Chapter 41: Walking into a Trap "From now on, fireworks every year are not allowed...

Xie Yunqing's body suddenly stiffened, as if he was cast under a spell. His fingertips trembled slightly, and he stared blankly at Shen Wenji who was holding him.

"You...I..." He was a little incoherent, and for a moment he didn't know what Shen Wenji meant.

Shen Wenji's movements were very light, and her arms were not wrapped tightly around him. The trembling arc of her fingertips was transmitted to Xie Yunqing through the fabric, as if she was just acting on impulse.

Xie Yunqing sighed lightly, raised his hand and patted Shen Wenji's shoulder, and said in a casual voice, pretending to be joking: "Have you hugged me enough? If you hug me again, I will misunderstand."

Shen Wenji ignored him and hugged him tighter. She pressed her cheek against his collar and could clearly hear the beating of his heart in his chest, which was even more deafening than the sound of the fireworks exploding just now.

The night wind blew, carrying the lingering smell of burned fireworks, blowing the ribbon on her hair to his shoulders and entangled his scarlet collar.

"I..." Shen Wenji opened his mouth, his voice muffled by the fabric, carrying a sense of grievance that he himself was not aware of. "I haven't thought of all the answers yet, but I'm a little scared..."

She paused, her fingers unconsciously clenching the fabric of his clothes, creating several wrinkles on the vermilion brocade.

"I'm afraid... that love will blow over in an instant. I'm afraid you'll disappear."

Xie Yunqing slowly lowered his head and rubbed his nose against the top of her hair, which was still slightly cool and damp from the night breeze.

He raised his hand, his fingertips paused in the air, and then landed on her back, patting it lightly.

"I won't disappear." His voice was hoarse, but there was a hint of smile in the ending tone. "I promise, as long as you look back, I will always be here."

He put his arms around her and hugged her tighter, resting his chin on the top of her head. The real weight and warmth of the person in his arms made him sigh with contentment.

He had endured countless sleepless nights and days, carefully concealing the surging love, and it was all just a matter of waiting a little longer. What was so difficult about that?

Shen Wenji closed her eyes and listened to his heartbeat. She suddenly felt that those hesitations and indecision might not need to be sorted out immediately or dug into the root of the matter.

Some answers, hidden in the body temperature of the two people and in each other's arms, are clearer than any words.

"Xie Yunqing, you know, I..."

Xie Yunqing pulled some distance away, put his palm on her shoulder, looked into her eyes gently, and interrupted her: "I don't want to know anything."

He placed his large palm on her cheek, rubbing it gently, and pinched her red earlobes with his fingertips.

"All I know is that you are by my side tonight and the fireworks in your eyes are beautiful, and that's enough."

Shen Wenji looked into Xie Yunqing's eyes. Those eyes always had a careless smile in them in the past, but now they were filled with a detailed and serious light.

She suddenly felt her eyes getting hot, so she turned her head and looked at the sky in the distance.

"Next year." Shen Wenji heard himself say, "This time next year, we will come to watch the fireworks again."

Xie Yunqing smiled, and there was warmth in the corners of his eyes and eyebrows.

"Okay." He pressed the issue further, "Only next year?"

“Not just next year.”

Xie Yunqing was stunned. He didn't expect her to say that. He asked in confusion, "What is that?"

Shen Wenji suppressed the tears in his eyes and smiled brightly at him: "If your future self agrees, I will accompany you for every fireworks display in the future."

She lowered her eyes and thought to herself: I hope that after the secret of the soul-capturing incense is lifted, you will still be willing to watch the fireworks with me.

Although Xie Yunqing always felt that her words were not quite right, he did not think much about it and smiled and said, "Of course I would like to."

There was an irrepressible joy in his voice, and he reached out and gently rubbed the top of her head: "From now on, no cheating on the fireworks every year."

"Swoosh!" There was a sudden explosion in the night. The fireworks were clearly about to end, so what was that sound?

Shen Wenji looked up when he heard the sound and saw a red flare streaking across the sky, lighting up half of it.

Is this... the Hehuan Sect's emergency signal flare? Judging by its color, the situation looks dire.

Based on the pattern and unique small logo of the flare, Shen Wenji took a breath. If she was not mistaken, this was clearly the flare of the eldest brother.

Could it be that Senior Brother has been found? Mother Shen Qingli has been searching for Senior Brother. She has also mobilized the intelligence network to investigate for a long time, but there is no news. It is as if this person has disappeared into thin air.

Now, he has reappeared. Was he hiding on purpose before?

Or maybe, the eldest brother had already been killed, and this flare was deliberately released by someone else to lure out other people from the Hehuan Sect.

Despite analyzing many possibilities, Shen Wenji couldn't sit idly by. This was the first time in such a long time that the eldest brother had relevant news. She had to seize the opportunity. Even if it was a trap set by the person behind the scenes, it would be worth it to catch the person behind the scenes.

Without time to explain too much to Xie Yunqing, she stared at the direction of the flare with a serious expression, saying only, "Excuse me, I have to go first."

Before she finished her words, she disappeared into the night.

Xie Yunqing looked at the flare in the distance, his brows suddenly furrowed, and he gathered his spiritual power and threw it behind him.

As expected, a pretentious cry of surprise came from behind: "Ouch."

A graceful figure walked out of the shadows, and she deliberately made her voice sound pitiful: "Thank you, Master. You hurt me."

Xie Yunqing turned around and stared coldly at Su Tengyue who was holding her hands and screaming in pain in front of her.

"What's going on? What's this flare?"

Su Tengyue paused for a moment, then smiled brightly: "It's not me, this is the Demon Clan's grand plan. As a close partner of the Demon Clan, Master Xie should say that this is our joint plan."

Xie Yunqing rubbed his brows and asked, "New plan? What is the specific plan?"

"It's not new. It's still the Hehuan Sect's Tianque Bell project, but the Demon Lord intends to use the blood essence of immortal cultivators to condense the Tianque Bell."

She covered her mouth in feigned surprise, smiling sweetly, "That was the Hehuan Sect's signal flare just now. It was a trap set by the Demon Lord to catch people. Is Mr. Shen also from the Hehuan Sect? That's really... what a coincidence."

Xie Yunqing's eyes darkened and he wanted to leave by exerting his spiritual power.

Su Tengyue shook the golden bell on her wrist, and in an instant, many monsters gathered around her.

She sneered, "Do you think I told you this so you can save him?"

"Thank you, OP. I don't look that stupid, do I?" She swung the golden bell on her wrist, and monsters attacked her continuously.

Xie Yunqing's face was gloomy. He raised his palm and called for the sword he was carrying to come and fight.

"Let these dead things play with you for a while, and then go check for the surprise I've prepared for you." Su Tengyue promised solemnly, "Don't worry, I won't let him die. After all, I'm such a kind person. I will definitely let him see you one last time before he dies."

The monsters coming from all directions surrounded Xie Yunqing. They didn't want to kill him, but just wanted to entangle him. They couldn't kill him at all, which was very annoying.

Su Tengyue also disappeared, presumably to go look for Shen Wenji.

No, he had to think of a way, the demons were full of tricks, and Shen Wenji might not be able to handle them.

-

Shen Wenji followed the trail of the flare and came to a desolate woodland.

The moonlight was cut into pieces by the dense branches and leaves, and scattered on the ground, casting mottled shadows. When the wind blew, it seemed as if ghosts were swaying.

There was a faint smell of blood in the air, which was almost imperceptible, but enough to make Shen Wenji's heart tighten.

She slowed down her pace, circulated her spiritual power, raised her perception to the extreme, and carefully captured the movements around her.

"Senior Brother?" She called out tentatively, but her voice could not travel far in the silent forest before being swallowed up, without any response.

She continued walking forward, the fallen leaves crunching softly under her feet.

Suddenly, she stepped on something hard and looked down. It was a broken jade token.

Shen Wenji was very familiar with the style of the jade token. It was the identity certificate for the inner disciples of the Hehuan Sect. She injected spiritual power into it, and the identity information on the jade token was revealed.

This is the eldest brother’s thing, it cannot be faked.

She examined it carefully and found some demonic energy fluctuations remaining at the broken part of the jade token, which showed that it had been damaged not long ago.

Demons? Shen Wenji's heart sank, and he had a bad premonition.

At this moment, the bushes not far ahead suddenly moved.

Shen Wenji immediately became alert, and a spiritual force slashed out. She gripped the sword at her waist tightly and shouted in a deep voice: "Who is there?"

The bushes parted, and a tall figure slowly walked out.

The person in front of him was dressed in black, and his figure was somewhat similar to that of the eldest brother, but his face was covered with a black cloth, so his appearance could not be seen clearly.

"Junior Brother Shen, how are you?" His voice was hoarse, as if he was seriously injured.

He called her Junior Brother? Shen Wenji suddenly realized that something was wrong. This person was not the Senior Brother. Why did he deliberately pretend?

Shen Wenji frowned and asked bluntly, "Who are you? Why are you pretending to be someone else?"

The man chuckled: "Brother, what are you talking about? If I'm not your brother, then who am I?"

As he spoke, he slowly raised his hand, as if preparing to remove the black cloth from his face.

Shen Wenji didn't dare to relax at all. She stared closely at the other party's movements, ready to take action at any time.

When the man lifted the black cloth, he looked exactly like the eldest senior brother!

He's not pretending? Shen Wenji was stunned. No, it's not that simple. She wanted to see more clearly, but the man in black in front of her suddenly shook and ran away.

"Stop!" Shen Wenji chased the black figure through the woods. The other party's movements were sometimes fast and sometimes slow, and he always managed to keep a distance when she was about to catch up, as if he was deliberately guiding her in a certain direction.

Until a dilapidated house appeared in front of them, the man in black flashed and completely disappeared behind the door.

Looking around, Shen Wenji guessed that there might be an ambush, but the clues could not be broken at the moment.

She first sent a quick message to the Hehuan Sect, then took the Hundred Medicine Pills her mother had given her from her storage ring and swallowed them. After taking them, not only would they resist any poison or incense for two hours, but they could even keep her alive in the face of death. This was her last resort.

After getting everything ready, she gripped her sword tightly, stepped on tiptoe, and rushed into the house.

The yard was overgrown with weeds, and the door of the main house was ajar, with faint candlelight shining through.

She walked carefully to the door, but she didn't expect it to open without her pushing it.

A strange sweet fragrance wafted towards me from inside the house, carrying a hint of charm. When it entered my nostrils, it actually slowed down the flow of my spiritual energy.

"Not good." Shen Wenji thought to herself that something was wrong. Just as she was about to hold her breath and retreat, several vines suddenly appeared around her waist. She used the sword to chop them, and the vines let out a terrible howl, but refused to let go, wrapping around her waist and pulling her into the house.

The next second, the door behind her slammed shut, and she clearly heard the sound of the door being locked.

"Master Shen, now that we are here, let's make the best of it." Su Tengyue's voice came from the inner room, with a playful smile: "I prepared this incense especially for you. Does it smell comfortable?"

If it was an ordinary aphrodisiac incense, she would not be afraid at all as she had taken the Hundred Pills in advance. However, this aphrodisiac incense seemed to have the effect of suppressing spiritual power.

Although her mind is clear now, her spiritual power is dull. It won't be long before she can no longer use her spiritual power at all.

Shen Wenji tried to remain calm and glanced across the room. He found five or six female evil cultivators standing in the inner room. They were scantily clad and had evil eyes. They all had a cold aura and were obviously practicing some kind of evil technique to replenish their body.

"What exactly do you want to do?" Shen Wenji gripped his sword tightly, cold sweat oozing from his back.

This incense was far more powerful than she had imagined, and seemed to be mixed with the secret magic of the demon clan. But after a moment, she felt her limbs become a little weak, and the hand holding the sword began to tremble.

The promised infallible Hundred Pills could only keep her awake. Her limbs were weak, her spiritual energy was gone, and she was no different from a piece of fish on a chopping block.

This falsely advertised pill really hurt her badly.

-----------------------

The author has something to say: It seems that in a few chapters, I will drop the vest of the leader of the Hehuan Sect. I expect to be able to write it before next week [dog head]

Thank you for your support, little angels! Love you [red heart] bow! [fireworks]