The courtyard was deathly silent, everyone looking at one another with expressions so solemn that water could almost drip from them.
"What do we do now?" Duan Xianxing scratched his head, his voice tinged with a rare sense of unease. "We can't just sit and wait for death, can we?"
Feng Qingping tapped her finger against her array disk, making a crisp clicking sound. "Eldest Senior Brother was the last person to exchange blows with Mo Lin. Now, every move we make is surely under the surveillance of all parties. Acting rashly will only give them leverage against us."
Li Nanzhu looked down at Suisui in her arms. The little skeleton's soul fire flickered erratically.
She was about to suggest sending Suisui to investigate, but then she suddenly remembered—Suisui's identity was already sensitive at the Sword Heart Sect. If it were discovered...
"Fifth Junior Sister is right," Jiang Yifan said suddenly, his voice low. "In this situation, whoever moves first takes the inferior position."
Zhu Yinxi picked up his bell. "If we don't go, should we wait for Master..."
"Master has not returned yet," Mu Wenyan interrupted him, his voice carrying a nearly imperceptible tightness. "We can only rely on ourselves."
Li Nanzhu saw the heavy expressions on everyone's faces. After a moment of thought, she took out a communication jade slip. "I'll try to contact Liu Qingyang and Rong Yuying. They might know more about the internal situation."
Mu Wenyan nodded slightly. "Be careful. Do not give them anything to use against us."
Li Nanzhu returned to her room and first called Rong Yuying's communication jade slip.
After the jade slip flickered a few times, Rong Yuying's weary voice came through. "Little Zhu'er? I was just about to look for you."
"Is there any new news about Mo Lin?" Li Nanzhu asked urgently.
"Not much," Rong Yuying sighed. "We only know that Mo Lin's body is under strict guard. Even the elders of our Hehuan Sect can only get a look from a distance."
Li Nanzhu pursed her lips, thanked her, and hung up the transmission.
Next was Lin Xiaowan, but it was clear the other girl was even more bewildered and completely in the dark about the matter.
Finally, she tried to contact Liu Qingyang, but there was no answer.
"No useful information," Li Nanzhu said as she put away her jade slip, her brow furrowed.
"You did your best." Mu Wenyan nodded slightly, his gaze gentle. "Don't blame yourself."
Feng Qingping let out a soft sigh. "At least we've confirmed one thing—this matter is indeed very fishy."
Duan Xianxing scratched his head. "So now..."
"We must do something at least." Li Nanzhu raised her eyes and took an item from her storage bag. "I have an idea."
Feng Qingping arched an eyebrow. "Let's hear it."
"Memory stones." Li Nanzhu spread a memory stone out on her palm. "Since we are confined to the residence, we should at least master everything that happens here."
Jiang Yifan's expression stiffened slightly. "You don't mean..."
"I do," Li Nanzhu nodded. "We will install memory stones in every corner of the residence. That way, even if someone tries to pull something, we'll have evidence."
Duan Xianxing's eyes widened. "Every corner?"
"Is thirty pieces enough?" Li Nanzhu had already begun counting. "I have more than twenty spares here..."
"It's actually a good idea," Mu Wenyan chuckled softly. "However, it must be done discreetly."
"But isn't this many a bit too much?" Zhu Yinxi rubbed his temples.
"Second Senior Brother," Li Nanzhu said seriously, "think about it. If someone sneaks in at night to plant evidence, wouldn't we be unable to clear our names even with a hundred mouths?"
Zhu Yinxi fell silent for a moment before speaking. "That makes sense."
Jiang Yifan silently pulled several small magic tools from his storage bag. "These are some trinkets I made before. They can mask the fluctuations of the memory stones."
Feng Qingping laughed softly. "In that case, let's begin."
And so, with Mu Wenyan's silent approval, the group began this exaggerated monitoring project.
"Put three under the eaves." Li Nanzhu stood on her tiptoes, wedging a memory stone into a gap between the tiles. "Make sure to cover the perspective of the entire courtyard."
Suisui sat on her shoulder, pointing click-clackingly toward the southeast corner.
"Get some in the treetops too!" Duan Xianxing was getting into the spirit now, nimbly climbing the tree. "This way, we'll catch even a bird flying past!"
While Zhu Yinxi was stuffing memory stones into the flower bushes, he sighed. "Doing this kind of thing on Sword Heart Sect territory... I never would have imagined it before."
Feng Qingping constantly used her array disk to cover each stone with a concealment barrier. "Three layers of illusion arrays stacked; no one below the Soul Transformation stage will find them."
Li Nanzhu went the furthest, directly placing two at the entrance of the latrine. "This place is the easiest to overlook."
Having just finished placing memory stones, Duan Xianxing sat on a tree branch and looked down at the group, laughing. "What do you think other sects would say if they knew we installed so many memory stones in our residence..."
"They'd probably give our Five Elements Dao Sect a nickname." Jiang Yifan condensed a breeze on his fingertip, sending a memory stone to the edge of the water well. "Might as well rename it the Memory Stone Sect."
"But it truly is a good idea." Mu Wenyan's voice suddenly came from behind. "It's never wrong to be cautious."
Li Nanzhu turned around to see her eldest senior brother's busy back as well. In that moment, she suddenly felt that perhaps things weren't as bad as she had imagined.
"Eldest Senior Brother," she couldn't help but ask, "are you really not worried?"
Mu Wenyan's gaze drifted toward the distant mountains. "Worrying is useless. Prepare well and wait for the situation to change."
When the last memory stone was embedded in the corner of a wall, Li Nanzhu straightened up and wiped the sweat from her brow. The group gathered together, looking at one another.
"How many in total?" Feng Qingping rubbed her aching wrists.
Feng Weilan calculated, "Twelve under the eaves, eight in the treetops, six in the flower bushes..."
"One hundred and seventy-eight pieces." Jiang Yifan spoke suddenly, his voice tinged with disbelief. "Including the ones in the well and the latrine, there are a total of one hundred and seventy-eight memory stones."
Hearing this, the sword in Duan Xianxing's hand nearly fell to the ground. "That many?"
Li Nanzhu herself was startled. "I originally only planned to put out thirty."
Feng Qingping burst into laughter. "I think we might as well rename this place the Hundred-Eye Residence."
"Hundred-Eye?" Feng Weilan actually joined the conversation. "Wouldn't that make Eldest Senior Brother the Hundred-Eyed Immortal Venerable?"
The corners of Mu Wenyan's mouth twitched upward. "Nonsense."
Li Nanzhu held Suisui, watching everyone laughing together, and the tension in her heart finally eased.
"Alright." Mu Wenyan waited until everyone had finished laughing before speaking warmly. "Since everything is set up, everyone go and rest."
Duan Xianxing stretched. "Now I can sleep soundly. Even if someone wants to frame us, they'll have to ask if our one hundred and seventy-eight eyes agree first!"
"Remember to check under your bed for memory stones before you sleep," Feng Qingping teased. "What if someone crawls up from underground?"
"Fifth Senior Sister!" Duan Xianxing jumped. "I just relaxed, and now you're scaring me again!"
Zhu Yinxi spun his jade flute lightly. "Don't worry, I put three extra pieces under your bed."
"Second Senior Brother!"
Mu Wenyan looked at his rowdy junior brothers and sisters and shook his head helplessly. "Go and rest, everyone. There is still cultivation to do tomorrow."
As Li Nanzhu walked toward her room holding Suisui, she could still hear Duan Xianxing's lowered voice behind her. "Hey, should we put a few over at the Sword Heart Sect's side too?"
"Do you want to make things even more chaotic?"
"I just thought about knowing yourself and knowing your enemy..."
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