Techniques and Dao

Chapter 128 The Mystery Deepens
"Don't leave!" Erlang Shen shouted.

The corridor where the group had come from suddenly made a loud bang, as a stone door slid down from above.

Seeing the stone gate rapidly descending and about to seal the exit, Hua Sheng, in desperation, threw out his golden cudgel. Instantly, a flash of golden light appeared, and the golden cudgel transformed into a steel needle that shot out.

The golden needle landed precisely in the crack beneath the stone door just as it closed. A narrow gap, about a finger's length, remained beneath the massive stone door.

At that moment, Hua Sheng shouted:
"Ruyi Jingu Bang! Grow longer and longer!"

The golden cudgel, which had originally shrunk to the size of a steel needle, began to grow larger, forcefully lifting up the massive stone gate that had been falling.

Seeing the stone gate being forced open, Mieying and Taishang Xiaojun did not slow down at all, passing through one after the other. Hua Sheng followed closely behind, and in the instant they passed through, he casually pulled out his golden cudgel.

The stone gate crashed down with a deafening roar!

Upon entering the corridor, the three discovered that the bull-faced jailer was leading dozens of guards with faces resembling horses, cows, and sheep, all glaring angrily at them while wielding weapons.

The bull-faced jailer shouted, "You bunch of troublemakers! I must have been blind to let you in! You can't escape now. Disarm yourselves and I'll spare your lives! Come with me to see the general!"

Seeing the bull-faced jailer blocking the middle of the corridor, Taishang Xiaojun asked Huasheng, "Should we divide the work among those henchmen? You deal with the group on the left, and I'll deal with the group on the right."

"Alright, alright! Let's fight first!" Hua Sheng was worried that Erlang Shen would catch up from behind, so he didn't care about dividing the tasks and swung his golden cudgel to charge forward.

He turned his head and was stunned to see that the bull-faced jailer and the guards had been overturned and lying haphazardly on both sides of the corridor. Only the white-haired figure of Mieying remained in the distance.

He didn't even see how Mie Ying made his move.

The sound of Shadow Annihilation echoed from afar along the long corridor:
You guys talk too much nonsense!

Seeing this, Tai Shang Xiao Jun could only stick out her tongue and quickly chased after them with Hua Sheng.

The three walked through the corridor and arrived at the entrance to the Blazing Heavenly Prison. Tai Shang Xiao Jun stepped forward and pulled away the small door panel at the peephole of the lower door.
"Hurry, hurry, as the law commands!" Hua Sheng and Mie Ying immediately transformed into two insects and crawled out through the cat's eye.

Just as the two left, the footsteps of Erlang Shen and his dog Xiaotian could be heard chasing after them.

Tai Shang Xiao Jun turned her head, cupped her hands, and said, "General, I have offended you today; it was truly not my intention. I hope you will be magnanimous and forgiving, and grant me your understanding. Please give my regards to Yu Ding Zhenren!"

Erlang Shen's voice rang out: "You bunch of scoundrels!"

After speaking, the Supreme Lord Xiaojun transformed into a small insect and escaped.

The three dared not linger outside the gate and immediately set off on their cloud-borne journey back. After flying through the desert for a while and looking back to see that Erlang Shen and Xiaotianquan had not caught up, they were slightly relieved.

Seeing that he didn't need a weapon, Hua Sheng put the Ruyi Jingu Bang back into the iron chain.

White-haired Shadow Demon then twirled the Purple Flame Serpent Spear and Fire-tipped Spear in his hand, and the Fire-tipped Spear shrank smaller and smaller until it finally transformed into the shape of a chopstick.

At this moment, Mieying coiled her long white hair on her head and used the shrunken tip of the Purple Flame Serpent Spear as a hairpin to stick it into her hair.

Hua Sheng watched in amazement. Seeing that the exquisite hairpin had instantly made Bai Fa Mieying's appearance even more graceful, like a fairy.

Hua Sheng thought to himself, "Seventh Sister and Fourth Sister of Shadow Extinction, they clearly share the same body and have the same face. Why do they seem like two different people?"
Moreover, Fourth Sister, wielding the Fire-Tipped Spear, was able to hold her own against Erlang Shen, which explains why Seventh Sister called her the strongest among the sisters.

While he was still pondering, the white-haired Shadowless Blade glanced at him with sharp eyes. Hua Shengcai had no choice but to turn his head away.

After catching her breath, Tai Shang Xiao Jun complained, "I was just visiting someone's home, but now it's turned into a challenge! I even had to carry a huge bag of stuff with me. If I had known I would be chased so badly, I could have saved the money I would have spent on dog food."

Hua Sheng quickly comforted her, "Xiao Jun, calm down! Now everyone is treating us like guests, seeing us to the door. It's good that Erlang Shen thinks we're all troublemakers. Rich families often have spoiled brats, so he won't hold it against us."

"Where did you hear that rich families often spoil their children? That's called spoiling mothers spoiling their children."

"That's enough! You should just pretend to be a spoiled brat and cause some trouble; it won't hurt."

"It's my family's reputation that's suffered, but of course you don't care!"

Hua Sheng quickly comforted them, saying, "Everyone says that the Daozu family has done immeasurable good deeds, so this small loss is just a drop in the ocean!"

Tai Shang Xiao Jun shook his head helplessly and said, "Let's not talk about it anymore. But speaking of which, why did it suddenly become you who went to see Dao Ling Xing Jun?"

“I was also forced into this role by Mieying at the last minute. Don’t you think so, Fourth Sister?” Hua Sheng turned to Mieying with white hair and said.

The white-haired shadow sped up and flew in front of the two, seemingly uninterested in their conversation.

Hua Sheng thought he shouldn't make a fool of himself and was about to continue talking about Ling Xingjun, but Bai Fa Mieying's behavior suddenly piqued Tai Shang Xiaojun's interest.

He abandoned Hua Sheng and caught up with Mie Ying, asking, "Sister, it's rare to see you. We went to the Tianmu Trial before, and I heard you participated because you had a grudge against Tianji Zi..."

"Don't mention him in front of me!" The usually calm Mie Ying's expression suddenly changed.

Tai Shang Xiao Jun said with a grin, "What I was trying to say is that, coincidentally, we also have a grudge against Tian Ji Zi. This young brother just happened to have a fight with him in front of the immortal masters, which resulted in Tian Ji Zi being confined for a month or so. Sister, do you think that's satisfying?" The white-haired Mie Ying ignored her.

Tai Shang Xiao Jun flew back dejectedly, stuck out his tongue at Hua Sheng, and said softly, "I understand this grudge now."

"What do you know?" Hua Sheng asked.

Tai Shang Xiao Jun glanced at the white-haired Mie Ying with his eyes, then leaned close to Hua Sheng's ear and said, "Ex."

"What did you say! What?!" Hua Sheng gasped in shock.

The white-haired figure turned his head and said, "Supreme Lord, stop your nonsense and stop making trouble!"

"Then why do you think so?"

The white-haired Shadow frowned, then suddenly turned around, her white hair transforming into golden curls. She reverted to her original form as Xiao Qi.

Mieying Xiaoqi turned around, rubbing her back, and said to Taishang Xiaojun and Huasheng, "You two troublemakers! My back hurts from being bumped by Erlang Shen. I was just about to take a nap when you two made my fourth sister run away!"

Xiao Jun, also in a defiant manner, said, "We were just discussing Tianjizi, how did she get so angry that she ran away?"

"Don't mention Tianjizi in front of Fourth Sister. They have a history of conflict. If it weren't for Tianjizi being the first to point out that number 999 was Fourth Sister's number in the Divine Calculation Game of the Heavenly Eye Trial, causing her to withdraw from the game, the winner of that game would be hard to say."

What's the grudge between them?

"Don't ask me, I don't want to offend Fourth Sister. She'll tell me when she wants to." Mieying Xiaoqi was clearly keeping her mouth shut.

Hua Sheng suddenly asked, "I remember that before Tianjizi eliminated the fourth sister with number 999 in the Divine Calculation Bureau, he also eliminated someone with number 13. Who is this person?"

"stick."

Taishang Xiaojun asked, "What stick?"

"That's the fifth sister. Hua Sheng has seen her before. She has pink hair, doesn't know any magic, and just knows how to hug a doll."

Reminded by Mieying, Huasheng recalled the "stick-wielding" Fifth Sister who seemed no different from an ordinary person when they encountered Lei Zhenzi, and asked, "That's strange! If your Fifth Sister is really incompetent, how come she was the first to be eliminated according to Tianjizi's luck? Logically speaking, if your Fourth Sister is the strongest, then the first number to be called should be your Fourth Sister."

Mieying shook her head and said, "I don't know. Maybe... it's because my fifth sister is cute? Tianjizi actually likes cute types? So if he doesn't eliminate my fifth sister, he won't be able to bring himself to be ruthless when she really shows herself?"

Hua Sheng and Tai Shang Xiao Jun were astonished upon hearing this, their mouths agape as if they could swallow a whole steamed bun in one bite.

Seeing this, Mieying said impatiently, "That's all in the past. I was just saying it offhand. Who knows!"

Seeing that she couldn't get any more gossip, Taishang Xiaojun turned to Huasheng and asked, "The topic just went off-topic. Did you see Daoling Xingjun later?"

Hua Sheng glanced at Mie Ying, who pretended not to hear. He then omitted the part about Mie Ying lending him the Hun Tian Ling and made up an excuse, pretending that she had taught him a unique immortal spell.

Tai Shang Xiao Jun looked somewhat skeptical, but did not raise any objections. He asked, "After you went in, did you see Xing Jun?"

"I saw him!" Hua Sheng then recounted how he had met Dao Ling Xingjun in the Li Liujing Lock Array.

"Don't joke around! How could this purple-gold thread be from you!"

When Taishang Xiaojun heard that the loose thread came from Huasheng Dao's uniform, he almost fell off the plane.

Hua Sheng answered nervously, "That's exactly what Dao Ling Xing Jun said."

"Could it be that I mixed up the thread?" Tai Shang Xiao Jun hurriedly pondered, then shook his head and said, "No, no! There's definitely no mistake. The thread I gave you must be the one from that girl named Jian."

Hua Sheng nodded and said, "And I'm quite certain that the purple-gold thread we took wasn't a mistake."

Tai Shang Xiao Jun quickly said, "No way, are we supposed to tell Magic Academy Klin that the thread came from your body? Besides, that would only cause trouble for the Magic Academy and we wouldn't be able to return the lost Jupiter Thread. Wouldn't that still be pointless?"

Despite knowing the origin of the purple-gold thread, the mystery surrounding it seems to have deepened.

The purple-gold thread originated from the Taoist robe that Hua Sheng wore this morning, and Hua Sheng only returned to the Taoist Academy this morning.

Moreover, the group from Klin Magic Academy arrived at the training grounds earlier than Hanamori, so they naturally didn't have the chance to get the thread from Hanamori's clothes.

Before Hua Sheng arrived, several disciples from the Klin Magic Academy and the Magic Dao Academy had already clashed, so it wasn't impossible for them to frame Hua Sheng with a clue. Why would they need to frame Hua Sheng?
Hua Sheng had no connection with the Magic Academy and didn't know Jane. If they wanted to frame the Magic Academy, they naturally wouldn't target Hua Sheng.

Tai Shang Xiao Jun said, "Based on my deduction, the most likely scenario is that all the current clues are correct, and Dao Ling Xing Jun's opinion is also correct."

Hua Sheng replied, "If all of this is true, it sounds like I'm in a situation where I can't clear my name even if I jump into the Yellow River?"

(End of this chapter)