My virtue is above yours.

Lu Yunci generously led her senior brother out, leaving the two of them alone.

Chen Jingxuan was somewhat puzzled, wondering what the other party was up to.

The two sat down at opposite ends of the round table.

Yi Bei put down his fan, his expression serious: "I'll get straight to the point. I can help you find that jade cicada, Daoist."

"Didn't your Qingluan Pavilion say that Yu Chan was involved in a major karmic conflict and it was inconvenient for her to participate?" Chen Jingxuan asked suspiciously.

Yi Bei smiled and said, "Qingluan Pavilion is Qingluan Pavilion, and I am me. I said I'm helping the Daoist find it, not Qingluan Pavilion. The Daoist only needs to promise me one thing in exchange."

"What is it?"

Yi Bei's eyes burned with an intense intensity, like a wild beast spotting its prey: "Whatever that great cause and effect may be, I will participate."

Chen Jingxuan remained expressionless, but he sensed something amiss: "I don't understand why the young master of Qingluan Pavilion would be so eager for a cause and effect that Qingluan Pavilion tries to avoid at all costs?"

Yi Bei maintained his dignified demeanor: "I've said it before, Qingluan Pavilion is Qingluan Pavilion, and I am me. Qingluan Pavilion represents my mother's position. It cannot represent me. This is a great cause and effect, and also a great opportunity, priceless. I wish to become an immortal, and I cannot let this opportunity pass me by."

The phrase "becoming an immortal" is often on the lips of young Taoist priests. Chen Jingxuan has heard it so many times that he has become desensitized to it. He always feels that it is just a slogan. Every cultivator seems to be working hard for this slogan, but it always feels ethereal and unreal. It seems that the people who say it do not believe that they can really become immortals.

Chen Jingxuan also took this slogan as his goal, but he didn't understand why, nor did he think about whether it could really be achieved.

But the girl in front of him spoke resolutely, her eyes burning with intensity, as if she were truly confident, and becoming an immortal seemed to be a mission she was destined to complete.

Chen Jingxuan asked, "May I ask what cultivation level the young master is currently at?"

"mortal."

Chen Jingxuan was stunned. He thought he had misheard and asked again, "You're a mortal? A mortal with no cultivation?"

Yi Bei remained unfazed, even displaying a hint of pride: "That's right."

Chen Jingxuan was speechless. He thought the other party was some kind of powerful figure, and even looked like he was determined to win, but it turned out to be just an ordinary person.

He then asked, "If the deal goes through, what should I do?"

Yi Bei replied, "You don't need to do anything. Just don't send me away when that great karmic event occurs. We're partners, I won't lie to you. Give me Yu Chan's portrait, and I'll send someone to help you find it."

Chen Jingxuan handed the portrait to the other party. Yi Bei looked at it once and then put it in his pocket: "Don't worry, Master Chen, my people will find it soon. If this Jade Cicada is really in the capital, I will give you an answer within ten days."

"Since you're willing to help with this, there's one more thing I'd like to ask if you'd be willing to assist with?"

Yi Bei smiled and said, "I'm sorry, Daoist Chen, I cannot help with the matter of Shengyang Academy."

Why?

Yi Bei explained, "My mother won't let me interfere."

"She won't let you interfere in Yu Chan's affairs either."

"I want to get involved in Yu Chan's matter, and she can't stop me."

Chen Jingxuan understood the other party's unspoken meaning: the other party had no interest in matters concerning the academy.

Yi Bei stood up and said, "Now that we've finished discussing things, I'll call Master Lu in."

She went out but couldn't find Lu Yunci. A servant came in carrying a yellow dog and said, "The Taoist priest just said that Qingyao Mountain has something to do and summoned her back. She can't accompany him anymore and asked me to give this dog to you two."

"Give me the senior brother." Chen Jingxuan took the big yellow dog from the other person's arms.

Yi Bei was somewhat taken aback. His senior brother was a dog?

She had seen her mother's subordinates transform into animal forms, and perhaps Chen Jingxuan's senior brother was the same.

Yi Bei stepped aside and bowed, saying, "My name is Yi Bei. I greet you, Senior Brother. May I ask your honorable name?"

Chen Jingxuan suppressed a laugh and said, "Let's call him Senior Brother. That's the name my master gave to the dog."

Yi Bei covered her face with a round fan to hide her speechless expression. True to her refined manners, she managed to say, "Your master is truly extraordinary."

A man, a woman, and a dog were alone in a room, and the atmosphere suddenly became a little awkward.

Yi Bei sat upright, holding a round fan. She regretted that she had to start half an hour early when it was something that could have been said in just a few words. Now that they had finished talking, Lord Fan still hadn't arrived, and the two of them, alone together, felt quite awkward.

Adhering to the self-cultivation expected of a lady from a respectable family, she actively sought out topics, from the secrets of officialdom in the capital to strange rumors circulating in the streets and alleys.

Chen Jingxuan could sense that this person had a vast information network behind her, and she could find out about all the interesting things happening in the capital.

Yi Bei, holding up a round fan, said with a smile, "I recently heard an interesting story about your Qingyao Mountain. The abbot's personal disciple, Jiang Zhen, offended the abbot's illegitimate son and was punished by being made to kneel in the square for three days."

Chen Jingxuan sprayed a mouthful of tea onto his senior brother's dog head. The senior brother's clear eyes were full of innocence, and he even wagged his tail excitedly.

Yi Bei asked with concern, "Are you alright?"

Chen Jingxuan wiped his senior brother's dog head clean: "It's nothing, he just choked. Who did you say Jiang Zhen offended?"

"The abbot's illegitimate son. That's what people are saying, but I haven't found out his name yet."

Chen Jingxuan was a little confused. When did he become the abbot's illegitimate son? Qingluan Pavilion is well-informed; could this news be true?

He recalled the gossip his senior sister had told him: the abbot had abandoned his junior sister years ago, and his own mother had fled to Qingyuan Village alone. And the abbot was very handsome, just like him.

It seems like everything is connected.

Could it be that the father I'm looking for is the abbot, and the great cause and effect behind the jade cicada is that the Celestial Master discovered me, this sinful illegitimate child, and wants to completely destroy me?

"Master Chen, are you alright?"

Yi Bei's voice pulled him back from his chaotic thoughts.

"I'm fine, I'm okay."

Footsteps sounded outside the door, and the door opened from the outside.

A middle-aged man stepped in, dressed in a white cross-collar, wide-sleeved shirt, with a stern face, followed by a man in black.

The man in black turned to the servant beside him and scolded, "A man and a woman alone in a room, what kind of behavior is this! I am a regular customer of your Xiaoyue Pavilion. You always know to follow etiquette. How can you be so unruly today? They should be separated into two rooms."

The servant was sweating profusely and kept apologizing.

Yi Bei said, "Lord Fan, there's no need to blame him. I had some things to say to Daoist Chen alone, which is why we were in the same room."

Chen Jingxuan heard it clearly; the voice of the man in black was exactly the same as that of Vice Minister Fan's younger brother, who had been at the Zhu residence the day before.

This young Master Fan in black must be Vice Minister Fan's younger brother.

The man in white with a stern face should be Vice Minister Fan, the official in charge of this demolition project.