“Like… like the Lord Fox Immortal’s presence?”
A Ran murmured, repeating the words as she tried to recall that fleeting warmth.
The sensation was indeed familiar—a pure, powerful force that instinctively made her want to draw closer, very similar to what she had felt from Lord Fox Immortal last night.
Only this time, it was… closer, touching her more directly.
She had only just begun to sense this mysterious power, her perception still extremely vague, like looking at a landscape through a thin mist.
She couldn’t tell when she had first perceived this familiar aura.
In that blurry perception, it seemed that from the very moment she touched the stone bead, she had been able to feel Lord Fox Immortal’s presence.
This must be a keepsake left behind by Lord Fox Immortal!
This realization suddenly gave great weight to Su Zhiyun’s words in her heart.
“Sister Su…”
A Ran lifted her head, her gaze locking onto Su Zhiyun, filled with hope.
“Can we… really find Lord Fox Immortal?”
Her voice was very soft, almost cautious.
After all, she was now convinced that Lord Fox Immortal had indeed left this place, just as Su Zhiyun had said.
After all, Lord Fox Immortal had even given such a precious thing as the stone bead to Sister Su Zhiyun.
Seeing A Ran’s eyes—so full of hope, pure and without a trace of impurity—Su Zhiyun suddenly felt embarrassed, her face showing an awkward expression.
After all, her earlier words about “Lord Fox Immortal has left, and we go find her” were completely a lie made up on the spur of the moment.
The stone bead was given by Jiu Baiyun, and the connection to Lord Fox Immortal was something she had forcibly interpreted.
A Ran trusted her so much, even believing in the Fox Immortal’s departure because of this “keepsake” and “aura.”
This stirred a strong sense of guilt in Su Zhiyun’s heart.
But the awkwardness only lingered on her face for a moment.
The glaring red warning in her mind and the “Extreme Danger” verdict rang like an ice-cold alarm, instantly overwhelming all unease.
Time was pressing.
She couldn’t afford to hesitate or explain.
She quickly suppressed the embarrassment, took a deep breath, and a resolute look, mixed with just the right amount of urgency, reappeared on her face.
Then she continued.
“Of course we can! Lord Fox Immortal left this stone bead as a signpost to guide us to find her!”
Su Zhiyun’s voice carried an unquestionable certainty.
“A Ran, the Lord Fox Immortal’s presence you just felt is the best proof! She must be waiting for us somewhere.”
“But right now, we have to leave immediately! Danger… is really coming soon!”
“But… Big Brother Jiu, Sister Su… if we leave, what about… the people in the village?”
Her voice wasn’t loud, but it instantly froze the atmosphere that had been loosening due to the successful persuasion.
The steadiness on Su Zhiyun’s face collapsed instantly, replaced by deep helplessness and a hint of powerlessness.
She raised a hand and pressed it to her forehead with a sigh, then instinctively turned her gaze to Jiu Baiyun.
The expression on Jiu Baiyun’s face didn’t change much, but his eyes darkened slightly.
He looked into A Ran’s eyes, filled with worry and pleading.
He wasn’t completely unmoved, but reason overpowered that faint trace of compassion.
He crouched down to bring his eyes level with A Ran’s, then spoke slowly.
“A Ran, I understand your concern. But if we stay, we don’t have the ability to protect them either.”
“Think about it,” Jiu Baiyun continued, his tone calm but realistic.
“Even the Great Lan Sect, with countless powerful ‘Immortals,’ chose to abandon their mountain stronghold and retreat with the entire sect. That means the enemy they’re about to face is something even the whole sect can’t withstand.”
“And what about us? Just the three of us. There’s no way we can fight against the coming danger…”
His gaze swept over A Ran’s clenched hands, finally settling on her face.
“As Su Zhiyun said, Lord Fox Immortal has already left this place. The power she left behind might be able to protect this ancestral hall for a while, but there’s absolutely no way it can cover the entire village, let alone withstand the disaster.”
“If we stay here, we’ll just be throwing our lives away. Nothing will change.”
Those words sounded a bit cruel, but they were the reality.
If the problem wasn’t something they were almost certain they couldn’t solve, he wouldn’t have been thinking about running away.
A Ran looked at Jiu Baiyun’s calm eyes, then at Su Zhiyun’s equally heavy helpless expression.
Her small mouth opened and closed, but in the end, she couldn’t say anything.
“I… I understand.”
A Ran’s voice was a little muffled, but more than that, it carried the weight of resignation.
“Good.”
Jiu Baiyun felt a wave of relief internally—his biggest fear was that A Ran would get stuck on this point.
He quickly straightened up, his gaze sweeping over Su Zhiyun and A Ran, then spoke rapidly.
“Now is not the time to hesitate. We need to prepare to leave.”
“Su Zhiyun, A Ran, quickly pack the essentials. We’re getting out of here right now!”
“Big Brother Jiu, where are we going?”
A Ran lifted her head, her eyes still holding lingering confusion and a trace of worry.
Jiu Baiyun didn’t hesitate for a second and replied immediately, “Head north!”
This direction wasn’t random.
In his mind, the words Yun Yao had spoken at the mountain cottage were still clear—the Great Lan Sect had retreated toward the north.
As the ruling sect of this region, the direction they chose to evacuate must have been assessed as relatively safer or offering a better chance of survival.
Following the general direction of the Great Lan Sect’s retreat, even if still dangerous, was better than running around like a headless chicken.
“North, huh?”
Su Zhiyun frowned, then quickly tapped twice on her system panel and asked about the danger level of heading north.
Seeing that the danger level, while still not low, at least wasn’t “Extreme Danger,” Su Zhiyun breathed a sigh of relief.
But these actions seemed a bit strange to A Ran and Jiu Baiyun.
However, now wasn’t the time to worry about that.
A Ran nodded and went back into the house to pack her things.
It was already noon, and almost no one came to pay respects at the Fox Immortal’s shrine, so this was a good time to slip away.
Through the window, Jiu Baiyun watched A Ran’s busy figure and sighed.
Then he turned to look at Su Zhiyun, who was standing there calmly, and was slightly startled.
“Aren’t you packing?”
Hearing Jiu Baiyun’s stupid question, Su Zhiyun raised an eyebrow and replied bluntly, “Do I have anything to pack?”
Jiu Baiyun then realized that Su Zhiyun probably didn’t have anything to pack.
Before he met her, she seemed to have no fixed residence, carrying everything with her and storing it using her golden finger.
Rubbing the back of his head, Jiu Baiyun didn’t argue with her.
Instead, he started thinking about what to do with Yun Yao.
Yun Yao’s injuries hadn’t healed yet, and more importantly, she was still at his house.
He couldn’t just leave her behind.