Hearing that voice, cold and aloof as jade yet laced with accusation.
Su Yanqing’s eyes darted about, afraid of being punished by her Master.
Her eye rims quickly misted over. Her long, slender lashes trembled slightly, and a single crystalline teardrop slid from the corner of her eye.
Wiping her tears, she turned and threw herself at the other person, coquettishly saying: “Master, I’m Su Yanqing, your most beloved little disciple! Wuwuwu, where on earth did you go? So many people died, and Third Senior Brother was badly injured too.”
Helian Chuxue, who had been caught off guard by the “young man’s” embrace, was briefly stunned. In the next instant, his expression turned cold: “Nonsense!”
“Didn’t I tell you to stay obediently in Lingxiao Hall?”
“Why did you run to such a dangerous place! And this face… what exactly is going on!”
The girl seemed frightened by him. She immediately reverted to her original appearance and cautiously tugged at his sleeve: “I took a Disguise Pill and disguised myself as Fourth Senior Brother to sneak in. I… I just wanted to save Senior Brother and the others.”
“You don’t even know… just now, the demonic cultivator said he was going to refine me into a human pill. It scared me to death.”
“Please don’t be angry anymore, alright?”
Helian Chuxue sensed the girl’s unease and sighed softly: “It’s too dangerous here. If anything happened to you, how would I explain it to Sect Master Senior Brother?”
The girl’s eyes rolled about, and she quickly tried to claim credit: “I have lots of magic treasures Father gave me for protection. Look, that hateful demonic cultivator has already turned into dry bones.”
Helian Chuxue glanced at the white bones on the ground from the corner of his eye and said gently: “It’s good that you’re safe. How are the others?”
Only now did Su Yanqing confirm that her Master was truly no longer angry.
She then recounted the tragedy in the Black Forest. When she mentioned entering the Black Forest alone, she instinctively lowered her voice, and took the opportunity to praise herself for having gone through untold hardships to rescue Bai Xiaoru and Yueli from the clutches of the wicked demonic cultivator.
Finally, she asked her Master: “How exactly did the vengeful spirit trap you?”
You’re an Out-of-Body stage mighty cultivator, after all, aren’t you?
How could you be toyed with by a single vengeful spirit?
Su Yanqing swallowed those last two sentences.
“It’s a long story. Behind the vengeful spirit was a Spirit-Splitting stage demonic cultivator controlling her. That demonic cultivator deceived her, saying that if she brought more disciples, he would revive Liu Zongyuan.”
“Once the vengeful spirit lost her value, she was instantly reduced to ashes. I exchanged several rounds of blows with that demonic cultivator and realized I had fallen for a diversionary tactic.”
“So I hurried back to find you all, and happened to come upon you talking with someone via voice transmission.”
Helian Chuxue picked up the voice transmission token. “Mu Yunci and the others are indeed at the demonic cultivator’s lair. This Black Forest is their stronghold. I will go alone to rescue them. You go obediently back to camp and regroup with Jing Sanhuai and the others.”
Su Yanqing saw that the mission was about to be completed… how could she be willing to stop here?
She immediately refused: “I’m not leaving. I want to go save Senior Brother and the others too.”
Relying on her Master being easy to talk to, Su Yanqing said: “If you don’t take me, I’ll sneak off by myself. I have magic treasures Father gave me. If I run into danger, I have the ability to save myself.”
Helian Chuxue’s brow furrowed slightly, and he finally compromised: “Then you must be obedient. If I tell you to run, you run. Don’t hesitate, and don’t worry about anyone else.”
“Mmhm, I’ll listen to Master in everything.” Seeing her goal achieved, Su Yanqing smiled brightly and cleanly, the corners of her eyes lifting slightly, bringing out a wisp of dazzling beauty.
Helian Chuxue’s gaze was cold and aloof, yet the tips of his ears quietly flushed red.
Meanwhile, Yueli and Bai Xiaoru, who had made it to the small inn in Black Cloud Town, were telling Jing Sanhuai what had happened in the Black Forest.
Bai Xiaoru had originally not intended to help. That person wasn’t the real Shen Si… especially since the other party was a female cultivator, which couldn’t help but make her think of Su Yanqing.
But recalling the fake Shen Si’s skilled sword arts, she immediately dismissed her own conjecture.
What’s more, the only achievement that could wash away the stain on her name now was to help Wuji Sect recover its missing disciples.
She had to go on this rescue mission herself.
Yueli’s thoughts were much simpler. Whoever saved her, whoever covered her with a blanket, whoever protected her image… she knew all of it.
Therefore, Yueli spared no effort in urging Jing Sanhuai to hurry and reinforce them, and concealed the matter of the fake Shen Si.
After some reorganization, Jing Sanhuai and the others finally dispatched ten lightly injured disciples to go to the rescue.
However, when they arrived at the scene, they saw only a male skeleton lying dead in the wilderness.
“It seems Fellow Daoist Shen must have successfully escaped danger. But why hasn’t he returned to Black Cloud Town?” Miss Yueli asked curiously.
Jing Sanhuai sensed the spiritual energy around them. “He ran into Master. They’ve probably gone together to the demonic cultivator’s lair to save Senior Brother and the others.”
“Senior Brother, let’s go reinforce them too. With Master there, we’ll definitely succeed! Besides, with the compass, we’re sure to find the demonic cultivator’s lair.”
Bai Xiaoru quickly chimed in, “We’ve already come this far. If we don’t rescue Senior Brother and the others, wouldn’t we be failing our fallen fellow disciples?”
The other disciples recalled the miserable deaths of their fellow disciples and grew impassioned: “Senior Sister Bai is right. If we don’t rescue our fellow disciples, we swear we will not rest!”
Seeing everyone’s fighting spirit, Jing Sanhuai no longer hesitated: “Senior Sister Bai, please activate the compass and lead us there.”
At the border where the cultivation world and the demon realm meet.
Xie Qingxuan had stayed in the demon realm for half a month, constantly searching for traces of Su Yanqing, but found nothing.
Yet demonic cultivators did indeed appear in Wuji Sect, and news of a Nine Yin physique girl appearing in the world had also reached the demon realm.
The Demon Venerable was over 300 years old this year, and for decades his cultivation realm had remained unbroken. With the aid of a furnace cauldron, he would surely break through to the Mahayana stage.
Therefore, the demon realm had put up a high bounty: whoever could capture the Nine Yin girl would receive the supreme position of Left Protector.
But half a month had passed, and no one had presented the girl. Xie Qingxuan guessed that perhaps someone had secretly hidden her away.
So he no longer hesitated. He left the demon realm and prepared to return to the cultivation world to continue searching for Su Yanqing.
On the way back, he encountered a black-robed demonic cultivator talking with someone via voice transmission.
For some reason, he instinctively lurked closer and eavesdropped on their conversation.
From the other end of the voice transmission came a burst of wild laughter: “Li Xiaoshu, tell me, a human pill refined from a Nine Yin physique, offered to Demon Venerable Lord… wouldn’t it at least be worth a red-robed protector position?”
Xie Qingxuan flew into a rage. He revealed his true form, cut off their communication, and gave the demonic cultivator named Li Xiaoshu a savage beating, making him kneel and beg for mercy: “I… I’ll send a voice transmission right now and ask about that Nine Yin girl’s situation.”
“My brother’s name is Wu Xiaolou. They use Black Cloud Town as their base, specifically hunting down Establish Foundation disciples to refine a Hundred Ghosts Banner. They must have accidentally captured the Nine Yin girl.”
Li Xiaoshu tremblingly sent a voice transmission, but what he received was news of the Nine Yin girl’s death: “She was already refined into a human pill by me long ago. How are things on your end? Do you want me to come provide support?”
Before Li Xiaoshu could speak.
Xie Qingxuan could no longer restrain the complex, surging emotions in his heart.
He immediately struck and killed the demonic cultivator, and seized the voice transmission token.
But when he activated the voice transmission again, there was no reply from the other side.
Xie Qingxuan couldn’t say what he was really feeling.
He had only met that girl once, and she had even taken advantage of his unconsciousness to humiliate his dignity.
But hearing of her death, all that remained in his heart was anger and loss.
Perhaps it was simply a pity to lose a furnace cauldron.
But the person Xie Qingxuan had searched for more than half a month had been refined into a human pill just like that.
This grudge… he could not let it go.
It was hard to dispel, this hatred in his heart.
Immediately, Xie Qingxuan also headed for Black Cloud Town.
Even if he couldn’t save the girl, at least he shouldn’t let her become a human pill to be consumed by others.
Little did he know, the girl Xie Qingxuan was thinking of.
At this very moment was disguised as Wu Xiaolou, leading her Master, quietly heading to the demonic cultivator’s lair to rescue people.