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Wei Zhongxi was the first to recover from his daze.
The head of the Wei Family now demonstrated the steady cool-headedness of a leader. He said at top speeds, “The earlier disturbance is sure to draw questions from our clansmen. Grand Elder, stand guard. Don’t let anyone approach Goldendawn Mountain, and don’t reveal anything about what just happened!”
They still didn’t know whether the real patriarch was alive or dead. Wei Zhongxi was well aware that if their clansmen found out about what just happened, it would throw the entire Wei Family into upheaval.
And if news like that spread, it would inevitably lead to unpredictable wind and rain!
“Got it!” Wei Chen took a deep breath, then solemnly assented.
“Wei Yun, come with me to see Fellow Daoist Su.” As he spoke, he’d already started following Su Yi halfway up the ridge.
Wei Yun hurried after him.
“I just hope
 nothing happened to the patriarch
” Wei Cheng muttered to himself.
Halfway up the ridge.
Wei Daoyuan's immortal cave, the place he’d undergone seclusion, was about one thousand feet across. It was built like a palace, but the furniture was extremely simple.
As soon as Wei Zhongxi and Wei Yun entered, they saw Su Yi sprawled out lazily in a wicker chair. The no-longer-disguised Thousand-Faced Ghost Monkey expert sat slumped on the floor in front of him.
“I’ve already checked. Your patriarch isn’t in his immortal cave,” said Su Yi. He sipped from his gourd of wine, then continued, “In other words, only this dirty beast knows whether he’s alive or dead.”
Wei Zhongxi and Wei Yun both instantly looked at the Thousand-Faced Ghost Monkey.
He had jutting lips and monkey-like features. His robes were gray, and he looked quite old. He was currently slumped limply on the floor, his face pallid and full of alarm, dread, and uncertainty.
The gray-robed old man stammered, “I
 I truly don’t know whether His Excellency Wei Daoyuan is alive or dead.”
Both Wei clansmen frowned. Wei Zhongxi’s eyes flashed like cold lightning, and he suggested, “Fellow Daoist Su, interrogation is far too much trouble. Why not just search his soul?”
He was just a monkey, yet he’d impersonated their patriarch for hundreds of years. This left Wei Zhongxi incomparably indignant and ashamed.
The gray-robed elder was instantly frantic, and he said in a quavering voice, “You can’t! There’s a seal inside my soul, and the moment you touch it, it’ll kill me!”
This declaration left both Wei Zhongxi and Wei Yun stunned.
The gray-robed elder was in the Spiritual Revolution Realm, and he was an expert of the Thousand-Faced Ghost Monkey Race. He excelled at illusions and transformations. Just what kind of person could have left a seal in his soul strong enough to kill him?
As if afraid Su Yi and his companions wouldn’t believe him, the old man explained frantically, “I won’t hide it any longer: I was forced to do this!”
Before he could continue, Su Yi asked, “Who forced you to do it?”
The old man grimaced. “You might not believe me even if I tell you. A little over three hundred years ago, when that person forced me to do this, I couldn’t even tell whether they were male or female, much less what they looked like or where they’d come from
”
Su Yi’s eyes narrowed. “So, it really is that same person.”
Wei Zhongxi couldn’t help but ask, “Fellow Daoist, do you know who they are?”
Su Yi shook his head. “All I know is that they’re the same person who broke that sealing formation, and that they once entered that forbidden ground.”
Both Wei clansmen were bewildered and uncertain.
Su Yi then faced the old man. “So you’re saying that mysterious person forced you to impersonate Wei Daoyuan?”
“That’s right!” The old man in gray nodded hurriedly.
“If you can impersonate Wei Daoyuan, you must have seen him before,” said Su Yi. “What was his situation then?”
The old man didn’t even pause to think. “At the time, I was at a restaurant in Nightdemon City. That mysterious person brought me there to see His Excellency Wei Daoyuan.
“He didn’t seem hurt in any way, but his behavior was a bit strange.”
“Give me the specifics,” said Su Yi.
The old man in gray looked thoughtful. “He sat alone, unmoving, his expression wooden, like
 like a soulless zombie.”
Wei Zhongxi and Wei Yun’s expressions shifted, and their hearts clenched.
But then, the old man continued, “Right, that mysterious person told me I had to commit His Excellency Wei Daoyuan’s image and aura to memory. It was then that His Excellency Wei Daouyan looked up at me and said something strange.”
“What did he say?” urged Wei Zhongxi.
The old man in gray cleared his throat, then imitated Wei Daoyuan’s voice. “The Thousand-Faced Ghost Monkey can fool everyone in the Wei Family, but it can’t fool him.”
His voice was low and wooden, without the slightest ripple of emotion.
Wei Zhongxi frowned. “That’s it?”
The old man said frantically, “He really didn’t say anything else!”
Wei Yun asked, “Who did he mean by ‘him’?”
The old man in gray cautiously looked up at Su Yi, then muttered, “Perhaps
 the esteemed gentleman in front of us?”
Su Yi’s abilities had thoroughly terrified this Thousand-Faced Ghost Monkey expert.
Even now, he couldn’t imagine how a Spiritual Incarnation Realm young man had seen through his identity, much less how he’d effortlessly suppressed and dominated a terrifyingly powerful treasure like the Bloodriver Pearl.
Su Yi?
Wei Zhongxi and Wei Yun were stunned.
Thinking about it, it was indeed Su Yi who’d seen through the Thousand-Faced Ghost Monkey’s disguise!
However, he was only eighteen years old, and their patriarch had said that over three hundred years ago!
The timing obviously didn’t match up.
Could the person the patriarch referred to have been one of Su Yi’s seniors? Wei Zhongxi felt a bit baffled, but if that were the case, it would all make sense.
Su Yi wasn’t interested in any of that. He asked, “What did that mysterious person say in response?”
The old man in gray said hurriedly, “They only smiled and said it was best that it didn’t fool ‘him.’ Then, they knocked me out. By the time I regained consciousness, I was already in this immortal cave. I truly don’t know whether His Excellency Wei Daoyuan is alive or dead.”
Su Yi instantly fell silent.
There was no doubt about it. This mysterious person was after Su Xuanjun!
Furthermore, they'd known the Thousand-Faced Ghost Monkey’s Dao of Transformations couldn’t fool his keen senses!
Su Yi asked, “Did that mysterious person give you any instructions?”
“They did,” said the old man with a nod. “They said that should anyone capable of conversing with the malevolent soul of the Vermillion Bird appear in that forbidden ground, I was to meet with them and commit their appearance firmly to memory.”
Wei Zhongxi and Wei Yun both found this unbelievable.
Earlier that very night, Su Yi had indeed conversed with the soul of the Vermillion Bird!
But according to the gray-robed old man, that mysterious person had predicted this day three hundred-plus years ago!
Who wouldn’t have been astonished?
But Su Yi didn’t find this strange. He, too, could set up arrangements that almost made it seem like he had precognition.
He took a sip of wine, then said, “And then?”
The gray-robed old man said in a low voice, “They also gave me a piece of black jade, but they didn’t tell me its origins or purpose. They just said that after I saw the person I was looking for, I should find an opportunity to
 run away.”
Wei Zhongxi and Wei Yun instantly understood.
Earlier, when the old man left Wei Daoyuan’s immortal cave, he’d been attempting to flee!
But it seemed Su Yi had long since anticipated this, which was why he’d waited for his prey at the foot of Goldendawn Ridge.
When they realized this, the two of them couldn’t help but look at Su Yi. How did he figure that out?
It wasn’t just the two of them, either. Even the gray-robed elder was incomparably confused.
How could Su Yi fail to realize what they were wondering? But he didn’t explain. “Let me see that black jade.”
The old man hurriedly slipped a black wooden box from his sleeves and proffered it with both hands.
The wooden box wasn’t a treasure, nor did it hide any secrets. Su Yi took it, then opened it directly.
Inside was a piece of black jade shaped like a goose egg. Its surface was covered in serene, mysterious luster.
When Su Yi saw it, he suddenly sat upright in his chair, and his eyebrows knit together. His handsome face filled with uncertainty.
Wei Zhongxi and the others quickly realized that Su Yi knew what this object was!
After a while, Su Yi broke the silence. “You two, lead him away from the immortal cave.”
This wasn’t a discussion. It was an order!
Wei Zhongxi and Wei Yun looked at each other, then both of them nodded. They promptly led the gray-robed old man away.
Only after he was alone did Su Yi remove the jade from the box. Using his nails as a carving knife, he cut an image into the jade’s surface.
Instantly, a rain of dim, misty light drifted down alongside the jade fragments.
The jade’s surface was now carved with a profound and elaborate diagram. The instant he completed it, misty light surged forth alongside strange ripples of spatial energy.
Watching from a distance, it seemed as if a black spatial vortex had formed at Su Yi’s fingertips. The sight was strange and imposing.
Su Yi watched all of this in silence. He didn’t find it at all surprising.
This was a piece of Mother and Child Psychic Jade. They were carved from the horn of a Spirit Rhinoceros and divided into “mother” and “child” jades. Its uses were similar to clairvoyance, telepathy, and other such wondrous abilities.
This novel is available on bit.ly/3iBfjkV.
The owner of the “child” jade just needed to carve a Psychic Connection Edict onto its surface to use it. Then, even if they were worlds apart, the owner of the “mother” jade could sense them and initiate a conversation.
Such treasures were incredibly rare because Spirit Rhinoceros were incredibly rare; they could only be happened upon by chance.
Whoosh~
The child jade quivered in Su Yi’s hand, then released gray, misty light, shrouding the entire immortal cave in a dim, oppressive atmosphere.
At the same time, the sound of fierce combat emanated from within the jade!
The fighting was intermingled with demonic roaring, shouts, the sounds of destruction, and treasures colliding with thunderous booms.
Just hearing it made it seem like one was standing in a bloodsoaked battlefield, surrounded by warring demons and gods, death, destruction, and bloodshed.
Su Yi’s brow furrowed, but he ignored this.
Soon, the sound of intense combat faded. It seemed the owner of the mother jade had left that terrifying battlefield.
Eventually, the sound of combat disappeared completely. The only noise still emanating through the jade was the howling of the wind, adding a sense of loneliness and boundlessness.
However, the owner of the mother jade said nothing.
It was as if they were waiting for Su Yi to speak first.