Chapter 69: Did they go after the Great Lan Sect?

Jiu Baiyun’s words made the Fox Demon Lord scratch his head in embarrassment.

“If even the Fox Demon Lord has no way, then what do we do…”

Tugging at his silver hair in frustration, Jiu Baiyun also realized that he wouldn’t be able to find Su Zhiyun and the others anytime soon.

Thinking of this, Jiu Baiyun decided to relax a bit.

Since he wouldn’t find them anytime soon, why keep himself tense?

But this relaxation also made Jiu Baiyun think of something.

They had run away specifically to avoid the Heavenly Palace… but the Palace Master had cared so much about him just now, why couldn’t he take the opportunity to propose…

Well, clearly impossible.

Jiu Baiyun couldn’t help but look at the horizon.

The pure black Heavenly Palace had already disappeared into the distance, leaving only a hazy black mass.

But since the Heavenly Palace had already left, there was no need to rush off in such a hurry, right?

Besides, the Great Lan Sect had already left far behind.

Even if the Heavenly Palace pursued, it would take a lot of time to catch up… let alone finish off the Great Lan Sect.

The unequal distribution of human expendable materials, and even among the eerie creatures, infighting was inevitable.

Between the various sects, there was no real peace at all.

If the Great Lan Sect was willing to bleed, Jiu Baiyun didn’t think other sects would not intervene to block the Heavenly Palace…

This would also greatly slow down the Heavenly Palace, or make it retreat in the face of difficulty.

Wait, no…

If the Heavenly Palace retreated in the face of difficulty, wouldn’t they come back to find him? Better to hurry and run away.

This series of thoughts nearly made Jiu Baiyun dizzy.

But one thing was certain: the direction the Heavenly Palace went was definitely north, where the Great Lan Sect had fled.

If Su Zhiyun and the others still followed their original plan and ran north, they would inevitably encounter the Heavenly Palace again.

If that Palace Master got upset…

Jiu Baiyun quickly shook his head, then looked north.

Reason told him he should go look for them, but instinct told him Su Zhiyun had taken a detour, so there was no need to search north.

Just at this moment of indecision, a dense patch of bushes not far behind him suddenly shook violently, making a rustling sound.

Jiu Baiyun’s fur instantly stood on end, and his silver fox ears shot straight up.

“Who?!”

Warily turning toward the source of the sound, his body tense, he subconsciously mobilized his remaining spiritual energy, and even a faint golden light condensed at his fingertips.

However, in the next second, when three disheveled figures clumsily crawled out of the bushes, Jiu Baiyun was momentarily stunned.

It was Su Zhiyun, A Ran, and Xiao Mu.

Before his tense nerves could fully relax, his gaze precisely caught Su Zhiyun’s current “heroic posture.”

On Su Zhiyun’s pale face were two green leaves with serrated edges, stuck one on each side of her lips, exactly like two crooked, precarious “mustaches.”

She was also holding two thin branches she had just broken off a tree, with fresh leaves, pretending to lean on them like “walking sticks,” in a ridiculous imitation of an old person.

Jiu Baiyun’s eyes instantly widened, and in his pupils clearly reflected Su Zhiyun’s “carefully” disguised appearance.

The corner of his mouth twitched uncontrollably, and then a complex emotion mixed with extreme speechlessness welled up in his heart.

Silver hair slipped through his fingers as he raised one hand and heavily pressed it to his forehead, hiding his instantly indescribable expression.

Seeing Su Zhiyun like this, Jiu Baiyun truly felt it was too much to look at.

“Hey! Jiu Baiyun! What’s that expression!”

Su Zhiyun, who had just crawled out of the bushes, immediately became displeased when she saw Jiu Baiyun’s expression.

“No, no! I just think your appearance… um… is somewhat novel!”

Hearing Su Zhiyun’s somewhat dissatisfied voice, Jiu Baiyun quickly waved his hands.

A Ran, standing to the side, first looked at Su Zhiyun, then at Jiu Baiyun, and then let out a snort of laughter.

Su Zhiyun’s face instantly flushed red, half from anger, half from embarrassment.

She gave A Ran a hard glare.

“What are you laughing at! This is for everyone’s safety!”

She angrily raised her hand to tear the leaves off her face, but then felt that would make her seem more guilty, so her movement froze in midair.

“Alright, stop messing around.”

Jiu Baiyun also saw Su Zhiyun’s embarrassment, so he stopped joking and walked up, softening his tone:

“Let’s go. Now that the Heavenly Palace is gone, we should make a quick escape.”

“Huh? It’s gone?”

Su Zhiyun was busy tearing the leaves off her face.

Hearing this, her movements paused, and she looked up at Jiu Baiyun in confusion, the two “mustache” leaves on her face comically trembling with her action.

“Where did the Heavenly Palace go?”

Jiu Baiyun looked at the remaining leaf traces on Su Zhiyun’s face, couldn’t help but cough lightly, and explained:

“Well… I led it away. I had a friendly exchange with that… Palace Master over there and successfully diverted her attention to the Great Lan Sect.”

He paused, his tone carrying a hint of schadenfreude and guilt.

“Right now, the main force of the Heavenly Palace should be heading north after the Great Lan Sect.”

‘Sorry about that.’

Although he wasn’t sure exactly how many bad things the Great Lan Sect had done, to be able to become a major sect in this world overrun with eerie creatures, their hands were definitely dirty.

He might as well consider it as acting on behalf of heaven to eliminate evil—since he had already screwed them over anyway.

Su Zhiyun understood what Jiu Baiyun meant, and her eyes instantly widened.

“So… that thing went north to chase the Great Lan Sect?!”

“No, why would its attention be diverted to the Great Lan Sect? What exactly did you say?”

Although very puzzled, Su Zhiyun didn’t intend to ask further, just assuming it was Jiu Baiyun’s golden finger at work.

“Mm.”

Hearing Su Zhiyun’s words, Jiu Baiyun nodded affirmatively.

“The Silent Feather Guard, along with that swarm of pitch-black Mountain Sparrows, and that Palace Master, even the palace itself, all went north.”

At this, Su Zhiyun showed a look of sudden realization, unconsciously raised her hand to wipe imaginary cold sweat from her forehead, and muttered quietly:

“No wonder… when I was hiding in the grass earlier, the panel first showed ‘Extreme Danger,’ and then after a little while, the danger level whoosh dropped to Mild Danger.”

“Huh? What did you say?”

Su Zhiyun’s muttering was not loud—audible but unclear—which made Jiu Baiyun a bit puzzled about what she was saying.

But the only response Jiu Baiyun got was Su Zhiyun’s glare and an irritated voice.

“I didn’t say anything! If we’re going, let’s go already!”

As she said that, Su Zhiyun also tugged at the clothes of A Ran and Xiao Mu.

A Ran and Xiao Mu felt Su Zhiyun’s gaze and nodded in agreement with her meaning.

Seeing Su Zhiyun like this, Jiu Baiyun felt a mix of amusement and exasperation, but he soon nodded.

“If you don’t want to rest for a while, then let’s go.”