It just so happened that Pei Rumo had returned and there was a tail behind him. It was none other than Ying Lan who had shamelessly asked to bring Pei Rumo around.

"There is no need to accompany me any longer..." Pei Rumo was about to enter Bai Luochu's room but he saw that Ying Lan was still following him. He didn’t want the stranger to get close to Bai Luochu.

Pei Rumo had been gathering medicinal ingredients throughout the day and Ying Lan had seen everything he bought. He knew that Bai Luochu had requested for them as Pei Rumo wasn’t someone who knew how to use these ingredients. He also knew that Bai Luochu was probably thinking of setting up a poison array around her room. After hearing that Pei Rumo was chasing him away, he simply turned and left after cupping his hands as a sign of farewell.

When Pei Rumo entered the room, Bai Luochu completed her cultivation session.

"I have brought back the things you wanted. What do I have to do next?" Pei Rumo saw that Bai Luochu wasn't busy and he placed the ingredients into the cupboard beside her bed.

Bai Luochu felt around for the medicinal herbs and took a whiff carefully. After making sure that there weren't any problems, she handed the medicinal ingredients to Pei Rumo and said, "As I speak, place the ingredients according to my instructions.”

When Pei Rmo completed the poison array, it was already late into the night. Bai Luochu wanted to chase him out but he asked out of curiosity, “What are you doing?"

Pei Rumo obviously didn't understand the reason behind Bai Luochu setting up a poison array around her room. In Pei Rumo's opinion, the only people who knew about the condition of her eyes were the people in the inn. Even if they took a step back and assumed that everyone else knew about her temporary blindness, they would be making a move on him, the Commander in Chief of the army.

Bai Luochu laughed and explained, "The poison array is for personal assurance. Since I am currently blind, more protection won’t hurt. I can’t possibly ask for help all the time.”

Pei Rumo laughed and said, "If you need anything, get someone to look for me. I will be returning to my room.”

There were differences between men and women. Even though Pei Rumo could use the excuse of taking care of Bai Luochu to stay in her room, others would gossip behind their back. He decided that it was better for them if he returned to his room.

Setting up the poison array for self-protection was just one of the reasons and it wasn't the most important one. Bai Luochu's true objective was to protect herself against Lu Wenshu. Based on Bai Luochu's understanding of Lu Wenshu, if he truly wanted to follow her, he would send someone to spy on her even if she didn’t want him to. She knew that he was already making his way to the inn.

Bai Luochu's conjecture was indeed correct. Just moments before, Lu Wenshu had already arrived in the inn.

...

After getting rejected by Bai Luochu, Lu Wenshu carried a stomach full of anger back to the sect's camp. He tried his best to play it off but realized that he couldn’t let go. He quickly grabbed a junior and ordered him to follow Bai Luochu and Pei Rumo. 

"Someone wants to enter the ruins and we cannot allow them to do as they please. Keep an eye on them. Take extra care and pay more attention to the white-clothed person.”

"Yes, this junior understands. Senior doesn't have to worry, this junior will head for the ruins immediately." After getting the acknowledgement, Lu Wenshu waved his hand to dismiss his junior.

Afterwards, Lu Wenshu finally calmed down and started to cultivate peacefully.

After the junior acknowledged his orders, he headed straight for the ruins. It was clear that his abilities were superior to that of his fellow disciple whom Lu Wenshu sent previously. He wasn’t discovered by either Pei Rumo or Bai Luochu along the way.

He looked highly upon Bai Luochu as Lu Wenshu specifically pointed her out. He knew that she wasn’t an easy target but the next scene shocked him senseless.

The person that his senior asked him to observe had been blinded by the poison mist. After tailing them for a short distance, he quickly returned to make a report to Lu Wenshu.

The instant he entered Lu Wenshu’s room, he noticed a pool of fresh blood at the corner of the bed. 

Senior’s life is more important than a stupid report! 

Moreover, fresh blood was still flowing from the corners of Lu Wenshu’s mouth. “Senior, what happened to you?!”

"It doesn't matter." Lu Wenshu waved his hand as an indication that he was fine. He then immediately asked, "Why are you back so quickly? Did something happen at the ruins?"

After hearing Lu Wenshu's question, his junior’s heart skipped a beat. He stammered, "Senior, the white-clothed lady possesses amazing skill. She was able to decipher many of the mechanisms in the ruins. However… she was..." 

"What happened to her?" Lu Wenshu's right eyelid was jolting and he felt that something was off.

"In the end, the white-clothed lady was blinded by the final mechanism's poison mist." The junior immediately took a step back after speaking. He had a feeling that his senior was extremely concerned for the white-clothed lady. If Lu Wenshu was enraged, he would be on the receiving end of Lu Wenshu’s anger.

Lu Wenshu revealed a worried face as he slowly closed his eyes. It seemed as though he had expected such an outcome.

Earlier on, when he was cultivating, he already felt ill at ease. Originally, he thought that he was merely angry because of Bai Luochu’s interaction with Pei Rumo, however, it seemed like he was wrong. He was feeling uneasy because something happened to Bai Luochu.

"No wonder..." Lu Wenshu muttered. 

No wonder I kept feeling that my qi was surging when I was cultivating. My qi nearly flowed in the opposite direction and I almost went berserk… Even though I suppressed it forcefully, it was still injured. Luckily for me, I only vomited a few mouthfuls of blood. 

"Did you continue to follow them?" Lu Wenshu asked.

The junior silently heaved a sigh of relief and thought he had some foresight as he had indeed followed them back to the inn. "Of course I did. After I tracked them back to an inn, this junior didn’t continue so as to avoid detection.”

"Which inn?"

"The one at the fork. The cleanest inn in the entire Desolate Region."