Starting My Cultivation With Time Management

Chapter 1046: Chapter 34: People Guilty of Heinous Crimes

Seeing Shi Liuli gritting her teeth, Chen Guanshui also sighed inwardly.

Why does everyone like to risk their lives, and then test my identity by whether or not I will save them?

Using the pure and flawless love between us, doesn’t your heart ache?

Of course, after the incident with An Zhisu, Chen Guanshui had already prepared a corresponding contingency plan. He smiled and explained:

“After all, fellow Daoist is from the Penglai Cult. If I don’t save you, I’m afraid I’ll bear a grudge…”

Before he finished speaking, Shi Liuli glared at him and suddenly tears the size of pearls began to fall.

Chen Guanshui was slightly startled, continuing to use his prepared excuses, but no matter how he explained, Shi Liuli did not respond, only biting her lip, her eyes red, glaring at him, tears continuously falling.

This was truly too sneaky, because a woman’s tears are the best attack against a man, especially when you know exactly why those tears are falling—of course, a jerk is immune to this attack.

Chen Guanshui was undoubtedly not yet cultivated to the Great Perfection realm of a jerk, and was soon overwhelmed with endless self-reproach and shame.

After a long silence, he sighed and said:

“Fellow Daoist, your tears make it seem as if I didn’t just save you, but rather bullied you…”

“You did bully me!” Shi Liuli said through clenched teeth.

What an unreasonable Liuli Lady! This remark has quite the imperious air of the first generation.

Chen Guanshui steadied his mind, his expression turning cold, and slowly said:

“If fellow Daoist’s Daoist Heart is unsteady, I suggest finding a place to meditate and stabilize your mind.”

“I have other matters to attend to, so I won’t be accompanying you.”

He turned and walked towards the depths of the government office, while Shi Liuli forcefully wiped her tears and continued to follow.

Let’s see how long you can play dumb!

If it were An Zhisu here, she wouldn’t care about anything and would directly draw her sword and cut down this bastard. But Liuli Lady is ultimately a reasonable person…she wants Chen Guanshui to personally admit he is Luo Yan and then settle accounts for betraying the sect, leaving home, and keeping a mistress. There is an order to these things.

Chen Guanshui entered the government office and soon found the governor’s residence.

This governor’s residence was three rooms and a hall, as well as a beautiful courtyard with a pond, very recognizable.

He checked each room, but found no useful clues. Chen Guanshui was pondering where the Feather Courtyard senior might have gone when he heard Shi Liuli coldly say behind him:

“Perhaps he abandoned his wife and child, and, feeling guilty, took his own life!”

No, I’m attending to serious matters! Why are you speaking so sarcastically?

Chen Guanshui didn’t dare to retort, only pretending not to understand, and not to argue with her, circling around the courtyard a few more times.

Looking at the east, west, south, and north wing room designs, they vaguely align with the Five Elements path.

The east pertains to wood, so the eastern wing room is a bedroom with mostly wooden furniture; the west pertains to metal, so the western wing room holds Flying Sword treasures; the north pertains to water, hence the pond courtyard is to the north; the south pertains to fire, hence the southern wing room is equipped with a Pill Furnace… all these designs, while not forming any Formation, vividly reveal the designer’s OCD and perfectionism.

Right! It stands to reason that since the center pertains to earth, there should be something representing the Earth Element in the center.

But upon close inspection, what was in the center, surrounded by the west, south, east wings and the northern courtyard, was merely a spacious, open-air corridor connecting the courtyard and wing rooms.

“It must be a tunnel for sure,” Shi Liuli suddenly said.

A tunnel? Chen Guanshui thought carefully and it seemed there was no other possibility.

He stared at the ground beneath him, pondering where the trigger for the tunnel might be, when he heard Shi Liuli say again:

“What, can’t release the Five Elements Divine Light? Want me to step aside and come back after you’ve used your Daoist Magic?”

“Fellow Daoist,” Chen Guanshui couldn’t bear it anymore, “can you stop saying these baffling things? What Five Elements Divine Light, I don’t understand at all?”

“Heh,” Shi Liuli only sneered, “Swore in front of my father’s grave to be devoted to me for a lifetime, yet now all those vows are swallowed and flushed away? Aren’t you afraid of inciting the anger of the Heavenly Dao, and getting struck by Heavenly Thunder during Feather Transformation and Tribulation?”

Chen Guanshui instinctively wanted to retort “When did I ever swear in front of my master’s grave”, but quickly realized.

Cunning! Truly cunning! If not for my quick wit, I might have fallen for your trick!

“Fellow Daoist.” He showed an expression of helplessness and said, spreading his hands, “I’m flattered by fellow Daoist’s affection, really flattered. But I’ve decided that in this life I seek nothing but immortality, freedom, and great leisure, so I must disappoint your deep feelings.”

“Immortality, freedom, great leisure?” Shi Liuli said coldly, “I see that’s impossible. Did you know? Shushan Jiao Xiao has already drawn her sword and is on her way here. When she finds you in this place, that’ll be the day this bastard loses his head!”

Chen Guanshui was startled: What, Senior Sister An is here too!

“No more pretending?” Shi Liuli said sarcastically, “Why not continue performing that act: ‘Fellow Daoist, I don’t know what you’re talking about, who is Shushan Jiao Xiao’?”

“Ahem.” Chen Guanshui realized he had accidentally shown a trace of fear just now, which Liuli Lady had sharply picked up on, and he hurriedly remedied, “That Shushan Jiao Xiao, she’s a madwoman! Last time we met in the southern jungle, she somehow identified me as an Eastern Emperor Path cultivator and insisted on drawing her sword to kill me!”

Here he employed a nine-tenths truth technique. Except for “identifying me as an Eastern Emperor Path cultivator”, everything else was true, which explained why he was frightened just now. Not to mention his demeanor and tone were extremely natural, with no pause or hesitation, naturally leaving no flaw.

But he didn’t know that Shi Liuli had already calculated the result using art calculation, finding that he and the Shushan Tai Yin Sword Master were actually the same person.

At this moment, hearing him admit that he was being pursued by Shushan Jiao Xiao, her heart became more convinced of the judgment that “this person is my husband”. Furthermore, in front of her, while facing herself, his own wife, he was still stubbornly lying through clenched teeth. She couldn’t help but feel immense sorrow, crying uncontrollably, with tears streaming down like a curtain of pearls, her sobs intermittent.

Chen Guanshui, though reluctant in his heart, had fallen into a trap before and didn’t dare to hesitate again, just showing a troubled and puzzled expression, and advised:

“Why are you crying so much, fellow Daoist, it truly confuses me… How about this, are you looking for your Daoist companion? What is their surname and given name, their Taoist name, what sect do they belong to, and any characteristics? Tell me, and I’ll ask around among my friends and see if we can help you find them.”

“My late husband, surname Luo, given name Yan!” Shi Liuli, filled with bitterness and seeing Chen Guanshui still pretending, immediately became furious, saying harshly, “Taoist name Jingyun, but the true name is unknown!”

“He hails from Yuqing Penglai Pavilion, but before that, where he worshipped is also unknown! As for characteristics, they are utterly wicked, sinful beyond measure, deserving of being struck by Heavenly Thunder and burned by Earth Fire, hated by all humans and gods alike, ultimately forced to crawl back to Yuqing View, crying and begging for my refuge and protection!”

Her words were spoken with grinding teeth, causing Chen Guanshui to be secretly stunned.

How did it come to this, why such hostility? What did I do to deserve being treated as an enemy?

“Sword Master.” The Tai Yin Suming Sword softly reminded, “Her last sentence likely means she hopes you can mend your ways and return home to reunite with her someday.”

“Nonsense, don’t use idioms if you don’t know how!” Chen Guanshui complained, “What do you mean by ‘mend my ways’? She only said she hopes I ‘escape back to beg her’, but didn’t say she would agree! Suming, even such simple traps can fool you? If Ah Jing were here, she would never say such foolish things!”

The Suming Sword chuckled, thinking that perhaps you should find the Kunlun Mirror as your life companion instead!

Seeing Chen Guanshui speechless, Shi Liuli finally calmed down her anger, merely glaring at him coldly.

Glare!

From the current evidence, it was still not possible to definitively pin this fellow Daoist Wang Shan on the identity board of Luo Yan.

But relying on her female intuition, she could believe that the person in front of her was the disguised Luo Yan—how could he tolerate her unreasonable behavior if he were another strange man? Moreover, how could he step forward to help her in times of crisis?

Luo Yan, no doubt, Luo Yan!

The more Shi Liuli thought, the angrier she got. Thinking of how she interrogated him, yet he steadfastly pretended ignorance, made her want to simply draw her sword and cut down this heartless man, just to see if he would use the Five Elements Divine Light to fight back.

Then she realized, with her own meager strength, even if she exerted all efforts, she likely couldn’t force him to reveal his trump card. She suddenly felt disheartened and despaired.

Chen Guanshui also faced her resentful, murderous gaze, quietly pacing around.

Under the floor, under the floor…

He drew out the Fire Dragon Chant and forcefully chopped at the stone slab.

With a loud bang, sparks flew, but the stone slab remained unmoved, leaving not even a crack.

Behind him, he heard Shi Liuli chuckle. Turning around, he saw her suppressing a smile, daringly glancing at him with a provocative expression.

He felt powerless to retort, refocusing his gaze, already confirming two things:

First, there must be a secret tunnel under the floor, since ordinary stone slabs couldn’t withstand the slicing of a Flying Sword, and these slabs were obviously specially treated.

Second, the special treatment suggests that violently breaking the stone slab is likely impossible. Either find the correct way to open it, or use the Five Elements Divine Light or the Heavenly Weaving God Shuttle to circumvent…but the latter cannot be revealed in front of Shi Liuli, as it is a unique ability and treasure of Luo Yan.

Could he really ask her to step aside for a moment? Just say he has a Secret Technique that cannot be easily disclosed… but that would be tantamount to an admission!

Seeing Chen Guanshui at a loss, Shi Liuli continued to watch coldly, thinking silently:

This stone slab is definitely protected by Restrictions, breaking it from outside is impossible unless using the Five Elements Divine Light.

I’ll see what you do next!

This thought brought her a sense of vengeful pleasure, as well as tension and nervousness in anticipation of seeing the truth unveiled.

Meanwhile, An Zhisu and Xu Yinglian walked in silence, and when they encountered a lone Mud Fiery Amoeba, they immediately attacked it, shattering it (to maximally slow down its regeneration), and before it could recover, quickly departed.

“Searching aimlessly like this, when will we ever find it?” An Zhisu became agitated.

Xu Yinglian remained silent, thinking if you have a good idea then go ahead, otherwise, what’s the point of being upset? I am not that Tai Yin Sword Master, I won’t fall for your little tantrums!

Nevertheless, An Zhisu did not intend to blame her, merely taking out her frustration by randomly hacking at the nearby buildings with her Flying Sword.

“Strange.” Xu Yinglian suddenly remarked, “Have you noticed…the Mud Fiery Amoeba in this city seem unusually scarce?”

“No.” An Zhisu replied coldly, “We killed two just when we entered.”

She insisted on referring to “cutting the opponent into pieces” as “killing”, and Xu Yinglian didn’t argue about this description, only saying:

“As we’ve walked, I’ve been keeping track of all the Mud Fiery Amoeba encountered in each city and their distribution.”

“From what it appears, unless affected by some special circumstances, most Mud Fiery Amoeba seem to intentionally maintain distance from each other, leading to a very even distribution within each city.”

“But in this city alone, the Mud Fiery Amoeba are particularly scattered…” Seeing An Zhisu growing impatient, Xu Yinglian directly addressed the point, “Which means something around here is drawing away or killing the nearby Mud Fiery Amoeba.”

“So what?” An Zhisu asked, puzzled.

“No ‘so what’.” Xu Yinglian replied helplessly, “I was just discussing with you to see if you had any ideas… Forget it, let’s just pretend I didn’t say anything.”

Source: .com, updated by novlove.com

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