Being knocked down by the Heavenly Dao while ascending

Tang Gu pursed her lips, looking serious.
"What on earth are you hiding from me? Why did you allow Xiao Kong to come find Elder Wu?"

Uncle Yu looked at the stubborn man in front of him and said, "This is what the dean meant."

"What on earth does the master want to do?"

Uncle Yu remained silent.

Tang Gu turned her head away and sighed helplessly, "You grew up with the dean, you are his relative and his confidant. Everyone in the dean respects you. Although my cultivation is low, I really want the dean's best. The last time I told Xiaokong about the jade pendant, it was just my guess and should not be taken seriously. But I know that the dean has his own considerations for both the water harp pattern and the jade pendant. I believe in the dean and hope... to help him."

Uncle Yu didn't say anything else, he just patted Tang Gu on the shoulder.

Tang Gu suppressed her disappointed look and spread out her right hand. Her little finger and ring finger were vaguely visible, and finally disappeared, leaving only three fingers.
Tang Gu said: "I used two fingers to control the evil Gu Wuyin. I thought Pei Mingyan had eaten one of the Gu. It was not until just now that I realized that he had deceived me. He did not eat the evil Gu, but kept it with him. When he was on the high platform, he took the opportunity to put the evil Gu on Pang Yuan."

Uncle Yu's expression became serious, and he recalled everything that happened on the platform. "Just now... when he was talking nonsense, he seemed to have patted Pang Yuan's shoulder."

Tang Gu shook her head, looking confused. "I didn't see it, so I can't be wrong. It's just..."

Uncle Yu gave him a questioning look.

"Originally, the evil Gu did not attract my attention, but... the evil Gu suddenly went to the back mountain. I originally thought that Pei Mingyan was trying to escape, so I immediately concentrated my attention and listened. Then I found that the evil Gu was on Pang Yuan. Coincidentally, I heard some very strange words." Tang Gu did not keep it a secret. She frowned and recalled the news that the evil Gu had conveyed back, saying: "I couldn't hear the other person's voice. Only Pang Yuan was talking. He called the other person master, and also said that he wanted to kill someone with a borrowed knife... In the end, he vaguely answered yes."

"Kill someone with a borrowed knife?"

Tang Gu's expression was not good. "Based on what happened just now, the person he wants to kill is either Pei Mingyan or Qian...Deputy Dean."

Uncle Yu nodded, "I will inform the dean about this. Your evil Gu may be useful in the future, don't let Pang Yuan find out."

Tang Gu nodded: "The evil Gu is boundless and has no trace. I will let the evil Gu disguise itself well."
.
Pei Mingyan hugged Xiao Kong and asked in a low voice: "Kong, tell me, who did you call here? Even the dean has to give him face."
Xiao Kong pushed Pei Mingyan away, "Don't put pressure on me!" He patted his shoulders as if there was something dirty on them, "Old Wu is the elder of the academy. You may not understand this, this matter starts from the establishment of the academy. The academy was not established by the dean, but someone passed the throne to the dean, and the dean became the dean."

"You mean, this Mr. Wu is the previous dean's man?"

Xiao Kong nodded, "That's what I meant. But, since the dean took office, Mr. Wu has stopped taking care of things. He usually stays halfway up the mountain in the back. There is a cliff there, which is dozens of meters high. He usually lives there and never comes out. I went there this time just to have more hope, but I didn't expect him to really come. But after I talked to him about your matter for a while, he came. He also disliked my slowness, left me at the foot of the main peak, and came up by himself!"

cliff?
Pei Mingyan automatically cleared out the unnecessary information and thought, "Does your dean respect him very much?"

"Yes, the dean has always been kind to others, not to mention that Mr. Wu is a senior. You should have noticed during this meeting that the dean has a good temper and treats people kindly. Even if you say something unpleasant, the dean will not get angry."

You have a heavy filter.
"Then why did the former dean pass the throne to your dean? I heard from Aunt Tang that the dean liked boiled soft-boiled eggs when he was young. So, when the throne was passed on, your dean should have been just a little... child."

Xiao Kong snorted twice to indicate that he was not sure. "I have never thought about this... Maybe the dean——"

"Stop! Stop! Don't say any more! I know what you are going to say, nothing more than that the dean is very talented, a genius from heaven—"

Xiaokong turned his eyes away and muttered, "You are just jealous of the dean."

"Okay, okay, I'm so jealous. I'm so jealous." Pei Mingyan agreed and touched his left arm.
Maybe he guessed what happened, but he just needed a little more evidence.
.
Songwuyuan.

Pang Yuan said coldly, "You are not Mr. Mei."

Shui Changhen was not too surprised. Ever since Pei Mingyan mentioned the disguise technique that was necessary for entry, he knew that he would be exposed.
"Why do you doubt me?"

Pang Yuan snorted coldly, "Young Master Mei has amazing cultivation, has ascended many times, and has extensive knowledge. How could he not be able to see through a small puppet technique?"

"Puppetry?"

Pang Yuan looked at the idiot in front of him, knowing that even if he was not Young Master Mei, he could still be of use, so he patiently replied, "Protector Murong, you saw that little girl, it was puppetry, everyone present saw it except you."

Shui Changhen understood, but he did not show any ignorant shame. He just said suddenly: "No wonder the little girl's voice and reaction... turned out to be a puppet."

"Heh. Pei Mingyan, a useless man, figured it out, but you, the dignified 'Young Master of the Mei Family', couldn't even figure out that the snake was its true form. Tell me, how can people trust you like this?" Pang Yuan grabbed Shui Changhen's neck and said, "Now that Elder Wu has intervened, you'd better behave yourself. I can make you the deputy dean, but I can also take your life at any time."

Shui Changhen's face was flushed red, but he was not panicked at all. Apart from the involuntary twitching of his limbs, he managed his expression very well, as if he had practiced it specially. "Ahem... you won't kill... me."
Pang Yuan angrily threw the man to the ground, "You don't need to interfere in Pei Mingyan's affairs anymore. Remember our agreement. If you don't comply, I will kill you at any time."

Shui Changhen got up from the ground and brushed off the dust on his body slowly and heavily. He still smiled and answered softly, "Yes."
Not only will I do it, I will also grind you to dust!
Pang Yuan's expression eased a little: "Xiao Kong must be kept alive, and Xue Qingyu cannot die yet. I will only say the following once, so remember it well."

Shui Changhen smiled. Perhaps his teeth had been chipped when he fell to the ground, and blood oozed out from the corner of his mouth. "Okay."

Pang Yuan nodded with satisfaction. "Uncle Yu is Xue Qingyu's confidant. If we want to isolate the dean, we must start with him..."

the other side.

Uncle Yu stood quietly in the pavilion on the main peak, with the white gauze completely covering the scenery inside the pavilion, leaving no trace.
On the top of the pavilion, four zithers emit a faint golden light, and they complement each other like stars twinkling in the night sky.

In the pavilion, there was one zither missing from the four corners, making it look like a tripod.
The piano on the table in the center shone with an even brighter light, making up for the imbalance caused by the missing piano.

After a moment, the piano on the table shone brightly, so bright that people could not open their eyes. When they could see clearly, the missing corner had already been filled in.

The jade-like zither on the table disappeared, and in its place appeared the pale-lipped Dean Xue, who was leaning on the table with one hand on his forehead.
He had a handsome face and skin as white as snow, without a trace of blood.
He closed his eyes and frowned slightly, as if he was in great pain.

Uncle Yu reached out his hand to help, but the other person just moved his head slightly to indicate his refusal.

Uncle Yu had no choice but to withdraw his hand and said, "Master, if it doesn't work, let Xiaokong do it..."

"Shut up..." Perhaps he spoke too hastily, or perhaps it made him angry, he couldn't stop coughing, "Don't mention Xiaokong anymore."

"...Yes." Uncle Yu agreed reluctantly and continued to report the situation, "Tang Gu has already suspected Pang Yuan, Dean...you..." When will you take action?
Xue Qingyu could hear what he had not finished saying. The coughing just now had added some color to his face. He was still panting as he spoke, "He saved me back then. The contract between us is not something that can be easily violated. The lives of more than a thousand people in the academy are entrusted to me. I cannot take risks. If I am not 100% sure, I must not act rashly."

"Yes."

As if worried that Uncle Yu would be vague, Xue Qingyu told him bluntly: "Just follow Pang Yuan's instructions on what to do."

Uncle Yu didn't respond directly, but only asked: "Then...what about the one who plays the pipa?"

"Let him go." Xue Qingyu said coldly, "You don't have to worry about me. My soul is attached to Pei Mingyan, so I don't have to worry about my soul flying away. Even if he comes back now, he can't do anything to me."

"Master...that Pei Mingyan..." is definitely not a good choice.
Uncle Yu wanted to point out Pei Mingyan's many shortcomings, but now, he was the only choice of the dean, and he couldn't say it out loud.

"Ha." Xue Qingyu could see Uncle Yu's tangle, but he had no intention of explaining it in detail. He just said, "You haven't seen through him yet."

Uncle Yu saw that the dean had a smile on his face and seemed to be in a good mood. He was also curious, so he asked, "Did the dean say that he has something else to hide?"

"What kind of person can stay calm in a dangerous situation?"

Uncle Yu understood immediately, "Dead people, people who know nothing, or people who are sure to win."

"I'm glad you understand." Xue Qingyu started coughing again, and a mouthful of "blood" spurted out of his mouth. The difference from the last time was that the "blood" that fell on the piano table was no longer red, and it seemed like just water vapor, and it quickly disappeared.
Xue Qingyu panted for a long time, looking tired. He tried his best to maintain his spirit and instructed: "Send someone... ahem, go investigate the matter of the eldest son of the Mei family."

"Young Master Mei?" Uncle Yu was puzzled. "Why did you suddenly provoke the Mei family?"

Xue Qingyu seemed extremely tired. His voice became weaker and weaker, his eyes gradually closed, and he uttered the last few words between his teeth: "He should be Meishan Xue."

Uncle Yu was stunned, as if his Ren and Du meridians were opened up, and he felt like a fog had been cleared away. All his previous puzzles suddenly became clear to him.
Who could know about this before the news of Young Master Mei being seriously injured and unconscious was announced? Who could easily avoid the attacks of Qingyun and others and pretend that everything was just a coincidence?
Why did Xiaokong's blood suddenly clot? What kind of medical skills could be hidden from Tang Gu?
……

When he lowered his head again, Xue Qingyu had disappeared.
On the piano table, the jade-like piano lay quietly again. After a moment, the piano seemed to have rested enough, and the sound of the piano rang out again. Circles of waves spread out, resonating with the eight pianos around it.
The entire academy seemed to be shrouded in a sea of ​​stars in the air, with pale golden runes floating in the air, and from time to time a beam of them would shoot out and enter the residences where people lived.
.
Pei Mingyan couldn't fall asleep while lying on the tree.
He had only been in this academy for a few days, but he had changed his residence again and again. He had just started to feel attached to this place, but now he had to move out again.

According to Xiaokong, the place where he was going to live this time was the one where only reclusive masters could live - if he jumped off the cliff, he would be seriously injured but not dead, because there was a high platform, which was equivalent to the cliff being like a staircase, with another layer below.

Generally speaking, people who live in this place are either crazy or have been made crazy.

He is worried!
This trouble is like leeks, one crop after another comes after you cut it. It might be more tiring than just a battle of wits and courage with the heroine.

He touched the zither pattern on his arm.
After Shui Changhen's commotion, he vaguely came to a conclusion - the dean of the academy was asking him for help.

He asked Xiaokong why Shui Changhen suddenly became the deputy dean.
Xiao Kong answered, "Because Manager Pang recommended me." Manager Pang recommended me? This Manager Pang was at the shareholders' meeting, and he just parachuted in?
"Pang Yuan's identity is very special?"

Xiao Bai's eyes rolled up to the point of hitting his forehead. "I find this strange. Before you, he was the most hated person in the academy."

"Huh? What do you say?"

Xiao Kong's face was full of disgust. "I just think he's weird. Although I always think you're weird, but... this is not the same. You're weird because you're ugly, but I can feel that you're a good person too."

You give out nice guy cards so casually.
"Yeah, good guy." He responded vaguely.

Xiao Kong stuck out his tongue at him, "I'm complimenting you! You are a good person like the dean, you don't smell of blood, that's why the chickens, ducks and geese in your yard are willing to get close to you. So even though you are a liar, I don't hate you that much. But Manager Pang is different, he smells heavily of blood... Hmm..." Xiao Kong scratched his head, unable to express himself, "Aunt Tang, Uncle Yu, Aunt Murong, everyone in the academy smells of blood, but I don't think they are strange, but Manager Pang..."

Pei Mingyan patted his shoulder, interrupting his scratching: "You don't have to explain it with all your heart, I understand. In a word, Manager Pang is not normal, be careful of him."

"That's about what I mean." Xiao Kong looked at him in confusion again, "And Grandpa Wu... I also think he's weird. Well, I'll come to see you often."

Pei Mingyan was almost moved to tears after hearing this.
Listening to Xiaokong's description, it seemed that Xiaokong really loved him. In order to get help, she even jumped off a cliff.

Based on what Xiaokong said, we can roughly guess some clues.
The reason why Dean Xue asked for help was because he was being threatened, and the person who threatened him was Manager Pang.
But this Manager Pang should not be the real boss. He is just a monitor or a person who conveys orders.

No wonder Xue Qingyu sent Pang Yuan away after Fang Qing's incident. After that, he suddenly fell asleep and dreamed about the "escape from the secret room".
Because the eyes that were watching him were gone.

As he was thinking, Pei Mingyan fell asleep again.

The light golden runes in the sky seemed to have received some kind of message and flowed down like water, wrapping Pei Mingyan around, but seemed to be blocked by some invisible force, and could only surround him and could no longer get close to him.

The water melody on the arm was suddenly awakened, and like a whirlpool, it drew the runes in one by one.

In a dream.
Pei Mingyan lay on the ground again. The sound of wind was still there in his ears, but there was no sound of dripping water.

Could it be that the water droplets... were the remaining blood of Xiaokong in Xue Qingyu's body? The abbot, who relied on his spell to stabilize his soul, could not avoid the pain, but he could no longer drink Xiaokong's blood. So, the blood that had been leaking out was gone now?

Suddenly, a faint light like that of fireflies came in, and a light golden light with a hint of green enveloped the entire space.

With the help of the light from the stars, Pei Mingyan, who was lying on the ground, turned his head and took a clear look at his surroundings. It was different from the cave he had imagined. This was an empty place with nothing in it. He didn't know whether it could be called a flat ground or an enclosed space.

"I know it's you, Dean Xue." Pei Mingyan said.

The "fireflies" paused for a moment, like a brief stop in a sea of ​​meteors, and soon, they flew higher and higher, and disappeared like smoke evaporating.

Pei Mingyan also woke up, but he felt something was wrong.

His head suddenly felt a lot heavier. In his previous life, he would have suspected that he had caught a cold while sleeping.
But now this body, I have a cold?

He no longer left the water pattern alone and drew a spell on it. He then put the jade pendant into his ring.
.
Early the next morning, the familiar plot happened again!

Xiao Kong rushed into the courtyard again in a hurry, "Fortune teller! Fortune teller! Come out quickly! Something big has happened!"

With the experience from last time, Pei Mingyan did not dare to neglect it this time. He jumped down from the tree and asked, "What happened again?"

Xiao Qi gasped, raised his hand and pointed at him, and finally managed to say, "Are you possessed by bad luck?"

"Nonsense, I'm so lucky."

Xiao Kong covered his face with his hands, "That's it, Aunt Tang said that the more a person lacks something, the more he emphasizes what he has. You must be possessed by bad luck!"

"Ahem." Pei Mingyan coughed twice to cover up after being exposed. "What happened? Elder Wu's study was burned down? Your dean suddenly fell into a coma? Or your deputy dean was seriously injured and said that I was the one who did it?"

Xiao Kong looked complicated: "...How do you know?"

“???” Pei Mingyan rolled his eyes. It seemed that Mr. Wu disliked him, and the dean wanted to continue making trouble. The deputy dean was probably beaten by Pang Yuan.
"I'm a fortune teller. I just calculated it with my fingers."

Xiao Kong said, "Oh!" "You are a liar. The deputy dean is indeed sick. But I didn't call you for this... It's..."

Pei Mingyan saw that Xiaokong's expression was becoming more and more complicated, as if he was constipated, so he asked hurriedly, "What is it?"

Xiao Kong was determined. He suddenly closed his eyes and fired off a long string of sentences like a machine gun without pausing: "Uncle Qi's accomplice who stole the spiritual herbs was caught. She admitted everything except the location of the spiritual herbs. She won't tell you until you meet her."

"Huh?" Heroine?
Pei Mingyan was becoming more and more confused. This plot was like ink poured onto a plum blossom. They could exaggerate it however they wanted.
He looked depressed: "Fang Qing?"

Xiao Kong nodded solemnly, "Her name is indeed Fang Qing, and she also said... you are her fiancé who ran away from marriage."

"........."
Pei Mingyan leaned against a tree, looked up at the sky, and said with despair, "I now truly believe that I am possessed by bad luck. Isn't your dean omnipotent? Please ask him if there is any way to help me get rid of this bad luck."

Xiao Kong patted his shoulder like an adult, "But don't be afraid, you don't have to run this time. Aunt Tang and Uncle Yu both believe you, and the medicine manager also speaks for you. Only Manager Pang insisted that Fang Qing must know you since he can call out your name. Anyway, he said a lot. In short, you should go and take a look."

"My name?"

Xiaokong said as a matter of course, "They are all people you know. Is it weird to call you by your name?"

Pei Mingyan was stunned for a moment, and suddenly remembered Fang Qing's eyes at that time, and her resolute decision to cut off the formation that could have saved her life.

"It's a bit strange. Once a member of the Mei family enters the Mei family, they must change their names, so not many people know that my name is Pei Mingyan."

"Never mind. Everyone believes you this time, so go and meet her. After she tells you the location of the spiritual herb, the dean will be saved!"

Pei Mingyan looked at the innocent Xiaokong, not knowing whether to cry, laugh or envy.
"Okay! Let's go, hurry up, we can still make it back for lunch."

"Let's go, let's go!" Xiao Kong was very happy, as if his beloved dean would get better after this trip.
.
The place they went to was still the main peak.
The platform on the main peak seemed to have disappeared overnight, and only the huge lake and the small pavilion remained on the main peak.
There are several rockery in the lake. It seems that next time he comes, the pavilion may be moved to the middle of the lake.

Nothing could be seen clearly in the pavilion. Two guardian gods, one black and one white, stood there guarding.
Uncle Yu, the representative of the academy's head, stood beside the half-kneeling woman. Two disciples from Songwu Academy held the woman's shoulders, one on the left and one on the right, to prevent her from making any sudden movements.

Pei Mingyan recognized the person from afar. Her complex yet powerful luck was simply unique - it was the heroine Fang Qing.
He lowered his head and told Xiaokong something.
Xiaokong looked confused, but still nodded.

It seemed as if Fang Qing had eyes on the back of her head. As soon as he reached the main peak, she started struggling.
Pang Yuan signaled to his two subordinates, and they let go of their hands.

Fang Qing stood up, stood in place, moved his shoulders, and waited for the two people to slowly approach.

Pei Mingyan stood firmly three meters away from her.
The reason why I say stable is because Xiao Kong seemed to be afraid that he would fall, so he grabbed his arm and controlled him firmly at this point, not letting him move forward even half a step.

Fang Qing looked at his actions and laughed as if she saw something funny. She was no longer as cold and elegant as she was the last time they met. She said slowly, "Pei Mingyan, right? I came here specifically to see you."

(End of this chapter)