Man Feiyue sat on a high chair, her legs barely longer than the chair's legs, dangling in the air. In this cold and empty underground hall, her skin appeared even more eerie blue, creating an indescribable sense of comicality and horror.
"How could I dare? It's just that if you hadn't told us, we wouldn't have been able to prepare at all."
Man Feiyue sighed, "This time, it's because we've fallen out with them again."
“The Holy Mother never says which side she's on, so we kids can’t really voice our opinions.” Feng She shrugged, looking like a wronged woman. “You decide for yourself.”
Although he was saying this, he was thinking about Xuezhi.
"Xiao She, I just love your eloquent little mouth." Man Feiyue beckoned to him, "Come here, I have something to do for you."
Feng She went over to listen absentmindedly.
"That side is Mount Hua."
Feng She glanced at her: "What does Holy Mother mean by this?"
Man Feiyue whispered, "The Huashan Sect has always been on good terms with our sect. They've entrusted us with many things, but they often break their promises. This time they've really gone too far, and I plan to turn against them from now on."
"How...how could the Virgin Mary do that?"
"This is something you'll have to do." Man Feiyue lowered her voice even further. "Next time, take some time to go to Lingjian Manor and get Lin Fengzi's..."
"Why?"
"Don't ask why. I have something on your father and the others. I don't know if they have connections above them. But their subordinates... well... From now on, whether you want his forgiveness or not, you'll make sure he knows who you are."
“The Holy Mother has the final say.” Feng She nodded with a smile, straightened up, and then suddenly lowered his head to ask, “By the way, Holy Mother, did you lock the cage leading to the secret chamber at the bottom?”
"Ah, yes."
"It's unlocked? Things inside are going to get stolen..."
"Go and lock it quickly." With that, he handed a silver key to Feng She.
Feng She finally found an excuse to leave the hall. After leaving, he didn't forget to look back at Manyeyue one more time. Making sure she was still sitting there, he disappeared from her sight, quickened his pace, opened the small door and closed it again, and rushed to the side of the Abyss Iron Cage.
Xuezhi glared angrily and said, "The fragrance of the jade hairpin is as sweet as orchids, surpassing all other beauties."
"Shh..." Feng She hurriedly went over and unlocked the iron cage. "This is bad. The Holy Mother has returned."
"What?!"
"You go down first, you don't need a key to come up. The secret manual is in the second box from the left, I'll pull you up in a bit."
Xuezhi nodded and hurriedly crawled inside, trying not to make a sound. Feng She quickly put her down, and after the cage had completely disappeared into the abyss, he wiped the sweat from his brow, turned around quickly, opened the small door, and walked back.
But as soon as he stepped inside, before he could even close the door, Man Feiyue was already standing in front of him.
Feng She's heart was in his throat:
"Our Lady, it's already locked."
"Is it locked?"
"yes."
He didn't deliberately try to block the abyss behind him. Man Feiyue, without a smile, reached out and said, "Give me the key."
Feng She wiped the sweat from the keys and handed them to her.
98
To say that you wouldn't regret entering such a pitch-black abyss would be a lie. But the thought of getting closer and closer to the "Snow Lotus Sword of the Vast Ocean" made Xuezhi a little bolder.
It seemed like a long time before she finally landed.
Apart from the faint light from the torches of Hongling Temple above, she truly couldn't see anything. She groped her way forward, the darkness growing ever darker and more eerie. At this point, even a falling stone would probably scare her half to death.
Fortunately, she quickly found a tinderbox, lit it, and it emitted a faint light.
The walls were stone, the floor was dry grass, rustling underfoot. It didn't feel like a secret room, more like a prison cell. Xuezhi suppressed her pounding heart and finally saw a row of chests on a stone staircase. She walked towards them with her torch, and suddenly the light before her eyes brightened considerably. Looking up again, she saw a bronze mirror above the chests. In the mirror, the torchlight shone from the woman's chin upwards. Xuezhi gasped, quickly bent down, and opened the second chest from the left.
The moment she saw what was inside the box, she took two steps back and plopped down on the ground.
Meanwhile, Feng She had been indiscriminately dismissed from Hongling Temple by Manyeyue. Feng She and his fellow disciples rode on horseback, their hearts filled with panic, but they appeared incredibly lazy: "The Holy Mother always has so much to do, I'm so tired..."
His fellow students remained silent.
"Hehe, you guys aren't keeping quiet because you're afraid of me, are you?"
Still, no one responded.
"If you don't speak, I'm going back." Seeing that no one answered, Feng She indeed turned around and hurried back.
"Junior brother, please wait."
Feng She asked innocently, "What is it?"
"The Holy Mother said that the woman you brought doesn't resemble her, nor is she pretty enough. She's also too tall."
Upon hearing this, Feng She, without a word, whipped his horse and rode off. Unfortunately, his horsemanship was poor, and he hadn't gone far before the sound of his fellow apprentices' hooves grew ever closer.
"Hahaha... I've had my eye on that gourd of yours for a long time! The Holy Mother has already issued a pardon; once we catch you, you can rest easy and be disposed of at our disposal!"
"That depends on whether you can catch them or not!"
As he roared, Feng She aimed at a hillside and suddenly jumped off his horse.
The shouts of his fellow disciples and the thunderous clatter of horses' hooves came from behind. Feng She fell down the hillside, grabbing onto a small tree, but the trunk was too thin to hold him, and his hands were cut. So, he tumbled down the slope. He rolled dozens of times, his face covered in blood, and collapsed unconscious at the bottom. Because it was too dark, his fellow disciples gave up searching for him and walked back amidst laughter and chatter.
At this moment, in the secret room on the ground floor.
Holding the torch in one hand, Xuezhi looked at the empty box and finally couldn't help but cover her face with her other hand, feeling so frustrated that she almost cried.
She didn't know how much time had passed before she slowly stood up, covered the empty box, and began searching for other things.
The first box was opened, and inside was a dead insect. Looking at the soft red fabric around it, anyone unfamiliar with Hongling Temple would surely mistake it for medicinal herbs.
The second box was empty.
The third box contained a very worn-out handscroll.
Suddenly, I heard a slight noise behind me. Immediately, every nerve in my body tensed up.
She slowly turned her head, but there was no one there.
Xuezhi was a little tired, so she switched the torch to her other hand. But as soon as she did, she subconsciously glanced in the mirror again. What she saw made her scream uncontrollably.
In the mirror, there was another face above and behind her shoulder!
Xuezhi was so frightened that she threw down the torch and jumped up and down several times.
The man quickly extinguished the fire, covered her mouth, and whispered, "Do you want to be discovered?"
Xuezhi was even more flustered. Only after the man let go did she say uncertainly, "Zhao, um, Young Master Shangguan?"
"It's me."
"When did you get here? You...didn't you go back to Moonrise Valley?"
"You said I shouldn't come with you, but if I do, you'll probably cause even more trouble. How can your second father possibly feel at ease following someone he barely knows to a place like Xuan Tian Hong Ling Temple?"
"I don't know you well either."
"Not familiar?" In the darkness, that tone that only Shangguan Tou could utter reappeared, "Aren't we familiar enough?"
Xuezhi originally wanted to get angry and yell, but when she thought about her conversation with Feng Zi and the choices she made under difficult circumstances, she simply said, "Let's not talk about the past anymore. Let's just pretend nothing happened."
Shangguan Tou did not reply. It was pitch black, and his expression was unknown.
Xuezhi lit another torch, opened the third box, and took out the scroll inside. Only after unfolding it did she realize that the scroll was only half complete. She read the beginning; the narrator was none other than Yuwen Yuqing, the son of Elder Yuwen, a former disciple of Chonghuo Palace who died young. Xuezhi knew a little about this man, so she secretly hid the scroll in her bosom and closed the box.
Xuezhi said, "But how did you get in?"
"Of course I'll follow you."
"So you got here before us?"
"Two people can never arrive as quickly as one person."
"But how did you get down?"
"Lightness skill".
"Lightness skill?" Xuezhi couldn't help but laugh. "You use lightness skill at such a height?"
"Um."
"Impressive. Is this a case of the mantis stalking the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind?
"Yes, but it's still unclear who the mantis is and who the oriole is."
"Why?"
Shangguan Tou took the torch from Xuezhi's hand, waved it to his side, and then moved it down a little.
Man Feiyue stood about five meters away from them.
99
"So it's the Holy Mother Man." Xue Zhi smiled and whispered in Shangguan Tou's ear, "Didn't you say that with Shangguan Tou around, Man Feiyue is nothing to fear?"
“That’s because Shangguan Tou is immune to all poisons.” Man Feiyue looked up, and the corners of her mouth gradually curled up.
"You could hear that?"
Shangguan Tou winked at Xue Zhi and mouthed, "Since she dares to confront us head-on, she must be fearless." He then said to Man Feiyue, "Master Man, we came here to find the lost item of Chonghuo Palace, the 'Canghai Snow Lotus Sword.' If this manual is in your possession, we hope you can return it."
"You think I'll just pay you back because you tell me to? Why should I?"
Xuezhi said, "Because it belongs to Chonghuo Palace."
“This manual isn’t in my possession. I’ve never even heard of it.” Man Feiyue touched her face and said with a charming smile, “You’ve got the wrong person.”
"Why is your speech so inconsistent?"
Shangguan Tou said to Man Feiyue, "In that case, we shall take our leave."
Man Feiyue raised her pinky finger gracefully, her laughter echoing softly in the abyss: