Chapter 71: Silencing Witnesses

"That girl with the surname Gu is selling pills again?"

In an elegant private room on the second floor, Chu Nanhe sat quietly, speaking with casual indifference.

"Yes," replied Apothecary Qi, bowing respectfully inside the chamber. "Every alchemist's pills have their own unique qualities. Though the young girl has disguised herself so thoroughly that this old man can't recognize her, her pills cannot deceive me."

"All are of superior grade? Interesting!" Chu Nanhe opened a jade bottle for a look, curiosity about Gu Weiyu growing in his heart.

With an inscrutable expression, he glanced at Apothecary Qi. "If she comes again, ask her whether she has any supreme-grade pills."

Apothecary Qi bowed again, watching as Chu Nanhe raised a teacup and took a sip of steaming spirit tea. Lowering his gaze, he quietly withdrew from the room.

Not long after leaving the Treasure Pavilion, Gu Weiyu sensed someone following her.

A quick scan with her spiritual sense revealed it was Sanshui tailing her!

She recalled that someone had seemed to be spying on her the last time she visited the Hundred Herbs Hall; could it have been Sanshui then as well?

But why would Sanshui leave Chu and come to the Hundred Herbs Hall?

Her thoughts shifted. Originally, she had planned to return to the Alchemy Cottage to continue refining pills, but now she simply changed direction and headed towards the city gate.

Sanshui, seeing Gu Weiyu about to leave the city, hesitated for only a moment before following quickly.

This person was also skilled in alchemy and had just visited the Treasure Pavilion. If he had only suspected before, he was now utterly certain: the person before him was none other than Hu Xiaoyu!

And since Hu Xiaoyu was almost certainly Gu Weiyu, if he could keep track of her, wouldn't the ten thousand spirit stones become his for the taking?

The thought filled Sanshui with feverish excitement. He did not hesitate to pursue her out of the city.

Gu Weiyu left the city gate and, well-versed in the route, used Gale Steps to ascend the hillside beyond the city.

Sanshui accelerated as well, trailing her from a distance.

By now, the sun was setting in the west, and the sky was streaked with blood-red light.

Gu Weiyu moved through the shadowy forest, stealing a glance at the figure flickering behind her. Suddenly, she unleashed the Thunderflash technique, gliding through the woods like a swimming fish.

Sanshui watched helplessly as his quarry vanished into the forest. Anxious, he abandoned all pretense of stealth and raced after her at full speed.

Unknowingly, he emerged from the forest into a small mountain valley.

Though it was early summer, Sanshui shivered as soon as he entered the valley. The air was noticeably colder than outside, and a strange mist had begun to rise.

Something was off about this place!

Belatedly, Sanshui realized that if Hu Xiaoyu truly was Gu Weiyu, a scion of a noble family, how could she not be equipped with a life-saving treasure?

Cold sweat broke out on his back as reason returned, no longer clouded by dreams of the bounty. Perhaps Hu Gongzi had already noticed him and lured him here intentionally!

Gu Weiyu stood amidst the mist, watching with amusement as Sanshui’s expression shifted through a whole palette of colors. Hmph, daring to follow me? Now you know fear.

With her spirit sense, she detected that Sanshui’s cultivation was a stage higher than hers—he was at the eighth layer of Qi Refinement.

No wonder he dared pursue her; even if she were at the seventh layer, he would still be confident of subduing her.

Within the valley, Sanshui soon grew weak, his face pale as he scanned his surroundings anxiously. "Hu Gongzi? Hu Gongzi, where are you?"

"How do you know I am Hu Gongzi?" Gu Weiyu’s voice echoed eerily from within the Four Symbols Killing Array.

Sanshui listened intently, but her voice seemed to come from everywhere and nowhere, impossible to pinpoint.

Damn, he must have entered a formation set by his opponent!

"Hu Gongzi, I just thought your back looked familiar and followed out of curiosity. I really had no other intentions..." Sanshui stammered fearfully.

"Oh? No other intentions?" Gu Weiyu narrowed her eyes. She didn’t believe him for an instant; otherwise, he wouldn’t be here.

She also realized she owed him some thanks—her disguise technique still had such flaws.

"No, truly none! Hu Gongzi, please let me go, I swear I’ll stay far away from you in the future!" Sanshui shook his head like a rattle-drum, nearly swearing an oath to the heavens.

"But I’m not sure I want to let you go," Gu Weiyu sighed softly. This Sanshui knew too many of her secrets; how could she possibly let him off?

"You—" Anger flickered over Sanshui’s face, but he quickly relented, collapsing to his knees in supplication. "Hu Gongzi..."

"You followed me here because you suspect I’m Gu Weiyu, the one with the enormous bounty on her head, didn’t you?" Gu Weiyu interrupted him, not wanting to hear another word of nonsense.

As expected, at her words, Sanshui’s expression faltered. "Hu Gongzi… No, Miss Gu…"

"Indeed, my surname is Gu. But unfortunately, you’ll never see those ten thousand spirit stones," Gu Weiyu’s voice now carried a chill.

As soon as she finished speaking, large, downy snowflakes began to drift mysteriously through the valley.

The snow fell gently, as lovely as willow catkins in spring, as enchanting as autumn’s bright moon—so beautiful as to be mesmerizing.

"Look how beautiful the snow is," Gu Weiyu murmured.

It was her first time activating the killing aspect of the Four Symbols Array. She hadn’t expected it to be so visually stunning, able to claim lives without a trace.

She recalled that among the jade slips left by her ancestor Qiyu, aside from those on herbs, some seemed to cover array techniques and talisman-crafting. She should find time to study those as well.

But Sanshui, standing beneath the snowfall, felt nothing of its beauty—only piercing cold.

Each flake sliced his skin like a blade, the chill biting deep into his bones. Within moments, he was shuddering uncontrollably.

"Sanshui, don’t blame me for being ruthless. If you must blame someone, blame your own greed," Gu Weiyu’s voice floated through the snow.

Knowing he would not survive the day, Sanshui tore off his mask.

He suddenly leapt up, his teeth chattering from the cold, but still he spat out his resentment. "If not for you, I… I wouldn’t have been forced out of the Treasure Pavilion… and scorned by the young master…"

Only now did Gu Weiyu realize that Sanshui had already been dismissed from the Treasure Pavilion.

But why had he been dismissed for no reason?

A possibility flashed through her mind, and her expression changed. "Did you go to the Mission Hall?"

Unfortunately, by then Sanshui had frozen into a solid block of ice, unable to answer…

Zibi Literature