Walking by the Abyss on Thin Ice

Chapter 148 – The Saint's Family Thief

The next morning, Su Yun sent Qing Qiuyue, Hu Buping, and Li Xiaofan to school before coming to the Ge Wu Academy. The academy was still under renovation, with many construction workers busy rebuilding the Wen Chang Study Palace and the Ge Wu Academy.

Rubbing his eyes, Su Yun stared at a busy foreman and then rubbed his eyes again to confirm he wasn't mistaken. The foreman was an honest-looking man with a sturdy build and a book basket on his back containing a pile of rolled-up drawings. It was none other than the mute senior brother from the Tong Tian Tower!

Su Yun had never expected to run into him here!

The mute senior brother turned and smiled at him, looking very simple and honest.

Su Yun smiled back and thought to himself, "Young Master Ye Luo is really something to be able to invite him here. The Ge Wu Academy he builds probably won't be destroyed by scholars again... By the way, where exactly was the Long Xiang hanging?"

Last night, he had used the mute senior brother's power to imprint his spirit on every possible place in Shuo Fang City, discovering the Long Xiang hanging under a bridge. The Long Xiang was a tomb beast that transformed from a stone carving in front of a tomb during the day and became a fast carriage-pulling beast for the Eastern Master at night.

Su Yun had thought that the Long Xiang had returned to the Eastern Master at Tian Shi Yuan, but it turned out that it was hanging under a bridge. It seemed that when it was leaping over a bridge with a lamp post in its mouth, the lamp post got stuck on the railing of the bridge, and it couldn't get free.

"That's a bridge, a bridge on the ground, and there should be a river below it." Su Yun guessed.

Last night, the mute senior brother had extended his spirit to the entire city with his immense cultivation, but Su Yun's spirit had dissipated too widely, and he couldn't remember the geography of Shuo Fang City in detail.

He could only "see" the spiritual weapon, and he couldn't "see" the things within the spiritual weapon, but he could make reasonable guesses.

"The fact that the Long Xiang has been hanging under the bridge for so long without being discovered means that it's quite remote. It should be a dry riverbed, and it shouldn't be difficult to find it."

Su Yun asked Ying Ying, "Is there any information about the geography of Shuo Fang City in the Wen Yuan Pavilion?"

Ying Ying waved her hand lightly, and a map of the geography rose from the ground, saying, "This is the geography map that Lou Ban presented to the emperor."

As a book monster, Ying Ying had an incredible memory for all knowledge, including astronomy, geography, and everything else. She could reproduce everything she had read at any time.

Su Yun admired her silently and examined the geography map carefully, thinking to himself, "Lou Ban's geography map given to the emperor is incomplete. He only gave half of the underground geography to the emperor and lacked many details."

Suddenly, he was stunned by an interesting and terrifying idea!

"The Eastern Imperial City was also built by Lou Ban and his disciples. Could it have been turned into an enormous spiritual weapon as well? If it were a spiritual weapon, would the emperor of the Eastern Imperial City know?"

He was inexplicably excited and wished he could fly to the Eastern Imperial City immediately.

"If there is a chance in the future, I must go to the Eastern Imperial City to take a look!"

Su Yun calmed down and searched the edge of the Shuo Fang geography map, and suddenly his eyes lit up as he found a river flowing from the edge of the city. The river was called Huan River, only ten miles long and not very wide, so it should be easy to search.

He closed his eyes, recalling his spiritual imprint from last night, and compared it with the geography map. In his spiritual realm, the geography of Shuo Fang City emerged slowly, with bridges, roads, buildings, and everything else appearing clearly.

Ying Ying flew over Shuo Fang City in her spiritual realm, searching for errors and pointing them out.After a moment, Su Yun opened his eyes and pointed to a blank spot, asking, "Ying Ying, why is this place blank?"

Ying Ying looked closely at his spiritual world map and found that both Su Yun's spiritual imprint and the geographical map given by Lou Ban to the court had the same blank area!

"This should be where the Holy Man lives, an old house. When Lou Ban built the city, the second generation of the Xue family's Holy Man lived here, and Lou Ban didn't touch it."

Ying Ying speculated, "The second generation of the Shuofang Holy Man was a strong man during the reign of Emperor Ai, and the Xue family's power was overwhelming. Lou Ban was only posthumously named the Heavenly Master, and his power was far inferior to that of the second generation of the Holy Man. When he built the city, he didn't dare to touch the Holy Man's residence."

Su Yun observed the geographical map and saw that the Holy Man's residence was not far from the Huan River, saying, "Let's go to the Huan River first today, and then visit the Holy Man Xue."

Ying Ying asked in confusion, "Aren't we going to challenge other aristocratic families? Today, we still have to challenge the Wen, Zhou, and Tian families."

"We're not going to those families. They are too cunning and have bought some scholars to deal with me, completely disregarding their face."

Su Yun thought of that Dragon Galloping and felt a burst of heat in his heart, laughing, "They practice real dragon divine powers and need enough time. When they feel they have the strength to kill me, they will naturally come to challenge me. At that time, I will kill them. Today, let's do our own thing!"

"Don't forget, you still have six techniques to learn."

Ying Ying quickly reminded him, "I have transmitted the six techniques to you, and it's close to the twelfth hour."

Su Yun suddenly activated the Chick Phoenix Returning Pavilion Qi Cultivation Technique, and the sound of phoenix cries came from within his body, and his figure flew like a chick phoenix. When he had used the first six moves, the Chick Phoenix Returning Pavilion Qi Cultivation Technique had been upgraded to the sixth level!

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In his spiritual world, Ying Ying carefully observed his spiritual power and saw that Su Yun's spiritual power was also using the six moves of the Chick Phoenix Returning Pavilion just like his real body. Moreover, these six martial arts had obviously comprehended the three major essentials of the Chick Phoenix Returning Pavilion. She thought to herself, "He learns fast."

Su Yun moved his body and directly transformed from the Chick Phoenix Returning Pavilion to the Dragon Qilin Coiling the Void Qi Cultivation Technique. This technique required visualization of dragons and qilins, and Su Yun had comprehended the true dragons and qilins, so he was naturally proficient.

In just a short moment, he had performed all five Qi Cultivation Techniques.

Su Yun finished and walked outside the Materialism Pavilion. Ying Ying quickly reminded him, "There is still the sixth one! The Heavenly Palace Divine Light Guidance Technique, you haven't mastered it..."

As soon as she finished speaking, the chanting of the gods' voices suddenly sounded in his ears, and a divine light pierced through the spiritual world, shining down.

Ying Ying looked up and saw that the sky in the spiritual world had opened up, and a golden Heavenly Palace appeared outside the sky, as if it were in another time and space.

In the Heavenly Palace, the gods were solemn and sacred, standing on the clouds.

The divine light fell on Su Yun's spiritual power, strengthening his spiritual power and nourishing his body.

Ying Ying's heart trembled, and she quickly looked at the big yellow bell. She saw that one pattern after another appeared on the bell's hourly scale, three hundred and sixty patterns, which were quickly filled up!

She had suggested that Su Yun spend a day mastering the six Qi Cultivation Techniques, and originally had the intention of making things difficult for him, but she didn't expect Su Yun to actually comprehend all six techniques in one day!

"Qiu Shuijing didn't let up, his talent and intelligence are indeed enough to enter the Heavenly Academy."

Ying Ying secretly praised, thinking to herself, "But challenging Di Ping, I'm afraid it's still not enough. Di Ping is too terrifying..."

Su Yun hired a mountain-carrying carriage and headed towards the Huan River.As the carriage approached the Huan River, Su Yun opened the window and saw that the river was filled with all kinds of debris, most likely waste discarded during the city's construction. He even saw things like stone lions from wealthy households thrown here.

As Su Yun expected, there was no water in the river.

The carriage went upstream along the river and Su Yun found two or three bridges but did not find the dragon stone carvings hanging under the bridges.

When they arrived at the back of the Sage's residence, Su Yun saw the dragon stone carvings hanging under the bridge.

There were several courtyards next to the Sage's residence, and an old man walked out of one of them, slightly startled when he saw Su Yun in the carriage.

Su Yun smiled and nodded at the old man. "Is this Uncle Zhou? Did you hear any strange noises last night?"

The old man was Zhou Bo, who had once carried Bai Yuelou, the young master of the Sage's residence, to participate in the imperial examination on a cart. He shook his head at Su Yun's question, his voice dry as an eagle's: "I have not heard anything."

Su Yun thanked him and Zhou Bo left.

Su Yun jumped off the carriage and onto the bridge. He saw that the reins tied to the lamp post were not the original ones, causing him to furrow his brow.

"These reins were used to tie up horses by the Eastern Master. They've been replaced. Could it be the Sage's doing?"

He shook his head slightly. Xue Qingfu, the Saint, would not steal the Eastern Master's horse.

Su Yun looked around, his brow furrowing even more tightly. The road that the dragon carvings had taken did not lead back to Tian Shi Yuan. Obviously, the night the dragon carvings disappeared along with the lamp post, they were not taken back to Tian Shi Yuan, but were abducted!

Su Yun turned his head and looked at the several courtyards next to the Sage's residence. Zhou Bo was busy chopping wood in one of them.

"That day, I risked my life to save Saint Xue and took him to Shuo Fang to seek help from Doctor Dong. After I left the Saint at the Apricot Forest Herb Shop, I planned to ride horses with Little Yao to enjoy the wind, but Long Xiang disappeared after we went out. What does this mean..."

"What does it mean?" In Su Yun's spiritual world, Ying Ying leaned over and whispered in his ear.

Su Yun was startled, and Ying Ying giggled. "Whatever you think in your mind, your spiritual being will say it for you. So, what does it mean?"

"It means that Long Xiang was stolen, and there are two meanings to it."

Su Yun regained his composure and said, "When I arrived at the Apricot Forest Herb Shop that night, Uncle Zhou from the Sage's residence also arrived there. Only then could he have stolen my dragon... um, the Eastern Master's dragon carvings."

Ying Ying thought for a moment and said, "What's the second meaning?"

"He has been following us all along."

Su Yun's expression was extremely calm as he said, "He has been following us since we left Shuo Fang and went to Tian Shi Yuan. When Saint Xue was attacked by the Old Immortal and ambushed by the God King, he followed us. When we escaped to the Unordered Territory and were saved by the Eastern Master, he followed us."

Ying Ying asked in confusion, "Since he is Saint Xue's servant, why didn't he help when Saint Xue was in danger? He should have the ability to do so, right?"

Su Yun exerted force and lifted the petrified Long Xiang from under the bridge, silently thinking, "That's what I want to know too."

He untied the reins from Long Xiang's harness and put the stone carving on the back of the carriage. He asked the driver, "May I ask which hall you belong to?"

The driver had a simple and honest expression and smiled, "I am from the Hetao Hall, and I am called Su Shizi."

Su Yun nodded and said, "Please send this horse to Old Piao's house and tell him to tie it up well. It would be best to hide it in a large hall and tie it to a pillar with the best spiritual tool. Remember, remember."The coachman nodded and drove away.

Su Yun watched him go, his eyes flickering, and walked towards the courtyard where Zhou Bo was.

Ying Ying hurriedly said, "Su Yun, this person dared to steal Eastern Master's horse. He must be very dangerous. It's best not to get too close! If he stole the horse, he definitely can't hide it from Saint Xue. Since Saint Xue didn't stop him, it shows that their relationship is not simple!"

Su Yun approached, only to see Zhou Bo's hand holding the firewood chopper, with blue veins bulging. As Su Yun approached, the veins on his hand bulged higher and thicker!

Obviously, Su Yun's approach made him very uncomfortable and he could erupt and hurt someone at any moment!

As Su Yun got closer and closer, just when Zhou Bo seemed to be unable to bear it, the sound of a creaking door came from the center of the nearby saint's residence. Xue Qingfu's voice came, laughing, "So it's Su Scholar. You finally decided to visit me! Come over here!"

Su Yun turned his footsteps and walked towards the saint's residence.

Behind him, Zhou Bo's arm was already covered with blood vessels and veins. The old man slowly relaxed, and the blood vessels and veins on his arm gradually disappeared.