Chapter 2101: Search

“What do we do about Elder Qi?” Yan Xuehen asked worriedly as she suddenly looked at the unconscious middle-aged daoist nun.

Even though she hadn’t seen what had happened, Elder Qi had been knocked unconscious by Zu An right from the start. Once she woke up, she would definitely suspect that the two of them had done something.

“I’ll leave that up to you. This is your territory, after all,” Zu An replied with a smile.

“You’ll leave it to me?” Yan Xuehen repeated, almost fainting. “Why aren’t you taking any responsibility at all?”

“I can take care of it if you want. I’ll just destroy the corpse so there’s no evidence,” Zu An said, his tone suddenly becoming grave.

“Don’t!” Yan Xuehen quickly said; her expression changed as she stopped him. “Just let me take care of it!” How could she let her fellow sect member be harmed because of her own selfish interests?

…

Elder Qi gradually woke up, a look of confusion appearing on her face. Soon, however, she took out her weapons to prepare for battle.

“Elder Qi, please do not feel nervous,” a clear and cold voice said from off to the side.

When Elder Qi followed the source of the voice, she saw that Yan Xuehen was sitting there and looking at her. She was surprised and overjoyed, asking, “Sect master, are you alright?”

“Yes, it was thanks to the regent’s all-out… healing,” Yan Xuehen said. When she recalled the earlier events, she couldn't help but clench her toes. Fortunately, she was quite good at controlling herself and didn’t show any suspicious behavior.

Elder Qi gave the nearby Zu An a look, then quickly grabbed Yan Xuehen. She secretly asked, “Sect master, he didn’t do anything disrespectful to you just now, did he?”

Countless memories appeared in Yan Xuehen’s mind.

Are you kidding me? It wasn’t just disrespect, he already went all the way!

Still, she replied, “Of course not.” Afterward, her cheeks heated up a bit. She had never told lies in the past, but ever since she met that little demon, she'd begun to lie more and more.

“But he knocked me out as soon as we entered…” Elder Qi reflexively lowered her head to examine her own clothes while speaking.

Zu An’s eyelids twitched as he watched her.

You’re actually worried that I’d do something to you? Keep dreaming!

Yan Xuehen quietly explained, “The regent already explained it to me before, telling me that his method is extremely special and cannot be seen by anyone else. The reason he agreed to you entering is because he did not wish to delay my healing process, so please do not take offense, Elder Qi.”

“But…” Elder Qi said, still a bit suspicious. Sect Master Yan was just too beautiful, and the regent seemed to be a famous playboy. Would he really be completely untempted?

Yan Xuehen guessed what she was thinking from her expression and said, “What are you thinking? He is Chuyan’s husband! To a certain degree, I am also his master. How could he possibly do what you are thinking of?”

The moment those words left her mouth, she felt mysteriously guilty. The people of this world were indeed like this, attaching a lot of importance to respecting their masters, but this guy really was daring. He only knew how to disrespect his seniors!

Elder Qi chuckled in relief.

That’s right! Even though Sect Master Yan is beautiful, with her and Chuyan’s master-disciple relationship, how could the regent dare to do anything?

Even taking a thousand steps back, assuming the regent did something unforgivable and immoral, is Sect Master Yan’s untarnished character something I should doubt?

Her cold and indifferent personality means she didn’t even give Zhao Han the time of day. If there really were something, would she be able to keep on such a natural expression?

Sigh, it seems we were thinking like petty-minded people about a gentleman.

She bowed respectfully to Zu An. “Thank you so much for saving our sect master, regent.”

Zu An sighed and said, “It’s alright as long as I’m not mistaken for a demon of lust.”

Elder Qi felt more and more guilty as she said, “It was us who were too inflexible.”

Yan Xuehen glared at Zu An.

I don’t think it’s too far off, though!

This guy really doesn’t bat a single eyelid while telling lies.

“Elder Ming and the others were really worried and anxious while waiting outside, so I’ll go out to talk to them first,” Elder Qi suggested.

“Let’s go together. We’ve worried everyone,” Yan Xuehen said, but as soon as she took a step, her expression changed a bit. She quickly used ki to hold something in.

Elder Qi's nose suddenly twitched. Yan Xuehen was alarmed and asked, “What is it?”

“I can’t help but feel as if there was some strange smell, but now I can’t smell it anymore. It might have just been my imagination,” Elder Qi said apologetically.

Yan Xuehen’s face was heating up to the point that she really wanted to crawl into a hole and hide forever. Fortunately, Zu An had already used a certain skill to get rid of those ambiguous smells before Elder Qi woke up, but she hadn’t expected there to still be a bit left.

The door to the dwelling quickly opened. When they heard the news, the mass of people outside rushed over. When they saw that Yan Xuehen was still as pure and transcendent as she usually looked, they were overjoyed and exclaimed, “Sect master, have you recovered?”

A look of amazement appeared in many people’s eyes. Even though they had already seen her countless times, it was always a different experience whenever they saw the sect master again. She even seemed to be a bit rosier than usual. The distant and remote goddess in the clouds now seemed to carry a bit more worldly beauty.

Yan Xuehen voiced her confirmation. “It was thanks to a secret method only the regent knows.”

Everyone from the White Jade Sect bowed to Zu An. “Thank you so much, regent!”

Elder Ming used the chance to secretly ask, “Elder Qi, was there anything strange that happened inside?”

“No… there wasn’t.” Elder Qi hesitantly wondered whether to speak the truth, but after thinking about it, even though everyone in the sect trusted the sect master’s judgment, if news of such a thing went out, who knew what the others would think? Then, not only would their sect master’s reputation be harmed, even the White Jade Sect itself would be implicated. As such, she decided it was better to just not say anything.

When he heard her reply, Elder Ming sighed inwardly in relief.

“Everyone is too polite. Sect Master Yan is Chuyan’s master and my good friend. Whether for personal or public reasons, it was only right for me to to save her,” Zu An said as he stood behind Yan Xuehen and secretly held her hand.

Yan Xuehen wanted to pull her hand back, but she couldn't. She couldn't exert too much strength in front of so many people either, and could only let him do what he wanted. Even so, her face was really heating up.

This guy really isn’t scared of anything at all!

…

Afterward, the White Jade Sect wanted to hold a feast to thank Zu An, but Zu An wasn’t in the mood. Yan Xuehen wasn’t the type to enjoy too much activity either, so they decided not to hold such an event in the end.

A separate courtyard was prepared near the main peak. It wasn’t too far from where Yan Xuehen resided. Yan Xuehen was already completely awake and fine, so they naturally didn’t need to worry about anything.

Zu An summoned Yan Xuehen and the other elders from the White Jade Sect to ask them about their secret dungeon. He wanted to get to the bottom of Chuyan’s disappearance.

“This is a secret dungeon that we inherited and have passed down for thousands of years. It seems to have existed even before the White Jade Sect was founded. Natural ki is rich and abundant inside, and there are all kinds of rarely seen flowers and herbs within. Calling it a paradise wouldn’t be too great of an exaggeration,” Elder Ming said. However, he frowned and continued, “Furthermore, after thousands of years of exploration, we did not find it to contain any dangers at all, and yet this kind of thing happened. It really is strange.”

“Most of the secret dungeons of the world are ancient remains. While these remains contain opportunities, they also hold danger. Could it be that this secret dungeon of yours is one of those ancient remains?” Zu An asked in confusion.

Yan Xuehen shook her head and said, “Our secret dungeon is not one of those historical remains, and is instead more like a world of its own. It is like a mythical fairyland.”

“What exactly is inside the secret dungeon? Can you describe it in more detail?” Zu An continued. He wanted to see if he could find any clues.

Elder Ming and the others were hesitating, so Yan Xuehen decided to take the lead. “This secret dungeon was originally our White Jade Sect’s secret, but since the secret dungeon has already been ruined, there is no harm in telling the regent.

“Actually, our White Jade Sect was modeled after the secret dungeon. The entire secret dungeon is located in the skies, and many peaks tower into the clouds. Every single peak is linked by clouds between them that serve as stairs. Every peak has a different elemental property. The cultivators who enter frequently cultivate on the peak with the element that resonates with their own the best. By doing so, they can achieve twice the results with half the effort.

“And the peak Chuyan chose was the ice element peak. I cultivated there in the past, so I don’t know why this happened now.”

Zu An asked seriously, “Did you already search the entire secret dungeon? What about the world underneath the clouds?”

“There does not seem to be anything beneath the clouds; instead, there is only an endless abyss. There was once a senior who went down to investigate, but he was sent back by force not long after he went down. It seems to be a safety mechanism the secret dungeon has to protect cultivators,” Yan Xuehen replied. “Besides, with Chuyan’s cultivation, she would never just fall down accidentally.”

Zu An began to think to himself. Chuyan had always been fine when she entered before, so why was it different this time? The first thing he considered was the alien monster invasion. Could it be that some kind of restriction had been activated?

However, the sealed land was so far from the White Jade Sect, and judging from how these people were describing the situation, it didn’t seem as if anything strange had happened. Would the monster invasion really affect this place?

Could this be the result of some transformations that took place within Chuyan herself? She had learned some things from the daoist secret dungeon. It probably didn’t have anything to do with Kiss of the Goddess, though. Could it be the Pure World Icelotus?

He asked, “Could it be that there really aren’t any buildings or stone carving-like things in the secret dungeon? Everything is natural? Or are there any things that stand out?”

Yan Xuehen hesitated before saying, “Now that you mention it, there is something. I wonder if it has any relevance.”