Appears

"Chu Liang, something's happened..." The one who burst in was none other than Lin Bei.

He rushed in in a panic, and upon seeing the situation in the room, he couldn't help but be momentarily stunned. "Instructor Song is here too? Wow, quite lively."

Those standing and those lying down were enough to make up a mahjong table.

"Why are you here? Where's Li Jue?" Chu Liang asked.

"Li Jue is gone!" Lin Bei said urgently.

"Huh?"

"I was watching from the outer room, and there was no sound from inside for a long time. I found it strange, so I knocked on the door and saw the window was open. Li Jue had run off somewhere!" Lin Bei said. "I hurried over to find you."

"You didn't hear any unusual movement?" Chu Liang asked.

"No." Lin Bei shook his head. "There were absolutely no abnormal auras or sounds. I suspect he might have snuck out on his own, but I don't know why he would do that."

"Maybe he's hiding something from us, or Li Jue could also be Situ Yan's target..." Chu Liang's mind raced, his brow furrowed as he pondered, "He's gone somewhere unknown, what should we do?"

"I... I can try." Song Qingyi suddenly said.

"You have a way to find Li Jue?" Both Lin Bei and Chu Liang looked at her.

"Yes." Song Qingyi nodded gently, then raised her hand and took out a half-page of old golden paper. It was blank, but spiritual energy flowed through it.

She used her right hand with fingers together like a brush, lightly tracing on the half-page. Immediately, a cinnabar-red glow lit up, forming characters as her fingertip moved.

Li... Jue...

After writing the name, Song Qingyi tossed the half-page paper into the air. It spun three times in the air, then indeed seemed to find a direction, casting down a clear light that flew out through the window.

"Follow it." Song Qingyi said, chasing after the guidance of the clear light and flying out the window with the half-page paper.

"Someone needs to stay and watch him." Chu Liang pointed at Yan Xiaohu.

"I'll do it." This time, Lin Bei volunteered to stay behind.

Chu Liang nodded and flew out, following Song Qingyi.

Only Yan Xiaohu and Lin Bei were left, looking at each other.

After a moment of silence, Yan Xiaohu cautiously asked, "Then... what should we do now?"

Lin Bei thought for a moment and said, "Let's order some food first."

"Ah?" Yan Xiaohu was confused.

He saw Lin Bei sit down casually in a chair. "Then wake them up, and we'll continue the music and dancing!"

"Is that okay?" Yan Xiaohu scratched his head. "Haven't I not been out of danger yet?"

"With me watching you, don't worry." Lin Bei patted his shoulder. "Although the last person I watched just had something happen... but that was purely an accident, wasn't it? I hope I can succeed this time..."

Let's split the story.

Chu Liang followed Song Qingyi and the half-page golden paper, riding the wind out of the city. Along the way, he praised, "Instructor Song, this magical artifact of yours is so convenient. As long as you know the name, isn't there no one in the world you can't find?"

"Not necessarily. My cultivation is insufficient, so I can only track within the range of Yanjiao City and its surroundings," Song Qingyi said.

"That's still very impressive," Chu Liang said.

Song Qingyi continued, "This Half-Page Golden Book is a protective treasure my master gave me when I went out on this trip. It has many wonderful uses, but I haven't fully mastered it yet."

Chu Liang was silent for a moment.

Her master is so good. Huh, why am I sad?

However, he also knew that this wasn't just Di Nufeng's problem. In Mount Shu, unless a disciple was exceptionally outstanding or had made a great contribution, being rewarded with a magical artifact by their master was a very rare occurrence. Even outside the impoverished Silver Sword Peak, it was still the same.

But in other immortal sects, it was a very common thing.

Ultimately, it came down to the difference in the sects' philosophies.

Especially among the Three Religions, Confucian cultivators were slightly different from the other two. In addition to cultivating divine abilities, Confucianism placed more importance on learning and virtue, and this was particularly true in Gentleman Hall.

With Song Qingyi's cultivation, she probably wouldn't receive such attention in other immortal sects. But in Gentleman Hall, she could potentially gain the regard of her master and elders based on her excellence in learning and virtue.

The Half-Page Golden Book didn't fly very fast. After a while, it finally arrived at a familiar place.

The Academy's Back Mountain, by the small lake.

"Li Jue is here."

"Don't rush yet, let's observe first."

After confirming the location from a distance, Song Qingyi put away the magical artifact, and the night sky returned to silence. The two slowly moved forward, and soon, they saw a slender figure by the lake.

"Why..."

That figure was muttering something towards the lake. The voice, form, and appearance were indeed Li Jue.

"Why did you kill so many people..." Li Jue's voice was filled with pain.

"I was the one who harmed you. Wouldn't it have been better if you just came to kill me? Why do you keep killing people..."

"Hmm?" Chu Liang's eyes lit up as he observed from the shadows.

As expected.

Li Jue had been hiding something.

"That day, you tied me up and wanted to scratch my face. I was so scared, I struggled violently... and accidentally pushed you into the lake. At that time, I was truly shocked and terrified, I couldn't think of anything else, and I fled all the way back home."

"It was a long time before I thought about whether you would be in danger falling into the lake... But when I ran back to try and see you, I heard the news that someone had drowned in the lake..."

"I didn't mean to... but, it's true that I was the one who harmed you."

"These past few days, I've been so scared, and I've been avoiding it... But now I don't want to run away anymore..."

"Situ Yan, if you've really become a ghost, then come find me. Don't kill anyone else."

"..."

His voice was intermittent, carried by the wind to Chu Liang and Song Qingyi's ears.

So it turned out that Li Jue directly caused Situ Yan's drowning, rather than Situ Yan committing suicide by jumping into the water. No wonder Li Jue was so afraid. These past few days, he had been in the midst of self-blame for accidentally killing someone and the fear of a vengeful spirit seeking his life, which was why he had experienced unimaginable psychological torment.

He must have finally been unable to bear this torment today, which is why he ran here.

But he spoke there alone for a long time, and nothing unusual happened.

Li Jue looked up at his surroundings, "Are you not here, or are you unwilling to appear? Fine... then I'll go down and atone for my sins myself..."

He mumbled a few words, got up, and walked towards the lake below.

From the looks of it, he seemed to want to commit suicide!

"Li..." Song Qingyi immediately wanted to get up and stop him, but Chu Liang grabbed her.

"Wait a little longer," Chu Liang said softly.

They saw Li Jue reach the shore, seemingly hesitate for a moment, but not for long. He steeled his heart and jumped down!

Just as Song Qingyi was about to forcefully intervene, suddenly, a strong gust of yin wind erupted!

The whistling wind was like waves rising from flat ground. The wind was bone-chillingly cold, sweeping in from all directions, and it actually pushed Li Jue, who was halfway through his jump, back to the shore.

Plop, Li Jue fell to the ground, then immediately rolled over and got up: "Situ Yan, is that you?"

The furiously swirling yin wind finally converged in one place, forming a human shape in front of him. In an instant, it all dispersed again.

Only a faint ghostly shadow remained in place.

It was a woman in a scholar's robe, with thick scars on half of her face. Besides the rumored Situ Yan, it couldn't be anyone else.

Li Jue saw the ghost he had feared all along, but he seemed to show a look of relief, "You've finally come to see me."

Meanwhile, Chu Liang and Song Qingyi also perked up.

This strong yin energy was definitely not from an ordinary vengeful spirit, and the solidified form was enough to prove the point. Although they didn't know what had happened to give her such cultivation...

One thing was certain.

Situ Yan was the Painted Skin Demon!