.
"Junior Sister?" Duan Xianxing waved a hand in front of her eyes. "Are you still thinking about what just happened?"
As they spoke, Jiang Yifan suddenly appeared at the courtyard gate. "You're back."
Duan Xianxing was so startled he almost fell off the stone stool. "Fourth Senior Brother! When did you..."
Jiang Yifan ignored his fuss and simply looked at Li Nanzhu. "What about what just happened? What did you see?"
Li Nanzhu hesitated for a moment before recounting everything they had seen and heard, including the mysterious white paper and Qi Yunze's unusual behavior.
Recalling Jiang Yifan's unique insights into the path of refinement, she took out the white paper and handed it to him.
"Fourth Senior Brother, can you help me see if there's anything special about this paper?"
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