Chapter 59

Chapter 59: Title

That night, Ye Qingshang and Mu Huaiyun entered the Qiu family invisibly.

They didn’t need to be so stealthy, but with the situation unclear, Ye Qingshang thought there might be secrets in the Qiu family. After thinking it over, she decided to sneak in quietly to avoid alerting anyone.

Under the night sky, everything in the Qiu family was quiet. The lights were off, and moonlight fell on the eaves, making the main room very bright.

The door closed softly, and the two became visible inside.

“How strange,” Ye Qingshang said. She had used her spiritual power to search the hall earlier and found nothing odd elsewhere in the manor, but the main room had a trace of a cultivator’s spiritual power. Yet as soon as they entered, that power seemed to vanish, which was very odd.

Ye Qingshang glanced at Mu Huaiyun, who understood. He gathered his spiritual power at his fingertips, and a faint light lit up the room, clearly showing everything.

They moved forward and saw the bed was empty, with the silk blanket neatly folded, as if no one had been there for ages. Logically, if Qiu Huayi’s parents were traveling, the room should be empty. But Ye Qingshang felt something was off.

She paused in the inner room, thinking of using her spiritual power, when the door creaked open.

“Who’s there?” Ye Qingshang exclaimed.

Instinctively, she attacked, her spiritual power rushing out and frightening the person at the door. He shouted in surprise, “Immortal Lord, spare me!”

Seeing this, Mu Huaiyun quickly summoned Moon’s Shadow. With a flick of his whip, he dispersed her spiritual power. Frowning, he asked, “Are you from the Qiu family?”

The man at the door looked weathered, with slightly drooping eyes and a calm face, like a kind old man. He wiped sweat from his forehead, looking frightened. After catching his breath, he said, “Yes. I’m the steward here. You two… Immortal Lords? Why have you broken in?”

Hearing this, Ye Qingshang remembered she and Mu Huaiyun had sneaked in. Not only had they disturbed the steward, but they’d nearly hurt him. She felt embarrassed and said, “Sorry, sir. I’m Huayi’s senior sister. What I did wasn’t intentional; please forgive me.”

“Ah, it wasn’t any trouble,” the old man generously waved his hand and said, “I had just passed by and saw this door slightly ajar. I thought a thief had entered. Since you are Miss Huayi’s fellow disciples, it’s no problem. May I ask what brought the Immortal Lord here? I could assist in any way.”

Ye Qingshang casually replied, “It wasn’t anything serious. A few days ago, Huayi returned to the manor and accidentally left a treasure from the sect behind. She said she wasn’t sure where it was left in the manor, so I came to help her find it. Unfortunately, it was late when we arrived, and I didn’t wish to disturb anyone’s rest, so I entered without announcement.”

The old man smiled knowingly, “I see. However, when Miss returned a few days ago, the master and madam weren’t in the manor, and Miss didn’t step foot here. The Immortal Lord might not find anything here. How about this? I’ll take you to Miss’s room to have a look, if that’s alright?”

“Uh…” Ye Qingshang felt a bit awkward. Although she didn’t want to leave this place, she couldn’t make excuses in front of the steward. She reluctantly agreed, “Thank you for your help.”

The old man smiled and turned around, leading the way. Ye Qingshang and Mu Huaiyun followed his steps as they stepped out of the room. Under the moonlight, a faint silver light flashed around the old man’s neck, and Ye Qingshang noticed it clearly.

In that moment, a sense of alertness suddenly washed over her. She grabbed Mu Huaiyun’s hand and stopped.

The old man seemed to sense something and turned around, asking curiously, “What’s wrong, Immortal Lords?”

Almost simultaneously as he spoke, Ye Qingshang held Qianyu in front of her, the blade tip moving slightly, and in an instant, it rested against the old man’s chest.

The old man stared in surprise, looking quite confused, and then seemed to ponder something. He reached out and grasped the tip of Qianyu.

Uncertain about the old man’s identity, Ye Qingshang feared injuring him too severely, so she held back; the blade tip didn’t channel spiritual power. However, because of this restraint, she couldn’t retract the sword quickly enough when he grasped it. The sharp tip cut into him, and blood flowed instantly.

Seeing the red color, which was a mortal’s, made Qianyu restless, and the sword almost became uncontrollable. Ye Qingshang had no choice but to loosen her grip and used her spiritual power to firmly restrain Qianyu, suspending it in mid-air. “Ah Yun, knock him out!”

Upon hearing her order, Mu Huaiyun stepped forward, channeling his spiritual power to strike the old man’s neck. With a soft grunt, the old man collapsed, a silver needle falling from his neck.

Ye Qingshang swiftly caught the silver needle and wrapped it in her spiritual power before stabbing it back into its original position.

Unaware of Ye Qingshang’s intentions, Mu Huaiyun asked, “What is this?”

“It’s the Frostbite Sect’s speech-stopping technique. This silver needle, infused with the caster’s spiritual power, can cause the recipient to lose their mind temporarily and obey any command. It was originally used to protect disciples with weaker powers and to tame monsters, preventing them from becoming too aggressive.”

Since the steward was affected by the speech-stopping technique and behaved just like any normal person, it showed that the caster mastered this technique perfectly. From the refined spiritual power on the needle, it wasn’t easy to detect. The caster must be highly skilled and adept at concealing their strength, certainly not an ordinary disciple of the Frostbite Sect.

Mu Huaiyun questioned, “But using this type of technique on a mortal is looked down upon by cultivators. Why would the caster do this?”

Why? Ye Qingshang thought about the possible reasons, her expression darkening. “It’s probably to be cautious, and the ones they are guarding against are likely you and me.”

“Cultivators refrain from attacking mortals; that is a consensus among immortal sects. However, while they can control their powers, their spiritual weapons may not be so easily controlled. Weapons like Qianyu and Moon’s Shadow have early intelligence, and once they come into contact with mortal blood, they can uncontrollably become violent or even bloodthirsty.”

Mu Huaiyun’s expression turned cold. “So you’re saying the caster did this on purpose, to make Qianyu or Moon’s Shadow uncontrollable and attack mortals. If the weapon harms a mortal…”

“Then they can communicate with the caster,” Ye Qingshang completed the unfinished thought. The reason she stabbed the needle back in and applied spiritual power to seal it off was to temporarily cut the connection between the speech-stopping technique and the caster without alarming anyone.

“However…” Mu Huaiyun paused and added, “If it was just for communication, it would have been more beneficial for him to act while we were inside. Why would he lead us out?”

While they were in the room, Mu Huaiyun had summoned Moon’s Shadow to save the steward; he could have taken advantage of that moment to provoke Moon’s Shadow into a rampage. Why didn’t the steward act?

Could it be…

“There’s something strange about the room!”