"Please forgive me, young lady. It was my ignorance that caused you offense. Please forgive me."

A man in blue robes stood up behind the two girls. He glanced at Han Cui and apologized to Cong Ying in a low voice.

Cong Ying brushed another layer of oil onto the meat: "No need for an apology, just shut up and you'll wake up."

She lifted her eyelids and said bluntly, "I haven't even settled the score with you for scaring my junior brother like this yet!"

Han Cui gritted her teeth and said, "What does it matter to me if he's mentally ill? You brat, do you even know who I am? You..."

"Little sister!" the man in blue immediately called out.

"Shut up!" Han Cui retorted coldly, "A lowly illegitimate son dares to put on airs in front of me. Who do you think you are? Do you really think that just because my father chose you, you can inherit the Han family?"

"You dare to tell me what to do and apologize on my behalf? Do you even have the right? Get out!"

Han Cui's arrogant and domineering attitude is now completely undisguised.

Congying looked at everything in front of her with indifference, as if she had seen it a thousand times before.

She didn't know why, but ever since she went out with Meng Wanwan once, it seemed like she had unlocked her skills as a "human".

She enjoys doing anything that makes her comfortable and loves experiencing the vast landscapes of the world. Although she is just a spirit, she is able to keenly perceive human emotions, and her communication and thinking are indistinguishable from those of normal humans.

It was as if she was originally a person.

That's why she had the courage to take Lanqiao on a solo trip.

Seeing the conversation between the Han siblings, she felt a strange sense of irony.

Han Rui was indeed an illegitimate son, but apart from being the legitimate son, he was far superior to Han Cui in every other aspect. Therefore, after the Han family's failure to refine the Lianli Corpse last time, the Han family temporarily abandoned the idea of ​​continuing to cultivate spiritual roots for Han Yueji and instead paid attention to this illegitimate son.

This operation was a signal that the Han family patriarch intended to take action against him.

To my utter surprise, even after all this, Han Cui remained so arrogant.

Han Rui lowered his eyes and said calmly, "Little sister, are you really going to act so recklessly? Even if you don't care about the Han family's reputation, you should at least consider your own."

"You are the legitimate daughter of the Han family!"

Han Cui suddenly froze.

She snorted and stopped talking.

Yes, she is the legitimate daughter of the Han family.

With this identity alone, she still had a fighting chance, and she was determined not to let her father despise her at this time.

A large skewer of meat was handed to her.

Congying gestured with her chin: "Alright, eat."

Han Cui rolled her eyes and snatched it away.

Congying didn't say anything, but distributed the remaining meat skewers to everyone.

As cultivators, they can choose not to eat, but those in Tanmeng Palace must.

They are just ordinary people.

"I won't eat it," the girl in white said calmly.

"I only eat spirit fruits."

Take it or leave it!

Congying gave the meat to Lanqiao, who then had two skewers in his hand.

Han Rui said softly, "Miss Yu, this is made from the meat of a demon beast rich in spiritual energy. It has the same effect as eating spiritual fruits. Why don't you give it a try?"

Although the people of Tanmeng Palace are mortals, they are mortals who are quite particular about food and clothing.

Ordinary people have long lifespans in this era; some can live to be 150 years old.

However, the people of Tanmeng Palace live even longer, and from the moment they enter Tanmeng Palace, they no longer eat ordinary mortal food.

The girl in white, referred to as Jade Maiden, shook her head.

Han Rui then walked to Cong Ying's side and said, "Thank you for taking care of me, Miss Cong. I wonder how much longer it will take us to reach the town."

Because the direction calculated by Tan Menggong was the same as the direction of the place they were going to given by Cong Ying and the others, they put aside their past grievances and came together.

There's no spiritual energy here, so you can't fly on a sword. Walking like this every day is really tiring.

Therefore, these people are all very anxious.

“Two more days.” Congying took out her map and pointed to the town near the forest on the map.

"Once we get there, we can ask around."

Han Rui cupped his hands in thanks: "Thank you very much, Miss Cong."

--

Helian Xiao returned from inquiring outside, but found nothing.

Meng Wanwan asked him, "Why don't you go ask Chongyang Palace? Isn't this Chongyang Palace's jurisdiction?"

Helian Xiao: "Do you think I don't want to? But... we still have to get to Chongyang Palace."

The Chongyang Palace is located on Chongyang Mountain, so high that its top is invisible. Even powerful cultivators at the Tribulation Transcending stage cannot ascend it without the palace's permission.

“The people of Chongyang Palace haven’t appeared in the world for hundreds of years.” Helian Xiao lay on the railing. “If it weren’t for their achievements hundreds of years ago, we younger generations wouldn’t even know if Chongyang Palace was real or not.”

"There's been no news, and they haven't appeared in public. It's said that the Chongyang Palace suffered heavy losses in that catastrophe and is recuperating, but we haven't heard of them recruiting disciples again."

Meng Wanwan suddenly had a strange thought: "Hey... do you guys think that the Chongyang Palace... could it have been wiped out?"

Helian Xiao quickly covered her mouth: "Little ancestor, you can shut up now. Chongyang Palace is the place where divine decrees are issued. If you talk nonsense, be careful of divine punishment."

Meng Wanwan kicked him, but Yun Zhao rescued her, his protective expression clearly visible.

Yun Zhao said calmly, "Has Young Master Helian ever seen the divine oracle in person?"

Helian Xiao rubbed his leg and pouted, "No, not at all."

Yun Zhao: "Therefore, such rumors are open to discussion."

Helian Xiao rested his chin on his hand: "Suddenly, it makes a lot of sense."

Why believe it if you've never even seen it?

Once they entered the town, they could fly on their swords, finally no longer having to walk, which made Meng Wanwan much happier.

It only took half a day to travel from the town to Yunzhao's hometown, which can be described as quite fast.

What surprised them even more was that the village, which had been burned to the ground, was now inhabited again.

"That's pretty strange!" Helian Xiao leaned closer to Yun Zhao and said, "Your village must have been massacred. It's only been ten years or so, there shouldn't be no news about it. Logically speaking, no one would want to live in a place like this."

Yun Zhao's expression was icy: "We'll find out by going in and asking."

This village is called Xianglai Village. It is an ordinary village, and the people there are just ordinary mortals.

But at this moment, it doesn't seem so ordinary.

Their entry into the village immediately attracted the attention of the villagers. A woman passing by, carrying a wooden basin, asked them suspiciously, "Who are you? What are you doing in our village?"

Meng Wanwan immediately ran over, smiling, and said, "Hello, Auntie, we're just passing by and would like to stay here for the night. Is that alright?"

The woman glanced at them before asking with a puzzled look, "Looking for lodging here? You're all cultivators, aren't you?"

Helian Xiao quickly replied, "Yes, we were just passing through. It was getting dark, so we wanted to go into the village to rest and ask for directions."

Upon hearing that she was asking for directions, the woman's guarded expression lessened considerably, and she said, "Wait here, I'll go ask the village chief."

After the woman left, many people in the vicinity hurried home, as if they had seen a ghost when they saw them.

A short while later, a slightly older man came out, frowned at them, and said, "You want to ask for lodging? And you're asking for directions?"

Meng Wanwan nodded repeatedly: "Yes, yes!"

The man asked, "Where are you going?"

Yun Zhao said directly, "We're going to Xianglai Village."

The man's pupils contracted: "Who are you? This is Xianglai Village. What are you doing here?"

Yun Zhao was first shocked, then said sadly, "So it was right after all..."

The man frowned even more: "Who exactly are you? If you're looking for Xianglai Village, you should know about it."

Meng Wanwan sighed, her face filled with sorrow, and said, "I'm sorry, old man, my senior brother didn't dare to acknowledge me. When my master rescued my senior brother, he said that he was the only living person in this village. So, we thought Xianglai Village was a dead village... We thought we had gone to the wrong place, so we came here to seek shelter."

Upon hearing this, the man stared wide-eyed at Yun Zhao: "You're from Xianglai Village? I never expected there would still be some alive."

Yun Zhao pursed his lips: "I was lucky to survive and was rescued. I've come to offer incense to my parents."

Upon hearing this, the man immediately said, "Let's go, let's go into the village. Hey, I didn't expect there to be any young men left in Xianglai Village. I'm the current village chief, you can just call me Li Tian."