Chapter 19-Part 1

Lin Chengyou looked at Teng Yuyi in his arms and smiled, “So, Miss Teng had recognized me all along. You saved Qi Zhi’s life, and I saved yours. We’re even now, so there’s no need to talk about canceling any debts.”

With that, he tossed Teng Yuyi onto Qi Zhi’s plump body. Caught off guard, Qi Zhi was knocked to the ground again, exclaiming, “Ouch!”

Teng Yuyi, startled and angry, turned her head and shouted, “Lin Chengyou!”

But Lin Chengyou had already disappeared down the corridor in the blink of an eye. The two of them hurried to get up from the ground, but in that short moment, the corridor became noisy. Drunken guests stumbled out of the rooms, and courtesans carrying trays of food filed out. Seeing Teng Yuyi and Qi Zhi, they were all startled.

Qi Zhi quickly said to Teng Yuyi, “Don’t be alarmed. We’re still in the same place. It’s just that Senior Brother broke the illusion array set by that demon.”

Teng Yuyi looked around and saw that everything was indeed as it had been. She moved her arm and found the worn brush still in her hand. Brushing off the dust from her robe, she grabbed Qi Zhi’s sleeve and said, “Come downstairs with me. I’ll drive you back to Qingyun Temple. Since this is a Qingyun Temple technique, you should be able to learn it quickly. You’d better remove the Sha Ling Huan for me immediately, and from now on, I will have nothing to do with your temple.”

Qi Zhi was speechless. Miss Teng usually wore a smile, but now even her eyebrows were raised in anger, showing that she was truly furious.

“Miss Teng, please don’t be angry. This spell requires great skill. Neither Sheng nor I are qualified to practice it yet. Ah, ah—” Qi Zhi stumbled down the stairs, surprised by Miss Teng’s strength despite her delicate appearance.

“Senior Brother didn’t show himself at first because he wanted to test me. I suspect he doesn’t even know what happened. Once I explain everything to him, he’ll definitely help Miss Teng lift the spell.”

“No need to trouble your senior brother,” Teng Yuyi replied with a bitter smile.

“Haven’t I been through enough already? It seems your senior brother is my fated nemesis. I almost lost my life just now!”

Qi Zhi blushed and apologized, “Miss Teng, please let go. You’ve saved my life, and I’ll never forget it. No matter what, I’ll help you remove the Sha Ling Huan tonight, even if it means being confined for three months by my senior brother.”

Three months of confinement? What does that have to do with anything?

“I’ve heard enough of your sweet talk,” Teng Yuyi said coldly.

“No matter how grand your promises, my Jade Sword is still useless, thanks to your senior brother.”

Qi Zhi scratched his head, unsure of what to do. Miss Teng clearly bore a deep grudge against his senior brother. While his senior brother wasn’t afraid of being hated, this made Qi Zhi’s position all the more difficult.

They bumped into E Ji and Bao Zhu, who were searching for someone.

Baozhu looked up by chance and exclaimed, “Madam, look, it’s the young master!”

E Ji rushed over, “Young master, you and your companion vanished just like that. Where did you take Juan Erli? We searched everywhere, thinking you’d jumped out the window.”

She glanced behind Teng Yuyi, only to see a young boy of about nine years old, with no sign of Juan Erli.

E Ji and Bao Zhu were dumbfounded, “Where’s Juan Erli?”

Teng Yuyi was momentarily stunned, then recalled seeing a mysterious figure playing with a woman’s silk scarf in the illusion array. It had belonged to Juan Erli. At first, she thought it was the demon playing tricks, but it seemed Juan Erli was truly in trouble.

Her expression darkened, “When did Juan Erli go missing?”

E Ji’s face turned pale, “Young master, please don’t joke. Juan Erli was with you the whole time.”

Sensing something amiss, Qi Zhi quickly asked, “Was this Juan Erli just on the second floor?”

“Yes,” E Ji replied anxiously.

“She was just outside the room, and then she disappeared in the blink of an eye. Young master, are you hiding her as a joke?”

At that moment, there was a commotion downstairs. A group of people stormed in, pushing past the tower guests who couldn’t stop them. They rushed upstairs, only to halt in surprise upon seeing Teng Yuyi.

Teng Yuyi walked down to greet them, “Huo Qiu.”

Huo Qiu bowed, “When you suddenly disappeared, we feared something had happened, so we gathered the nearby guards.”

E Ji was both startled and frightened by this display. It seemed the young master and his servants were not joking. Had the young master truly gone missing earlier?

Teng Yuyi finally spoke to E Ji, “To be honest, we encountered some strange things just now, but Juan Erli wasn’t with us. I didn’t even know she had gone missing. I fear she’s in grave danger. If we want to save her, we must act quickly. There are too many people here; let’s go outside to discuss our options.”

Bao Zhu nodded frantically.

She and Juan Erli were like sisters, and E Ji relied on Juan Erli to bring in significant earnings, so she was equally anxious.

The group quickly exited the building.

The crowd outside was still gathered, craning their necks, “The old immortal has been inside for so long. Why hasn’t he come out?”

Huo Qiu led the way.

As they passed a pavilion, Jue Sheng suddenly ran out and hurried to them, “Qi Zhi, are you alright?”

Qi Zhi was surprised, “Jue Sheng, why were you in the pavilion?”

Inside the pavilion sat the flamboyant Madam. She watched Jue Sheng run out, her eyes following him curiously.

Teng Yuyi instructed Huo Qiu, “The carriage can’t hold so many people. Go find another pavilion. I need to talk to E Ji.”

Huo Qiu quickly returned and led the group to another pavilion.

As soon as they entered, Jue Sheng pulled Qi Zhi aside, “When I heard you launch the signal flare, I rushed into the building, but an old Taoist on the first floor stopped me. Guess who he is? No, you probably already know.”

“Yes, and Miss Teng knows too,” Qi Zhi said, quickly recounting what had happened.

“Why did Senior Brother have you stay in that pavilion? Who is that woman?”

“She’s also the Madam of Caifeng Tower. Senior Brother and Miss Teng thought the same: to uncover the truth, they needed to start with the people inside Caifeng Tower. So Senior Brother disguised himself as a wandering Taoist to gather information. That madam was completely fooled and revealed a lot about the strange happenings in the building. Unfortunately, she hadn’t finished speaking when Senior Brother heard your signal flare. He told me to keep questioning her while he went into the building to save you. Where is Senior Brother now?”