Wait a minute, where is my master?

"You are here? Please sit."

The scholar with a pale face looked at the two entering and raised his hand to greet them without standing up, posing very confidently.

Then he said, "Shopkeeper Sun, instruct the kitchen to serve the dishes."

Having completed his task of receiving the guests, the shopkeeper acknowledged and turned to urge the kitchen to get the dishes out.

Jiang Xiulan, upon hearing this, greeted them with a laugh and strode towards the square table.

But Jin Xu stood at the entrance of the private room, expressionless, and did not move.

"Aren't you the little disciple of Tianxing? Why aren't you coming in?"

Old Dean, sitting beside the table, casually called out again and then his body shook unnaturally.

He coughed again.

Jin Xu, however, still did not move.

After being called twice and the Taoist still did not move, the Old Dean started to feel a bit suspicious.

"Could this young Taoist have noticed something unusual?

Impossible. This clay puppet division is made of Mystic Yellow Soil from Pan Shi Valley, with flesh, blood vessels, and even the Dantian and Sea of Consciousness, except it doesn't have its consciousness, this creation is no different from a living person.

Let alone this young Taoist, even if a master from Kunlun Immortal Palace came, they shouldn't be able to see through it."

This Mystic Yellow Soil puppet was obtained by the Old Dean years ago at a great cost from an elder skilled in clay sculpture and mechanics from Pan Shi Valley.

There are only two of such items in the Nine Provinces Realm, one in the possession of the Old Dean, and the other kept by the creator himself.

The elder did want to create another one, but the Mystic Yellow Soil is just too rare; he searched everywhere and still couldn't gather enough to create another puppet.

"Chef Jiang mentioned you are Tianxing's disciple and wanted to meet me. Now that we've met, why are you afraid to come in?"

After the scholarly man finished speaking, Jiang Xiulan, who had walked to the table, sensed something was amiss and turned to ask the Taoist standing at the entrance of the room, "Taoist, is there something inappropriate?"

"It's nothing, Brother Jiang. I am eagerly thinking of my master and was overwhelmed by emotions upon seeing an old friend of my master; I felt like the clues to finding him were right before my eyes, so I was a bit out of sorts," said Jin Xu.

After speaking, he apologetically bowed to Mr. Yan, who was sitting at the square table. He stepped forward and sat opposite him, his eyes emitting a faint silver glow.

The young Taoist was, of course, spinning a yarn.

All that talk of 'being out of sorts' and 'emotional turbulence' was nonsensical.

The reason he had stood motionless at the doorway was that he was pondering one thing.

"Should I just turn and run?"

The body of the pale-faced scholar indeed seemed very real, with Spiritual Power circulating and blood flowing, even the Spiritual Sense in the Sea of Consciousness was like that of a normal cultivator.

Just by looking at this clay puppet, even if Jin Xu activated his Spiritual Eyes to observe, he could not detect any flaws.

But the bright shadow of the Old Dean's real body that loomed behind this person was like a small sun in the night.

It was just too glaring!!!

So, as soon as the young Taoist entered the private room, he was stunned.

This was not an old friend of his master; this was the same Old Dean from Qingmu Academy who wanted to "kill" him!

Jin Xu indeed engaged in an intense internal struggle.

Trauma left from childhood is said to be the hardest to heal, and the emotional scar left by the Old Dean of Qingmu Academy on the young Taoist who had just arrived in the Nine Provinces Realm was as deep as any childhood trauma.

For a while, Jin Xu even felt he was close to having PTSD.

However, he ultimately decided to stay, curious about what the Old Dean was really up to.

After all, the other party had not attacked him upon arrival.

And having cultivated for so long, maybe he could defeat him now.

Having this in mind, Jin Xu had spoken those words just now and then sat down at the square table.

...

Inside Room No. 1 of the heavenly section, at the dining table.

The clay puppet, disguised as a scholar, and Jin Xu sat opposite each other, with Jiang Xiulan sitting on Jin Xu's left side.

"From what you mentioned earlier, did something happen to your master?"

The old dean, posing as a scholar, knowingly asked, trying to probe Jin Xu who was sitting opposite him.

"Yes, my master has been missing for quite some time,"

The Taoist's eyes briefly shimmered with a faint silver light, his tone tinged with sorrow as he replied.

Seeing Jin Xu's sorrowful demeanor, which did not seem feigned, the old dean continued to probe with a few more questions, to which the young Taoist replied flawlessly.

Partway through, the shopkeeper brought up the hot dishes, and the three of them started chatting while eating.

Later on, the scholar playing the old dean asked Jin Xu more details about the disappearance of Tianxing, then pretended to help the young Taoist analyze the possible reasons for the disappearance of Tianxing Taoist.

While the three of them were chatting amiably and had let their guard down, the old dean secretly summoned the Vast Righteous Qi and shouted loudly.

"Is your master's disappearance connected to you!"

The young Taoist, who was eating, upon hearing this suddenly showed a flash of panic in his eyes, which he immediately masked.

But what kind of person was the old dean? Although his current body was made of clay, his cultivation and strength were no different from his real body, and he sharply detected the odd look in Jin Xu's eyes.

So he shouted, "I knew it, your master's disappearance indeed has something to do with you, you strange little Taoist!" After saying this, he leaped back, waved his hand, and arranged several death formations around the room.

Jiang Xiulan, seeing that the previously peaceful dining table had suddenly become fraught with tension, quickly tried to intervene.

But the old dean said it was none of his concern, declaring that today he would avenge his old friend, and telling this premier chef of the Nine Provinces not to interfere!

Then, a fierce battle ensued inside the room, and ultimately, the old dean, though in a broken clay body, narrowly triumphed, capturing Jin Xu with several of the lethal formations.

Seeing the strange young Taoist restrained by the formations, he laughed heartily, sprang forward, and prepared to interrogate Jin Xu about where exactly he had hidden Tianxing.

...

The scene shifts.

It's still the same room, the same square table.

Jin Xu and the other two were still sitting at the table, the only difference being Jiang Xiulan was now sitting on his right side.

The faint silver light in the young Taoist's eyes hadn't dissipated yet.

The room was intact, and the hot dishes the shopkeeper hadn't yet served, the entire room was very quiet, except occasionally, the scholar could be heard shouting.

"Is your master's disappearance connected to you!"

"What did you do to Tianxing Taoist!"

And other similar shouts of accusation.

"Young Taoist, what is happening with Mr. Yan?"

Jiang Xiulan looked puzzled, glancing at Jin Xu, then at the scholar, who was shouting aggressively from his seat.

"Oh, he's just caught in an illusion."

The young Taoist replied strangely, taking a bite of a cold dish, answering Jiang Xiulan's question.

Debunking Illusion, Perceive Truth, and Create Illusion are the three basic effects of the Spiritual Eyes.

Normally, Jin Xu seldom used Create Illusion. He had been holding the mindset of just giving it a try earlier, and unexpectedly, this ancestor from Qingmu Academy truly fell for it.

But listening to the words he had just shouted, does this person suspect that my master's disappearance is related to me?