"Tell Gao He not to waste two logs of wood, the collaboration will continue..."

At Zhu Lang Pavilion, on the rooftop where the evening breeze was blowing, Yin Xu held the letter and read it repeatedly, mumbling to herself.

Someone sent a message for her to relay to Gao He. Although she could understand it, the content of the letter was somewhat obscure. What did two logs of wood mean?

One thing was clear; the person who wrote this letter obviously didn't know that Wang Ping was the main contact.

Beside her, Tian Shen, who had delivered the message, was also puzzled and pondering.

After careful consideration, Yin Xu sent Tian Shen away on errands. She then returned to her room, closing doors and windows tightly, ensuring no one mysterious would suddenly appear inside, before taking out the Mother-child Talisman and sending a message to Shi Chun, informing him of the situation in the letter.

At that moment, Shi Chun had already entered the Divine Mountain Formation, digging in from underground, and was waiting for the sky to turn completely dark to assist Wu Jinliang and the others.

Upon receiving Yin Xu's message, he immediately understood it was Granny Qi's doing and knew why she did it. With Wu Jinliang gone, there was no intermediary.

Granny Qi was clearly afraid that being caught would sever the collaboration between both parties.

Having been captured, without a hostage in hand, continuing the collaboration seemed pointless; it had become a one-sided effort, as if giving the 'Death Refusing Incense' for free—how was that collaboration?

This situation made Shi Chun somewhat self-doubtful. Was he truly judging others by his own standards? Was Mrs. Bai's intention genuinely to sincerely rescue the Golden-haired Rat clan?

After all, upon leaving Life Prison, it was known that 'loyalty and righteousness' did exist in the world, though scarce.

Another worry was if even Mrs. Bai knew Yin Xu could contact him, how could others not know? He then succumbed to his old habit and became vigilant again, thinking that he needed to be cautious in his dealings with Yin Xu.

Pondering this until darkness finally fell, he sent a message to Wu Jinliang and then set off stealthily.

Relying on the risk-avoidance abilities of his right eye superpower, aside from taking a bit more time, he successfully met up with Wu Jinliang and the others.

Upon meeting, Chu Jingtang and the three others were thrilled, finding Wu Hehe's words weren't false after all. The Master was indeed fierce; he could even break into a Divine Mountain guarded by an ancient array. It was truly astonishing.

Shi Chun, not in the mood to indulge their admiring gaze, hurriedly led them to retreat.

At the boundary of the array's protection at the foot of the mountain, they exited the same way they came in, since Wu Jinliang's Earth Escape Technique was needed to erase the obvious signs of digging and conceal the truth of entering and exiting the Divine Mountain.

Intentionally concealing the Command Arrow magical treasure from third parties, Shi Chun gave Wu Jinliang a look, and the latter knew how to cooperate.

During the Earth Escape Technique, there was a sudden pause, burying everyone briefly. Once the lightwave emitted from the Command Arrow enveloped them, he controlled the underground space so that the group couldn't see the encompassing lightwave.

After exiting and storing the Command Arrow, another pause during the Earth Escape Technique buried everyone briefly again.

Under the starlit Heart-wrapping Grass forest, the group emerged and quietly slipped away.

Meanwhile, up the mountain, Feng Jue urgently entered the Divine Hall and found the Goddess Feng Qingping. "Aunt, there's been an incident with the interrogation over there."

Noticing his troubled expression, Feng Qingping quickly asked, "What's wrong?"

Feng Jue replied with difficulty, "After Qiu Ben returned, the interrogation of the Bai clan was intensified, resulting in several people not enduring and dying during the interrogation, and a few others because of serious injuries... were also discovered dead."

Feng Qingping's face immediately darkened. She realized the Extreme Fire Sect grew audacious after smoothing relations with the Demon Queen's side and promptly asked, "What about Bai Qiru in Dazhi City?"

Feng Jue said gravely, "He was also tortured, but Bai Qiru still insists that a few of his shop's employees are missing. He claimed he assisted with the three people only because Gao He said he had a way to get Huang Yingying out, so he helped. Aunt, one thing is certain, Qiu Ben must have also discovered that Bai Qiru apparently doesn't know Gao He and Wang Ping's real identity and still believes Wu Jinliang is the main contact. Therefore, the person who struck outside Dazhi City might not really be from the Bai family."

At this point, they had already learned Shi Chun and Wu Jinliang's identities.

This was thanks to the Demon Queen. Previously, the Phoenix Clan didn't know about it, because the Extreme Fire Sect wouldn't disclose it until when the Sect Master of the Extreme Fire Sect and the Phoenix Clan chief went to meet the Demon Queen. Under her query about why they were investigating those people so diligently, Sect Master Su Qiao of the Extreme Fire Sect had no choice but to reveal the truth, mentioning Shi Chun and Wu Jinliang's Mingshan Sect identities.

Firstly, Shi Chun and his group had killed disciples of the Extreme Fire Sect in the Divine Fire Domain, seizing their magical treasures. Secondly, he swindled a large sum of money from the Extreme Fire Sect without providing the sought-after secret technique to seek the Divine Fire. The Extreme Fire Sect suspected Shi Chun had undisclosed secrets. Upon accidentally hearing Shi Chun secretly come to this area, naturally, they wanted to be the first to act, thus focusing their efforts on Shi Chun.

Additionally, the loss of the 'Great Sun Golden Ring,' a treasured item of the Extreme Fire Sect, forced them to fully investigate along existing clues.

The Artifact Refining Sect's obsession with Divine Fire was understandable to both the Demon Queen and the Phoenix Clan.

As the backbone of artifact refining in the Demon Realm, the stronger their artifact refining abilities, the better they could serve the Royal Court. As the Demon Queen of the Western Continent, she couldn't obstruct even if she didn't support it.

This was why the Demon Queen turned a blind eye to the situation.

Little did they know, although much of what the Extreme Fire Sect disclosed was true, they also hid the most crucial secret regarding Situ Gu and Zhener. Some of the core secrets must be tightly held.

However, their speech already covered this, so even if exposed later, it would not count as concealment.

But to the Phoenix Clan, whether it's Shi Chun or not, they couldn't care less, as they didn't see it as important.

Right now, for Feng Qingping, regardless of whether the person acting outside Dazhi City is from the Bai family, the Extreme Fire Sect cannot be so reckless as to casually kill members of the Bai family. Is this how you conduct an interrogation?

Spreading word like this would damage the reputation of the Phoenix Clan; after all, the Bai family has been loyal to the Phoenix Clan for so many years.

She immediately left the Divine Hall and went directly to the interrogation site to communicate with Qiu Ben.

But the communication was not very successful. Not only did Qiu Ben refuse to admit his excessive use of torture, he even felt that the death was too easy, only expressing that he would be more careful next time.

That was all.

Feng Qingping, with a blackened face, had just left the interrogation site when she bumped into Feng Jue rushing over, "Aunt, news came from the Boundary Sea. There was a massacre, and someone used a crucial treasure. According to survivors, it seems to be the lost 'Great Sun Golden Ring' of the Extreme Fire Sect."

Feng Qingping pursed her lips and nodded slightly behind her head, "Tell them to investigate it themselves. Also, inform Dazhi City not to let those mad dogs of the Extreme Fire Sect harass Bai Qiru indiscriminately. Bai Qiru's parents died serving our Phoenix Clan. If Bai Qiru were to die without any reason, and in the end, no evidence was found, we wouldn't be able to explain it to Granny Qi."

With that, she flung her sleeves and left.

The previously turbulent Dazhi City and Yao Mountain City seemed to suddenly quiet down, with Shi Chun and his group seemingly vanished into thin air, leaving only the Extreme Fire Sect relentlessly going after the prisoners.

The business at Chao Yue Hall, however, seemed to be booming even more.

Those pretentious scholars seemed more interested in seeing beauties than reading books.

The seat of Dongliang Ying, the third young lady, was replaced, with a red-clothed woman sitting behind the counter, handling money and accounts.

Apparently, the red-clothed woman was supposed to replace the laboring woman, but she seemed not to know what to do. Seeing Dongliang Ying's work behind the counter, she proactively went over and took over the job, saying she would handle it from then on.

A relative of someone important, what could Dongliang Ying say? So she obediently gave up her place.

The red-clothed woman didn't know from where she got a comfortable chair placed behind the counter, which she could sit, lie, or lean on, with her arm supporting her head and her eyes half-closed, listening to the scholars' wide-ranging discussions, sipping tea occasionally as the fragrance of wine drifted through the library.

Drinking wine at the library's opening, this…

Dong Wenshu and others who saw this forced themselves to remain silent.

This move initiated a trend of bringing wine into the library, with people gifting wine to the red-clothed woman, claiming theirs was good wine and inviting her to drink together. The red-clothed woman just smiled, shook her head, and said nothing.

Scholars with charm would lean on the counter, showing off their literary talent or elegantly flirting, but the red-clothed woman would only smile slightly, not responding, like a mute.

Those asking for prices were also shown the signs with clearly marked prices, left to find out themselves.

However, the literary charm of scholars always found a way, and gradually someone started giving letters to the red-clothed woman, using all sorts of eloquent language to express their affection.

The red-clothed woman read with relish but never responded, chuckling silently before supporting her head with one arm, squinting dreamily, and slowly swirling a bottle of wine in her hand.

Clearly giving an impression of idleness, yet her allure distracted those scholars, and the laborer, Dongliang Ying, often found people losing focus after catching sight of the red-clothed woman.

However, the library business indeed improved significantly, making the laboring Dongliang Ying quite exhausted.

Because of this, during one dinner, the red-clothed woman bluntly asked Dong Liangze, "What are you running around outside all day for?"

Dong Wenshu replied on behalf of his son, "He's not young anymore. Sooner or later, he will have to run the household. Socializing and building connections outside is something he should try to become accustomed to."

Taking a sip of wine, the red-clothed woman casually commented, "Getting used to it is useless. The main hall is busy and lacks a man for work. Come back and work."

The family looked at each other in disbelief. Who is the owner of this library?

The red-clothed woman then turned to Dong Liangyu, who was gently biting on the end of the chopsticks, and said, "If you want to cultivate, changing your bodily problems shouldn't be too difficult." She then glanced at the other three siblings, "My cousin has quite the connections. If you want to take any path in cultivation, let me know, and I'll ask my cousin to find you a famous teacher."

The family exchanged glances once again. They did not doubt the connections of her cousin, who was associated with the Demon Queen's circle.

Dong Wenshu pondered for a moment and said, "After the Goddess spoke last time, I thought about it carefully. We should let them decide for themselves. There is no feast that doesn't eventually end; they will ultimately live their own lives. Whether this family disperses or branches out may not necessarily be a bad thing."

The red-clothed woman, after taking a sip, glanced sideways at him, "No need for so much sentimentality, and no need to break up the family. You can have famous teachers come to teach at home."

The family was again taken aback, with Dong Liangze asking in disbelief, "Can that really be done?"

The red-clothed woman uttered an "oh" and added, "My cousin is quite influential."

Okay, the family definitely believed that.

However, for now, that wasn't the point. The admiration of those scholars for the red-clothed woman wasn't important either. What was important was that the siblings realized their father had become a bit unusual, starting to be more concerned with his appearance…

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