Chapter 7 A Gathering in the Mist, Heart Jade Understands

Song Ci leaned against the pavilion pillar.

She opened her eyes in a daze.

Half of the jade pendant hidden in her sleeve rolled to the ground. Song Ci stared blankly at the dark sea and the dilapidated sea pavilion in front of her, clutching the red thread connecting the jade pendant tightly in her hand.

She closed her eyes, unable to speak, or even make any movements or expressions.

Maybe it's a dream, she thought.

...

A thick, gray fog obscured visibility, making everything blurry.

Qingyu frowned. The unconscious woman on the ground had a beautiful face, wore a purple dress, and had a gold belt, which made her look noble.

Just as she was about to do something, a sharp blade of energy struck—

"who!"

Qingyu instantly formed a hand seal.

A cyan array rose from the ground, its light spreading out to protect Qingyu and the unconscious woman behind her.

The sword energy continued unabated, and crimson spiritual energy swept into the distance.

—The fog dissipated

Zhang Xuan held a knife in his right hand and blood dripped from his left, looking utterly disheveled.

Wen Chuan held a magnificent disc between his fingertips, looking at her with an expressionless yet leisurely demeanor.

Qingyu: "..."

Let's go back one hour.

Qingyu followed the demonic aura all the way to the east coast.

Layer upon layer of waves crash against the reef, where a desolate pavilion stands, its pillars broken, walls crumbling, a scene of utter desolation.

The entire coastline stretches as far as the eye can see, yet it is eerily empty.

Qingyu was puzzled. She had lived on the east coast for so long and had never seen a dilapidated pavilion.

She tried to step forward, but a thick fog suddenly appeared around her, moving at great speed, a white and gray expanse that obscured the sky and the ground, making it impossible to discern directions.

The fog was thick and indistinct, its chill penetrating to the bone.

A cool breeze rises, intoxicating the heart.

Qingyu walked calmly, an array had already risen beneath her feet, and a faint blue aura emanated from her body. She hated these kinds of incomprehensible things the most, and she wanted to see what kind of cultivators and demons could create such disgusting things.

Just a few moments later, a beautiful song rang out from afar.

Qingyu pursed her lips, cast a spell with one hand, and red demonic energy shot straight in all directions.

The fog dissipated a bit, but the singing continued.

Qingyu frowned and launched another attack.

The singing resumed, even more beautiful and captivating.

Qingyu formed hand seals. Is this never going to end?

Sing~

attack!

Sing.

attack!

Sing……

attack!

Regardless of direction, Qingyu attacked whenever she heard the song, until the demonic energy overflowed and the mist around her dissipated.

The song stopped.

Qingyu casually adjusted the tassels on her small bag and chuckled.

She's tone-deaf and can't sing, so any singing she does is seen as asking for a beating.

Qingyu continued forward, and the fog in front of him dissipated somewhat.

Qingyu paused for a moment, then looked at the unconscious woman in front of her.

If she doesn't save people, giving them to me is useless.

——

"I came here to save people. Look, I just protected your sister perfectly!"

Qingyu said to Zhang Xuan seriously, "I'm not trying to criticize you, but as a cultivator, you should be perceptive enough. How could you not know at all that your sister disappeared at the banquet?"

After saying that, Qingyu shook her head again, "If I hadn't sensed the demonic aura here, I wouldn't have come all the way from the City Lord's Mansion to here."

Zhang Xuan picked up Zhang Ling and gently placed her on the beach. He then stood up and bowed respectfully to Qing Yu and Wen Chuan, saying, "Thank you for today!"

Wen Chuan: "No need for that. Consider it an apology for what happened to Cai Cai."

Zhang Xuan gave a wry smile; the spirited young man in red became more composed at that moment.

He lost his way as soon as he entered the fog, and then he met his sister's maid. For a moment, he was actually bewildered by this illusion and followed the so-called maid to find his sister. When the bewitching song started, if Wen Chuan hadn't appeared in time, he probably would have been lost in the fog long ago.

"Anyway, thank you all very much..."

Zhang Xuan said earnestly, and then he unconsciously looked into the distance again.

It was midnight, and the night was as dark as ink.

The fog had just dissipated when the raging seawater rushed towards them. In the gloom, a magnificent and brand-new sea pavilion stood on the rocks, eerie and bewitching.

They did not rush to take action.

Zhang Xuan was busy channeling some spiritual energy into Zhang Ling. He was not a medical cultivator, and the spiritual energy he channeled into ordinary people would dissipate after a short while. But even so, he wanted to help Zhang Ling protect her body by channeling some spiritual energy into her first.

Wen Chuan stood silently, turning the disc in his hand.

Qingyu smiled at him: "This disc looks familiar, it seems like—"

"The one hanging in the lobby of Wanfulou."

He looked at her with a half-smile. A hairpin held up her hair, and a simple side braid accentuated her pure and innocent temperament. Today, the girl was wearing a gradient white and pink dress and carrying her newly bought matching handbag. She looked simple yet gentle, bright and lovely.

"...It's wrong to steal other people's things..."

"Stealing is certainly wrong, and so is running away."

Qingyu: "..."

Wen Chuan: "This plate originally belonged to me; I was just lending it to Wanfulou temporarily."

Qingyu was startled; this plate was his magical artifact.

She looked at Wen Chuan.

The boy had a gentle expression. He had clearly grown up by the sea, yet he was fair-skinned and handsome. He wore coarse linen clothes, which sometimes went unnoticed, but at other times made him seem extraordinary. No matter what clothes he wore, he had an air about him that couldn't be brought out. Even though she had lived and eaten with him for a year, Qingyu felt that he was both easy to see through and impossible to understand.

How did an ordinary boy from Haicheng, an orphan, become a cultivator? What did he cultivate? Why is it not surprising that he saved this demon? Why does he never cultivate and live a mundane life?

Qingyu paused for a moment. Sure enough, everyone has their own things to do, big or small, unknown to others.

She chuckled awkwardly and whispered, "Kill the demon first, kill the demon first, we'll talk about the rest when we get back..."

After saying that, she turned her head in a pretentious manner, without even looking at Wen Chuan's reaction, "Zhang Xuan, your sister has been found, are you still going to stay here?"

Zhang Xuan was wiping the blood off his left hand with a knife. His Blood Moon Blade required human blood to activate to a certain extent. He had cut his left palm when he broke through the fog, and now it was difficult to bandage. A few drops of blood were still dripping down. Zhang Xuan looked distressed; he was unwilling to waste his own blood.

"...The Gao family is a wealthy household in Qingshui, and the incident happened at their inauguration banquet. It makes no sense for me to rescue my sister while disregarding Madam Gao's safety..."

Zhang Xuan paused, then looked up at Qing Yu and Wen Chuan, "From both a moral and logical standpoint, we must see them alive or dead."

The night was deep and dark, and the dark-colored pavilion looked extremely eerie.

The sea breeze howled mournfully in my ears, and the waves crashed relentlessly against the shore, making a dull, pounding sound that struck my heart.

The three of them looked at the East Pavilion on the coast not far away.

With its flying eaves, bracket sets, carved beams, and painted rafters, this simple pavilion now exudes an indescribable eeriness and bloodlust.

The sea breeze occasionally carried a strange, bloody smell, mixed with a chilling atmosphere that sent shivers down one's spine.

Before they could react, the sea breeze inside the pavilion suddenly began to spin wildly.

The swirling air currents seemed to come alive, forming a small vortex, and the moonlight appeared to sway in the wind, stretching and distorting the shadows inside the pavilion.

In an instant, a young man appeared in the center of the pavilion without warning.

He was tall and slender, yet he exuded a chilling aura.

He raised his hand, his movements extremely slow, as if stirring the thick seawater, and then gently tapped the three people on the beach.

In an instant, a dense demonic aura rapidly spread out from his fingertips.

The demonic energy surged like clumps of black mist in the air, distorting the space around it and sending a strange, putrid, and bloody stench through the air.

Just as the dense demonic aura surged towards them like a tidal wave, Qingyu mentally activated an incantation, causing her spiritual energy to surge.

A beam of azure light burst forth from beneath her feet, like the dawn breaking, illuminating the beach shrouded in darkness and evil.

Immediately afterwards, a mysterious cyan array rose from the ground where they stood, its patterns shimmering and radiating an ancient and powerful force.

These array seals intertwined and spread, instantly forming a spiritual energy barrier around the four of them, resembling a clear, glassy light curtain that steadily protected them.

The azure fish's spiritual energy flowed, its light flickering like silk threads, creating a stark contrast with the surging black demonic energy outside.

When that eerie aura touched the protective barrier, it made a sizzling sound, like hot oil dripping into cold water, creating ripples.

The protective barrier stood firm as a mountain, effectively resisting the surrounding demonic energy and protecting the three people inside.

Qingyu stopped, her expression unchanged, but inwardly she scoffed. It was truly a pity that a demon like her had to pretend to be a human array cultivator and protect them at the same time.

Zhang Xuan looked at the azure halo in front of him. He hadn't seen it clearly when Qing Yu cast the spell before, but now it seemed that array cultivators were truly amazing.

His eyes shone brightly as he looked at Qingyu.

Qingyu noticed his gaze and smiled unconsciously.

Okay, I'm just too amazing, there's nothing I can do about it.

Wen Chuan didn't react much; he carefully observed the strange, bloody aura.

Zhang Xuan looked at Qing Yu, who was protecting them with her spiritual power, and Wen Chuan, who was still deep in thought. He tightened his grip on the knife; he had to try his best too.

Zhang Xuan: "That aura is really strange, it's like blood, but it also makes you feel..."

Wen Chuan: "Outdated."

"That's right!"

Qingyu pondered this as well. This demonic aura was truly strange. Sea monsters certainly looked down on humans, but this kind of demonic aura belonged to a powerful demon. Logically, it would not take the initiative to fight against cultivators. This strange aura was something Qingyu had never seen before.

"The air is filled with this...stale, bloody smell, mixed with demonic energy, just like..."

Qingyu thought about all her experiences from birth to the present and finally came up with a fitting description.

"It's like a monster that's been dead for a long time, but that strange, lingering smell just won't go away!"

Zhang Xuan was stunned. What kind of strange demon was this?

"So, what should we do now? Launch a full-scale attack?"

Wen Chuan: "It's best not to. This thing is strange and peculiar. A forceful attack might not be worth the effort."

Qingyu nodded seriously. If she were alone here, she could just attack head-on. The problem was that Zhang Xuan and Wen Chuan were both here now. If the demon died by accident, where would she get the pure demon energy that a great demon could only obtain when it was on the verge of death?

Zhang Xuan: "Then what should we do..."

Wen Chuan looked at the pavilion.

He had known for a long time that there was a demon here, but he had never seen the demon look like this before. As for Madam Gao, he had never met her, but he had met Master Gao a few times.

"I think we've all overlooked one thing."

Wen Chuan paused for a moment, then looked at Qing Yu and Zhang Xuan.

The fog has long since dissipated; where is Madam Gao?