Chapter 126
Nian Qiuyan's face showed no abnormalities. He was still touching the scratched area on his face, chuckling softly: "I could only calculate that leaving the city would be inauspicious. Besides, you getting chased and killed as soon as you leave the Outer City is something that doesn't need calculating to know."
He even glanced at Yu Sui: "You Senior Brother and Junior Sister are just the same."
One had been mixing in the Outer City for years, accumulating all sorts of grudges, and the other was the Agricultural School's Breath Soil.
Mei Liangyu said nothing. Yu Sui politely praised: "Senior Brother Nian's trigram techniques are truly amazing."
Previously she hadn't paid much attention to Nian Qiuyan, nor had the opportunity. Who could have thought he would be connected to Lan poison, even related to Qing Kui?
Yu Sui secretly glanced at Mei Liangyu.
Though she didn't know why, she defaulted to believing that people familiar with Mei Liangyu wouldn't be Lan corpses trafficking poison.
Or rather, Mei Liangyu couldn't possibly be friends with such people.
But Senior Brother also had times when he misjudged people.
Nian Qiuyan's disguise was also unmatched.
The most difficult things to discern in the world were those mixing truth with falsehood, and the Technical Arts School's trigram techniques took this to the extreme.
Yu Sui kept Nian Qiuyan tonight also wanting to observe more. She went first to handle Pearl House matters, leaving Mei Liangyu and Nian Qiuyan staring at each other in the main hall.
There were quite a few people coming and going in the main hall. Mei Liangyu and Nian Qiuyan went to a corner to stay.
As soon as Nian Qiuyan sat down, someone came to serve tea and evening meals. His eyes rolled as he looked at Mei Liangyu and said: "Junior Sister Nangong is really good to you."
Mei Liangyu said carelessly: "I'm her Senior Brother. If she's not good to me, who should she be good to?"
"Didn't she also call me Senior Brother just now?" Nian Qiuyan pointed to himself.
Only then did Mei Liangyu turn his gaze back to him, saying critically: "You actually took seriously being called Senior Brother from Technical Arts School."
Nian Qiuyan couldn't help laughing: "According to titles, her calling me that is indeed correct. How can it be a matter of whether I take it seriously or not?"
Mei Liangyu added: "Closeness has its distinctions."
Nian Qiuyan said directly: "Aren't you being too domineering?"
Mei Liangyu only raised an eyebrow. So what?
The two ate while chatting. While Yu Sui was settling accounts with Blackbeard and others, she spared time through Five Elements Light Cores to observe their conversation.
Nian Qiuyan actively brought up tonight's events: "That suddenly appearing mountain trigram formation, do you have any clues about it?"
"Didn't see the person." Mei Liangyu paused before answering. "Doesn't seem like Sky Crane Gang's doing. Qu Zhenghao must be cooperating with someone else."
Nian Qiuyan said: "Should we go ask about it later?"
Mei Liangyu made an affirmative sound.
After eating simply, the two went to find the imprisoned Wei Lingshu.
Wei Lingshu looked at them with eyes both charming and seductive, laughing softly: "If you want to know so badly, why don't you come closer to listen?"
Mei Liangyu and Nian Qiuyan exchanged glances. Nian Qiuyan said: "You're good at this kind of thing."
Mei Liangyu warned him: "Speak more clearly."
Nian Qiuyan added: "You're better at torture and interrogation."
After saying this, he consciously stepped back, putting distance between himself and Mei Liangyu. In the dim room, Mei Liangyu looked coldly at the bound Wei Lingshu.
Mei Liangyu stood in front of Wei Lingshu, his tall figure blocking the light from above, casting a shadow that enveloped Wei Lingshu.
When he didn't speak and only looked at you coldly, it invisibly brought an oppressive feeling that made breathing difficult.
Wei Lingshu initially thought it would just be some physical injuries, and she could endure as long as she held out.
It wasn't until she discovered Mei Liangyu was using Legalist School Judgment Art: Interrogation that her eyelid twitched.
In the dimness, she could see lightning flickering around Mei Liangyu's body, making subtle crackling sounds. If Wei Lingshu told lies, Judgment Art: Interrogation would take away something from her body.
Mei Liangyu said quietly: "Think clearly before answering. If you give false answers, it will first take your right thumb, then your index finger, then your left hand."
Wei Lingshu bit her lip hatefully.
Mei Liangyu asked: "Who cast the trigram formation?"
"I don't know." Wei Lingshu answered quickly. "I'm not clear about the other party's identity."
Mei Liangyu asked: "Someone Qu Zhenghao found?"
Wei Lingshu immediately said: "It was the other party who came to us."
Mei Liangyu: "What method?"
Wei Lingshu said: "Agricultural School transmission beast."
Mei Liangyu: "How many people?"
"I don't know!" Wei Lingshu raised her voice. "The transmission beast wouldn't be kept either, definitely destroyed. Even if you want to find it, you can't. I only cared about whether we could kill you tonight. I don't know anything else!"
Nian Qiuyan looked at the somewhat panicked Wei Lingshu. Zhang Xiangyun wouldn't leave loose ends when doing things. She really didn't know.
Mei Liangyu had also figured it out. He didn't continue scaring her and left with Nian Qiuyan.
Nian Qiuyan covered his mouth and yawned, indicating he was tired. Mei Liangyu told him to rest first.
"What about you?" Nian Qiuyan asked.
Mei Liangyu sat down in a corner of the main hall. "I'll wait a bit longer."
Nian Qiuyan followed his gaze forward and saw Yu Sui discussing matters with Blackbeard and others. She listened seriously, nodding from time to time.
"Alright, I'll go rest first then." Nian Qiuyan said as he went upstairs.
The guest rooms were all prepared.
After Nian Qiuyan entered the room, he closed the door behind him, swept the room to confirm there were no problems, and only then did his tense nerves relax slightly.
He raised his hand to wipe his face where the wound was somewhat itchy, slowly walked to sit on the bed, and picked up Divine Wood Signs to gently caress them in the candlelight.
The black Divine Wood Signs had a lustrous surface that reflected light under the candlelight, flickering bright and dim.
Through this intermittent light, Nian Qiuyan glimpsed the first half of his life. At this moment he looked extremely calm, and compared to his usual gentle and compliant features, he even had some sharpness.
That night, Yu Sui couldn't see anything unusual from Nian Qiuyan. After returning to his room, he remained silent for a long time before lying down to rest, making no other movements.
When Yu Sui finished with Pearl House matters, she looked back to find Mei Liangyu still waiting in the main hall, having gone from initially staring at her to now looking down and playing with his Wind-Listening Ruler, only raising his head when he sensed someone approaching.
"Finished with everything?" Mei Liangyu put away his Wind-Listening Ruler and asked.
Yu Sui nodded. As soon as she sat down, Mei Liangyu poured her a cup of water.
"Senior Brother, tonight seemed to be aimed at you. Why did you come to the Outer City?" Yu Sui asked after taking the cup.
Mei Liangyu thought for a moment, lightly tapping the table with his finger: "A child I know came to find me."
Yu Sui was startled and asked: "So Senior Brother actually likes playing with children?"
Mei Liangyu said with an indifferent expression: "How would I not know that?"
Yu Sui answered with good reason: "From 80-year-old elders down to seven or eight-year-old children, Senior Brother knows them all."
Mei Liangyu actually thought about it following her words, and it didn't seem wrong.
"Is this child facing family troubles, either he got beaten up or he lacks money, so he came to find Senior Brother for help?" Yu Sui asked.
Mei Liangyu said: "You guessed pretty accurately."
Yu Sui held her warm tea cup, her bright eyes looking at the man sitting across from her, her small face showing some worry: "Senior Brother, how are you so easily deceived?"
Mei Liangyu looked at her with an inscrutable expression. "What would you do instead?"
"Me?" Yu Sui blinked. "I couldn't possibly be friends with children, and I wouldn't give them a chance to find me for help."
Mei Liangyu couldn't help grinding his teeth, thinking you're certainly honest.
Such words sounded really too cold-blooded and heartless.
But Yu Sui answered straightforwardly.
Mei Liangyu stared at her and said: "What if you had to choose?"
Yu Sui held her cup and took a sip of tea, satisfying his hypothesis: "Whatever he needs, I'd have someone give it to him."
She smiled with curved lips: "After all, I'm the Little Princess of the Nangong family. A Little Princess wouldn't personally go to the Outer City to catch people."
Mei Liangyu was amused by her light tone, pursing his lips lightly before saying: "Before I came, Nian Qiuyan had given him money. I wouldn't stop him from giving it, but I had to get that money back from Little Earth's father."
Yu Sui was stunned listening to this.
"Just because of that?" she asked.
Mei Liangyu nodded lightly.
His peculiarity lay in being extremely stubborn about certain details, having his own logic that wouldn't change according to the world's or others' rules. Points that others couldn't imagine were obstacles that Mei Liangyu couldn't get past.
Dealing with such people was also quite difficult, with no clues and not understanding their personal rules.
Yu Sui used to be somewhat afraid of such people. Too troublesome, requiring constant attention to observe and guess.
At this moment, Yu Sui looked at Mei Liangyu with some bewilderment in her expression.
But when getting along with Senior Brother, she didn't feel that tension and exhaustion.
Indeed, people were different from each other.
Yu Sui held her cup and drank tea, listening to Mei Liangyu say nonchalantly: "Being targeted by people has always happened. Once you get used to it, you stop caring about who's doing it."
After it happened many times, he got used to it. In the end, he was too lazy to think about who wanted to kill him.
He'd rather spend that time thinking about what to eat for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
Not to mention he would also actively cause trouble for others.
Mei Liangyu's understanding of this world had always been that it was full of war and death.
At some unknown time, he had come to understand that people's vitality was temporary, vanishing and disappearing in certain moments.
"Senior Brother, when I first came to the academy, Brother Gu was arrested by the Legalist School..." Yu Sui noticed Mei Liangyu's frowning gaze looking over, gripped her tea cup, and changed her words without changing expression: "About the Inverted Moon Cave incident, did you initially suspect Gu Qian took the Silver River Water, which is why you disagreed with releasing him?"
"If the Silver River Water was taken by him, he wouldn't have been caught. I only suspected Gu Qian knew something or was cooperating with someone." Mei Liangyu said, "But from my subsequent observations, I found he was just coincidentally rather unlucky."
Yu Sui said: "He started disliking you from that time."
Mei Liangyu had an indifferent expression of "I don't care whether he likes me or not."
"Strange, if it wasn't Gu Qian, then who could have entered Inverted Moon Cave without anyone knowing and taken the Silver River Water?" Yu Sui tucked her fingers into her wide sleeves, her eyes full of innocent curiosity, supporting her face with one hand, her tone carrying some amazement. "Gu Qian tonight cooperated with so many people and barely managed to enter Inverted Moon Cave from Xiaoyao Pool. How capable would someone have to be to avoid the Legalist School's patrolling instructors and the Nine Capital Guards to go in and steal things?"
How capable?
Mei Liangyu's eyes moved slightly. Before he could think, Yu Sui asked him: "Could Senior Brother do it?"
"Class A disciples and Nine Capital Guards can patrol forbidden areas and are much more familiar with some forbidden areas than other disciples. With sufficient preparation, it's not impossible." Mei Liangyu said after thinking briefly.
Yu Sui gestured again: "Last time at Dragon Slaying Cave, I saw Senior Brother and Senior Brother Nian cooperating very well. If you worked together, could most of the academy's forbidden areas be breached?"
Mei Liangyu asked her: "Which forbidden area do you want to break into?"
"I won't break into any." Yu Sui said obediently.
Mei Liangyu didn't believe her obedient appearance at all.
Saying she wouldn't break in, but privately she'd probably turn the forbidden areas into sieves.
Mei Liangyu asked her: "Why bring this up suddenly?"
It couldn't be to prove the Silver River Water theft had nothing to do with Gu Qian.
Yu Sui still said obediently: "Without this incident, I wouldn't have come to Taiyi Academy, and I wouldn't have met Senior Brother."
Mei Liangyu was touched by these words, his gaze softening somewhat.
"If the Silver River Water hadn't been stolen, even if Gu Qian broke into Inverted Moon Cave and was caught, he wouldn't have faced such serious judgment from the Legalist School. If not for saving him, my father wouldn't have sent me to Taiyi Academy with the Di Su Balance Scale." Yu Sui's words carried some emotion. "These past months felt as long as several years. I suddenly wondered just now what I'd be doing in Qingyang Kingdom if I hadn't come to Taiyi Academy."
Facing Mei Liangyu, Yu Sui felt she couldn't speak about Nian Qiuyan's matter, and telling him directly was even more impossible.
She also didn't want Mei Liangyu to know about matters related to Qing Kui.
Regardless of whether Senior Brother would think her pitiful or malicious, Yu Sui just didn't want Mei Liangyu to know.
Though Yu Sui occasionally joked about matters at the royal manor, making clear her antagonistic stance toward Lady Su, she didn't want Mei Liangyu to have deeper contact with her relationship with other Nangong family members, or even know of their existence.
Knowing about Lady Su was enough for him.
Mei Liangyu asked her gently: "What did you used to do in Qingyang Kingdom?"
Unable to cultivate in Qingyang Kingdom, it seemed she also couldn't encounter anything related to Nine Schools Arts.
Mei Liangyu rarely felt such curiosity.
Yu Sui answered while recalling: "I spent most of my time studying at the National Academy. Later when I didn't need to go to the National Academy, I stayed in my room reading books. I actually love reading, but when I was young... I let them think I didn't like reading."
"Every year I had to attend many banquets, because every year people had birthdays and sent invitations to the royal manor, but when I grew up I could choose which ones I wanted to attend." Yu Sui thought of something, the corners of her mouth curving slightly. "The noble ladies of the imperial capital would gather at least three times a month, each time finding new things to play with."
Mei Liangyu said thoughtfully: "New things?"
Yu Sui said: "There are many noble ladies in the imperial capital, each with their own little circles. Because of their high status, they lack nothing, so they're much bolder than ordinary girls, daring to do many things others wouldn't dare do. The imperial capital's Military School Heavy Platform would imprison some prisoners who participated in rebellions. The noble ladies would pick some with good figures and faces from among them to bring to banquets, letting others play games to select them as slaves. When they got tired of playing, they'd lock them back in the Military School Heavy Platform."
Mei Liangyu made a sound of acknowledgment, lifting his eyelids lightly to ask: "Men?"
Yu Sui nodded: "Men."
Mei Liangyu asked again: "You went too?"
Yu Sui nodded again: "I'd go when I was bored."
Mei Liangyu smiled: "What did you go to do?"
Yu Sui put down the tea cup she'd been holding and answered honestly: "To broaden my horizons."
Mei Liangyu: "..."
His expression was cold, yet seemed to always be so, his clear voice still showing no joy or anger: "How many prisoners could be good-looking?"
But Yu Sui seriously explained: "Senior Brother, those weren't ordinary prisoners. Those who could be imprisoned in the Military School Heavy Platform were all royal nobles from small rebel nations around Qingyang Kingdom, former young nobles who were well-maintained. Having fallen from heaven to mud as prisoners, the imperial capital's noble ladies found it fresh and interesting."
Mei Liangyu leaned back slightly against the cool chair back, his gaze vaguely indicating Yu Sui: "Did you also pick a good-looking slave to take home?"
Yu Sui didn't hide it from him, even gesturing with her hand: "I picked one, because they were egging me on. If I didn't take someone away, the relationships I'd just formed would be suspected."
Mei Liangyu was quiet for a moment, his dark eyes staring at Yu Sui.
He shouldn't have asked.
Who knew how wild the seemingly obedient person had been in Qingyang Kingdom?
But people were just mean. His mind was thinking he shouldn't ask anymore, but his mouth unconsciously spoke: "How well did the slave you picked serve you?"
Yu Sui thought about it and said: "Pretty well."
Mei Liangyu's eyelid twitched as he listened, his gaze silently pursuing her, capturing every change on her face. Her tone, expression, and gaze all left him with unlimited imagination, causing a series of speculations to explode in his mind.
"Perhaps when people reach the end of their rope but don't want to die, to grasp at chances of survival, they can't care about their former pride and dignity, obediently learning how to serve others." Yu Sui's gaze was momentarily distant with thought. When she looked back and saw Mei Liangyu's extremely focused gaze, her heart jumped. She slowly raised her hand to cover her mouth and said softly: "Senior Brother, the serving I mentioned means things like pouring tea and water."
"When noble ladies take slaves home, it's also to humiliate them. They wouldn't let dirty slaves touch themselves."
Mei Liangyu said inscrutably: "I know."
Yu Sui added: "I only kept him for three days and sent him back to the Military School Heavy Platform on the fourth day."
Mei Liangyu thought to himself, three days wasn't short either. One day had 12 hours, three days was 36 hours.
Yu Sui looked up at Mei Liangyu slightly, waiting for him to speak, her expression somewhat innocent.
Mei Liangyu suppressed the thoughts that had been churning moments before and said calmly: "Your days in Qingyang Kingdom were quite exciting too."
Speaking of exciting, that wasn't wrong either.
Yu Sui nodded.
Mei Liangyu was caught off guard and laughed at her response.
Feeling both annoyed and finding himself ridiculous, Mei Liangyu looked away: "You should go sleep."
"What about Senior Brother?" Yu Sui asked.
Mei Liangyu said: "I'll keep watch a bit longer."
Only then did Yu Sui get up. Mei Liangyu added: "Come back down if you can't sleep."
"Alright." Yu Sui went upstairs to wash up.
After Yu Sui left, only Mei Liangyu remained in the main hall.
He recalled tonight's conversation with Yu Sui, working backward from mentioning Qingyang Kingdom, stopping at matters related to Inverted Moon Cave.
If Yu Sui hadn't come to Taiyi Academy...
Following this line of thought, Mei Liangyu continued remembering. During this time his attention had been focused on Yu Sui, indeed neglecting many things and delaying many discoveries.
At this moment, Mei Liangyu sat alone in the main hall, merging into the night and loneliness, occasionally lifting his eyes to glance outside.
……
After Yu Sui returned to her room, she went behind the screen to bathe, changed into new clothes, and ran her hand along her still-dripping black hair.
Li Jin Shuang's lowered voice came to her ear: "Tonight went very smoothly. Because Inverted Moon Cave entered Dragon Slaying Cave, there were no patrolling instructors. Gu Qian has already taken the thing back."
She paused, then asked: "How are things in the Outer City?"
"Nothing major, I'll return tomorrow." Yu Sui said.
She sat by the bed, her fingers running through her damp hair and sliding down, repeating this several times until most of the moisture had dispersed.
Li Jin Shuang asked her: "How will you get the fragments from Gu Qian?"
Yu Sui said: "Tomorrow night there will be instructors organizing surprise dormitory inspections. Everyone will wait in the corridors."
Li Jin Shuang outside the dormitory was stunned to hear this.
The academy mostly didn't care what disciples did in their dormitories. Even though mixed-gender cohabitation wasn't allowed, if you really did cohabitate without being discovered, no one cared.
As long as you weren't discovered during instructor dormitory inspections, nothing would happen.
But instructor dormitory inspections were never announced in advance, they were always conducted suddenly. Li Jin Shuang wasn't clear how Yu Sui knew the specific time.
"Tomorrow night?" Li Jin Shuang confirmed. "When instructors inspect dormitories, they'll discover Wei Ren isn't there."
"Some of the instructors are our people, especially those inspecting Gu Qian's floor." Yu Sui lay back on the bed, squinting slightly. "I spent a lot of money to buy this inspection."
Blackbeard had been at Taiyi Academy for many years, having much contact with the academy. He was clear that some of Taiyi Academy's instructors liked taking small bribes and were skilled at getting things done for money, but such things also required connections and networks for the money to be spent.
For such activities that didn't involve academy interests and weren't dangerous, instructors were also very willing to cooperate.
Li Jin Shuang asked her: "Instructor dormitory inspections are very quick. Will Wei Ren have enough time? If they return midway and find one person missing, they'll be discovered."
"I heard that every surprise dormitory inspection takes a long time to resolve, it won't end quickly. And there are always disciples fighting and causing trouble every time, hot-tempered people are everywhere." Yu Sui said, "The more chaotic it is then, the better. I suggest you also find someone you dislike or who previously targeted you to fight with tomorrow night."
Li Jin Shuang frowned thoughtfully: "Shu Chujun?"
Yu Sui burst out laughing, curling up as she laughed: "That works too."
"The instructor cooperating with us said the dormitory has a mechanism. If there's an emergency, they can activate the Dragon Lock, and all dormitory doors will be locked. Disciples outside can't get in unless instructors deactivate the Dragon Lock again."
Yu Sui rubbed her eyes and continued: "Small fights definitely won't activate the Dragon Lock."
Li Jin Shuang asked: "Then to what extent would it need to reach?"
"You'll know tomorrow night." Yu Sui said.
Yu Sui ended her transmission with Li Jin Shuang, confirmed Nian Qiuyan hadn't moved, that Zhang Xiangyun and Luo Fu had returned to the academy and were trying to remove the Love Parasite, and that Senior Brother was also sitting quietly in the main hall. Only then did she have time to check on Gu Qian's situation through Five Elements Light Cores.
Gu Qian had already returned to his dormitory.
In the bright room, both Ji Meng and Huo Xiao were there. The three of them together all stared at the Floating Pagoda fragment placed on the table.