17: Luo Qingxue's suspicions, Tang Wu's rumors and counterattacks!

Returning from Tingtao Pavilion to the Guest Courtyard, the horizon was already turning fish-belly white.

Lu Yu pushed the courtyard door open quietly, only to find that Lin Wanqiu was not Cultivating. Instead, she sat on the steps in front of the house with her knees hugged, her small head nodding off as she dozed.

Hearing the movement, she suddenly woke up with a start. Seeing it was Lu Yu, her eyes lit up instantly, but then her little face slumped.

"Revered Master, why are you just getting back!"

She ran over, her tone filled with worry.

"Fairy Luo came to look for you last night and said you weren't here. Later... later, it seemed like Tang Wu's people were wandering around nearby, acting all sneaky."

Lu Yu's heart tightened. They moved that fast?

It seemed that although he had lost the tail last night, he had still aroused Tang Wu's suspicion, and the other party had already begun to test him.

"It's nothing, Revered Master went out to handle some business."

Lu Yu rubbed her hair.

"If anyone comes to ask, just say that Revered Master is in seclusion in the Quiet Room, comprehending a Cultivation Technique, and won't see anyone. Understand?"

Lin Wanqiu nodded vigorously: "Mhm! This Disciple remembers!"

After sending Lin Wanqiu off to rest, Lu Yu himself wasn't sleepy.

He sat down in the courtyard, reviewing everything that had happened last night.

Leng Qingshuang's forbearance and planning, the Nine Nether Palace behind Tang Wu, and that unexpected yet seemingly inevitable "healing session"—there was too much information, and the relationships were quite a mess.

He needed to sort them out.

Leng Qingshuang was the chess player; he and Luo Qingxue were currently relatively important pieces on her board, or rather, variables in her plan.

Tang Wu was the opponent on the surface and also the bait to draw out Nine Nether Palace. As for that business between himself and Leng Qingshuang... it was purely an accident born of an accident, but now it had become an awkward and subtle secret bond between the two.

Just as he was thinking, a familiar cold aura came from outside the courtyard; it was Luo Qingxue.

Today, she had changed into a water-blue casual outfit, losing some of the Saintess's formal majesty and gaining a bit more elegance.

However, there were faint dark circles under her eyes; clearly, she hadn't slept well last night either.

Seeing Lu Yu sitting in the courtyard, her footsteps paused. Her ice-blue eyes glanced at him with a complex expression, as if confirming something, before she walked in.

"Lu Yu."

She spoke, her voice tinged with suspicion.

"Last night... was Revered Master alright?"

She was asking about Leng Qingshuang, but her gaze unconsciously swept over Lu Yu's body, as if trying to find some trace. She had also come looking for Lu Yu last night, but since he wasn't there, she guessed he might have been called over by her Revered Master again.

She had gone to see her Revered Master alone later last night, but she was blocked outside Tingtao Pavilion by Leng Qingshuang on the grounds of needing quiet meditation. This was a situation she had never encountered before; she couldn't even enter the door of her Revered Master's bedchamber.

They had only spoken a few words through the door about being wary of Tang Wu and waiting to see how things developed.

She always felt that her Revered Master's voice sounded differently fatigued than usual. Compared to past weariness, that voice seemed more like it was suppressing something; it was even a bit... trembling, hurried, gasping, or perhaps stifled?

Standing outside the door, she always felt her Revered Master's voice was strange. Compared to the usual coldness, it even seemed to have a hint of a seductive undertone?

This left her perplexed.

Lu Yu looked at the Luo Qingxue before him with a puzzled expression.

"Qingxue, what are you saying? The Sacred Lord is your Revered Master; how would I know her situation?"

Lu Yu said this without blushing at all. Naturally, it was impossible to tell Luo Qingxue about what happened last night.

Seeing his face, which didn't look like he was lying, Luo Qingxue didn't think much more about it.

She sat down on the stone stool opposite Lu Yu, remained silent for a moment, and then said in a low voice: "Last night... thank you."

She was referring to Lu Yu's risky move of drawing away those people of the Demonic Path under Tang Wu.

"It was only right."

Lu Yu smiled.

"After all, we are... allies now, right?"

Allies.

This word caused Luo Qingxue's heart to stir slightly.

Yes, setting aside that awkward "fiancé and fiancée" relationship, they were indeed natural allies when it came to opposing Tang Wu and Heavenly Nether Hall.

Moreover, after last night, her perception of this ally seemed to have undergone another subtle change.

He was not only bold and meticulous, but he also... didn't seem entirely indifferent to her Revered Master and the Sect.

"Tang Wu's side seems to have tightened its security."

Luo Qingxue gathered her thoughts and spoke of serious matters.

"The informants I arranged nearby reported that some strange faces have appeared around his residence. Their auras are mixed and don't seem like Sect Disciples. Furthermore, there seem to be some strange rumors spreading within the Sect today..."

"What rumors?"

"About... you."

Luo Qingxue glanced at him, her brow furrowing slightly.

"They say that as the Tianyan Divine Son, you are meddling in the affairs of the Canglan Sacred Sect Saintess with ulterior motives. There's even more ridiculous talk, saying you intend to use the marriage contract to interfere in our Sect's internal affairs and are up to no good."

Lu Yu sneered: "The old trick of making false accusations to confuse the public. It seems we really startled them last night. They want to throw some mud through public opinion first, while also testing the Sacred Lord's and your attitudes."

"Precisely."

A flash of coldness appeared in Luo Qingxue's eyes.

"I have already ordered people to secretly investigate the source of the rumors. Most likely, it's related to those lackeys under Tang Wu who are accustomed to stirring up trouble. Since Revered Master wants us to wait and see, we don't need to pay attention to these clowns for the time being."

"Mhm, a lack of patience in small matters can ruin great plans." Lu Yu agreed.

He thought for a moment and asked: "By the way, did the Sacred Lord mention how she plans to follow the trail? There must be some kind of opportunity needed, right?"

Luo Qingxue pondered: "Revered Master didn't say explicitly, but according to her past style, she will surely wait for the other party to actively reveal a larger flaw, or... create an opportunity where the other party has no choice but to move."

She looked at Lu Yu, her ice-blue eyes sparkling.

"Perhaps, we can also do something to make this pool of water... a bit murkier?"

Lu Yu raised an eyebrow: "What do you mean, Qingxue?"

"Doesn't Tang Wu want to throw mud?"

The corners of Luo Qingxue's mouth curled into a faint, almost invisible arc, forming a subtle contrast with her usual cold image.

"Then we'll let that mud splash back onto him. Doesn't he want to test our and Revered Master's attitudes? We'll give him a clear attitude to see."

Lu Yu became interested: "Tell me the details?"

The two began to discuss in low voices in the courtyard.

Sunlight filtered through the sparse bamboo leaves, spilling onto the stone table and reflecting the silhouettes of the two as they occasionally frowned in thought or exchanged glances.

Lin Wanqiu stayed obediently in the house, peeking through the crack in the window. She felt that the way her Revered Master and that Fairy sister were talking together... was actually quite nice to look at?

It was just that the Fairy sister didn't seem quite so cold anymore.

Over the next few days, the Canglan Sacred Sect appeared calm on the surface, but there was a tension underneath, like a storm was brewing.

The rumors did not stop; instead, they tended to intensify.

But soon, another voice began to circulate privately among the Disciples.

Witnesses claimed to have seen Tang Wu's followers associating with some suspicious outsiders with sinister auras, and the location was near the Black Water Pool.

There were also rumors that the cold Yin energy near the Black Water Pool in the back mountain had inexplicably increased recently, and it was feared that a strange treasure was emerging or... evil spirits were causing trouble. All signs seemed to indicate a connection to Tang Wu, the grandson of the Grand Elder.

And Tang Wu seemed particularly concerned about this.

These rumors, a mix of truth and falsehood, were all jumbled together, making it difficult for people to distinguish between fact and fiction.

The Disciples within the Sect were talking animatedly. The trend of one-sidedly accusing Lu Yu of being a meddler began to undergo a subtle shift.

Tang Wu's side was clearly starting to get restless.

Several times when he encountered Lu Yu or Luo Qingxue in public, his gaze was so gloomy it could practically drip water.

Once or twice, he even wanted to step forward to argue or probe, but he was blocked by Luo Qingxue's status as the Saintess and her icy attitude.

Lu Yu, on the other hand, wore a smile throughout, looking like "I don't understand what you're saying, but I'm just watching your performance," which infuriated Tang Wu to the point of internal injury.