Chapter 44: Senior Brother is Under Investigation
Riding on Liang Zhu’s flying sword, Ye Anping hadn’t been out for long when he witnessed thunder roaring over the Xuanxing Sect’s mountain. A brief thought made it clear that it was probably Lei Wanjun exploding in anger. He could finally breathe a sigh of relief. His plan smoothly achieved its first goal. Lei Wanjun likely harboured a deep hatred for the Seven Killing Sect now, eager to fly over their main headquarters and unleash a barrage of thunder upon them.
However, the challenge was that Lei Wanjun needed to know the location of the Seven Killing Sect’s main headquarters. The organisation had survived in the Zhouxing Territory for nearly a thousand years, making it challenging to pinpoint its central hub. Revealing it too easily might expose Ye Anping’s involvement.
Ye Anping adhered to the principle of not letting hatred linger overnight. The longer the situation dragged on, the more uncontrollable it became. If Xuanxing Sect realised they were being used as pawns in a larger game, it could be disastrous. He had a plan, though. The only uncertainty was whether Feng Yudie would agree to be tied up and concealed in a sack by him.
…
After finding a hilltop with Liang Zhu to erect tombstones for the “Second Brother” and the others and holding a simple funeral, they parted ways. When Ye Anping returned to Xuanxing City, it was already dawn. The morning market was lively, and he bought breakfast from a stall, hearing everyone discussing the events at the back of Xuanxing Sect the previous day.
Ye Anping was feeling proud and finished breakfast and returned to the physiotherapy center. He decided not to open for the day, planning to take a good two days of rest. After leading Liang Zhu and others into Xuanxing Sect’s back mountain, he had not slept at all.
After a quick shower, Ye Anping lay on the bed and quickly drifted into a well-deserved sleep. The dream took him to the West Lake, hand in hand with the elusive Xi Yue he had always wanted to marry. But just as they were about to share a tender moment, a sudden sound shattered the dream.
Boom!
A noise from the physiotherapy centre interrupted his dream. Ye Anping was startled and found himself feeling extremely hot as if his core was ablaze. Hesitating for a moment, he didn’t pay attention to the disturbance in the centre, quickly holding his breath to examine his body.
His consciousness followed the meridians, checking each acupuncture point one by one. To his surprise, he discovered a breakthrough in his cultivation. His Qi Refining level had jumped from the third to the fifth stage. However, this advancement brought challenges. The accumulation of pure Yang energy in his Qi Sea had nowhere to dissipate, forcing his body to cool down through copious sweating passively.
“This…”
Ye Anping was somewhat shocked, but he quickly recalled Wang Shouren’s words…
Simultaneously practising the Siyang Sect’s Heart Technique and the Nine Yuan Xinjue Technique could easily lead to excess Yang Qi accumulating in the internal organs. Without careful regulation, problems could arise.
“So, that’s what it meant…”
At this moment, the voices of a man and a woman reached him from outside.
“Handle with care! Search thoroughly! Who told you to break down the door?”
It sounded like Bai Yuexin’s voice.
“Ah… Senior Sister Bai, let us thoroughly investigate the city. This store hasn’t opened in the past few days… You also know what happened in the back mountain yesterday. This store is highly suspicious…”
Bai Yuexin argued, “How can there be any suspicion in this store? It’s just a coincidence. This one is not the only one that has closed down in the past few days!”
“Yes, we know, so we will go to several other stores to search soon.”
“But…”
Hearing this, Ye Anping understood the source of the earlier noise. He had anticipated that the Xuanxing Sect would come knocking. Initially planning to use “returning to the Hundred Lotus Sect to see his parents” as an excuse, the timing coincided with his excess Yang Qi, making him appear unwell.
So, Ye Anping quickly moved to the ground, opened the bedroom door, and walked out, feigning illness and coughing a few times.
“Cough, cough—what’s going on?”
Seeing Ye Anping’s face now flushed and appearing weak, Bai Yuexin quickly approached and asked, “Anping, what’s wrong with you?”
“I’ve been feeling a bit feverish these past few days as if I’ve caught a severe cold, so I had to close the shop for rest,” Ye Anping replied.
“Ah!” Bai Yuexin quickly touched his forehead and hurriedly took out an elixir from her storage bag, saying, “Why didn’t you tell me? I could have taken care of you. Haven’t you been lying in bed for two days?”
At this moment, the Xuanxing Sect disciple who had argued with Bai Yuexin also approached. From his attire, it was clear he was a disciple of Xuanxing Sect’s middle peak, responsible for patrols and maintaining public order.
Approaching Ye Anping, the disciple scrutinised him and asked, “Are you the owner of this shop?”
“Yes, I am,” Ye Anping pretended to be puzzled and asked, “What’s wrong?”
“Can you inform us of your whereabouts in the past three days…”
“Didn’t you see how weak he is? Why are you asking?” Bai Yuexin interrupted, frowning and glaring at the disciple. “Go away, I said he’s fine!”
Ye Anping, feeling somewhat helpless, replied, “As you can see, I’ve been suffering from a severe cold these past few days. With only Qi Refining cultivation, I’ve had to rest in the bedroom.”
“Is that so?” The disciple nodded, made a note on his booklet, and asked, “Do you have any identification or something like that?”
Ye Anping quickly presented his identity token, and upon seeing that he was the young master of the Hundred Lotus Sect, the disciple ceased further questioning. After apologising, they quickly left.
Observing their departure, Bai Yuexin chased after them, shouting, “Hey! You broke someone else’s door. Why don’t you pay for it…”
However, upon reaching the door, she thought of Ye Anping and hurriedly ran back, only to find that he had already returned to the bedroom and locked the door with a latch.
“Anping~ Why did you lock the door…”
From inside the room, Ye Anping’s voice came, “Senior Bai, this is my bedroom, not the living room.”
“What’s wrong with the bedroom…” Bai Yuexin murmured, “I’ve been there before… and haven’t we slept together…”
“…”
Bai Yuexin waited at the door for a while, but seeing that Ye Anping was adamant about not opening the door, she gave up. Instead, she took a look at the untidy courtyard and decided to help Ye Anping tidy it up. She even went to a small stove at the back and stewed a pot of colourful porridge for him.
…