Suspect to Your Hearts' Content!

Inside the Jiang family domain. Concealed within the void, Ge Er narrowed his eyes. "His aura vanished..." Outside the vast domain spanning a hundred li, countless extraordinary threads of primal energy stretched across the void. Because of this, Ge Er was certain that Jiang Yi was still within the domain! Yet his aura had vanished! Ge Er swiftly relayed the news to Li Guanqi. Meanwhile, Li Guanqi sat beside a desk, an inscrutable smile playing at the corners of his lips. "Interesting..." Looking at the four black chess pieces in his hand, his thoughts raced. He murmured inwardly, *The auras of all four Tower Masters vanished one after another within three breaths...* *Furthermore... there are seven Dark Pavilion Guards in total, so why is there no sign of Ge Yi?* Li Guanqi placed a chess piece onto the board, his eyes unreadable. "Looks like I'll have to keep probing..." A playful smirk touched his lips. "Since you're all plotting something... I might as well step in and stir the pot!" Li Guanqi picked up the Pavilion Master jade pendant and murmured, "Tower Masters, don't forget to deliver the items I requested today before dark." Replies soon came one after another. Li Guanqi also intended to use this opportunity to gain a rough understanding of the current Tianji Pavilion. Expecting to glean anything deep from those records, however, was pure delusion. The briefings they submitted would definitely be completely spotless; he had never counted on spotting anything in them anyway. The more Li Guanqi thought about how the four Tower Masters were likely scheming behind his back at this very moment, the more amused he felt. Rising to his feet, he stretched lazily, smoothed his Floating Cloud Robe, and wore a peculiar smile. Seeing this, Song Yunshu could not help asking, "What are you going to do?" Li Guanqi chuckled. "Nothing much. Just going to pick a random unlucky bastard." With that, primal energy surged violently around Li Guanqi. Raising his hand, he produced a blank amethyst jade pendant. Under the relentless infusion of terrifying power, the pendant shone with an increasingly dazzling brilliance. Finally, Li Guanqi inscribed a strand of sword qi equivalent to his full-power strike inside. Though not quite matching his peak state when wielding a sword in person, it still held eighty percent of its full might. Handing it to Song Yunshu, he said softly, "From now on, wear this jade pendant on your wrist. Do not take it off for even a single moment." Song Yunshu nodded, took the pendant, and fastened it around her wrist. "All right, time for me to go find an unlucky bastard." As the words left his mouth, right before Song Yunshu's astonished eyes, Li Guanqi's aura vanished completely! Li Guanqi's voice sounded in her ear: "Leave Xingshu Valley now. I'll arrange for someone to escort you back to the Star-Plucking Tower." "Everything that comes next... is no longer something you can get involved in." A sharp glint flashed through Song Yunshu's eyes; she understood what Li Guanqi was hinting at. Stepping out of the residence, Li Guanqi whispered, "Ge Er, from this moment on, I want you to guard Song Yunshu without leaving her side. Nothing can be allowed to go wrong!" "From now on, you answer only to my orders. Not even Tu Yongsi is permitted near Song Yunshu again!" A hazy voice sounded beside Li Guanqi's ear: "Ge Er obeys!" *Buzz!* A faint spatial ripple resonated in the courtyard. Li Guanqi deliberated briefly but refrained from making any unnecessary moves. He didn't want anyone to realize Song Yunshu was being protected. "Be careful. Your journey back... likely won't be peaceful." Ge Er said nothing, and a slight smirk touched Li Guanqi's lips. Ge Er was exceptionally strong. In Li Guanqi's perception at least, the lethality he could unleash was not the least bit inferior to Ye Feng's! He was actually quite eager to see who would be the first unable to resist making a move against Song Yunshu. Wearing a faint smile, he flashed atop the White Tower, calmly scanning all four directions. At this moment, all four Tower Masters were within the Tianji Domain. With his hands clasped behind his back, Li Guanqi gently tapped his fingers against the back of his hand, narrowing his eyes. *Whose place should I visit?* *Ji Yuchuan... The fact that he can hold the Blue Tower all by himself is proof enough of how much Old Gu trusted him.* *Still, I can't let down my guard completely... That man... runs very deep!* Indeed, of the four, the one Li Guanqi was most wary of was Ji Yuchuan. A man who could control the Blue Tower relying on a dozen-odd avatars—could anyone claim his thoughts were simple? Anyone else would have panicked if Li Guanqi dragged them off for drinks, terrified of being seen getting too close to him. Yet Ji Yuchuan had never shown outright refusal from start to finish, nor had he acted overly familiar. Li Guanqi thought for a moment, smirked, and suddenly took a stride toward the Yellow Tower! Yet the moment his figure vanished, several disciples walking with heads lowered paused imperceptibly. Li Guanqi caught all of this, but he was in no hurry. Inside his room, Yuan Hongyi's expression suddenly changed. Frowning slightly, he spoke to the light screen before him: "He's coming for me!" "Why come for me?! Shouldn't he have gone to you first?" The light screen dimmed slightly, and Jiang Yi's final words drifted out slowly: "How should I know? Remember to tell me whatever he says later. I can't figure out what he's trying to do either..." With that, the light screen before Yuan Hongyi vanished, and his aura reappeared to the outside world. The jade pendant at Li Guanqi's waist emanated a faint glow as his figure bypassed the Yellow Tower's barrier entirely, appearing within the tower. Li Guanqi's sudden arrival instantly drew terrified stares from countless disciples, who halted their tasks and bowed respectfully. "Greetings, Pavilion Master!" "Greetings, Pavilion Master!" Li Guanqi pressed his hands down with a smile and chuckled softly. "No need to be so tense. Carry on with your duties. Work diligently, and if an opportunity arises later, I might heap a few more responsibilities on those who perform well." At his words, the crowd nodded and laughed in agreement, during which Li Guanqi noticed an inscrutable gleam flickering in the eyes of a few individuals. Afterward, those few began tending to their tasks with blank expressions. Yet Li Guanqi caught every bit of it, committing their auras and appearances to memory. In Li Guanqi's mind, a rough plan had already taken shape... Just then, hurried, flustered footsteps of a man echoed from the stairway. Yuan Hongyi rushed down holding two or three jade slips, his sweat-drenched forehead glistening as the fat man forced a broad smile. "Oh my, why did you come in person, Pavilion Master? I was just organizing the Yellow Tower's records from recent years and was about to bring the jade slips over to you." Li Guanqi looked at the man, fixing his smiling gaze on him. "Oh... Is that so? Here I thought your aura vanished for a while because you were conspiring with someone." Though the fat man maintained his smile, monstrous waves crashed through his heart! *He actually knew my aura vanished inside the Yellow Tower during that time!!* *No... Someone is definitely keeping watch over me!* *Who could it be? Him? Or does the Yellow Tower still have informants planted by the Old Pavilion Master? Ji Yuchuan? Tu Yongsi? Or maybe...* Although Yuan Hongyi's beady eyes strained to suppress his emotional fluctuations, the ripples in the lake of his heart were still caught by Li Guanqi. A slight smirk touched Li Guanqi's lips. Indeed, this was exactly the result he wanted! *Go ahead and suspect... Suspect each other to your hearts' content!*