Zero thought that Nie Xiaochun might be the spirit of the Emperor and Empress's imperial zither.

Back then, the Emperor and Empress used this zither to play "Zen," which is why Nie Xiaochun remembered the score.

Zero's reasoning was simple: Why would Lin Lingxiao suddenly develop feelings for Nie Xiaochun?

Because Lin Lingxiao was a disciple of the music master Guan Tianya, and his own cultivation in music was infinitely close to that of a grandmaster. Therefore, he would have a natural affection for the spirit born from an instrument!

After listening, I turned to look at Nie Xiaochun, who was panting heavily, "Her? Don't be silly! She sings off-key all the time, how could she be the spirit of an instrument?"

"Hey, you can't say for sure."

"Look at that pink incense burner Nie Xiaochun lives in, maybe she switched a chime bell with it and turned it into an incense burner."

"Li Po—" Nie Xiaochun exploded again.

Zero covered his face and said, "I finally understand why the people from Liangjie Tang wanted to beat you up. If they don't beat you, you'll find all sorts of ways to annoy them."

"They're just protecting themselves!"

I was speechless. The way he said it made it sound like I was a villain in Liangjie Tang. I'm the number one victim of Liangjie Tang, okay?

Zero and Zang Tianji finally managed to calm Nie Xiaochun down, and I slept all the way to our destination in the car.

When I arrived at the outer perimeter of the Guiguan Sect, I first ran to the apartment Feng Ruoxing and the others had rented to meet up with them.

When I entered, I noticed that Huanzi and Jiang Junci were missing from Liangjie Tang. When I asked, I learned that Wang Xiaohuan was worried about her master Chen Ye's situation, so she had Jiang Junci lead the Tianya Guard and go with her to the Shan Hai Secret Realm.

It was also a way of bringing her new son-in-law to meet his mother-in-law.

However, they left Zang Jian behind.

I knocked on the vase where Zang Jian was hiding, "Hehe, turned into a light bulb, huh? Got unscrewed, huh? Huanzi probably thought it was inconvenient to carry you in her pocket."

"Jiang Junci tried to sneak a kiss, but you held up a note from Wang Xiaohuan's pocket that said: 'Pervert.' Where did they put their faces then?"

"So! You were abandoned!"

Zang Jian held up a note from the vase: "Don't anger me, or I'll hide in your pocket."

Great! Zang Jian had learned bad habits and started teasing people.

I cleared my throat and said, "Where's Little Milk Dog?"

Feng Ruoxing said, "He went to stop people from fighting!"

"These past few days, the Guiguan Sect has almost fought to the death."

Feng Ruoxing rubbed her temples and said, "If you ask me, Jianghu organizations shouldn't have voting. Someone needs to make a decision. Otherwise, they'll argue until next year without reaching a conclusion."

While we were talking, Lin Zhao came back, "Quickly get me a glass of water. I've not only used up all my EQ, but all my saliva too."

I held a bottle of water in front of Lin Zhao, "Did you spit in their faces one by one?"

Lin Zhao almost sprayed the water in my face, "You... you..."

I sat across from Lin Zhao and said, "I still don't understand why they don't agree to take the Huangquan Twin Lotus out of your body?"

Lin Zhao said, "To take out the ominous object sealed within the body of a Guiguan Sect disciple is not difficult, just kill the person. It's the same principle as prying open a coffin and stealing underworld artifacts. As long as you get the thing, who cares if the coffin is broken? Anyway, you can't sell the coffin."

There really was such a rule in the tomb raiding business.

You can take anything from a tomb, but you can't take the coffin! Moreover, after raiding the tomb, you have to put the remains back in the coffin, which is considered the last respect for the dead.

Lin Zhao continued, "If you want to take out the Huangquan Twin Lotus without harming our lives, then you have to go to the ancestral land of the Guiguan Sect. Only there can the coffin be opened safely."

"The focus of the sect's debate is here."

"Everyone in the Guiguan Sect knows the method of sealing coffins, but only the sect leader can learn the secret art of opening them. Moreover, only the sect leader knows the location of the ancestral land."

"The sect leader can only enter the ancestral land three times in his life. The first time is to follow the previous sect leader to receive the inheritance; the second time is to take his successor disciple to inherit the secret techniques; and the middle one is for emergencies."

"When the sect leader sealed the Huangquan Twin Lotus back then, he had been to the ancestral land once. If he takes me and Lin Xian in again, it would be equivalent to passing the position of sect leader to the two of us."

"The reason why the sect is fighting to the death, even to the point of fighting each other, is not about whether to release the ominous object, but about whether the sect leader will pass on the position."

"So that's how it is!" I chuckled and said, "That's what I thought! How could they start fighting over a discussion? It turns out there's so much interest involved."

"Can't you change this rule? Rules are dead, people are alive. Why don't you just let your sect leader go in one more time?"

Lin Zhao shook his head and said, "That really won't work!"

"The ancestral land of the Guiguan Sect stores all kinds of strange coffins accumulated by the sect over the years. The ominous objects inside have long been ready to move. Every time the sect leader goes in, he has to re-imprison the coffins that seal the ominous objects."

"This secret method is extremely harmful to the body. Unless the sect is facing a catastrophe, the sect leader will not choose to go to the ancestral land. Because three times is the limit that the sect leader can bear. Many sect leaders' cultivation stagnates after going down twice."

"Therefore, the Guiguan Sect leaders choose their successors early on. If they wait until they are about to run out of energy before passing on the position, they might die before they finish the inheritance."

I muttered to myself, "This is troublesome!"