Facing the two's carefree play, Lou Xiu couldn't insist on anything further. Being overly concerned would be inappropriate, arousing suspicion, since their relationship hadn't reached the level of genuine friendship yet. Even coming over this time required a pretext of worry.

Seeing that everything was fine, he pretended to be relieved, thinking that since they had arrived at the lady boss's place, he could rest assured, and then he left.

As Shi Chun and his companion hid back inside Zhu Lang Pavilion, they indeed left various parties at a loss.

It wasn't really that there was nothing that could be done about them, but rather that no one wanted to cause a stir that would attract attention from other sides. No one would act recklessly unless necessary, as they lacked the strength to act with impunity, so they could only assign people to keep watch.

On the grassy hills, amidst the undulating waves of grass, Zhu Xin flew out once more, landed in front of Qiu Ben, and reported with a salute, "Master, the two people secretly associating with the drifter Hua Chong have made contact again. The new contact person, after leaving the city, headed for the Divine Mountain."

"Divine Mountain?" Qiu Ben was surprised and didn't understand the meaning behind Divine Mountain's actions. The whole of Yao Mountain City was Divine Mountain's territory; was it necessary?

Zhu Xin added, "The disciple has already contacted the personnel stationed at Divine Mountain, asking them to rush to the exit to keep an eye on it and see which group of people it is."

Only relying on the disciples down below at Divine Mountain, Qiu Ben was worried about any mishaps and said solemnly, "Keep a close watch on Shi Chun's side for any changes and report to me immediately. I'll return to the mountain for a look."

"Yes." Zhu Xin agreed.

Qiu Ben left most of his men here for them to use while he quickly took two people back to Divine Mountain.

On the City Guard's side, Lou Xiu had just returned to the Inner Court and had barely relayed the news about Shi Chun and his companion when there was a knock on the door. Immediately, he put away the Mother-child Talisman and called, "Enter."

Tu Bicheng pushed the door open, quickly shut it, bypassed the screen, and hurried to Lou Xiu's front. After saluting, he leaned in to report in a low voice. What he reported was almost identical to what Zhu Xin reported to Qiu Ben; it was the same situation.

The Extreme Fire Sect's people were keeping an eye on Hua Chong's side, while Lou Xiu's side played the mantis stalking the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind. Whatever the Extreme Fire Sect discovered also fell within Lou Xiu's observation range.

"People on the mountain are watching the Extreme Fire Sect?" Lou Xiu muttered in confusion for a while and then asked, "Can you tell which side they're from?"

Tu Bicheng shook his head, "No, I've never seen them before."

Lou Xiu brushed his hands off, indicating for Tu Bicheng to retreat, and then once again relayed the message upwards.

This matter quickly caught the attention of Jiang You'er on the mountain, and reaching a conclusion wasn't difficult.

Jiang You'er, grasping the related situation, hurried to the North District Central and entered an Alchemy Room, where he found the North Mountain Order Master, Huang Ye, busy tinkering with bottles and jars. After saluting, he leaned in to report, "The person Lou Xiu mentioned has been found, and they're not someone from the mountain."

"Not from the mountain?" Huang Ye turned back in surprise, "It can't be someone from the Extreme Fire Sect, can it?"

Jiang You'er quickly explained, "Strangely enough, it's someone from Granny Qi."

"It's her?" Huang Ye was quite taken aback this time, immediately setting down the jar in his hand. He paced back and forth in the Alchemy Room for quite a while, still unable to figure it out. "Why is she watching Shi Chun? Could it be that she's part of a faction too?"

Jiang You'er whispered beside him, "It seems her sudden arrival is not a coincidence."

Huang Ye walked to the large Pill Furnace, resting his hand on its ear, "Arrange for someone to keep a close eye on the Bai Family's people on the mountain."

"Yes." Jiang You'er complied.

Outside the Qingyou Guest House on a small hill, someone approached at a leisurely pace.

Clad in bamboo green clothes, with brown hair and a chiseled, stern face showing maturity, it was indeed Po Yuan, who had come following an invitation.

Huang Lang, the senior disciple beside Qiu Ben, was already waiting at the door. This cultured and courteous disciple first saluted and then extended his hand, inviting the other to follow him.

They walked all the way to the main hall of the main courtyard. Qiu Ben, upon seeing Po Yuan, was not polite and directly pointed in a direction to ask, "In that direction, on two hills, a group of people is living. When my sect's disciples went to observe their aura, they were blocked and not allowed to intrude. What's going on?"

It was just an excuse; actually, the sect's disciples traced the person who had linked up in town and ascended the mountain to that hill, where they were stopped.

Po Yuan thought for a moment and said, "It's indeed inappropriate to intrude. It's the Bai Family from Phoenix and Qilin Continent over there. The clan leader, Granny Qi, has personally come. The Goddess was brought up by her, so how could her residence be disturbed at will? Divine Mountain is so large, observing aura and gathering air isn't lacking that one hill; there's no need to act unreasonably."

"The Bai Family..." Qiu Ben murmured, pondering over it. He knew a little about this family and wondered why the Bai Family was also after Shi Chun.

Seeing no other business, Po Yuan went inside the courtyard to find a place to drink tea and wait on orders since the Martial Hall Master of the Extreme Fire Sect had returned; he naturally had to accompany him personally.

While sipping tea, his gaze occasionally drifted to the courtyard gate, where the scene of Qiu Ben changing plans suddenly after hearing about Wang Ping's group's descent from the mountain still lingered vividly in his mind.

In doing so, he was quietly observing Qiu Ben, who occasionally appeared, and detected that Qiu Ben was caught in a state of deep contemplation.

And he himself was also pondering something repeatedly.

After a long time, he once again saw Qiu Ben appear under the eaves, looking up at the sky with his hands behind his back. He suddenly raised his head to drink all the tea in his cup, got up, and walked towards Qiu Ben.

Some things he couldn't do well himself, or rather were beyond his capability, and the suffocating resentment that couldn't be vented. After repeated hesitations, he finally decided to test it by using someone else's hand.

When he reached the bottom of the stairs, the observant Qiu Ben saw him and watched as he climbed the steps, then stood side by side with him.

For a mere mountain patrol to dare stand alongside him caused some displeasure.

Po Yuan didn't wait for him to express his displeasure and asked first, "Master Qiu, are you very interested in Wang Ping?"

Qiu Ben was taken aback, not knowing what this little demon was babbling about, unable to understand at all, so he responded indifferently, "Interested in Wang Ping? Who is Wang Ping?"

Po Yuan raised his chin slightly towards the direction of the courtyard gate, "Previously, Master Qiu wanted to go to the North Mountain to observe the aura. As you reached the doorway, you suddenly heard people outside discussing that two guests had gone down the mountain, and so you suddenly changed your mind, saying you needed to buy something missing, and also went down the mountain. I later checked, and those two guests who went down the mountain used to live in the North Mountain area where Master Qiu wanted to go. Could this be a coincidence?"

Qiu Ben's gaze instantly turned cold, glaring at him as if a knife from the side, but he quickly became perplexed. The other's words were generally correct, but what on earth was 'Wang Ping'?

Recognizing that the other seemed only half informed, he asked directly, "Are you saying one of them is called Wang Ping?"

Po Yuan: "I only recognize Wang Ping. I'd never seen the tall guy before. I asked the people who cleaned their previous residence, and they said he's named Gao He."

Qiu Ben understood, Shi Chun had assumed the alias Wang Ping, and Wu Jinliang became Gao He. Why do these aliases sound a bit familiar?

Before setting off, he couldn't possibly not know something about these two individuals. In an instant, he realized why they sounded familiar: at the Sky Rain Meteor Conference, one was called Wang Sheng, and the other Gao Qiang.

Apparently, this time they've only changed the names but not the surnames. 'Sheng' became 'Ping', and 'Qiang' became 'He', which implies they've become much more low-key. But the way they've low-keyed themselves is rather crude; is this method of changing names too lousy, like they haven't been educated? Couldn't they think of other names?

What he was more curious about now was, how did Po Yuan know Shi Chun, and immediately asked, "How do you know Wang Ping?"

He wasn't sure if the other knew Shi Chun's true identity, and anyway, he wouldn't expose it.

Po Yuan said, "Something happened previously in Dazhi City. Wang Ping originally worked as a menial in a place called Chao Yue Hall..."

"No..." The other barely started when Qiu Ben couldn't help but interrupt, "You said he worked as a menial in a book house?"

He was obviously somewhat incredulous. In terms of reputation, Shi Chun in the Cultivation World might not be smaller than his own. With his current assets, why bother doing menial work?

He had heard from the sect members who attended the grand event that the benefits Shi Chun had reaped from their Extreme Fire Sect alone were incredible. It seemed he had plundered nine out of the Ten Great Sects in the Artifact Refining World.

Upon seeing his reaction, Po Yuan nodded slightly, "It seems I wasn't wrong. This Wang Ping indeed has another story. His work as a menial in 'Chao Yue Hall' in Dazhi City isn't much of a secret. You just have to inquire a bit to know. However, he has now left Chao Yue Hall and was recruited by 'Bai's Rice Shop' to work as a servant. You can also have someone verify this in Dazhi City."

"Bai's Rice Shop..." Qiu Ben repeated the key name to deepen his memory.

Po Yuan: "That's right, it's Bai's Rice Shop. Doesn't it sound a bit familiar? That guest you just inquired about on the mountain, the Bai Family, Bai's Rice Shop is the industry of the Bai Family."

Qiu Ben was suddenly puzzled. If Shi Chun and that Bai Family were in cahoots, why would the Bai Family people secretly watch over Shi Chun and his group, supervising?

From Po Yuan's reaction, he confirmed his speculation. Indeed, they were targeting Wang Ping's group. He then added, "Several waves of guests suddenly arrived on the mountain almost simultaneously. I don't know if Granny Qi and their going up the mountain are related to Wang Ping's group also going up."

Qiu Ben asked, "Why are you telling me this? Why do you want to tell me all this?"

Po Yuan: "Previously, something happened to me in Dazhi City. With the influence of the Extreme Fire Sect, it shouldn't be difficult to find out. Also, I roughly know what Wang Ping and Granny Qi's group going up the mountain is trying to do."

Qiu Ben immediately perked up. He didn't expect to learn about the secrets he wanted to uncover from this mountain patrol. He immediately asked, "What are they trying to do?"

Po Yuan: "Do you admit you're after Wang Ping's group?"

Qiu Ben: "Since you can say all these, you must have your own purpose. You say yours, I'll listen to mine. We each take what we need; there's no need to probe each other's bottom line, don't you think?"

Po Yuan thought for a moment, "Huang Yingying, a mouse demon, they should be targeting him, to deal with them, you just need to keep an eye on this mouse demon. Oh, and the newly appointed Inner Court Captain of Yao Mountain City, Lou Xiu, who was just transferred from Dazhi City, should be in the same group with Wang Ping. Lou Xiu holds quite a bit of influence on the mountain. With their assistance, dealing with Wang Ping might not be that easy."

Hearing this, Qiu Ben slightly raised his eyebrows. He had also risen from the bottom of the sects, faintly understanding some of the other's intentions. There might be internal conflicts within the Divine Mountain, and the other wanted to utilize external forces.

He immediately asked what he was most concerned about at the moment, "Where is this mouse demon?"

"Once Master Qiu understands what happened previously in Dazhi City, you'll naturally know." Po Yuan left these words and walked down the stairs. He wouldn't reveal a word about the specific affairs on the mountain.

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