Chapter 378: Golden Cicada Sheds Its Shell

Hearing the voice, Old Man Mi trembled all over. The smile on his face instantly froze as he abruptly turned his head to look out the window.

An old man was already standing by the bed, coughing into a handkerchief while looking at him with a faint, unreadable smile.

If Zu An or Pei Mianman were here, they would certainly recognize him as Wei Dan, the mysterious powerful figure from the Wei family.

The moment he saw the man, Old Man Mi's expression changed rapidly, but he ultimately let out a long sigh. "I've always worried about this day coming, but now that it's here, I actually feel relieved, not as nervous as I imagined."

Wei Dan smiled faintly. "That's how things are in life. The most painful part isn't the bad thing itself, but the anticipation of its arrival."

Old Man Mi chuckled twice. "I never thought after all these years, you'd still be so fond of philosophizing."

Wei Dan was not offended. "After so many years, we've all grown old. Speaking of which, you've certainly given me a hard time finding you. For years, the palace spent vast amounts of manpower and resources, yet couldn't find a trace of you, until recently, when we finally caught wind of your whereabouts."

Old Man Mi asked curiously, "How exactly did you find me?"

"A while ago, during the grand competition between the Chu and Yuan families in Mingyue City, someone reported that Zu An's movement technique closely resembled your Sunflower Phantasm. So we guessed you were most likely here," Wei Dan replied.

Old Man Mi snorted. "Indeed, it was that rascal who revealed my identity! I warned him countless times not to display it in public, but he still didn't listen. I shouldn't have taught him the Sunflower Phantasm!"

Rage points from Mi Lianying +760!

Meanwhile, on the other side, Zu An was startled by this message in his system log. What was going on?

So he decided to go and investigate Old Man Mi. He had never been able to figure out the old man's true intentions, and his sense of crisis was growing stronger lately, so he needed to uncover the truth quickly to put his mind at ease.

Of course, he wouldn't rashly go directly to his door to question him; he would definitely investigate from a distance, from the periphery.

Wary of the opponent's cultivation, he immediately used "Bright Mirror Not a Stand" to conceal his aura.

From a distance, he saw someone in the courtyard—it was indeed Wei Dan. He was greatly alarmed and dared not approach further, hiding in the shadows and quietly observing.

In Old Man Mi's courtyard, Wei Dan said with some confusion, "Speaking of which, I'm also curious. Why would you teach your unique signature skill to a hooligan who is neither related to you nor a friend? It's really unlike your usual character."

"No particular reason. I just saw that he was quite respectful to me, and one day, on a whim, I taught him. Looking back now, I was still careless," Old Man Mi said. Naturally, he wouldn't tell Wei Dan that Zu An was his chosen vessel; of course, nothing could happen to him before the soul transfer.

"So that's how it is," Wei Dan smiled faintly. "It's a good thing, otherwise it would have been really hard to find you."

Hearing this, Zu An felt a bit embarrassed. So it was because of him that Old Man Mi had been discovered by his enemy. No wonder the old man had been so angry just now.

"To be able to find me so quickly just based on that is quite admirable," Old Man Mi remarked with a sigh.

The two conversed as if they were old friends, but both were well aware of the hidden murderous intent in the air.

"It wasn't that quick," Wei Dan replied. "Because I was afraid of alerting you, I didn't dare to directly interrogate Zu An. So, for the past while, I've been investigating secretly. I started with the people around him, first checking the academy, and then putting everyone in the academy through their paces. I found no trace of you among them."

Zu An remembered the academy teachers who had been bruised and swollen a while ago; it turned out to be this fellow's handiwork.

He mused that he was lucky, otherwise, if Wei Dan had captured and interrogated him directly, he wouldn't have been able to escape.

Old Man Mi couldn't help but say, "The academy is full of masters, yet you easily toyed with them. It seems Eunuch Wei's cultivation has greatly advanced over the years."

"Besides Jiang Luofu, the others don't count as true masters," Wei Dan snorted, as the image of the woman with beautiful legs in stockings from that night flashed through his mind. If he weren't a eunuch, he probably wouldn't have been able to stop his heart from stirring at the sight of her.

"That's true," Old Man Mi nodded, clearly agreeing with his assessment. "Why didn't you investigate the Chu family first?"

Wei Dan explained, "I originally thought Zu An was favored by the Chu family and chosen as a son-in-law only because he had received your teachings. I subconsciously assumed you were outside the Chu family, which is why I investigated the academy first."

Zu An listened, seething with indignation. "Does someone as handsome and graceful as me need to rely on other skills to be chosen as a son-in-law by the Chu family? This guy is ugly, so he'll never understand how proactive women can be in front of a super handsome man like me."

"I see," Old Man Mi realized, then asked, "By the way, how has His Majesty's health been in recent years?"

Zu An's eyes widened instantly. Old Man Mi was indeed connected to the Emperor. Having been in this world for so long, he knew there were countless masters, but the top master was undisputed: the current Emperor.

Old Man Mi served under him, so it was no wonder his cultivation was so high.

"Little Yingzi, you're still thinking about His Majesty," Wei Dan sneered. "Thanks to you, His Majesty's health is very poor."

Old Man Mi was startled. "How can that be? His Majesty's cultivation reaches the heavens; why would his health be poor?"

Wei Dan snorted. "You're asking the obvious. In this world, no matter how high one's cultivation is, they cannot escape the inevitable decline of even celestials. That's why His Majesty sent you years ago to lead a team to find the legendary Phoenix Nirvana Scripture, which is said to grant eternal life after cultivation. Who knew you would all go and never return."

Zu An was startled. The Phoenix Nirvana Scripture grants eternal life after cultivation?

Having been in this world for so long, he had learned some common knowledge: no matter how high one's cultivation, they feared the butcher's knife of time. No matter how astonishingly talented and brilliant a super-expert you were in history, you would eventually turn into a handful of dust. He had never heard of anyone achieving eternal life or immortality.

Could the Phoenix Nirvana Scripture truly have this effect?

No wonder cultivating it was so arduous, requiring massive amounts of elemental essence fruits just to advance a small stage.

"Originally, His Majesty thought you hadn't found the Phoenix Nirvana Scripture and had all perished, and everyone grieved for you for a long time," Wei Dan said, then shifted his tone. "However, those who later investigated the incident discovered something strange."

"Although you designed it very cleverly, making each body in the treasure-hunting team missing a body part, pretending they were attacked and eaten by ferocious beasts, and then cleverly assembling an extra corpse to replace you," Wei Dan said, a hint of admiration on his face, "it was only your body that was missing a head, which inevitably aroused suspicion. So the investigation team never closed the case until we later learned about a secret distinguishing feature on your back from a young eunuch who once served you. That's when we confirmed that corpse was a fake."

Old Man Mi sighed. "So that's how it is. I was already very careful, but unfortunately, I couldn't see that spot on my own back, which led to this oversight."

"This is what they call 'the net of heaven has large meshes, but it lets nothing through'," Wei Dan said with a hint of a smile, clearly relieved that after years of pursuing the matter, he finally had a result.

From a distance, Zu An finally understood the whole story. Old Man Mi most likely found the legendary Phoenix Nirvana Scripture, then became greedy and conveniently killed the others who were with him, faking the appearance of everyone being wiped out. But he was still discovered.

He couldn't help but feel a little admiration. Old Man Mi was truly audacious, even daring to misappropriate something belonging to the Emperor.

Old Man Mi sighed. "Actually, the reason I did that back then was because I hadn't found the Phoenix Nirvana Scripture and was worried about being punished upon returning to the palace. Coupled with being tired of the intrigues and deceptions in the palace, I came up with this 'cicada shedding its shell' strategy to escape. Eunuch Wei, why must you persecute me so relentlessly?"

"Didn't find the Phoenix Nirvana Scripture?" Wei Dan sneered. "Do you take me for a three-year-old child? Hand over the item, and I can still plead for your life before His Majesty."