“Betrayal?”

“Sixth Senior Sister, what do you mean? What do you mean your Soul-Tracking Puppet betrayed you?”

“That puppet was personally crafted by you, Mengyun. How could there be any talk of betrayal?”

As soon as He Mengyun’s words fell, her Senior Sisters bombarded her with questions. Even Guan Xuelan frowned deeply, scrutinizing her sixth disciple with a sharp gaze.

Faced with such intense questioning, He Mengyun felt a suffocating pressure. She was already severely injured from the backlash of the severed connection, blood still staining her lips. Yet, neither her fellow disciples nor her Master showed any concern for her well-being. They only cared about the answer.

He Mengyun was used to it. She didn’t dare show any dissatisfaction. Hastily wiping the blood from the corner of her mouth, she lowered her head and explained.

“Just a moment ago, this disciple followed Master’s instructions and tried to contact the dispatched Soul-Tracking Puppets to see if they had found traces of… of Gu Xiu. But for some reason, just as the connection was established, it was forcibly severed by something.”

“Sixth Senior Sister, what do you mean by ‘forcibly severed’?” Lu Qingyao frowned, interjecting sharply. “Don’t you puppet masters have methods to create eternal, unbreakable bonds with your creations? How can it just be cut?”

“This… I don’t know either.”

Beside her, Second Senior Sister Yuchi Chunlei also scolded her. “What do you mean you don’t know? Little Six, this matter concerns the Heavenly Tribulation. You can’t be clueless about everything.”

“This…” He Mengyun felt lost. She looked toward her Master for help, but seeing Guan Xuelan’s cold stare, she lowered her head to look at her toes.

“According to common sense, disciple’s Spirit Thread Manipulation should not be interceptable. Especially with these three Soul-Tracking Puppets—I poured immense effort into them.”

“But… the connection was indeed severed.”

“Perhaps… perhaps a puppet master more skilled than this disciple intervened…”

These words caused everyone to frown deeply.

A puppet master more skilled than He Mengyun?

Although He Mengyun’s obsession with corpses made everyone keep a respectful distance, they all acknowledged her terrifying talent in the path of puppetry. Finding someone more skilled than her was no easy feat.

What kind of figure would that be? Was a top-tier Sacred Land or an ancient aristocratic family involved?

The atmosphere grew heavy.

Xu Wanqing was still unconscious from her injuries, so the cause of the Heavenly Tribulation remained a mystery. But recalling the previous lightning strikes and Nian Zhaoxi’s warnings about Providence… it was hard to dismiss the unease.

Naturally, their thoughts turned to Gu Xiu.

After stabilizing Xu Wanqing, Guan Xuelan had immediately ordered He Mengyun to find Gu Xiu. Whether the theory of Providence was true or false, capturing him and bringing him back was the safest option.

Better to kill by mistake than let him slip away!

They just never expected this outcome.

If a powerful puppet master was truly intervening…

Lu Qingyao suddenly shuddered. “Master, Senior Sisters… do you think… could it be… Qixia Mountain making a move?”

Qixia Mountain!

Upon hearing this name, everyone’s expression changed. Even Guan Xuelan’s pupils contracted slightly.

Although called a ‘mountain’, Qixia Mountain was a genuine Peerless Sacred Land. More importantly, there was one person there… who had a past connection with Gu Xiu.

That person had been in closed-door cultivation for over a hundred years. But if she learned that Gu Xiu had returned from the Forbidden Realm with his cultivation ruined and had abandoned the sect… trouble would be inevitable.

“Impossible!”

Fourth Senior Sister Shi Siling spoke up, her voice firm.

“Qixia Mountain never cultivates puppet techniques! It’s even more impossible for them to have someone stronger than Mengyun who could silently intercept her Spirit Thread Manipulation!”

Her certainty calmed the room. Shi Siling’s knowledge was vast; if she said it was impossible, it likely was.

“Mengyun, did your Soul-Tracking Puppet find Gu Xiu? Do you know his location? Even a general direction will do,” Guan Xuelan asked, dismissing the mystery of the severed connection.

The priority remained finding Gu Xiu.

“This disciple knows!” He Mengyun nodded repeatedly. “Disciple’s three Soul-Tracking Puppets were severed when they were at… at… at…”

She stammered, her voice catching in her throat.

Everyone frowned, impatient. But as they looked closer, they saw He Mengyun’s expression twist. Her face became ferocious, and her eyes turned utterly frenzied.

This is…

Lu Qingyao reacted first, screaming in alarm. “Not good! Sixth Senior Sister’s soul injury has relapsed!”

As she screamed, she instinctively dodged behind Guan Xuelan.

“Master, save me!!!”

At that exact moment, He Mengyun flicked her sleeve. As if sowing beans to create soldiers, a horde of powerful puppets burst forth.

Without hesitation, they charged straight for Lu Qingyao, as if intent on devouring her flesh and soul alive!

Lu Qingyao’s reaction speed was lightning-fast; her sense of self-preservation was unmatched. But her cultivation was the weakest. One of the puppets instantly arrived before her, throwing a punch straight at her face.

“Halt!”

Guan Xuelan, a Mahayana cultivator, snorted angrily and intervened. Her pressure froze the puppets in place.

But just as she blocked them, she saw He Mengyun, now fully plunged into madness, summoning a Soul-Shattering Grindstone over her own head. She was preparing to shatter her own soul in suicide.

Guan Xuelan was forced to split her focus to stop her disciple from killing herself.

She succeeded.

But this split focus cost Lu Qingyao dearly.

The puppet attacking her possessed physical strength at the peak of the Soul Formation stage. Although Guan Xuelan had stopped it, she couldn’t destroy her disciple’s creation instantly without harming He Mengyun.

In that fraction of a second of distraction, a sliver of the punch’s force leaked through.

Thwack!

The fist struck Lu Qingyao squarely in the face.

Accompanied by a miserable howl, Lu Qingyao flew backward, her mouth full of blood, and collapsed to the ground.

“Rebellious disciple!”

Guan Xuelan roared. No longer caring about potential injury, she unleashed her full Mahayana pressure.

He Mengyun let out a faint whimper and collapsed unconscious. With a wave of Guan Xuelan’s hand, all the puppets dropped lifelessly to the floor.

Guan Xuelan’s face was dark as water. She circulated her power and forcibly roused He Mengyun.

“Rebellious disciple! Where exactly is Gu Xiu? Speak quickly!”

Unfortunately…

“Gu Xiu?”

He Mengyun blinked, her eyes filled with genuine confusion.

“Master… didn’t Gu Xiu just abandon the sect and leave?”

Between the soul damage and Guan Xuelan’s forceful intervention, parts of He Mengyun’s memory had been wiped clean. Ask three questions, get three ‘I don’t knows’.

Meanwhile, Lu Qingyao finally managed to shakily climb up from the ground, supported by several Senior Sisters.

Guan Xuelan hurriedly looked toward her beloved disciple.

But with just one glance… a strange expression appeared on the Sect Master’s face.

Lu Qingyao wasn’t severely injured internally.

However…

That punch had completely flattened her once high and elegant nose bridge.

Covered in dust and bloodstains, she looked utterly miserable. Her eyes brimmed with grievance as she began to wail.

“Shifu… Shifu… Wuwuwu…”

Her speech was slurred and indistinct.

There was no helping it. Her two front teeth had been shattered by the punch. Now, whenever she wailed, the wind whistled through the gap.

While chaos reigned within the Azure Mystic Sacred Land, Gu Xiu was calm.

He had donned the Three-Body Mask again, transforming into the appearance of a middle-aged mystic scholar. Facing the rising sun, he arrived once more before the gates of Cloud Firmament City.

The little black monkey, Qiqi, behaved obediently, hiding motionless within Gu Xiu’s robes. Only its pair of bright black eyes peeked out, filled with curiosity about the outside world.

Suddenly, Gu Xiu stopped walking.

He furrowed his brows slightly, looking toward the side of the road.

There stood an old man reeking of pungent alcohol. He was disheveled, looking like a beggar, with a ruddy, drinker’s nose. His steps were unsteady as he swayed toward the city entrance.

Gu Xiu watched him for a moment, then withdrew his gaze as if nothing had happened, continuing his walk.

However, the little black monkey found it strange. It followed Gu Xiu’s gaze toward the old drunkard.

Suddenly, its eyes widened in shock.