625: Chapter 36 Xuejian Clears the Way

"What, do you have something to hide?" Seeing Tang Xuejian's opposition, Jing Tian teased.

"I don't." Tang Xuejian's eyes flickered, but she denied it verbally, then counterattacked, "You're the one with something to hide!"

Then, she said forcefully, "Anyway, I just won't allow you to say it."

Seeing her like this, Jing Tian immediately said slyly, "I get it, you must have taken a fancy to some lover and are afraid this old guy will expose you."

"I haven't, I don't, don't say it!" Tang Xuejian denied three times in a row, reaching out to cover Jing Tian's mouth as she spoke.

Jing Tian hurriedly dodged, and Tang Xuejian gave chase.

For a moment, the two of them chased each other around the group.

Seeing this, Xu Changqing and Xu Maoshan didn't pay much attention.

They were used to the playful way Jing Tian and Tang Xuejian interacted and found nothing strange about it.

Lan Kui, however, frowned one moment and smiled the next, looking conflicted.

Hong Kui's brows furrowed slightly, but then she seemed to think of something, relaxed them, and turned to look at Meng Li.

Meng Li reached out to stop Jing Tian and Tang Xuejian: "Alright, stop messing around."

Once the two stopped, Meng Li said to the Ancient Vine Elder, "We'll do as you say. Let's begin."

The Ancient Vine Elder smiled and said, "It's a deal. Who's first?"

Meng Li pointed at Tang Xuejian and said, "Start with her."

Tang Xuejian's expression changed slightly: "Mr. Meng!?"

Meng Li said, "There's nothing that can't be said to others. Once some things are out in the open, they're actually nothing."

Jing Tian followed up, "Exactly. Even if you really have a lover, we won't laugh at you once we know. If there's a chance later, we can even help bring you together. Besides, a woman's heart is like a needle at the bottom of the sea; this old guy might not be able to guess your thoughts."

Xu Maoshan chimed in, "That's right, Boss is very good at playing matchmaker."

Xu Changqing also consoled her, "Miss Xue Jian, we are friends. If you have someone you like, we will only be happy for you."

Seeing them say this, Tang Xuejian had no choice but to steel herself and said through gritted teeth, "Fine then, so be it."

After speaking, she turned to the Ancient Vine Elder and said, "Guess me first."

"Alright." The Ancient Vine Elder agreed, focused his gaze on Tang Xuejian, and simultaneously performed Mind Reading, but there was no result.

"Strange." He uttered a soft exclamation of surprise and closed his eyes to further listen to Tang Xuejian's inner voice, yet there was still no result.

"Old man, what did you guess?" Jing Tian asked curiously.

The Ancient Vine Elder said, "Don't be in such a hurry, let me calculate it first."

After saying that, He began to calculate with his fingers. After a long while, there was still no result.

The Ancient Vine Elder stopped his movements and remarked with emotion, "I won't calculate anymore. This young lady's origins are extraordinary."

This greatly surprised Jing Tian: "Her?"

Tang Xuejian's heart, which had been hanging in suspense, settled down. She then tentatively asked the Ancient Vine Elder, "So, you can't figure out what I'm thinking?"

The Ancient Vine Elder shook his head: "It's not that..."

As soon as the words left his mouth, Jing Tian urged, "Then say it quickly, or else you lose."

The Ancient Vine Elder's expression stiffened. Then, after a brief deliberation, he smiled and said, "Very well, please proceed as you wish."

Such a result left Tang Xuejian, Jing Tian, and the others very surprised.

Meng Li, however, understood perfectly.

Tang Xuejian was formed from the fruit of the Divine Tree in the Heavenly Realm—the Divine Realm—combined with the power of the Goddess Xi Yao's yearning for Feipeng. In a sense, it wouldn't be wrong to call her a member of the God Race. According to the Ancient Vine Elder's earlier classification of Immortals and Loose Immortals, Feipeng and Xi Yao belonged to the Immortals, and within the hierarchy of the Immortal Court, their status was quite extraordinary.

As a Loose Immortal outside the official system, the gap between the Ancient Vine Elder and Feipeng or Xi Yao was too vast. Even if he calculated something, it wouldn't be wise to get involved.

Otherwise, with Karma attached to him, it would be hard to predict whether it would bring fortune or disaster.

It wasn't worth getting himself involved for the sake of such a bet.

Even though He naturally enjoyed being mysterious and making reckless comments about the secrets of heaven.

Seeing that he couldn't learn Tang Xuejian's thoughts, Jing Tian was disappointed and couldn't help but complain, "This old guy talked so big, but in the end, he's useless. In my opinion, he's just being mysterious to scare people."

Tang Xuejian said dissatisfiedly, "What do you mean? It's clearly because this heroine is amazing!"

"I think you have ulterior motives!"

"You..."

Seeing that they were about to start bickering again, Xu Changqing hurriedly interrupted and asked the Ancient Vine Elder, "Ancient Vine Elder, how do we get across?"

The Ancient Vine Elder pointed behind himself: "Just walk this way. The Ancient Vine Demon is inside, and what you are looking for is also inside."

"Everyone, please."

After saying that, he turned into a ball of green leaf light and vanished along with the tree stump blocking the road.

Seeing this, Meng Li, Jing Tian, and the others immediately stepped forward.

After walking for a while, Jing Tian said to Tang Xuejian, "I've been thinking. That Ancient Vine old guy could appear and disappear with a 'shoo,' and he knew so much about the Immortals, so he should have some ability. Yet He couldn't see through your thoughts and even said your origin is unusual."

"Could it be that you're a monster that popped out of a rock?"

Tang Xuejian directly gave him a punch: "You're the monster that popped out of a rock! Do you believe I'll tear your mouth apart?"

"I don't."

"You..."

Seeing the two about to argue again, Xu Changqing interrupted, "Brother Jing's words have some merit. That Ancient Vine Elder has already achieved Immortal Ascension, so what he said should be true. However, compared to Him being unable to guess Miss Xue Jian's thoughts, I am more curious about why Brother Meng let Miss Xue Jian go first."

As soon as these words came out, both Jing Tian and Tang Xuejian were stunned.

Then, Jing Tian also asked curiously, "That's right, Elder Brother Meng. You let the Pig Woman go first, and as a result, that old guy couldn't guess her thoughts."

"Could it be that you already knew He couldn't guess the Pig Woman's thoughts?"

Hearing this, Tang Xuejian was also curious, so much so that she didn't even bother to care about Jing Tian calling her 'Pig Woman'.

Hong Kui, Lan Kui, and Xu Maoshan also cast curious glances at Meng Li.

Meng Li said calmly, "I didn't know the Ancient Vine Elder wouldn't be able to guess Miss Xue Jian's thoughts, but Miss Xue Jian was strongly opposed to participating in this bet at the time. She very much did not want her thoughts to be guessed. I didn't know what her thoughts were, but I have some understanding of her character."

"Given her character and attitude at the time, if her thoughts were truly guessed, she would definitely deny it."

"If Miss Xue Jian doesn't admit it, how can the Ancient Vine Elder prove He guessed correctly?"

"As long as He cannot prove it, He hasn't guessed correctly, and thus He loses."

Jing Tian, Tang Xuejian, Xu Changqing, and the others were taken aback.

Immediately, Jing Tian clapped his hands and said, "That's right! The human heart is fickle and hard to predict. As long as one doesn't admit it, He can't prove He guessed right, and He'll be considered to have lost. That's one way to do it. Although it's a bit of a cheat and a bit of a blow to one's character, it's better than staying here for three to five hundred years."

Xu Maoshan, however, said, "But if that's the case, the Ancient Vine Elder would surely be angry. What would we do then?"

"Then we can only let our abilities do the talking," Meng Li responded.

After he finished speaking, everyone arrived at the entrance of a cave surrounded by vines, with strange statues placed on both sides.

Xu Changqing looked around and spoke, "There is a heavy Demonic Qi in the cave. The Ancient Vine Demon should be inside. Everyone, be careful."

After saying that, he pulled out the sword on his back and began to be on guard.

Jing Tian and Tang Xuejian did the same.

Hong Kui summoned the Jade Waist Bow.

Lan Kui and Xu Maoshan hid toward the back.

Only Meng Li remained unchanged; he had just used his Divine Thought to sweep the cave.

The Ancient Vine Demon and the earth spirit pearl were indeed inside, but the Ancient Vine Demon's strength was not as exaggerated as Jingjing had said. Its cultivation was hard to say, but its vine roots at most covered the cave and a certain surrounding area, far from reaching thousands of miles.

...