Possessing a Cat

Mu Nanzhi's expression changed slightly, her reaction even more intense than Xu Qi'an's. "That stinky monk tracked us all the way here?"

Xu Qi'an frowned and asked, "What's going on?"

As he spoke, his gaze drifted toward the entrance to the back garden, and the moment he spotted the bald monk, he immediately switched into battle mode.

"I overheard for a moment. They came for the Demon-Slaying Assembly. Jingxin and the others were passing through Xiangzhou when they heard about Chai Xian's patricide and came specifically to inquire about the situation, intending to intervene. Ha, Buddhist School monks have always liked to act chivalrously, thus demonstrating Buddhist School compassion."

Li Lingsu sneered.

His gaze inevitably fell on the mortar and pestle. He took a deep breath and then decisively stepped back.

A highly poisonous substance!

However, given his fourth-rank foundation, ordinary poisons couldn't affect him.

This old monster was undoubtedly a martial artist who switched to Gu cultivation halfway through his life. What was he planning to do? Cultivate both martial arts and Gu techniques? Li Lingsu secretly wondered.

In fact, he considered this kind of behavior quite normal.

Many experts who reach a bottleneck in their single system and are unable to break through will try to cultivate other systems.

This is very rare for those below the third rank, after all, a person's energy and talent are limited, and life is only a short hundred years, so following a single system is already extremely difficult.

However, among experts at the extraordinary level, "dual cultivation" is relatively common. After reaching the third rank, their lifespan is long, and they have plenty of time and energy to find alternative paths and seek breakthroughs.

The common combination methods are Gu martial arts, Dao martial arts, Wu martial arts, and Confucian martial arts. The reason is simple: the martial arts cultivation system is a public resource that can be easily obtained.

Other cultivation methods, especially those for lower and middle grades, are relatively easy to learn, but for grades four and above (including grade four), they are basically not circulated outside the sect.

"It seems we can no longer stay at the Chai residence."

Xu Qi'an's words interrupted Li Lingsu's wandering thoughts.

The Buddhist School monks are probably here to find me, to reclaim the Pagoda, and incidentally, to steal the dragon vein. If I'm not mistaken, the Vajra of Salvation is among them. Although I'm not afraid of fourth-rank Vajras, a third-rank Vajra could easily crush me.

Ah, what a coincidence, to run into each other in Xiangzhou. It seems I shouldn't get involved in the Chai family's affairs, at least not openly.

With that in mind, Xu Qi'an made a decision. "We'll leave the Chai residence now. You, Holy Son, will stay here as a spy to gather information for us."

Li Lingsu turned pale. "Should I stay? What if the Buddhist School monks recognize me and immediately send me to the afterlife?"

After Xu Qi'an finished the last spoonful of poison, he smiled and said, "Does Chai Xing'er know your identity as the Holy Son of the Heavenly Sect?"

Li Lingsu shook her head. "I didn't tell her."

"When you were listening in on the lobby just now, did Jingxin recognize you?"

Li Lingsu shook her head again.

"Very good!"

Xu Qi'an nodded. "Wenren Qianrou has already revealed your identity to the Buddhist School. This was something we discussed beforehand, so as not to affect her. Since Chai Xing'er doesn't know your identity, you just need to ask her to conceal your name."

"Back in Leizhou, you were just an observer; Jingxin didn't even notice you. And since you were disguised then, the Buddhist School wouldn't recognize you now that you're in your true form."

Li Lingsu still felt it wasn't steady enough, and hesitated, saying, "That's true, but..."

Xu Qi'an waved his hand. "Didn't you want to investigate Chai Xian's case thoroughly? Then you should keep a close eye on Chai Xing'er."

The Holy Son's expression immediately changed, and he stared intently at him. "What do you mean?"

"You were there before. I asked you, if there really is someone skilled at manipulating corpses and with ample motive to frame Chai Xian, who is that person?"

Before the Holy Son could answer, Xu Qi'an said:

"Of course, he's your lover. The head of the Chai family is dead, so the entire Chai family belongs to her. And Chai Xian is not weak in cultivation, has good talent, and is of excellent character. Such a person must have a certain prestige. To her, he is a threat."

"Therefore, the plan to frame someone while killing two birds with one stone is an ingenious method."

Li Lingsu shook her head seriously. "Xing'er wouldn't do that."

Xu Qi'an patted him on the shoulder. "Then stay here and keep a close eye on her."

Inside the main hall, Li Lingsu returned, and Chai Xing'er was still entertaining Jingxin and Jingyuan. Besides the two of them, there were three other monks in the hall.

Upon seeing him return, Xing'er merely glanced at him before continuing to recount to the Buddhist School monks the events surrounding Chai Xian's patricide and murder.

"Amitabha Buddha, such wicked people will only bring trouble if left alive. Rest assured, Benefactor Chai, this humble monk will lend a helping hand to the Chai family and rid them of this menace."

Zen Master Jingxin put his hands together in prayer position.

"Thank you, Master."

Chai Xing'er clasped her hands in a gesture of respect.

Jingxin smiled, her gaze then falling on Li Lingsu, and asked, "And who is this benefactor?"

Before Chai Xing'er could speak, Li Lingsu transmitted her voice, "Don't say my name."

Myolie Chai's smile was cool and aloof, "He is an old friend of mine. Hearing of the troubles in his family, he came to visit me."

Monk Jingxin nodded.

Chai Xing'er continued, "Since you masters have come from the Western Regions, you must be tired from your journey. Why don't you stay at our residence? It would be better than staying at an inn."

"Then thank you very much, Benefactor Chai."

Purifying the Mind.

Buddhist School like to get things for free, whether it's food, lodging, or money; they'll take whatever they can get for free.

In Buddhist School philosophy, money is considered an external thing, and being too attached to it can easily corrupt State of Mind. Therefore, even though Buddhist School are not short of money, they still enjoy getting things for free.

After settling the Buddhist monks Buddhist School, Chai Xing'er led Li Lingsu into her boudoir, frowning as she said:

Do you have a grudge against these monks?

"I guess so, we had a conflict before." Li Lingsu didn't mention Xu Qian.

Chai Xing'er nodded.

"Senior Xu has some business to attend to and has left first," Li Lingsu said again.

"And what about you?" Chai Xing'er stared at him.

"Of course I'll stay and help you."

Chai Xing'er's cool expression softened, and she hummed in agreement.

On the other side, Jingyuan sat at the table, took a sip of warm tea, and said:

"Our master told us to meet in Yongzhou in ten days. We need to resolve this matter as soon as possible, otherwise it will delay our journey."

Jingxin sat cross-legged on the bed and replied, "That Chai Xian is a fifth-grade Transformation Realm cultivator. Even with the help of four iron corpses, his combat strength is still inferior to that of a fourth-grade cultivator. If he dares to show up, we can easily eliminate him; it won't have much of an impact."

He paused for a moment, then said in a deep voice:

"I also think there are many suspicious points in this matter. If Chai Xian is the real culprit, why would he insist that he is innocent and linger in Zhangzhou? But if he is really innocent, there are many people in the Chai family who witnessed him committing the crime. Afterwards, there were frequent murders in Xiangzhou, and some people witnessed him killing people and making corpses."

"These are irrefutable pieces of evidence, leaving no room for his excuses. Strange, very strange."

Jingyuan said calmly, "What's so strange about that? Just grab him and ask him."

Buddhist School has the power of precepts; it's too easy to get someone to tell the truth.

Jingxin nodded. "Benefactor Chai said that the Demon-Slaying Assembly is in two days. Judging from Chai Xian's style, he might show up on that day."

Just then, a monk came in from outside, carrying a wooden basin in his hands, and asked in bewilderment:

Why does the weather in Xiangzhou feel even more bitterly cold than in the Western Regions?

In the best inn in Xiangzhou City, in the first-class room.

A small stove sat on the round table, its charcoal flames roaring and licking the bottom of a ceramic wine pot.

Xu Qi'an stood by the window, gazing at the sparsely populated street, and sighed:

"My intuition tells me that this winter will be very cold, colder than ever before."

Intuition stems from the power of the Heavenly Gu.

Within the Gu tribe, the Heavenly Gu clan is capable of creating the Chinese calendar and observing celestial phenomena, making them authorities in the Gu tribe's agricultural field.

Mu Nanzhi also felt it clearly, but she didn't understand the reason, and asked in a sweet voice, "Why is it so cold this year?"

If it were a past life, I would return to you because of the greenhouse effect and melting glaciers. Xu Qi'an shook his head:

"When a nation is on the verge of collapse, natural disasters and man-made calamities will follow one after another."

The topic was rather heavy, so Mu Nanzhi didn't ask any more questions, nor did she want to think about these unhappy things. She focused her attention on the hot wine.

After finishing his drink, Xu Qi'an lay down on the small couch and fell into a deep sleep. When he woke up at dusk, he saw Mu Nanzhi sitting by the headboard, engrossed in reading a book.

She truly deserves to be called the most beautiful woman in the Great Feng Dynasty. Although her appearance is ordinary, her elegant temperament far surpasses that of ordinary women.

Xu Qi'an closed his eyes again.

In the backyard of the inn, the owner's orange cat nimbly leaped onto the wall and left the inn.

It raced down the street at great speed, stopping and starting frequently, and arrived at the gate of the Chai residence a quarter of an hour later.

As night fell, the gates of the Chai residence remained tightly shut.

The orange cat circled the fence, found a dog hole, and crawled inside.

Xu Qi'an manipulates the orange cat with a mind-controlling Gu, preparing to infiltrate the Chai residence at night.

There are some things that are difficult for humans to investigate, but animals can be completely uninhibited about.

There are some things you wouldn't say in front of strangers, but you can say them freely in front of animals.

He always felt that there was something strange about Chai Xian's case, and according to normal logical reasoning, Chai Xing'er was clearly more suspicious.

In addition, he also had to eavesdrop on the conversations of Buddhist School monks to understand their goals and plans, so that he could know himself and his enemy and win every battle.

"I hope I won't pick up a bad habit like Master Jinlian's, like sleeping with cats."

He muttered something and headed straight for Chai Xing'er's room with a specific purpose in mind.

P. S.: Sorry, I'm having writer's block. I couldn't keep my promise of three chapters; I'll save it for tomorrow.