Just a short incense stick’s time ago, while Li Changyi and Zhan Lixue were bickering over some trivial matter, Shangguan Xunyi, who was quietly listening on the side, suddenly trembled.
She—felt an extremely familiar aura.
More precisely, it was her instinct, not yet fully suppressed, that caught a faint but unmistakable sweet scent of Yun Mu’s blood, drifting over from a hundred miles away.
She swallowed subconsciously.
“It’s already like this? You still don’t plan to take a look?”
Sha Qianmo immediately saw through the girl’s thoughts and began to coax her, after all, in some ways, she missed Yun Mu too.
“No, I don’t want to endanger Xiao Mu. The scent can be smelled from this far away, so if we get closer, I definitely will…”
“Just a distant glance, it’s fine.”
“Really no.”
“Once we pass this village, there won’t be this shop anymore, you know.”
“But… but…”
“Ah, where are all these buts coming from? Hand over your body to me, I guarantee nothing will happen. If it does, I’ll punish myself by not speaking for a whole month. How about that?”
“R-really?”
“Why would I lie? After all these days together, don’t you know my personality yet?”
“True, you chatter nonstop all day. Making you silent would probably be worse than killing you.”
“Tch, anyway, no time to waste. Let’s sneak off while Li Changyi—no, while our Master isn’t paying attention.”
“Mm, okay.”
And so, with their back-and-forth chatter, Shangguan Xunyi couldn’t resist Sha Qianmo’s verbal temptation and handed over control of her body.
As for Li Changyi, how could he have imagined that in such a short time, his once obedient disciple by his side would be persuaded away by a stranger he didn’t know?
“Strange. At her cultivation level, even if they were two levels higher, she wouldn’t just sneak off like this. What’s going on?”
He walked toward the cave entrance, pondering, when suddenly he remembered the whip Zhan Lixue had just struck him with on the head.
He raised a hand to touch it and cursed loudly.
“Damn it, Zhan Lixue, you tree demon witch! Curse your ancestors!”
He casually threw down the leaf that suppressed perception, fully aware now of Shangguan Xunyi’s direction.
“And that Xunyi kid, didn’t she say not to meet Yun Mu for now!? At her current state, what if she accidentally drains that boy dry? What then, is she going to die for love!?”
“Damn it! What kind of karma have I brought upon myself!”
He cursed while sprinting toward the cave entrance, chanting a tracking incantation under his breath.
But as he reached near the cave opening, as expected—no, unexpected—he was caught off guard.
Countless vines shot out instantly from the darkness like venomous snakes, coiling around his limbs, while the entrance was simultaneously covered by a dense layer of dark pine needles and branches.
Each needle emitted a sharply malicious aura.
From just this confrontation, he immediately knew whose handiwork it was and cursed again.
“Zhan Lixue, you old hag, let me go! If anything happens to Xunyi, are you going to take responsibility?!”
No demon answered.
Tch, damn it, that old bastard.
Cursing silently, he gave up trying to appeal to the other’s conscience and began painstakingly unraveling the so-called prison.
As for the culprit herself, at this moment she was seated atop a tall tree outside the cave entrance, her right arm wrapped in vines glowing with a verdant light.
She looked up at the retreating figure of the girl, as if struck by a thought, and couldn’t help but chuckle softly.
“Aha, as expected, it’s always best to follow your true heart when acting.”
“As for the rest, let fate decide.”
***
On the Main Peak of Mount Qingqiu, the small path was paved with Qingshi slabs.
Yun Mu walked bent over, holding a crooked, twisted piece of deadwood in his hand.
This piece of wood had just tripped him on the mountain, and he had decisively picked it up to use as a walking stick.
Surely, this thing wouldn’t start talking, right?
That was his thought.
He tapped the ground with it to probe his way as he descended, gradually getting used to walking alone thanks to the perceptual abilities granted by Tushan Yunxi.
Still, he could only focus on what was in front of him, completely unaware that about ten meters behind, a girl was stealthily trailing him.
“Qianmo, we really should go back quickly. Didn’t Master say? What if something happens? Given our current state, we can’t get close to Xiao Mu, right?”
Deep in her soul, Shangguan Xunyi watched the blindfolded boy hobbling ahead, her voice trembling.
The closer she got, the more she regretted it.
She was still haunted by the harm she had caused Yun Mu earlier.
“Xunyi, I already told you, as long as we keep a certain distance, it’s fine. Look, aren’t we okay now?”
Sha Qianmo replied casually, eyes fixed on the spot below, stepping lightly forward without a sound.
“See, there’s no problem at all. Besides, you’re worried too, aren’t you? What if some female demon lays eyes on him…”
“Then kill her.”
“?”
Feeling the sudden change in the girl’s tone, Sha Qianmo was briefly startled but then relaxed.
“Anyway, you really want to see him, don’t you?”
“Mm…”
Given their relationship, Sha Qianmo coaxing her and taking over control of her body to do this was inevitably tied to her own restless heart.
She also wanted to see Yun Mu soon, to hold the boy in her arms rather than hurting him under the uncontrollable urge to feed on his blood.
Seeing the girl return to normal, Sha Qianmo’s tone brightened a little, knowing the other silently approved her current actions.
“How about getting a little closer? I can feel this isn’t the limit yet.”
So she proposed an even bolder suggestion.
“Get closer? But…”
The girl paused, thought for a moment, then gently nodded.
“But this time, I’ll do it myself. I have to learn to control this murderous intent, right?”
Then, in an instant, she took back control of her body.
Sha Qianmo had no objection, since everything she did was based on the girl’s existence.
Not far away,
Unaware, Yun Mu continued along the Qingshi path downward but suddenly stopped.
“This aura… such a familiar feeling.”
He stood still, lightly tapping a tree with his stick.
Just as he was about to release his Starlight power, two peach blossom petals drifted down to cover his face.
He raised a hand to catch them, but the petals dissolved like mist in his palm.
Turning around, the wind stirred the Taohua Forest, the air filled with the lush, fragrant scent of peach blossoms, and without hesitation, he stepped forward.
“Let’s go in and have a look.”
Muttering to himself, he moved onward.
Behind him,
Shangguan Xunyi followed closely, looking at the somewhat unfamiliar peach blossom forest with a faint expression of doubt.
“Peach blossoms… I remember, on the Main Peak of Mount Qingqiu, the only place with peach blossoms is…”
“It’s the Tianxian Pool halfway up the mountain.”
“Ah right, but I remember that place is usually deserted since it’s the spot Elder Eleven uses to soak in the hot springs…”
She murmured to herself, suddenly realizing something, her face filling with a growing terror.
“We’re doomed!”
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