After leaving Yue Yao’s residence, Chu Xinghui immediately returned to Qingjing Peak.

Before he even ascended, he bumped into Ming Xiao, who was running back down.

Ming Xiao looked at him cautiously, unsure how to address him, and respectfully said: “Shishu (Senior Uncle)?”

Chu Xinghui: “…”

He pinched the bridge of his nose, not wanting to suddenly have such a big “nephew”: “Just call me like before.”

Ming Xiao quickly adjusted his thinking: “Then can I call the Sword Sovereign ‘Senior Brother’ in the future?”

Indeed, that sounded better than suddenly having another elder relative.

In other words, he and his master were now on the same generation.

Chu Xinghui was concerned about this friend’s thought process: “…You can try that next time.”

Xie Liufeng’s concerns no longer mattered to him, and whether Sect Master Xue Feng cared about Ming Xiao’s confinement also no longer concerned him.

He looked at the direction Ming Xiao was heading and decided to change the subject first: “Did you come to see me?”

Ming Xiao suddenly remembered the main matter, nodded, and handed him a Lingying Stone: “It was sent over by the people the sect dispatched to Hanshui Marsh.”

Chu Xinghui glanced at the image inside the Lingying Stone.

On the ground, there were several boxes filled with the little snakes they had seen last time. Just one look gave a creepy feeling.

Ming Xiao briefly summarized the situation: “The seal on the evil spirits in Hanshui Marsh remains intact, but many such snakes have appeared near the seal over the past two days, and their numbers are increasing rapidly. They are almost impossible to catch now.”

Chu Xinghui asked Ming Xiao: “What is the sect’s current plan?”

Ming Xiao stated his purpose for coming: “The plan is to continue dispatching more people, prioritizing those with higher cultivation who have taken over the Hanshui Marsh mission. I have already signed up. Do you want to join?”

He emphasized: “Of course, I just came to ask you and didn’t really mean to go on the mission with you.”

Chu Xinghui skillfully ignored his last sentence and nodded: “Alright, I will go.”

He had long suspected that the Hanshui Marsh incident might be related to the man in black. Now that there were new developments, he was naturally willing to take a look.

Ming Xiao got the answer and quickly slipped away.

*

Chu Xinghui did not waste time and returned home to find Xie Liufeng. He told Xie Liufeng everything he had discussed with Yue Yao from start to finish.

The information Yue Yao provided about the “Book of Fate” undoubtedly made the already unclear situation even more confusing.

Xie Liufeng thought it over and first grasped a clue: “You said… after being struck by heavenly thunder, you saw a book?”

He recalled how the two of them first met: “So, you hadn’t been to the cultivation world back then but knew your own background because of that?”

Since the topic came up, Chu Xinghui did not hide anything. He fully recounted the entire cause and effect and the plot related to that book.

That event happened too long ago, the information in the book was minimal, and later he barely intersected with the book’s storyline. If Yue Yao hadn’t suddenly mentioned it this time, he would have forgotten that the reason he originally chose to sell his boat ticket from Shuixun CIty was actually due to an unexpected accident.

After hearing the full story, Xie Liufeng couldn’t help but reach out and touch his head.

Chu Xinghui felt something was off and looked up at him warily.

Xie Liufeng pondered for a moment and truthfully shared his thought: “I was just a little curious… what exactly does it feel like to be struck by heavenly thunder right on the forehead?”

He had always experienced lightning tribulations hitting the whole body, never directly on the head.

He didn’t know if being hit there would make someone dumb.

Although their Xingxing was quite smart now, what if he was even smarter before?

Xie Liufeng’s mind wandered into all sorts of nonsense, and he pitifully patted Chu Xinghui’s head again.

Chu Xinghui: “…”

He pushed Xie Liufeng’s hand off his head.

Xie Liufeng finally got serious and began to analyze: “Assuming Yue Yao’s information is not false, the Book of Fate can indeed be modified. What you saw is very likely a modified version originally prepared by Qin Yuwen for you and himself. Such a divine artifact that reveals everyone’s fate must have a complex connection with the Heavenly Dao. When it is about to be changed, it is not impossible for those involved in the altered fate to receive partial foreshadowing.”

“Especially since you yourself are favored by the Heavenly Dao.”

Xie Liufeng suddenly looked at Chu Xinghui: “Also…”

Chu Xinghui asked: “What?”

Xie Liufeng said: “No matter what caused this matter, I am very grateful. Otherwise, if you suffered somewhere I didn’t know about, I would have been sad.”

Chu Xinghui said objectively: “According to that book’s plot, the two of us should not know each other.”

Xie Liufeng smiled slightly: “That would be a pity, wouldn’t it?”

He believed that whether Chu Xinghui went to Lingxiang Sect or not, the story in that book was nonsense.

It was not the choice Chu Xinghui would make.

Chu Xinghui was actually a very intuition-driven person. Although he might not fully understand yet, he always judged others’ goodwill or ill intent toward him quickly based on intuition. Even with the influence of the Book of Fate, he probably wouldn’t have anything to do with Qin Yuwen.

But if the two of them didn’t know each other, Chu Xinghui would certainly suffer a lot… Just thinking about such a possibility made him feel heartache.

Chu Xinghui nodded seriously: “But now we know each other, so you have to treat me better, for example, agree to be my Dao partner.”

Xie Liufeng did not expect him to still care about this matter at such a time and couldn’t help teasing him: “Then why can’t you treat me better?”

Chu Xinghui thought for a moment and found no difference: “Alright, I can also agree to be your Dao partner.”

Xie Liufeng: “…”

It seemed that thunderbolt had no effect after all. Their Xingxing was still very smart.

After a few jokes, Chu Xinghui brought the topic back to the main matter: “What should we do about the Book of Fate?”

Xie Liufeng nodded and comforted him: “This matter is indeed worth investigating carefully, but there is no need to worry too much. The conditions for modifying the Book of Fate should be very strict.”

“Before Qin Yuwen died, he was quite well regarded by many, but that was only reputation, the people truly affected deeply were probably just those who were very close to him. Now that he has changed to another body, within the sect…” Xie Liufeng thought and tried to evaluate objectively: “You should have noticed, she has almost no friends in the sect. If it weren’t for her own unwillingness to make connections, she probably cannot even simply use the Book of Fate to modify others’ attitudes toward her now. Whether she can still access the Book of Fate is even uncertain.”

Regarding the matter of the Fate book, Qin Suyun was actually just a pretext, the so-called “Fate book can be modified” probably was not the truly threatening aspect of this matter.

Xie Liufeng worried… actually, he worried whether this matter was related to the problems appearing in the higher realm.

Yue Yao’s own purpose was even less likely to be as righteous as she claimed.

However, Yue Yao did say one thing correctly.

No matter what the truly threatening aspect of the fate book was, the threat it posed had already far exceeded its value, and it really should have been destroyed as soon as possible.

Xie Liufeng finally summarized: “Alright, this matter was not something that could be solved quickly. The sect was still keeping an eye on Qin Suyun, if she made any moves, they would definitely be discovered.”

Chu Xinghui thought for a moment and proposed: “Should I go provoke her a bit?”

After all, Qin Suyun’s target was him, to make her act sooner, the easiest way was to cause some “problems” with him as the target.

Xie Liufeng pinched his face and said: “Even if you want to provoke her, you had to wait for the right time and the right entry point.”

He pondered for a while and shared his progress with Chu Xinghui: “I previously asked Shang Ling to help check the traces of Cultivator Biyun’s disappearance, now there were some clues. If I remembered correctly, Yue Yao was raised by her master alone, and the two were very close. Since Yue Yao got involved this time because of her master, presumably the ‘heavenly secret’ her master glimpsed back then and the truth behind the disappearance should be a good breakthrough.”

“Shang Ling found a disciple who was expelled from Bihai Taohua Island a hundred years ago, I will visit them soon.”

Chu Xinghui had no objections and nodded.

He thought again and told Xie Liufeng what Ming Xiao had just told him, reporting his plan: “I planned to take on this task and go to Hanshui Marsh again in a few days.”

Xie Liufeng agreed: “Good, be careful with everything. If you encounter something you can’t solve…”

Chu Xinghui interrupted his reminder and said proactively: “I will call you.”

Xie Liufeng couldn’t help but laugh and deliberately stretched the sound: “Mm—Our Xingxing is the smartest.”

Chu Xinghui: “…”

*

After finishing the main business, the two separated temporarily to do their own things.

As soon as Xie Liufeng turned around, Chu Xinghui suddenly grabbed his sleeve.

Xie Liufeng asked him: “What’s wrong?”

Chu Xinghui looked at him solemnly: “There is one more thing I want to ask you.”

Seeing his expression, Xie Liufeng also became serious: “What is it?”

Chu Xinghui politely asked: “May I ask if you are willing to be my Dao companion today?”

Xie Liufeng laughed helplessly: “…Are you planning to ask this question every day from now on?”

Chu Xinghui nodded and shared his plan: “Yes, I will ask every day, you just have to agree on one day.”

Xie Liufeng was extremely helpless, poked his head, and sighed: “Are you so sure I will definitely say yes?”

Chu Xinghui looked at him confused: “Wouldn’t I?”

Xie Liufeng did not agree with him only because he feared that he didn’t understand yet and might make a wrong choice in an impulsive moment.

So essentially, Xie Liufeng actually liked him.

They mutually liked each other, as long as he insisted on asking every day and mentioned it in their daily conversations, Xie Liufeng knew he was not impulsive, and it was only a matter of time before he agreed.

Xie Liufeng was speechless.

He pointed at Chu Xinghui’s room and straightforwardly changed the topic: “Now, you go to your room.”

Chu Xinghui was very puzzled by his arrangement: “But it’s not rest time yet, I want to practice swordsmanship.”

Xie Liufeng: “…”

 

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