The person in the room was He Kao, wearing the Hidden Moth Gauze. He sat in the darkness, suppressing his presence until Lan Jiwan entered and noticed him.

Lan Jiwan: "Elder Huo Qing, are you following and monitoring me?" Though her voice was still icy, she inadvertently added "Elder" in her address, also using a respectful tone, indicating a subtle shift in attitude.

He Kao didn't expose anything, calmly saying, "I wasn't following you; I just guessed what you might do and was a bit worried, that's all."

Lan Jiwan walked across the room and sat by the window, asking, "What are you worried about?"

He Kao: "Some find themselves in a sea of suffering because they have no choice; others fall into the abyss by their own doing. I don't want to see people who can clearly leave the sea of suffering choose to destroy themselves.

Actually, I want to protect that brother and sister, to prevent anything from happening to them."

Lan Jiwan: "I already know the rules of the Magic Sect. Of course, I wouldn't use Li Weiping to threaten Li Chun, nor force Li Chun to violate Sect Rules."

He Kao: "If no one had told you the Piao Gate Law, if you didn't know the sect's rules, would you have done it?"

Lan Jiwan: "I wouldn't trouble Li Chun, but I also won't be courteous to Li Weiping; he's not a good person."

He Kao: "You can't sentence someone to death for spitting on the street, can you? Everyone must pay for their mistakes, but he's already been punished."

Lan Jiwan: "What do you take me for? I didn't intend to do anything to him, just to ask a few questions."

He Kao: "And now, what are your plans?"

Lan Jiwan's voice inexplicably tightened, as she retorted, "What do you want me to do for you?" Everything was over; now the only one who knew her secret and could threaten her was this Elder Huo Qing in front of her.

He Kao shook his head, saying, "I only came to tell you what happened. I never intended to coerce you into anything; you actually came to me yourself.

The Huiming Shi Family has fallen, and the Bitter Tea is gone; you are liberated! Shang Yan isn't your real name, and the face I see now probably isn't your real appearance either.

No one knows who you are anymore; Blue Magpie is just a meaningless code. You can disappear now, as long as you don't use techniques for evil, no one will look for you again."

Shang Yan was the name Lan Jiwan used when she checked into this hotel; the ID was real, the photo was her current face, but He Kao said he hadn't seen her true face or known her real name.

Lan Jiwan's voice remained cold, but she couldn't suppress a tremor: "Is what you said true? Am I free?"

He Kao affirmed, "From what I've witnessed during this time, I truly have no reason to do anything to you. If you choose to go into hiding now, you can leave."

Lan Jiwan: "Is it all over?"

He Kao: "It's all over; you don't have to live in constant fear anymore."

Lan Jiwan sat by the window, her silhouette outlined by the scattered city lights outside, beautiful like a mysterious and alluring silhouette painting, but her face still hidden in shadow, silent for a long time.

Finally out of the abyss, everything she feared had vanished. She indeed felt a lightness from within, a pressure that had perpetually weighed on her had dissipated without her knowing, yet her mood remained confused.

She should be happy, but why couldn't she feel joy? Could it be that living in fear for too long, she had forgotten how to be happy?

The two remained silent in the dark for a long time until He Kao finally spoke: "Aren't you leaving?"

Lan Jiwan: "Leave? This is my room!"

He Kao: "Oh, if there's nothing else, I'll take my leave!"

Lan Jiwan: "Wait!"

He Kao hadn't even moved to leave when he turned his head, asking, "Is there something else?"

Lan Jiwan: "This isn't what we agreed on!"

He Kao: "What's different?"

Lan Jiwan: "What did you tell Ye Liangcheng?"

He Kao: "If his companions come looking, he must disclose his true identity and past actions."

Lan Jiwan: "I haven't disclosed yet."

He Kao laughed: "You can disclose now."

Lan Jiwan: "And then?"

He Kao: "If the guilt is unforgivable, I will not let it pass. If truly innocent or there are extenuating circumstances or pitiable situations, then it will be dealt with according to karma."

Lan Jiwan: "That's not right."

He Kao: "What's not right?"

Lan Jiwan: "That's not what you told Ye Liangcheng. You said you came to punish the sect's renegades and that if Ye Liangcheng was willing to follow, you could pass on the teachings of the ancestor..."

He Kao interrupted her: "Ye Liangcheng has already passed my test."

Lan Jiwan: "You can assess me as well; aren't you already doing so?"

He Kao sighed: "People are different, Ye Liangcheng isn't as shrewd as you. For you, I want to ask one question first, then we'll talk about the rest."

Lan Jiwan: "Please, go ahead."

He Kao: "Who am I?"

The question was so strange; wasn't he Elder Huo Qing? If it were Ye Liangcheng, he would be completely confused. Lan Jiwan's reaction, however, was somewhat hesitant. It wasn't that she didn't know the answer, but she was uncertain if she should say it out loud.

But since He Kao asked, after a moment's thought, she stood up, crossed the room, approached the sofa, and bowed: "Elder Hidden Moth, your great kindness cannot be thanked with words! Whatever tasks you have in the future, Lan Jiwan will surely not refuse!"

She had already guessed that the person in front of her was the legendary Hidden Moth.

In the case of the Huiming Shi Family, she had read the reports from the Ancestral Hall and inquired the Li siblings. The upper levels of the Shi Family fell at the hands of Hidden Moth, or rather, they failed in their scheme against him and ended up being exposed by Hidden Moth for their scandal.

However, among all the information about the incident, there was no mention of Huo Qing. It was like he was a person who appeared suddenly from nowhere, yet he had accurately found the secret base operated by Bitter Tea.

After Bitter Tea's death, who else would pay attention to his missing cleaners and be able to find clues? To Lan Jiwan, the answer was obvious.

Huo Qing didn't do anything disgraceful, yet he never revealed his identity and face, the reason was apparent.

Not revealing identity and face means either he wants to replace Bitter Tea and continue controlling these cleaners for evil, or he has his own reasons for not exposing himself... It seems the latter is the truth.

Lan Jiwan calling out Hidden Moth's identity in person meant she had made some choice because some things cannot afford to leave for negotiation.

He Kao also sighed in admiration, looking at Lan Jiwan with a hint of appreciation. This Lan Jiwan is much smarter and more skillful than Ye Liangcheng.

In He Kao's eyes, both Ye Liangcheng and Lan Jiwan are very capable individuals.

Ye Liangcheng, after receiving his instructions, quickly reemployed patrol security, built two secret rooms, and hurried to Minzhou to find Gao Chenshu... very high in execution.

If Ye Liangcheng didn't have such execution capability, He Kao wouldn't think about continuing to nurture him; as the bare-handed Sect Leader of the Hidden Moth Sect, he also needed help with many things.

And Lan Jiwan is much stronger than Ye Liangcheng, even though both are Tier Three Sorcerers, several Ye Liangchengs combined aren't her match. Lan Jiwan doesn't need He Kao to tell her exactly what to do; as long as she has clues, she'll find a way on her own.

He Kao waved his hand and said, "So your name is Lan Jiwan, please stand up. Since you've guessed I'm Hidden Moth, you should understand why I don't reveal my identity. The way I wear the gauze is Hidden Moth's true face."

Lan Jiwan stood up upon hearing this, and the next action surprised many. She extended her finger in the air, using the Power of Manipulation to turn on the room's light, then wiped her face with her hand, and her appearance changed.

Her previous face was already very beautiful, but there was always something unnatural about her expression. And now, she revealed an even more charming set of features by removing a highly realistic mask. Divine Sense could sense real flesh and blood; this couldn't be fake.

She was more beautiful than He Kao imagined, just lacked a bit of blood color. The action of removing the mask was quite heart-throbbing, even more enticing than disrobing, though she had no intention to seduce He Kao.

But for a fraction of a second, He Kao instinctively held his breath.

She removed the mask very deftly, not covering every part of the face, very thin but not uniform, made of special material, resembling skin in texture, seemingly breathable and sweat-permeable.

"I'm Lan Jiwan, this is my true face." She placed the mask on the tea table, took paper and pen, and wrote down her name on the spot.

Who could've expected that last time He Kao saw her, she was actually wearing two masks. The first layer was obvious, also shielding Divine Sense, preventing others from discerning her true appearance.

The face beneath the mask was still a disguise, belonging to a person named Shang Yan, an identity she used regularly, indistinguishable by ordinary people.

But when she wasn't wearing a mask, He Kao could find issues with her face. Earlier, probing with Divine Sense revealed that certain parts were not genuine skin.

He Kao didn't remove the Hidden Moth Gauze, instead smiled at her: "Are one of your parents a Chinese teacher?"

Lan Jiwan was slightly surprised, anxiously asked: "How did you know?"

He Kao pointed to the soft stool beside the sofa: "Don't be nervous, I was just guessing, please sit down and talk."

"'I have nurtured the orchids in nine orchards and planted a hundred mu of cinnamon trees,' this is a line from 'Li Sao', in later generations some used 'Nine Orchards' to metaphorically refer to the quality of orchids. You have faith in orchids, hence the name Jiwan?"

Lan Jiwan sat down properly, hands on her knees, asked: "Are you also a Chinese teacher?"

He Kao, somewhat embarrassed, said: "I'm not, I graduated in engineering... Did I guess wrong?"

Lan Jiwan: "No, you guessed right! Both my parents are high school teachers, father teaches Chinese, mother teaches biology. But I haven't contacted them for a long time, I found a way to make them voluntarily sever ties with me, and I don't wish to reconnect."

This was clearly not a pleasant story, He Kao didn't want to probe further for the moment, so he changed the topic: "You look much better now than you did just now. But since you've revealed your true face, I must ask — who is this person, Shang Yan?"

Lan Jiwan: "Don't worry, I didn't kill her to impersonate her. She was a con artist who smuggled abroad to commit fraud, deceived many people, and bought a foreign identity with money. Later, due to internal strife in her gang, she died in Nanyang.

When I was executing a task assigned by Bitter Tea, I happened to encounter the internal strife and took her documents conveniently."

He Kao: "Then tell me, how did you come to know Bitter Tea, and what missions have you carried out?"

Lan Jiwan bowed her head and said: "Even if you don't ask, I still have to say."

**

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.