Senior Sister Bai Yueguang is incredibly strong.

Chapter 23 Conspiracy

After a busy day, Luo Zai Shui and the others returned to the inn and encountered Chu Ye Li and his group, who were also covered in dust and dirt.

Chu Yeli was too tired to speak. He pointed to the table and chairs next to him, indicating that they should sit down and talk.

Chu Yeli, who had just gulped down a pot of tea, finally came back to life: "Those monsters must have gone mad. They attacked one after another like they didn't care about their lives. We even encountered a high-level monster that directly self-destructed its inner core. If I hadn't reacted quickly, we don't know how many people would have been lost."

Luo Zai Shui thought for a moment and said, "So it was you who caused that commotion in the east."

Chu Yeli was stunned for a moment: "It's not us, we're in the west."

"Who made such a commotion?" Luo Zai Shui gestured for Su Wu Si and the others to go back to their rooms to rest, as they had something to discuss.

"It's us."

Su Wusi, who had just stepped onto the stairs, was stunned when he saw Ye Xiao, who was covered in dirt and had scratches of varying depths on his body.

Xu Yu helped him limp in.

Ji Tinghan raised an eyebrow: "It seems you've also encountered some considerable trouble."

Out of humanitarian concern, Xue Xin sent over some medicine for healing and disinfection: "Remember to pay the market price when the time comes."

Luo Zai Shui found the injury frightening, but fortunately it was only a superficial wound. The sword cultivator was physically strong and would recover in a couple of days.

She noticed Su Wusi still standing on the stairs and instructed, "Wusi, you juniors should go and rest first. We have something to discuss."

"it is good."

Su Wusi knew that staying wouldn't be of any help; this had never happened in her previous life, and besides, what could possibly get close to Ye Xiao?

"Damn it, have these monsters gone mad? They can even bite open magic artifacts made from the fire and wind stones of Mount Huoshen!"

Judging from the sound, it was Sun Heng and the others who had returned; they seemed to have encountered considerable trouble.

As soon as Sun Heng entered the inn, he saw them sitting together and knew that nothing good was going to happen.

Chu Yeli patted the empty seat next to him: "Come on, Brother Sun, tell me what happened to you? We're waiting for you and Nie Xushuang. Where is she?"

"It's here."

Nie Xushuang also looked exhausted, but her condition was much better than the others.

She told Qiao An and the others to go down and rest, and then sat down next to Luo Zaishui.

"Do you know how many wounded there are? Do you know how exhausting it was for me to be bandaging people today?"

Nie Xushuang, who hadn't completely broken down yet, finally collapsed when she couldn't pour a single drop of water from the teapot.

Luo Zai Shui asked the waiter to bring another pot of tea. As she poured the tea, she said, "It seems that everyone has encountered quite a bit of trouble."

Chu Yeli landed skillfully on the soundproof array.

"Those demonic beasts had an abnormal red glow in their eyes." Chu Yeli tapped the table and began to recount his experiences that day. "We tracked down a bear demon, whose cultivation was probably above the Golden Core stage and close to the Nascent Soul stage. That guy initially lured us into the forest, where we couldn't use our skills. We used up most of our talismans before we finally subdued it. But then, for some reason, that guy suddenly attacked, and the talismans were useless. In the end, it directly detonated its inner core. Fortunately, I reacted quickly and formed an array in time, otherwise, not many of us would have come back alive."

After calming down, Ye Xiao slowly spoke: "We encountered a similar situation, but we encountered a fox demon. That thing is very cunning, and we couldn't touch it at all."

Sun Yuan chimed in, "We're in a similar situation; many of our magical artifacts have been damaged by bites."

Nie Xushuang looked at Luo Zaishui, who was covered in dust but not badly injured, and said, "It seems that things are a little better on your side."

Shi Ming took a sip of tea: "Not too good. We worked together to remove the demon core before it exploded, so we didn't encounter the situation where the body exploded."

Chu Yeli said indignantly, "The guy surnamed Qian didn't tell us about this situation!"

Shi Ming put down his teacup: "Hiding things from us does him no good at all. On the contrary, if a disciple were to perish here, it would be a big problem for him."

“If that’s the case,” Luo refilled Shui Weishiming’s cup with tea, “then it means that the monsters that came before us, we could defeat, but were relatively difficult to capture. So now…”

Nie Xushuang suddenly understood: "You mean, someone deliberately set a trap for us here?"

Luo Zai Shui did not deny it: "It's hard to say."

Sun Heng slammed his hand on the table: "I want to see which one has the audacity to set a trap for the Five Great Sects!"

Chu Yeli rested his head on his arm, rolling a teacup on the table with his other hand: "Then let's guess, who's trying to cause us trouble? The Wen family? Or the Qian family?"

Luo Zai Shui frowned: "The Qian family has no reason to cause us trouble. Besides, this is the Qian family's territory. Even if something happens to us, they won't gain anything."

Chu Yeli chuckled knowingly, “You’re mistaken. We’re in trouble, but the ones who’ll be in trouble are the Qian family head and their young master. Who will benefit is another matter, like those collateral branches who are eyeing the position of family head.”

“That’s true, but…” Luo Zai Shui frowned, seemingly unable to find a point of rebuttal.

“But if things are exposed, he won’t get away with it either.” Shi Ming pointed out the window.

A dark shadow flashed past the window.

Ye Xiao stood up and wanted to chase after her, but Luo Zai Shui stopped her; her tracking talisman had already caught up with her.

Chu Yeli magically produced a tracking talisman: "Don't worry, it's double-insured, it won't get lost."

"It seems they're determined to win," Chu Yeli sighed. "It's been a long time since I've experienced the intrigue and power struggles among aristocratic families; I'm starting to miss it."

"Are you so sure?"

Although this matter has been speculated to be very close to the truth, without evidence, it is all speculation.

Luo Zai Shui smiled and said, "Of course, it's not just a simple matter of the struggle for the position of family head."

Chu Yeli placed the teacup upside down on the table: "First, the first question: where did these demonic beasts come from?"

Shi Ming added, "Also, what's driving these things crazy?"

Ye Xiao asked calmly, "And who is the mastermind behind this?"

"Ultimately, what was his purpose in doing this?"

Luo Zai Shui's last words sent a chill down Nie Xu Shuang's spine; she had been too naive.

Sun Yuan silently raised his hand: "If many of our disciples perish here, the Five Sects will surely be thrown into chaos."

Nie Xushuang steadied herself: "If that's the case, then this person will definitely have a series of actions to take later..."

The group at the table suddenly fell silent. The mastermind behind it all had already taken action, hadn't he?

Luo Zai Shui cleared his throat: "Do you know anything about the aftermath of dealing with that evil spirit?"

The group looked at each other, realizing that none of the elders in the sect had told them.

Sun Yuan hesitated for a moment before stammering, "I heard my master say that this thing has been raised for at least a hundred years..."

It's terrifying that someone has spent hundreds of years raising a ferocious monster.

Chu Yeli sat up straight: "Thinking about it, it makes sense. With the Wen family backing them up, the Qian family's collateral branches naturally become bolder."

Shi Ming tapped the table: "Just to be on the safe side, let's act together tomorrow."

“Okay.” Nie Xushuang naturally wouldn’t object. “Should we tell Qian Kuo? Maybe someone else wants him dead.”

Chu Yeli sneered: "Don't worry, although the people around Qian Kuo are not good at exorcising demons, they are all experts above the Nascent Soul stage. Moreover, children from aristocratic families are not so naive. He became alert when he learned that even Nascent Soul stage people could not catch a few demon beasts. I believe it won't be long before he can find some clues."

Luo Zai Shui propped her head up with one hand: "Being controlled by the Wen family like this isn't a solution."

The words her master had left her faintly surfaced in her mind.

Everyone remained silent, but they could all read a mixture of excitement and worry in each other's eyes.

Luo Zai Shui felt they needed an opportunity to clarify things. Although they had always maintained a cooperative relationship on the surface, who could say for sure what would happen if something really happened?

Each has its own thoughts.

After all, with the precedents set by their senior brothers and sisters, there must be a compelling opportunity for them to cooperate in order to cross this chasm, but clearly, now is not the time.

Nie Xushuang rubbed her sore eyes: "In that case, let's get some rest early tonight and act together again tomorrow. Should we arrange for someone to keep watch tonight?"

Luo Zai Shui distributed a stack of talismans: "These are newly developed. As long as you stick these talismans on the door, even a Nascent Soul stage cultivator won't be able to push it open unless they break the door. By then, you should all be awake."

Chu Yeli carefully examined the stack of talisman papers: "They look good. It would be even better if you could fold an explosion talisman on top of them."

Sun Yuan looked at the two talisman cultivators with some fear: "Can this be changed so easily?"

"Give it a try, at most you'll get blown up twice." After saying that, he actually took out a pen and intended to make some modifications to Luo Zai Shui's original talisman paper.

Shi Ming snatched the pen from him: "If you want to try it, go back and try it. Don't blow this place up."

It seems that back then, it was because my junior sister and Ji Tinghan suddenly had the idea to modify the talisman paper, and then they blew up the entire mountain.

"Alright, alright, I'll go back and try." Chu Yeli snatched back her pen, got up, and went back to her room. "I'm exhausted, everyone, get some rest."

See you tomorrow.

"See you tomorrow."

After everyone had left, Shi Ming asked in a low voice, "Junior sister, would you like to eat something? You only ate the Bigu Pill today, which is not good for your health."

Luo Zai Shui didn't really have much of an appetite, but when Shi Ming said that, she suddenly felt a little hungry: "Let the waiter bring two servings of wontons. My senior brother and I will eat together. I wonder if Wu Si and the others want to eat something. They must be exhausted today too."

"Okay, I'll go ask them. You can sit here and rest for a while."

Shi Ming had just stepped onto the stairs.

A loud "bang" startled him, causing him to take a half step back and draw his sword in a defensive stance.

"Cough cough cough!" Chu Yeli, who pushed open the door, had a black face and black smoke rising from his hair.

Shi Ming frowned: "Chu Yeli, what are you doing!"

Chu Yeli exhaled a puff of black smoke and gave Luo Zaishui a thumbs up: "Your talisman is well drawn. I'll modify it a bit more, and it will definitely be more powerful than an explosive talisman."

"Young master, please compensate my shop for its losses..." The shop owner looked at the room, which was almost completely destroyed by the bomb, and his heart was bleeding.

"Get Qian Kuo to reimburse me." Chu Yeli waved his hand, then closed the door and continued his research.

Nie Xushuang came out after hearing the commotion: "What's going on?"

Luo Zai Shui rested her chin on her hand and pointed to Chu Ye Li's room with her other hand: "Looks like someone won't be getting any sleep tonight."

Nie Xushuang returned to her room angrily, hands on her hips, and said, "He really should take some time to get his head checked."

Finally, two steaming bowls of wontons appeared in front of Luo Zai Shui.

"Be careful, it's hot." Shi Ming pushed a bowl of wontons in front of her and handed her a spoon. "Mu Yi and the others are already asleep."

Luo Zai Shui took the spoon and smiled, "Looks like you're really tired. It's been a long time since we went down the mountain to hunt monsters."

She scooped up a wonton from the bowl and blew on it, the steam suddenly blurring her vision: "I still remember the first time we went down the mountain to exorcise demons, it was Senior Sister Ji who led us."

“I remember that too. It wasn’t about exorcising demons at all. It was more like Senior Sister Ji was taking us down the mountain to play.” Shi Ming couldn’t help but curl up the corner of his mouth. “Back then, Senior Sister Ji insisted on chasing a rabbit demon, saying she wanted to catch it and roast it to eat. In the end, she didn’t catch the rabbit demon and got covered in dust.”

Luo Zai Shui's thoughts drifted back to the past: "We couldn't outrun our senior sister, so we lost her. I remember I was so scared. My senior brother carried me back step by step. I was hungry, and my senior brother bought me wontons."

Shi Ming couldn't help but laugh out loud: "Then, the two of us ran back to Xianyun Peak. When our senior sister came back, she was scolded by our master. We were afraid of being scolded by our senior sister, so we hid in Uncle Ji's study. In the end, we fell asleep in Uncle Ji's study and were only dragged out by Uncle Ji at night."

"Later, every time my senior sister led us down the mountain, my senior uncles would nag her for a long time..."

Now they're the ones who lead their junior brothers and sisters down the mountain and get nagged for ages.

After eating a bowl of wontons, I felt warm all over.

I might have a good dream tonight.