Chapter 766: Ignoring The Danger Ahead Just To Get The Dancing Lotus

　　A hole suddenly appeared in the middle of the smooth and flat ice. With a splash, Elder Qiuxi completely disappeared under the lake.

　　He didn’t even have the chance to let out a scream.

　　Mu Qinghe—who stood nearest to him—narrowed his eyes in shock. It had happened so abruptly that Elder Qiuxi was gone before he knew it. On top of that, he didn’t even have the chance to try to save the latter.

　　Even Shangguan Wan and the others—who were standing at a distance—were appalled by the sight. This was especially so for Shangguan Wan—whose eyes widened in shock—as she had been excitedly waiting for Elder Qiuxi’s return with the Dancing Lotus. Success was so close, and yet… I didn’t even manage to get a clear look at what had happened! Wasn’t everything going smoothly just now? However, Elder Qiu Xi disappeared into the water in the blink of an eye!

　　Elder Qiuxi didn’t even make a sound before and after he fell into the water, and the lake has become calm again. Under normal circumstances, anyone who falls into water should struggle for help, but he didn’t. It can only mean that he was already dead in that short period of time! Shangguan Wan clutched at her chest and grabbed Jiang Yucheng’s arm with her other hand as she staggered a little. “Yucheng… What happened just now?”

　　Jiang Yucheng furrowed his eyebrows and said gravely, “I think something pulled him into the water… but I didn’t get a clear look at it.”

　　“But… Elder Qiuxi is a stage-seven warrior! How did he…” Shangguan Wan’s throat became parched as belated fear and relief hit her. Thank goodness I didn’t go pluck the flower myself, or I would be the one dead instead! It’s terrifying to see how he died in such a short span of time! If it were anyone else, they would’ve died even faster than he did!

　　“Elder Duanmu Chun is gone, and now even Elder Qiuxi…” Jiang Yucheng had a somber look on his face. This trip turned out to be more dangerous than we expected!

　　Shangguan Wan lowered her eyelids, her eyes flickering slightly behind them. Yucheng doesn’t seem to know that it was I who killed Elder Duanmu Chun. Did he naively think that I’d only make a move on those young, talented disciples?

　　The truth was that she had long found Elder Duanmu Chun to be an eyesore, for the latter wasn’t her trusted aide and used to be on good terms with Shangguan Yue.

　　Elder Duanmu Chun was an amiable person. Although he was part of the royal family, he never meddled much in their affairs. Even though Shangguan Yue used to admire him a lot, he had never worked for her and had always been alone. He treated Shangguan Wan the same way.

　　While others might not take this to heart, Shangguan Wan was extremely upset about it. On top of that, he was always comparing her to Shangguan Yue when the latter was still in power—be it intentional or not.

　　That was an absolute taboo to Shangguan Wan. Thus, she took the chance to get rid of him once and for all. His death didn’t matter to her at all, for it didn’t make much difference when she had already killed aplenty. She reckoned that those who refused to work for her were better off dead.

　　However, she found it somewhat a pity that Elder Qiuxi had died.

　　“What’s the meaning of this, Lieutenant Mu?! Why didn’t you save Elder Qiuxi when you were so close to him?” After getting over her initial shock, Shangguan Wan looked at Mu Qinghe with sullen anger. He must’ve done it on purpose! He has never liked Elder Qiuxi!

　　Mu Qinghe coldly replied, “I wish I could, but I don’t have the capability to do so. Even Elder Qiuxi himself failed to retaliate, so what makes you think that I would be able to rescue him in time when we were quite a distance apart, Your Highness?”

　　Shangguan Wan coughed. What Mu Qinghe just said makes sense. Everyone can tell that he probably wouldn’t make it in time…

　　“I told you that something was strange with the lake. Do you believe me now?”

　　Embarrassment colored Shangguan Wan’s cheeks. Still, isn’t he as good as openly finding fault with me by saying this in front of everyone?

　　Mu Qinghe took a last look at the spot where Elder Qiuxi had disappeared, and he spotted a seeming flash of dark-green light there. He narrowed his eyes as he tried taking a closer look at it, but the surface had once again frozen over.

　　It looked as smooth and flat as before, and there was no evidence to show that someone had fallen through its cracked ice. The lake in the distance was beginning to freeze as well.

　　Mu Qinghe said solemnly, “Your Highness, Eldest Young Master, we should leave this place as soon as possible!”

　　…

　　In this quiet and sticky space, Chu Liuyue was cultivating at ease in a cross-legged position with the crystal quietly floating in the air not far away from her.

　　All of a sudden, the crystal was enveloped in a faint greenish glow that produced a slight ripple. A ball of green light then passed through that light and headed toward the crystal.

　　Upon sensing something, Chu Liuyue opened her eyes. When she saw that ball of light, she lifted her eyebrows slightly and mumbled, “You sure have a lot of tricks up your sleeve…”

　　It must’ve swallowed all of the Mystic Forest’s force, but I’m surprised that it can still find itself such a rich force. Chu Liuyue’s ruddy lips curved up.

　　With just a thought, the water curtain began shaking lightly. The ball of light that was about to reach and merge with the crystal suddenly flew toward the water curtain as if something was pulling it.

　　Like before, the ball of light silently dissolved into the water curtain and transformed into a water droplet, which ultimately stopped right in front of Chu Liuyue.

　　“Thank you for your generosity!” Chu Liuyue’s eyes curved, and with that, she swallowed the water droplet’s force.

　　Her ancestor—who was standing at the side—raised his eyebrows as he glanced at the crystal.

　　The crystal was trembling slightly, but not because of its force—it was trembling out of anger!