A cool breeze caressed their faces, and people who were initially irritated by the sweltering heat began to enjoy themselves. Then, a cold front arrived, driving away the heat and bringing a spring-like warmth to the entire city.

In a secluded clearing in the forest, Gu Liyan and Mo Chen sat facing each other. Around them were many blue crystal-like spirit stones. As they absorbed the energy from the spirit stones, the blue spirit stones turned grayish-white and eventually became ordinary stones that fell to the ground from mid-air.

When the last spirit stone turned into an ordinary stone, Mo Chen slowly opened his eyes, glanced at the stones of all sizes around him, and sighed, "You really went all out to help her!"

When Gu Liyan heard Mo Chen ask, she opened her eyes and said, "Actually, my father stuffed these into my Nine Springs Token at some unknown time."

"Your father wants you to improve your cultivation, not for you to chase after girls!" Mo Chen sighed and said.

Gu Liyan pouted and said, "Have you forgotten? I can't use it at all without a demon core."

"No demon core? I saw you had plenty of demonic power just now!" Mo Chen sized up Gu Liyan. "Have you learned some secret technique?"

"I don't have any secret techniques," Gu Liyan said, shrugging.

"Sigh, only a spendthrift like you would use nearly a thousand spirit stones to change the weather for a city!" Mo Chen shook his head helplessly as he looked at the city bathed in a gentle breeze, muttering under his breath, "Spendthrift! Spendthrift..."

“We’re not just saving one city, but the entire city’s innocent people, tens of thousands of them!” Gu Liyan said with a serious expression. “Mo Chen, you’re becoming less and less compassionate.”

"Alright, alright, you're right!" Seeing that Gu Liyan's expression was off, Mo Chen quickly changed his tune, not wanting to argue with him anymore.

“Now that we’ve exhausted our energy, just like ordinary people, do you still plan to go back to Qingge’s side?” Mo Chen asked, glancing at Gu Liyan.

“You’ll recover in a few days, why don’t you go back?” Gu Liyan said, then sensed the location of his other self, his expression changed, and he shook his head, saying, “My split soul has already entered the palace. I think it’s better if I go back and explain things to avoid any misunderstandings. How about this, I’ll go back first by myself, and you can come back when your strength has recovered.”

"Alright! That's all for now, I'm going to find Xiao Hei." Mo Chen was overjoyed and left immediately!

Seeing that Mo Chen had disappeared in the blink of an eye, Gu Liyan smiled wryly, "This guy must have been cooped up by my side, no wonder he ran away..."

After clearing away the useless spirit stones on the ground, Gu Liyan left and walked down the mountain.

Not long after they left, they saw a veiled woman lying by the roadside, her life hanging in the balance.

Gu Liyan wondered, "How could there be an ordinary woman in these deep mountains?"

Without thinking much, he stepped forward, helped the woman up, and checked her over. "It looks like she fainted due to heatstroke."

With no one around, Gu Liyan thought for a moment, then picked up the woman and carried her down the mountain. Once down, seeing houses in the distance, Gu Liyan wondered, "Was this house there when I came up the mountain? Could I be mistaken?"

Gu Liyan walked towards the house, stood outside the door and called out, "Is anyone home?"

As soon as she finished speaking, an elderly woman with gray hair came out of the room. "Ahem...who is it?"

"I am..." Before Gu Liyan could speak, the old man saw the girl on his back and exclaimed in surprise, "Xiao Wei! My daughter! What happened?"

Gu Liyan stared in surprise as the old woman walked briskly towards her. She paused for a moment, then realized what she meant and said, "Grandma, are you her relative? I saw her faint when I came down the mountain, so I was carrying her..."

Before Gu Liyan could finish speaking, the old man grabbed him as if afraid he would run away, and said urgently, "Come in quickly! Put Xiaowei on the bed!"

Gu Liyan glanced at the old man with some surprise, but said nothing. He went in and laid Xiao Wei down on the dilapidated bed.

"Since everything's alright, I'll be going now," Gu Liyan said, glancing at the somewhat dazed old man.

The old man paused, then looked up coldly at Gu Liyan and said, "Stop!"

Gu Liyan's heart sank, and she turned to look at the old man.

"My daughter hasn't woken up yet, you're not allowed to go anywhere! Otherwise, I'll report you to the authorities and have you arrested!" The old man pointed at Gu Liyan angrily, and then walked out and locked the door.

Gu Liyan asked anxiously, "Grandma, what are you doing?"

"Hmph, I'll go find a doctor for my precious daughter right now! You just stay here quietly, and if you dare to do anything to my daughter, I'll report you to the authorities!" came the old woman's voice from outside the door.

Gu Liyan was both amused and exasperated: If you want to keep me here, you don't have to resort to this method, do you?

Gu Liyan glanced at Xiao Wei on the bed and sighed, "I know you're awake and you want to get close to me, but there's no need to exhaust an old man's life to play along with your act, is there?"

Upon hearing Gu Liyan's words, Long Wei, who was lying on the bed, sat up, opened her eyes, and smiled, saying, "I knew it! You're so smart, I couldn't hide anything from you!"

Gu Liyan looked at Long Wei without saying anything.

Long smiled and said, "This old woman raised her three sons and two daughters with great difficulty, but her children stayed in the city to enjoy wealth and luxury, while ignoring her completely. Not one of them even offered to support her, leaving her alone in the deep mountains." Long squinted as he spoke.

"With such hot weather, the old woman's first thought was of her children. She wanted to go down the mountain to tell them to come up and escape the heat." At this point, Long Wei's eyes flashed with anger. "If it weren't for you and that guy who controls the wind, the old woman probably would have collapsed from exhaustion halfway up..."

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