The night was as dark as ink; Li Nanzhu lay on her bed, tossing and turning.
The discovery in the Library Pavilion was like a heavy stone weighing on her heart, making it difficult to sleep. The moonlight streaming through the window fell upon her face, making her complexion appear even paler.
Li Nanzhu was truly lost in deep confusion. She didn't know whether discovering these things was good or bad for her; the more she knew, the more entanglements would arise.
She even began to wonder why she had transmigrated here. In the beginning, she hadn't wanted to live at all, had she? Why was she now putting so much effort into investigating these things?
Striking her head forcefully, Li Nanzhu sat cross-legged on the bed, preparing to continue her cultivation.
Before she had cultivated for long, she opened her eyes in frustration. She couldn't enter a state of full concentration at all. Forcing herself to cultivate would only lead to qi deviation.
With no other choice, Li Nanzhu threw on her outer robe and walked out the door. The night at the Five Elements Dao Sect was very quiet; after all, there were only four people in the entire sect now.
Li Nanzhu felt that this kind of nighttime atmosphere might be perfect for filming a horror movie, even if the environment itself wasn't particularly terrifying.
After wandering for a while, she found herself at a familiar place. Looking up, Li Nanzhu realized she had returned to the Library Pavilion.
After a moment of hesitation, she picked up a night-luminescent pearl to light her way and stepped inside once more.
Glancing around, Li Nanzhu felt that something must have been overlooked during the day. The books they had taken out previously had been returned to their original places when they left. This time, Li Nanzhu didn't want to look for clues in those books again; after all, she had already examined everything she could during the day.
Since she couldn't figure it out, Li Nanzhu simply paced between the bookshelves to see if there were any new discoveries.
The night-luminescent pearl in her hand emitted a soft glow. With a casual glance, Li Nanzhu noticed a peculiar detail she hadn't sensed earlier.
What appeared to be an ordinary Spirit Plant Compendium was, to Li Nanzhu's surprise under the pearl's light, covered in dust and tucked away in the farthest corner, as if someone were deliberately hiding its existence.
The truly suspicious part was that Li Nanzhu had seen the actual Spirit Plant Compendium. Identical books did not coexist in the Library Pavilion; this was done to accommodate a wider variety of different scriptures.
Therefore, the appearance of this book in such a state was even more intriguing.
Li Nanzhu pulled it out directly. She didn't know how much dust had accumulated on it, but the moment she picked it up, it triggered a fit of coughing.
She quickly used a dust-cleansing talisman, which finally cleared the surrounding area.
The cover looked very old. Li Nanzhu carefully flipped it open, and her expression changed at the very first glance.
This was no Spirit Plant Compendium—it was clearly the disciple registry they had searched for all day and failed to find!
Li Nanzhu quickly flipped through the contents. The registry was recorded in great detail; every disciple's spiritual root aptitude, entry date, and master-disciple relationships were documented. When she turned to the final page, Li Nanzhu held her breath.
It was empty!
Li Nanzhu examined it meticulously and, from the faint traces at the edges, determined that this final page had been manually torn out.
As for who had torn it, Li Nanzhu could take a guess. Other than Feng Yi, no one else would have done such a thing.
Only... what was his purpose in doing so?
Li Nanzhu frowned deeply, feeling as if she were trapped in a massive whirlpool she couldn't escape.
But since she was already a player in this game—no, she had been a player from the start—fate had never given her a chance to choose.
Rubbing her aching temples, Li Nanzhu tucked the disciple registry into her storage bag. For now, these items still had research value. If she left it here and Feng Yi took it away later, the trail would go cold.
To prevent Feng Yi from noticing, Li Nanzhu placed the genuine Spirit Plant Compendium in its place and scattered some dust from outside over it as a disguise before returning to her room to rest.
"What?!"
A startled cry rang out, frightening the birds on the branches outside into fluttering away.
"Keep your voice down!" Li Nanzhu rubbed her ears and instinctively stuffed a steamed bun into Duan Xianxing's mouth. "Why are you shouting so loud? You're going to make me deaf!"
Duan Xianxing struggled to swallow the mouthful of bun before speaking again. "So you stayed up all night and went back to the Library Pavilion?"
Li Nanzhu: "...That's not the point, okay?"
Handing the disciple registry disguised as a spirit plant manual to Duan Xianxing, Li Nanzhu looked at the breakfast before her but found herself unable to eat. Because of this registry, she hadn't slept well all night and had come to find Duan Xianxing early in the morning with dark circles under her eyes.
As for Zhu Yinxi, Li Nanzhu chose not to inform him immediately. Although this Second Senior Brother had saved her and helped her look for information, she felt their bond as fellow disciples wasn't very deep. It felt more as if he were satisfying his own curiosity. Furthermore, after the incident in the forbidden area, he didn't seem to want to mention their Master's oddities. Because of this, Li Nanzhu decided to go to Duan Xianxing first.
By comparison, she trusted her Seventh Senior Brother more. Given his personality and the descriptions in the original novel, she felt she could discuss this matter with him.
"As I thought, there's no record at all." Duan Xianxing flipped directly to the last page, tossed the booklet back onto the table, and continued gnawing on his bun, causing Li Nanzhu's heart to jolt.
"Seventh Senior Brother, what do you know?"
"It's simple. Given Master's personality, something like a disciple registry wouldn't be hidden unless there was a secret within it. The fact that we couldn't find it yesterday already said something." Duan Xianxing took another huge bite of his bun and said unclearly, "If something hidden is meant to be found, it means the key information must be gone, which is why it was left there."
Li Nanzhu hadn't expected her seemingly carefree Seventh Senior Brother to be much more meticulous than she imagined. Why was it that this brain of his became completely useless whenever it came to buying things?
"So what do we do now?" Li Nanzhu put the registry away, still not feeling particularly spirited.
Duan Xianxing looked at Li Nanzhu and suddenly flicked her forehead. Seeing her glare at him, he smiled and rubbed her hair.
"Little Junior Sister, is Master's true identity really that important?" As he spoke, his voice softened. "At the very least, he has given us a place to stay and taught us cultivation methods so we can protect ourselves in this cultivation world. For me, that's enough."
Looking at Duan Xianxing's smile, Li Nanzhu felt there were emotions hidden within it that she couldn't decipher.
"No matter what he does in the future, Master has treated us well so far. I don't know what the other senior brothers and sisters think, but I was raised and taught by First Senior Brother. If First Senior Brother trusts Master, then I am willing to believe Master has no intention of harming us. Perhaps this is even a form of protection for us."
Li Nanzhu fell silent. She couldn't quite understand Duan Xianxing's trust in Feng Yi, which was rooted in his trust in the First Senior Brother.
But she suddenly understood why, in the original story, Duan Xianxing would seek such frantic revenge against Cang Dongqing after the First Senior Brother's death. It was because he was a child raised by the First Senior Brother's own hands.
This kind of deep affection... wasn't it something she had craved in her heart a long, long time ago? Perhaps she should also let down some of her guard?
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