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"What were you afraid of? We'd agreed—we'd toss her to Old Huang after we were done playing with her. Did you think she could still come back alive?" Jiao Teng sneered.

"You did this on purpose?" Chen Wuyou slowly walked closer, glancing at the fallen Xiao Qingying on the ground, his gaze cold.

"What? You're the only one allowed to threaten me?" Jiao Teng sneered. "We're grasshoppers tied to the same rope. Neither of us is worth more than the other!"

"Enough nonsense. Pack her up quickly. I've already arranged everything." Chen Wuyou did not even look at Xiao Qingying's expression.

He lightly clapped his hands.

At once, two Daoists emerged from behind him, carrying a long rectangular box.

"This is a transport crate for groceries. Stuff her inside and carry her down the mountain. My father has already arranged things with Patrol Inspector. You stay here and stall for time," Chen Wuyou said flatly.

"Fine." Jiao Teng grinned.

Very quickly, the two Daoists set down the box, opened the lid, and went to lift Xiao Qingying.

Xiao Qingying's vision had already begun to blur, yet she stared at Chen Wuyou in utter disbelief.

She had no strength left in her body, and her consciousness was gradually fading.

But as she looked at Chen Wuyou, whom she had once trusted beyond measure, he actually... Her entire body had gone limp. Her fingers tried to grasp at something, but she had no strength to curl them closed.

"Wuyou... Brother..."

She squeezed out those final few words through her lips.

Her mind was a chaos of countless emotions—rage, heartbreak, pain, and tears—all mixed together and spilling endlessly from the corners of her eyes.

She had considered Chen Wuyou in everything she did, but he... seemed never to have loved her at all. And Senior Brother... Senior Brother actually was... She recalled all the things she had done over the years, always listening to Chen Wuyou.

Xiao Qingying's vision slowly sank into darkness, until she could no longer see anything.

"Carry her away," Chen Wuyou's voice came from outside.

"That kid Old Huang specifically wanted," Jiao Teng said. "I set him up and got him sent away. What are you planning to do about him?"

"Once this is settled, my father will have the final say over all of Qinghe Temple. We can settle accounts with him then," Chen Wuyou replied.

Xiao Qingying slowly sank into a state between sleep and wakefulness.

She guessed that she had been drugged with some kind of sleeping medicine. Terror and panic in her heart nearly drowned her completely.

She remembered Zhang Rongfang, whom Father had driven away before, and Jiao Teng's behavior when they had expelled him. Then she understood: they must have deliberately arranged it to drive away the person who could have helped her. And Xiao Ran, her attendant from even earlier, might also have been... The more Xiao Qingying thought about it, the more terrified she became. The sorrow of having been deceived was instead crushed beneath overwhelming fear.

She did not know what would happen to her, nor where she would be sent.

Father... where are you??

She suddenly thought that if she had spoken up to keep Junior Brother Zhang Rongfang back then, instead of silently letting him be wronged—

Perhaps, perhaps Jiao Teng would not have been assigned to watch over her.

Then none of this would have happened. Pfft.

Soon, she was carried into the rectangular box. The lid was shut, and a great many miscellaneous items were piled on top.

There were clothes, bamboo slips, animal furs, and the like.

Several crude breathing holes had been drilled into the side of the box, clearly to keep her from suffocating inside.

Chen Wuyou did not leave with the two Daoists. Instead, he called out another Daoist.

That Daoist was powerfully built, with a face full of black beard. He stood two meters tall, carrying an immense oppressive presence. He was Qi Shan, another expert from the Patrol Warden Office.

"Uncle Qi Shan, I'll leave the person to you. Don't follow too closely—just trail them from far behind, so no one notices anything amiss," Chen Wuyou instructed.

"Mm." Qi Shan nodded.

If not for the incident at Ascension Bridge the day before yesterday, which had put that place under close watch, that route would have been the most convenient way down the mountain.

The box was slowly lifted and swiftly carried toward the alleyway beside the Dao Palace.

Qi Shan carried a lantern and followed from a distance, ensuring that nothing went wrong.

Before long, no voices could be heard outside anymore.

Dazed and groggy, Xiao Qingying swayed along as she was carried. She had been fixed inside the box, her entire body wedged tightly between the clutter, packed so firmly that she could not move at all.

Only her head could barely turn.

Her tears fell like a snapped string of beads, streaming endlessly down and quickly soaking the coarse cloth garments beside her.

Creak, creak.

The carrying pole supporting the box kept making faint, miscellaneous sounds.

Along the way, Daoists walking in groups occasionally passed beside the box, their voices drifting by.

Xiao Qingying wanted to call for help, but no sound would come out. Once she opened her mouth, she could not even close it again.

Her entire body was numb, utterly unable to move.

At nightfall, the evening drum softly sounded.

A distant, tranquil air echoed throughout Qinghe Temple.

The box passed Profound Heart Hall, passed the two side halls, crossed the Letter Room, and slowly headed toward the Mountain Gate with its rhythmic creaking.

Normally, miscellaneous goods would be placed outside the Mountain Gate, waiting for the Servant Disciples to carry them down the mountain for disposal before dawn the next day.

So their destination should have been the Mountain Gate.

Very soon, the two Daoists carrying the box passed beside Welcome Pine Hall.

Zhang Rongfang and Zhang Xintai were walking together, discussing the Vitality Talisman footwork they had just learned.

The two strolled through the alleyway. As the box passed them, Zhang Rongfang suddenly furrowed his brow slightly.

He sniffed, catching a familiar scent of scented powder.

Turning his head, his gaze immediately fell upon the box the two men were carrying. That was where the scent came from.

That fragrance was Xiao Qingying's favorite scented powder.

He could not be mistaken.

After all, he had followed Xiao Qingying for so long and knew her habits extremely well.

Anyone who had stayed by her side that long would know whatever there was to know.

"What is it?" Zhang Xintai asked suspiciously beside him.

"Nothing. It's just that... there seems to be Senior Sister Xiao's scent inside that box." Zhang Rongfang shook his head.

Inside the box, Xiao Qingying's eyes abruptly widened.

Zhang Rongfang's voice was like a thread of hope, letting her, trapped in a hopeless abyss, suddenly glimpse a sliver of light.

"Mm!!" She opened her mouth wide with all her strength, trying to make a sound.

But the drug's effects were too strong. All she could produce was the faintest whimper.

That tiny sound was utterly insignificant amid the creaking of the carrying pole and the footsteps of the two Daoists.

"Save... me!!" Xiao Qingying desperately cried out with all her strength.

Unfortunately, her voice could not penetrate the shell of the box at all.

Outside the box.

Zhang Rongfang withdrew his gaze.

"Forget it. These things have nothing to do with me anymore." He smiled. Even if it concerned Xiao Qingying, what did it have to do with him?

"Xiao Qingying?" Zhang Xintai glanced at the box. It was blackened with age, its surface covered in old marks. It should have been a crate for discarded goods and miscellaneous items.

"Maybe it's carrying some clothes Xiao Qingying used to wear or something," he said indifferently.

"Probably." Zhang Rongfang nodded.

He raised his head, and suddenly spotted Qi Shan from the Patrol Warden Office following behind them.

Qi Shan stood two meters tall, his build exceptionally eye-catching.

Zhang Rongfang was now around one meter seventy-five tall, far shorter than him.

But Zhang Rongfang was also quite sturdy now, especially his upper body. The muscles in his arms stood out, and he did not fall too far behind Qi Shan.

"What's Qi Shan doing here? There's nothing worth patrolling in this place, is there?" Zhang Xintai asked doubtfully.

"Maybe he just happened to be patrolling here," Zhang Rongfang said.

Yet he noticed that Qi Shan's gaze seemed to keep drifting toward the large box ahead.

Could it be!? Zhang Rongfang linked it with the familiar fragrance from earlier, and a bold guess faintly arose in his heart.

Slap.

He abruptly stopped, turning back toward the box that had just brushed past him.

Immediately, he clearly sensed that the two Daoists carrying the box had begun to tense up.

And Qi Shan behind them also immediately fixed his gaze on him.

It seemed that this one action of his had instantly put all three on guard.

"Wait!"

Zhang Rongfang suddenly called out.

He suspected that there was something wrong with that box.

The two Daoists froze for an instant, then immediately quickened their pace.

Zhang Rongfang was about to step forward, but suddenly paused.

"Zhang Rongfang, you are no longer under Xiao Rong's tutelage. There are matters you should not interfere in, so don't go sticking your nose where it doesn't belong." Qi Shan's cold voice came from behind him.

Zhang Xintai narrowed his eyes, immediately noticing that something was wrong.

"What?" He stepped forward, placing himself between Zhang Rongfang and Qi Shan.

Zhang Rongfang looked at the box and fell silent for a moment.

"It's nothing. Forget it. Senior Brother Qi Shan is right—I'm no longer under Mingguang Dharma Master's tutelage. I really shouldn't meddle in other people's business."

He was not sure what exactly was wrong with that box. Now that he had been expelled from the sect, there was no need for him to wade into this muddy water.

"Let's go, Senior Brother." He turned around and did not look back again.

"That's how it should be. If you interfere again and that dead old man Xiao Rong wrongfully accuses you once more, wouldn't you just be asking for trouble?" Zhang Xintai said with a smile.

Unless necessary, he did not want to cross Qi Shan either.

If they truly fought, Qi Shan would still have the edge.

The two immediately said no more. They passed Qi Shan and slowly walked away into the distance.

Qi Shan quietly let out a breath.

If they had really discovered something just now, he was not confident that he could swiftly take down Zhang Xintai.

If things were exposed, he would likely be dragged down as well.

But that Daoist Priest Zhang Rongfang was surprisingly alert.

No wonder Chen Wuyou's plans had been disrupted by this man several times before.

He suddenly understood why Chen Wuyou and Jiao Teng had insisted on getting rid of him first.

"Why has Zhang Rongfang become so close to Zhang Xintai now?" Another thought suddenly occurred to him.

"After he was expelled from Mingguang Dharma Master's side, it seems Zhang Xuan Dharma Master took him in," a patrolling disciple beside him answered quietly.

"Tsk, tsk. What truly good luck. This kid really does have something extraordinary about him. That Xiao Rong is a laughingstock for having eyes yet failing to see." Qi Shan sighed several times and waved his hand.

"Keep moving."

"Yes."

The box, the patrol squad, and the entire group continued forward toward the Mountain Gate.

Inside the box.

Xiao Qingying gently closed her eyes, tears endlessly sliding down from the corners of both eyes.

The faint thread of hope that had just risen fell once more.

Despair mingled with regret, like hands constantly tugging at her chest.

Qi Shan was right. Father and she truly had eyes but failed to see. They had driven away the person they should have trusted, yet placed their trust in villains who never deserved it.

If they had not hurt Junior Brother Rongfang so deeply before, why would he have dared not even try just now?

They had brought all of this upon themselves.

Thick terror, accompanied by the increasingly quiet surroundings, continuously invaded her heart.

Father... Xiao Ying... Xiao Ying will never dare again. Save me... Someone, please save me...?

Night's Brilliance

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