The Gu Race

"All of this seems reasonable at first glance, but neither the first supervisor nor the Prince of Zhenbei has any solid evidence."

"The Prince of Zhenbei has been guarding the border for many years, and I, like you, do not know him well. It is somewhat arbitrary to hastily conclude that he is plotting something sinister."

"Furthermore, the Prince of Zhenbei is a third-rank martial artist, and it's not impossible for him to reach the second rank in the future. Whether he wants to be emperor is another matter. Hehe, of course, power has always been a powerful force, and it would be an arbitrary statement for me to say that he would not rebel," Master Jinlian analyzed.

"There's no conflict between striving for the second rank and becoming emperor, is there?" Xu Qi'an had his own opinion. "This is just my hypothesis, and it hasn't been verified yet. Once I've gathered the evidence, it will be clear whether the Prince of Zhenbei is the mastermind behind it all."

"But Daoist Master, I'm running out of steam in this investigation." Xu Qi'an sighed. "Although Emperor Yuanjing ordered me to take charge of this case, the Prince of Zhenbei is a prince, a prince who holds considerable military power. I can't just openly investigate his residence."

"The old supervisor of the Bureau of Astronomy is feigning illness, and I can't very well go to the Star-Gazing Tower to question him. It's a very difficult situation."

"Emperor Yuanjing?" Daoist Jinlian squinted, scrutinizing Xu Qi'an with an inexplicable look.

"It's been many years since I've heard any of the imperial court's lackeys dare to address him like that." The Daoist priest's eyes showed surprise as he clicked his tongue in amazement.

"I seem to have overlooked something."

"What did you overlook?" Xu Qi'an asked subconsciously.

"This benefactor has a rebellious streak," the old Daoist priest remarked.

"I didn't! You're lying! Don't you dare wrong me!" Xu Qi'an said seriously, his face solemn. "I am utterly loyal to His Majesty."

Master Jinlian did not expose him.

"This case is very complicated. What can I learn from you, Daoist Master?" Xu Qi'an asked earnestly.

"You were quite clever when you were pretending to be a Confucian School disciple in the Heaven and Earth Society," Master Jinlian teased.

I knew you were watching us scheme against each other in the group chat while secretly grinning like an auntie. Xu Dalang thought to himself, "That old bastard."

"Let me analyze this for you. There are a few things that don't make sense in your description."

"Please speak, Daoist Master." Xu Qi'an's eyes lit up immediately.

He chose to have an open and honest conversation with the old Daoist priest because he valued the latter's wisdom and rich experience.

While old silver coins may be despicable, they often provide a sense of security when used as allies.

Master Jinlian pondered for a moment and said, "The first thing that's amiss is the Supervisor's inaction. If the one suppressing Sangbo was the first Supervisor of the Bureau of Astronomy, he should be the most anxious. But he's very quiet. Hmm, it's also possible that this treacherous old man is no longer at the Star-Gazing Tower and is acting in secret."

Xu Qi'an nodded silently.

The first and current Directors of the Imperial Observatory are bound to be bitter enemies. The reason is simple: the master has been suppressed, and the disciple is comfortably serving as Director, in charge of the Imperial Bureau of Astronomy. Clearly, the superficial master-disciple relationship has broken down. Otherwise, with the strength of Principal First Rank Observatory, even the leader of the Human Sect would not be able to stop him.

"The second thing that's strange is Emperor Yuanjing. The day after the Sangbo incident, he lifted the city ban. Heh. Don't you find that odd? There's no reason to let a tiger return to the mountains."

Xu Qi'an immediately said, "I've thought about these two questions. My guess at the time was that perhaps they were opening the city gates to lure the enemy out. Hmm, I can't access or grasp the state of the Supervisor and Emperor Yuanjing; their levels are too high."

"That makes sense," said Master Jinlian. "You wanted to talk to me about more than just this, didn't you? Is Number Six related to the Sangbo case?"

"To be precise, the monk Hengyuan's junior brother might be related to this case. After he disappeared without a trace, I became even more certain of this guess."

"So you have indeed been to Qinglong Temple and know Hengyuan's identity." Master Jinlian was not surprised, then asked in return, "Junior brother?"

"There's a monk at Qinglong Temple, whose Dharma name is Henghui. Over a year ago, he eloped with Princess Pingyang, the legitimate daughter of Prince Yu. Prince Yu was deeply affected and became bedridden. This matter involves a power struggle between two factions: the nobility and the civil officials." Xu Qi'an picked up the teapot, poured himself a cup of water, moistened his throat, and continued:

"In order to help Princess Pingyang evade the search, the monk Heng Hui stole a magical Law Artifact from Qinglong Temple that could conceal one's aura. I suspect that Law Artifact later fell into the hands of Zhou Chixiong, a centurion of the Golden Guard."

Master Jinlian listened patiently, sometimes frowning, sometimes deep in thought. Only after Xu Qi'an finished speaking did he say, "So, you want to use Hengyuan to investigate Heng Hui's whereabouts in order to verify your guess?"

"Yes, this is my only breakthrough at the moment. Daoist, do you remember? Hengyuan said that his junior brother was kidnapped, while the abbot of Qinglong Temple said that Henghui eloped. Hengyuan may have obtained some clues during his investigation after leaving Qinglong Temple."

You want me to take you to him.

"Please, Daoist priest."

The moon is bright and the stars are few, in the south, tens of thousands of miles away.

Compared to the cold and dry winters in the capital, the climate in the south where the Gu tribe lives is humid. Even in the coldest season of the year, the Gu tribe living here wear only thin clothes.

Lina wore light, thin cloth boots, and her skirt only reached her knees, revealing her long, straight legs.

She had delicate features, slightly thick eyebrows, and light blue pupils that shimmered with a lively and innocent light.

Her wheat-colored skin made her look both healthy and wild, like a lithe female leopard.

A large force of over a hundred people trekked through the wilderness, carrying torches and moving forward in silence.

Lina, with her light and bouncy steps, seemed somewhat out of place.

She came out to train with the elders of her tribe, and their destination was the Abyss where the Gu God slept. The Gu Clan has seven tribes, who are both beneficiaries and guardians of the Gu God.

"Once I figure out the reason for the Gu God's resurgence, I can announce the information within the Heaven and Earth Society, making all members owe me a debt. The premise is that this reason won't pose a danger to the Gu Clan." Thinking of this, Lina smiled brightly.

"Lina, be serious." Mo Sang, the older brother, turned around and scolded his younger sister in a low voice.

He had thick eyebrows and big eyes, and his appearance was three-tenths similar to Lina's, except that a deep scar on his left cheek ruined his handsomeness, and his fierce eyes made him look unruly.

Lina wasn't afraid of her brother at all, and said with a huff, "All the other brothers have wives they can scold, but you don't have a wife, and all you do is scold me all day long."

Mo Sang felt somewhat helpless and walked away with his head down.

Lina caught up with her brother, grinning and putting her arm around his shoulder. "I heard that the women of Great Feng are incredibly beautiful, with faces whiter than steamed buns. Mo Sang, I'll help you snatch a wife back."

Mo Sang scoffed, "What good is a pretty woman? I need a woman who can tear a leopard apart with her bare hands."

"But I heard from a friend that the Princess Zhenbei of Great Feng is very beautiful, the Eldest Princess is also very beautiful, and the head of the Renzong sect is also very beautiful; they are all stunning beauties."

Mo Sang immediately looked over, swallowed hard, and said, "Then help me ask your friend how pretty she really is... wait, where did you get a friend like that?"

Lina ignored him and skipped ahead.

"Grandma of the Heavenly Gu, wait for me." Lina left her tribe and approached the leader of the Heavenly Gu tribe, a hunched old woman.

Granny Tiangu raised her deeply lined face, her eyes clear, and scrutinized Lina: "Little girl, what do you want with Granny Tiangu?"

"Grandma, I have a friend. Um, a friend of a friend, who's been having some strange luck lately." Lina's eyes darted around as she carefully chose her words: "He's incredibly lucky, ridiculously lucky."

Lina had a reason for asking the Heavenly Gu Clan this question.

Legend has it that after the Gu God fell into slumber, its spirit transformed into the Heart Gu; its Qi and Blood transformed into the Strength Gu; its venom transformed into the Poison Gu; its liver transformed into the Medicine Gu; its desires transformed into the Lust Gu; its eyes transformed into the Heaven Gu; and its bodily fluids transformed into the Corpse Gu.

This is the origin of the seven tribes of the Gu Clan. There is also a legend among the Gu Clan that on the day the Gu God is revived, he will take back his power.

No one in the Gu clan wanted this High Antiquity beast, who was on par with gods and Buddhas, to be resurrected.

Among them, the Heavenly Gu represents the eyes of the Gu God, capable of observing all things in heaven and earth and the laws of nature. Therefore, the Heavenly Gu tribe is responsible for formulating the calendar, and the Gu clan works and cultivates according to the instructions of the Heavenly Gu tribe.

In addition, the Tian Gu tribe is also proficient in divination, physiognomy, and other secret arts.

Granny Tian Gu said, "That person must be blessed with good fortune, a kind and virtuous individual."

Is Number Three a good person? Maybe. Lina said, "But... his luck is finding silver everywhere, every single day."

However, Master Jinlian said that his situation was not considered meritorious.

"Finding silver? What kind of luck is that? This kid is talking nonsense." A middle-aged man in the Heavenly Gu tribe laughed loudly.

Laughter erupted from all around, dispelling the solemn atmosphere within the ranks.

This little girl from the Power Gu tribe is really interesting.

"Shut up!" Granny Tian Gu suddenly shouted. Her face was serious as she grabbed Lina's hand with such force that Lina frowned slightly.

"Little girl, where is your friend? Tell me quickly, tell me now!" Granny Tiangu pressed urgently.

The people of the Heavenly Gu Clan looked at each other, puzzled as to why a mere girl's jest could cause Granny Heavenly Gu to be so agitated.

"Father, something seems to have happened." Mo Sang stood on tiptoe to look ahead and saw the unusual scene. He saw Granny Tian Gu grabbing his younger sister's wrist and shouting loudly.

The leader of the Li Gu tribe nodded steadily, his voice strong and clear. "I'll go take a look."

P. S.: I've corrected all the typos earlier. Thank you everyone.