172: I ran into an old acquaintance.

After leaving that troublesome place at the city gate, Chu Siyao did not linger, leading Li Xiu in a hurried pace toward the Chu Family residence.

Along the way, her elegant brows were tightly knit, never relaxing for a moment.

In her mind, the scene of Murong Che's departure kept replaying.

“It's too strange...”

Chu Siyao pondered secretly in her heart.

Based on her understanding of Murong Che's 'mad dog' personality, he was a man who sought revenge for the smallest grievance; there was never a reason for him to spit out meat that had already reached his mouth.

Unless... he had encountered some irresistible force that made him extremely wary, or even afraid to resist.

“But in this Cangyuan City, besides a few old monsters who have been in secluded cultivation for years and never appear, who else could make him so obedient? Even if my father arrived in person, it would be impossible to scare him so much that he fled without even leaving a single harsh word.”

Besides the confusion over Murong Che's sudden withdrawal, Chu Siyao also had a strange feeling along the way, as if there were needles at her back.

Her intuition as a Cultivator told her that someone was following the two of them.

Swoosh!

She abruptly turned her head to check several times.

However, behind her, except for the bustling and hurried pedestrians, she found no suspicious figures.

“Could I be overthinking it?”

To be safe, she stopped thinking about it and simply pulled Li Xiu along, picking up her pace without drawing attention:

“Young Master Li, let's go quickly. I keep feeling like someone is following us.”

After crossing several bustling streets, the two finally arrived before the magnificent and busy main gate of the Chu Family.

Two giant stone lions guarded either side, showcasing the heritage of a prominent clan in Cangyuan City.

“Eldest Young Miss!”

Seeing her, the guards at the gate hurriedly and respectfully opened the main doors.

However, just as the doors slowly opened and the two were about to step inside,

A slender, graceful figure happened to walk out from inside the gate, running straight into the two who were about to enter.

The moment he saw that figure clearly, Li Xiu's pupils couldn't help but shrink slightly.

“This...”

An undisguisable flash of amazement crossed his eyes.

He saw a woman dressed in a moon-white long dress that was plain to the extreme, her long black hair casually held up by only a wooden hairpin.

If the Chu Siyao beside him was a delicate and lovely lily flower,

Then the woman before him was an ice lotus blooming atop a ten-thousand-year-old snowy mountain.

That ethereal temperament directly suppressed Chu Siyao, the eldest Young Miss of a great clan, in terms of Aura!

Li Xiu was stunned for a moment, secretly guessing in his heart:

“Who is this woman? Her temperament is so transcendent; could she be Siyao's elder sister?”

However, in the next second, a scene that made his jaw drop occurred.

The moment Chu Siyao saw this woman in the white dress, her face showed a bit of embarrassment, and even a hint of respect.

She lowered her head, folded her hands, and performed a formal Junior's salute with great discipline, her voice stuttering as she spoke:

“Siyao... greets... greets the Old Ancestor...”

“Cough... Pfft!!”

Hearing the words 'Old Ancestor,'

Li Xiu's eyes widened on the side, looking incredulously at the beautiful woman who looked at most in her early twenties, with skin so tender it seemed like it could be pinched for water.

“Old... Old Ancestor?!”

Li Xiu felt his worldview collapsing:

“This is also called an Old Ancestor?! Although the cultivation world has techniques to maintain youth, and old monsters pretending to be young is common... this is a bit too ridiculous, isn't it? Her temperament doesn't seem like it at all!”

And the white-dressed woman who was addressed as 'Old Ancestor,'

When she heard this title, an extremely obvious trace of unnaturalness also flashed across her beautiful face.

Her gaze was somewhat evasive, not daring to meet Li Xiu's eyes, which were filled with shock and inquiry.

“Cough...”

She simply nodded, wanting only to escape this awkward scene quickly.

“Mm... you're back.”

The white-dressed woman coughed lightly, her voice cold but carrying a trace of imperceptible panic:

“This seat... cough, I am going out to handle some matters. No need for formalities, you two go in.”

After saying that, she didn't even ask a single question about the origin of Li Xiu, an outsider, and walked straight past the two.

As she passed by Li Xiu and felt that gaze full of astonishment,

Her pace noticeably quickened a few steps, her hem fluttering, giving off a sense of fleeing in panic.

“Phew...”

Watching the Old Ancestor's departing back, Chu Siyao breathed a sigh of relief.

“Young Master Li, stop looking. That is our Chu Family's Old Ancestor who just returned a few days ago. She has a bit of a strange temper. Let's go in.”

With that, she led the highly suspicious Li Xiu into the Chu Family's main gate.

Bang.

As the Chu Family's gate closed heavily,

The white-dressed woman, who had already walked far away and seemingly intended to handle business, suddenly stopped at the end of the street.

She turned her head and glanced toward the Chu Family gate, her previously panicked gaze vanishing instantly.

In its place was an extremely sharp, cold glint.

The white-dressed woman didn't actually go to handle any business.

Her figure flashed, turning into a secluded, deserted dead-end alley surrounded by high walls.

“Come out.”

She spoke coldly, her voice no longer panicked but as bone-chilling as ten-thousand-year-old ice:

“The two of you have been following stealthily for so long; what exactly is your purpose?”

In the alley, the air seemed to freeze for a moment.

Hum—

The space rippled slightly.

Two figures slowly emerged; they were Lu Yi and Shen Yueyao, who had followed all the way using a concealment secret technique.

Facing this 'Chu Family Old Ancestor's' questioning and pressure, Lu Yi showed no panic at being caught.

On the contrary, as he looked at this graceful back that was more familiar than familiar could be, the smile at the corner of his mouth gradually widened, finally curling into an extremely playful and mocking arc.

“Tsk, tsk, tsk...”

Lu Yi folded his arms across his chest and let out his signature sigh.

Hearing this sound, the body of the white-dressed woman in front stiffened abruptly.

When she turned around in disbelief and saw Lu Yi's smirking face clearly, her originally cold, killing-intent-filled expression instantly froze on her face.

Lu Yi sized up this 'Chu Family Old Ancestor' from top to bottom, his tone mocking and full of surprise as he said:

“Just now, hearing that girl call you 'Old Ancestor,' I thought it was some old hag who had cultivated for thousands of years. I didn't expect, I really didn't expect...”

Lu Yi took a step forward, looking at the person before him with a beaming smile:

“In this godforsaken Lower Realm, I can actually run into an 'acquaintance.'”

“Long time no see... Should I call you the Chu Family Old Ancestor? Or should I call you... Saintess Chu?”