Chapter 32: Chasing After the Kill

An Xiaoxiao wore a simple white dress without any jewelry.

Her long hair hung smoothly over her shoulders, her hands crossed obediently in front of her.

She looked like a pure white flower blooming at dawn.

But in Mo Feng’s eyes, that flower inexplicably made him shiver.

“So it’s Junior Disciple Xiaoxiao.”

Mo Feng forced a smile and stood up.

“Coming to see this executive so early—is there a task to hand over?”

An Xiaoxiao didn’t speak right away.

She walked into the back hall with very light steps.

Her originally big, watery eyes were smiling, but there was no warmth in them.

They were like two deep, bottomless ancient wells.

“Executive Mo, good morning.”

An Xiaoxiao’s voice was still sweet and soft.

“Xiaoxiao isn’t here for a task today. Xiaoxiao came to ask you about someone.”

Mo Feng’s heart skipped a beat.

A bad feeling crept up on him.

“Who are you asking about?”

Mo Feng asked calmly.

“My—Lin Yue, Senior Brother Lin.”

An Xiaoxiao tilted her head slightly, the corner of her mouth curling into an extremely beautiful arc.

“Senior Brother Lin hasn’t returned to his room for two days. The soup Xiaoxiao made for him has gone cold.”

The moment he heard “Lin Yue,” Mo Feng’s mind went into full-scale air raid alert.

Lord Lin! Lord Lin was in seclusion at the Abandoned Sword Tomb! He had ordered that absolutely no one was to disturb him!

This girl was always clinging to Lord Lin.

Since she was looking for him, he absolutely couldn’t tell her!

Mo Feng coughed, put on a stern face, and assumed the authority of an executive.

“Lin Yue? He collected his monthly allowance yesterday and went down the mountain.”

Mo Feng lied without changing his expression.

“He said there was some unfinished business with the rent in Qingshui Town, so he went to follow up. Didn’t he tell you?”

“Went down the mountain?”

An Xiaoxiao lowered her head slightly, her expression unreadable.

“That’s right.”

Mo Feng continued making things up.

“He’s always been impulsive like that. Don’t worry. He’s a Qi Refining disciple—he won’t get lost.”

One second.

Two seconds.

The back hall fell into deathly silence.

Suddenly.

An Xiaoxiao lifted her head.

The smile on her face was completely gone.

In its place was an extremely cold, extremely eerie indifference.

“Executive Mo.”

Her voice was no longer sweet.

It carried a hoarseness like metal scraping.

“Senior Brother hates going to Qingshui Town to collect rent the most. Every time he goes, he complains that the roads there are bad and the merchants’ faces are ugly.”

An Xiaoxiao walked toward Mo Feng step by step.

“Besides, Senior Brother is very poor. Yesterday, after collecting his allowance, the first thing he would do is go to the tavern at the foot of the mountain to buy the cheapest liquor to satisfy his craving.”

Cold sweat poured down Mo Feng’s forehead.

He instinctively stepped back.

“What… what are you trying to say?”

An Xiaoxiao stopped three feet in front of Mo Feng.

Suddenly, she reached out her hand.

Her pale fingers lightly grasped at the air.

“Most importantly.”

She brought her fingers to her nose and took a deep breath.

A terrifying red light burst from her eyes.

“In this back hall, I smell Senior Brother’s scent.”

“That scent mixed with soapberry, and that extremely annoying… cold sword aura.”

“Mo Feng.”

An Xiaoxiao dropped the title “Executive” and called him by name directly.

In her right hand, a very thin, very red thread had appeared out of nowhere.

The thread seemed alive, coiling and winding around her fingertips.

“I’ll ask you one last time.”

“Where have you hidden my man?”

Boom!

An extremely hidden yet terrifying pressure erupted from An Xiaoxiao’s small body!

This pressure did not spread beyond the back hall.

It was precisely controlled within a one-zhang radius, locking onto Mo Feng.

Foundation Establishment?!

No—even late-stage Foundation Establishment, great perfection!

Mo Feng’s eyes nearly popped out.

His legs went weak, and he fell to his knees with a thud.

The surrounding air became as heavy as iron.

He felt as if an invisible giant hand was squeezing his organs.

How… how is this possible?!

A mere chore disciple who only knows how to wash clothes and cook—how could she have such terrifying cultivation?!

Even the elder in charge of the disciplinary hall had never had this kind of killing intent!

Mo Feng stared at An Xiaoxiao in terror.

He finally understood why Lord Lin, a powerhouse who could overturn seas, was hiding from this little junior sister.

This was a hidden demoness in the newbie village!

“Speak.”

An Xiaoxiao looked down at the kneeling executive, her voice as cold as if it came from the depths of hell.

The red thread had silently coiled around Mo Feng’s neck.

With just a flick of her finger, the outer sect executive’s head would be separated from his body.

At this moment of life and death, countless thoughts flashed through Mo Feng’s mind.

He could tell her where Lin Yue was and save his own life.

But once he did, he would offend Lord Lin, who could shatter a Foundation Establishment killer with one move and was clearly hiding his true power!

Lord Lin was at a critical point in his seclusion!

He was definitely trying to break some ancient seal!

If Mo Feng betrayed him now and let this demoness disturb him, and Lord Lin suffered Qi deviation or failed to break the seal…

The first person he would kill would be Mo Feng!

Thinking of Lin Yue’s cold, merciless eyes at Longkou Gorge, and the black iron heavy sword that had crushed everything, Mo Feng gritted his teeth.

Either way, I’m dead.

Might as well gamble—gamble that Lord Lin’s thigh is thicker than this demoness’s!

“I… I don’t know!”

Mo Feng lifted his head with difficulty under the terrifying pressure, his face red from shouting.

“Lin Yue went down the mountain! Even if you kill me, I don’t know!”

“Oh?”

An Xiaoxiao narrowed her eyes.

She hadn’t expected this normally cowardly outer sect executive to have such a strong backbone.

He was willing to die to protect Lin Yue?

“What benefit did Senior Brother give you to make you so devoted?”

The red light in An Xiaoxiao’s eyes grew stronger.

“Since you won’t talk, there’s no use keeping that mouth of yours.”

She moved her fingertip slightly.

The red thread around Mo Feng’s neck tightened instantly!

“No!”

Mo Feng closed his eyes in despair.

Just at that critical moment—

Swoosh!

On the back hall wall, the rack filled with task nameplates suddenly gave off an extremely subtle resonant vibration.

An Xiaoxiao paused.

She turned her head, her gaze like lightning, sweeping toward that wall.

On the highest hook, there was nothing.

Hanging there originally was a black nameplate representing the absolute forbidden zone of the outer sect.

[Abandoned Sword Tomb].

And now, on that empty hook, there remained an extremely faint trace of Lin Yue’s spiritual energy fluctuation.

Because Lin Yue had taken that nameplate yesterday, he had inevitably left his aura on it.

“I see…”

An Xiaoxiao released her finger.

The red thread turned into a streak of light and retracted into her sleeve.

She looked at the empty hook, the coldness on her lips fading away.

A new smile appeared—extremely sweet, yet still spine-chilling.

“So Senior Brother went to a dirty, broken place like that.”

“No wonder he didn’t want me to find him.”

Mo Feng collapsed to the ground, clutching his neck, coughing violently, gasping for fresh air.

He had gotten his life back.

But he was also completely hopeless.

“Executive Mo, Xiaoxiao is very sorry about today.”

An Xiaoxiao turned around, again becoming the cute, obedient little junior sister.

“Xiaoxiao is going to bring Senior Brother home now.”

She even bowed politely to Mo Feng.

Then, she pushed open the door of the back hall and walked out lightly, like a dancing yellow butterfly.

Her direction—straight toward the Abandoned Sword Tomb!

Mo Feng lay on the ground, watching An Xiaoxiao’s retreating figure, tears streaming down his face.

“Lord Lin… your subordinate did his best.”

“This romantic debt of yours… it’s too deadly!”

At the edge of the Abandoned Sword Tomb.

Lin Yue leaned on his heavy sword, struggling out of that ravine filled with baleful aura.

The air here had finally become a bit fresher.

But due to the low terrain with no direct sunlight year-round, the exit of the sword tomb was perpetually shrouded in thick white fog.

Visibility was less than five zhang.

“Finally out.”

Lin Yue wiped the mud off his face.

His current appearance was no better than a beggar under a bridge.

His clothes were tattered, and his whole body reeked of rust and blood.

“If I go back now, take a bath, and have a good meal, I’ll just make it in time for tomorrow’s Ten Thousand Swords Ceremony.”

Lin Yue calculated his next plan.

“As long as I don’t attract attention at the ceremony, Chu Wanning shouldn’t make things difficult for a chore disciple in public. As for An Xiaoxiao…”

Lin Yue touched the withered thread on the hilt of his heavy sword and sneered.

“I destroyed her prized Gu thread. She’s probably coughing up blood in some corner right now. She won’t bother me for a while.”

Lin Yue was very satisfied with his reasoning.

Steady—eliminate all hidden dangers in advance.

He shouldered his heavy sword and strode into the thick fog.

One step.

Two steps.

Ten steps.

Just as he was about to cross this misty area and step onto the bluestone steps back to the outer sect, Lin Yue’s feet came to an abrupt halt.

Because he heard a sound.

In the extremely quiet thick fog, a very light, very rhythmic sound of footsteps was coming down the steps ahead, step by step.

“Tap… tap… tap…”

The footsteps were light, like a girl wearing soft-soled embroidered shoes strolling.

Accompanying the footsteps,

an extremely sweet, ethereal humming pierced through the fog and drifted clearly into Lin Yue’s ears.

It was the melody he knew best.

And the tune that had made his hair stand on end countless times in the thatched hut over the past few days.

Lin Yue’s every hair stood on end in that instant!

The fog rolled slowly ahead.

A small figure in a white dress loomed in and out of the white mist.

Lin Yue’s hand gripped the hilt of his black iron heavy sword tightly.

“Damn it!”

“Is this woman part dog? She tracked me here!”

Retreat?

Behind him was the silent Abandoned Sword Tomb.

Advance?

Ahead was An Xiaoxiao, whose yandere meter had already maxed out.