In order to mitigate the embarra.s.sment she felt earlier, Xiao He asked more questions regarding the topic Gu Qing had started .

Why would Zhao Layue place such an emphasis on this restaurant?

"All I know is that this is the place where Senior Master Zhao had killed somebody the first time; the other reasons are simply beyond me . "

Gu Qing continued, "She killed a disciple of the Underworld at that time . "

Xiao He's face had suddenly turned pale .

Gu Qing shook his head, as he said, "You shouldn't think of things that aren't real; we have absolutely no intention of killing you . "

But Xiao He still couldn't feel relaxed, so she remarked while staring into Gu Qing's eyes, "I'm a trouble for Liu s.h.i.+sui, no matter how you look at it . "

If the matter of Zuo Yi of Bihu Peak were settled, the future for Liu s.h.i.+sui on Green Mountain would be quite bright .

Yet, if he had a vixen who had committed many evil deeds at his side all the time, his reputation would suffer .

And judging by Liu s.h.i.+sui's usual demeanor, this matter wouldn't be resolved so easily, unless the vixen disappeared permanently .

That was why Xiao He would show a strong reaction of caution and uneasiness when she heard that this restaurant was the place where Zhao Layue had killed someone the first time .

"Since Liu s.h.i.+sui doesn't consider you trouble, and you are not troublesome to him; likewise, Liu s.h.i.+sui is not trouble for our Shenmo Peak . "

Gu Qing said with a small smile, "However, it looks like our Shenmo Peak will be trouble for Green Mountain . "

It was because some people on Green Mountain consider Shenmo Peak trouble .

In Xiao He's eyes, Gu Qing's smile wasn't so disgusting anymore; it was lovelier, full of self-a.s.surance .

Nine days

later, the sun set down as usual .

The sun on Shangde Peak seemed to go down more urgently than on other peaks . The temperature on the mountain dropped rapidly as the night had just fallen, and the icy frost had gradually formed on the pine trees on the cliffs .

Yuan Qü hadn't been to this place in a few years, so he wasn't accustomed to walking on the mountain path covered by the ice and snow anymore . Yet, he still could remember the paths he had walked on before, and it didn't take long for him to find the residence of the disciples on Shangde Peak . He called out to Young Sister Yushan without alerting anybody else .

Young Sister Yushan dusted off the ice and snow on his clothes with a heavy heart . All of a sudden, she thought of something, pulling him hastily toward a remote place behind the cliff . "What are you thinking sneaking in here? It's absolutely impossible to rescue him," she declared with a nervous expression .

Yuan Qü thought the anxious look on her face was rather cute, so he teased her, "Why not? I have you to lead the way . "

Young Sister Yushan was quite upset and glared at him, saying, "What are you thinking? There is only one gloomy and horrifying pa.s.sage leading to the Sword Jail, and I can't even get close to the forbidden manor cave; how could I take you there…No! No! Even if I could do it, I wouldn't, because that is none other than the Sword Jail!"

Yuan Qü mused that it was only a well and her description was a bit too exaggerated . But he felt somewhat surprised that Young Sister Yushan knew about the forbidden manor cave and the well . Usually, the regular disciples of Shangde Peak had no way of knowing all of this, not to mention that she had come to Shangde Peak for merely a little more than ten years ago .

For various reasons, fewer and fewer disciples were willing to inherit the sword of Shangde Peak, especially the female disciples .

Young Sister Yushan had been the only female disciple taken by Shangde Peak in the last twenty or thirty years; so it was natural that she was favored by the masters here .

Yuan Qü didn't think of these facts, and yet somehow felt a tinge of jealousy after he found Young Sister Yushan enjoyed being on Shangde Peak . Still, he felt happy for her .

Young Sister Yushan didn't notice his changed expression, asking nervously, "What are you doing here? Seriously . "

"I don't know either," Yuan Qü said blankly . "Senior Master Jing asked me to come here to visit you, so I'm here . "

Young Sister Yushan was baffled, asking, "What is Senior Master Jing Jiu's intention?"

Yuan Qü said, "Don't need to think too much about it . The masters do the thinking; all we need to do is listen to them and carry out the tasks required of us . "

Young Sister Yushan thought

thought what he said was sensible; but Big Brother, it's inappropriate for you to enter my manor cave to drink tea, so what should we do next in such a cold night?

Yuan Qü led her to the other side of the cliff . They arrived at a black rock protruding from the acc.u.mulated snow after they had pa.s.sed through a patch of small forest .

The black rock faced the starry night sky, with a cl.u.s.ter of cold-resistant wild flowers growing underneath it .

As Young Sister Yushan was wondering how her Big Brother was so familiar with the paths on Shangde Peak, she suddenly saw a beautiful scene, which made her forget all her suspicions .

She thought it was a great place to talk: in front of the flowers and under the moon .

Though Yuan Qü was quite familiar with Shangde Peak, someone else was actually even more familiar with it .

Jing Jiu had lived here for a very long time; in fact, he had lived here longer than he had on Shenmo Peak .

Back when his Master and Grandmaster were alive, they were busy preparing for their ascension, staying behind closed doors all year long . His Big Brother was the peak master of Shangde at the time, so he had to cultivate on Shangde Peak as well .

He was still quite young at the time, and was interested in a lot of things, just like Liu Ada . His Cultivation states had progressed a bit too fast sometimes, so at certain stages, when his Cultivation required time for absorption, he had a lot of leisure time at his disposal, so he often walked about on Shangde Peak and checked out all the sceneries here . This is how he discovered many well-hidden pa.s.sages .

Even his Big Brother and Yuan Qijing didn't know about those secret pa.s.sages as much as he did .

Yet, he still didn't like this place . It was because it was too cold here, full of ice and frost inside and outside, plus a bit of dampness .

This feeling of cold both inside and outside was mostly due to the existence of the Sword Jail here .

He was fairly familiar with the Sword Jail as well .

Yet, he didn't intend to deceive all the people about rescuing Liu s.h.i.+sui from the Sword Jail .

It was because somebody couldn't be deceived .

Even if he could conceal it from the heaven and earth, he still couldn't conceal it from that being .

No matter which pa.s.sage he chose to enter the Sword Jail, he would be discovered by that being, and he would also be discovered when he was to leave the jail .

So Jing Jiu had been wondering what that being had done, as his Big Brother escaped from the Sword Jail seventeen years ago .

A band of starlight streamed down from somewhere high above in the sky .

Looking down from a high elevation, the wellhead appeared like a speck .

Yet, the bottom of the well was a large cave, dry but a bit chilly .

As the starlight shone down, it projected a column of light onto a huge black dog that looked like a small mountain .

He was the Princ.i.p.al Guard of the Green Mountain: Dead Dog .

Jing Jiu landed on the bottom of the well along with the starlight .

He didn't come down from the wellhead; instead, he came down from a secret pa.s.sage in the cliff wall .

He drifted down to the ground, his clothes fluttering like a lotus leaf, not making even a single sound .

He was at the moment devoid of breath, heartbeat, or bodily energy, and his existence couldn't even be sensed; he had become like a lifeless stone .

He was certain that even a Cultivation pract.i.tioner of the Broken Sea State couldn't discover him as long as his eyes were closed .

But he knew Dead Dog had already discovered him .

Dead Dog had seen too many dead people .

Even a genuine, dry corpse couldn't evade his perception .

Dead Dog opened his eyes and stared back at Jing Jiu in silence .

The starlight shone on them .

Dead Dog's eyes were calm, devoid of any emotion, like a serene old well .

Jing Jiu was the only one who could see a hint of profound affection in the depth of the dog's eyes .

That hint of affection was not targeted at him specifically, since it was there all the time .

Jing Jiu said, "Thanks for your hard work over the years . "

The expression in Dead Dog's eyes was dispa.s.sionate .

"I thought you would like that child and want to teach him something . "

Jing Jiu continued, "It was probably my misconception . No matter how similar they are, he is not Big Brother . "

Dead Dog turned his head and looked at that gloomy pa.s.sage, indicating his agreement and… reminiscence .

"No two leaves are totally the same, nor are two people . "

After a silent pause, Jing Jiu continued, "What my Big Brother said is right: We can't step into the same river twice . "

Dead Dog glanced at Jing Jiu sympathetically .

He knew that Jing Jiu must have something to ask him if he was taking such a risk being discovered coming down here to see him, that in addition taking away that disciple .

"Did you let my Big Brother go?" asked Jing Jiu .

Dead Dog looked at him soundlessly and answered him by the spiritual awareness .

"No . "

"But you didn't stop him when he was leaving here . "

"Neither did I stop you when you locked him up here . "