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Yan Xuehen had never considered the question before. Now that Chu Chuyan had mentioned it, she began to think to herself again. In the past, Zu An had risked his life several times to save her, to the point that his body had ended up on the brink of collapse. Would she really just stand there without doing anything and watch him die?
When she thought of that, she slowly said, “They would probably do it again.”
Chu Chuyan said with a smile, “In that case, what else is there for that friend to feel vexed over? Even though it was an inadvertent mistake, it’s enough that they don’t regret it. As for the consequences, they could just deal with that later. They could just cross the bridge when they got there, as they could always find a way.”
Her master normally had a calm and collected demeanor. She was a complete ice queen from the peak of a frozen mountain. She didn’t have even a touch of worldly vulgarity. That was why Chu Chuyan didn’t think that this honorable master of hers could be the very friend she was talking about. Her first thought was that it was someone Yan Xuehen knew.
However, with her master’s nature, she only had a few people she would consider friends in her circle, and none of them seemed to really match her earlier description. There was no way it could be the Devil Sect’s Yun Jianyue, right?
When Yan Xuehen heard her disciple’s advice, she mysteriously felt better. She said, “Chuyan, thank you.”
Chu Chuyan smiled and replied, “I’m happy that I was able to take on a share of master’s worries.”
Yan Xuehen was alarmed and quickly said, “I will find a chance to pass this on to that friend of mine.”
Chu Chuyan didn’t suspect her. She happily started discussing the following competition.
…
The next morning, the various sects’ disciples gathered at Golden Peak, eager to see who would be the final champion. They all speculated as to who would come out on top.
Based on days of observation, more of them favored Peng Wuyan. After all, Pei Mianman had struggled even against Zhi Yin during the group stage, and she had even been injured quite a bit. Zhi Yin hadn’t even reached the master rank yet!
Meanwhile, Peng Wuyan had more accomplishments and had won against many representative disciples. She had even won against Wu Xiaofan, who had been widely acknowledged as number one!
Of course, Pei Mianman’s supporters insisted that because Zhi Yin had an immortal-grade weapon, his real strength was no lower than the master rank competitors, Wu Xiaofan and Wan Guiyi.
The judges also appeared one after another. Wang Wuxie naturally sat in the main seat. His eyes secretly darted toward Yan Xuehen’s position. When he saw that familiar white figure, he immediately became a bit happier. Even though he had already gotten over his past crush and didn’t vainly hope to have anything between the two of them, just being able to see her was already something that filled him with delight.
However, intentionally or otherwise, Yan Xuehen was glancing toward Zu An’s direction. Not only had that so-called two-hour love not granted her the fulfillment she was looking for so that she could cut off all of her feelings, it had only left her even more perplexed. Fortunately, after the enlightenment Chu Chuyan had granted her, her current plan was just to take things one step at a time.
Zu An noticed Yan Xuehen’s gaze. He nodded slightly toward her, then continued to talk with the people around him.
Yan Xuehen suddenly felt a bit empty. She was used to him brazenly calling her ‘big sis Yan’ and taking all sorts of ‘disgraceful’ liberties with her. Now that he was suddenly acting so estranged, however, she didn’t know how to react.
She was suddenly a bit stunned when she recalled what they had agreed on, that they would have nothing to do with each other after the two-hour lovers' experience. Don’t tell me he really plans to follow through with that?
That was what she had been hoping for, and yet when it really happened, she was actually caught off guard.
When he saw Yan Xuehen’s beautiful brows furrow, the Heavenly Sorrow Sect’s Guan Chouhai couldn't help but ask, “What seems to be on Sect Master Yan’s mind? Perhaps we can offer you some thoughts if you share it with us. With our cultivation and abilities, there are few things in this world that we cannot solve.” With so many people here, he couldn't bring himself to be so shameless as to call her Fairy Yan.
Wang Wuxie frowned slightly. He had almost forgotten that Guan Chouhai was previously a fervent pursuer of Yan Xuehen as well. However, he wasn’t too worried. Someone as sleazy as Guan Chouhai wasn’t even a threat to one such as himself. He refused to believe that someone as pure and aloof as a goddess would favor someone like him.
Sure enough, Yan Xuehen said coldly, “Sect Master Guan must have misunderstood. I am only curious as to why the other contestant has not arrived yet.”
The previous night, when her disciple asked her the same question, she had felt a bit touched. But this Guan Chouhai had nothing to do with her. What right did he have to try to help her with her worries?
When he sensed the coldness in her tone, Wang Wuxie almost laughed out loud. This Guan bastard really overestimates himself. I’m too embarrassed to even try to get her attention, and yet even someone like you thinks you can?
However, he quickly thought about what Yan Xuehen had said. He looked at the stage and sure enough, only Pei Mianman was there. Peng Wuyan was nowhere to be seen. It wasn’t just her; Emptiness Isle’s Elder Peng and the other disciples hadn’t come at all.
Wang Wuxie frowned. He summoned Feng Wuchang and said, “Junior brother, please check on the situation for me.”
Feng Wuchang nodded. Then, he flew in the direction of Emptiness Isle’s courtyard.
The disciples below immediately broke out into a commotion.
“Don’t tell me Peng Wuyan didn’t come because she was scared?”
“What kind of joke is that? Peng Wuyan’s cultivation is clearly higher, so why would she be scared?”
“Then something probably happened. There’s no way this Pei girl is going to win this competition entirely through luck, right?”
…
All sorts of discussions happened below. Zu An was also stunned. The luck pill’s effects weren’t supposed to last so long, right? Why had Pei Mianman won again without fighting?
Suddenly, a figure rushed back angrily. It was none other than Emptiness Isle’s Elder Peng. Feng Wuyan couldn't even catch up to her as he followed behind her.
All those in the judges’ seats became a bit uneasy when they saw how she was acting and hurriedly asked, “What exactly happened, Elder Peng?”
“Wuyan went missing!” Elder Peng replied, her expression completely overcast.
The place erupted with noise. Was Pei Mianman’s luck really just that good?
Guan Chouhai asked curiously, “What do you mean, she went missing?”
Elder Peng shot him a look and replied, “Are your ears not working? What else can missing mean? She wasn’t in her room when I went to look for her this morning! The disciples and I looked all over, but didn’t find her anywhere.”
Guan Chouhai immediately swallowed his next words down. He had almost started a fight with her on the spot, but stopped when he realized how distressed she looked.
The elders in the judges’ seats looked at each other in dismay. In all of the years of the great daoist competition, such a thing had never happened before.
Wang Wuxie couldn't help but ask, “Could it be that she encountered something and had to leave?”
“How could that be?” Elder Peng directly retorted. “She has no one she knows here, and she has her championship match here today. How could she leave? Someone definitely kidnapped her!”
“But that should be impossible. With Violet Mountain’s security, it should be really hard for any outsiders to come in. Furthermore, worthy niece Peng’s cultivation is already at the very top among her peers. With Elder Peng residing in the same residence, who else could have taken her away without drawing any attention?” Wang Wuxie immediately replied in return. This was Violet Mountain’s territory. If any security breaches were to happen, a lot of responsibility would fall on him.
Elder Peng sneered. “Sure, it might be difficult for anyone among her peers to harm her, but what if it was someone of the older generation? It seems there are some people who do not wish for our Emptiness Isle to take the championship.”
The expressions of the people in the judges’ area immediately changed when they heard those words.
Even Wan Guiyi couldn't help but look at his father. If Peng Wuyan disappeared, the one with the most to gain would naturally be Jadefall Palace. That way, Pei Mianman would win again without needing to fight and become the winner. He still carried a rather good impression of Peng Wuyan, who gave off a presence of power. Furthermore, with his personality, he couldn’t be satisfied with such under-the-table tricks.
Wan Tongtian almost strangled his son when he saw those looks. If even his son was looking at him like that, what about everyone else?
As such, he hurriedly explained, “I was together with junior sister Huo Ling to help with Manman’s training the entire day yesterday. We taught her how to deal with today’s competition, so how could we have done such a thing?”
“You were together with Elder Huo Ling?” Guan Chouhai replied with an ‘oh’ of surprise. There was an amused look in his eyes.
When she saw people’s gossipy gazes, Elder Huo Ling’s face reddened for the first time. Wan Tongtian panicked and said, “Mister Guan, it’s not as filthy as you are imagining. We were just chatting normally.”
When she saw him frantically try to explain himself, Elder Huo Ling only felt really annoyed. She got angrier and angrier.
“You stayed in the same room and chatted together for an entire night? That sounds quite normal to me, alright,” Guan Chouhai said mockingly. The Heavenly Sorrow Sect and Jadefall Palace had never gotten along that well, so he wasn’t worried at all about any further drama that could ensue.
“Mister Guan, it seems we really can’t expect anything good to come out of the mouth of a dog!” Elder Huo Ling snapped furiously. She fired back with curses.
Guan Chouhai was still a sect master for better or for worse. Being cursed in front of so many people was something he couldn't just swallow down. He also slammed the table and got up, retorting, “What, are others even not allowed to talk about the things that you did, or you might have done yourselves?”
“Enough!” When he saw that these two important individuals were arguing like mere juniors, Wang Wuxie couldn't continue to listen. He said, “We need to discuss the case of worthy niece Peng’s disappearance. Do not drag in anything else.”
He looked at Elder Peng afterward and continued. “Worthy niece Peng’s cultivation isn’t low, and you were also there by her side. I just cannot figure out who across all of Violet Mountain would have the ability to silently kidnap her.”
People’s gazes all fell onto Elder Peng. Right… Elder Peng’s cultivation might not be the highest here, but kidnapping her disciple without alerting her at all would be practically impossible.
“There was a mysterious person who left a letter yesterday, saying that there was something they wanted to discuss with me and that it was related to today’s competition. Even though I felt that it was rather underhanded, it was related to today, so I didn’t dare to lower my guard. I set out to meet with them just as the letter stated,” Elder Peng said with an annoyed expression. “But I didn’t find the one who arranged the meeting at all.”
Wan Tongtian and Elder Huo Ling both cried out in surprise. They seemed to have thought of something similar.
Wang Wuxie looked at them and asked, “Did you two think of any clues?”
“No,” The two both replied in unison. How could they let anyone else know about their awkward incident? Wouldn’t that make them a laughingstock in the daoist sects?
Elder Peng continued and said, “I went straight back after. I thought that there was nothing to it and just assumed it was a mischievous prank. Now that I think about it, something probably happened to Wuyan during that time.”
The White Jade Sect’s Li Changsheng asked curiously, “Did you not think to confirm whether your disciple was still there, thus only noticing that she disappeared today?”
“Wuyan fought several battles in a row. What she needed the most at that time was rest, and not to be babysat until the last minute,” Elder Peng said while staring coldly at Wan Tongtian and Huo Ling.
Wan Tongtian and Huo Ling both felt annoyed. They harrumphed to express their disagreement.
Then, Elder Peng continued to cause havoc on Golden Peak. She claimed that the sects weren’t willing to see their disciples lose, so some older generation figures acted without any regard for their own status.
It can be hard to make great work when its stolen from bit.ly/3iBfjkV.
Now, even the Kunlun Void Sect, Supreme Mystery Cave, and the other sect representatives’ expressions became unhappy. Even Wang Wuxie didn’t look that happy, because their disciples had all lost to Peng Wuyan.
However, the others couldn't help but look at Wang Wuxie. It was one thing if they lost; there was no reason for them to do something so shameless. It was different for Wang Wuxie, though. Wu Xiaofan was Wang Wuxie’s disciple, the one who was publicly acknowledged as having the greatest chance of winning this competition. Wang Wuxie had even given him the Green Scale Armor, proving just how much he wanted him to win. Furthermore, this was Violet Mountain’s domain. Wang Wuxie’s cultivation was high as well, so he had the motive and ability to do such a thing.
When he saw the looks of suspicion, Wang Wuxie’s face heated up. This really was a frustrating situation!
Yan Xuehen spoke up and asked, “Could it be that Devil Sect’s Yun Jianyue did this? I feel that this fits her style of doing things.”