Upon hearing Qin Gengyun’s words, Wei Wan’s gentle eyes narrowed slightly. After pondering for a moment, she called for a steward disciple from Xiyue Peak, Chen Yuanqi.

He was one of the rare male disciples of Xiyue Peak and had always followed Wei Wan. After Wei Wan returned from her travels, he continued to accompany her.

As Chen Yuanqi entered, seeing only Qin Gengyun and Wei Wan in the room, he immediately glanced at Qin Gengyun, his gaze somewhat unfriendly.

Wei Wan said to Chen Yuanqi, "He Zhiqiu just discovered that Junior Brother Feng and the other two most likely died from a sly ambush. Remind everyone not to be alone and to stay vigilant at night."

Hearing Wei Wan’s instructions, Chen Yuanqi immediately cupped his hands and said, "Yes!"

After Chen Yuanqi left, Wei Wan gently said to Qin Gengyun, "Junior Brother He, Yuanqi bears no malice towards you, he’s just not familiar with you, so don’t mind him."

Qin Gengyun replied, "Don’t worry, Second Senior Sister. Senior Brother Chen is a steady person. I still need to learn a lot from him."

As Qin Gengyun walked out of the main residence, he couldn’t help but sigh in his heart.

No wonder people said that the second sister of Xiyue Peak was gentle and meticulous, as delicate as threads, and as tender as water.

Chen Yuanqi must be one of Wei Wan’s many admirers. Seeing him and Wei Wan alone in a room just now, he immediately felt envious.

Wei Wan had just explained the reason for her visit, and after Chen Yuanqi left, she comforted him.

This handling of matters was indeed meticulous and gentle, no wonder so many male disciples admired her.

However, Qin Gengyun always had a strange feeling towards this gentle second senior sister.

She was too perfect, like a delicately crafted doll, with no flaws to be found yet extraordinarily unreal.

This feeling was also present with Ruo Mei.

Thinking of Ruo Mei, Qin Gengyun paused his steps slightly and looked up at the sky. The night was deep and as dark as ink.

Such a night was suitable for a bit of exploration.

Qin Gengyun walked to the backyard, where there was a rockery dividing the courtyard into east and west sides.

There were several guest rooms on each side, with the eastern side for female disciples and the western side for male disciples.

After he and his wife moved into Qinhe Garden, he was busy with cultivation and alchemy every day and hadn’t visited the backyard much.

Unexpectedly, there would be a day when he would come in as a guest and be assigned to stay in a guest room.

Qin Gengyun walked to the west side and entered the guest room where he was staying, only to find Mo Xiaolan sitting cross-legged on the floor, eyes closed in cultivation.

Hearing footsteps, Mo Xiaolan opened her eyes, her cheeks slightly red:

"Why is there only one bed in this room?"

Qin Gengyun replied helplessly, "I didn’t come to the backyard often before, so I’m not sure either."

Mo Xiaolan turned her head to look at the only bed in the room and softly said, "I need to cultivate tonight, so you sleep on the bed."

Qin Gengyun glanced out the window and whispered, "I won’t sleep tonight, you can sleep, just be careful by yourself."

Mo Xiaolan blinked and suddenly asked, "Are you going to find Ruo Mei?"

Qin Gengyun nodded, "I still think there’s something wrong with Ruo Mei. I need to see who she really is."

Mo Xiaolan asked, "If she truly is Taoist Friend Qiu, what will you do?" 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝓮𝒘𝙚𝙗𝒏𝙤𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝒐𝙢

Qin Gengyun said, "If she really is my wife, I won’t let her leave me again."

Mo Xiaolan nodded, "Taoist Friend Qiu has deep feelings for you, you really shouldn’t let her down, but..."

Pausing, she softly said, "She would rather take the risk to impersonate a disciple of Zhenyang Sect than admit to knowing you. Could there be some unavoidable reason? If you force her to acknowledge you, wouldn’t it disrupt her plans?"

Qin Gengyun smiled, "I’ve thought about what you’ve said. Actually, when she suddenly appeared in Yunling Town and married me, I already speculated about her origins."

"The trip to the Northern Wilderness, the relic of the Cyan Lotus Sect, and many details suggest her identity might not be as simple as an unknown elder of the Cyan Lotus Sect."

Mo Xiaolan was stunned, "You mean..."

Qin Gengyun calmly said, "No matter who my wife is or what she intends to do, as a couple, her goals are my goals. I will surely advance and retreat with her."

Seeing Qin Gengyun’s determined expression, Mo Xiaolan lowered her head, remained silent for a moment, then looked up and smiled:

"I knew I wasn’t wrong about you, Qin Gengyun... be careful."

"Alright, you too. I’m off."

Qin Gengyun smiled at her, his figure flashed, and he was already out of the room.

Mo Xiaolan sat cross-legged on the floor, her expression absent. After a long while, a smile appeared on her face, and she murmured:

"Because he’s such a person, you gave your heart to him. In that case, why dwell on sadness... cultivate."

She then closed her eyes again, and soon, a faint glow appeared on her body.

In the quiet room, an orchid bloomed faintly.

...

The night was deep and silent.

On the east side of the backyard of Qinhe Garden, there was a row of houses where the female disciples lived.

One of the doors opened, and a delicate and slender figure emerged from the room.

She held a bathing towel in her hand.

Having fought in close quarters with the demonic beasts during the day, her body was stained with a lot of blood, so she naturally needed to wash it off.

As she walked along the long corridor, with the rockery and the trickling water beside her, she felt a bit sentimental.

When she moved into Qinhe Garden with her husband, she was preoccupied with cultivating with him and supervising Liu Su to assist him in alchemy, so she hadn’t actually toured the backyard.

She hadn’t expected her backyard to be so large.

After walking down the corridor for a while, she finally reached the bathing room.

There were many guest rooms in the backyard, but only one bathing room on each side. Xia Qinglian disliked bathing with others, so she waited until the other female disciples were asleep before coming out.

Entering the bathing room and bypassing the partition screen, there was a bathtub inside. Next to it was a water tank and stove used for heating water.

Xia Qinglian gently lifted her hand, and the water in the tank surged up, obediently flying into the bathtub. A bright red flame then appeared beneath the bathtub.

This flame was magical. The wooden bathtub wasn’t even slightly burned, and the water inside quickly heated up.

Xia Qinglian unbuttoned her clothes, removed her outer robe, then her undergarments, revealing her pale, slender body.

This was a transformed body based on Ruo Mei’s appearance, naturally far less than the original of Qiu Zhihe and Xia Qinglian.

However, it boasted jade-like skin, soft and fair, with a pitiable charm.

Xia Qinglian entered the bathtub, her body sinking into the water. She untied her hairband, letting her hair cascade down like a waterfall, with the tips floating on the water, dark and shining.

She slightly tilted her head, using the hot water in the tub to wash her hair.

When fighting using Ruo Mei’s body, she naturally couldn’t display the Profound Ice and Li Fire and had to engage in close combat, getting too much demonic beast blood on her, which she very much disliked.

In fact, it wasn’t just the Zhenyang Sect that fought against the beast tide. Twenty years ago, when she was just a child, the South Demon region also experienced a beast tide. At that time, her master and senior sister also led the Cyan Lotus Sect members to resist demonic beasts and saved countless civilians.

Even when she was only six, she personally killed dozens of demonic beasts.

Such things were not uncommon.

That day at the foot of Zhenyang Sect’s mountain, Tantai Mingyue made a grand speech, which to her seemed bold and passionate, but in reality, was hypocritical and false.

Her master had always taught her that killing demonic beasts and saving fellow humans was natural and needed no publicity.

The way the Zhenyang Sect acted was truly laughable.

Suddenly, a fierce light flashed in Xia Qinglian’s eyes.

"Who?!"