noffsinger Chapter 62 The Sect Master is Gone
Chapter 62 The Sect Master is Gone
According to Li You's duties, he was not required to patrol the Qingyun Sect, but today Li You found an excuse to pretend to pass by Shen Qing's quiet room.
What he saw was almost exactly what Zhong Xiu had said. Li You took a few more glances, but didn't ask any more questions.
Based on what his master Zhao Yuanlang said, the matter that Shen Qing had asked him earlier, and Shen Qing's situation.
Li You had long suspected that this desperate Qingyun Sect Master was planning to risk everything to try and break through to the Foundation Establishment stage again.
Shen Qing's current seclusion only confirms his judgment.
Li You had no ill feelings towards Shen Qing; in his eyes, Shen Qing was a respectable person.
When running academies, teaching children, and dismissing disciples, he arranged career paths for each one, never losing his composure or dignity, even when he was at his wit's end.
But dignity is dignity, and reality is reality.
A Qi Refining cultivator who lacks Foundation Establishment Pills, has damaged meridians, and has little lifespan has a success rate of less than 50% in attempting to break through to the Foundation Establishment stage.
Li You had already drafted the wording of Shen Qing's obituary in his mind, and was just waiting for the news to arrive so he could send someone to deliver it to the county government.
Meanwhile, Shen Qing, who was in the quiet room, drew spiritual energy in the early morning after Zhong Xiu left.
Shen Qing then tried to use the Qi Concealing Technique to suppress all spiritual energy in his dantian in an instant, preventing it from leaking out in the slightest.
As the Qi Concealing Technique was activated, the spiritual liquid in the dantian slowly stopped circulating, and the heartbeat changed from steady to weak, and then from weak to barely perceptible.
As the earth's energy eroded Shen Qing's skin, the temperature of her skin gradually decreased, and her limbs became increasingly stiff.
Then, breathing first became shallow, then slowed down, and finally stopped completely.
If a Foundation Establishment cultivator were to examine the body with their divine sense, they would only find that it was a corpse devoid of life.
This was the first time Shen Qing had used the Qi Concealment Technique at full power to simulate death, and the effect was better than he had expected.
Even he himself felt that he was no different from a dead man at this moment.
The next morning, Zhong Xiu saw that news of Shen Qing's seclusion had spread, so she acted according to plan.
She first went to the academy to find Sun Wenyuan: "Master, I have some questions about my cultivation recently and would like to ask half a day to consult with the sect leader Shen Qing."
Upon hearing this, Sun Wenyuan said, "Zhong Xiu, I heard from Inspector Li yesterday that Sect Master Shen has been in seclusion for several days. I'm afraid you won't be able to see him on your trip."
Zhong Xiu feigned disappointment, then said, "Master, I have heard about it, but I would like to try again."
Seeing that Zhong Xiu insisted on going, Sun Wenyuan naturally did not refuse.
After leaving the academy, Zhong Xiu deliberately circled around to Li You's patrol route and "bumped into" Li You near the martial arts arena.
"Inspector Li," Zhong Xiu bowed, "I have recently encountered some difficulties in my cultivation and would like to seek guidance from the Sect Master. I wonder if Inspector Li knows whether the Sect Master has already emerged from seclusion?"
Li You shook his head: "Sect Master Shen is still in seclusion. However, he has only put up a sign saying he is in seclusion; he has not sealed off his meditation room. If you have something urgent, you can ask outside the door."
Zhong Xiu nodded his thanks and walked up the stone steps toward Qingyun Gate.
Li watched her walk away without arousing any suspicion. It was perfectly normal for a disciple to ask his master for guidance on cultivation difficulties.
Zhong Xiu arrived at the door of the quiet room, looked around for a while, and after confirming that no one was there, knocked on the door three times.
No one answered, so she knocked three more times, but still no one answered.
The girl hesitated for a moment, then gently pushed open the door.
The quiet room was dark. Shen Qing sat cross-legged on a futon, his face serene, his eyes closed, and a faint smile even lingering on his lips.
The morning light shone through the crack in the small window and fell on his pale and lifeless face.
"Sect Master?" Zhong Xiu called out softly.
no respond.
"metropolitan?"
She tried calling out again, and then Zhong Xiu stepped forward and touched Shen Qing's hand. It was cold and stiff, with no pulse.
Even though Zhong Xiu had expected it, he was still shocked. Shen Qing's condition was as if he were dead.
At this moment, she could no longer tell whether Shen Qing was truly dead. Trusting Shen Qing, Zhong Xiu knelt before him and wept, saying:
"Sect Master... how could this happen in just a few days... Qingyun cannot live without you! None of us can live without you..."
After Zhong Xiu left, Li You was afraid that she might disturb Shen Qing who was in seclusion, so he rushed over and happened to see this scene.
The girl kneeling before Shen Qing, who was sitting cross-legged, trembled all over, her cries filled with despair and utterances of bewilderment and collapse.
Li You quickly stepped forward, checked Shen Qing's breath, pressed the side of his neck, then withdrew his hand and remained silent for a moment.
"Sect Master Shen has passed away."
Zhong Xiu remained kneeling on the spot, offering no reply.
Looking at her like this, Li You sighed inwardly, turned around and sent one yamen runner to the academy to report the news, and sent another yamen runner to prepare for the burial.
When the news reached the academy, Fang Xue was helping in the kitchen.
She heard the bailiff tell Sun Wenyuan, "Sect Master Shen has passed away," and the bowl in her hand shattered on the ground with a crash.
The girl stood there stunned for a moment, then squatted down to pick up the broken pieces of porcelain, but her hands trembled so much that she couldn't pick up even one piece.
Xu Ping, who was teaching, rushed out of the lecture hall, looking as if his soul had been ripped out, and stood motionless at the entrance of the academy.
Sun Wenyuan was the first to recover from his shock. He asked Li Molin to boil water in the dining hall and Fang Jingzhi to find some clean white cloth in the storeroom. He then followed the yamen runners toward Qingyun Gate.
Zhong Xiu was pulled out of the quiet room by Li You. The girl struggled and refused to leave until Li You said, "If you kneel here, it will only make it impossible to handle the funeral arrangements for Sect Leader Shen." Only then did she stop struggling.
Zhong Xiu met Fang Xue and Xu Ping at the academy gate. The three of them were silent for a moment, and finally Zhong Xiu spoke first: "The sect leader is gone. We have to go and tell our senior brothers to come back."
Both of them nodded upon hearing Zhong Xiu's words.
Afterwards, the three of them asked Sun Wenyuan for leave and went down the mountain separately.
Zhong Xiu went to the dock to find Wang Shouzhou, Fang Xue went to the county government's military office to find Zhao Shoucheng, and Xu Ping went to the women's prison to find Lin Shouwei and Lin Shoujing.
Sun Wenyuan watched the three boys disappear into the morning mist, then turned back to the door of the quiet room and bowed deeply to the open door.
Shen Qing is not only the sect leader of Qingyun Sect, but also the founder of Qingyun Academy and the academy's mountain master. Naturally, he deserves Sun Wenyuan's bow.
Zhao Shoucheng, who was not on duty today, was the first to receive the news. At that time, he was organizing patrol records in the military office when Fang Xue, whose face was ashen, was led in by a yamen runner.
Zhao Shoucheng put down his pen and stood up. Before he could even exchange pleasantries, Fang Xue said four words first: "The sect leader has left."
Zhao Shoucheng didn't immediately understand what "left" meant.
But after seeing Fang Xue's expression, how could he not understand what it meant?
Zhao Shoucheng stood frozen in place, the color draining from his face instantly.
A moment later, he turned around, picked up his broadsword, hung it at his waist, and strode out the door.
Meanwhile, Wang Shouzhou was patrolling the dock with several water police officers.
He saw Zhong Xiu squeezing through the crowd from afar, so he put down what he was doing and called out from a distance, "Junior Sister Zhong, what brings you here today?"
The girl did not respond to him. When he walked up to her, she whispered, "The sect leader has left."