Bai Muyao naturally trusted Xu Qing deeply.
But…
She remembered that at the moment she touched the fragment she had been searching for, she saw a vision. Xu Qing had raised a long sword, its cold tip pointed directly at her throat. Recalling that scene, Bai Muyao even felt a phantom, icy sting in her neck. It was as if she had truly experienced it before.
Bai Muyao did not understand why she would see such a vision. She trusted Xu Qing, but in this matter, she had to be cautious. When her eyes met Xu Qing’s, she shifted her gaze away for the first time out of hesitation. She didn’t know how to respond to Xu Qing.
“I…” Bai Muyao pursed her lips, wanting to speak but stopping herself.
Xu Qing suddenly turned away. “If you do not know, then forget it.”
She did not press any further. This left Bai Muyao feeling deeply confused and shocked. Even if she answered “I don’t know,” wouldn’t it be too reckless for Senior Sister Xu Qing to just stop asking?
If Xu Qing had continued to ask what she experienced in the barrier, what exactly the Demon General had said, or if she felt any abnormality—Bai Muyao would have told her everything without hiding a single detail. Although she didn’t know the consequences of answering, as long as it was Senior Sister Xu Qing asking, she would never lie or refuse.
But Xu Qing stopped right there.
The mountain wind wailed. Bai Muyao stared at the tips of her toes, her dark hair falling to hide the turbulent emotions in her eyes. The moonlight stretched their shadows very long, yet there remained an insurmountable distance between them.
Xu Qing knew well that Bai Muyao’s experience inside the barrier would be incredibly attractive to the sect elders. A barrier set by a high-realm entity, imprisoning a Demon General of the Great Awakening stage, who then snatched a sect disciple how could the causal links behind this not pique curiosity?
Initially, Xu Qing had intended to ask Bai Muyao about these things. But when she saw her hesitant expression, she involuntarily closed her mouth.
Perhaps… she was just snatched by mistake.
Xu Qing whispered this in her heart, but she couldn’t even convince herself. A cold, hard silhouette was reflected on her tense face. She understood that if Bai Muyao’s answer truly held immense value something even a Great Awakening powerhouse would fight for then she ought to take her back to the sect immediately.
But if Bai Muyao truly were that valuable, how could the elders in the sect not covet her? Right now, she had a reason to keep Bai Muyao here under the guise of her being unable to approach spiritual energy. But the sect had plenty of ways to keep her away from spiritual energy and plenty of places to imprison someone. By then, with Bai Muyao under the watch of the sect and the elders, Xu Qing would no longer have any control. After all, no matter how high her cultivation, she could not oppose the entire sect.
She didn’t want to ask, because if she received truly bad news, she would have a duty as a sect disciple to bring Bai Muyao back. As long as she didn’t ask, she would know nothing. She wouldn’t have to do the things she didn’t want to do.
Xu Qing looked back and saw Bai Muyao still hanging her head with an uneasy expression. Bai Muyao was so clever; she had likely seen through Xu Qing’s deliberate avoidance.
“Won’t you come look at the scenery?” Xu Qing asked.
“…Alright.”
Startled, Bai Muyao stepped forward slowly to stand side-by-side with her. The night breeze swept over the mountain peak, carrying the characteristic chill of early autumn. The lights of distant villages were like tiny beans, flickering in the pitch-black wilderness.
Bai Muyao’s gaze moved from those faint lights to the person beside her. Xu Qing’s profile appeared exceptionally cold, as if covered in a thin layer of frost. Bai Muyao opened her mouth but remained silent in the end. She felt that if certain words were spoken, this peaceful night would shatter into pieces.
The wind moaned. Though there was barely a foot between them, it felt as if they were separated by an invisible wall. They both had things they wanted to tell each other. But until the very end, neither spoke.
“Let’s go back,” Xu Qing said.
“Okay!”
Bai Muyao’s spiritual energy had recovered somewhat, so going down the mountain wasn’t difficult for her. But how would Xu Qing get down? She peeked at the person beside her. If I have to carry Senior Sister down… The thought made the tips of her ears burn.
“How about I walk ahead for a bit, while Senior Sister uses her spiritual power to…”
Could it be she had to carry Xu Qing down?
Xu Qing waved her hand to interrupt. “No need. Just head down yourself. As for me…” She glanced at the bicycle nearby. “I’ll use that to get down.”
Bai Muyao felt this was inappropriate. After all, Xu Qing couldn’t use her spiritual energy because of her; if she left her alone now, she would feel terrible about it. No matter what, Bai Muyao couldn’t do it.
She said, “How about this, Senior Sister Xu Qing? You carried me when we came up; let me carry you when we go down!”
Xu Qing’s brow furrowed slightly, but she ultimately nodded in agreement.
The two came to the bike. Bai Muyao straddled the seat nervously. Recalling Xu Qing’s earlier movements, she tried to push the pedals—
“Whoa!”
The bike wobbled violently, and Bai Muyao fell to the ground along with the machine, taking another “graceful” tumble. She looked at the seemingly simple machine in disbelief. It’s actually this hard? How did Senior Sister manage to move forward so steadily?!
Xu Qing reached out to help her up, her tone flat. “I also fell a few times before I barely mastered how to use this thing.”
“Even Senior Sister fell…?” Bai Muyao was shocked. She truly couldn’t imagine the frost-cold Senior Sister Xu Qing falling until her face was covered in dust!
She tried a few more times. Every time she fell bedraggled, she would see Xu Qing’s hand reaching out at a steady pace.
“Forget it. You head down first,” Xu Qing sighed as she helped her up for the third time.
“No! Let me try one last time!”
Bai Muyao got back on the seat, feeling she couldn’t waste any more time. When she pushed down with her foot, this time she could miraculously move forward.
“Senior Sister Xu Qing, I’ve got it!” Bai Muyao said happily.
But they both knew Bai Muyao was cheating! She had used her spiritual energy to coat the bicycle, keeping it in a near-hovering state so it wouldn’t tip. Seeing Bai Muyao so determined to carry her down, Xu Qing felt a trace of a smile and a faint warmth in her heart. She tactfully didn’t expose the trick and sat on the rear seat.
“Senior Sister, sit tight!”
“Alright.”
Xu Qing lightly hugged Bai Muyao. Bai Muyao drove her spiritual energy, moving forward slowly and beginning the descent. Xu Qing sat steadily in the back. Unlike when they came up and couldn’t use magic, with spiritual energy present, there were no bumps. This “bicycle” was originally designed to save the stamina of ordinary people without spiritual power, but…
Xu Qing stared at Bai Muyao’s serious expression and let out a soft laugh.
After reaching the bottom, they returned to the cabin.
“Go inside,” Xu Qing said. “I have some matters to attend to and must leave for a bit.”
“Okay.”
Bai Muyao said her goodbyes and went into the house. Xu Qing sighed. Because of the Demon General situation at the sect, it was difficult for her to be away for long; there were many things she had to handle personally. For now, no one had discovered that the person captured was Bai Muyao. As for later… Xu Qing didn’t plan to overthink it and decided to take it one step at a time.
She stared at Bai Muyao’s back. In truth, there was one more thing she hadn’t said on the mountain.
She murmured to herself: “Once you have refined the demonic aura, will you return to the sect with me?”
If Bai Muyao returned to the sect and joined Qingfeng Pavilion, Xu Qing could keep a better eye on her and prevent such situations from happening again. But in the end, she didn’t ask. After Bai Muyao entered the cabin, Xu Qing also departed.
The next day.
After Bai Muyao woke up, she walked around the house and checked the bed twice. Once she confirmed Xu Qing wasn’t there, she stretched. After a light breakfast, she began her cultivation.
At first, she proceeded as before, using her spiritual energy to refine the demonic aura. And as before, the speed was agonizingly slow, only refining tiny residues. But Bai Muyao suddenly remembered something. Zhuang Youbai had told her an incantation, and that black-haired woman had seemed to call it—
“The Heaven-Devouring Demon-Breaking Incantation?”
Bai Muyao whispered the formula: “By my blood, I call thy name; by my soul, I forge thy shape. Let Heaven and Earth be my witness, and all laws be my proof!”
The moment the incantation left her lips, a majestic spiritual power erupted. Bai Muyao stopped refining the demonic aura and instead began to erode it. Then, she seemed to slip into a different space.
Standing within this space, she looked around and found a clump of demonic aura surrounding her. She focused her mind, gathering the aura into one place, and then… the black-haired woman appeared before her.
The woman seemed shocked. “Why… I should be dead. Why am I here?”
“You are not her,” Bai Muyao spoke.
The black-haired woman suddenly realized. “I see. I am merely a clump of demonic aura she released.”
Bai Muyao pursed her lips and asked, “Why did you capture me? And what did those things you said to me mean?”
The woman formed from the aura gave a bizarre smile. “I do not know.”
“You don’t know?”
“I am merely a wisp of her demonic aura; how could I know her thoughts?”
Bai Muyao: “…”
The flickering figure circled around Bai Muyao. “I only know that back then… she was very delighted.” Cold fingers ghosted over Bai Muyao’s cheek. “Like she had discovered a peerless treasure, even if it cost her her life…”
Before she could finish, the dark figure vanished like smoke.
Bai Muyao frowned. Seeing the woman vanish, she exited the space. A bold thought suddenly surfaced. Instead of struggling to refine it, why not… take control of it?
This time, she didn’t want to refine the demonic aura; she used her consciousness to cover it and began to erode the aura bit by bit. Bai Muyao didn’t know why she thought of this method, but she just knew it would be effective.
And just as she expected, after several hours of cultivation, the demonic aura had actually shrunk by 10%. That 10% was enough to save her ten years of refinement!