After accompanying Shen Changxue for two more pots of wine, Shen Changxue said he was going to leave.

Zhong Yinyue stood up to see him off.

The next day, preparations for the Tianjue Grand Ceremony began inside the palace. The classes at Yuluan Palace were put on hold, and all four disciples rushed down the mountain to help with the arrangements for the ceremony.

The ceremony was traditionally held on Shangxuan Mountain, where the headmaster of Shangxuan resided. Every day, Zhong Yinyue would wake up and immediately head over there with a group of people, setting up tables and stages.

With such a large event to organize, Zhong Yinyue was incredibly busy himself, and naturally, his subordinates felt the same way, wishing for more help rather than less. Elder Guanghan and Elder Lingze were both decent people and were willing to lend a large number of their disciples to him. In contrast, Qian Yao, who had previously boasted at the Elder’s Conference that he would teach Zhong Yinyue how to handle things, was stingy and refused to send any of his disciples to help, even though preparations had already begun.

Zhong Yinyue had asked him twice, but the first time Qian Yao said that the disciples in the palace were busy with their studies, and the second time he lectured him, saying that Yuluan Palace should complete everything on its own to truly finish the ceremony, and that he should not always rely on others for help, which was not how a sect elder should behave.

Qian Yao even said that if someone were to see Zhong Yinyue constantly coming to Qian Yao Palace asking questions, they might think that Qian Yao was pushing this matter onto him.

As he said this, a group of Qian Yao’s disciples were watching from the sidelines. Shen Changxue was still following Elder Qian Yao.

Qian Yao was extremely pleased, squinting his eyes and looking down at Zhong Yinyue with disdain.

Zhong Yinyue blinked a couple of times and said, “Did you sleep too much, Senior Brother? Isn’t it you who took this matter upon yourself and pushed it onto me?”

Qian Yao was taken aback.

Zhong Yinyue was also stunned.

He paused for two seconds before realizing, “Oh—Senior Brother Qian Yao thinks that our statuses are so different that I wouldn’t dare to say that this ceremony was something you forced onto me, so you’re using this roundabout way to threaten and bully me! In that case, it seems you have good intentions, and I’m the one who doesn’t know how to appreciate it!”

The surrounding disciples were all dumbfounded.

Qian Yao’s face turned red and then pale, which was quite a sight.

Zhong Yinyue burst into laughter, grabbing Qian Yao’s hand and shaking it vigorously, patting the back of his hand in a silly manner: “If that’s what you mean, you should just say it outright! I’m a foolish one; if you don’t make it clear, how would I know you wanted to squeeze and bully me?”

Shen Changxue raised his hand to cover his mouth, secretly laughing.

Qian Yao was so angry that he puffed out his cheeks and glared, cursing, “So disrespectful!” He yanked his hand away and shoved Zhong Yinyue out the door.

“I won’t help you with anything anymore!” Qian Yao shouted at him in front of the mountain gate, “You’re so disrespectful to your senior brother! Is this how you learn manners!? You go and handle this ceremony yourself!”

The mountain gate slammed shut in front of him.

Zhong Yinyue wiped the dust off his nose, stuck out his tongue, and didn’t take it to heart at all as he skipped down the mountain.

He had already written the draft and just wanted to ask Qian Yao for a bit more manpower to help out; he really didn’t need any more than that.

However, after this, Qian Yao took back the few people he had lent him, refusing to help him at all.

Now Zhong Yinyue had completely offended Elder Qian Yao.

Even Shen Changxue couldn’t come out.

Days passed, and Shen Changxue hadn’t shown up for several days.

During this time, Zhong Yinyue was clearly busy to the point of not being able to catch his breath, yet he still felt lonely without seeing Shen Changxue. Whenever he had a moment of free time, he couldn’t help but feel melancholic, looking up at the sky and sighing.

Tianjue Mountain was getting colder by the day, and the snow, which was already considerable, was increasing. In front of Shangxuan Mountain, a high platform was slowly being erected, and lanterns were hung high, with tables set up on both sides.

The preparations were gradually coming to an end, and finally, everything was completed without incident.

On the fifteenth day of the first month, Zhong Yinyue started boiling water in the palace to make a pot of tangyuan.

His four disciples sat around the pot, and Zhong Yinyue served each of them a bowl.

“You’ve all worked hard these days preparing for the ceremony,” he said. “The ceremony is on the nineteenth, and now that everything that needs to be prepared is almost done, we can finally wrap things up. After the ceremony, each of you can come to me and pick a magical artifact.”

The four disciples were shocked: “Magical artifact!?”

“Is Master serious!?” Wen Han was the most astonished, “Magical artifacts can only be obtained in secret realms, and they are all hard-earned! We’ve only helped Master with some trivial matters, this…”

“Senior Brother is right, how can we accept that!?” Su Yuying also said.

“What’s there to be embarrassed about? You’re not outsiders,” Zhong Yinyue glanced at them, “You’re all from Yuluan Palace, and my disciples, so it’s only right that each of you gets a magical artifact. Although it’s a bit early, it’s just the right time; just listen to your Master.”

Hearing this, the four disciples nodded in a daze and thanked him.

“Alright, let’s eat tangyuan,” Zhong Yinyue distributed the four bowls of tangyuan and said, “Today is the Lantern Festival in the mortal world. Although you’ve left the mundane, it’s still good to celebrate a bit; we can’t completely forget our roots.”

The four disciples hurriedly thanked him again and began to eat.

“Speaking of which, Master, after the ceremony, I want to take some things from the palace to give to Senior Brother Shen,” Su Yuying said softly while holding her bowl, “It doesn’t have to be a magical artifact, just some ordinary things will do… It would be best to get some spiritual herbs.”

Zhong Yinyue was taken aback: “For Shen Changxue? Why?”

“Does Master not know?” Su Yuying was also surprised for a moment, then quickly understood, “Of course, with all the trouble Elder Qian Yao has given you regarding this ceremony… You’ve been so busy that you naturally wouldn’t know.”

Hearing that something had happened to Shen Changxue, Zhong Yinyue immediately became anxious: “What exactly happened?”

The four disciples exchanged glances.

After a moment, Su Yuying hesitated and spoke up: “This matter is from Qian Yao Palace… I heard that ever since Master went to Qian Yao Palace and had a conflict with Elder Qian Yao, Elder Qian Yao has forbidden the disciples he sent to help you from coming over again.”

“That’s not a big deal, but later, for some reason, Elder Qian Yao suddenly flew into a rage in the palace, called Senior Brother Shen over, and severely punished him. It’s said that Senior Brother Shen was whipped with a celestial whip by Elder Qian Yao and was made to kneel in the snow for a day and a night, and he also had to copy the sword techniques and scriptures ten times… The disciples in the palace don’t know what happened, they just know that Elder Qian Yao was extremely angry.”

“Those senior brothers and sisters all say that it must be because Senior Brother Shen didn’t listen and angered Elder Qian Yao.”

Zhong Yinyue was stunned in place, speechless for a while, and hurriedly asked, “Then… how is he? How are his injuries?”

“I don’t know… But after all, Elder Qian Yao is known for being strict, if he was punished, it must have been quite severe,” Su Yuying said quietly, “However, people say that although Elder Qian Yao is strict, he is also known for having a heart of gold. Spiritual herbs should be given to Senior Brother Shen, but I’m still worried…”

“Senior Brother Shen took great care of us during his stay here and told us to listen to Master… Now that something has happened to Senior Brother Shen, I just want to go see him.”

“Those senior brothers and sisters all say they haven’t seen Senior Brother Shen recently, so he must be recuperating in his own palace.”

Wen Han said, “Even if you want to go, you probably can’t. Elder Qian Yao has been looking down on Master lately, so he wouldn’t let us into Qian Yao Palace, and it’s likely that the other palace wouldn’t allow it either.”

Su Yuying felt disheartened: “That’s true…”

Wen Han sighed as well: “I don’t know what happened to Senior Brother Shen to provoke Elder Qian Yao so much.”

“Yeah, ever since we entered the sect, we’ve never heard of Senior Brother Shen causing any trouble,” Lu Jun said quietly, “Senior Brother Shen has always been obedient; he listens to Elder Qian Yao the most.”

“Elder Qian Yao punishing him like this has shocked everyone in the sect. Everyone says that Senior Brother Shen is the face of Qian Yao Palace, and that he and Elder Qian Yao have a harmonious relationship…”

“Is that so? But I’ve heard that while others praise Senior Brother Shen, Elder Qian Yao just doesn’t think highly of him,” Wen Han said quietly, “I’ve heard people say that whenever someone praises Senior Brother Shen, Elder Qian Yao would belittle him a few times, telling others not to praise him.”

Su Yuying said, “But isn’t that just to keep him humble? Elder Qian Yao is a serious person, very strict, just trying to prevent Senior Brother Shen from getting too proud, right?”

“I can’t say for sure… If that’s the case, then why do the people in Qian Yao Palace look down on Senior Brother Shen? Haven’t you heard? Whenever people from Qian Yao Palace mention Senior Brother Shen, they all look down on him behind his back…”

“Enough.” Zhong Yinyue interrupted them, “Stop talking, eat your tangyuan. In a few days, I’ll go see for myself.”

The four disciples nodded.

Zhong Yinyue glanced at Bai Renzhen, who hadn’t said a word from beginning to end.

Zhong Yinyue spoke, but he didn’t move, just holding his bowl of tangyuan, lowering his head in silence, his expression clearly worried.

Zhong Yinyue’s gaze darkened.

After eating the tangyuan, the four disciples returned to their separate palace to sleep.

Zhong Yinyue held a lamp and walked around the palace for a while before leaning against the wall.

He began to think carefully.

In the original text, there was quite a bit of description regarding Qian Yao and Shen Changxue.

From the protagonist’s perspective, their relationship was nothing more than that of a strict teacher and a beloved student.

Everyone said their master-disciple relationship was harmonious.

But Zhong Yinyue always felt something was off. Because Qian Yao always had high expectations of Shen Changxue, and Shen Changxue had always been working hard to meet those expectations, doing his best in every task.

Yet even so, Qian Yao never praised him, only expressing dissatisfaction.

He always nitpicked Shen Changxue’s faults. Wen Han had just said it right; Qian Yao always belittled Shen Changxue, and if others praised him, Qian Yao would stop them.

The protagonist had once found this puzzling, but Shen Changxue had smiled and said that Qian Yao was doing it for his own good.

He said that Geng Mingji was a strict teacher, and such actions were for Shen Changxue’s benefit. A strict master would help the disciple improve.

After all, Shen Changxue was someone Geng Mingji had pulled back from the brink of death, and he was deeply grateful and obedient to Qian Yao.

It wasn’t surprising; almost everyone thought that Geng Mingji’s strictness was a form of education.

Whether in the book or outside of it, everyone thought this way.

But looking at the results, Geng Mingji had never treated him like a person.

But then again, why was Shen Changxue punished so severely by Geng Mingji?

This grand ceremony was a turning point in the protagonist’s life, very important, and Shen Changxue was written into it.

At that time, he had participated in the ceremony perfectly and was standing proudly beside Qian Yao, surrounded by other disciples like a star among the moon, looking splendid.

There was no mention of him being punished.

How could there be a plot point that didn’t appear in the original text?

Zhong Yinyue furrowed his brows in thought.

Thinking about how his disciples had described the situation, Zhong Yinyue felt even more anxious.

He had been beaten and made to kneel in the snow. Tianjue Mountain was covered in snow every night, and the injuries on his body…

But why did he suddenly go against Qian Yao?

What exactly did he do to provoke such anger from Qian Yao?

Zhong Yinyue thought left and right but couldn’t figure it out, feeling restless. He was worried about this matter and even more concerned about Shen Changxue’s injuries. The more he thought about it, the more he couldn’t sit still, so he simply stood up and walked toward the back of the palace.

Yuluan Palace was vast, with everything one could need, and there was even a kitchen at the back.

Zhong Yinyue started boiling water and fussing around until the third watch, preparing a meal of porridge and dishes.

He took a food box, filled it with many things, and also took out some spiritual herbs, putting them into his sleeve before heading out into the snowy night with an umbrella.

Outside Qian Yao Palace, the night was deep and quiet.

Zhong Yinyue tiptoed, using a spell to cloak himself, and entered the barrier set up by Qian Yao outside the mountain.

When he reached the entrance of Qian Yao Palace’s separate building, he calculated again.

Zhong Yinyue was stunned.

He looked down at his hand in disbelief, then looked up at the separate building.

He looked down at his hand again.

After calculating once more, and confirming the answer a second time, Zhong Yinyue’s expression twisted, his eyes nearly bulging out.

Qian Yao Palace, back mountain.

There was a woodshed in the back mountain, used to store the firewood that disciples had chopped during the day and some tools for clearing snow, as well as some thatch.

The things stored in the woodshed were not afraid of the cold, and the repairs here were not perfect. The roof leaked, and the windows were old and dilapidated; when the night wind blew, they creaked and swayed with the wind.

The woodshed was extremely quiet.

In the darkness, a rusty smell of blood spread.

A person with disheveled hair was crouched in a corner, leaning forward with his head resting on his knees. He was dressed in white, but his back was soaked with blood, turning a large area bright red.

He silently endured the wind, listening to the snow falling outside.

Suddenly, a sound of hurried footsteps approached. The person rushed in and quickly pushed open the door of the woodshed with a bang.

“Shen Changxue!”

Shen Changxue was startled, raising his head to see Zhong Yinyue standing at the door, wrapped in a snow-white cloak, holding a food box, looking anxious.