Shu Ying spoke up at this moment, “Let’s go.”
Her voice was calm, but left no room for doubt.
Lin Nan followed behind Shu Ying, her footsteps stretched by the wind, but her heart remained full of questions. The parrot’s strange, drawn-out “My King” sounded like a thin thread, tightly entwined around her chest.
She followed, walking into a quiet, seldom-visited spot. Here, iron cages were sparse, vines hung down from their tops, shading half the sky, and fresh and old claw marks were imprinted in the soil.
Shu Ying stopped in a clearing.
The parrot was placed on a nearby wooden rack. Though kept inside a cage, its gaze was still sharp—only Lin Nan looked like an enemy to it.
“Do you know why that bird called out ‘My King’?” Shu Ying asked.
Her tone was steady, lacking any sharpness of blame, but each word felt like a heavy weight pressing down on Lin Nan’s heart.
Lin Nan thought for a moment, feeling the question was far more complicated than it sounded on the surface.
At Luo Changfeng’s inspection of the Jade Plate, the red light gathering at its base had formed a wolf’s head shadow. The bloodstains mixed with Bone-Corrosion Grass Powder these details were not innocent coincidences.
But to be honest, Lin Nan really did not know.
She had guessed before: maybe, for some reason, this parrot could sense that it once truly had a king.
That unfortunate Demon King, whose head was easily taken amidst thousands of troops by the Female General of the old Dynasty.
Shu Ying was unaware of these past events.
So she answered, “Maybe it’s imitation, or maybe it’s coincidence.”
“Don’t fool me with vague words.”
Shu Ying stepped closer, her cold eyes locked on Lin Nan. “That kind of call isn’t learned from an ordinary spirit bird. To master that accent, one must be soaked in a certain inherent Qi for a long time during a specific ritual or sacrifice. Simply put, that sound isn’t a parrot mimicking it’s a resonance of Demon Qi.”
Lin Nan’s hand tightened slightly, as if clutching a lump of ice in her palm.
She swallowed and asked, “If that’s the case, then who’s doing this? Is it a person, or some ancient method?”
Shu Ying didn’t answer immediately. Instead, she lifted her eyes toward the southeastern mountain ridge, where dusk stretched the shadows into dark jagged shapes.
“Some people crave to change their fate overnight. They will touch what was sealed long ago, or trade human lives for fortune. As for who it is, I need evidence.”
Her tone was calm, but she threw the word “evidence” back at Lin Nan like a task.
Lin Nan steadied herself. She wanted to tell her everything she’d pieced together, but at the thought of the subtle control Shu Ying showed when mentioning “evidence,” she unconsciously held back.
She tentatively asked, “Have you ever seen something like this in the southeast?”
Shu Ying nodded.
“Yes. It was once recorded as a forbidden ritual residue long ago, with occasional fragments secretly exploited.”
A trace of old pain flickered in her voice before being smoothed over with calm. “But I won’t drag you into danger on mere speculation before laying out all the clues clearly.”
If it had been a thousand years ago, she wouldn’t have acted this way.
She would have simply gathered intelligence from the southeast, handed Lin Nan a decree, and then waited for the outcome.
Success brings rewards, failure brings punishment.
Impartial and just—the epitome of a wise ruler.
But alas, a wise ruler is for the world. To the one she betrayed, such a ruler is a foolish king.
So now she doesn’t care for the world. She only wants to be a wise ruler for one person.
That’s enough.
“What about the fragment?”
Lin Nan pulled her attention back to the present, her fingertips unconsciously stroking the edge of her outer robe as she pondered. “When Luo Changfeng got the Jade Plate, the bloodstain and Bone-Corrosion Grass Powder mixed together. That means the ritual used some kind of herb and beast’s blood. If we piece it all together, maybe we can try searching for other altars.”
Shu Ying was silent for a few breaths, then finally said, “I handed the fragment to Xuan Chenzi. The rest is for him and the other Peak Masters to handle. After this, you don’t need to be involved. Also, remember, don’t casually share these clues with outsiders.”
“By outsiders, I mean outside of Thoughtful Cliff.”
Thoughtful Cliff—only the two of them, their relationship reversed, were here.
Lin Nan nodded, but an inexplicable feeling stirred in her heart.
She shifted her perspective and suddenly asked, “Are you worried about me, or scolding me?”
Shu Ying looked away, her eyes dimming slightly in the fading light. “You figure it out yourself.”
Her tone held both a reserved warmth and an unyielding firmness.
As expected, Shu Ying was still the same person.
You figure it out yourself.
The heart of an emperor is hard to read, even if that person is no longer emperor.
“The follow-up matters will be handled by our Elders. You just need to focus on your own work.”
Lin Nan took a deep breath, forcing her emotions back into rationality.
She nodded in agreement, but deep down she stored that feeling of being both protected and distanced.
Shu Ying glanced at her, seemingly catching that subtle, indescribable something in Lin Nan’s eyes, and a faint smile curled at the corner of her mouth.
“First, finish your current tasks. Now go to the Martial Hall; someone will hand you your rewards and registration. Also, remember not to speak your unnecessary guesses to outsiders.”
Shu Ying spoke as she walked, her tone returning to that unshakable calm.
That was more like it.
This was the Shu Ying she knew.
On the way down the mountain, Lin Nan ran into the little girl who had been waiting for her on the stone steps.
Shen Yuer waved her hand, her radiant smile pouring warmth into Lin Nan’s heart, sweeping away her lingering discomfort.
“How was it, Little Lin? What did Elder Xunlin want to talk to you about?”
Lin Nan smiled, the phrase Shu Ying had just said, “You figure it out yourself” flashing through her mind.
She looked at Shen Yuer’s big blinking eyes, a playful thought rising inside her, so she copied the girl’s tone, “You guess?”
The little girl wasn’t the type to guess back and forth.
She grabbed Lin Nan’s arm, shaking it gently while cooing, “Come on, Little Lin, just tell me~”
Feeling the softness at her arm, Lin Nan’s heart fluttered. She hurriedly pulled Shen Yuer’s hand away and whispered a warning, “If you have something to say, just say it. No touching.”
The girl raised her innocent face and said, “But I don’t want to say anything. I just want to touch.”
“You…!”
Shen Yuer’s agility was now thoroughly honed.
Before Lin Nan’s scolding could fall, the girl had already taken a step away, hopping like a little rabbit.
Against the light, her orange-yellow dress fluttered in the breeze as she tilted her waist, her small hands clasped behind her back.
Such a sweet posture, but with a mischievous grin on her face.
Lin Nan stopped walking, her heart warm. She murmured softly, “Why is this kid so adorable?”
When the two women arrived at the Martial Hall’s entrance, many disciples were already registering their mission achievements.
A steward recognized Lin Nan and waved at her. “We’ve been waiting for you for a long time. What did you manage to pull off this time to cause such a commotion? The Sect Leader has decided on your rewards, and a list will be distributed soon.”
He didn’t notice Lin Nan’s subtle change in expression and hurried back and forth.
Meanwhile, Shen Yuer kept chatting, asking if Huo Yuanyao had come to hand over her mission.
The coming days would be busy: handing over, registering, and possible follow-up investigations.
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