Chapter 19
Yu Sui didn't wait long before the patrol guard came out and returned the Wind-Listening Ruler to her: "It's fixed now. If you can't send messages next time, come find me again. Your Wind-Listening Ruler seems a bit sluggish—took several tries before it worked, but there's no major problem."
"Thank you."
Yu Sui nodded and had just put away the Wind-Listening Ruler to leave when the door opened again.
Mei Liangyu came out from inside, looking down at the Wind-Listening Ruler in his hand. The Communication Courtyard practitioner beside him said: "It's impossible, don't worry. No one can crack the communication arrays of our three families. Wind-Listening Ruler inscriptions must be mutually connected to send messages, and every single word and sound in messages leaves traces in the Number Mountains—it can't bypass inscriptions and Number Mountains."
"Besides, the incident location was within the academy, not somewhere else. Our communication array covers all of Taiyi. No message can escape monitoring here, and Wind-Listening Rulers must connect through here to function."
"You saw it yourself just now—what he claimed couldn't happen."
"For someone to steal runes from the three core Number Mountains of the communication array—even if the three founding masters were alive, they might not be able to do it. The Number Mountains have been modified repeatedly over all these years, becoming more solid than before. If such loopholes could appear, it would be the shame of the three families."
The Communication Courtyard practitioner declared confidently: "That kid is definitely spouting nonsense. Don't go easy on him during the Trial."
Mei Liangyu suddenly stopped walking forward and looked up at Yu Sui standing ahead. Yu Sui was also looking at him. Seeing that Mei Liangyu had noticed her, she smiled friendly.
"Too late," Mei Liangyu put away his Wind-Listening Ruler and said slowly, "That kid has already been released by my Junior Sister."
Yu Sui scratched her face.
The Communication Courtyard practitioner said in shock: "How could you easily let go of someone full of lies like that!"
"Exactly," Mei Liangyu smiled without warmth. "Why don't I help you ask my Junior Sister what she was thinking."
Only then did the Communication Courtyard practitioner sense something was wrong. Looking left and right, he spotted Yu Sui standing ahead with an innocent expression, then looked at Mei Liangyu beside him. The practitioner moved closer to him, shielding with his hand behind his back, and lowered his voice: "Is that girl ahead your Junior Sister?"
Mei Liangyu: "You can ask her yourself."
The Communication Courtyard practitioner immediately turned and went back inside.
Yu Sui took the initiative to greet him: "Senior Brother, did you come to the Communication Courtyard to look at Brother Gu's Wind-Listening Ruler?"
Mei Liangyu walked past her toward the exit, looking straight ahead: "What's so interesting about his Wind-Listening Ruler."
The Communication Courtyard had cracked Gu Qian's Wind-Listening Ruler—the messages inside were clean, all daily exchanges with nothing suspicious.
Everyone was a Taiyi student. Who wouldn't know that if caught after an incident, the Wind-Listening Ruler would definitely be taken by the Communication Courtyard for cracking, and all message exchanges would be exposed?
So Gu Qian couldn't possibly use his Wind-Listening Ruler to send messages before taking action, leaving evidence behind.
Yu Sui followed behind Mei Liangyu: "Senior Brother, here."
Here what?
Mei Liangyu looked back to see Yu Sui had also stopped, and in her outstretched palm was the note he had left on the Ghost Way Saint Hall table earlier.
The paper bore one line: "Are you serious about taking this disciple?"
The black characters were written boldly and elegantly, each character showing superior calligraphy with strong, powerful strokes that stopped at just the right points—pleasing to the eye.
Yu Sui had initially taken this note because she was attracted by the handwriting, finding it beautiful and wanting to collect it.
Now seeing Mei Liangyu, she changed her mind. As Mei Liangyu's gaze moved from the note and slowly looked at her, Yu Sui smiled: "Master said he is serious."
Mei Liangyu's eyes reflected Yu Sui's bright smile for a long time. He seemed to want to see something in Yu Sui's face but couldn't be certain. Finally, he just raised an eyebrow slightly and indicated the note in her palm: "If you took it, it's yours."
……
Late afternoon.
Coming out of the Communication Courtyard, Yu Sui asked Blackbeard thoughtfully: "I'm not the type who makes people dislike me on first meeting, am I?"
Blackbeard didn't dare be presumptuous and answered properly: "Princess is clever and bright—of course not."
He thought to himself: Though one wouldn't think her clever and bright on first meeting, she certainly wouldn't reach the level of being disliked. A well-behaved and lovely girl like the Princess would actually be quite popular.
Yu Sui said worriedly: "Li Jin Shuang doesn't really acknowledge me, and Senior Brother doesn't really acknowledge me either. Is it their problem or mine?"
Blackbeard answered quickly and decisively: "Of course it's their problem."
"But Senior Brother doesn't seem to want to get along peacefully with me. Elder Li also said before that Senior Brother isn't someone who would accommodate me. Plus with Brother Gu's situation, his impression of me must be very bad." Yu Sui sighed. "Can you look into my Senior Brother? I want to think about how to get along with him."
Blackbeard nodded repeatedly: "No problem, Princess, rest assured. I'll handle this."
Rather than blindly searching on her own, it was better to use available resources.
Blackbeard had lived in the outer city for years and definitely knew more than someone like her who had just arrived at Taiyi on her first day. He also had more connections.
Besides, now with the emperor far away, the hidden guards who usually followed her wherever she went weren't here either. Within the academy, Yu Sui experienced freedom for the first time.
Yu Sui and Blackbeard toured the academy to familiarize themselves with the terrain. She frequently checked her Wind-Listening Ruler along the way. Blackbeard was tactful and never looked at or asked about the Wind-Listening Ruler.
Though she had transmitted cipher text into Taiyi's communication array through the Wind-Listening Ruler, she needed time for it to spread and contaminate, because the communication array here was truly enormous.
Taiyi's communication array was the largest Yu Sui had ever seen.
She once thought the communication array in Qingyang's imperial palace was large, but comparing them today, it could barely be considered large-scale next to Taiyi's communication array.
Qingyang's imperial capital was also vast, yet couldn't achieve coverage of the entire capital with just one Communication Courtyard—instead, it was divided into numerous communication arrays by region.
Whenever Yu Sui went out, hidden guards would follow. Her every move was monitored by the Nangong family, both to prevent the "Breath Soil" from being seized and because Nangong Ming needed to control this chess piece's every action.
When situations required it, Nangong Ming would also expose Yu Sui to danger. He would first throw out bait, making those competing for Breath Soil mistakenly think they had a chance to strike. Once, when Yu Sui was captured, if not for using Strange Fire to learn that someone was always following her, she would have had to act herself to survive.
Fortunately, she didn't act that time, because the one following her was Nangong Ming himself.
The hidden guards' existence seemed like protection for Yu Sui, but they also imposed the greatest restrictions on her.
This directly led to Yu Sui, who needed to visit communication arrays to see Number Mountains to find connection points, having to rack her brains to find ways to visit different communication arrays.
Only last year had Yu Sui successfully managed to avoid personally seeing Number Mountain operations, instead taking the initiative to attack by planting cipher text to contaminate Communication Courtyard Number Mountains and conduct surveillance from within.
Over these years, what Yu Sui saw from communication arrays in different regions was mostly people's daily exchanges, mixed with some ambiguous and obscene words between men and women, or curses and condemnations of certain people or events.
Truly useful top-secret conversations—people like Nangong Ming would never use Wind-Listening Rulers for discussion. On Wind-Listening Rulers, they only reported locations and meeting times.
After gaining a clearer understanding of Nangong Ming's forces in the imperial capital, Yu Sui couldn't help but marvel at her luck back when she sent messages to Zhongli Que.
If Zhongli Que had revealed that Wind-Listening Rulers could send messages without requiring inscriptions, she definitely wouldn't have survived until now.
If Yu Sui randomly bypassed inscriptions to send messages to others, it would eventually alert the Communication Courtyard. The Communication Courtyard would search through all Six Kingdoms to find her if necessary.
Then she wouldn't just offend the Communication Courtyard, but the entire Yin-Yang School, Taoist School, and Technical Arts School.
Whatever Yu Sui did, she had to be cautious and extremely careful.
……
Mei Liangyu returned to the Ghost Way Saint Hall.
The door wasn't closed, leaving a narrow gap, as if for convenience of opening next time, or as if left for him—it could mean many things, like provocation.
Mei Liangyu examined it carefully for a moment and saw no signs of the door being chopped or kicked. It could even be called "unharmed"—aside from opening when it shouldn't have, there was nothing wrong with it.
So how had she opened the door?
Perhaps Nangong Sui had lied and actually could use Nine Schools Arts.
Mei Liangyu squinted slightly and pushed the door open to enter.
The hall's lighting remained the same, with flickering candlelight above, but enveloped in tranquility and warmth.
He walked to the desk and looked down, his gaze casually sweeping over the table surface as he asked: "What's so special about my Junior Sister that caught your attention, old master?"
Ink flowed on the suspended paper.
Saint Chang Gen's answer appeared in Mei Liangyu's mind: "Fate."
Mei Liangyu pulled over a chair to sit at the table, crossing his arms in a relaxed posture: "Master, fate comes in many types. You and I have an ill fate—what kind do you have with her?"
Saint Chang Gen answered: "Good."
Mei Liangyu laughed: "So I'm the only bad person."
Thinking about it carefully, when he decided to keep Gu Qian under continued observation during the Trial, he was indeed a "bad person" in Yu Sui's mind.
Yu Sui thought that because of rescuing Gu Qian from the Legalist School, Mei Liangyu's impression of her was definitely bad.
Mei Liangyu also thought that because of the Trial decision regarding Gu Qian, Yu Sui's impression of him was definitely bad.
After all, they were childhood sweethearts.
Mei Liangyu twirled his brush and asked again: "My Junior Sister says she can't use Nine Schools Arts—how did she open the door?"
Saint Chang Gen answered: "An ability she was born with."
Mei Liangyu adopted a humble, inquiring attitude: "For example?"
Saint Chang Gen said: "Ask her yourself."
As Mei Liangyu chatted with his master in the Saint Hall, the sky outside gradually darkened. His Wind-Listening Ruler glowed faintly with a message from the [Eat Well] group:
Xing Chun: "Food?"
It was dinner time again.
Mei Liangyu replied no.
The other two also replied no.
Xing Chun: "Give me a reason for not eating, right now."
Zhongli Shan: "Practicing Military Formation Array, until tomorrow morning."
This one had no time to eat.
Cang Shu: "Master Liu's class, can't leave."
This one couldn't eat.
Mei Liangyu: "Not hungry."
This one didn't want to eat.
After a while, Xing Chun replied: "I'm dead. When you want to eat, lift my coffin lid and pull me up."
Mei Liangyu put away his Wind-Listening Ruler, picked up his brush to silently copy a complete Ghost Way mental cultivation method on paper, then got up to leave.
He first went to accompany Xing Chun for dinner. Hearing Xing Chun mention that new students had enrolled today and would be assigned to residences reminded him that he seemed to have a new roommate, so he headed toward the residence.
When Mei Liangyu reached the residence, it was quite late. Lights lined the surrounding paths, and night mist was rising. He stepped on fallen flowers covering the ground as he entered the residence gate. The first floor was nearly empty now. Being too lazy to use Wind-Riding Techniques to go upstairs, he walked toward the Dragon Stairs.
Someone was standing at the Dragon Stairs.
Mei Liangyu recognized her even before getting close.
He stopped at a distance, watching Yu Sui continuously scribbling at the Dragon Stairs door's access symbols, but still unable to draw the correct runes to activate the Dragon Stairs.
She really seemed to know nothing about Nine Schools Arts.
Mei Liangyu strolled over to Yu Sui's side, extending his hand first to draw the correct runes while asking: "Which floor?"
Yu Sui made a sound of surprise, turned to look, and watched Mei Liangyu open the Dragon Stairs and walk inside.
"Sixty," Yu Sui answered.
Mei Liangyu stood in the middle of the Dragon Stairs, glancing up at her: "Not coming in? Planning to walk up the stairs?"
Only then did Yu Sui enter.
Watching the Dragon Stairs ascend, Yu Sui couldn't help but scratch her cheek.
She had just discovered that the Dragon Stairs' mechanism operations were somewhat similar to Number Mountain operations. She was testing whether she could use Number Mountain runes to control and modify the Dragon Stairs activation runes, but then Senior Brother arrived.
Hopefully he hadn't noticed her intention.
Yu Sui obediently stood in the Dragon Stairs corner. Mei Liangyu, near the exit, glanced at Yu Sui in the back and asked in a neutral tone: "Can't use Wind-Riding Techniques?"
"Haven't learned yet," Yu Sui answered.
Mei Liangyu asked again: "Didn't memorize the Dragon Stairs runes either?"
Yu Sui felt relieved: "Haven't memorized them yet."
Mei Liangyu: "Then walk up the stairs tomorrow."
Yu Sui nodded: "Mm!"
Mei Liangyu: "......"
He looked at Yu Sui with an inscrutable expression, receiving only Yu Sui's confused, innocent gaze in return.
Mei Liangyu stopped the Dragon Stairs and told her to get out.
Yu Sui walked while looking at him longingly: "Senior Brother, you're not angry enough to kick me out, are you?"
"Follow what I just drew." Mei Liangyu gestured with his chin toward the Dragon Stairs activation interface, wanting Yu Sui to learn stroke by stroke.
Yu Sui hadn't actually failed to memorize how to draw the Dragon Stairs runes, but at this point, if she said she actually could draw them, Mei Liangyu would definitely stuff her into the Dragon Stairs and have it bury her underground.
She had no choice but to follow Mei Liangyu stroke by stroke.
Regarding playing dumb, Yu Sui had been doing it for over ten years—she didn't mind doing it a bit longer. She even pointed to a certain spot and asked Mei Liangyu earnestly: "Senior Brother, why does it have to be drawn this way?"
Mei Liangyu's answer was quite cold: "Don't worry about why it's drawn this way. Just remember how to draw it."
Looking at this symptomatic teaching approach, Yu Sui felt he definitely shouldn't take disciples in the future.
After Mei Liangyu saw that Yu Sui had learned well enough, he let Yu Sui do it herself and stopped drawing along. The two rode the Dragon Stairs up and down, down and up, repeating many times. Yu Sui felt the timing was about right and said during this ascent: "Thank you, Senior Brother. I've learned it."
She hadn't expected this Senior Brother to be a man of action—acting immediately when he decided to do something, while cleverly avoiding making people feel offended or annoyed.
Mei Liangyu leaned against the Dragon Stairs wall, examining Yu Sui standing in the middle under the gentle moonpearl light for a long time before asking: "You took so long just to learn Dragon Stairs runes, yet could open the Saint Hall door with Class A defensive spells in less than half an hour."
The ascending Dragon Stairs suddenly stopped.
Yu Sui looked up, then sideways at Mei Liangyu: "Senior Brother, I always have things I'm good at and things I'm not good at."
Mei Liangyu: "What are you good at?"
Yu Sui rolled her eyes: "Good at opening doors, I guess."
Mei Liangyu scoffed: "Dragon Stairs doors are also doors."
Yu Sui also smiled: "Then I'm good at opening Saint Hall doors, but not good at opening Dragon Stairs doors."
Their gazes met, neither avoiding the other's eyes. In Mei Liangyu's view, Yu Sui smiled brightly, the upturned strands of hair on her head seeming to take root, sprout, and bloom, swaying small flowers that complemented her bright, charming smile, drawing people deeply into her surface appearance while making it difficult to perceive the depths beneath.
After just a moment, both seemed to sense something and turned their gazes toward the Dragon Stairs.
Why had it stopped moving?