Prajna Lianyue's silver teeth clenched at his words, her face darkening further.
Everything she had said to Gu Fangchen earlier now turned into a boomerang, striking her squarely in the face.
The "Lotus Concealed in the Womb" on Gu Lianqian's body, was fake!
Even she herself had been deceived. From its aura to its form, it had been utterly indistinguishable from the real Lotus Concealed in the Womb.
This meant that even the Sky-Eye Division likely had not spread false intelligence intentionally, they had been deceived as well.
To achieve such a feat, in her understanding, there was only one person in the Craft Dao capable of it, the "Tooth Artisan."
Was it that someone within the Tenfold Dao wished to fracture Gu Yuye's power, or was someone using this to muddy the waters?
Prajna Lianyue did not know.
The only thing she could confirm now was that the one person who knew the true location of the Lotus Concealed in the Womb was Gu Fangchen.
And she, had just blocked off her own way out.
Gu Fangchen, still lying back lazily after mocking her, said,
"What now? Has the princess come back to settle accounts with me?"
"Well then, go ahead."
He sprawled there like a rogue resigned to his fate, sighing heavily.
"I'm just a mere sixth-rank martial artist. Before a mighty second-rank expert, I naturally have no power to resist and can only be slaughtered as you please."
No one had ever dared to act so arrogantly before her, let alone mock her twice!
Since the Lotus Concealed in the Womb on Gu Lianqian had been fake, then everything Gu Fangchen had said and done before had been deliberate.
All of it was to provoke her.
Prajna Lianyue's expression was icy and grim, but remembering her true goal, she could only suppress the killing intent boiling in her chest.
Besides, every time Gu Fangchen dared to act so recklessly, he always had solid backing.
Last time, it had been the Martial Saint.
This time, even more outrageous, both the Martial Saint and the Sword Saint together.
That lineup was enough to start a rebellion!
No matter how furiously she burned inside, Prajna Lianyue could only endure for now.
She took a deep breath and forced a smile.
"Your Lordship jests. How could Lianyue ever wish to kill you?"
Tsk, even the way she addressed herself had changed.
This Saintess of the Tara Sect truly did value the holy relic greatly.
Then again, without such obsession, she would not, in the original storyline, have descended into darkness after failing to find the Lotus Concealed in the Womb.
In that version, players only knew that Prajna Lianyue wanted to resurrect someone, but not who that person truly was.
After all, in the end, she never succeeded.
Gu Fangchen narrowed his eyes, looking at the saintess who was enduring humiliation for her purpose. He sat up and snorted.
"Your words sound nice, but if you had said them earlier, I would have already told you where the real Lotus Concealed in the Womb is."
"But now, it's too late."
"Princess, as I said before, don't blame me for not warning you. You refused to listen, so you can't fault me."
"As for where the Lotus Concealed in the Womb truly is, why not guess?"
Prajna Lianyue bit her lip. She didn't believe a word from his mouth.
This man had toyed with so many people, and in the end, the situation always turned to his benefit. He was not the kind to act without gain.
Such high posturing could only mean he intended to name his terms.
But what kind of terms...
Her face was tense, her mind spinning rapidly, but she still couldn't bring herself to speak.
She had already lost ground before him once. If she yielded again, he would have her completely under his thumb.
Seeing her silence, Gu Fangchen waved a hand impatiently.
"If you're not going to kill me or guess, then this small carriage of mine can't hold a Buddha of your stature. Please, Princess, make yourself at home elsewhere."
He sighed and shook his head.
"Ah, if my mother finds out later, she'll think I'm utterly shameless, daring to cause such scandal even while traveling..."
Prajna Lianyue's fists clenched at his words, her chest rising and falling sharply several times.
But in the end, unable to contain her frustration, she turned and vanished into the void.
Gone.
She refused to believe that, with all the followers of the Tara Sect and the intelligence network of the Sky-Eye Division, she could not find the real Lotus Concealed in the Womb!
Did she really need to depend on him?!
After Prajna Lianyue's departure, Qing Jian opened her mouth slightly, confusion flashing across her face.
Why hadn't the princess taken her along...
There had been no order to leave or to stay, so what exactly was she supposed to do now?
Was she to continue serving Gu Fangchen as a maid?
After a moment's hesitation, Qing Jian decided that, based on what she knew of the princess, since the previous command had not been rescinded, it meant she was to continue in her role.
The lack of explicit instruction suggested the princess didn't want to make things completely final.
Even after being disrespected like that, the princess had left him a bit of leeway.
She must truly have been burned twice, and was a little afraid now.
Xuexiang didn't understand all that, but she could tell that the beautiful lady had been angered away by the young lord. With a small gasp, she asked softly,
"My lord, aren't you going to chase after her? What if she doesn't come back?"
In her mind, the young lord was merely teasing a beauty. If the beauty got angry and left, naturally he should go after her and coax her back.
Who knew, perhaps that lady would become one of his concubines someday...
Though this one didn't seem fit for a main wife, and the young lord didn't seem that interested either.
"She'll come back. She has to."
Gu Fangchen shrugged and smiled faintly, looking in the direction where Prajna Lianyue had disappeared.
The so-called "darkness beneath the lamp" meant hiding a tree within a forest.
Under the sway of habitual thinking, no one would imagine that beneath the fake lay the real.
Aside from the one in his possession, there was no third Lotus Concealed in the Womb in the world.
Prajna Lianyue could only return to him.
...
Sword Pavilion stood at the center of Dragon Hollow Lake.
The water was as dark as ink, and seventy-two sword peaks pierced the deep-blue sky. These peaks were not naturally formed, they were created a thousand years ago when the Sword Pavilion's founder cleaved open the earth veins with supreme sword intent, refining an entire vein of black iron ore into towering sword pillars.
When the morning mist drifted across the lake and wrapped around the peaks, the jagged rocks loomed faintly behind the veil, appearing like a vast array of suspended swords piercing the heavens.
On the sheer cliff of the main peak, Ask-Sword Cliff, generations of disciples had left sword marks that gleamed with eternal sharpness. From afar, the cliff resembled a colossal sword thrusting toward the sky.
The sword intent lingering for millennia kept those scars alive, and when the mountain winds swept past, they sang with the sound of clashing steel.
The most terrifying mark of all stretched a hundred zhang long, the scar left from when Ning Songjun, during the Sword Pavilion's great internal conflict, had cleaved the very earth. That strike had driven the entire pavilion, along with its seventy-two peaks, to drift into the center of Dragon Hollow Lake, turning it into a land-borne vessel.
The group returned quietly to the Sword Pavilion.
Ning Songjun arranged quarters for the guests.
Gu Fangchen followed Ning Caiyong to her old residence, a small tower she had lived in years ago, and slipped into the side guest room as though he knew it well.
Whenever Ning Caiyong visited her mother's home every few years, he would stay here with her.
Outside, peach blossoms fell in silence.
Creak-
Ning Caiyong opened the door to the guest room, stepped inside, and closed it behind her.
The beautiful woman pressed her lips together, her eyes glimmering with moisture as she looked at Gu Fangchen.
"Chen'er, your mother wants to talk to you."