Chapter 68: How could I possibly find it!

In the rubble, only Jiu Baiyun and that Palace Master, delicate as a doll, remained.

The oppressive feeling brought by the Mountain Sparrow Flock’s departure vanished abruptly, but Jiu Baiyun’s heart did not relax.

After all, this Palace Master still hadn’t left!

The Palace Master’s silver-gray hair fell, her small face slightly tilted, her gaze slowly moving back from the direction the Mountain Sparrow Flock had disappeared, finally landing on Jiu Baiyun’s face.

In those light gray eyes, the cold murderous intent that had arisen earlier due to “Great Lan Sect” had faded, now instead revealing a trace of reluctant attachment.

Her small lips pressed together slightly, and an ethereal, childish voice rang out:

“Jiu Baiyun.”

Her small hand unconsciously gave a gentle grab at his leg, as if marking him.

“Wait for me.”

Jiu Baiyun’s heart leaped, and he nervously opened his mouth to say something, but the Palace Master’s next words made him swallow his words back.

“Counting the time… killing them might take a while.”

Her little head tilted, as if estimating the time.

Saying this, the Palace Master paused.

Jiu Baiyun’s mouth twitched.

‘These words make it sound as if she hadn’t considered whether she could kill the other party at all… as if she was certain they couldn’t escape.’

But…

Jiu Baiyun looked at the Palace Master.

‘She seems to truly not care about Great Lan Sect…’

‘After all, the gap in strength is obvious.’

The Palace Master’s pure eyes looked at him again, carrying a strange soothing meaning within them.

“Don’t rush.”

“Wait for me… to return.”

After saying the last four words, the Palace Master took two steps toward the direction of the Pure Black Palace.

Her ethereal voice also softened at this moment, as if coaxing a “partner” about to be briefly separated.

Although Jiu Baiyun didn’t think so.

She gave Jiu Baiyun one last deep look, as if to imprint his image, then turned her head with utmost reluctance.

Then, around her small body, light began to silently twist and fold.

Right before Jiu Baiyun’s eyes, that petite figure in a gray feathered skirt, like a drop of ink dissolving into water, silently faded and disappeared.

As if she had never appeared.

Only leaving behind a stretch of dead, scorched earth, and the faint, lingering scent of cold metal feathers in the air.

Jiu Baiyun stood frozen in place until he confirmed that the suffocating pressure had completely receded, then suddenly let out a breath, feeling his back already soaked with cold sweat.

He looked down at his empty flank, then unconsciously touched the tail behind him that still burned with pain, his expression extremely complicated.

‘At least for now, it’s still safe?’

He really hadn’t expected the so-called Palace Master of this palace to be such a being…

‘I don’t know if her way of thinking and childish appearance are faked.’

But one thing was certain: she was definitely not human!

No matter how deceptive her appearance, an eerie creature was still an eerie creature, and absolutely could not be human!

The aura on her body could never be completely concealed, and moreover, she hadn’t bothered to conceal it at all!

‘As for waiting for her to come back?

‘Like hell I’ll wait!’

‘If I don’t run now, am I going to stay here and wait for her?’

‘Only an idiot would do that!’

But that Palace Master’s exquisitely carved, unbelievably delicate face, especially those light gray eyes full of pure curiosity, seemed to still sway before his eyes, bringing an untimely, heart-stirring softness.

He fiercely shook his head, as if trying to completely shake that absurd flutter caused by her childish and cute appearance out of his mind.

Silver-white hair brushed across his sweat-damp temple, bringing a cool sensation.

‘Cute?’

‘Heart-throbbing?’

‘What a joke!’

‘At most, just looks cute.’

“Fox Demon Lord,” Jiu Baiyun called out lowly in his Sea of Consciousness, “Squeak if you’re still alive! How much Spiritual Energy can I use?”

The Fox Demon Lord immediately replied, a hint of schadenfreude in her voice.

“Hmph, I definitely won’t die! After all, I still need to see you and your husband get married!”

“As for Spiritual Energy? I just bluffed to scare people and gave you speed to escape—used it all! At most enough for you to run for a while.”

“That’s enough!”

Directly ignoring the Fox Demon Lord’s first half, Jiu Baiyun didn’t hesitate.

His gaze quickly locked onto the direction of the dense forest where Su Zhiyun and the other two had disappeared.

To hell with Great Lan Sect, Silent Feather Guard, Heavenly Palace Lord…

All of them, go to hell!

‘The most important thing now is to get as far away from this damn place and that terrifying Palace Master with her bizarre way of thinking as possible!’

Jiu Baiyun’s figure quickly left that suffocating scorched rubble, vanishing into the dark dense forest ahead.

He practically exhausted the last pitiful bit of Spiritual Energy converted by the Fox Demon Lord in his body, pushing his speed to the limit.

Silver-white hair flew backward in the swift wind.

That snow-white fox tail, still burning with pain at the base, dragged behind him, sweeping across the damp forest floor and rotting leaves, leaving shallow traces.

The light in the forest was dim and distorted.

Tree branches eroded by eerie power clawed like claws.

Relying on memory and instinct, Jiu Baiyun ran wildly in the direction where Su Zhiyun and the other two had disappeared earlier.

However, after running for a while, Jiu Baiyun suddenly came to a halt.

Then, supporting himself with one hand against a tree trunk covered in eerie moss, Jiu Baiyun gasped heavily.

Cold sweat oozed from his temples, mixing with the forest’s moisture as it slid down.

Looking around, all he saw were unfamiliar, gloomy trees.

Light cast eerie mottled shadows among the twisted branches and leaves.

All around was silent except for his own heavy breathing and the rustling of wind through leaves.

At this moment, Jiu Baiyun suddenly realized.

‘I have no idea where exactly Su Zhiyun and the others ran off to!’

His attention earlier had been entirely on covering the rear, dealing with the Silent Feather Guard and that eerie Palace Master.

When Su Zhiyun and the other two disappeared into the depths of the forest, he had only remembered a general direction.

Most importantly, he hadn’t left behind any means of communication or detection!

With no other option, Jiu Baiyun had to ask the Fox Demon Lord if she had any way.

“Quick! Is there any way to sense their position? Which direction did Su Zhiyun and the others go?”

After a brief silence, the Fox Demon Lord’s voice sounded with heavy resentment and annoyance.

“Heh heh! Now you think to ask me?”

“You were so busy showing off by covering the rear back then, why didn’t you think of leaving a tracking mark? Or casting a Spiritual Energy mark on them for you to sense?”

Hearing the Fox Demon Lord’s words, Jiu Baiyun couldn’t help but awkwardly tug at his sleeve.

“It’s not like I had time to think… Just tell me if there’s a way or not?”

This sentence from Jiu Baiyun nearly made the Fox Demon Lord choke.

After a long silence, the Fox Demon Lord continued complaining with exasperation:

“Do you really think I’m a god? Without you leaving any tracking method, how could I possibly find them!”