At this moment, Zhao Shuning stopped in her tracks.
She murmured softly, "He won't."
Qin Anxin retorted, "How can you be so sure? You've only known him for a few months, while I've watched him grow up. I know better than you what kind of person he is."
"He won't get the chance."
Zhao Shuning added, "Qin Anxin, you're no saint either. All the things you've done to him were the causes, and now you're just reaping the bitter fruits."
Qin Anxin lifted her eyes, disbelief etched on her face. "He deceived you, yet you still speak up for him."
"Yes, he deceived me, but he had his own reasons. Now, I may not like him, but I don't think what you're going through is undeserved."
Zhao Shuning took another step forward.
"Moreover, I'm not defending him. Qin Anxin, you should take a good look at yourself. If you hadn't been so selfish back then, you wouldn't have ended up like this. Your child was killed by Princess Wu Xuan of Tianli Kingdom, not really by Gu Hanxun."
"How do you know it has nothing to do with him? Luo Feiyan, you have no idea. The Duke of Qi must have been bribed by Gu Hanxun. My son was so outstanding. How could he have had an accident so easily? It must be the Duke of Qi's doing. He just wanted to take revenge on me for crippling his legs."
"Those are your affairs. I've told you all I know."
"You don't need to remind me. I'll never let Wu Xuan go. Do you know why the Qin family fell so quickly this time? I sent all the Qin family's secret guards to Tianli Kingdom. I'll surely make Wu Xuan and her family pay with their lives."
So that's how it was.
Zhao Shuning shook her head.
Gu Hanxun must have known about this. He took advantage of public outrage and seized the opportunity to wipe out the Qin family completely.
It was a brilliant move, like removing the firewood from under the cauldron and fighting a desperate battle.
"Luo Feiyan, he deceived your feelings."
Zhao Shuning gave a faint smile.
"I never had any feelings for him."
So how could there be deception?
Zhao Shuning left.
Qin Anxin remained where she was.
Didn't this woman resent him?
Gu Hanxun had used her.
Good, it's better that she doesn't love Gu Hanxun. Gu Hanxun, now you can taste what it's like to not get the one you love.
What goes around comes around.
After leaving the dungeon, Zhao Shuning immediately returned to the Laundry Bureau.
She could roughly guess where her grandfather was being held.
One night in the Laundry Bureau, she walked onto a small path in the Forbidden Palace. There, she managed to contact her master.
Judging from the images in Qin Anxin's mind just now, that path must be special.
No wonder she couldn't contact her master when she was in the Cangwu Palace before, but could do so on that path. There must be another force on that path that had broken the original barrier.
Most likely, it was the person who created the barrier himself.
Thinking of this, Zhao Shuning immediately made her way to that path.
It was pitch - black at the moment.
There wasn't a single soul around.
It was rather ironic. Zhao Shuning never thought that the answer she had been searching for so desperately was actually so close to her from the very beginning.
When she reached the Forbidden Palace, what she saw was completely different from that night.
Eight trigrams, five elements, yin and yang.
Zhao Shuning had already studied this knowledge thoroughly under Yan Ruyu's guidance and could use it skillfully.
Looking at the intricate paths in front of her, she took out a silk handkerchief from her waist and tied it over her eyes.
With her eyes covered, she relied only on the spiritual connection of blood kinship.
Ignoring everything around her, she had her own inner guidance.
Zhao Shuning groped forward slowly.
A golden light flashed.
A faint smile played on her lips.
Then, her hand slowly touched an ancient tree.
At the same time, a door appeared beside the tree.
Gu Hanxun, you're just too confident. Not sending anyone to guard this place. Are you so sure that no one can find it?
Well, even if someone finds it, they may not be able to get in.
The most dangerous place is the safest place.
Zhao Shuning quickly squeezed in.
The moment her foot landed inside, a white light flashed before her eyes. She took off the silk handkerchief, and from then on, what she faced became real scenery.
It was a secret chamber.
Zhao Shuning walked in carefully.
She knew that last time she had suffered a powerful spiritual attack, so this time she didn't dare to underestimate the danger.
However, the moment her foot stepped into the secret chamber, Gu Hanxun seemed to sense something and suddenly stood up.
Zhao Shuning walked deeper into the chamber until she reached the end.
She didn't find Ye Feng.
At this moment, the four walls began to rush towards her crazily.
Zhao Shuning frowned.
She raised her hands and formed seals.
The red lotus on her forehead burst out of her body.
With the protection of the red lotus karma fire, the walls all retreated. In front of Zhao Shuning, a broader white - rock avenue appeared.
This must be the secret chamber where Ye Feng was being held.
But it didn't seem quite right to call it "being held".
What appeared in front of Zhao Shuning was an extremely luxurious palace.
Right, this palace looked very familiar.
Zhao Shuning suddenly remembered that it seemed to be the palace built by the people in Changle Town.
She quickly pushed open the door in front of her.
Sure enough, in this palace, there were countless wooden - faced people doing all kinds of things mechanically.
Zhao Shuning walked in.
Those people looked dull and didn't stop her.
If this palace was the one in the blueprint she had seen in Changle Town, then the secret chamber she had detected with her spiritual power at first should be in the east.
Zhao Shuning walked on.
In front of her, a large arched door appeared.
She placed her hand on it, and after a while, the door opened. She quickly walked in.
A man had his back to her.
He was dressed neatly, but his limbs were restricted, so he could only move within this room.
He was holding a pen in his hand, as if he was writing something.
Zhao Shuning couldn't see his face, but instinctively, she felt that he was someone she could get close to.
The man's hair was very messy, and some of it had turned gray.
Zhao Shuning stepped forward.
The man didn't react.
He just said, "It's no use begging me."
The "he" in the man's words should refer to Gu Hanxun, right?
Zhao Shuning asked, "Are you Ye Feng, the master of the Thousand Assassin Pavilion?"
Hearing the woman's voice, the old man turned around.
The moment he saw Zhao Shuning, the pen in his hand dropped to the ground with a thud.