Duosheng Danyuan

I stared blankly at the undead who had walked out first, then turned to look at the remaining meat porridge in the casserole on the table.

I paused, swallowed hard, and as if I had made up my mind, sat back down at the table, my hands trembling slightly as I picked up the meat porridge the undead had served me.

"What are you doing?" Lin Xu, who was slumped on the ground, looked at me, who was about to drink the meat porridge, and grabbed my arm in great confusion. He asked worriedly, "That girl is suspicious. How can you believe her like that?!"

"..." I stopped drinking my porridge and looked back at Lin Xu, feeling conflicted.

"Isn't that strange? There's a skeleton hidden under her clothes! Where did all this meat come from? Yesterday I only found some braised cooked food in the fridge, neither in the freezer nor the safe, I didn't see any fresh or frozen meat. This meat... this meat could very well have been scraped off her body!"

"Huh?" I looked at Lin Xu with a puzzled and confused expression.

"W-What's wrong?" Lin Xu was also stunned when faced with my gaze, and asked in a daze.

"You..." Just as I was about to ask, a flash of inspiration suddenly appeared in my mind.

Lin Xu kicked over the meat porridge after the Undead cut my eyebrow. Although we only noticed the window had turned blood red after Lin Xu kicked over the meat porridge, the blood red color didn't necessarily start appearing after we noticed it!

In other words, from the moment the Undead slashed my eyebrow, we were already trapped in the Crimson World? And judging from the meat porridge on the table that should have been overturned but is now intact, the Crimson World and the World of the Tranquil Abode seem to be independent of each other.

But why can we hear Elder Jianshan's voice in the Crimson World? No, perhaps it wasn't me who heard Elder Jianshan's voice in the Crimson World, but rather the Undead who led us out of the Crimson World before Elder Jianshan spoke? Why?

Or perhaps...

Suddenly, a jumble of thoughts flooded my mind again. These clues, some related and some independent, kept flashing before my eyes, making my head ache more and more, just like Lin Xu's.

Wait, a headache?

It seems that Lin Xu's headaches only started after he left the Crimson World?

What does a headache mean?

Amnesia! The word "amnesia" instantly flashed into my mind.

"Lin Xu".

"W-What's wrong? You've been acting strange since just now..."

"Have you ever kicked over the meat porridge on the table?"

"what?"

Lin Xu's expression twisted slightly when I suddenly asked him a strange question.

He looked at me with some confusion, then glanced at the perfectly intact meat porridge on the table, looked at me again, paused, and said with a slight twitch at the corner of his mouth, "N-nothing, right?"

"Hiss—" Upon hearing Lin Xu's reply, I immediately gasped.

The rules of the Crimson World seem to extend beyond the "Blood Contract," revealing a multitude of hidden, undiscovered rules waiting to be explored...

After realizing that Lin Xu had lost his memories of the Crimson World, I fell into deep thought again. After a while, I still picked up the meat porridge.

"Brother Changfeng?" Lin Xu looked at me with a puzzled and somewhat fearful expression, and murmured.

"I believe her."

"Whom should we believe? That 'Su Wanqing'?"

"Hmm... drink it. At least this bowl of meat porridge looks no different from a regular breakfast, does it?"

"...Why? Why take such a risk?" After a long silence, Lin Xu still didn't let go of my hand, and asked me in a slightly trembling voice.

"Why...because she's a businesswoman, right?"

"...ha?"

"well..."

With a sigh, I released my right hand, which Lin Xu was holding, and resolutely lifted the bowl with my left hand, swallowing a large mouthful of meat porridge.

"you!"

"This is my choice. Whether you believe it or not is your business." After taking a big gulp of meat porridge, I frowned as I looked at the remaining porridge in the bowl and continued to drink it.

"..." Lin Xu looked at me and unconsciously slowly released his grip on my right hand.

—At the entrance of Jingxi Lodge—

"Everyone's here, let's go. Same as yesterday, to the Refining Heart Hall." At the entrance of the Tranquil Abode, Elder Jianshan, who looked somewhat thinner than yesterday, nodded to the nine of us and turned to walk towards the Refining Heart Hall.

"If you don't want to, you don't have to drink... Why?" I said to Lin Xu as I walked at the end of the line.

"What? Why? Tsk. To be honest, I still regret it." Lin Xu frowned, wiped his mouth, and continued, "Sigh... If I just let you drink meat porridge by yourself, wouldn't you feel out of place?"

"Lin Xu..."

"Alright, let's not talk about this anymore. I really regret drinking that bowl of meat porridge, okay?" Lin Xu interrupted me, lowering his voice as he glanced around the crowd before continuing, "More important right now is what those other two people are dealing with, isn't it?"

"Hmm." Hearing Lin Xu say that, I couldn't help but turn my gaze to Zeng Yixi, who was positioned at the front of the crowd.

When we met at the entrance of Jingxi Lodge, Zeng Yixi and I clearly made eye contact. At that moment, the way Zeng Yixi looked at me seemed to be preoccupied.

What exactly happened to Wen Guanmiao during the time she was alone with me? I think I should be able to find out this afternoon at Yangyuanzhai.

Right now, more important than Zeng Yixi is the disappearance of "Su Wanqing".

Emerging from the thatched hut and walking all the way to the entrance of the Tranquil Abode, Lin Xu and I saw no more of the Undead. Meanwhile, Elder Jianshan had told the nine of us that everyone was present.

The phrase "everyone is here" may seem like a casual remark, but it actually provided me with some clues.

Admittedly, logically speaking, Elder Jianshan knew that Su Wanqing had not returned to Jingxi Lodge yesterday, so he should feel normal about the current situation where Su Wanqing is absent from our group.

However, from the opposite perspective, Elder Jianshan should have noticed that not everyone had arrived. The reason is simple: since the elder's words are part of the rules, the elder himself is also a part of the rules being followed. For the elder, his perspective on the rules of the Shengdan Academy should be far richer than that of us disciples.

However, he said that everyone was there.

This only proves one thing: even though Elder Jianshan has a higher perspective and knows more, he is not omniscient or omnipotent within the Shengdan Academy. At the very least, he should not have known about the existence of the immortals within the Jingxi Lodge.

"Do the immortals and the elders have different stances? No, maybe they're just putting on an act in front of us..." Thinking this, I looked at the back of Elder Jianshan leading the group ahead and couldn't help but frown a few more times.

The road from Jingxi Lodge to Lianxin Hall wasn't far, and we arrived at the entrance of Lianxin Hall quickly.

Unlike yesterday and the day before, this time, Elder Huaizhen was waiting for us right at the door.

"They've arrived?" Elder Huaizhen yawned, speaking somewhat lazily. "Where's Su Wanqing?"

"It's in the Zhengxuan Hall. Elder Yuehu will personally deliver it later."

"Wow... to have the strongest elder, second only to one person, do something like this, the sect leader really values ​​Su Wanqing..."

"If it were you, wouldn't you take it seriously?" Elder Jianshan said coldly.

"That's not what I meant," Elder Huaizhen waved his hand and continued, "Su Wanqing does represent the future of the Shengdan Academy for the next five thousand years, but it's too much of a fuss. I've read the autobiography of the Divine Heart Immortal Venerable. Before he was a thousand years old and a Nascent Soul cultivator, he cultivated as an ordinary true disciple in the Divine Heart Sect."

"so?"

"So, in the early stages of cultivation, focusing too much on it might actually destabilize Su Wanqing's foundation... right?"

"This is not your concern." Elder Jianshan's voice remained cold. He glanced back at the nine of us behind him, then said to Elder Huaizhen, "Keep these nine children in check. Their talents are not bad, and some of them even have the potential to become unpolished gems. This is something you should be focusing on."

"I know." Elder Huaizhen said indifferently, pursing his lips.

"Let's go. We'll start class when Su Wanqing arrives." After saying this, Elder Jianshan's body was instantly enveloped in black mist, and in the blink of an eye, he disappeared from our sight.

"...Tch, so arrogant. Hey! You guys, come in." Elder Huaizhen grumbled, looking into the distance. Then, he glanced at us and opened the Refining Heart Hall.

Just as Elder Jianshan said yesterday, that "Purification Pool" was just a welcoming ceremony for new disciples. When we entered the Refining Heart Hall again today, we easily went directly to yesterday's classroom.

"You can sit and study the textbook on your own, or you can daydream or doze off, it doesn't matter. We'll start today's study when Su Wanqing arrives. Ha..." After saying that, Elder Huaizhen yawned again.

"..."

Inside the Refining Heart Hall, a somewhat oppressive silence fell over the room. Almost everyone sat upright, not daring to move.

Seemingly sensing our anxiety, Elder Huaizhen scratched his head and said somewhat speechlessly, "I'm telling the truth. There's no need to be so serious. Classes haven't started yet, and the rules are the same as yesterday."

"...Teacher." Qian Zhe raised his hand first when he heard Huai Zhen say this.

"What's wrong?" Elder Huaizhen leaned on the podium, his dark gray eyes scanning Qian Zhe up and down.

"You just said the rules are the same as yesterday, does that mean... we can ask you a question just like yesterday?" Qian Zhe pondered for a moment and asked haltingly.

"Smart, that's right." Elder Huaizhen nodded sincerely, then he said with a wicked smile, "But unfortunately, this is also a problem for you."

"..."

"Haha, what a pity, isn't it?"

I didn't turn around, but I knew Qian Zhe's expression must be priceless right now. But to be fair, Qian Zhe's question was indeed a good one. Since he gets to ask Elder Huaizhen a question every day...

"old..."

"Report."

Just as I was about to raise my hand to ask Elder Huaizhen a question, a familiar voice suddenly appeared at the school gate.

Immediately following were two figures, one tall and one short.

"The little ancestor is here." Elder Huaizhen clapped his hands and teased, and the school doors began to open slowly.

Under our watchful eyes, Su Wanqing, looking somewhat reserved, appeared before us in a flowing purple robe adorned with gilded gold. Behind her, a silver-haired old man in soft armor frowned, gazing disapprovingly in the direction of Elder Huaizhen.

"Huaizhen, is this how you act as a martial arts instructor?"

"Hehe, Teacher Yuehu, I'm not you, so of course my talent as a teacher isn't as good as yours, right?" Huaizhen said, shrugging nonchalantly and laughing.