Mei Qing had never belonged to any sect or school in his cultivation, so naturally, he practiced his magical techniques freely, relying entirely on his own understanding.
Previously, outside the Nan Yuan Gate, when he faced Lu Bing and the other man using his teleportation technique, he had spoken the incantation aloud, only to be immediately detected and disrupted. Afterward, he realized that teleportation was meant for escape, and reciting an incantation aloud would clearly signal his intent to flee. Even if he could eventually perform it silently, it would still be very easy to detect.
In a battle between two opposing forces, the key lay in catching the enemy off guard. Thus, a sudden inspiration struck Mei Qing—could he recite a different incantation aloud to mislead his opponent while silently chanting the teleportation spell in his mind, thereby escaping unnoticed?
Such an idea would never have occurred to a disciple of any orthodox sect, and even if they had thought of it, they would have had no way to practice it. Mei Qing, however, had no such mental restrictions, and had always considered multitasking a simple feat. Therefore, once he thought of it, he immediately began training.
At first, it was extremely difficult—dividing his mind between speaking and thinking was far more challenging than using both hands independently. Fortunately, perseverance pays off. Mei Qing tried using visualization techniques, secretly preparing the teleportation spell in his mind beforehand. When he recited other incantations aloud, he simply activated the hidden teleportation spell with a thought, and the technique would take effect.
With such a self-defense skill now mastered, Mei Qing felt quite pleased. He never expected that, shortly after perfecting it, it would come in handy that very night and save his life.
Earlier, when Mei Qing noticed the look in Zheng Jiu’s eyes, he had already prepared the earth-teleportation spell in advance. When the long snake struck, he pretended to cast a sealing spell by reciting an incantation aloud, while in reality, he silently triggered the teleportation spell and activated the talisman on his chest. Instantly, he vanished from the courtyard. He only returned after witnessing Zheng Jiu being killed by the brothers Bu San Bu Si.
Zhao Dayou and the other two were delighted to see Mei Qing unharmed, especially Zhao, who was particularly expressive in his praise, repeatedly complimenting Mei Qing’s extraordinary magical abilities, calling him a near-immortal. Although Yao Dingguo and Zhou Chang disapproved of Zhao’s excessive flattery, they too had to admit that Mei Qing’s feat had indeed been quite impressive. However, lacking Zhao’s eloquence, they could only silently mock him.
“That young fellow is indeed impressive,” Sun Busan struck a pose of a senior cultivator and said, “his teleportation technique is truly remarkable. Still, since our brothers were already involved, things couldn’t possibly have gone wrong. You needn’t have been afraid.”
“Excuse me, brother, you’re wrong again. If it weren’t for the young master’s superior skills, he might have already been injured by that Taoist. You were still hiding inside your bowl…” Sun Busi hadn’t finished his complaint before the furious Sun Busan interrupted him, shouting, “Nonsense! Was I hiding in the bowl? I was clearly retreating to advance, feigning weakness to strike decisively…”
As the brothers began bickering again, Mei Qing could only shake his head with a wry smile and turned to the three behind him, saying, “Now that things have settled down, let’s clean up… Hmm, where’s that guy in white?”
Everyone was startled. Looking around, they discovered that the young man in white, who had been lying on the ground earlier, had vanished without a trace.
“What a strange occurrence,” Sun Busan’s eyes widened like the full moon, “when I arrived, I placed a sealing talisman on this courtyard. Could that fellow have broken through my restriction?” He extended his spiritual sense and frowned, “The seal remains intact. This is odd…”
Mei Qing added, “Earlier, when I used my teleportation spell, I also sensed the elder’s restriction tightly locking this place. He absolutely couldn’t have escaped. Perhaps he’s hiding somewhere. Let’s search around.”
“Escaped? How?” Sixth Master squinted at Mei Qing, “Could that fellow have some hidden life-saving ability he hasn’t used yet?”
“I thought so too at first,” Mei Qing replied somewhat dejectedly, “but Senior Sun Busan said that with his injuries and limited cultivation, breaking through the five talisman seals was highly unlikely.”
Sixth Master’s expression grew serious, “Although Sun Busan talks loosely, his skills aren’t just for show. If he says that kid couldn’t escape, then he probably couldn’t. Unless…”
“Unless what?” Mei Qing asked.
“Unless someone was secretly following you and took the chance during the chaos to break the seal and carry him away,” Sixth Master said coldly.
“That’s impossible,” Mei Qing replied doubtfully, “Senior Sun Busan’s seal remains intact, and he didn’t sense anything…”
“What’s impossible about it? Although Sun Busan has decent skills, he’s still only at the Qi Gathering stage. If someone at the Qi Cultivation stage intervened, they could silently break the seal and take him away without detection. Besides, from your description, the battle was chaotic enough that no one would have noticed anything happening around,” Sixth Master lectured.
“Even cultivators at the Qi Cultivation stage are rare, so the possible suspects should be limited,” Mei Qing said.
Sixth Master’s face darkened, “Excluding those elders in retreat across various sects, there are only a handful of people in the world with such skills who would dare act openly. But none of them are someone you can afford to provoke. Let this matter end here. I’ll assign someone else to handle the rest. You’re not to get involved anymore.”
Mei Qing raised his eyebrows, about to speak, but Sixth Master raised a hand to stop him, “No need to say more. You’ve done well enough. Although the target escaped, it’s not your fault. Besides, the Iron-Robed Taoist you brought back is actually quite significant, so that’s sufficient. I’m keeping you out of this for your own good. I know you’re concerned about the inkstone matter. If anything comes up, I’ll have someone inform you.”
After a pause, Sixth Master added, “Since Hou Shen has pledged allegiance to you, I’ll make an exception and grant him a position. Let him accompany you from now on. Alright, that’s all. You may go.”
Mei Qing hesitated, looking at Sixth Master’s resolute expression, realizing further argument would be pointless. He bowed and left.
Back in his room, he found Hou Shen had already arrived, with Zhao Dayou beside him, boasting loudly about the previous night’s events.
“Master Mei, you’re back? How did it go?” Zhao Dayou hurriedly approached with a cheerful expression as Mei Qing entered.
“Nothing much. Sixth Master said to drop the matter, so we’ll leave it at that,” Mei Qing replied somewhat gloomily, then greeted Hou Shen.
“Oh, well, ending it like this isn’t so bad, hehe…” Sensing Mei Qing’s low spirits, Zhao chuckled awkwardly, made a few idle remarks, then excused himself to go patrol, leaving quickly.
Mei Qing’s mind was still preoccupied with the inkstone matter. Having failed at the last moment, with the target snatched away right under his nose, he naturally felt frustrated. But since Hou Shen had just joined, he couldn’t afford to seem too cold, so he summoned his spirits and explained that Sixth Master had approved Hou Shen’s inclusion into the Brocade Guards. He then asked Hou Shen whether he had settled all matters with his sect.
“All taken care of,” Hou Shen smiled, “I just heard from Zhao about your amazing feats last night. I didn’t expect you to be a cultivator as well.”
“Not really a cultivator,” Mei Qing replied, “I have no master or sect, just a few minor spells I picked up by chance. Nothing impressive. Don’t believe Zhao’s exaggerations. Everything went smoothly last night, except in the end, someone stole the prize, and we ended up empty-handed.” He then recounted the entire story of the inkstone to Hou Shen, along with the details of the night’s events, naturally omitting certain secret aspects.
“So there was so much behind it,” Hou Shen said, somewhat surprised, “after the disappearance of the white-clad youth, did you thoroughly search the area? Did you find anything?”
Mei Qing shook his head, “Nothing at all. Except for a few spare clothes, there was absolutely no trace left. The inkstone was gone too, probably taken along with him. The youth called himself Yang Jin. I’ve already sent word to the Records Bureau to check if he has any criminal record. We might hear something in a couple of days. But since Sixth Master forbade me from investigating further, it’ll be inconvenient to act openly.”
Upon hearing this, Hou Shen’s face broke into a lazy smile, “Master, you’re too straightforward. Just because Sixth Master said not to investigate doesn’t mean we can’t do it ourselves. The scarred Liu you mentioned might be connected to someone on our network. Tomorrow I’ll go back to my sect and ask around. I might even find some information your Brocade Guards can’t access.”
Mei Qing found this reasoning sound. Since Hou Shen was from the Thieves’ Sect, he naturally had better knowledge of underworld affairs. Scarred Liu, having participated in a palace theft, must have been a notorious bandit, perhaps even well-known in the criminal world. Having Hou Shen investigate might indeed yield useful results.
“Alright, I’ll leave it to you. I’ll also pay another visit to the Records Bureau myself. If I rely on that fat Huang, who knows when he’ll get around to it. Sixth Master said he’d assign someone else, so we’ll just investigate secretly. I’d like to see whose people are more capable—his or ours. Hehe, and don’t worry about offending Sixth Master. Hehe…” Mei Qing patted Hou Shen’s shoulder.
Although Mei Qing no longer felt the same resistance toward Sixth Master as before, he still harbored some resentment. Hou Shen, being the kind of person who thrived on chaos, naturally found the idea exciting. Thus, the two quickly hit it off. Hou Shen eagerly returned to his sect to inquire about Scarred Liu, while Mei Qing informed Zhao Dayou and then openly slipped away to the Records Bureau to dig through the archives.
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