MOF Chapter 84
by Volare“It’s him!” Si Wumian said softly to Xie Yiling, “Senior Brother Xie, he’s the little thief who stole my money bag.”
“I already returned the thing to you!” Shui Sheng smoothly slid down from the windowsill, biting his lip and carefully glancing at Nie Xiangsi. “It’s not your turn to call me a little thief.”
“You really are in league with them.” Si Wumian was both angry andLucky that they had returned again.
He was actually deceived like this, not noticing anything, almost letting this group of people continue to roam free.
Xie Yiling stared at her face and walked straight into the room: “Do you know of a gang called Autumn Water Hall?”
He was half a head taller than Nie Xiangsi, and when he spoke, he lowered his head, looking down at her.
Nie Xiangsi glanced at him with a sidelong look and said lightly, “Never heard of it.”
“Don’t believe her.” Si Wumian learned his lesson, not even noticing the name Xie Yiling suddenly mentioned that he had never heard of before. “Senior Brother Xie, she definitely won’t tell us a single truth.”
Nie Xiangsi’s expression turned slightly cold: “Since you don’t believe me, why bother asking?”
Shui Sheng pointed at them and shouted, “You’re bullying the few with the many, bullying the small with the big, you’re not good people!”
Si Wumian couldn’t help but retort, “You’re the one pretending to be pitiful because you’re small.”
Xie Yiling raised his hand, signaling him to be quiet: “According to the information I have, people from Autumn Water Hall have waterTexture patterns on the inside of their arms. Miss Nie, may I take a look at your arm?”
This sentence made Si Wumian couldn’t help but look over in surprise. When did Senior Brother Xie know about Autumn Water Hall? And how did he get the information about Autumn Water Hall?
Nie Xiangsi sneered: “What a righteous disciple of an immortal sect. What if I don’t want to? What will you do then?”
Xie Yiling said, “Then how about Miss Nie explain to us first why you lied earlier and concealed the truth for this child?”
“I originally thought you cultivators only cared about demons and evil spirits, I didn’t expect you to interfere with my private affairs.” Nie Xiangsi pointed at Si Wumian with her chin. “I didn’t know his identity, so I temporarily helped this child, what’s wrong with that?”
“That’s right, that’s right!” Shui Sheng interjected, “Sister is beautiful and kind-hearted, not like you fierce and evil people who only know how to bully people!”
The three, who hadn’t done anything yet, were labeled as “bullies,” silently confronting Nie Xiangsi, neither side willing to back down.
The glimmer of hope that Xie Yiling had just ignited to find Xie Qing was extinguished, and he had no patience for the two: “Master, I’m going to break the rules.”
Nangong Ci knew he was anxious and didn’t stop him. Instead, he nodded.
Xie Yiling made a hand seal and placed it on Shui Sheng.
Nie Xiangsi’s expression changed, and she pounced over to stop him, but she couldn’t compare to the speed of theSpirit Talisman.
Xie Yiling released a Truth Revealing Spell, which didn’t harm the body.
He began to interrogate: “What is your relationship with Nie Xiangsi, and what is your relationship with that man? Why did you come to Chun Fu Lou?”
Shui Sheng stared fixedly at a certain spot, his eyeballs motionless: “I’m reporting to the Third Hall Master that new people have arrived recently.”
Xie Yiling asked, “Who is the Third Hall Master?”
Shui Sheng stiffly raised his thin arm and pointed at Nie Xiangsi. Seeing this, Si Wumian directly used spiritual power to bind her.
Nie Xiangsi resisted without success, her eyes coldly watching Xie Yiling.
Xie Yiling said, “Do you know the full name of your hall?”
Shui Sheng said, “Autumn Water Hall.”
Si Wumian said to Nie Xiangsi hatefully, “You still said you didn’t know, what else do you have to say now?”
Xie Yiling clenched his fists, making a “creak, creak” sound of bones. His eyes were slightly red, and he turned his head to look at Nie Xiangsi: “Have you ever heard of the name Xie Qing?”
Nie Xiangsi’s originallyferocious faceI was stunned for a moment when she heard the name “Xie Qing.” She looked at Xie Yiling, as if considering whether to tell the truth.
Just as Xie Yiling’s patience was about to run out, Nie Xiangsi finally opened her mouth: “Heard of it.”
She raised her eyes, and her expectant gaze met Xie Yiling’s in the air. She said deliberately, word by word, as if taking revenge: “But he’s already dead.”
As she wished, she saw the light in Xie Yiling’s eyes dim instantly. Nie Xiangsi’s lips curled into an arc, and she laughed softly, uttering a sentence:
“What a pity.”
Xie Yiling couldn’t describe how he felt. His face seemed to be numb from the wind blowing in through the window, and his features maintained a strange, still state.
“Dead?”
After a long while, Xie Yiling repeated the question.
His pupils were dark without a trace of light, and he stared at Nie Xiangsi somewhat grimly: “How did he die?”
Si Wumian felt that his condition was a little off and stepped forward to hold his shoulder: “Senior Brother Xie, calm down.”
As he moved, Nie Xiangsi, who was bound by his spiritual power, suddenly groaned in pain and knelt down, her body curled up into a ball like an earthworm.
“I didn’t touch her!” Si Wumian quickly raised his hands to clarify.
Nangong Ci couldn’t help but raise his hand to find Xie Yiling’s location: “Xie Ci, be mindful of your actions.”
Xie Yiling didn’t explain, only retracted the Truth Revealing Spiritual Seal and asked Shui Sheng, “Do you know what’s wrong with her?”
Shui Sheng widened his eyes in horror, breathing rapidly, shaking his head desperately: “I, I don’t know, I don’t know!”
“No, you should know.” Xie Yiling’s tone was light. He took out Bu Song. The icy, hard blade reflected a snow-white cold light. Several patches of light unevenly reflected on Nie Xiangsi’s face, forming a clearly lit and shadowed portrait of a beauty.
The tip of the sword lifted Nie Xiangsi’s sleeve. Xie Yiling seemed careful, but he ruthlessly peeled open half of her left sleeve. The dark purple waterGrass pattern looked like an old, scabbed scar in the dim light.
Their eyes met, and Nie Xiangsi had nothing to say.
Just as Xie Yiling was about to interrogate, he saw her face suddenly turn pale. Her stunning face was wrinkled together, like a flower that had instantly lost its moisture, withered and decadent.
“Ah, ah, ah!”
Nie Xiangsi cried out in pain, desperately covering her left hand. Her nails dyed with henna were deeply embedded in her snow-white skin, poking out pit marks.
At the instant he heard the sound, Nangong Ci raised his hand and set up a silencing barrier.
“This, what’s going on?” Si Wumian was both surprised and suspicious. “Was she backlashed?”
“This pattern is probably not as simple as a tattoo.” Xie Yiling carefully examined the pattern with his spiritual power and understood, “This is a Child Gu Curse.”
“How come there are both gus and curses?” Si Wumian stepped forward to take a look. “Is it a gu or a curse?”
“Both.” Xie Yiling sheathed his sword. “Using a gu as a curse is much more flexible than directly using a gu in order to better control people.”
Nangong Ci said, “Judging from the name, it’s probably a Mother-Child Gu type.”
“That’s right.” Xie Yiling nodded. “The Mother Gu Curse is in the body of the gu planter. It can sense the situation of the person who has been hit by the Child Gu Curse. It is controlled by will, and the method of dispelling the curse is also relatively simple. You only need to summon the Mother Gu out of the body and place it on the body of the person who has been hit by the gu, and the Child Gu will smell the smell and crawl out by itself to find the Mother Gu.”
Xie Yiling suddenly squatted down and pulled up Shui Sheng’s trouser leg to take a look. He saw that there was indeed the same tattoo on his calf.
Shui Sheng woke up from his dazed state. Seeing this scene, he immediately cried loudly, “It’s over, I’m going to hurt too! I’m going to die from the pain!”
Xie Yiling had a headache from his crying. He turned around and saw that Nie Xiangsi was still painfullylie in the ground, shaking non-stop, and his headache worsened.
Scarlet spiritual power surrounded Nie Xiangsi’s wrist at a distance of one finger to avoid suspicion, gradually stopping the pain.
The strands of hair on Nie Xiangsi’s forehead were damp with sweat and even darker. She trembled and slowly let go of her left hand, which had been squeezed out of a circle of blood-red marks, and looked up at Xie Yiling blankly.
Xie Yiling asked in a flat tone, “Where is the location of Autumn Water Hall?”
Nie Xiangsi breathed slowly, “I don’t know.”
Xie Yiling said, “Who is the Grand Hall Master?”
Nie Xiangsi closed her eyes, “I don’t know.”
“How come she doesn’t know anything.” Si Wumian, who was trying to find a way to quiet Shui Sheng down, couldn’t help but wonder, “Aren’t you the Third Hall Master? How could you not have met the Grand Hall Master?”
Xie Yiling saw that Nie Xiangsi and Shui Sheng were shaking badly. He went over and closed the window. When he came back, he pulled out a stool from under the table and helped Nangong Ci sit down.
After doing all this, he calmly said, “I can remove the curse on you.”
Nie Xiangsi understood, tugged at the corner of her lips, and smiled beautifully and bitterly: “What’s the point of removing it? Once you enter the autumn waters, where can we find a way to survive.”
“Isn’t it okay to leave Shuo City? Find a safe place to live.” Si Wumian finally stopped Shui Sheng’s crying and sighed in relief as he persuaded.
Nie Xiangsi looked at Si Wumian: “If you knew that my hands were stained with blood, would you still advise me to live on?”
Si Wumian was speechless.
“The title of Third Hall Master was given to me by the Second Hall Master.” Seeing that he didn’t answer, Nie Xiangsi slowly said to herself, “Autumn Water Hall doesn’t have a fixed residence. It exists in all six cities. Some areInn, some are prominent nobles, some are ordinary people, and some are people begging along the street.”
“The Grand Hall Master only sends us tasks by letter. Perhaps, even the Second Hall Master has never seen his true face. The Gu Curse was also planted on each of us by the Second Hall Master.”
“So, the Mother Gu is on the Second Hall Master?” Si Wumian thought thoughtfully.
Nie Xiangsi weakly nodded.
“Is the Mother Gu only on the Second Hall Master?” Xie Yiling suddenly asked.
Nie Xiangsi paused for a second and said calmly, “Yes.”
Xie Yiling looked at her, then looked at Shui Sheng, and suddenly laughed.
Nie Xiangsi’s heart sank.
He continued to ask: “Then what is the Second Hall Master’s name? Do you know?”
Nie Xiangsi’s heart was drumming. She instinctively felt that the young man in front of her was not so easy to fool, and was even morekeen than she had expected.
She frowned and bit her lip hard to calm herself down: “The Second Hall Master didn’t reveal his name, but I know what he looks like.”
Nangong Ci coughed lightly and kindly persuaded, “Miss Nie, it’s better for you and me to be honest. You have already taken wrong steps step by step, but you can still turn back.”
Nie Xiangsi stared at him, seeing that Xie Yiling and Nangong Ci both had knowing expressions.
Xie Yiling didn’t wait for her to ask and said directly, “As far as I know, once the Mother Gu Curse breaks out, all Child Gu Curses cannot be spared. You said that the Mother Gu is only on the Second Hall Master, then why was he unharmed when your Gu Curse broke out?”
Si Wumian looked at Shui Sheng, who was half-embraced and half-held captive in his arms.
“I think it’s probably because there is more than one Mother Gu. Or rather, the Mother-Child Gu levels of Autumn Water Hall are progressive and very strict. For example, the Child Gu Curse on you is controlled by the Mother Gu Curse on the Second Hall Master, but the Child Gu Curse on Shui Sheng is controlled by you. So the Child Gu Curse on you is actually a Mother Gu Curse for Shui Sheng.”
After Xie Yiling finished speaking, he quietly looked at Nie Xiangsi, waiting for her reaction.
“That’s right.” After a long time, she opened her mouth, “As expected of the people from Southern Return Heavenly Pavilion, you are indeed not so easy to deal with.”