Hidden Moth-Chapter 505 - 286: Jokingly Witnessing Divine Sword Light
On the first day of the Qingming mini-holiday, He Kao and Huang Xiaopang both went to pay respects at graves and perform ancestral rites.
On the second day of the Qingming mini-holiday, they returned to the company to work overtime. The entire project team was busy, and work had to be completed even during the holiday.
When He Kao finished processing his work and was leaving, he ran into Mei Guyu outside the building gates, clearly waiting for him on purpose.
"Is there something you need?"
"You said you would treat me to a meal."
"No problem, we can go right now." He Kao agreed readily, it’s just a meal after all.
Mei Guyu tilted her head and said, "I heard that when other Elders from the Ancestral Hall come, you personally cook for them at your family home in Pugang Town."
The implication was clear; she wanted Elder-level treatment. He Kao nodded and said, "Well, okay then. Come over early tomorrow afternoon to lend a hand."
This wasn’t any special treatment; besides a few Elders, he had also specially hosted Old Qian, Xiaopang, and Wei Luo at his home... Anyway, he wasn’t working tomorrow and Gao Xue’e wasn’t in Qi Yuan, having nothing to do was just being idle.
"Xiao Kao is hosting guests at home tomorrow, count me in. I can help with drinking too." Huang Xiaopang suddenly appeared from inside the building and poked his head into their conversation.
He Kao hadn’t spoken yet, but Mei Guyu shook her head and said, "No way, I’m going to eat alone tomorrow. Manager Huang, you can ask He Kao to treat you another time."
These words almost choked Xiaopang; using the phrase "eat alone" in such a circumstance, and saying it so straightforwardly?
Huang Xiaopang looked at He Kao, then Mei Guyu, sniffed as if smelling something, "Then I won’t disturb you two with drinks. I was just joking, I actually have other things to attend to tomorrow."
He had been joking, intending to visit Qihuang Spirit Garden to pay respects to his master tomorrow and wanted to drag He Kao along, but the young lady had beaten him to it.
He returned home quite early that day. He Kao prepared a deer leg, pre-cured so that the taste would be better when cooked the next day. As night fell, he quietly went to Mount Everest Base Camp to deliver Elder Gu to Dragon Scale Slope.
In the early hours, he took care of another matter and retrieved an item.
On the third day of the Qingming mini-holiday, someone arrived at He Kao’s home, but it wasn’t Mei Guyu. This person wore a rather flamboyant long trench coat, with a hood concealing their face; it was Li Xiuyuan.
Half an hour later, Mei Guyu also arrived.
Li Xiuyuan specifically went out to the front yard to greet them, "You’re here?"
Mei Guyu slightly furrowed her brow, "Elder Li, you came too?"
Li Xiuyuan laughed and said, "Xiao Kao’s cooking is quite good, thanks to you, I’m here to join in on a meal too."
Their voices weren’t loud enough for the neighbors to hear and soon after, they went inside and closed the door. With a master of Li Xiuyuan’s level present, even if someone was lurking nearby observing, they wouldn’t dare to probe with Divine Sense.
This meal was neither lunch nor dinner; it was more like an afternoon feast, but it didn’t end quickly. By the time they finished, other households in town had started preparing dinner.
Only He Kao’s voice could be heard saying, "Take care, both of you!" Then Li Xiuyuan and Mei Guyu were seen leaving.
At this moment, inside the Immortal Pot Grotto Heaven, actions had already begun. If no actions had been taken, as per the original plan, Master Dan Qiu and disciple should have already gained control of the entire Grotto Heaven secretly.
At this moment, of course, no news could be sent out, but for Xiao Alliance, no news was good news.
After leaving He Kao’s home, Li Xiuyuan asked, "Going back already?"
Mei Guyu shook her head, "I want to go see that amusement park."
Li Xiuyuan asked, "You still want to investigate that matter?"
Mei Guyu replied, "It’s said there was a big commotion there that night. Many Magic Sect disciples disappeared on the same day and are still missing. Elder Li, you haven’t been to Qi Yuan for the first day, have you not gone to investigate again?"
Li Xiuyuan sighed, "If you want to go, I’ll accompany you."
The two of them walked leisurely out of Pugang Town, taking a shortcut across a small ridge extending from Bai Ma Mountain, arriving at the abandoned Joy Valley Amusement Park.
It was the same as ever, just more desolate and run-down than a year and a half before.
The sun was gradually setting, the evening breeze brought a hint of chill, rustling the wild grass, making sounds. Various large amusement facilities were rusted and scattered buildings looked like haunted houses.
If this amusement park had stayed open, its facilities maintained regularly, it could still be operational today. The notice posted upon closure only stated temporarily suspended operations, giving a feeling like it could be restarted.
However, once it stops operating and is left without maintenance, it won’t take long for all the facilities to be scrapped. If one wants to dismantle it, there are additional costs, so it was abandoned here.
The giant Ferris wheel’s main axle has rusted and no longer turns, some of the carriages even fell to the ground. Li Xiuyuan looked at the desolate scene and sighed, "The incident from October two years ago, it’s been too long."
Mei Guyu said indifferently, "Ordinary people don’t come here often, so a lot of traces remain. Actually, if a Grand Calculator like Elder Jiang came around, many things that happened that day should be apparent."
Saying this, she paused, then continued, "Elder Jiang was in Qi Yuan at the time, and also in Pugang Town, but he didn’t say anything afterward. Zhao Hai Zhen, Yu Lianhong, Peng Xian and others have been missing ever since, neither alive nor dead."
Li Xiuyuan explained, "Perhaps Elder Jiang saw something, and he probably thought it was better left unsaid. The ones who died brought it upon themselves, and the innocent living are the ones who need protection..."
Mei Guyu glanced at him out of the corner of her eye, "So you’re saying they all deserved to die, and they’re all gone now?"
Oops, I almost let it slip earlier!
The real Li Xiuyuan was currently engaging in magical combat with someone in the Immortal Pot Grotto Heaven, so naturally, the one here wasn’t him, but He Kao transformed into his likeness with the Hidden Moth Gauze.
This conversation also made He Kao break into a cold sweat.
That October night two years ago, when he left the amusement park, he only cleared some traces, but certainly not thoroughly.
Mainly those villains’ corpses he moved to the depths of an abandoned air-raid shelter, which he later blew up.
Finding them now is almost impossible, but if a Grand Calculator like Jiang Daozhen wanted to deduce what happened that night from the traces left here, he should be able to make a pretty accurate analysis.
At that time, He Kao’s cultivation was still shallow, and his knowledge limited, thinking no one would be able to investigate. Later, he realized this wasn’t true, astounding divine techniques are indeed inherent in high-level techniques.
After realizing this, he revisited the place only to find the scene seemed to have been cleaned by experts. Many other traces remained, but the traces of his, Huang Xiaopang’s, and Gao Xue’e’s had disappeared.
Not only were their auras erased, not a single footprint remained, it must have been done by some senior elder.
Mei Guyu seemed to imply something with her words today, but he didn’t know what she meant. As He Kao was pondering this, Mei Guyu added, "Each of the Seven Great Magic Sects has a Sect’s Sacred Artifact."
The topic shifted so awkwardly that He Kao was stunned since he couldn’t respond and didn’t want to ask, because he was pretending to be Elder Li, who should know.
Fortunately, Mei Guyu continued talking to herself, "Our Alchemy Sect’s Sect’s Sacred Artifact is called the Eight Trigrams Purple Gold Furnace."
He Kao finally managed to join the conversation, "Taishang Laojun’s Alchemy Furnace is also called the Eight Trigrams Furnace."
Mei Guyu said, "Some say the patriarch crafted such an alchemy furnace based on the mythical Eight Trigrams Furnace."
He Kao slightly shook his head and said, "The ’Journey to the West’ was written much later than the history of the Magic Sect. Perhaps someone heard about the Alchemy Sect having this Sacred Artifact and then made up such a legend."
Mei Guyu neither confirmed nor denied this speculation and continued explaining, "The Supreme Elder Qi Nansheng is in seclusion, refining Pure Yang Pills. These pills are very difficult to refine, and if he had the Eight Trigrams Purple Gold Furnace, the chances of success would be greater.
It’s just a pity that this Sacred Artifact was lost during the internal chaos of the Magic Sect a thousand years ago, along with two of the eight Yin Yang Wind and Fire Fans..."
Mei Guyu described the Eight Trigrams Purple Gold Furnace, and she herself had never seen this artifact, only learned about it through the records of the Magic Sect.
It’s said that the Eight Trigrams Purple Gold Furnace has a unique function known as the Eight Gates Wind and Fire Array. The patriarch also forged a set of eight Yin Yang Wind and Fire Fans based on the mysteries of the Eight Gates Wind and Fire Array...
The Eight Gates Wind and Fire Array is extremely powerful, but this artifact itself is not intended for magical combat; rather, it’s an Alchemy Divine Artifact. If the Eight Trigrams Purple Gold Furnace is placed at the Grotto Heaven Array Core, it can even utilize the power of the entire Grotto Heaven to refine Spirit Pills.
On ordinary days when the furnace isn’t used for alchemy, the Eight Trigrams Purple Gold Furnace also functions as a Spatial Divine Artifact, capable of storing numerous items. In ancient times, it was mainly used for storing various processed alchemical materials to maintain their spiritual effect.
It’s He Kao’s first time hearing about a Spatial Divine Artifact in reality, but he didn’t feel too surprised, inwardly thinking it’s indeed true.
He had often come across storage bags and similar items in novels, seemingly even the lowest level Qi Refining Stage disciples could own and use them, but in reality, spatial artifacts are very rare, and one must have a Tier Six Great Success Cultivation at the very least to use them.
Thus, it seems the Eight Trigrams Purple Gold Furnace is truly full of wondrous uses, fully deserving of its status as a Sect’s Sacred Artifact. He Kao couldn’t help but lament, "It’s a real pity it got lost!"
Mei Guyu gazed into the distance and said, "Although the Eight Trigrams Purple Gold Furnace has been lost for a thousand years, the Alchemy Sect still uses another legacy artifact called the Rainfall Divine Sword."
They were talking as they walked, with He Kao transformed into Li Xiuyuan, wearing a hooded trench coat, looking somewhat mysterious. Mei Guyu carried a backpack on her shoulders; she’s young enough to be believed to be an ungraduated student.
The right pocket of her backpack held a stainless steel ruler.
Just as she mentioned the words "Rainfall Divine Sword," He Kao suddenly received a divine thought and was left dumbfounded as he saw the steel ruler turn into a sword light and fly away...
**
