Chapter 87: Can I Take a Look?
That damn mirage had the audacity to claim her feelings for her master were
fake
?
And that her master was beyond saving?
Just thinking about it made Li Qingran furious.
There was nothing to discussâif it tried to stop her from saving her master, she'd just cut it down with a single sword strike!
The scroll Elder Jiong had retrieved was already glowing faintly, making it easy to spot even in the densely packed shelves of the fifth floor.
Li Qingran carefully picked it up and flipped through its contents.
It was a treatise on alchemy, split into two volumes.
The first contained techniques for refining pills.
The second recorded three pill recipes:
Golden Scale Skin Refining Powder
Hundred Herb Detoxification Pill
Dragon Tendon Bone-Tempering Elixir
Among them, the Hundred Herb Detoxification Pill was said to neutralize
all
poisonsâeven surpassing the formulas of Lingxi Valley. However, it was incredibly difficult to refine, especially since it required over a hundred rare spirit herbs.
Still, Li Qingran was delighted.
A heavy burden was lifted from her heart, and she smiled.
"Good thing I didnât go to Lingxi Valley. If I had, I never wouldâve found a way to cure Masterâs demon poison."
"You may leave once you've memorized the scripture," Elder Jiong called from outside.
Li Qingran returned the scroll to its place and walked to the entrance.
"This is a transcript of
Danxin Annotations
," Elder Jiong said, handing her a jade slip. "It will self-destruct in twelve hours. You must memorize its contents before thenâwill that be an issue?"
"No problem."
She accepted the slip, thanked Elder Jiong, and left the Scripture Pavilion.
Standing atop the North Summit, she gazed at the rolling clouds on the horizon.
Stretching her arms lazily, she finally felt a sense of relief.
"Next, I need to gather the necessary herbsâand tell Master the good news. Thatâll cheer him up!"
She giggled to herself.
Sect Master Su Qinian would surely help as well.
If everyone worked together, they would definitely find a cure for her masterâs demon poison.
Once he recovered, he could return to the Sword Pavilion.
And thenâŠ
She could see him every dayâŠ
As that thought lingered, the tips of her ears turned bright red.
Quickly shaking off the embarrassment, she rang the bell at her waist.
A celestial crane soared over from the cliffside.
Hopping onto its back, she decided to visit Ten Thousand Swords Peak first to see the stele her master had left behind.
After that, sheâd return to Luoxia Peak.
Meanwhile, in a police station interrogation roomâ
"Officer, listen, I barely even know that girl!"
"Oh? Then why was she in your hotel room? And sheâs underage."
"I was trying to stop her from bleeding out!"
"So thatâs why you took her clothes off?"
"How else was I supposed to dress her wounds and perform acupuncture? Itâs not like Iâwait, hold up. Do
you
think I have some weird thoughts about a
kid
?"
"Oh, so you
do
acupuncture? Are you a doctor?"
"NoâŠ"
"Uh-huh. Please, continue."
The officer casually flipped open his notebook, gesturing for Chen Huaiâan to "keep making things up."
Chen Huaiâan was speechless.
Shortly after Lin Lingling was taken away by the ambulance, the police had arrived.
Most likely, the hotel staff had reported the scene.
Given the bloodstains everywhere and the fact that it involved an underage girl, it was no surprise that they handcuffed him and took him in immediately.
"Iâm telling the truth," Chen Huaiâan sighed. "Just wait until she wakes up. You can ask her yourselves."
"Oh, we
will
."
"But until then, youâll have to sit tight right here."
The officerâs expression remained skeptical, practically screaming,
âI wouldnât believe you if my life depended on it.â
At that momentâ
The interrogation room door swung open.
A bearded middle-aged man stepped in.
He flashed his badge at the officer, whose face immediately stiffened.
The officer quickly saluted and stepped aside.
"This case is now under our jurisdiction," the man muttered to him.
The officer gave a sharp nod before exiting the room.
The bearded man turned to Chen Huaiâan, his gaze scrutinizing.
"Chen Huaiâan, is it?"
His eyes flicked between the case files and Chen Huaiâanâs faceâand he hesitated.
What the hell?
How is this guy so ridiculously handsome?!
It was unnatural.
Something was off.
He was already inclined to believe Triple Zeroâs bizarre descriptions of Chen Huaiâanâbecause the moment he laid eyes on the guy, he felt uneasy.
This was not a normal person.
And after visiting the hotel scene earlier, he had felt itâ
An immense aura of demonic energy behind the sealed door.
It was a miracle that the hotel staff had the good sense to keep the doors shut.
Otherwise, that thing might have escaped.
The charms on the doors and windows were real.
They were the only thing keeping that demon trapped inside.
And yetâ
The source of those charms was a complete mystery.
"Iâm innocent."
Chen Huaiâan sighed again.
Thinking this guy was just another police officer, he tried to explain, "I woke up this morning and saw that girl covered in blood at my doorstep. As a decent citizen, I couldnât just leave her there to die, right?"
The bearded man let out a dry chuckle.
"Chen Huaiâan, I completely believe you."
"Really?"
"Of course."
Chen Huaiâan brightened.
"Then can I have my phone back?"
It had been half a day since heâd seen Qingran Baby, and he was getting antsy.
The bearded man was puzzled but still handed him the phone.
Then, he watched as Chen Huaiâan eagerly tapped away on the screenâ
Despite the fact that, from
his
perspective, the screen was completely black.
The more he watched, the deeper his confusion grew.
This phone⊠isnât normal.
Could it be a demonic artifact or a spiritual object?
Since the Spiritual Qi Revival, all sorts of supernatural things had begun to appear.
Some of them were demonic artifactsâobjects corrupted by demonic influence, capable of turning humans into demons.
Others were spiritual objects, possessing various mysterious powers.
These were highly sought after by cultivators.
If Chen Huaiâanâs phone was a spiritual object, it would explain a lotâ
The charms on the hotel doors.
The barrier keeping the demon trapped.
It all made perfect sense.
There was a simple way to test this theory.
A bound spiritual object could only be used by its designated owner.
But if it was unbound, anyone could use it.
After some thought, the bearded man casually stood up and walked over.
With a friendly smile, he said,
"Chen Huaiâan, thatâs quite an old model of a phone youâve got there. Youâve been using it for years, havenât you?"
Then, extending his hand, he asked,
"Mind if I take a look?"