Ning Buwei leaned against the tree, staring at him with an ambiguous smile. “Hmm?”
Chu Jun’s gaze uncomfortably moved away from his lips. “Just now—”
Ning Buwei clicked his tongue, reaching out to hook Chu Jun’s collar and draw him closer. He chuckled softly, “Venerable, why are you blushing?”
Chu Jun’s eyes flashed with slight annoyance. He grabbed Ning Buwei’s hand and cleared his throat lightly. “Stop fooling around.”
“Tsk.” Ning Buwei raised an eyebrow. “So you righteous path cultivators only seduce halfway?”
Chu Jun’s gaze fell on his lips again.
Ning Buwei suddenly felt uneasy. Even though this surnamed Chu had regained his senses tonight, he still didn’t seem quite normal. He straightened up and said seriously, “Why don’t we go back and explain?”
Chu Jun neither agreed nor disagreed. As they were about to leave, a thick wave of evil energy suddenly approached. Ning Buwei’s eyes sharpened, and he slapped a concealment talisman on Chu Jun.
A black shadow flitted past their heads in the treetops, seeming to head towards the mountaintop. Ning Buwei initially wanted to follow alone, but he truly didn’t feel at ease leaving Chu Jun here by himself. So he said to him, “Let’s follow and take a look.”
Chu Jun nodded. The two of them closely followed that figure, only to discover that this person was heading in the direction they had come from, clearly making straight for the courtyard where the Wang family was resting.
“This evil energy is so thick.” Ning Buwei looked at it somewhat greedily, narrowing his eyes.
“Don’t eat strange things,” Chu Jun said. “Especially evil energy.”
Ning Buwei: “…I’m an evil cultivator. The more evil energy, the better.”
Chu Jun paused for a moment before speaking. “There are naturally other ways— He’s stopped.”
Ning Buwei saw that black shadow silently enter Xie Jiu’s room. He nodded at Chu Jun, and the two of them slowly landed on the roof.
Chu Jun communicated to him telepathically. “The other party has set up a sound barrier.”
Ning Buwei bit his finger and quickly drew a small formation. He patted it onto the roof, and immediately the scene inside the room appeared clearly before them. The voices were as if right next to their ears.
Inside the room, after Xie Jiu set up the sound barrier, he saw Chu Xin crouching on the ground in pain.
“What’s wrong?” Xie Jiu reached out to help him up.
Chu Xin stared at him with blood-red eyes and asked hoarsely, “The evil energy in my body… why can’t I control it anymore?”
Xie Jiu asked in surprise, “How could this happen?”
Chu Xin shook his head in panic. “I’ve been very careful. I only absorbed their cultivation, never killed anyone. Why is there still so much evil energy? I don’t know what’s going on…”
Xie Jiu helped him sit down. “Don’t panic. This method was given to me by my master. I’m sure there’s no problem. Perhaps something went wrong during your cultivation.”
Chu Xin said helplessly, “Brother Xie, what should I do now? Will they come to hunt me down? Will they kill me as a demon?”
“That won’t happen. We’ll find a way to hide this evil energy together,” Xie Jiu comforted him. “As long as it’s hidden well, no one will discover it.”
Chu Xin hesitated. “But…”
“This is the most effective method right now,” Xie Jiu sighed. “Xiao Xin, don’t you want to avenge your master and fellow disciples anymore?”
The redness in Chu Xin’s eyes intensified. He gritted his teeth and said, “No, no matter what method, I must have my revenge!”
Xie Jiu smiled slightly. “I heard that the Soul-Calming Flowing Clouds of Canghai Tower has the effect of concealing and absorbing evil energy. Tomorrow, when the discussion conference opens, their defenses will be at their weakest. You might…”
Chu Xin caught on quickly, but there was still a hurdle in his heart he couldn’t overcome. “I- I can’t steal things.”
Xie Jiu put his hand on Chu Xin’s shoulder and said in a low voice, “For the sake of revenge, you’ve already secretly practiced such forbidden techniques. It’s just borrowing temporarily. Once you can control that evil energy well, you can return it.”
Chu Xin nodded in a daze. “You’re right…”
On the rooftop, Ning Buwei and Chu Jun exchanged glances. Ning Buwei communicated telepathically, “After Xie Jiu contacted me, he also told me to steal the Soul-Calming Flowing Clouds.”
“The Soul-Calming Flowing Clouds is Canghai Tower’s greatest treasure, kept in the Flowing Clouds Pavilion. Tomorrow, during the discussion conference, it will be even more heavily guarded,” Chu Jun shook his head. “Moreover, the Flowing Clouds Pavilion is full of traps. The chances of forcibly taking it are minuscule.”
Ning Buwei pondered for a moment and said, “However, once someone attempts to steal the Soul-Calming Flowing Clouds, it will inevitably attract everyone’s attention. What he wants isn’t the Soul-Calming Flowing Clouds, but to take advantage of the situation to do something else?”
“That makes sense,” Chu Jun looked at him approvingly.
Ning Buwei: “…Act more normal.”
This gaze was like when he saw Ning Xiu learning to turn over by himself.
In the time it took them to exchange a few words, below, Xie Jiu had already arranged a plan for Chu Xin.
“I can temporarily help you conceal this evil energy. Go find a place outside to spend the night, and tomorrow, seize the opportunity to act,” Xie Jiu handed him a waist token. “With this token, you’ll be able to move freely on Discussion Mountain.”
Chu Xin took the token. “Thank you.”
Xie Jiu patted his head. “No need for formalities with me. I’ll see you out.”
The door opened, and the two walked towards the outer courtyard.
Ning Buwei and Chu Jun closely followed.
Meanwhile, in the neighboring courtyard where the Wanxuan Academy disciples were resting.
Jiang Yizheng pushed open the door, wearing an outer robe and yawning. She was startled to see Cui Yuanbai sitting by the window. “Huanhuan? Why aren’t you asleep yet?”
Cui Yuanbai looked up at the moon. “I’m waiting for Father to come back.”
“Huh? Isn’t the Venerable in the room?” Jiang Yizheng asked confusedly. “I didn’t see him go out.”
“There was a lot of black energy on Father’s shoulders earlier,” Cui Yuanbai said listlessly. “Father wouldn’t let me turn into a knife. It seemed to help burn it off Father.”
Jiang Yizheng was completely bewildered. “What knife and black energy? Children who don’t sleep won’t grow tall.”
Feng Zizhang, probably hearing the commotion, had also gotten up. He poked his head out of the window, asking sleepily, “What’s going on? Why isn’t everyone asleep?”
“Huanhuan says Father, I mean, the Venerable isn’t in the room,” Jiang Yizheng was wilting with drowsiness. “Is it—”
“Father?” Cui Yuanbai sensed the smell of that black energy on Chu Jun and suddenly darted out.
Jiang Yizheng and Feng Zizhang were startled and hurriedly chased after him. “Huanhuan, come back!”
Just a wall away, Ning Buwei and Chu Jun were following Chu Xin and Xie Jiu like ghosts, silently communicating through a barrier.
“As long as we don’t startle them, Xie Jiu will eventually show his true colors. We just need to keep a close eye on him—”
Before Ning Buwei could finish, a four or five-year-old child suddenly ran out from next door.
Cui Yuanbai clearly sensed Chu Jun and Ning Buwei’s auras, but couldn’t see them. He looked bewilderedly at where Ning Buwei and Chu Jun were standing, but what he saw were two strangers.
Xie Jiu and Chu Xin, seeing the child suddenly appear, immediately stopped in their tracks.
“Huanhuan, don’t run off!” Jiang Yizheng ran out wearing her outer robe. Seeing Cui Yuanbai stop, she immediately sighed in relief and picked him up. She looked at the two people who had stopped the child, about to thank them, when her expression suddenly changed.
Feng Zizhang, panting, caught up and also froze. “Xie Jiu? Chu Xin?”
A glint of murderous intent flashed in Chu Xin’s eyes.
