Daoist Qingyun was deeply skeptical of himself.
It was the first time in his life that he felt a bit stupid.
If the Holy Cult's target was Niannian, then sending Xiaotuanzi back to her parents and leaving the little girl alone to face those wolves, tigers, leopards, and all kinds of schemes...
He, as her master, was truly unqualified.
Originally, he thought he was keeping Niannian away from danger. But now it seemed that his little disciple was getting closer and closer to it.
The people from the Holy Cult had even found their way to her.
"Niannian, tell Master in detail everything that happened to you after you went down the mountain. The more detailed the better. Don't miss any details," Daoist Qingyun said seriously.
He rarely got this serious, especially when it came to Xiaotuanzi.
Except for some necessary moral education and when teaching orthodox Taoist arts, he had always been gentle with Xiaotuanzi.
Whenever Master showed such an expression, Niannian would be highly tense and her attitude would become extremely serious.
Xiaotuanzi cleared her throat. Her voice was still a bit hoarse from crying so long.
In her sweet, soft voice, she slowly told her experiences from the moment she went down the mountain until now, including what she ate for each meal every day.
Fortunately, Niannian had a good memory. It had only been a few months since she went down the mountain, so it was easy for her to recall.
This story - telling lasted for about two and a half hours.
After Niannian finished telling everything, Daoist Qingyun's expression turned even uglier. He looked as if he had swallowed a dead fly.
"Master, Master, what's wrong with you?" Xiaotuanzi tugged at Daoist Qingyun's sleeve. She didn't know why Master's face was so ugly.
It made her a bit uneasy.
Daoist Qingyun might have noticed that his current expression was a bit scary. He quickly calmed his expression and said, "It's nothing. I just suddenly feel like I've been played for a fool."
"Ah?" Niannian tilted her head, looking confused.
Then she heard Master let out a long sigh and say, "Alas, the reason I came to Yunjia Village was that I discovered the trace of the person who killed your mistress..."
Daoist Qingyun also told his three disciples present about his experiences after going down the mountain.
Even his eldest disciple, who had always been by his side, didn't know about these things.
He always thought not telling them was to protect his disciples, but now he realized he was actually harming them.
When he calculated that Niannian's family in the mortal world was going to suffer a great disaster, he received a letter at the same time.
The person who sent the letter was none other than the one who had killed his wife back then.
His name was Gu Huan.
He used to be Daoist Qingyun's friend.
It was not until he killed his wife that Daoist Qingyun realized that all the so - called friendship was fake.
At that time, he had fallen for the trick of luring the tiger away from the mountain. Gu Huan said that a ghost king was about to be born somewhere and he couldn't handle it alone, so he needed Daoist Qingyun's help.
Without thinking twice, he left the Taoist temple to support Gu Huan.
But when he got there, he found that Gu Huan had deceived him.
When he got home, he found that his wife had passed away.
The method used to harm his wife was Gu Huan's unique Gu technique.
More importantly, his wife's soul was gone.
Neither in the mortal world nor in the underworld could they find any trace of her.
After that, he chased Gu Huan all over the world. He went to many places to look for him, but he just couldn't find him.
This person seemed to have disappeared from the world.
That was when he picked up Mu Yanchen.
At that time, Mu Yanchen was forced by someone to beg on the street. Since he didn't get much money, the people who forced him were discussing breaking his hands and feet to make him a disabled person to beg for more money.
At that time, Daoist Qingyun's mind was full of finding Gu Huan to avenge his wife. He didn't want to interfere in this matter at first.
But when he looked into Mu Yanchen's eyes, which were extremely similar to his wife's, he finally felt compassion and saved the child, raising him by his side.
After that, since he really couldn't find Gu Huan, he had to return to the Taoist temple. Every day, he searched for souls and asked spirits, thinking that if he couldn't find Gu Huan, finding his wife's soul would be okay.
There was a soul - guiding incense burning in the Taoist temple.
After that, he never left the Taoist temple again, just hoping that one day the soul - guiding incense would bring his wife's soul back.
But this hope had turned into despair over time.
But Gu Huan's letter reignited his hope.
In the letter, Gu Huan said that he was also a member of the Holy Cult. He also said that he deeply regretted hurting Daoist Qingyun's wife.
It was he who had taken his wife's soul away back then.
The Holy Cult needed his wife's soul.
He was just following orders.
Now, the Holy Cult was going to betray him. They wanted to use his whereabouts as bait to catch Daoist Qingyun.
If this bait failed, the people from the Holy Cult would probably send someone to get close to Daoist Qingyun. By then, everyone around Daoist Qingyun would be in great danger.
He hoped that Daoist Qingyun would be careful.
Gu Huan said that he felt betrayed by the Holy Cult and realized that he was just a tool of the Holy Cult. He intended to turn over a new leaf.
If Daoist Qingyun wanted to avenge his wife, he could come to Yunjia Village. At that time, he would come with Daoist Qingyun's wife's soul.
This letter was definitely written by Gu Huan. Neither the handwriting nor the remaining aura was fake.
Daoist Qingyun couldn't tell whether the other party was sincere or not.
But no matter whether this letter was a conspiracy or an open scheme, after searching for so many years, he finally got a little bit of information.
Daoist Qingyun didn't want to give it up no matter what.
When he calculated that Niannian's family in the mortal world was going to suffer a great disaster, he originally planned to let Niannian solve it by herself. After she solved it, he would take the child back.
But after receiving this letter, he decided to cut off all his retreats and let all the other disciples who could go home leave.
Although he didn't know why the Holy Cult was targeting him like this, he really couldn't bear the pain of losing his loved ones again.
But after hearing what Niannian had experienced today.
He felt that he might have made a lot of mistakes in his thinking.
Back then, Gu Huan might have killed his wife because his wife was special and the Holy Cult needed her, not to target him.
This letter might have been intended from the very beginning to lure him away from Niannian.
Leaving the child alone and helpless, making it easier for them to take action.
Tsk! He almost messed things up.
"Is... that so?" Shen Weixun didn't expect that this was the reason why Master sent them down the mountain.
He used to think that Master was so scheming.
Was it that he had overestimated Master's intelligence?!
He was really speechless!
Fortunately, except for the eldest senior brother, none of them were willing to listen to Master.
If they had really followed Master's arrangement.
How dangerous would Niannian be now?
"I don't really want to be disrespectful, but I really want to curse," Shen Weixun sighed and rolled his eyes at Daoist Qingyun.
Daoist Qingyun's old face turned bright red.
He admitted that this time he had been over - smart.
But what was wrong with this unfilial disciple?!
Was he despising him?