Chapter 64

Step by step, Bu Zheng put away the mechanical box, planning to open it when he had the time. It was only after he returned to the Alchemy Peak that he had the chance. The box used some unknown method to calculate, so Bu Zheng had to learn the pattern to open it smoothly. This was ancient knowledge that Bu Zheng did not possess. If it were an array formation, he might have tried, but for this, he could only attempt it, or there was a simpler method...

Bu Zheng threw the mechanical box to the ground and stomped on it, crushing it completely...

If there was something fragile inside, it would have been crushed as well. But for Bu Zheng, what was inside was not important; what mattered was whether he could get it, which meant whether he could open the box. If he couldn't open it, what was inside was useless. If he could open it, it would be his. If it was destroyed, it would be as if he never had it, since it was something he found.

When he stomped on it, he discovered that there was a book inside, with four characters on it—

"I don't recognize it!"

If Bu Zheng recognized it, he wouldn't be the illiterate bumpkin he was. He flipped through a page and found it was full of text, so he gave up immediately. Since he couldn't understand it, he decided to ask Xiuying.

Bu Zheng's habit was the same as before; whenever he needed to read something, he would find Xiuying, because only she was patient enough to tell him every word, and perhaps because she was more trustworthy.

"Oh, I don't know which peak Xiuying is on. I haven't seen her since I joined, and she doesn't know where I am. How am I supposed to find her..." Bu Zheng was a bit frustrated. At that time, he was a miscellaneous disciple, and ordinary disciples were assigned separately. When he received his assignment, he went directly to the Alchemy Peak without telling Xiuying.

After more than half a year, he only thought of her when he needed her. This could only be considered a bit ungrateful.

Regardless, his first task now was to find Xiuying. He would go to the inner hall and ask; there should be records.

So Bu Zheng went to ask. With his identity token, he could search, but his permissions were very low. He could only find the names and affiliated peaks or departments of outer disciples. For anything else—

"I'm sorry, you don't have the permission!"

"..."

Bu Zheng knew asking further would be futile. Why ask? He already knew the name and affiliated peak. He could just go to that peak and ask.

If it were a normal situation, this information would be enough. Bu Zheng didn't need to know anything else. The problem was that there were over a hundred outer disciples named Li Xiuying.

How was Bu Zheng supposed to determine which one was the Xiuying he was looking for? He would have to find and eliminate them one by one. Fortunately, although there were over a hundred Li Xiuyings, most of them were in the same place. When outer disciples first joined, they all trained together, and only after becoming ordinary disciples were they assigned to different peaks.

This meant Bu Zheng would have to search every place where outer disciples trained. The information from the inner hall was almost useless, as it didn't eliminate any possibilities. The only benefit was knowing where all the outer disciples were.

So, Bu Zheng went to each peak where outer disciples trained. He caused a few misunderstandings. At first, when he said he was looking for Li Xiuying, over a dozen Li Xiuyings appeared. This made him realize he needed to give his name first, and only the Li Xiuying who recognized him would come.

His name was not common, and he also mentioned the name of his small village, so there shouldn't be any overlap. Of course, a few Li Xiuyings might be a bit confused.

In the end, Bu Zheng found Xiuying at the Yan Yun Manor of the Qingyun Sword Sect. He was so moved...

"Damn, you finally showed up! I've been looking for you for half a year and couldn't find you. I thought you were expelled from the sect. You weren't even home for the New Year. Where have you been?" Xiuying asked directly, ruining Bu Zheng's sense of a long-awaited reunion.

From what Xiuying said, it seemed she had looked for Bu Zheng but couldn't find him.

"No, I've been here all along. It should have been easy to find me. Why did I have to search for dozens of Li Xiuyings?" Bu Zheng shook his head, a bit puzzled. Logically, Xiuying should have been able to find him by asking the inner hall.

Asking about a miscellaneous disciple from an outer disciple was not a big deal. Even a miscellaneous disciple like him could ask about outer disciples, though it cost a bit of contribution points.

"I don't know. I asked the inner hall, but I couldn't find your name. Other miscellaneous disciples were listed, so why not you?" Xiuying was also puzzled. If Bu Zheng had been there all along, why couldn't he be found?

This was actually Xu Fu's fault. Bu Zheng had received his token and was assigned to the Alchemy Peak, but if Xu Fu didn't report Bu Zheng's name to the inner hall, the inner hall wouldn't know.

Xu Fu hadn't done this in twenty years and had long forgotten about it!

This didn't affect Bu Zheng's contribution points, whether in accumulation or exchange. This kind of error only happened to miscellaneous disciples. If it were an outer disciple, the issue would have been discovered immediately. If Bu Zheng wanted to become an outer disciple, this issue would have to be resolved, and he would need to be registered by the inner hall.

Currently, Bu Zheng only had an entry record but was not registered to any peak. Therefore, it was impossible to find out where he was unless the inner hall people carefully compared the records, but Xiuying's status wasn't enough to make the inner hall take it seriously.

"I don't know. When I asked, your name came up, and there were many..." Bu Zheng replied.

"..." Xiuying was silent for a moment before saying, "You only think of me now because you need something, right?"

From Xiuying's perspective, Bu Zheng never visited without a reason. He wouldn't just come to chat or have tea. As a child, it was always her who sought him out, and he would always say—

"I'm busy, I have to go gather herbs!"

"I don't have time, I have to go to the county!"

"I..."

In short, Bu Zheng never visited her without a reason. She didn't know why she had made such an ungrateful friend, who even had a tendency to forget friends for beauty.

However, Bu Zheng wasn't the type to only take and never give. Whenever he received something from Xiuying, he would find a way to repay her, and he would always give more than he received.

This was why Xiuying liked Bu Zheng. Friends could suffer losses, but they couldn't always suffer losses. Otherwise, how could anyone consider you a true friend?

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