After calming down, Su Hua simply sat on the ground, leaning against the wall, closing her eyes as she quietly pondered, reorganizing her chaotic thoughts.
Yet no matter how much she thought about it, she couldn't figure out just what method that scoundrel had used to follow her in so silently and undetected.
And his Divine Sense—why couldn't she sense it at all?
And finally, how had he managed to seep out through the many restrictions she had laid down, again without a sound?
Too many, far too many questions left Su Hua baffled.
Such a bizarre occurrence was something she had never encountered before; it simply felt unbelievable.
There was one more thing that struck Su Hua as rather odd. She kept feeling that scoundrel's Divine Sense had a familiar quality to it, and his words and actions couldn't help but remind her of a certain person—especially that tone of speech; it was really quite similar to that person's.
That person was someone who had died completely three years ago.
As for why she had this feeling, Su Hua didn't know.
But one thing she was certain of: that person had died three years ago, died completely. She had witnessed it with her own eyes at the time—that person's physical body disintegrated and vanished, his soul scattered to ashes, everything turning to dust within the natural world.
A person whose very soul had turned to ashes could not possibly be alive, no matter what.
This was the law of life, the order of life and death.
No one could defy it.
Not demons, not ghosts, not even immortals or devils.
That person from three years ago might have been mysterious or perhaps bizarre, but no matter how mysterious or bizarre, he absolutely could not have defied the order and laws of life.
Su Hua couldn't understand, couldn't comprehend why that lecherous Divine Sense would make her think of that person from three years ago.
She pondered for a long time but still couldn't come up with an answer, feeling somewhat agitated and unsettled for a while. She tidied her appearance, changed into a fresh set of clothes, and only then left the stone chamber.
Outside the stone chamber was an azure sea beneath a clear sky, also high mountains and flowing waters, birdsong and the fragrance of flowers.
On the verdant grass, a woman sat cross-legged. She appeared tall and powerfully built, wearing white robes, her long hair tied in a ponytail. Her height reached a full three meters; even sitting cross-legged, she gave off a sense of oppressive presence like a small mountain, especially with her stern expression that inspired awe.
It was none other than Qian Shan, who had always followed by Su Hua's side.
Seeing Su Hua emerge from the stone chamber, Qian Shan opened her eyes and stood up. She had intended to say something but noticed Su Hua's complexion looked unusual. "Miss, you... what's wrong? Why do you look so pale? Did something happen?"
"No... nothing. I just had a minor mishap during cultivation earlier. It's fine now, no need to worry."
Being spied on twice, having her bottom pinched several times, being groped all over—such shameful matters Su Hua naturally would not tell anyone else, not even this person she trusted most, Qian Shan.
"A mishap during cultivation?"
Clearly, Qian Shan was somewhat skeptical. Having followed Su Hua for many years, she naturally understood her extremely well. In her mind, while ordinary people might frequently encounter cultivation mishaps, for such a thing to happen to Su Hua was rather unusual.
Su Hua didn't want to dwell on this topic too much and asked instead, "Where are Jin'er and Xiao Yi?"
"Listening to stories with Elder Qing."
Mentioning Jin'er and Xiao Yi, Qian Shan couldn't help but frown. "Jin'er keeps clamoring to go to the Great Northwest to find Gu Qingfeng, and Xiao Yi also keeps saying she wants to find her brother... The two of them have lost their appetite day after day, have no heart for play, let alone cultivation... Luckily, Elder Qing has been keeping them company telling stories lately, otherwise I really wouldn't know what to do... But..." Changing the subject, Qian Shan shook her head and sighed. "After listening to Elder Qing's stories for so long, the two girls are starting to get a bit impatient. I estimate they won't go to Elder Qing's place in the next couple of days. Miss, this can't go on; it will hinder their cultivation..."
"You're right..." Su Hua walked to the edge of the sea lake, slightly closed her eyes, and gently tapped her forehead with her fingers. Regarding the matter of the two girls, Xiao Jinr and Xiao Yier, she had a bigger headache than Qian Shan. After a moment of contemplation, she said, "Alright then, Qian Shan, you take them on a trip to the Great Northwest frontier. Since Xiao Yier says she has an older brother over there, it's possible. You take her to look for him first."
"Xiao Yier's spiritual sensitivity is unparalleled; her feeling is probably not wrong. But..." Qian Shan asked again, "What about Xiao Jinr? She firmly believes Gu Qingfeng isn't dead and is absolutely convinced that fellow is currently in the Great Northwest frontier. If I take her back there... what do we do then? Are we supposed to conjure up a big brother for her out of thin air?"
Both Su Hua and Qian Shan had thought that with the passage of time, Xiao Jinr would slowly forget Gu Qingfeng. What they hadn't expected was that three or four years had passed, and Xiao Jinr not only hadn't forgotten Gu Qingfeng, but missed him even more, clamoring all day long to return to the Great Northwest to find her big brother.
What made the two of them even more helpless and exasperated was that Xiao Jinr kept believing Gu Qingfeng was still alive. No matter how they tried to persuade her, Xiao Jinr simply wouldn't believe it, steadfastly convinced that her big brother wouldn't die, that no one could kill big brother.
"You don't need to conjure up a big brother for Xiao Jinr. Someone already has."
"Already has?" Qian Shan didn't understand. "What do you mean?"
"It's Yeye."
"Yeye? Ouyang Ye?"
Su Hua nodded. "A while ago, Yeye sent a letter saying that Han Dong, the heir apparent of Demon-Moon Palace, was in trouble. She found someone to impersonate Gu Qingfeng to help Han Dong temporarily overcome the crisis..." Su Hua roughly recounted the matters concerning Demon-Moon Palace mentioned in Yeye's letter.
Qian Shan listened, finding it both laughable and exasperable. She sighed, "Such a method, only Yeye could think of it. And you know what? The idea she came up with is really not bad. Gu Qingfeng is known as the successor of Monarch Chixiao. Even though no one knows if it's true or false, it's absolutely enough to make those elders of Demon-Moon Palace dare not act rashly. And being Han Dong's Dao companion... That way, the impersonator Gu Qingfeng has absolute justification to intervene in Demon-Moon Palace's affairs... No one else can say anything about it. That girl Yeye is truly exceptionally clever."
"Demon-Moon Palace's Palace Master Feng Zhuyue originally had that history with Monarch Chixiao. Now the impersonator Gu Qingfeng claims to be Monarch Chixiao's successor and is Han Dong's Dao companion... Only Yeye could come up with this..." Su Hua also agreed with a faint smile. "I've met Han Dong once. She's a good person, but her master has made her bear too much... which has made her temperament somewhat aloof and cold. She's quite pitiful... If you can help her when you reach the Great Northwest, do lend a hand."
Qian Shan nodded. "Miss, you... aren't you coming?"
"You go first. I'll follow later."
Su Hua took a deep breath. "Right now, I must go find out the whereabouts of a certain person. Once I locate him, I'll come over."
Hearing that Su Hua wanted to find someone's whereabouts, Qian Shan instinctively thought of Monarch Chixiao. Just as she was about to speak, Su Hua shook her head. "Don't worry. The one I want to find isn't Monarch Chixiao, but another person—a despicably sinister, utterly shameless scoundrel of a rogue!"