"I'm not hiding anything. It's just that I previously argued with some people from the Vermillion Bird and White Tiger families, and also..." Shang Lingjian listed all the people he could think of—a total of five or six people. Obviously, Xiaoyao wouldn't be among them. How could such a minor figure catch Shang Lingjian's attention?
"These are all small matters—they probably wouldn't go this far to mess with you. There must be others." Xuanwu Wenxiu rejected all these people. Whether in terms of motive or capability, the probability of it being these people was really too small.
"There's no one else, unless it's Lingxiao—she's always hated me." Shang Lingjian said directly.
"Shut up! Do you think Lingxiao would bother with you? If she really wanted to, you would have been crippled long ago." Xuanwu Wenxiu angrily shouted. How could this boy bring up Lingxiao? Even if Lingxiao had problems, it wasn't good to say so in front of her big brother. Moreover, given Lingxiao's character, she would never target her own family.
"Then there really is no one else. You can't say it's those servants—I scold and beat them every day..." Shang Lingjian said unhappily, seemingly forgetting that saying this in front of Xuanwu Wenyuan would lower his standing even more.
"Daoist Xuanji, what do you think?" Shang Yulang looked at Daoist Xuanji and asked. He now wanted to discipline his useless son, but this wasn't the right time—better to change the subject first.
"I want to say that the person who targeted your son is a master. I still don't know what methods he used—it doesn't seem like mystical arts!" Daoist Xuanji said gently.
"Not mystical arts? Then just now..." Shang Yulang was somewhat puzzled. Daoist Xuanji had just solved Shang Lingjian's problem, making them all think someone was using such methods. Now hearing this professional say it wasn't made them all feel strange.
"Just now I only used some mind-clearing and spirit-calming methods to stop your son's condition. This was effective because the opponent also targeted this aspect! As for finding those items, I did use some mystical arts, but this doesn't mean this matter is related to mystical arts. However, the opponent might also be a mystical master, which only lets me guess roughly. No matter how I calculate, I can't find the specific cause!" Daoist Xuanji said.
He could sense that level of mystical arts mastery in Xiaoyao, which avoided some methods that mystical arts could detect. For this, he had spent considerable effort calculating. This trip was much more exhausting than when he had solved major problems before.
This feeling made him understand that whoever set this up also knew some mystical arts, and at no ordinary level.
Who could this person be? When did such a person appear in the Azure Dragon Empire? Was it Qingfeng? Or Mingyue?
"The Daoist's meaning is that this is a mystical master, but using methods unrelated to mystical arts—methods that even the Daoist can't discern, and which Imperial Doctor Sun also couldn't detect. What kind of... thing... could this be?" Xuanwu Wenyuan frowned. He discovered this matter wasn't as simple as he had initially thought. If it was such a person, why target Lingjian?
Could it be that this was just one step in targeting the Xuanwu Family? Or was it purely that Lingjian offended someone and was being punished?
"Yes, exactly! However, I think the opponent has no malicious intent. He should just want to give your nephew a small lesson. If he really wanted your nephew's life, he should have been dead long ago." Daoist Xuanji said.
"That's true!" Xuanwu Wenyuan nodded, then turned to Shang Lingjian to lecture him, "Lingjian, I've told you before—there are heavens beyond heavens and people beyond people. You must learn humility. Be more careful in the future, or you might not even know how you died."
"I understand, uncle. I know I was wrong now and will definitely change in the future." Listening to these words, Shang Lingjian also felt afraid. If the opponent really wanted his life, wouldn't he be finished? Everything would be gone—what power and status would there be to speak of?
"I hope you truly understand!" After Xuanwu Wenyuan finished, he continued speaking with Daoist Xuanji, "Daoist, do you have any other guidance?"
"I wish I did, but I'm truly powerless. If Family Head Xuanwu can find this person, I hope you'll let me know. I'd like to meet them." Daoist Xuanji replied.
Xuanwu Wenyuan nodded and said, "Certainly, certainly! But I think this person probably won't be so easily found."
"With the Xuanwu Family's capabilities, I believe there's nothing that can't be found. Sometimes, mystical arts aren't better than ordinary methods! Well, if there's nothing else, I'll take my leave." Daoist Xuanji said, then turned and left without waiting for Xuanwu Wenyuan's response.
Xuanwu Wenyuan was thinking about Daoist Xuanji's words and didn't react immediately, because he seemed to have caught a very important hint—sometimes, some things, when done using the most ordinary methods, would be more effective than some high-tech approaches.
"Yulang, come with me to see the Daoist off. Wenxiu, you continue talking with Lingjian." Xuanwu Wenyuan said, then followed Daoist Xuanji out. It seemed that in his heart, mystical masters like Daoist Xuanji were still highly valued.
Xuanwu Wenyuan had his sister continue talking with Shang Lingjian to dig out who he had offended. Now they didn't want to target this person but wanted to make connections—their thinking had completely changed from before.
Previously, they thought anyone who dared target Xuanwu Family members was a mortal enemy who should be ground to dust. But now, discovering the opponent might be an extraordinary person with skills that even Daoist Xuanji admired, they wanted to make connections. Befriending such a person would benefit the Xuanwu Family.
Conversely, offending such a person might bring trouble to the Xuanwu Family—definitely not a result they wanted to see!
If the opponent harbored hostility and wanted to target the Xuanwu Family, they would still grind them to dust. Even if the opponent had profound mystical abilities, they would kill them to eliminate future troubles!
But if the opponent had no hostility, that was another matter. Obviously, the opponent was just giving Shang Lingjian a small lesson, making them feel the opponent had no malice toward the Xuanwu Family. Naturally, only the intention to make connections remained.
"Lingjian, think carefully about what exactly happened during those days. Tell mother everything—don't leave out any details!" Xuanwu Wenxiu said seriously. She could only determine who it was through this method—there were no other clues.
"Ah, really? Can I not say..." Shang Lingjian immediately wilted. He didn't want to talk about the details of those days because he had done many things that would get him scolded.
"I know what you're afraid of. This time I won't scold you. No matter what you did wrong, I won't hold it against you. Is that good enough?" Xuanwu Wenxiu said. A mother knows her son best—when Shang Lingjian wiggled his tail, she knew what he wanted to do.
"Then I'll talk. You have to keep your word." Shang Lingjian confirmed one last time.
"Alright, speak quickly!!"
Shang Lingjian began recounting those days in detail, not leaving out anything. In this regard, he understood priorities and knew the severity of the situation.
Some of what he said made Xuanwu Wenxiu want to hit him, but she held back—she had already promised not to hold it against him.
This troublesome boy didn't learn anything good but mastered all the bad habits of pampered young masters. He even went out carousing—how could he pursue Lingxiao ? No wonder Lingxiao ignored him completely.
Shang Lingjian also mentioned Xiaoyao's incident in the middle, which made Xuanwu Wenxiu directly scold him. Previously, no matter how much of a pampered brat you were, I tolerated it. But to be jealous of a tiny servant—if this got out, where would we put our faces?
However, that servant had quite a personality, daring to confront Young Master Lingjian like that!
Although Shang Lingjian mentioned Xiaoyao and Xuanwu Wenxiu found him interesting, neither would think Xiaoyao could be the master who had tricked Shang Lingjian. They never even considered this possibility because it was impossible—at least they thought so.
A master might have eccentric temperament, but would never lower himself to be a servant unless he had ulterior motives. But Xiaoyao had been a servant here for over a year and performed quite well, which reduced suspicion considerably. Googlᴇ search NoveI★Fire.net
Although he might be here with ulterior motives, no one would think a master would act this way. This was as incredible as Xiaoyao being a master.
After Xiaoyao, Shang Lingjian had offended several more people. Simply put, Xiaoyao wasn't the last person he offended that day, nor the first. This made Xiaoyao even less conspicuous.
"Who could it be?" After listening, Xuanwu Wenxiu couldn't find any leads and could only have Shang Lingjian continue, continue recalling events, and extend the timeframe by several more days.
Finally, Shang Lingjian was endlessly recounting events until Xuanwu Wenxiu found clues or identified truly suspicious targets. There were many suspected targets now, but all were not very significant. Although they couldn't be ruled out as suspects, the probability wasn't high.
In the end, Xuanwu Wenxiu also gave up and could only investigate those suspected targets. After she eliminated them one by one, it would probably be over a month later.
Those concerned about this matter were becoming more numerous and more concerned—besides the Shang Yulang couple, there was also Xuanwu Wenyuan, and even the mysterious Daoist Xuanji.