A dark shadow sweeps through the wind, revealing natural and man-made disasters.

Back at the inn, the two, still soaking wet, went to change their clothes. Huaiwen, unable to shake off her confusion, decided to go find Xuanye and ask him for clarification.

She knocked on the door, but there was no response. She pushed the door open and went inside, only to find that the room was empty and no one was there.

Looking at the empty room, Huaiwen recalled the fish demon's words and the words of Oni-slayer. She wondered if the person Aoba had asked the fish demon to find was Ruan Shiyun.

Huaiwen wasn't entirely certain before, but now she sensed that Xuan Ye's decision not to kill her must be related to Ruan Shiyun. Was it because of her ancestor, Ruan Shiyun, that Xuan Ye would choose to accompany her on this journey?

If that's the case, then what does he want to get from himself?

At this moment, Huaiwen had no answer.

As night fell, Huaiwen couldn't sleep. She went to the window, hoping the bright moonlight would calm her mind. But in the brief moment she was lost in thought, she saw several wisps of black energy flash by. In an instant, she snapped back to reality.

In the blink of an eye, she was reminded of the black mist she had seen when her spellcasting was interrupted at the Qian residence.

The black clouds were flying incredibly fast, far beyond Huaiwen's current magical power. Fortunately, she cleverly threw tracking talismans at the clouds, allowing her to follow them. She followed the talismans to a house, where the black clouds vanished instantly.

It disappeared again, leaving Huaiwen utterly bewildered.

She stood at the doorway, looking around. Just as she was about to fly up to take a look, Huaiwen was suddenly struck down to the ground by a palm strike. Huaiwen turned around swiftly, but still couldn't see anything.

She quickly stood up, took out a white talisman, drew the incantation, and chanted, "Show!"

In an instant, twenty black-clad figures emanating black mist appeared in mid-air, surrounding Huaiwen. Under this encirclement, death was certain.

Even though she was afraid, Ke Huaiwen had to be brave. She didn't have Xuan Ye, Jiang Liyan, or Oni-slayer by her side. She had to face twenty men in black all by herself. Her chances of winning were extremely slim, but she still had to go for it.

"call out--"

Twenty black wind palms rushed towards Huaiwen. Huaiwen didn't have time to use the power of the white talisman, so he quickly used the magic treasures he carried to block them. But it was clear that the magic treasures were no match for this power.

Huaiwen was hit and forced back ten meters, suffering a severe chest injury and spitting out blood. Huaiwen realized that if she took another hit from these twenty men, one from each of them, she might die.

Huaiwen wiped the blood from the corner of her mouth, propped herself up with her hands, and this time she took out a white talisman, looking sharply at the twenty men in black: "What kind of skill is it to bully the few with numbers!"

The men in black ignored him and launched an attack. Seeing this, Huaiwen immediately threw a white talisman at them: "Destroy!"

A burst of golden-red flames rushed towards the twenty men. They dodged to defend themselves, but the flames suddenly veered off course, shooting skyward and exploding high in the air. By the time the men in black recovered, Huaiwen had already unleashed another attack, leaving them unable to retaliate!

The group was hit, and Huaiwen smiled. But she couldn't let her guard down yet. Huaiwen moved even faster than before, casting white talismans one after another into the air, connecting with each other to form a wall. Their counterattack was temporarily blocked by this wall. But Huaiwen was already seriously injured, and she was losing strength, beginning to sway.

"Bang—"

The white talisman wall was breached! A dark shadow attacked, and Huaiwen closed her eyes. Another loud bang followed, and Huaiwen opened her eyes to find a purplish-red protective shield protecting her.

"Whoever tries to kill me must kill me first!"

Huaiwen clutched her chest, collapsing to the ground, watching Xuan Ye descend from the sky. She thought to herself, "Thank goodness, this curse was perfect; someone has come to save me."

But when Xuan Ye saw the blood at the corner of Huai Wen's mouth, his face darkened, and displeasure was palpable.

A surge of anger rose in his hand!

Huaiwen wanted to plead with Xuan Ye to leave him alive, but he was already speechless. The twenty men in black, seeing that the newcomer was a formidable opponent, quickly formed a formation, surrounding Xuan Ye. As they cast their spells, layer upon layer of black whirlwinds grew larger, enveloping Xuan Ye tightly from the outside in.

The encirclement grew increasingly tight, and Huaiwen watched from below with great worry, forgetting that it was the Demon King Lingshan Xuanye. She didn't even have time to see what Xuanye did. She only heard a death scream, followed by a ticking sound.

Huaiwen looked up, wondering if it was raining.

But it wasn't raining on her side.

So she braced herself, moved forward slightly, reached out to catch the "rain," glanced at it, and fell silent. It wasn't rain; it was blood, blood rain.

They all turned into a rain of blood, leaving no trace of their bodies.

When Xuan Ye returned to Huai Wen's side, the soldiers arrived. They walked over to Huai Wen and Xuan Ye, stepping on the wet ground, and surrounded them. With no one else around, and having made such a commotion, Xuan Ye and Huai Wen would not escape the authorities' arrest.

Xuan Ye was furious and wanted to kill the group. But Huai Wen grabbed him with all his might, panting and saying he couldn't.

Xuan Ye's face darkened. He picked Huai Wen up from the ground and said fiercely, "Get out of the way."

How could the soldiers let them off so easily? Xuan Ye glanced at them, his anger rising, and he couldn't help but want to make a move. Just then, Jiang Liyan shouted, "The thieves are here!"

The soldiers turned around and saw Jiang Liyan binding three people with a magic rope, along with the approaching county magistrate. Seeing Huaiwen seriously injured, Jiang Liyan said a few words to the magistrate, then ran over and told Xuan Ye to take Huaiwen away first. He would handle the rest.

Upon hearing this, Xuan Ye disappeared without saying a word, carrying Huai Wen on his back.

Huaiwen leaned on Xuan Ye's shoulder, her breathing heavy. She wished she had learned some medical skills sooner.

Upon arriving at the clinic, Xuan Ye kicked open the door, and the doctor hurriedly came out. Seeing Xuan Ye carrying the injured Huai Wen on his back, he immediately opened the medicine box to treat the man without saying a word.

After a while, the doctor finally came out. He looked at Xuan Ye with a worried expression, as if he wanted to say something, but also as if he didn't know where to begin.

Xuan Ye frowned and asked impatiently, "How is the person?"

After a moment's thought, the doctor began to explain: "I have given him some pills, and his life is temporarily saved. However—when I took his pulse, it was very strange. His breathing was not as steady as a normal person's, but the fluctuations were very regular. I have never seen such a pulse before; it is very strange. Moreover, he has lost a lot of blood, and his internal organs must be severely injured. He will need to recuperate for a long time."

Xuan Ye's face darkened: "Can he be saved?"

"Don't worry about that. With proper care, he'll definitely survive. It's just that there might be long-term problems. After all, his internal organs are injured. Also—it would be best if you found a doctor more skilled than me to examine his strange pulse. If they can't figure it out, I'm afraid something bad might happen in the future."

Xuan Ye responded with a single word, then took out a wad of cash and placed it on the table: "Thank you for taking care of me during this time."

The doctor took the money and left. Xuan Ye then went to the bedside to look at Huai Wen, who had already fallen into a deep sleep. He stared at Huai Wen's face again and again, and after a long while, he shook his head, thinking that Huai Wen looked like him, yet not quite.

In recent days, he couldn't find any trace of Ruan Shiyun's past in Huaiwen. The aura was different, the scent was different. She was foolish, while A-Yun was clever. In short, they were completely different. Yet, their desire to maintain peace and harmony in the world was exactly the same.

He sighed, stretched out his hand, and cast a spell on the sleeping Huaiwen.

Instantly, Huaiwen's entire body emanated an aura of cursed shackles, layer upon layer pressing down on him. Xuan Ye was shocked. Although he knew Huaiwen was bound by cursed shackles, he hadn't expected them to be so severe.

While in the temple, he could still tell that Huaiwen was a woman, though his face was unclear. Now, with her breath so weak, he wouldn't even be able to tell without using some magic.

Who in this world has cast such a curse upon her?

Xuan Ye's eyes were filled with questions, regret, dissatisfaction, and sadness... Xuan Ye closed his eyes, his memories swirling, and finally he sighed. If that's the case, then let's wait until she wakes up before we talk about it.

Two days have passed, and Huaiwen is still not awake.

During the day, nothing happened, but every time the sun set, Huaiwen would become breathless, sweat would bead on his forehead, and his body would tremble from time to time, as if he were having a nightmare.

Jiang Liyan stayed by her side, hoping the doctor could find something wrong. But after taking her pulse, the doctor couldn't find anything and could only use acupuncture to calm her down.

Xuan Ye saw this and was about to go out to find a solution when he received a letter from Qing Ye. He then gave Jiang Liyan and the doctor a few instructions and left.

Another day passed, and Huaiwen woke up, covered in sweat.

She had another nightmare.

Footsteps approached, and Jiang Liyan, carrying medicine, quickly stepped forward upon seeing Huaiwen awake, offering a few words of greeting. He then promptly summoned a doctor to take Huaiwen's pulse.

Five or six days later, after taking Huaiwen's pulse, the doctor couldn't help but sigh that Huaiwen's body was extraordinary. Most people would have a hard time surviving such a serious injury, and would need at least half a year to recover.

He was fine; he was able to get out of bed in just a few days.

Back to the story, Huaiwen hadn't seen Xuan Ye since she woke up. Just as she was worrying and about to ask Jiang Liyan where Xuan Ye had gone, he stepped through the door.

Jiang Liyan asked Xuan Ye on Huaiwen's behalf where he had gone, and Xuan Ye only said that he had something to take care of.

Huaiwen, being sensible, didn't ask any more questions, but instead inquired about Jiang Liyan and the matter of the thief.

Jiang Liyan slapped his thigh and said, "You don't know that night, I drank too much water and went to relieve myself. On my way back, I wanted to drink some wine, so I went to find some. On the way, I accidentally bumped into three suspicious-looking people wearing blue Taoist robes. I immediately remembered what the fish demon had said and followed them. That's how I accidentally caught the thief."

Those three petty thieves were no ordinary thieves; just as the fish demon had said, they were Taoist cultivators. Half a month ago, while they were cultivating, they discovered a ball of energy that radiated spiritual energy. Naturally, the three of them thought it was something valuable and gave chase, but they lost track of it when they passed through a grove of trees.

Left with no other choice, they found a place to rest. After a while, they heard voices and secretly eavesdropped for a bit.

The three Taoist priests hadn't expected that the people who spoke were also Taoists, and like them, they had come to chase the ball of energy. However, the energy was quite unpredictable, and they hadn't easily caught it. They mentioned they needed to go back and get more help. After saying this, they left.

The three Taoist priests sized each other up, and after arguing and discussing, they concluded that they needed to catch the energy ball before the group of men in black. However, they didn't want to be the vanguard; they wanted to reap the benefits later.

So they began their plan, tracking them. They then entered the city, intending to ambush them. But during those few days, a Taoist priest secretly went to a gambling den.

This trip cost the three Taoist priests all their money! This infuriated the other two Taoist priests!

The Taoist priest, still succumbing to his gambling addiction, could only pat his chest and promise he would definitely earn all the money back. But the other two priests didn't believe him, and the three ended up fighting. That night, unable to sleep, they could only sit and try to think of a solution.

The timing was perfect; they spotted another group of Taoist priests and naturally followed them. But just as the group of priests climbed over the wall and entered the house, they suddenly fell silent.

They waited outside for a long time, and out of sheer curiosity about what had happened inside, they quietly entered the mansion to investigate.

After scaling the wall, they were surprised to find that the group of Taoist priests had vanished. The people inside the mansion, however, were fast asleep and could not be awakened by their shouts.

Seeing this, the Taoist priest, whose gambling addiction hadn't subsided, hatched a wicked plan and incited the other two priests. After a heated argument, the three of them joined forces and became thieves together.

This time, they returned not because they had run out of stolen money, but because they were greedy and wanted more, wanting to finish this job and leave. One theft can lead to countless more deliberate offenses.

These three Taoist priests had enjoyed the luxuries built with their ill-gotten gains and had long been corrupted by the pursuit of profit and pleasure.

Just when they thought their nighttime burglary plan was in place, they were caught by Jiang Liyan. They were filled with remorse.

Huaiwen rubbed his temples and asked with a wrinkled face, "But everyone is chasing that cloud of energy, what exactly is that cloud of energy?"