Chang Yao was instantly displeased. With even greater speed, she intercepted the second long feather arrow made of spiritual energy before vanishing from her spot. Moving in a flash, she intended to see exactly who was responsible.
However, the opponent knew nothing of giving up. A third long feather arrow pierced through the night sky and the black mist, carrying an even more distinct killing intent and ruthlessness—a relentless pursuit unto death.
Song Jixue was about to turn his blade to deal with the person firing cold arrows from behind when the Mountain Fei raised a front hoof and pressed down. The surrounding black mist surged violently, forcing him to refocus his attention.
He had already used his Heart Sword to set up an array, trapping both himself and the Mountain Fei within it. If he became distracted midway, it would work against him.
Yet, he would not simply let that third arrow pierce him. Lord Yunshan formed a hand seal, but in that split-second confrontation, a domineering sword Qi slashed down from above, snapping the third arrow in half. It was fast and precise, but intercepting the arrow was merely a byproduct; all the power carried by that sword Qi flew toward the mastermind's location like an overwhelming tide. Debris and soil flew everywhere, forcing both the hidden archer and the newly arrived Chang Yao out of their cover.
The two quickly avoided the overbearing sword Qi, each forced to use techniques to withstand the mountain-toppling momentum.
The sword light cut a cross-shape, yet only a single strike had been made.
Lord Dingkun of Kunlun, the world's foremost sword cultivator—Song Jixue's eldest senior brother, Yu Ye. The self-created sword technique was called Chengfeng (Riding the Wind).
Chang Yao was pushed back several meters by the sword Qi. Her toes lightly brushed against flying flowers and leaves as she ascended into the void, looking down against the remaining fierce wind.
Yu Ye, dressed in green robes and holding his sword, raised his head slightly. With sharp brows and bright eyes, his aura was cold and stern. Seeing the two figures retreating into the void, he curled his lips into a cold sneer: "Yo, surprised? Your senior brother just flushed out two despicable rats with a single strike."
He sounded quite proud of himself.
Song Jixue swept a glance back for a fleeting second before returning his focus to the Mountain Fei.
Chang Yao had thought tonight would be a one-on-one game between her and Song Jixue; she hadn't expected so many meddlesome people to show up. Ignoring Yu Ye, she shifted her gaze toward the archer standing atop a nearby tree crown.
Both were clad in black robes, making it hard to discern their gender. The difference was that the archer wore a white mask inscribed with complex red incantations.
The archer also looked toward her. They were silent, yet an undercurrent surged between them. The archer was also pondering: Who is this person who cut down my feather arrows twice?
Ignored, Yu Ye shouted impatiently: "Are you two just going to stand there and play the silent expert?"
The eldest senior brother had a fiery temper. As he raised his hand, sword light flickered with a ferocity that threatened to annihilate everything. The archer and Chang Yao moved simultaneously to retreat.
The opportunity for assassination tonight was gone. Staying longer was meaningless and might attract more cultivators, making it difficult to escape.
However, while the archer was retreating to save their life, Chang Yao was retreating to hunt them down.
Unfortunately, the opponent was quite cunning, and Yu Ye’s sword strike interfered with her. By the time she landed in the black mist, the figure was gone.
Chang Yao tucked her black robes around her, her lips slightly pursed in displeasure.
The Mountain Fei sent a message: "Weren't you going to kill him?"
Chang Yao pulled her hood down: "I'm not in the mood anymore. Take care of yourself."
With that, she simply dissipated and left, leaving the Mountain Fei alone to face the world's greatest sword and the foremost practitioner of the Heart Sword.
Yu Ye sheathed his sword and walked toward Song Jixue: "They ran. Do you want me to chase them, or stay and help you kill the Fei?"
"You won't catch them." Beneath Song Jixue's feet, the moonlight was bright, resembling a rippling water surface where countless sword blades rotated, waiting for their master's command.
Yu Ye snorted, but his eyes remained fixed on the beast ahead: "I say, what 'good deeds' have you done lately to be targeted by people? And more than one, at that."
Song Jixue’s face was indifferent: "Too many. I can't remember."
"I was the third person wanting to kill you tonight," Yu Ye said. "I'll tell you why: because you left me at Qianhe Palace and let Miao Yingying watch over me."
Song Jixue: "..."
Chang Yao returned to the Office of the Chief Justice. The maidservants outside noticed nothing. As she lay in bed, she contemplated who exactly wanted to kill Song Jixue.
But if she truly thought about it, there were too many possibilities.
As the Sect Leader of Kunlun Yunshan, the evil cultivators, ghost cultivators, and demons he had offended while slaying monsters in his early years were numerous. Looking closer to home, even within his own sect, there was someone who harbored killing intent toward Lord Yunshan.
The third senior brother, Qiguang, was one.
The fourth senior brother, Sang Li, lacked the courage and wasn't at the West Sea.
Eldest senior brother Yu Ye, though unreliable in Chang Yao’s eyes, held no malice toward Song Jixue.
As for their master, True Lord Chengjing... a deep thought crossed Chang Yao’s eyes.
Song Jixue didn't return late into the night. He sent her a transmission about the encounter with the Mountain Fei.
Chang Yao, her eyelids drooping half-asleep, murmured: "Are you hurt?"
Song Jixue: "No."
"Did you catch the Mountain Fei?"
"It escaped," Song Jixue said. "We need to search again."
Chang Yao hummed in response. Listening to Song Jixue’s solicitous care, she yawned repeatedly. The transmission cut off and reconnected. Finally, she said: "I'm really fine, there's no danger, and I'm very sleepy. If you're worried, come back and see for yourself. Stop sending transmissions. Hearing your voice without seeing you just makes me miss you and keep me awake."
Having said that, she put away the jade slip, pulled up the covers, and slept.
Song Jixue: "..."
He tapped the incantation on the jade slip and sighed softly.
Back then, he was probably conquered by Chang Yao’s ability to say romantic things with such a straight face.
Seeing him put away the jade slip and turn around, Yu Ye asked casually: "Where to?"
"Going back," Song Jixue said. "A Fei isn't stupid enough to stay in the same place waiting to be caught."
Yu Ye rolled his eyes: "Aren't you just mocking the Immortal Leader for being stupid by continuing to dig through the mountains here?"
Song Jixue returned to the Xuantian Office of the Chief Justice. The maidservant guarding the door was about to speak when he stopped her with a gesture.
"Go rest," he said.
The maidservant then withdrew.
Originally, there wouldn't have been maidservants on guard, but because Chang Yao had lost her spiritual meridians, the Sect Leader’s wife feared it might be inconvenient for her and sent staff.
The window remained half-open, with moonlight reflecting on a branch of red plum in a vase on the cabinet. Song Jixue sat by the bed, watching Chang Yao sleep.
In the earlier transmission, he hadn't told her about being ambushed tonight. But he always remembered that Chang Yao had promised the Demon Emperor to kill him. Given her character, once she promised, she would act on it.
Of the two people tonight, one was likely Chang Yao.
Why go to such trouble?
If she truly wanted to kill him, there were clearly plenty of opportunities—simple and fatal.
Song Jixue reached out to lightly stroke the end of Chang Yao’s brow. She shrank into the quilt, mumbling with closed eyes: "Don't think I don't know you sneaked back."
"Didn't you tell me to come back?" Song Jixue teased her.
Chang Yao moved inward, making space for him. "Is everything okay at Duyia Bay?"
"Mhm." Song Jixue looked at the space she made, his heart softening. He entered the warm bed, pulling her into his arms with a long sweep. "Senior Brother has recovered well. The two sectors of the Upper Court have found new fragments of the Crimson Golden Crow. After tempering, the Earth Ghost Gate will be sealed within a couple of days."
That was quite fast. She didn't care much about the Earth Ghost Gate.
Chang Yao opened her eyes in his arms and asked softly: "Is the Fei easy to deal with?"
Song Jixue pondered: "It didn't seem to want to fight."
The Fei was not a beast that fought cultivators to the death. It only needed to bring misfortune and calamity, spreading plague. It was a great demon that brought death just by walking past you. Therefore, the Fei was also best at hiding its tracks; even if you drew a blade to strike, you might never find its shadow.
In truth, the Fei itself hadn't wanted to fight him; it had only come tonight to join the fun and watch the drama of a couple killing each other. It hadn't expected the Lord to leave without even touching a hair on the man's head, leaving the mess to the beast instead. The Fei felt deeply deceived and had spent the whole night grumbling to Chang Yao.
"However, I can confirm that isn't the Fei that came out of the Earth Ghost Gate," Song Jixue added. "Two Fei in the world—the situation is not optimistic."
The plague was spreading, yet currently, there was no medicine to restrain it. Not only were ordinary people panicking, but even cultivators could not escape the plague left by a Fei.
"It will get better," Chang Yao consoled him hypocritically.
The cultivation world produced talents in every generation—sword cultivators, medical cultivators, tool cultivators. Geniuses were everywhere in the great sects, practicing hard not just for ascension, but to step forward and contribute during the world's greatest perils. Although the Fei's plague was hard to solve, it always had a time limit. This was a subtle rule between the three realms of Heaven, Earth, and Man.
Seeing that Song Jixue was determined not to tell her about the ambush, Chang Yao stopped probing and slept peacefully in his arms.
Past events entered her dreams. Things that happened a long time ago:
Black clouds rolled in the sky above high mountains and deep ravines. Only a thin rope hung in the air. Below, countless evil ghosts stared with crimson, greedy eyes at the living beings walking on the rope. The ghosts stirred up waves, striking the thin rope in an attempt to shake them off.
Song Jixue carried her on his back, eyes fixed forward, every step incredibly difficult.
Chang Yao, however, looked down into the abyss of evil ghosts. She was injured and dying; without someone carrying her, it would be impossible to pass through here. The rule slip from the Wanxiang Spiritual Realm was still clutched in her hand.
It bore the words: Living Alone. The rule was that only one person could pass through here alive.
She should have pushed Song Jixue down. That way, this dangerous trial would end immediately, and she could exit the Wanxiang Spiritual Realm safely.
Clearly, the two of them had argued before reaching this point, ignoring each other. Yet at the final moment, when Song Jixue reached out to her—covered in wounds—he had remained silent. His expression even held a hint of impatience, but the outstretched hand carried a stubbornness and ferocity, as if to say "if you don't take it, I won't pull it back."
Chang Yao sighed softly.
The young man asked her: "Why are you sighing?"
"I feel like I'm dying," she said. "Your steps are becoming more unstable. The thunder is affecting your state of mind. If you are influenced by the illusion, we will both fall. Do you want to die with me?"
Song Jixue paused, a fierce aura at the corner of his eyes. He glanced at her, smiling but not smiling: "Qingqing."
Chang Yao responded obediently: "I'm here."
The young man said heartlessly: "Shut up when you shouldn't speak. If you say one more word, I'll throw you down right now."
Chang Yao shut her mouth.
She saw Song Jixue’s path becoming harder, more sweat on his forehead. She used her sleeve to wipe his sweat, her gaze seriously observing the young man's handsome face. He was restraining the spread of the fierce aura in his eyes, enduring and focused. Every step had to be stable; otherwise, falling meant certain death.
Chang Yao had many chances to push him down.
The illusion brought by the thunder had a huge impact on Song Jixue. He was fully concentrated, with no mind left to care if Chang Yao would suddenly turn against him and give him a shove. Perhaps he had never thought such a reversal would happen. From the moment he carried Chang Yao onto the thin rope over the deep ravine, he had chosen to trust her.
The young man was almost entirely swallowed by the black mist, his body swaying, unable to take another step.
Chang Yao reached out to him, lightly wiping the sweat from his brow, whispering in Song Jixue’s ear: "Don't be afraid. They will abandon you, but I won't."
"Never."
Song Jixue stood in place for a long time. When he began to walk forward again, the black mist gradually dissipated. The thunder became sharper and more urgent, but it no longer affected him.
Amidst the stormy waves and flashing lightning, the evil ghosts watched the two reach the end, letting out roars of unwillingness filled with resentment.
Song Jixue set Chang Yao down and turned to look at her from above, throwing an object. The slip landed on the ground, bearing the words: Living Alone.
Chang Yao suddenly smiled and opened her hand toward him. Both knew the final rule, yet neither had abandoned the other.
Chang Yao was slightly stunned when she woke up. She pinched the bridge of her nose. Once again, she felt she had forgotten something.
The scenes in the dream truly existed. Back then, she had indeed seen Song Jixue’s illusion and knew what had influenced him, yet now she couldn't remember it at all.
Chang Yao looked up at the man beside her. Compared to when they first met, he had become more mature and reserved.
She felt she shouldn't have forgotten.
Throughout the long night, in a warm embrace, Chang Yao sensed a faint, almost non-existent feeling of crisis. This danger seemed to have been lurking for a long time, and she had only just glimpsed a corner of it.
The next day.
Song Jixue rose early to leave. Because the two sectors of the Upper Court—the Bodhi Gate and the Star Gate—had brought fragments of the Crimson Golden Crow, they needed Lord Yunshan’s help with the tempering.
He woke Chang Yao, instructing her to remember her breakfast and take the Soul-Warming Pill. Song Jixue counted the stock in the medicine bottle and raised an eyebrow: "You haven't taken it for at least four days."
Chang Yao drank water guiltily. The only bad thing about pretending to be weak was being watched while taking medicine every day. Could that medicine be taken haphazardly? All medicine has a bit of toxicity.
"I felt very well the past few days, so I thought it would be fine not to take it," she argued weakly.
Song Jixue gave her a cool look.
The Mistress of Yunshan sighed as if surrendering: "There won't be a next time."
"There is no next time." Song Jixue handed her the Soul-Warming Pill and watched her swallow it.
After finishing, Chang Yao stuck out her tongue at the bitterness, popped a small sweet cake into her mouth, and moved away from him with a snort.
Song Jixue: "Why are you running? Come here."
Chang Yao, who had already run behind the screen, poked her head out again.
A smile flashed in Song Jixue’s eyes as he stepped forward and took her hand: "The mist at the West Sea is heavy, even more so than at Kunlun. I'll have someone send you more Breath-Shielding Pills later, to prevent the cold mist from invading your heart and making you feel weak."
Chang Yao: "..."
An ordinary person truly couldn't handle the sea mist that lingered day and night at the Xuantian Office of the Chief Justice; this was the price of losing her spiritual meridians and pretending to be weak.
But whether it was the Soul-Warming Pill or the Breath-Shielding Pill, they were both deathly bitter.
This caused Chang Yao, who hated bitter things the most, to gradually develop a killing intent.
Yu Ye's impatient voice shouted from outside: "Don't be all lovey-dovey in there first thing in the morning! Get out here and get to work! Am I supposed to just listen and be jealous?!"
Song Jixue walked out: "You can choose not to listen."
Yu Ye thundered: "My cultivation is heavenly and I have a pair of divine ears! It's not that I want to listen—it's that it keeps running into my ears on its own!"
Both Song Jixue and Chang Yao cast disdainful glances at him.
Yu Ye flicked his sleeves and left in a rage.
Showing off their affection right in front of me, it's driving me mad!
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