“Guan Du, do you smell anything on me?”
After returning from the Facing Light Pavilion with this new question in mind, Lu Mingyi was still dwelling on Jiang Liuzhao’s seemingly casual remarks.
The moment she entered the room, she spread her arms and spun once in front of Guan Du.
Guan Du looked puzzled. She set down the book in her hand and sniffed carefully. “A smell? No, I just catch a grassy scent…”
The Yaoguang Ravine was filled with lush greenery, and the air carried the fresh breath of plants.
Unless one used special incense or got very close, it was hard to detect any personal scent.
Lu Mingyi wasn’t surprised by Guan Du’s answer. They were both at Golden Core Great Perfection now, and since she hadn’t noticed any unique aura herself, Guan Du naturally wouldn’t either.
“What’s up? Why ask this all of a sudden?” Guan Du asked.
Lu Mingyi furrowed her brows and said vaguely, “Someone… mentioned it.”
This wasn’t entirely accurate. Jiang Liuzhao hadn’t said it to her directly—it had been in front of Shen Pianchen and Xia Huan.
But that fleeting gaze, and the final moment of eye contact, made Lu Mingyi certain she hadn’t misunderstood.
Lu Mingyi paced back and forth in the room, racking her brain for a long time but finding no leads.
After all, Jiang Liuzhao had only made that one vague, ambiguous comment. How was she supposed to know what exactly Jiang Liuzhao had noticed?
She wandered around for a bit with no clues, and Guan Du grew dizzy watching her pace. Propping her head up with one hand, Guan Du asked lazily, “Neither of us can smell anything. Did you pick up a faint scent at some point? Higher-realm cultivators can pick up on subtler differences in aura.”
Lu Mingyi knew this basic fact, of course. Jiang Liuzhao had undoubtedly caught a scent she herself couldn’t detect.
And in her view, whatever that aura was, it had to be something problematic for Jiang Liuzhao to pause like that.
But Guan Du’s mention of “higher-realm cultivators” reminded Lu Mingyi of the side hall in the Facing Light Pavilion. Besides Jiang Liuzhao, there had been two other Cavern Void Realm experts—Shen Pianchen and Xia Huan.
And what had Xia Huan said the moment she laid eyes on her?
—”Is the hospitality at Yaoguang Ravine lacking?”
At the time, she’d been puzzled. The usually aloof Xia Huan had actually asked something like that?
In a flash, Lu Mingyi finally realized what Jiang Liuzhao and Xia Huan had been referring to.
The most unusual thing for her today had been that sudden wave of drowsiness.
As unbelievable as it sounded, the most likely cause of her sleepiness was the faint trace of Soul-Pacifying Incense ash from Ji Yan’s Family that had rubbed off from the Paper Effigy.
But the contact had been extremely faint—after all, the Paper Effigy had been the one directly exposed to the incense, not her.
Lu Mingyi pondered. On the surface, she was a servant of the Guan Family, staying as a guest in the Yaoguang Ravine, yet carrying a trace of Soul-Pacifying Incense. Xia Huan might have thought Guan Du was using it and wondered if Guan Du was uncomfortable staying there?
And that final glance from Jiang Liuzhao, laced with hidden worry and warning, had been trying to alert her to…
A problem with the Soul-Pacifying Incense?
In truth, after that bizarre dream, Lu Mingyi had already suspected it wasn’t simple. But with one thing after another, she hadn’t had time to dwell on the dream or the incense.
From what she could see now, though, if there really was something wrong with the Soul-Pacifying Incense, she probably wouldn’t notice it herself.
—She hadn’t even noticed the scent clinging to her own body!
Lu Mingyi’s pacing quickened until she finally stopped in front of Guan Du, her brows furrowed tightly.
Guan Du had watched her circle for nearly fifteen minutes before she stopped. Unable to hold back, Guan Du coughed lightly and offered, “Ahem, stop pacing already. Whatever it is, I can go ask for you.”
“What?” Lu Mingyi looked surprised. “I didn’t say… No, I didn’t mean for you to go ask anyone else.”
“But you’ve been pacing back and forth, glancing at me several times. You’ve got something on your mind—do you want to tell me, or should I pass it on to someone I can reach?” Guan Du still propped her head up, asking casually.
Lu Mingyi was stumped by the question.
She had subconsciously looked toward Guan Du multiple times while mulling over Jiang Liuzhao’s words.
If she could, she would love to know what that look and hesitation from Jiang Liuzhao really meant.
But Lu Mingyi had no intention of telling Guan Du about it.
It had nothing to do with trust—it was just her personal feeling that there was no need to drag Guan Du into matters involving the Demon Sect and the Five-Colored Stone.
Even though Guan Du shared her hatred for evil and was eager to contribute to fighting the Demon Sect.
“No, this isn’t easy to talk about.” Lu Mingyi let out a breath.
She could do as she had the past couple of days—tell Guan Du first, then have her relay a message to Jiang Liuzhao.
But could she keep doing that?
“Alright, no big deal. Why don’t you sit and think it over?” Guan Du wasn’t surprised by the refusal. In just these few short days, she’d already grown used to it.
Lu Mingyi shared plenty of lighthearted little things with her and didn’t shy away from occasional memories of the past or key Demon Sect intel.
But overall, she preferred to keep things to herself.
Guan Du hadn’t interacted much with Lu Mingyi before, so she didn’t know her previous personality well, but those past events made her understand why her former junior sister acted this way now.
She watched as Lu Mingyi stood there, brows tightly knit. After a long moment, she seemed to make up her mind. Her expression smoothed out, and she said to Guan Du, “I’ve pretty much figured it out. I’m heading out for a bit.”
“Sure. Just let me know if you need anything.” Guan Du nodded.
After Lu Mingyi left, she let out a breath of her own.
Though Lu Mingyi said she didn’t need her to ask around, Guan Du could guess that whatever had her so conflicted probably involved Jiang Liuzhao.
Jiang Liuzhao had originally asked her to escort Lu Mingyi for a stretch, and though that “stretch” had grown longer, her master clearly had no objections.
Maybe I should go ask Master myself? But Lu Mingyi definitely wouldn’t want that.
While Guan Du pondered whether to seek out Jiang Liuzhao, Lu Mingyi was already striding purposefully toward a specific direction.
The Yaoguang Ravine covered a vast area, with dedicated guest residences—and some reserved for particular guests.
As a fellow sect member with the Shen Family Head and Madam Xia, and the renowned Long Rainbow Sword Venerable, she naturally enjoyed such “privileges.”
In her previous life, over a hundred years, Jiang Liuzhao had occasionally visited Lin’an. With the Demon Sect constantly stirring trouble, the righteous factions often collaborated, and during major discussions, Jiang Liuzhao stayed in the Tianshu Pavilion of the Yaoguang Ravine.
The Tianshu Pavilion wasn’t far from Shen Pianchen’s Facing Light Pavilion, both in the central rear of the Yaoguang Ravine amid a lush bamboo grove.
When Lu Mingyi arrived, her expression was neutral. She spoke to the Shen Family servant guarding the entrance, asking him to announce that she had urgent business with the Long Rainbow Sword Venerable.
The servant saw nothing suspicious. He went in briefly and soon returned, gesturing for her to enter.
The Tianshu Pavilion was built to host esteemed guests. Though sparsely decorated, its architecture was exquisitely refined.
Lu Mingyi had been here before and knew the way. As she stepped into the main hall, she found it unchanged from the past.
To the left of the hall was an open platform facing the expansive bamboo grove outside. In the few times Lu Mingyi had come to the Tianshu Pavilion to see Jiang Liuzhao, her former master had usually sat at the tea table there, sipping tea and admiring the view.
Reborn after a hundred years, that habit apparently remained.
But this time, besides Jiang Liuzhao at the tea table, someone familiar sat opposite her.
Xiao Yuxie.
Seeing the master-disciple pair seated across from each other over tea, Lu Mingyi thought: Their relationship really has grown close—whether scheming to draw out Ji Xuyun at the Peach Blossom Source, or now in Lin’an.
Xiao Yuxie faced the hall’s entrance. When she spotted the tall figure entering, her teacup paused mid-air.
A flash of clear surprise and disbelief crossed her serene eyes.
Lu Mingyi watched as Xiao Yuxie’s pale red lips trembled, but she said nothing, only staring at her with deep, complex eyes.
Noticing Xiao Yuxie’s reaction, Jiang Liuzhao—whose back had been to Lu Mingyi—turned around.
Even though the servant had announced a visitor, they clearly hadn’t expected it to be Lu Mingyi.
Jiang Liuzhao gazed at her steadily. The once-serene atmosphere in the Tianshu Pavilion’s main hall grew thick and stagnant.
Seeing the pair’s unexpected reactions, Lu Mingyi let out a soft scoff. “Sorry for barging in. Long Rainbow Sword Venerable, I have urgent matters to discuss. And I hope… Sword Venerable can clear up my confusion.”
She said the last words very softly.
