Chapter 212 - 91: Battle in the Wild (Part 2)

Chapter 212: Chapter 91: Battle in the Wild (Part 2)

"If you know too much, I’m afraid you won’t be leaving today."

It was another roundabout admission.

Zhang Shutong found that her words sometimes required careful thought.

"So, I take it that in your view as a Temple Priestess, something’s going on in that wasteland to the west?"

"You can."

"What’s going on?" Zhang Shutong asked without much hope.

"My grandmother told me." To his surprise, Lu Qinglian was very direct this time.

"Then should I just go ask her?"

"I wouldn’t recommend it."

"What do you mean, you ’wouldn’t recommend it’?"

"Not meeting her is for your own protection. That’s all."

"Wait." Something suddenly occurred to Zhang Shutong. "Your grandmother doesn’t know you came out to find me today?"

"She doesn’t."

"And you still want to take me to the Temple?"

"Just like you laid a trap. I have other preparations of my own."

He suddenly recalled what she had said at the foot of the mountain:

"...Which is why I won’t give you another chance to hesitate. I’m not asking you to make a decision. It’s a must. You don’t have a choice..."

"What kind of preparations?" Zhang Shutong asked again.

"Preparations to make you tell the truth."

’What does she mean by that?’

Zhang Shutong froze again.

’Has she dug a pitfall for me, too?’

’Or is she planning to imprison me once I get to the Temple?’

’Torture?’

’Or maybe drug me?’

But then he heard Lu Qinglian say in her flat tone:

"I told you, being too suspicious is a bad thing. I know you better than you think. I don’t need any special methods to make you tell the truth. Also, I have no intention of harming anyone. If I did, you all wouldn’t be in your current predicament."

If it weren’t for her completely flat tone, those words might have sounded slightly intimate.

"Oh, right. Try your best not to appear before my grandmother. I’m not sure how long I can keep this a secret," Lu Qinglian added meaningfully.

"Keep what a secret?"

"This thing between us." As she said this, the corners of Lu Qinglian’s lips curled up slightly.

Zhang Shutong knew not to take that seriously. She was just saying it casually again.

He mentally pressed the pause button on their fast-paced conversation. There was too much information; he needed to process it.

’First, the Cyan Snake Temple was definitely not just some ordinary little temple.’

’Besides the time regression, it holds even more secrets.’

’Second, this girl wasn’t an ordinary girl.’

’And third, the girl’s grandmother was probably not the ordinary old woman he had imagined.’

Zhang Shutong felt a little relieved. It was a good thing he hadn’t followed through on the plan he’d discussed with Qingyi to bypass Lu Qinglian and go straight to the Temple.

’Finally, the killer had surfaced. Although it was a more troublesome situation than he’d imagined, he seemed to have found an opportunity to fight alongside Lu Qinglian in this cold-blooded timeline—’

"Let’s cooperate." Zhang Shutong proactively extended his hand and said earnestly, "I need to catch that killer, and as the Temple Priestess, you need to find that figure. In that respect, at least, you and I are on the same side."

"Alright." As she spoke, Lu Qinglian’s gaze rested on his hand, but she didn’t move an inch. "I’m not used to physical contact with others. A verbal agreement will suffice. Please understand."

Zhang Shutong casually retracted his hand.

"Is there any other intel to exchange? The other party’s whereabouts?"

"I’ve been looking for the past few days, too. Other than that, there’s nothing else."

"Can those snakes be of any use?"

"Why do you keep bringing up the snakes?" Lu Qinglian frowned.

Zhang Shutong knew he was pushing his luck.

"Well, you let it slip yourself. I’ll help you keep it a secret, so can you tell me a little more?"

"No," she refused. "But I can tell you this: the frozen snakes were unexpected."

"You mean because of this heavy snow?" Only then did Zhang Shutong realize he’d overlooked the snowstorm, which had been the most unexpected event so far. "Is it related to the Temple?"

"No."

"Are you sure?"

"I’m sure."

’It seems she doesn’t know the origin of this snowstorm either. If she wanted to lie to me, there’d be no reason for her to say that.’

Zhang Shutong reviewed the conversation in his mind again, confirming that he had asked all the necessary questions. The rest were either things she didn’t know or matters concerning the Cyan Snake Temple that she wasn’t prepared to talk about.

But Zhang Shutong didn’t have time to probe what other secrets the Temple held. As he’d just thought, Gu Qiuyan’s death was imminent. The top priority was to form a partnership and find the killer together.

He clenched his fist. Although today’s events had completely exceeded his imagination, when he tallied it all up, the outcome was entirely positive.

Except for getting kicked.

But as for that... Zhang Shutong glanced at her feet, which were lightly on tiptoe. ’An eye for an eye. It’s actually pretty fair.’

So, Zhang Shutong asked again:

"Well, I need to go down the mountain to make some arrangements. What about you? Going back to the Temple? How do we stay in touch?"

He had wanted to say they should stay in constant contact, but then he remembered Lu Qinglian didn’t even have a cell phone. He couldn’t message her anytime, and he couldn’t possibly climb the mountain every time he needed to find her.

"No," Lu Qinglian shook her head. "I’m going down the mountain, too. Time is tight. Don’t think that ’thing’ will be easy to find. I’d also advise you to give up on the idea of confronting him head-on. Have you considered that if he can get into the villa, he might have some unexpected methods?"

"Like those snakes, for example?"

Lu Qinglian fell silent, but her eyes were dangerous.

Zhang Shutong apologized. He hadn’t wanted to bring up the snakes either, but they were the only suitable example he could think of for methods beyond common sense.

"What about your grandmother? Do you need to tell her anything?"

"She doesn’t know classes were canceled today, so I can stay out all day."

"It seems your relationship with her is just so-so?" Zhang Shutong read a different meaning into that sentence.

"Classmate Zhang Shutong," Lu Qinglian said indifferently, "I’ve already reminded you for the third time. I hope there won’t be a next time. Your relationship with me is not good enough for you to be prying into my private affairs."