Since Pei Chu Yun had to adapt to the role early, Lu Xing Zhou naturally also had to do a good job with his performance.

As they got closer to the capital, Lu Xing Zhou no longer climbed mountains to view scenery. He continued to do what a pretend cripple should do: he hired a carriage and brought the maid and child, hiding comfortably in the carriage compartment as they leisurely made their way to the capital.

“He Bing will most likely be escorted back to the capital. Once he’s back, your pretense of being crippled will be exposed. Why are you still pretending?”

Pei Chu Yun leaned back in the carriage compartment, leisurely peeling an orange, but not peeling it for the “young master” to eat. She comfortably popped a piece into her mouth, still babbling to mock the young master.

“Is this how you act as a maid? Eating the orange yourself?” Lu Xing Zhou also leaned in the carriage compartment, holding a jade slip and pondering, without lifting his head.

“You still want to pretend in the carriage?” Pei Chu Yun said disdainfully, “Don’t think I don’t know what you’re thinking. You just want to use the excuse of acting to freeload a maid for free. Do you think I’m that cheap?”

“Everything in the world has a price.” Lu Xing Zhou replied casually, “Helping you investigate your background, what benefit do I get? If it weren’t for being able to gain a maid to take care of me while I study, why would I bother with this matter?”

Pei Chu Yun said, “Could it be that it’s not because you also want to use this matter to build a good relationship with the Pei family?”

“That counts too, but who knows the outcome of this matter? Maybe you don’t have half a copper coin’s worth of relation to the Pei family at all. In that case, what benefit can I gain? At that time, the only one who benefits is you, confirming your background. Whether or not you’re the daughter of the Pei family, getting confirmation is always a matter that puts one’s heart at ease, right?”

Pei Chu Yun said nothing.

Lu Xing Zhou pointed to his mouth: “Ah.”

Pei Chu Yun angrily stuffed a piece of orange inside: “Choke you to death.”

Lu Xing Zhou ate the orange with satisfaction and said leisurely, “As for pretending to be crippled, now I don’t want the emperor to think I’m crippled either. To marry… it’s not good for my official career. So in the capital, I definitely want to find an opportunity to completely abandon this setting.”

“Then why are you pretending now?”

“My wheelchair has many functions, and I’m not too willing to give it up for a while… anyway, I’ll deceive for as long as I can deceive. Maybe some fool will still come and deliver themselves. That feeling of a sudden kick to the groin is very refreshing.”

“Pa!” Pei Chu Yun squeezed an orange until it burst.

A Nuo also curled up in the corner, secretly eating an orange, while carefully staring at her, afraid that the little demon girl would get violent and want to hit the master.

In fact, from the moment Pei Chu Yun asked Lu Xing Zhou to help investigate her background, she was completely controlled. She wanted to act up, but didn’t dare.

Pei Chu Yun gritted her teeth for a while, and with a sullen face said, “Then what bad things are you pondering with that jade slip now?”

“Please, I need to ponder my own cultivation method. I need to cultivate properly, right?” Lu Xing Zhou said helplessly, “Stop your babbling, eat your orange.”

Pei Chu Yun was stunned for a moment: “If you are a person who even cultivates while sitting in a carriage, why are you only at the sixth grade middle until now?”

“Because my broken leg was real before, ah. If I weren’t a person who even cultivates while sitting in a carriage, then maybe I wouldn’t even be at the seventh grade now.” Lu Xing Zhou smiled: “Do you know what I was doing when you lived in the cave mansion next door to me… A Nuo and I were practicing martial arts.”

Pei Chu Yun was silent.

Lu Xing Zhou’s mind was still immersed in the jade slip: “When I asked you about dual cultivation methods before, I wasn’t joking. My cultivation method places great emphasis on the harmony of yin and yang. I haven’t deeply researched this topic before, which is why I’m very tired of pondering some concepts now. Shen Tang and I are almost the same… and you happen to be an expert in this area. There are some things I want to ask you for advice on.”

Pei Chu Yun hesitated for a moment: “You said that everything in the world has a price. If you want me to provide experience for reference, that’s fine, but you need to write a poem for me. Also, at most I can help you analyze some general concepts; don’t expect any core secrets.”

Lu Xing Zhou laughed: “That’s enough. I’m not interested in the core secrets of He Nu He Huan Sect.”

Hearing Lu Xing Zhou’s disdainful attitude towards her sect’s cultivation method, Pei Chu Yun hummed twice and leisurely popped a piece of orange into her own mouth: “I changed my mind. I’ll only tell you if you beg me.”

“A Nuo, do you want to know the full text of that poem from yesterday?”

Pei Chu Yun urgently stopped the orange she was about to put in her mouth, quickly stuffed it into Lu Xing Zhou’s mouth, and said with a smile, “Yes.”

Lu Xing Zhou pointed to his own shoulder: “Pinch it.”

“I’m not going to pinch it, go die!”

On the official road, the carriage compartment “kang kang kang” jumped a few times, then returned to silence.

Instead, strange dialogue started to vaguely transmit, one sentence missing and one sentence appearing: “The desert is desolate, the light is cold, the small building rises, the dawn yin has no reliance, like a poor autumn…”

“Husband and wife are yin and yang people, the root of the Dao. Cold and summer produce killing and moving, the still energy, and the clear, floating, round, moving, bright yang, also the turbid, sinking, square, still, dark yin…”

“Light smoke and water screens paint quiet…”

“Yang cannot be born alone, it waits for yin to become; yin cannot become itself, it must have yang to be born.”

“Randomly flying flowers are light as a dream, the boundless silk rain is fine as sorrow. The precious curtain hangs idly on a small silver hook.”

“One disappears, one breathes, there is emptiness, there is fullness, the two energies harmonize, then myriad forms are created…”

“You say you have such profound Dao cognition, how did you cultivate into He Nu He Huan…”

“Mind your own business. You don’t have it, but others want it.”

While Lu Xing Zhou was roaming the mountains and waters, indulging in learning, the demon cultivation case in Meng Gui County, after many days of trial by County Magistrate Meng Guan, concluded, and the horrifying demon cultivation infant killing case finally spread throughout the world.

The demon cultivator Ying Gui, falsely borrowing the name of the Buddhist abbot Yuan Hui, had hidden in Hong Fa Temple for many years. A large number of bones from early years were also dug out inside the temple, which were identified as the remains of women who were harvested by Ying Gui in early years for supplementation.

The recent bones were all infants, used to cultivate a kind of “Evil Infant” demonic skill, for the purpose of so-called “forming a Yuan Ying.”

Classics confirm the concept of “Yuan Ying,” but the method has been lost. Knowledgeable people know that “Yuan Ying” is just one method of ancient cultivation. At that stage, it is not necessarily necessary to form an infant; the ancients valued the light shining brightly in the hall, the so-called Hui Yang. At this stage, the yin god is cast out, looking like a small person haunting, but you can also be a round, slippery little ghost.

Ying Gui’s cultivation had not reached the stage where he could attempt to form a Yuan Ying. He used evil techniques to force its formation, which was not the right way for him and even more heartless and mad towards others.

Gathering a large number of infants in just one temple was too conspicuous. Ying Gui, in various forms such as buying or teaching evil methods for longevity, allowed officials and other wealthy families in the county to jointly participate, weaving a web of crime. Among them, the Qian family acted too overbearingly and was discovered by the wronged party, which opened the prelude to this matter.

The original County Prime Minister colluded with Ying Gui and strongly suppressed this case, but he was beheaded by the original Town Demon Division commander Jing Ge with a single knife. He Bing, the fourth young master of the He family, filled the vacancy. He had just arrived in Meng Gui City and had not yet officially taken office, when, due to a private conflict with Lu Xing Zhou, he brazenly instructed Ying Gui and another female demon cultivator to assassinate Lu Xing Zhou. This was witnessed by tens of thousands of people on the long street.

It was precisely because of this battle that Ying Gui was exposed and captured by Meng Guan, and the large number of bones discovered by breaking into Hong Fa Temple served as evidence. This case was finally brought to light.

Along with the case files sent to the capital, there was also Meng Guan’s impeachment memorial against Grand Preceptor He Lian Cheng, carrying the immense anger of the common people in the county who had been poisoned: “He Bing colluded with demon cultivators, with no regard for royal law. If it was a personal act, it is a fault of the Grand Preceptor’s negligence in teaching and governing his family; if it is the He family’s style to be like this, what is Grand Preceptor He intending? He Bing was familiar with Ying Gui long before, when they met, may I ask if the Grand Preceptor knew!”

The impeachment memorial exploded in the capital like a nuclear bomb. The entire officialdom of the capital shook, and a solemn atmosphere prevailed.

Gu Zhan Ting also slapped the table in great anger and issued a statement: “Escort He Bing’s group to the capital. I want to interrogate them personally!”

Along with this case, Lu Xing Zhou’s name also entered people’s eyes.

Not a few people secretly found it strange. This matter was very interesting. Wherever Lu Xing Zhou went, there was either a demon case or a demon cultivator case. In previous cases, his presence was still vague, but in this case, it was clearly indicated with thick ink, because Ying Gui was exposed while assassinating Lu Xing Zhou on the street.

Why was Ying Gui so stupid? There is a big story here. It looks like Lu Xing Zhou used his body as bait to deliberately lure him out… Since Lu Xing Zhou played the leading role in this case, what about the previous two times?

What was more interesting was that in several cases, the children of the He family were all involved. Last time, He Yu died at the hands of demons, and this time, He Bing colluded with demon cultivators. Regardless of which is the real He family style, the substantial result is that the He family children are very miserable…

Rumor has it that Lu Xing Zhou is He Shang…

People who talked about this matter exchanged glances, all feeling very strange.

Basically, it could be determined that even He Yu died in Lu Xing Zhou’s hands at that time… This was a public revenge, no pretense at all!

Even after Gu Zhan Ting personally stated that he would interrogate, he asked his left and right: “Lu Xing Zhou, isn’t he the guest minister in Xia State with Tang? I remember seeing him on the new ranking list, he’s a decent alchemist?”

“Yes, Your Majesty. It is rumored that when the princess first went to Xia State, she rented Lu Xing Zhou’s house to stay, and thus they became acquainted.”

“Hmm… why did he go to Meng Gui City?”

“The recommendation quota for the Capital Alchemy Academy from Dong Jiang County is him. He must have gone to the capital to participate in the examination, passing through Meng Gui City.”

“Eh…” Gu Zhan Ting became interested: “He will go to the capital?”

“Yes.”

“Tell the Alchemy Academy, I will personally go and observe this time’s examination.”

Outside the city, Sheng Yuan Yao carried a wild pig and returned from hunting on horseback.

Upon reaching the city gate, he heard a group of people chatting and vaguely heard the words “Lu Xing Zhou.” Sheng Yuan Yao’s ears perked up, and he immediately went over: “What’s the gossip?”

The person next to him briefly explained, and Sheng Yuan Yao’s expression became strange: “He Si clashed with him again, ah? Tsk, I think the He family children should stay home. With Lu Xing Zhou staring outside, anyone surnamed He is too dangerous…”

“Uh, but Lu Xing Zhou is about to come to the capital. We’re all very much looking forward to what kind of sparks he and the He family will have.”

Sheng Yuan Yao blinked his eyes several times with force, and his mood inexplicably became very good: “Today, Aunt Grandma is treating! Divide this pig!”

At Dan Xia Mountain, Shen Tang exhaled: “I knew it, mere He Bing couldn’t trouble him… but what about the female demon cultivator mentioned in this news? Why is she only mentioned briefly? Was she caught or did she escape? Something’s not quite right…”

In the south, at Miao Yin Mountain.

Yuan Mu Yu slightly raised his head and looked down at his subordinate: “Didn’t I say it before, Xing Zhou wouldn’t stay in Xia State for long. Didn’t he just go to Meng Gui City?”

The subordinate wiped his sweat: “Yan Monarch’s vision spans ten thousand li, your subordinate admires you.”