It was midnight, and Ye Xihan was still awake. She had always been a night owl, surviving on very little sleep. She disliked sleeping because her dreams were perpetually haunted by the events of that one night—not just a nightmare, but a true, lived tragedy. In the silence of her dreams, she could still hear the agonizing screams of her kin and see the ground drenched in blood.
Under the candlelight lay the salted fish. It emitted such a pungent odor that Ye Xihan’s brow had been furrowed all evening. Despite her scrutiny, she had found nothing resembling a martial arts manual inside.
Suddenly, she recalled Fu Yunmo’s aggrieved, tear-stained face.
“Those two… they haven’t eaten all day, have they?”
Ye Xihan’s voice was barely a whisper, yet she knew she was being heard. Xiao Tang always stood guard outside her door until she slept; it was a silent understanding between them.
“That is correct,” came Xiao Tang’s reply.
Ye Xihan sighed. “Send them something to eat.”
Xiao Tang did not move immediately. After a pause, he asked, “Sect Leader, why are you so particular about those two?” It was the first time he had seen her show such concern for mere prisoners.
“…You ask too much.”
Why was she being kind? Ye Xihan couldn’t quite explain it, especially regarding Fu Yunmo. That woman was perhaps the most peculiar person she had ever met—not just her golden hair, but her mannerisms, and that hidden streak of pride buried beneath her subservient exterior.
Ye Xihan felt a desire to probe deeper. Perhaps the waiter reminded her of someone—someone who, like her, acted like a fool on ordinary days but displayed extraordinary courage and pride when it mattered most.
Sadly… that person was dead.
Xiao Tang lowered his eyes, sighed, and departed. However, he returned much sooner than expected, his footsteps frantic.
“Sect Leader! The prisoners have escaped!”
Ye Xihan’s nerves snapped tight. Her cold, beautiful eyes snapped up. “…Pursue them!”
She stood, her pale blue robes trailing on the floor. Snatching up the Bone-Shattering Sword, she hurried toward the dungeon. Reaching the damp, dark cell, she saw the door was still locked, but at the window, only a single iron bar remained.
Ye Xihan’s eyelids twitched. She clenched her fist and struck outward. With a thunderous boom, her palm strike shattered the remaining iron bars into pieces. Behind her, Xiao Tang and the guards fell to their knees, trembling uncontrollably.
“Sect Leader, you mustn’t overexert your internal energy during this period…”
Ye Xihan ignored him. She stepped into the cell, the debris crunching beneath her boots. With a light tap of her toes, she soared through the window like a swimming dragon, performed a mid-air somersault, and landed firmly on the ground. The night wind was cold, but it paled in comparison to the chilling murderous intent in her eyes.
Those two definitely had a secret. How could they break those bars and learn qinggong with their meager abilities? She had investigated their backgrounds thoroughly and hadn’t believed they could escape. The only explanation was…
They truly possessed the item she sought: the Fengyun Manual.
With a flutter of her sleeves, her pale blue figure vanished into the moonlit forest, leaving only the cold glint of her gaze behind.
Elsewhere, Nan Kunlun and Fu Yunmo had reached the point of total exhaustion. Even the tall, sturdy Nan Kunlun felt as though he might faint, let alone Fu Yunmo, whose constitution was far weaker.
“Stop… I can’t go on…”
Fu Yunmo leaned against a tree, bent over, and dry-heaved. Her stomach churned. She couldn’t hold on any longer and collapsed to her knees. She had run a marathon once in her past life and thought it was the longest road ever, but this escape was far worse. She felt like she was going to die.
Nan Kunlun crouched down, but his ankles were so sore he eventually just sat flat on the ground. His legs were on the verge of cramping.
“Oh my~ I found you~”
A seductive, enchanting voice drifted through the trees, sounding like a forest sprite. Terrified, Fu Yunmo immediately lunged toward Nan Kunlun, clinging to him as she scanned the surroundings.
Is it some thousand-year-old Tree Demon? A ghost?
A figure in red landed on a branch above. They couldn’t see her face clearly, but the sight was enough to make Fu Yunmo tremble as she gripped Nan Kunlun’s sleeve.
“Are you… are you a person or a ghost?” Nan Kunlun’s voice stammered. He was terrified himself, but since Fu Yunmo was even worse off, he forced himself to act as a shield.
The red-clad figure let out a silver, bell-like laugh and drifted down. Nan Kunlun and Fu Yunmo scrambled backward on their hands and knees, their clothes getting covered in dirt.
“If ghosts were as beautiful as I am, they would surely be called ‘Exquisite Beauty Ghosts.'”
As the woman approached, they finally saw her face. She possessed a natural, alluring charm, with a soft smile and eyes full of seduction. Every movement was draped in elegance. She was a great beauty, though…
Fu Yunmo suddenly thought of Ye Xihan and Mo Lixi. This woman was just a step below them.
Realizing the stranger wasn’t a ghost, they breathed a sigh of relief, but quickly regained their caution.
“What… what do you want?” Fu Yunmo stammered. Was this someone from the Ye Yue Sect? Had they run all this way just to be caught again?
“To save you. That way, that person will owe me a massive favor. Remember my name: I am Qiu Hongyi.”
Upon hearing the name, the two exchanged a startled look. The Enchantress Qiu Hongyi? One of the four great villains of the martial world?
“Go five miles forward to exit the Dead Spirit Valley. Then head two miles east until you see an inn. Wait for me there. Now, go!”
Qiu Hongyi’s tone was urgent; she had clearly sensed something. Fu Yunmo and Nan Kunlun didn’t hesitate—they treated her words like a lifeline. Regardless of whether she was an enchantress or a fairy, they had to run. Despite their aching legs, they pushed forward.
Sure enough, shortly after they left, Ye Xihan arrived. Qiu Hongyi blocked her path.
“My, my, Sect Leader Ye. What brings you here? Are you meeting a lover in the woods?”
Qiu Hongyi, dressed in vibrant red, possessed qinggong that was unsurpassed in the martial world. Her combat skills were decent, but her true strength lay in her evasive maneuvers, which left even superior opponents frustrated.
“Move.”
Ye Xihan’s Bone-Shattering Sword was still sheathed, but Qiu Hongyi could already feel the killing intent. She felt a twinge of fear, but she couldn’t retreat; if she did, those two wouldn’t stand a chance.
“And if I say no?”
The last person Qiu Hongyi wanted to offend was Ye Xihan, but she was forced into it now.
Ye Xihan unsheathed her sword. Seeing the jagged, spiked bone segments, Qiu Hongyi felt a chill run down her spine. This was their first encounter, and Ye Xihan wanted to see if this “evasion expert” could truly dodge her weapon.
Without another word, Ye Xihan swung the sword. It transformed into a whip, lashing out at high speed. Qiu Hongyi moved like a nimble cat in the dark, her red figure blurring past the strikes. After a few exchanges, she realized that the Bone-Shattering Sword was too versatile; if the fight dragged on, her patterns would be read, and she would die.
In a momentary lapse of focus, Qiu Hongyi lunged sideways to dodge a strike, only for Ye Xihan to flick her wrist, changing the weapon’s trajectory mid-air. Qiu Hongyi had to bend her body back into an extreme arch to avoid the spikes. She pressed her palms into the dirt and flipped away, narrowly escaping the attack range.
“Sect Leader Ye, why so serious? I’m just playing around~” Qiu Hongyi stood straight. She was still smiling, but her forehead was beaded with sweat. Luckily, the darkness hid her growing paleness.
“Step aside, or I will send you to play with the King of Hell.”
“Hehe~ It seems the Sect Leader has a sense of humor after all.” Qiu Hongyi took several deep breaths. “I’ll leave, then. But a word of advice: change that temper of yours, or no one will ever love you!”
With that, she intentionally fled in the same direction Fu Yunmo and Nan Kunlun had gone.
Ye Xihan sheathed her sword and walked to a three-way fork in the path. After a moment of hesitation, she chose a different path than Qiu Hongyi.
She reasoned that Qiu Hongyi wouldn’t risk her life for two strangers, so she assumed the enchantress was leading her away from the pair. However, Ye Xihan had forgotten one thing: the reason Qiu Hongyi had survived so long as a feared villain was because she was notoriously cunning.
Nan Kunlun and Fu Yunmo ran as if their lives depended on it until they finally saw the small inn Qiu Hongyi had mentioned.
The moment they arrived, Fu Yunmo leaned against the wall and dry-heaved. Nan Kunlun fared no better, collapsing on the ground to massage his feet, which were seized by cramps.
Hearing the commotion, the innkeeper walked out and saw two filthy, disheveled travelers. Fu Yunmo wanted to speak, but her mind went blank as a realization hit her.
“Kunlun… do you have the money pouch?”
“…No.”
Their belongings were with Ye Xihan. Fu Yunmo wanted to cry. She slumped to the ground, gasping for air.
“You two… if you don’t mind, come inside for some tea,” the innkeeper said. Seeing how pathetic they looked—as if they were fleeing for their lives—he figured they weren’t bad people and offered a bit of kindness.
“Thank you, sir! Thank you!”
Fu Yunmo nearly kowtowed. Once inside, sipping the hot tea, the two finally felt human again. Looking around the humble inn, Fu Yunmo suddenly thought of her old workplace, the Sihai Restaurant. Her eyes grew misty as she grabbed Nan Kunlun’s arm.
“My god, Kunlun! We actually made it out!”
“It’s good to be alive!”