And the surface of the finger had some lines as well, but they were even finer.

As such, it didn't make any noise when the finger caressed the Green Sky Mirror.

It was quiet in the study room, just like it had been most of time in the past twenty some

years.

Time pa.s.sed by slowly. Jing Jiu said nothing while gazing at the tea water in the teacup;

it was unclear what kind of amazing secret he was trying to unravel.

Liu s.h.i.+sui grew more anxious. He felt a bit thirsty, and picked up the teacup reflexively

and drank the remaining cold tea in the cup with one gulp. Then he found that he had

done something inappropriate.

He turned around stealthily while holding the teacup, and walked to the stove in silence,

starting to boil the teapot.

Jing Jiu's line of sight hadn't changed when Liu s.h.i.+sui was doing all this, which meant

that his attention was not on the tea in the cup.

The water in the teapot began to boil, giving off a bubbling noise.

Liu s.h.i.+sui set the teacup in front of Jing Jiu. Then he stepped aside, not daring to

disturb him.

The fresh tea leaves were extending slowly in the teacup; but the expression on Jing

Jiu's face had no sign of letting up.

The recordings in the daily logs seemed to have no connections, and yet those common

words seemed to have a certain hidden a.s.sociation.

Those a.s.sociations, like the bubbles in the tea water, would emerge unexpectedly and

then disappear suddenly for some unknown reason; it was difficult to fathom.

…

…

The devil blood was as black as ink.

The inky python.

The python bone.

The skull could be placed in the wine.

A hint of sword light appeared in the deep end of Jing Jiu's eyes, appearing extremely

bright and sharp.

After being wounded by the G.o.dly Swordsman of West Ocean, he and Guo Dong

traveled in Chaotian for three years, and spent more than ten springs, summers,

autumns and winters together. They had seen many things together, and also talked a

great deal.

Guo Dong knew more than anybody else that Jing Jiu didn't like listening to her

principles and morals. As such, during their conversations, she didn't talk about her

ambitious goals and grand plans, nor did she talk about her worries about the whole

Cultivation world and the human race. The majority of their conversations focused on

the daily and trivial matters.

The trivial matters in life were those about the family members. The only family member

Guo Dong had in this world was her nephew, He Zhan.

Jing Jiu figured out who He Zhan's mother was pretty easily.

There were three figures of high generation in the Water-Moon Nunnery.

They were Guo Dong, the Chief Nun, and the Great Grandmaster. Though the t.i.tle of

the Great Grandmaster sounded quite old and experienced, she was in fact the

youngest among the three.

That small green curtain sedan could fly by itself, and it brought Jing Jiu from the Fruit

Formation Temple to the Water-Moon Nunnery.

Many people had heard the Great Grandmaster talk in the sedan, but n.o.body had

pulled open the curtain and seen her talk in person.

The magic treasure of sound could send the voice to the sedan from a faraway place;

and it was most likely that the Chief Nun was the one sitting in the sedan.

He Zhan was famous for his good luck in the Cultivation circle. A free-traveling

pract.i.tioner without any background who could encounter magic treasures one after

another; He Zhan's life was arranged even more evidently than w.a.n.g Xiaoming's.

Judging from the information, He Zhan's good luck was not totally due to Guo Dong's

help.

Guo Dong had stayed in the coc.o.o.n of the natural silk for a long time; how could she

arrange everything so well when she was absent?

But, all this was merely speculation without any evidence; it was meaningless. Even if it

were true, no complete story could be built based on the limited information.

Yet, Jing Jiu didn't care; he let his mind wander about.

Time pa.s.sed; the hot tea in the cup grew cold again, and Liu s.h.i.+sui replaced it with the

hot one.

The steam drifted upward from the teacup, gathering and scattering intermittently on the

surface of the Green Sky Mirror, making the borderline between the real and illusory

worlds even more blurry.

Jing Jiu's gaze left the teacup and followed the steam to fix on the surface of the Green

Sky Mirror.

In that world, he saw a river, a roofed boat, a stone bridge, a nunnery, and an infant.

In the distant field, a scholar was walking away; but he would stop short once in a while

and turned his head around.

Jing Jiu had finally figured out the general plot of the story, but he didn't have adequate

evidence yet.

If he investigated further, he should be able to find out the truth, though he wouldn't

spend time doing so.

All he needed was the story, not the evidence; it was because he had no need to

persuade the character in the story instead of himself.

…

…

Jing Jiu felt tired. He picked up the teacup and took a sip. He found the tea was a bit

cold.

No matter how diligent Liu s.h.i.+sui was, he couldn't make sure that the tea in the cup was

always hot; it had nothing to do with whether he tried his hardest or not.

Jing Jiu raised his head to look at the outside of the window, and found it was dark

already. Then he realized that he had thought about the matter a long time.

"Young Master!" Liu s.h.i.+sui cried nervously.

Jing Jiu said, "We're finished here. You can go back now."

Liu s.h.i.+sui wondered why Jing Jiu couldn't share the secret with him.

Jing Jiu was not used to sharing the secrets with Liu s.h.i.+sui, since he was unlike Zhao

Layue, who could keep the secrets. "Are you going to represent the One-Cottage House

to partic.i.p.ate in the Plum Meeting?" he asked.

Liu s.h.i.+sui replied embarra.s.singly, "I have never partic.i.p.ated in it before; so I'm curious."

"The Cultivation tournament?" Jing Jiu pressed.

Liu s.h.i.+sui felt even more embarra.s.sed, as he said, "I have no training in zither, chess,

calligraphy or painting; all I know is fighting."

Even though Liu s.h.i.+sui represented the One-Cottage House in the meeting, he was

nevertheless a Green Mountain disciple. It was understandable that he didn't know

anything about zither, chess, calligraphy or painting. He knew only the Cultivation.

Jing Jiu was fully aware of this, saying, "Xi Yiyun is quite outstanding. You should learn

more from him later."

Liu s.h.i.+sui didn't expect his Young Master to have such a high evaluation of Xi Yiyun,

feeling startled.

Jing Jiu explained, "The scholars of the One-Cottage House are different from those

poor and arrogant scholars in the mortal world; they are the true scholars."

Similarly, the monks at the Fruit Formation Temple were different from those fake

monks in the mortal world who were only interested in soliciting money from others;

otherwise, Jing Jiu wouldn't have sent Liu s.h.i.+sui to these two places to study.

Liu s.h.i.+sui asked, "Young Master, what else do you need me to do?"

Looking at the dark sky through the window, Jing Jiu knew that Gu Qing, Zhuo Rusui

and Jing Shang were discussing that matter in the Manor of State Duke Lu. He said

after a pause, "Bring a message to Bu Qiuxiao for me. I'd like to meet him."

Liu s.h.i.+sui was somewhat astounded, asking, "When?"

Thinking of the date of the marriage proposal, Jing Jiu replied, "He must come here

within eight days."

If it were another person who had heard Jing Jiu's request, they would be stunned

speechless. Even if he was the personal disciple of the Immortal Jing Yang and an elder

on Shenmo Peak, he was still not qualified to request the House Master of One-Cottage

to come to this place to meet him.

Yet, Liu s.h.i.+sui wouldn't think this way; so he accepted the task.

…

…

Eight days had pa.s.sed.

No colorful lanterns and streamers were hung in the Manor of Prime Minister, but the

ground in the courtyard was swept clean. And no dust could be spotted on the trees as

well as on the ground, as if the family was prepared to receive the royal decree.

Today was the date when the people from the Manor of State Duke Shan came to

propose marriage. All the arrangements necessary before the marriage proposal had

been completed, and the seventh mistress, Qin s.h.i.+, had been brought back from the

Net-Perception Temple the day before. It seemed that everything had been prepared

and decided; all the members of the manor were in a cheerful mood.

It was indeed a cheerful thing to marry off the seventh mistress, who had always been

obnoxious and unwilling to get married. Most importantly, Prime Minister Qin had

already made the decision, so the people in the manor had no longer to worry about the

pressures from various groups.

The wife of the youngest son of State Duke Lu had come back to her family home

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awhile ago. Seeing the cheerful expressions on her sister-in-laws' and brother-in-laws'

faces, she felt rather uneasy.

State Duke Lu was on the side of Prince Jing Yao; Prime Minister hailed from the One-

Cottage House, and most of her relatives had a background in the Center Sect. As

such, she felt troubled being in the middle.

And Little Seventh was not willing to marry the son of State Duke Shan; but why were

her relatives so happy?

Thinking of all this, she came to Qin s.h.i.+'s room, and found in surprise that her face was

devoid of any trace of tear and that a hint of happiness showed in the deep end of her

eyes.

The seventh mistress stopped making a fuss. The wives and servant woman and girls

all felt relieved. But she felt something was out of place though. After exchanging some

pleasantries with Qin s.h.i.+, she slid out of the back garden and found Lu Ming. She

described to her husband what she had seen and Qin s.h.i.+'s condition. "Would

something go wrong today?" she asked worriedly.

Lu Ming said to her with a faint smile, "Don't worry. Even if something goes wrong

today, it will be a happy thing."

Hearing this, it made his wife feel even odder instead of inspiring relief.

Lu Ming let out an uneasy smile, as he said, "It will start soon. I have to go to the front

hall to have a good look."

Having said that, he left in a hurry and headed to the front hall, musing that it would be a

pity to miss such an interesting scene.

The hall was crowded with the guests; Prime Minister Qin and State Duke Shan stood

on the platform side by side, both of whom wore a contented smile.

Looking at the good-looking son of State Duke Shan standing behind his father, Lu Ming

thought that his looks were not inferior to Jing Li's; so he feared that it would be a tough

fight today.

According to the common ritual, the both sides of the marriage would greet each other

first. The guests observed the arena with faint smiles, waiting for the ritual to finish so

that they could approach and congratulate them for the successful proposal of the

marriage.

It was then that a barrage of noises suddenly occurred outside the Manor of Prime

Minister.

The guests were startled. They turned to the outside of the manor, wondering who

those trouble makers were and why they dared cause a ruckus right in front of the gate

of the Prime Minister Manor.

The caretakers and guards of the Prime Minister Manor retreated to the front yard with

scared expressions on their faces; they had no gall to stop those coming in.

A group of people charged into the manor.

State Duke Lu was in the front of the group.

Who dared to whale on him?!

…

…/