Daishan Turns The Wind Chapter 14

The two of them remained stunned, their minds completely blank, even after stepping onto the bustling main street.

A young attendant from a nearby distillery spotted them and brightened up. These clearly looked like customers in need. He immediately rushed over to solicit them enthusiastically: “Sirs, troubled by something? Come, have a jar of Worry-Free Wine! Guaranteed to wash away a thousand sorrows!”

Feng Yuluo stared straight ahead, reaching out to take two jars. Shan Wuzhou paid, and the two of them walked along, taking deep gulps of the wine.

The mortal world was complex and ever-changing. One day brought prosperity and joy, the next a chilling vortex. Compared to this, the days spent cultivating and training on Feng Mountain were truly too simple.

Feng Yuluo walked mechanically for a long time until the street vendors had packed up and gone home. Their senses finally returned, and they realized they had walked past their destination. They turned back, entered the inn, and went to sleep.

Seeing his Ancestral Master looking exhausted, Shan Wuzhou added a spiritual elixir to his porridge. Otherwise, if he lost too much weight, he would surely be punished by his Master with a long period of standing when they returned to Feng Mountain.

If he weren’t certain that his Master was simply being filial, he might even feel jealous.

Wait. Shan Wuzhou paused, a look of annoyance crossing his eyes. Hadn’t he resolved not to be like this? How was it that after only a few days of being together, he was allowing himself to become immersed again?

He was always incredibly resolute when practicing cultivation and sword techniques.

He looked at Feng Yuluo, who was still preoccupied with thoughts while eating. The left side of his face was puffed out, one hand held a bun, the other a fried dough stick, and he occasionally took sips of porridge, completely disregarding proper etiquette.

What exactly was he attracted to?

Sometimes he really wanted to dissect the situation and figure out why.

In terms of looks, he was better looking and younger. In terms of talent, he was gifted, a prodigy destined for ascension.

What exactly did this eight-hundred-year-old man, who possessed neither spiritual roots nor magical power, have going for him?

Shan Wuzhou felt a little angry just thinking about it.

His Senior Master and Second Martial Aunt had been raised by Feng Yuluo personally. The debt of saving their lives and raising them was immeasurable, so they had indulged and humored him for years.

What about himself? If he had also been raised by the Ancestral Master, if he had been his third disciple, would he not have these worries today?

Alas, if he didn’t have these worries, if everything were easy and carefree, would he truly be happy?

He probed his inner self and asked: Given his current state of confusion, if he had the chance, would he choose a different path?

It seemed… that would make him even more uncomfortable.

It seemed he still wanted to be the third-generation disciple.

He truly was asking for trouble.

It was bad enough that his Dao heart had been disturbed and his cultivation stagnated. But seeing this man willing to endure a heavenly tribulation and feign death just to run away, and then preferring to fake amnesia rather than return after being caught, showed he was absolutely unwilling.

In the end, he might gain nothing at all.

Oh, except for a broken heart and eternal loneliness.

Crucially, the Ancestral Master wasn’t even good at faking amnesia; five out of ten sentences gave him away. Fortunately, Shan Wuzhou was better at playing deaf and dumb.

However, faking amnesia was a blatant declaration that it was impossible.

He wasn’t so easily discouraged, but there were moments of wishful thinking, which made Shan Wuzhou feel a little sad.

Perhaps it was the mental strain from investigating the case for days, or perhaps the years of suppressed confusion, but on this fresh, early morning, Shan Wuzhou suddenly couldn’t suppress a wave of melancholy. A hint of sorrow entered his eyes as he looked at Feng Yuluo.

He was only twenty years old. He had grasped complex sword techniques in three months, yet this intangible thing was so difficult?

Feng Yuluo slurped down a large mouthful of porridge, wiped his mouth contentedly, and looked back at Shan Wuzhou, his eyes wide with confusion: “Did you eat a bug?”

“…”

“It’s normal. There are lots of insects in the summer. Eating one or two is fine, just treat it as a snack.”

Shan Wuzhou silently swallowed his resentment, thinking that the Ancestral Master’s large eyes were wasted on him. No, it was he himself who was blind.

After breakfast, they considered the day’s task.

The missing people disappeared because they had conflicts with others.

So, the withered poplar leaves at the disappearance site: Poplar trees might symbolize something ordinary or common. Withered leaves, easily broken, might symbolize that relationships between people are prone to conflict and rupture.

This further confirmed that the reason for the disappearances was arguments and fights.

A total of twenty-six people had temporarily gone missing.

Feng Yuluo was well-rested and well-fed. He cheered himself up: “Let’s go back to Illusion Moon Pavilion and ask the other attendants if the people who disappeared yesterday and the day before yesterday had all given Kang Xiaole a hard time.”

They suspected Kang Xiaole, but they needed verification.

The commonality among the missing people was conflict with others, but compared to the thousands of guests Illusion Moon Pavilion hosted daily during this period, they needed to further pinpoint the specific nature of this conflict.

Gan Daqiang’s attendant had given Kang Xiaole trouble at Illusion Moon Pavilion before disappearing.

Therefore, they needed to ask more people to strengthen the argument. If all those people had troubled Kang Xiaole, then it would be basically confirmed that Kang Xiaole was the person chosen by Yuanbao. If the other attendants were unclear, they would have to find the families or friends of the missing people.

Feng Yuluo, in his own estimation, thought simply: as long as they confirmed Kang Xiaole was the focal point of this illusion, they would also confirm that Gan Daqiang’s death was likely related to Gan Youyou.

“After that, we’ll go see Gan Youyou.”

Shan Wuzhou nodded. At the same time, his spiritual sense swept the vicinity. He raised an eyebrow and said, “Strange, no one went missing yesterday.”

“Huh?”

“No one went missing yesterday,” Shan Wuzhou confirmed again.

A distant rumble of thunder sounded, rolling from far away to even farther away. The dark clouds dispersed, revealing the morning light. It was as if the thunder had never sounded and the overcast sky had never formed.

Their prediction had been wrong.

If no one went missing yesterday, then… their deduction was wrong. It wasn’t because of conflict, and it wasn’t Kang Xiaole?

Did this mean they had to overturn all their conclusions and start over? It was like a thousand-character essay written through sleepless nights and painstaking effort had been burned to ashes!

Furthermore, if Yuanbao wasn’t targeting Kang Xiaole, then the person who hired the killer was most likely him.

Feng Yuluo couldn’t stand still. He clutched his head and silently wailed, “No!”

Shan Wuzhou also felt his vision darken. Fortunately, he was young and highly talented, having experienced few setbacks since childhood—apart from matters concerning Feng Yuluo, everything else had been smooth sailing. Facing a complete restart now, he was merely a little tired.

Seeing his Ancestral Master instantly age by several decades, he comforted him, “It’s alright. My legs are fast. We just have to run a few more times.”

Feng Yuluo looked vacant: “Every step was logical and well-supported, so how could the result be wrong?”

Shan Wuzhou thought for a moment: “Perhaps it was because of Gan Daqiang’s sudden death? It caused a commotion, and everyone ran to watch the excitement.”

Feng Yuluo turned his head like a zombie, his eyes flickering. Hope instantly ignited, and his hunched back straightened: “Right, right, right! An accident happened. Yuanbao is playful; he must have been watching the excitement and forgot to grab someone.”

His mind raced, and he muttered to himself, “But it definitely isn’t just that. There must be another reason. Something we encountered but overlooked…”

Feng Yuluo suddenly clapped his hands, a flash of inspiration hitting him: “Maybe yesterday, no one gave Kang Xiaole a hard time.”

The point of suspicion was that those people troubled Kang Xiaole. But what if yesterday, everyone was polite and no one caused trouble? Then everything would be fine.

Shan Wuzhou stared at the constantly changing expressions on his Ancestral Master’s face. For some reason, a thought popped into his head: “Or perhaps Kang Xiaole wasn’t at Illusion Moon Pavilion at all.”

Feng Yuluo felt as if he had been struck by the distant thunder: “That idea of yours is terrifying.”

Regardless, they needed to first clarify the situation and see if the people who disappeared the day before yesterday and the day before that had troubled Kang Xiaole.

They would take it one step at a time. The two of them only had experience with one previous case, and that one had been lucky. True knowledge comes from practical experience, and since their skill level was average, they could only proceed diligently.

When they rushed to Illusion Moon Pavilion, they saw a notice posted. Illusion Moon Pavilion was closed for the day.

This was likely due to Gan Daqiang’s death, coupled with Gan Youyou still recovering from a fever.

They didn’t know where the other attendants lived. Just as they were about to ask around, a woman holding a child approached, hesitatingly, her eyes darting around. Finally, she came over.

She greeted Shan Wuzhou and thanked him.

Shan Wuzhou nodded in return, his expression calm.

Seeing Feng Yuluo’s curiosity, the woman explained that she had been very upset that day and wanted to hear Gan Youyou play the zither. But after arriving, she accidentally bumped into someone. After apologizing, she was subjected to very nasty insults. She walked away helplessly with her child and was nearly hit by an attendant who almost spilled hot water on her! Fortunately, Shan Wuzhou had pulled the attendant back and even offered her a seat. She was truly grateful.

Feng Yuluo looked at Shan Wuzhou, his eyes full of praise for his disciple.

After thanking them, the woman prepared to leave, but she glanced at a name on the scroll in Feng Yuluo’s hand and paused, asking what was wrong with that person.

Feng Yuluo held it up: “You know him?”

The woman nodded. This was the person she had accidentally bumped into. She had heard his friend call him by that name.

Shan Wuzhou asked: “Besides the conflict with you, did he argue with anyone else, such as an attendant at Illusion Moon Pavilion?”

The woman shook her head. She had bought a standing ticket and arrived very early. After being frightened by that man, she had kept an eye on him, afraid of being troubled again, but she hadn’t seen him argue with anyone else.

Feng Yuluo, enduring his mental exhaustion, asked for details of the situation. The man had been viciously abusive, telling the woman she shouldn’t be out causing trouble when she should be home taking care of her child.

The woman was deeply embarrassed and explained, “I really just bumped him accidentally. It wasn’t hard.”

Feng Yuluo offered a few words of comfort.

Afterward, Shan Wuzhou ran errands to inquire who the missing people had argued with at Illusion Moon Pavilion before they disappeared.

This sixth trip had finally arrived.

Feng Yuluo didn’t go. While Shan Wuzhou was away, he took out the incense burner and shook Yuanbao’s true form awake: “Give me a hint! Stop messing with me!”

Yuanbao huffed, extended a black hand, and gave him a hard slap across the face.

Feng Yuluo had no choice but to buy two catties of melon seeds.

Yuanbao munched them down noisily, then fell asleep on his back.

Shan Wuzhou returned, bringing back a piece of disheartening news: out of the twenty-six missing people, very few had conflicts with Kang Xiaole.

In other words, troubling Kang Xiaole was not a special characteristic among the general conflicts.

Feng Yuluo dragged his weary body and went with Shan Wuzhou to visit Gan Youyou.

When Yuanbao was asleep just now, his little black finger had pointed toward Gan Youyou’s residence by the lake. Having spent money on two catties of melon seeds, they tentatively assumed Yuanbao wasn’t just lying around randomly!

They arrived at the door and announced themselves normally, but were refused. The attendant claimed Gan Youyou was recuperating and was not fit to receive guests.

The two left, circled around the back, and scaled the wall to enter.

Feng Yuluo’s mood was very complicated on this trip.

The scene from last night was still clear: they had seen Kang Xiaole composing music, holding the letter Shan Wuzhou had written to Gan Youyou. This was clearly suspicious.

Among the drafts, there was also a piece that Gan Youyou had performed the day before yesterday.

He didn’t want to guess the story behind it.

The two of them became invisible and entered the room where Gan Youyou was staying.

This room was clearly his inner chamber for practicing music, filled with the scent of books. There were two rows of bookshelves containing various ancient texts, and on the table lay three ancient zithers, a pipa, and a jade flute.

By the window was a long desk, covered with papers also filled with runes and characters.

Right in the center was a letter. Feng Yuluo recognized Kang Xiaole’s handwriting, so was it a musical score written by Kang Xiaole?

Gan Youyou had just recovered from his illness, and his complexion was still poor. He walked over unsteadily, selected an ancient zither, and carried it back to the window.

He picked up the envelope, smiled, and set it aside.

Feng Yuluo: “?”

Next, he pulled out a half-drawn piece of paper. After examining it for a moment, he picked up a brush and continued writing.

After a long while, Gan Youyou raised his slender hands and plucked the strings of the ancient zither.

“Screech!”

The two frowned: “…”

Gan Youyou continued playing without changing his expression, but every time he played a note, he would immediately stop, his hand resting silently on the strings.

It was as if he was feeling the vibration.

Feng Yuluo and Shan Wuzhou were a little confused.

So they continued to watch for a long time.

Gan Youyou was oblivious to everything outside, focusing entirely on writing and drawing on the desk, and testing notes on the zither. However, the sounds he produced were extremely loud, noisy, and discordant, like a four or five-year-old child just starting to learn, messing around aimlessly.

When someone came in to change the tea and deliver food, he didn’t even look up.

Finally, as the sun set, Gan Youyou completed the score, picked it up to examine it, and carefully blew the remaining ink dry.

He closed his eyes and played the piece from beginning to end on the ancient zither.

“…” Feng Yuluo and Shan Wuzhou desperately wanted to cover their ears, but restrained themselves.

Gan Youyou slightly furrowed his delicate brows, seemingly sensing a problem somewhere. He picked up the score and pondered.

Shan Wuzhou clearly saw his handwriting and felt a little dazed. This handwriting was the same as the many drafts found at Kang Xiaole’s house last night.

Feng Yuluo looked at his slender back, picked up a bottle, and knocked it three times, hard.

If Gan Youyou had turned around at that moment, he would have seen the bottle floating in the air, emitting a crisp sound.

But Gan Youyou did not turn around.