boyutpedia Chapter 159 The Point of No Return
Chapter 159 The Point of No Return
I jabbed an accusing finger at Hua and Feng Yu, refusing to let the rage simmer down.
“And what about them? Don’t they take shifts? Why are they both standing here watching like it’s a street performance?!”
Hua flicked open his fan with a crisp snap, half-hiding his face. His tone was languid, as if he had just woken up.
“Of course I have a task.”
He lifted the fan a little, revealing one peach-blossom-smiling eye.
“According to the plan we drafted, the Sect Master watches you. Feng Yu and I monitor internal movements within the sect and keep alert for any possible critical trigger.”
Feng Yu stood straight and solemn beside him, nodding hard, adding in a tone so serious it bordered on comical,
“Critical points do not necessarily occur only during the enthronement ceremony. We must consider all scenarios.”
Their dead-serious performance almost made me want to applaud.
“So?” I spread both hands. “Maybe this whole ‘thief incident’ was the critical point? I nearly died right there!”
Lian paused to think.
“That is possible. But if this event appeared in the previous timeline as well, then the ones who know best are the three elders.”
He looked toward the faint moonlight in the east, his voice light but edged with steel.
“As for Hua Xiang… I cannot confirm whether, in the original timeline, he was still in the sect at this point.”
My heart gave a hard thump.
Feng Yu murmured, “You mean…”
Lian nodded.
“If this is a repetition of a past event… Hua Xiang may already have been gone in the original line.”
The air immediately turned cold.
I shivered.
Lian raised a hand and gripped my shoulder, his voice steadying me.
“No matter what this timeline holds — you are with me.”
I stared at his bright eyes—bright enough to light a lamp—and while my heart softened, an even bigger question rose.
In that original timeline… what exactly happened to Hua Xiang?
“Even if the elders know something,” I muttered, “I’ve already been hauled out by you. We can’t ask them anything anymore…”
Hua snapped his fan open, shaking it lazily.
“Who said we have no way of finding out? Did you really think Feng Yu and I spent these days idling about?”
My mind buzzed.
“You—you didn’t actually infiltrate the sect these past days, did you?!”
Hua’s eyes lifted, displeased at my underestimation.
“What else would we be doing?”
Feng Yu nodded beside him, though the nod was weak and guilty, like he was checking whether this counted as the right answer.
I almost shook him apart.
“You also went in? Feng Yu, with that overly proper and righteous face? The moment you walk in, Blood Lotus disciples would think you’re here to conduct a raid!”
Feng Yu turned red.
Hua rescued him quickly.
“He handled long-range support and message relay. Dealing with those old foxes inside fell to me.”
He tucked his fan at his waist.
“All right. Xiao Gonggong, you rest here. Feng Yu and I will take another trip.”
He meant it; the two disappeared into the night in moments.
Only Lian and I remained.
Lian sat on the ground casually and gestured for me to do the same.
“This area is remote. Few come here. Rest. I’ll keep watch.”
I finally felt myself relax—like I could finally breathe today.
“So… I just sleep?”
Lian nodded.
I dove into the cloak he’d spread out, thinking that as long as Lian didn’t stare directly at my face, I could sleep well—
I rolled over and cracked an eye open.
Lian was staring at me.
I forced a laugh. “C-can you not do that? I can’t sleep.”
Lian said flatly, “Close your eyes and you won’t see it.”
“?”
“That sounds like a threat!”
Lian stayed silent.
I shut my eyes, intending to complain a little more, but I must’ve been blown out by the wind or sheer exhaustion—because I fell asleep almost instantly.
When I woke again, I trembled violently from the cold.
I sat up groggily. Hua and Feng Yu were already standing nearby, looking grim.
“You’re back? What did you find? Why didn’t you wake me?”
Hua exhaled heavily.
“Waking you would change nothing. The situation just turned much worse.”
A chill shot through me. I turned to Feng Yu. “What happened?”
Feng Yu drew a long breath.
“Hua Xiang was detained by the three elders.”
I snapped upright. “Detained?! What did he even do?”
Feng Yu said,
“They claim he shielded an outside thief and intentionally let you escape.”
“???”
I nearly leapt up.
“Fine, accuse him of mishandling things, but why drag me into it again?! And I’m not even a thief! Does nobody in your sect know how to judge people?!”
Lian shot me a look.
“Do you really think this is a matter of judgment?”
I froze.
…Right.
This didn’t smell like mere misunderstanding.
The air carried a deeper stench—politics.
I was still trying to map out the logic when Hua started tapping his fan loudly.
“Oh, Little Hua Xiang again. Why is it that I, the former Left Protector, must be cursed, stabbed, punished, and blamed for everything? Service beyond death, apparently.”
I almost laughed.
“So you’re saying Hua Xiang was framed?”
Lian lifted his gaze toward the darkness.
“Not framed. It feels like someone wants him removed.”
A cold shock ran through me.
“Why? He’s your Left Protector!”
Lian’s eyes darkened.
“Precisely because he is my Left Protector.”
He explained, slowly.
Hua Xiang was the strongest supporter of Lian inheriting the sect, and had once been one of the candidates Lian’s father most valued.
The three elders, however, belonged to the old guard—entrenched power, traditions, and their own interpretation of what the Blood Lotus Sect should be.
After Lian’s father died, Hua Xiang stood too far forward… threatening the old faction’s interests.
And now—
Court soldiers attacking, a major theft, tension everywhere, the whole sect hunting for a scapegoat.
Hua Xiang was the perfect target.
I frowned hard.
“Seriously… even martial sects do palace-drama politics?”
Hua chuckled lightly.
“Where people gather, so does scheming. Universal law.”
I had nothing to say.
Even the system would not dare refute that line.
“So what now?”
I looked at the three of them.
Hua was composed.
Feng Yu was steady.
But in Lian’s eyes, something dark and violent simmered.
The night wind rustled the woods.
The air felt stretched taut.
I swallowed.
“So the situation is: Hua Xiang detained, your other self in seclusion, the elders holding full authority, and the theft case doesn’t look like a simple theft… What do we do next?”
Hua and Feng Yu both turned their eyes to Lian.
I followed.
Lian’s hands slowly clenched, like he was suppressing years of buried fury.
When he lifted his head again, restraint had sharpened into resolve.
“Rescue Hua Xiang.”
His voice was low, weighted as if pressing down mountains.
“He may not know the entire truth, but—”
“In the structure of this illusion’s timeline, he is very likely the key piece they intend to remove.”