Thump thump thump~ Thump thump thump.

A knocking sound rang out.

“Who is it?”

Bai Lian pulled open the door, and at first, she only saw a pair of white eyes.

She blinked, then managed to peer past the whiteness. “Second Elder, what brings you here?”

“Is it impossible for this old man to visit the Holy Maiden if there’s no business?” The Second Elder smiled. The smile on his aged face should have been kind, but because his eyes were all white, it appeared very eerie. “The Holy Maiden’s cultivation has advanced greatly. It truly is a blessing for my Bai Gu Dao.”

“Not at all. Elder, you are the main sect’s pillar that upholds the heavens and supports the sea.”

“Ha ha ha. Not planning to let this old man in for a sit?”

“This…” Bai Lian showed a difficult expression. “After all, I’m a girl. It’s not convenient, right?”

“This old man watched the Holy Maiden grow up since you were small. You’re like my daughter. What’s not convenient?” the Second Elder said, then squeezed into the room.

He looked around left and right, and seemingly casually asked, “Holy Maiden, why are you still wearing a night veil in your own room in the sect?”

Bai Lian blinked. “Naturally beautiful, so I must conceal the light and nurture the obscurity.”

“Ha ha ha ha…” The Second Elder burst into laughter, then the laughter suddenly stopped. “Ouyang has already returned. I can smell his scent.”

“That’s a good thing! It wasn’t in vain that we exhausted our efforts and sacrificed so many hidden pieces to cover for him all the way. Why hasn’t the Great Elder appeared yet?”

“Who can guess his thoughts?”

“If you can’t guess, then I certainly wouldn’t know.”

“Is it that you don’t know, or you don’t want to know?”

“This humble one doesn’t need to know.” Bai Lian laughed charmingly. “The sect’s important matters still need the elders to decide. I’ll just quietly wait for the news.”

The Second Elder looked at her deeply, then got up to walk outside.

Before stepping out the door, he suddenly stopped. “Holy Maiden, why are you so good at talking today?”

Bai Lian chuckled. “Look at you saying that. When have I not been good at talking? Even if I occasionally have some temper, isn’t it all for the sect’s important matters?”

The Second Elder finally left, and the oppressive feeling that had covered the room seemed to be cut off by the door as well.

…

“Perhaps this is the final probe.”

Bai Lian murmured softly.

She sat quietly for a while, confirming that no one else would come to disturb her. Then, she put down an array plate, pulled open the wardrobe, dragged out Jiang Wang, whose eyes were tightly closed, and threw him onto the bed.

At this time, Jiang Wang was in a state of sealed senses. Only like this could he avoid that pair of all-white eyes.

Bai Lian pinched an incantation and unsealed his five senses.

Jiang Wang suddenly sat up, looked at Bai Lian, and pressed his sword without speaking.

Although he had been in a state of sealed senses and couldn’t hear the conversation between Bai Lian and the Second Elder, by emptying his five senses and calming down, he had repeatedly thought about the matters of today.

“Whatever you want to ask, just ask.” Bai Lian walked to the edge of the table and directly sat down.

“You saved me again,” Jiang Wang’s voice was a bit difficult.

Bai Lian smiled. “What’s worth mentioning?”

“This is the old nest of Bai Gu Dao. Are you a person of Bai Gu Dao?” Jiang Wang asked.

“We are all people within Daoism,” Bai Lian said.

Knowing that arguing with her about Bai Gu Dao belonging to the orthodox Daoism was fundamentally meaningless, Jiang Wang repeated, “I only ask you, are you or are you not a person of Bai Gu Dao?”

“Not me.” Bai Lian extended her jade finger and pointed at Jiang Wang. “It is us.”

“What does that mean?”

“Originally, I didn’t want to tell you so quickly, because your ‘metamorphosis’ isn’t complete yet.” Bai Lian sighed. “But since you’ve appeared here today, you won’t give up without an answer, right?”

Jiang Wang didn’t answer her question, but asked, “So today’s Fang He Ling coming to Niu Tou Shan was a trap? Targeting whom?”

“It was a casual move by the Bai Gu Shi, not targeting anyone. It’s just that tonight, no matter who followed Fang He Ling, they would all die here. Anyway, we’ll be abandoning this place soon. You and that Ji Cingsi dark sentry just happened to meet.”

Bai Gu Dao would soon leave Niu Tou Shan.

Jiang Wang keenly grasped this information, but he set it aside. He turned to ask, “What is metamorphosis? What do you mean ‘you all’ and ‘we’?”

“The white bone lotus flower on your back, your suddenly mastered technique of ‘flesh birth soul return’… Isn’t that enough to make you associate?”

“You always understand me very well. These might all be your arrangements. The white bone lotus flower might have been tattooed on me when I fainted, and it’s also possible that you used some method to pass the ‘flesh birth soul return’ technique to me… It’s impossible for me to be related to Bai Gu Dao!”

“I don’t have the divine ability to modify memories,” Bai Lian suddenly laughed. “However, it is true that I’ve always paid close attention to you, ever since you were still a beggar…”

Jiang Wang was suddenly shocked!

To escape Fang Peng Ju’s pursuit, transforming into a beggar and barely surviving in Huan Zhen Guan, that was a matter before opening meridians. Bai Lian had actually been observing him since then?

Bai Lian quickly explained, “Initially, that group of beggars you were all in settled in Huan Zhen Guan, and under our guidance, you completed the selection.”

Her voice was melancholic. “Huan Zhen Guan is a very meaningful place, also a place chosen by Honored God. As early as the time when Zuo Guang Lie died in battle, I was curious. So many beggars died, why were you the only one who didn’t? Could it have been merely a coincidence?

Why did you return to the Dao Academy later and your cultivation immediately progressed by leaps and bounds?

Presumably, you also have some awareness, right?

After opening your meridians, your cultivation speed surpassed ordinary people.

Most importantly, you can devour the Bai Gu Dao seed, you can perfectly adapt to Bai Gu Dao’s secret methods, and you can use the ‘flesh birth soul return’ technique! You are not ordinary, you are the son of Bai Gu Dao!”

Bai Lian finally said, “Later I only understood why you appeared in Huan Zhen Guan – precisely because of Honored God’s arrangement.”

“No, that’s not right!” Jiang Wang shook his head. He believed his cultivation came from the Tai Xu Huan Jing, fundamentally unrelated to being the son of Bai Gu Dao. But the Tai Xu Huan Jing was his biggest secret now and couldn’t be used to argue.

“I’m just afraid that while you say it’s not right with your mouth, your heart is crying in pain.”

“What son of the Path!” Jiang Wang took a step back. “I said, it’s impossible for me to forgive Bai Gu Dao’s actions. It’s also impossible for me to go along with you. We are not on the same path!”

“That’s because you still haven’t seen the truth of this world clearly, haven’t thoroughly erased your hypocrisy, and haven’t found your true self.”

“I am very clear about who I am, I don’t need you to remind me.” Jiang Wang tried to control his mind and let himself think calmly.

“What is this Bai Gu Dao seed you mentioned?” he asked.

“This is a very precious thing. I also only have one. It can absorb nutrients from the host to grow, finally completely controlling the host. But it was unexpectedly swallowed by you… So you see, of course the seed cannot take effect on the son of the Path!”

Jiang Wang looked at her coldly. “You tried to parasitize me?”

Bai Lian rarely had some apology in her gaze. “At that time, we were still not familiar…”

“We’re not familiar now either. You make me feel very strange!” Jiang Wang said coldly. “No need to say more! I absolutely do not believe I am some son of Bai Gu Dao. Even if it were true, I absolutely would not go along with this group of human-faced, beast-hearted guys!”

One “even if,” although it expressed determination, it also showed his shaken state.

Bai Lian didn’t press this point urgently but counter-asked, “Is it raising fierce beasts and disregarding the lives of ordinary people that is human-faced, beast-hearted, or is it extracting the Dao veins of the Shui race and refining them into meridian-opening pills that is human-faced, beast-hearted?”

“Don’t think of using words to shake my Dao heart!” Jiang Wang’s voice was firm, as if it wasn’t enough to resist the pressure he was under.

He made an effort to calm his breathing and verify his determination. “Bai Lian, since our paths are different, then let’s go our separate ways. I said, my life was saved by you. You can take it back now.”

Bai Lian’s eyes were very beautiful, like a mix of coquetry and resentment, full of autumn waves. She just gazed at Jiang Wang with those eyes.

“How could I be willing to kill you?” She softened her voice and said softly, “However, as long as you cooperate, I can erase your memory of tonight. Just pretend everything didn’t happen. Wait until you thoroughly awaken, then you will remember what happened tonight.”

“Covering your ears and stealing a bell?”

“No, it’s just not the right time yet.”

Bai Lian rose and leaned in, and before Jiang Wang could react, she just pressed him down onto the bed to sit.

“Look at my eyes,” she said. “I don’t have the divine ability to manipulate memories. I’m just using a secret technique to temporarily seal this small segment of memory, so you must open your body and mind and cooperate fully. If there’s an accident, in mild cases, you’ll have a mental disorder; in severe cases, your soul will scatter.”

Jiang Wang knew clearly in his heart that this was already the best choice.

Tonight, he had mistakenly entered Niu Tou Shan, stepping into a thief’s nest, and should have ended up dead.

Bai Lian’s various covers had already saved his life. But no matter how they discussed it, it was impossible for her to let him take the secrets of Bai Gu Dao back to Fenglin City.

And he would rather die than go along with Bai Gu Dao.

Now, he could temporarily delay the choice he had to face and didn’t need to die.

Jiang Wang completely opened his mind, letting his consciousness be submerged by countless lotus petals.

He felt a kind of warmth, inclusion, and attachment.

Then, in this boundless sea of lotus petals, he saw a lotus bud drifting towards him.

It grew taller and taller, until it was parallel with Jiang Wang’s line of sight.

Then the lotus bloomed. In the center of the bloom was not a stamen, nor lotus seeds.

But… a black candle!

…

…

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