Chapter 11

Above the West Sea, a massive, inky ship silently sliced ​​through the gray-blue waves like a sharp blade. Shen Qing and Su Hong stood at the bow, their clothes fluttering, their faces even more gloomy than the gloomy sky.

The Young Sect Master had been abducted before their very eyes, a fact weighing heavily on their hearts like a huge rock. Lin Yibai was not only the Young Sect Master, but also the child they had watched grow up. To Su Hong, she was even their own blood niece. Now, his life or death was uncertain. Although the Sect Master had sent a message stating that he had requested the intervention of Elder Yu, who had been in seclusion for many years, the lingering uneasiness and anxiety still gnawed at their minds like a thorn in their flesh.

The two of them each had their own thoughts and were speechless, with only the sobbing sea breeze.

Suddenly, when they were still about ten miles away from the fishing village marked on the map, the nostrils of the two men twitched imperceptibly almost at the same time, and their faces changed suddenly!

——What was carried by the wind was no longer the familiar salty and fishy sea air, but a suffocatingly strong stench mixed with burnt flesh and coagulated blood!

"Not good!" Su Hong's pupils shrank sharply, and her eyes met Shen Qing's. The next moment, the two figures vanished from the deck, transforming into two streaks of light, one red and one blue, tearing through the sea breeze and rushing towards the coast at a terrifying speed.

The moment their figures landed, even these two experienced elders in the Heiqi stage were so shocked by the purgatory-like scene before them that their hearts trembled and their breath was choked.

The peaceful fishing village shown on the map, where smoke from cooking fires should have curled up, had vanished completely—all that remained was a dead, scorched earth. Broken walls were charred black, twisted beams emitted wisps of blue smoke, and a few charred, blurry outlines huddled among them, silently telling of the tragic final moments.

The air was filled with the foul smell of death and destruction. The scorching wind blew, carrying swirling ashes, and there was no trace of life.

"What's going on?!" Su Hong's beautiful eyes widened as she stared at the dead silence in disbelief. "Who on earth could have done this?"

"I didn't expect that you and I didn't stop for a moment, but we were still one step too late." Shen Qing looked at the scene in front of him, and a rare crack appeared on his calm face. His brows were furrowed, and his tone was so solemn that it seemed like water was about to drip out.

Su Hong stomped her foot violently, her red dress billowing like flames. She turned around and was about to vanish into a flash of light. "It must be the work of the devil who kidnapped Bai Bai! Let's give chase!"

"Wait!" Shen Qing grabbed her wrist with a steady hand. "The situation is unclear, don't be impulsive. Let's try to see if there are any survivors first."

After he finished speaking, he carefully took out a talisman from his sleeve.

Su Hong looked closely and saw that the talisman paper was made of extraordinary material, with a faint glow within it. The cinnabar talisman on it was extinguished, clearly a mysterious and extraordinary treasure. As Shen Qing pinched his fingers and injected pure spiritual power, the talisman spontaneously ignited without fire, transforming into a ball of clear and misty light.

As the glow was flowing, a fox with a flawless snow-white body and lively eyes as if it were a living creature jumped out. After landing lightly, it raised its nose slightly and sniffed the scorched earth. Then it turned into a white shadow and quickly and silently jumped into the depths of the ruins to search carefully.

Su Hong was surprised when she saw this: "This is... Elder Yu's 'Talisman Beast'. You actually obtained this thing?"

Shen Qing nodded slightly, his eyes following the fox spirit. "This mission is critical. The Sect Master specifically told me before we set out that, just in case, it would be safer to ask Elder Yu for a talisman."

"The Sect Master..." Su Hong's eyes moved slightly, revealing a complicated expression, "He is so predictable."

However, when this "divine calculation" was used at this moment, for some reason, it made her feel an inexplicable chill.

Just as she was lost in thought, she heard a series of rapid and clear cries coming from the fox spirit in the distance.

Just as he was losing consciousness, the fox spirit in the distance suddenly let out a series of rapid and clear chirps.

The two men, energized, moved instantly, appearing like ghosts where the fox spirit was. They saw the beast anxiously circling an enormous, charred beam, scratching at it with its front paws.

After the two looked at each other, Su Hong waved his sleeves, and the red spiritual power wrapped around one end of the beam like silk. With just a slight pull, he easily lifted the heavy beam off the ground.

——There were two curled up figures underneath!

The two rushed forward to check, only to see that one of them had been burned beyond recognition and was barely breathing. It seemed that there was no hope of saving him. Shen Qing only needed to take a look and shook his head, saying, "There's no hope."

Su Hong's heart leaped to her throat upon seeing this. Holding her breath, she turned her gaze towards the other person. Their face was now obscured by ash and half-melted debris. She took a deep breath, then cautiously stepped forward, gently brushing away the filth with her spiritual power... Then, a face, though stained with black ash, still vaguely recognizable as youthful, was revealed.

It's actually a teenager!

Su Hong's hands couldn't help but tremble slightly, and her voice carried a hint of unnoticeable hope: "Could it be..."

Without hesitation, Shen Qing took out the ancient bronze compass Lin Wuya had given him. The eerie, blood-red needle at the center of the compass trembled wildly, as if disturbed by some kind of interference. Then, it suddenly fixed, as if adjusted by an invisible hand, pointing firmly at the unconscious boy on the ground!

The tense nerves of both of them suddenly relaxed, and they both breathed a sigh of relief involuntarily.

"I actually...found it." Su Hong murmured, looking at the boy's pale face, with a complicated expression in his eyes.

*

At the same time, in the deep and dense forest, there is a cage of vines.

The darkness was as thick as solidified ink, and in the silence the only sound was each other's suppressed breathing.

"...You, you agreed?" Lin Yibai suddenly raised his head, trying hard to see the silent outline in the darkness, wondering if he was hallucinating due to extreme tension.

"If this succeeds, it will be beneficial to me. Since there is a glimmer of hope, why shouldn't I agree?" Yan Bujian's voice was still cold, without any emotion, as if he was just stating a deal with clear pros and cons, without any emotional color.

But these cold words, falling into Lin Yibai's ears, were incredibly sweet! A huge, unbelievable ecstasy washed over her like a tide, and then, for a moment, she lost herself in thought and blurted out her truest thoughts: "I, I thought you would never believe me... After all..."

After all, the whip marks are still there, the pain of being devoured by thousands of insects has not subsided, and the torture she inflicted on him is still vivid in his mind.

Yan Bujian was silent for a moment after hearing this, and said calmly: "This has nothing to do with whether I trust you or not."

The words were like a bucket of cold water, suddenly sobering her up. Yes, for him, this was just a rational trade-off and utilization in a desperate situation. Between her and him, there was still an insurmountable gap.

However, looking at this rare opportunity without any immediate tension, an idea couldn't help but pop up in her mind: Since the plot has collapsed to this point, does it mean... that she can try to reveal a little bit of her difficulties to Yan Bujian at this time?

Even if it can dispel one ten-thousandth of the hatred in the future, it would be fine.

So she took a deep breath, her voice filled with a desperate attempt and a hint of grievance that she herself hadn't even noticed, and she spoke softly: "Yan Bujian, if I say that what I did to you in the dungeon before...was not my own fault, would you believe me?"

As soon as she finished speaking, she clenched her hands nervously, waiting for the system's warning or punishment.

However, there was silence in my mind!

The system...is not responding?

After she realized what was happening, she almost cried for joy: Could it be that this shattered plot was her only chance to survive, a chance given to her by God to find an explanation?

At this moment, she felt Yan Bujian's gaze seemed to fall on her again, but with a little more scrutiny than before.

After a while, he slowly spoke. There was no belief or disbelief in his voice, only a cold inquiry: "...Then tell me why."

Lin Yibai was ecstatic, as if he had grabbed a life-saving straw, and hurriedly said: "It's all because of——"

[Warning! Detected that the host is about to reveal the core taboo! Serious OOC! Terminate immediately! Terminate immediately!]

Without warning, the cold mechanical sound pierced deep into her brain like a red-hot steel needle! It was followed by a familiar, soul-tearing pain!

"Well!"

Lin Yibai was caught off guard and let out a painful groan. All the words that were on the tip of his tongue were forcibly blocked back, leaving only cold sweat that instantly seeped out of his forehead.

She lowered her head in embarrassment and could not utter another word.

This sudden change, in Yan Bujian's eyes, presented a strange scene: she was eager to explain herself just now, but the next moment, it was as if an invisible evil spirit had grabbed her throat, and her whole body was convulsing and contracting painfully. The despair and pain that erupted in that instant were so real that they were shockingly real.

Could it be that this enchantress truly had some unspeakable hardship? Was there some unknown force preventing her from venting it to him?

Thinking of this, he couldn't help but shudder. Seeing her with her head down, curled up, and trembling slightly, she unexpectedly revealed a bit of fragility and pity. How could she be the arrogant and vicious young master he knew?

Then, somewhere in his heart, it was as if a very light feather had brushed against it, causing a very subtle loosening that he himself had not even noticed.

His lips moved, and the word "you..." almost came out of his mouth.

But the next moment, his returning rationality was like ice water pouring down on his head—

"Yan Bujian, are you crazy?" He suddenly woke up and scolded himself fiercely in his heart, "You actually started to sympathize with this demonic person? Those countless bones in the Bo Deng Sect dungeon, the whip wounds and insect bites on your body that have not yet healed, have you forgotten?! The demonic person of the demonic path is the best at deceiving people. Who knows if this is not her new trick to win your sympathy!"

That tiny, insignificant wavering feeling that had just sprouted was instantly crushed to dust. Looking at the girl in agony before him, his eyes froze again, colder and harder than ten-thousand-year-old ice, locking all the surging emotions back into the abyss, completely hushed, as if the brief stirring in his heart had never occurred.