"Have you thought of something?" Tie Xue Lang asked. It seemed that Tie Ruo Nan had come to some kind of conclusion after interviewing the Bai clansmen.
"Yes, I see the puzzle pieces in my mind, but Father, I just can't seem to bring them together in a way that will make sense." She then turned to him. "Can I have your permission to use Cactus Pointer Gu?"
Cactus Pointer Gu was a Rank 3 Gu worm. It was a kind of Gu worm that could give the Gu Master who used it inspiration when they were stuck with a problem. It was a single-use gu worm and quite valuable for someone in their line of work.
"Are you absolutely sure? Because I only have one, and you will not be able to get another one if this fails," Tie Xue Leng said. "I want you to think about it very carefully. While the Cactus Pointer Gu can give you a small bit of insight into something you're unable to solve, if you start out with the wrong clues or don't have enough information beforehand, it might, on the contrary, lead you astray."
"I understand, Father," Tie Ruo Nan said. "But I don't think that we can get any further information from somewhere else. I think that this is the time to use Cactus Pointer Gu."
"If that is what you wish," Tie Xue Lang said. He removed it from his aperture. The Cactus Pointer Gu looked like an ordinary cactus with a small flower on top once it was mature. It started out as a seed that one would plant into the soil, and as one injected their primeval essence into it, it would mature into its full form as a cactus. The 'flower' on top was not an actual flower, but a folded piece of paper which would give the Gu Master insight into what to do further.
"All right, let me try this," Tie Ruo Nan said.
"Think of what you wish to ask," Tie Xue Lang said.
The seed bloomed into a cactus with a flower on top of it. Tie Ruo Nan removed the flower, after which the gu worm began shriveling immediately and then died off within a matter of seconds. On the piece of paper was a single word written on it. That word was 'frogs'. To someone else, that might not have meant anything; however, to Tie Ruo Nan, it was what she needed to put the pieces together.
"I've got it!" she said. "Lady Ling Ding Ching is actually Bai Ning Bing!"
"How did you reach that conclusion?" Tie Xue Leng asked, startled.
"You see, Father," Tie Ruo Nan said, "the rumors that people were concerned about demonic Gu Masters putting chemicals in the water, making the frogs gay, were not unsubstantiated. There's a reason why Lady Ling Ding Ching looks similar to Bai Ning Bing. That's because he somehow happened to be exposed to those same chemicals, but in a large quantity, thereby turning him into a woman." Tie Ruo Nan was not finished, however.
"Bai Ning Bing detonated on Qing Mao Mountain and died, or at least that's what we thought. However, what if there was a way to save him? The demonic Gu Master who must have been polluting the water with those chemicals might have found Bai Ning Bing after he detonated. He had a way to bring Bai Ning Bing back, but it involved copious uses of those chemicals. And that's why he was experimenting with those chemicals in the first place, because although they might feminize a person, they would also be able to bring them back to life! This is all the result of demonic Gu Master experimentation."
Tie Ruo Nan took a deep breath as she ended this monologue. Tie Xue Leng looked out into the distance. Before, he had just been thinking about it, but now this confirmed it.
He really had wasted the Cactus Pointer Gu, and Tie Ruo Nan was led completely astray by the rumors on Qing Mao Mountain. 'How does any of this pertain to the Blood Path demonic Gu Master that we were supposedly chasing?' was a question which still remained in his mind, which he wished to ask her.
Her eyes widened when posed with that question.
"Well, that you see, Father..."
"Even if Lady Ling Ding Ching is Bai Ning Bing..." "Tie Xue Lang said, "How does that change anything?"
"Uh, that is..." Tie Ruo Nan began to say before clutching her head in shock. "Ah, Father, I realize I got sidetracked there!"
Tie Xue Leng sighed. His daughter was clearly still inexperienced and needed to learn more about the world, and that's fine. This was a very complicated case anyway. "Perhaps I shouldn't have given it to you as your first case. Allow me to take the lead now."
For the next few days, he continued investigating on his own. Although he didn't get much further, he did, however, scout the surrounding area and was able to find his way into the Blood River Graveyard.
'What a peculiar place. This is without a doubt the signs of the Blood Path.' However, while it was a sign of a Blood Path Gu Master having been there at one point, there are no traces of anyone having been in this place for a while. It was built some distance away from the Gu Yue Clan's primeval spring. However, that in itself did not mean anything.
Ultimately, despite their investigation, they were unable to find anything concrete, at least not without more drastic measures.
"I think that it's time we leave Qing Mao Mountain - I don't think that we can uncover anything, not without potentially tearing the mountain apart," Tie Xue Leng said.
"Right, father," Tie Ruo Nan said. "I'm just sorry about everything..."
"Don't apologize - the journey to becoming a true hero of justice is long and filled with countless ups and downs. I have not succeeded in every mission that I took. You mustn't let this deter you," Tie Xue Leng said.
"That's right father- I'll do better next time!" Tie Ruo Nan said.
"And just remember, simply because a lot of people are saying it - doesn't mean that it is true."
Tie Ruo Nan still thought that there was quite a bit of weight behind her theory that Ling Ding Ching was Bai Ning Bing only exposed to chemicals causing him to become feminized, but she didn't want to argue with her father any further. As it was he was right about one thing - even if they were right, it would not change the status of what they had been called here to find.
"What did you think of Gu Yue Fang Yuan?"
"He does look as heroic as they say but," she began. "There's something off about him. Something... cold and distant."
Tie Xue Leng also agreed there was something odd with him - but that was hardly enough for him to justify staying her to dig deeper into matters.
With that, the Tie clansmen headed off of Qing Mao Mountain.
"Good riddance," Fang Yuan said. His brother was still a bit downcast that they hadn't found anything - Fang Yuan himself had been wondering whether they would've found the person who hired Lord of Mysteries or not, but there was no answer on that. His brother, however, would have something to look forward too soon - advancing to Rank Three!
Now, he could finally get to getting some actual work done.
Starting with getting himself to Rank 5 first of all! Enough time had passed, and he had accumulated enough Human Path dao marks to make another try worthwhile.