The newcomer laughed, and although his entire face was hidden under a mask, one could still clearly sense how happy he was.

"Yuwen Yao, it's so good that you're alive."

The tone was familiar, yet it was chillingly cold.

"Xu Yiran, what are you standing there for? Do you really want me to save you?"

The masked man's gaze suddenly fell on Xu Yiran, and his voice was both a suggestion and a command.

Yuwen Yao's face was as cold as frost. Taking advantage of this moment, he scooped up Nan Lingqin with his long arm and pulled her into his arms. He looked at Xu Yiran with obvious hostility.

"Don't worry about me. With this kind of encirclement, you have no chance of escaping."

Xu Yiran's voice was cold and sharp.

Nan Lingqin watched as he walked step by step toward the masked man.

“You knew all along, so you deliberately lured me here.” Nan Lingqin’s gaze fell on Xu Yiran.

No, he doesn't know.

The masked man was actually giving an explanation.

"An Shangning is in your hands?" Nan Lingqin pressed.

"certainly."

As he answered, the masked man waved his hand lightly, and Li Qingru, who had been standing timidly to the side, was pulled aside by him. She almost fell to the ground because she was unsteady.

"waste."

Li Qingru trembled at the reprimand and dared not utter a sound.

"waste?"

Hearing those two words and looking at the body on the ground that had turned into blood, Nan Lingqin sneered, her brows furrowing even more solemnly, "You actually used someone else's body to do your own thing."

"Haha, as expected of the daughter of the Cloud Clan Chief, you actually saw through my use of cloud magic as a puppet."

The masked man laughed loudly, "That's right, that one just now was nothing more than a puppet. And if I wanted, I could have hundreds, thousands, tens of thousands of puppets like that..."

"So, you used the same method to control those 50,000 Yun Clan members."

"nature."

"Therefore, you know cloud magic, and you use it extremely skillfully."

Nan Lingqin asked firmly, "Who exactly are you?"

"Who am I? Hahaha..."

The man put his hands behind his back, looked up at the sky and laughed loudly, "Who am I? I will be the master of all these people."

"You're dreaming."

"No, no, no, I wasn't dreaming. What you should be considering right now is whether to surrender without suffering any pain, or whether we need you for a while. Oh, no, you're still useful, so we can't let you die for now, but... An Shangning, and his sister... well, speaking of which, they don't really have any value anymore."

"You dare!" Nan Lingqin roared in anger, her aura icy, her face frosty, her starry eyes sharp as blades, showing no sign of backing down.

This matter concerns the nation's well-being and the people's livelihood. The aura emanating from these two individuals seems to be not that of ordinary people, but rather a special aura emanating from the Cloud Clan, formed and emanating from Cloud Arts.

then……

Nan Lingqin's face turned pale, her breath caught in her throat, and she took several steps back.

"Qin'er".

Yuwen Yao quickly grabbed her.

"Oh, by the way, even if you try to struggle, you'll definitely have the upper hand. Look behind me, these aren't ordinary people. They're puppets I raised with my blood and controlled with cloud magic. Each one of them is strong enough to take on a hundred. Hmm, Tingfeng..."

The masked man looked at Tingfeng and Tingyu, who were blocking Yuwen Yao's way, and smiled. "I think they are no match for you either."

Upon hearing this, Tingfeng and Tingyu, who had just appeared, stiffened slightly. They also sensed that these men in black seemed to have no flesh and blood, with dull eyes and each of them breathing at the same frequency.

But hearing such a fact is still quite shocking.

"But I won't go with you. I will definitely rescue An Shangning. If I end up in prison because of her, she will be heartbroken if she finds out. After all, that day..."

Nan Buqin looked at Zhuidamu, who had appeared earlier, and said with some sarcasm, "She always thought that if she hadn't trusted Zhuidamu so much that day, I wouldn't have fallen off the cliff."

Zhuidamu's expression tightened, and his thick eyebrows furrowed.

Yes, Nan Lingqin saw it. She realized that he might switch sides with Xu Yiran to save An Shangning, so these words were a reminder to him.

He had already wronged Anshang Ningji, and if he did it again... she would never forgive herself for the rest of her life.

"And what about Yuwen Yao?"

The masked man's voice was cold and filled with maniacal laughter, "You really think that by using cloud magic to remove the twin Gu from his body, he can live to be a hundred years old?"

The masked man's words made Nan Lingqin's breath catch in her throat. She immediately looked at Yuwen Yao, "You..."

"Hehe, you know cloud magic, and so do I, Nan Lingqin. There's something you might not know about me, but I can remind you: cloud magic is incredibly profound. It seems you've removed the Gu poison from his body, freeing him from his shackles. However, the Gu poison in Yuwen Qingyue's and Yuwen Shi's bodies has also been removed—no, absorbed, not removed. So, transferring this absorbed Gu poison to someone else, someone who has previously been afflicted with twin Gu poison, I think, won't be that difficult..."

"You won't get what you want."

Yuwen Yao stepped forward, his gaze fixed on the masked man in the cold night wind, then coldly looked at Xu Yiran, "She won't go with you."

Xu Yiran's eyebrows furrowed slightly. Their eyes met, and he looked at Yuwen Yao with a chilling gaze.

"Xiao Qin, do you want Yuwen Yao to die? Do you want An Shangning to die?"

He looked at Nan Lingqin.

Nan Lingqin patted her chest. Yes, she had to admit that, right now, the masked man's cloud magic was far superior to hers, and she believed that even without the puppets behind him, they might not be able to win.

“I’ll go with you, but I want to see An Shangning alive.”

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