After infiltrating the main characters' group, I became the most beautiful woman in the world.

"So that's how it is. I misunderstood Young Master Song. This box was given to me by Young Master Lou not long ago. I didn't want it, but he said that if I didn't want it, he would burn the contents inside." Su Ning sighed, her fingers on the box slightly curled.

"Although I don't know the value of the items inside, given that they're among the rarest treasures in the world, they must not be cheap."

After hearing Su Ning's words, Song Hengxue's dislike for Lou Xianyue intensified once again.

"Does the girl know where he is now? I want to ask him if he has been to the fourth floor."

Si Xiaoyun's death was suspicious. The fact that she was on the fourth floor meant that she was a member of the Ten Miles of Suspended Bells. However, what Song Hengxue couldn't understand was why the other party would transfer away the experts who should have been stationed at the World's Rare Treasures.

Is there any connection between the Poison Demon and Si Xiaoyun?

Su Ning noticed Song Hengxue's doubts, but she had no obligation to answer them for him.

"Young Master Lou looked rather unwell after delivering the items, and I don't know where he went."

Song Hengxue nodded in acknowledgment and didn't ask any further questions. Just then, Tangxi's party had also finished, and Yue Zijin stretched, saying, "Now that the thief is dead, let's go back and rest. Tonight's events have left everyone completely baffled."

The group approached Su Ning, and Song Hengxue recounted the events upstairs to them once more.

Upon hearing this, Yue Zijin exclaimed in amazement, "This courtesan isn't staying in the capital; instead, she's here to oversee all the world's rare treasures? Could she perhaps have some ulterior motive?"

Su Ning glanced at him and thought to herself: Young man, you've hit the nail on the head.

Pei Yunlian then glanced at the fourth floor, "Ultimately, it has nothing to do with us. With such a big incident, the person behind it has probably already received the news, and perhaps they don't want us to get involved."

Tang Xi also spoke up, looking at Song Hengxue: "The Poison Demon is dead, and this matter will eventually come to a conclusion. Perhaps they have already approached my father. Senior Brother Song, you've all worked hard tonight. How about we go up the mountain together tomorrow?"

Song Hengxue nodded slightly: "Then I'll accept without being impolite."

The Heavenly Sword Hall in the city did not have any extra guest rooms, so Su Ning and her companions chose to stay at an inn when they first arrived in Lingzhou City.

Tonight is no different, except that Tangxi will be staying with her tonight.

Perhaps out of lingering fear, since someone had tampered with things in Lingzhou City, Tangxi would never dare to let Su Ning sleep alone again.

The moon is now high in the sky.

Yuezi next door was fast asleep this morning, exhausted, and the candles in the inn had long since burned out.

Su Ning pushed open the window, and the night wind, carrying a crisp chill, rushed in, causing the stray hairs at her temples to flutter slightly. A bright moon hung in the mid-sky.

The moonlight poured down like flowing water, bathing the distant rooftops and nearby pavilions in a hazy glow.

She pulled her plain-colored coat tighter around herself, rested her elbows on the windowsill, and gazed at the starry night sky. Her mind was utterly calm, and the lights of countless homes were all within her sight.

Hundreds of kilometers away, Lin Ci also gazed at the moonlit sky.

He leaned against the tree, his face handsome and otherworldly, his long eyelashes casting a light shadow under his eyes, like a jade statue untouched by dust.

His right hand rested loosely on the longsword at his side. The scabbard gleamed with a lonely matte light under the frosty moonlight, without any superfluous decorations, just like its owner, exuding an aloofness that kept strangers at bay.

The fire crackled nearby, and the disciples around him, dressed in the same Taoist robes, were already fast asleep.

During the day, he was their most reliable junior master, the Daoist disciple of Taihang Temple, and the next abbot of Taihang Temple.

But no one knew that he too was confused.

Lin Ci's cool, slender fingers instinctively reached out to caress that familiar soft spot on the hilt of the sword, but as her fingertips brushed against the night wind, all she touched was the cold, hard curve of the scabbard.

Yes, he had already given that snow-blue sword tassel to the person he owed.

He slowly withdrew his hand, his palm feeling empty and colder than the moonlight in the forest.

His gaze then swept over the person meditating under the tree on the other side. The person was dressed in a dark Taoist robe, was nearly fifty years old, and had a full head of white hair neatly tied up with a wooden hairpin.

His eyes were slightly closed, and his aura was as cold and hard as iron, as if even the air itself had been frozen.

Why aren't you sleeping?

As if sensing Lin Ci's gaze, Xuan Yang Daoist asked without opening his eyes, his voice as rigid and serious as he was.

Lin Ci quickly stood up, cupped his hands, and said, "Replying to my senior uncle, this disciple's mind is not at peace."

Xuan Yang Daoist snorted coldly, opened his eyes. Those eyes, weathered by the years, always held a sharp scrutinizing quality when he looked at people. Now, he focused his gaze on the younger generation he had once placed the most hopes on.

"Are you still thinking about the woman who stole your virginity?"

Lin Ci remained silent.

Ever since he sent Luan Yu to deliver a letter to Su Ning that day, his senior uncle discovered it and confiscated all the Luan Yu birds around him.

This also resulted in him not receiving a reply from Su Ning.

Since returning to the temple from Xiaguang Mountain, he had wanted to tell his master about his desire to leave the monastic life and marry Su Ning.

But since his master remained in seclusion, his second senior uncle gave up, thinking that even if the other party agreed, it wouldn't make much difference.

Apart from the master, all the power to manage affairs in the temple rests in the hands of the eldest master.

But the eldest master's uncle was extremely intolerant of any dissent.

Upon learning that he had lost his virginity, he flew into a rage. Although he was in the wrong first, his senior uncle would not allow him to have any entanglement with Su Ning under any circumstances.

This team-leading was originally the responsibility of my second senior uncle, but my eldest senior uncle interfered.

He knew the other person was there to watch over him.

For the first time, Lin Ci looked directly into Xuan Yang Daoist's eyes and answered without hesitation, "Yes."

Xuan Yang Daoist couldn't understand how his cold-hearted nephew could go out on a mission and return not only with his virginity lost, but also with his whole being caught up in worldly affairs.

Although it was to save his life, he couldn't help but feel angry at the woman.

"Lin Ci, you are the next successor of Taihang Temple. You should not, and absolutely cannot, have any other feelings!"

Xuan Yang Daoist's voice suddenly rose, standing out prominently in the silent forest.

But Lin Ci could not obey the words of the person before him. He suddenly knelt down, his back as straight as a pine tree, and his usually lonely eyes now shone brightly: "Forgive this disciple... for not obeying."

If it weren't for the fact that the place was inappropriate, Xuan Yang Daoist would have liked to whip the other party three times right now.

He was so enraged that he braced himself on the ground, his meticulously manicured beard trembling slightly from the violent shaking of his jaw. "You...you're trying to drive me crazy!"

"This disciple dares not," Lin Ci lowered his head.

"Once this matter is settled, you will return to the temple and be confined to Hanqing Pool for a year!" Xuan Yang Daoist said angrily.