Most of the people in the camp had already entered the Mystic Realm.
Lin An crouched where he was, not moving.
He wanted to go in, but he also knew his own limits.
Just the few rules he heard made his scalp tingle, let alone the ones that hadn’t been deciphered.
Who knew what other twisted rules there were? Going in with just his equipment would probably be throwing his life away.
It was better to just watch the excitement from outside.
There was no need to risk his life.
He was about to stand up and leave when a sound came from the distance.
Lin An turned to look.
A group of people were flying toward him.
At the head was Mu Qinghan.
The moment he saw that woman, Lin An’s hairs stood on end.
Time to bolt!
He slid down from the other side, sticking close to the ground.
Using the cover of night and his talismans, he fled toward No Life Town without looking back.
Behind him, Mu Qinghan’s voice rang out, but it was too far away to make out the words.
On the way, Lin An noticed the moon in the sky seemed larger than usual.
He vaulted over the courtyard wall and, by the moonlight, saw someone sitting on the stone bench.
His heart gave a sudden lurch.
“You’re back?”
Yu Zhiyan didn’t look up.
Her voice was calm, revealing no emotion.
Lin An swallowed.
He walked over slowly, step by step, and forced himself to speak.
“Aunt Yan, did you just get up?”
Yu Zhiyan didn’t answer.
The black cat was curled up on her lap, eyes half-closed, its tail flicking lightly.
Lin An sat down across from her and watched her.
Moonlight fell on her face, making her gentle features look somewhat pale.
Her expression was as usual—gentle, calm, with a faint smile at the corners of her mouth.
But Lin An still felt something was off.
“Aunt Yan?” he called again.
“You went out.”
Yu Zhiyan finally lifted her head.
Her eyes were cold, her tone certain.
“I just went for a short walk,” but under her gaze, he couldn’t bring himself to say it.
“Yeah.”
Lin An lowered his head.
“I went to look at the Door.”
“Did you finish looking?”
“Yes.”
“And then?”
“Then I came back.”
Yu Zhiyan set the little black cat down on the ground.
It mewed, padded over to the corner on cat steps, and sat down, watching them.
“An’er, did Aunt Yan ever tell you not to go over there?”
“She did.”
“She did. But you still went.”
“I just went to take a look. I didn’t go in.”
“What if you had gone in?”
“I didn’t go in.”
“What if you had gone in?”
Yu Zhiyan repeated, her voice unconsciously growing heavier.
Her eyes seemed to carry a certain… viciousness?
Lin An had never seen Aunt Yan look like that.
It felt like a hand had gripped his heart and squeezed hard, making it hard to breathe.
“Aunt Yan, I just—”
“An’er.”
Yu Zhiyan cut him off and took his hand.
Her hand was very warm.
Long fingers, soft palm.
She held on tightly, as if afraid he would run away.
“Do you know how dangerous it is out there?”
“I know.”
“No, you don’t.”
Yu Zhiyan took a deep breath to steady herself.
“You don’t know what kind of people those are. You don’t know what they might do to you. Aunt Yan knows you’ve learned some skills, but there’s always someone stronger. What if someone found you? What if that person is better at hiding than you are? What if he was right behind you and you didn’t even know? What would you do then?”
Lin An didn’t have a chance to interrupt.
He didn’t know what to say.
He wanted to say, “I was very careful.”
He wanted to say, “I only looked once.”
But under Aunt Yan’s soft yet firm gaze, those words all seemed pale and weak.
Yu Zhiyan raised her other hand and gently stroked his face.
“An’er, you are my child.”
When she said this, her voice was very gentle, like she was coaxing a little boy.
But the light in her eyes was so intense it seemed about to overflow.
“From the day you were left on my doorstep, you became my child. Aunt Yan raised you for eighteen years. I watched you grow up, watched you learn to walk, watched you learn to talk, watched you call me ‘Aunt Yan’ for the first time.”
Her fingers caressed his cheek, a touch as light as a feather.
“Aunt Yan can give up anything, but she cannot lose you.”
Lin An looked at Aunt Yan.
The strange feeling in his chest grew stronger.
He couldn’t say what was wrong.
Every word Aunt Yan said made sense.
They were family.
She was the one who raised him.
It was normal for her to worry, normal to be afraid something would happen to him.
But for some reason, when she said these things, they carried a weight that felt… eerily familiar.
“Aunt Yan, I’m sorry.”
Lin An finally bowed his head.
“I shouldn’t have made you worry.”
Yu Zhiyan looked at him in silence for a moment, then smiled.
Her smile was still as warm as a spring breeze.
“As long as you know you were wrong.”
She patted his head.
“Go to bed. It’s late.”
“Okay.”
Lin An took two steps, then turned back.
“Aunt Yan, you should sleep early too.”
“Alright.”
Yu Zhiyan sat in the yard, watching Lin An’s silhouette disappear behind the door.
The black cat padded back from the corner and jumped onto the stone table.
“Meow.”
“Worried about me? You’re not worthy.”
Yu Zhiyan glanced at the cat sideways.
The cat that had overstepped its bounds stopped meowing.
Yu Zhiyan reached out a finger and tapped the black cat’s forehead.
“But you did well this time. This is your reward. It will help you undergo transformation.”
The little black cat’s eyes went wide.
Its tail was practically wagging off.
—
Grey Wastes City, the Heaven Origin Sect’s lodgings.
Lu Mingyue pushed open the door and paused.
Someone was in the room.
Su Li sat at the table, one hand propping up her chin, the other holding a teacup as she sipped slowly.
Her white hair was draped over her shoulders.
She wore a loose white robe with a very low collar, revealing not only large expanses of snow-white skin but also a few spots of blood on her shoulder.
When she saw Lu Mingyue, she raised an eyebrow.
“Back?”
Lu Mingyue didn’t answer.
She closed the door and walked over to sit on the other side.
Her movements were a little slower than usual, and her face was slightly pale.
Su Li glanced at her.
“Injured?”
“A minor wound.”
“A minor wound?”
Su Li leaned closer, squinting as she sniffed the air.
“Demonic power. Very strong demonic power. Oh, I see.”
Lu Mingyue said nothing.
“Ha ha.”
Su Li suddenly laughed.
“You went to see her. Why?”
Lu Mingyue still didn’t speak.
Su Li leaned back in her chair, crossed her legs, and tapped her toes lightly in the air.
“Jade Spider Demon, the Thousand-Silk Spider Mother. One of the great demons of the Demon Realm, second only to the current Demon King.”
She turned to look at Lu Mingyue, a hint of schadenfreude in the curve of her lips.
“What did you go to her for?”
“That’s none of your business. You only need to deal with the demonic path lurking in the shadows.”
“It is none of my business.”
Su Li picked up her tea and took a sip.
“The Ninth Layer of the Spirit Martial Realm—ultimately, it’s still a step short of a Demon King-level demon.”
Lu Mingyue lowered her eyes and did not deny it.
Although she had been at less than full strength because of her clash with Wang Zanghai, a loss was a loss.
There was no need for excuses.
“Mingyue, there’s something I need to tell you.”
“What?”
“Lin An—you know him, of course. But there’s something you probably don’t know. The Thousand-Silk Spider Mother raised him for eighteen years. She treated him like her own biological son. Do you know what that means?”
Lu Mingyue finally looked at her.
“It means,” Su Li’s smile deepened, “that Lin An is her weak point.”
Su Li stood up and walked to the window.
She pushed it open.
Moonlight fell on her white hair, casting a silvery glow.
“Mingyue, if you want to deal with her, you need to start with Lin An. Your chances of victory that way are much higher than fighting her directly.”
Lu Mingyue’s eyes did not waver.
“Su Li, you are as despicable as ever.”
“Heh heh. Thank you for the compliment.”
“Besides, I’m not trying to deal with her. She is not our enemy.”
Su Li turned around and tilted her head.
“Then why did you go see her?”
“I just wanted to know one thing.”
“What thing?”
“…”
Su Li waited for a while.
Seeing that Lu Mingyue didn’t intend to answer, she shrugged and walked back to the table to sit down.
“Fine. If you don’t want to talk, don’t. But Mingyue, you know I’m not a good person. I’m helping you for my own sake, not for yours.”
“I know.”
“Good that you know.”
Su Li picked up her teacup and downed the rest of the tea in one gulp.
“Take care of your own injury. I’m going back. Tomorrow I still need to keep an eye on the Mystic Realm. Whether those kids make it out alive depends on their luck.”
She reached the door and had just opened it when she said, “Oh, Mingyue.”
“Mm?”
“That kid—the smell on him is really something. I’ve lived a long time, and this is the first time I’ve smelled anything like it.”
Lu Mingyue’s gaze snapped to her back.
“Don’t touch him.”
“Heh heh~”
Su Li just smiled, then walked out.