Chapter 15

"You mean we're going to Yanmen Pass?"

Yang Yuan and A Lu sat in the room, discussing the situation. They knew they couldn't stay in the Ming Cult any longer. A Lu still held the jade pendant in her hand; the man in black could come looking for them at any moment. Since his purpose was so clear, Xue Hua naturally wanted to take her away from this bloody place.

The three sat at the table. Ye Min held a teacup, took a few sips, and stared at A Lu and Xue Hua with wide eyes. Yang Yuan sat in front of the Dongxianyin zither, rubbing the strings that were as smooth as ice silk.

Xue Hua clenched his fist on the table, while A Lu propped his head up; both of them stared out the door. The room was deathly silent.

Ye Min took a sharp sip from the empty teacup, making a loud, booming sound. A Lu raised an eyebrow, reached for the teacup, and took a sip.

Seeing that neither of them could make up their minds, Ye Min pursed her lips and said, "How about this? Since you two can't decide, I'll take her to Jiangnan. You both say the situation is critical, but I haven't seen either of you... in any hurry."

Xue Hua lowered his brows and then took a sip of the now-cold tea.

Alu glanced at Xue Hua, put down her cup, and said, "Since that's the case, then it's settled. You'll leave today, and the pilgrims will take you back."

"And what about you?"

The three men were taken aback and turned to look at Yang Yuan.

Yang Yuan looked up at A Lu.

“You think that if we leave now, we can get rid of this mess. But the jade pendant is in your hands. If they come looking for trouble with you, even if you leave alone, they will still come after me.”

Ah Lu lowered her head and smiled, looking at her: "It was my oversight."

Yang Yuan carefully wrapped the zither, slung it over her shoulder, straightened her green silk skirt, and, seeing the three people who hadn't moved yet, asked:

"What are you standing there for? Hurry up and pack your things and let's go."

"Where are we... going?" Ye Min stood up and asked.

"Return to Changge Gate."

The three people looked at each other in bewilderment.

Yang Yuan walked up to A Lu and said, “Since it’s clear that this matter is aimed at me, it won’t matter if I hide at the ends of the earth. They will definitely try their best to make another move. As long as I return to Changge Sect and report this matter to the sect leader, I may be able to find out who is behind this.”

Ah Lu chuckled easily as she looked at her.

When they left the Ming Cult, everyone packed their bags and prepared to depart. Ah Lu walked alone to the lakeside, looked at the reflection in the water, and reached out to scatter a handful of sand into it.

Brother Lu, you're back!

Brother Alu, why do you think the flowers of the Three Lives Tree always bloom so profusely?

Ge Yue hopes that Brother A Lu and Sister Yi Ta will be happy every day from now on!

"A-Lu," Ye Min called out.

He snapped out of his daze, leaped onto his horse, and the group rode off into the desert, braving the wind and sand.

Longmen Desert.

The sandstorm lashed at their faces, making it hard to open their eyes. A-Lu handed Yang Yuan a handkerchief to shield her face from the sand.

When they were about ten miles from Yumen Pass, Ye Min and Yang Yuan's horses suddenly became restless. After several attempts to calm them down failed, the group stopped at a stone wall to rest.

"Didn't you know to feed the horse when you came out?" A-Lu crossed her arms and looked at Young Master Ye, who was kneeling down to feed the horse grass.

"How was I supposed to know it would get hungry so easily... We've only walked this short distance." Ye Min fed it king grass with one hand and stroked the horse's thick neck with the other.

Xue Hua, holding a long sword and shield, stood guard vigilantly to the side. Just as he was about to turn around and speak to them, he suddenly noticed something flashing overhead. When he looked up, the blazing sun was scorching, making him sweat profusely.

Yang Yuan noticed that Xue Hua was acting strangely, so she went to his side and asked, "Xue Hua, what's wrong?"

He snapped out of his daze, shook his head, and half-embraced Yang Yuan as they walked back.

"What's wrong?" A-Lu asked, looking at Xue Hua's expression.

"It's strange, I always feel like someone's watching me..."

Ye Min fed the horses, adjusted their saddles, and walked over to them.

"What?! We've had two such capable people like you protecting us all this way, how could this happen..."

"call out--"

Before he could finish speaking, a crossbow bolt flew in front of him. Ah Lu quickly drew his scimitar and blocked it, causing the bolt to deflect off its trajectory, graze Ye Min's ear, and embed itself in the sand.

"There's an ambush!"

Xue Hua reacted immediately, shielding Yang Yuan behind him, while A Lu held Ming Wang tightly in her hand, her eyes scanning the surroundings.

Several figures emerged from the sand dunes.

A white horse carried a man dressed in black robes, and five masked men in black robes walked beside him. Xue Hua recognized the man; he was called Ye Zhanbai. He had seen someone wearing this robe before at Lingyan Pavilion, but had only brushed past him. He never expected to encounter him here again.

“Descendant of Aluling. You have broken your promise,” said the boy in black robes.

Ah Lu twisted her neck and raised her scimitar, pointing it at the person on horseback.

"Young Master, what does trust mean to someone like you who treats human life like dirt?"

"I only want that girl." The boy in black robes raised his hand and pointed at Yang Yuan behind Xue Hua.

Yang Yuan felt a pair of eyes silently staring at her amidst the vast sandstorm. It was as if a sand snake, hidden in the desert, was coiling around her and flicking its tongue at her face.

She instinctively grabbed Xue Hua's collar, and Xue Hua was startled, staring intently at the person in front of him.

The boy in black robes withdrew his hand and took the reins.

"Therefore, the only option is to seize it."

Ye Min raised the Ruoshui on his back and laughed wildly.

"Ha! Robbery? Go ask around Jiangnan, when has Young Master Ye ever had anything stolen from him? What's mine, nobody can touch it!"

A-Lu and Xue Hua turned to look at him at the same time, their eyes filled with doubt, as if to say, "Whose things are yours?"

Ye Min gathered his energy in his hand, and the sword energy emanating from the Weak Water hummed, triggering A Lu's Mingwang and Xue Hua's Shura Ghost Mask.

Xue Hua glanced at Yang Yuan's zither subconsciously.

The golden seven-stringed zither lay quietly on Yang Yuan's back, without making a sound.

"Clean it up."

The boy gave the order, and the five men in black launched a sudden attack.

As the man in black charged, A-Lu vanished into the desert in an instant. The figure had barely appeared when A-Lu flashed behind the man in black, his curved blade slicing through his clothes, piercing his skin, and penetrating his heart.

Ye Min darted ahead of Xue Hua, leaping aside the attacks of three men like a fish. His light sword clashed with the last man's blade, sparks flying. Reacting swiftly, he exchanged several blows with the man in black before immediately swinging his heavy sword. The heavy sword, forged from black iron, grazed his ribs and shattered his spleen. Taking advantage of his opponent's distraction, Ye Min unleashed a Cloud Soaring Jade Emperor, sending the man sprawling to the ground.

Ye Min hoisted the heavy sword onto his shoulder, facing A Lu, but before he could speak, a tearing sound of skin being ripped through a bag reached his ears.

When A-Lu came to her senses and saw him, she didn't have time to rush over before Ye Min crashed to the ground, leaving a trail of blood.

Behind Ye Min, a man in a Taoist robe drew a long sword from behind him.

The person had an exceptionally beautiful face, with skin as smooth as a baby's, a face like an egg, and lips as white as a flower. The light in their eyes shone as A-Lu charged forward, holding the Ming King aloft.

The man in the Taoist robe raised his sword to withstand the heavy blow. Just as A-Lu was about to retaliate, he struck A-Lu in the chest with his palm, pushing her ten feet away.

The longsword in his hand rang incessantly. He rushed forward, and with a wave of his hand, sword energy overflowed from the blade, heading towards A-Lu's heart.

Suddenly, the sound of a zither resounded throughout the desert. Not only the man in black robes on horseback, but also the man in Taoist robes paused for a second and looked toward the source of the sound.

Xue Hua single-handedly withstood the attacks of three people, slowing down their speed. Yang Yuan stood behind him, holding the Dongxian Yin in front of her. She flipped her hand and played the zither, the music vibrating from the strings and flowing into azure notes beyond the strings. Yang Yuan looked up and waved her hand at the man in the Taoist robe. A large amount of internal force surged out of the azure thread, shaking off the sword energy.

Taking advantage of the opportunity, A-Lu leaped into the air and kicked the sword of the man in the Taoist robe, bouncing back to Yang Yuan's side.

He turned around and saw Yang Yuan swaying precariously, clutching her zither.

"Yang Yuan!" A Lu anxiously tried to step forward to support her. Yang Yuan's face was pale and she was sweating profusely. It was unclear whether she was weak because she had forcibly used her internal energy to manipulate the Cave Immortal Guide.

How are you?

"Help Xue Hua. Quickly..."

Time gave him little choice. A-Lu brandished his sword and charged toward Xue Hua, who was parrying sword and blade strikes from all directions.

He was, after all, human, but fighting on the battlefield was different. His body was covered in wounds, large and small, staining his sleeves, yet he continued to persevere.

However, Ah Lu's separation allowed the man in the taekwondo uniform to take advantage of the situation.

Just as A-Lu realized something was wrong, she tried to pull Xue Hua away, but Xue Hua shoved her away abruptly. He raised the Asura Ghost Mask, gathered his energy on the shield, and threw it at the man in black. The shield flew away unnoticed, trailing a long trail of bloody energy, before returning to his hand.

“Very good, that way they won’t be able to separate.”

The man in the Taoist robe chuckled lightly, his sword flashing with fierce energy as he thrust it towards Yang Yuan.

Before A Lu could react, he was stabbed in the waist. He flipped his hand and slashed the other man's throat with his knife. Before he could reach Yang Yuan, a black figure flashed in front of him and rushed in front of Yang Yuan, taking the blow.

Xue Hua used his own body.

Yang Yuan couldn't see Xue Hua's face; in front of her was his shield, and behind it was Xue Hua, who had been pierced.

Her eyes widened, her lips trembled, and the Cave Immortal Guide fell to the ground. She couldn't care less about it. She wanted to push the shield away, but she had no strength at all.

Xue Hua looked at the blood on the ground, flowing from his mouth. He raised his head and looked at Yang Yuan's increasingly blurry face. He released his Mo Dao, reached out, and wanted to hug her, but the long sword on his back was suddenly drawn, draining all his strength.

As A-Lu watched Xue Hua fall, the curved blades in her hands emitted two blinding beams of light, one yellow and one blue. She then swung the sharp blades down at the man in the Taoist robe.

Yang Yuan couldn't see A Lu fighting with the man, nor could she see the black-robed man on horseback approaching her. She simply caught Xue Hua's body, and looked down; his eyes weren't even closed.

Yang Yuan struggled to lift him up, brushed his hair aside, wiped the blood off his exposed face, and made him close his eyes.

When she raised her head again, the man in black robes was standing in front of her.

She saw her eyes.

It is a deep, still blue, like water.

“He’s dead,” the man in black said.

Yang Yuan lowered her head and reached for the Mo Dao.

The man in black robes realized something was wrong and tried to snatch the knife, but the cold blade had already sliced ​​through Yang Yuan's palm.

The blood became like nectar in the desert, flowing like water into the cave on one side.

Xue Hua, I don't know who you are, I don't know your identity. You brought me out of Changge Sect, took me to find my parents, and protected me along the way. I was very happy.

But you left me in Chengdu, and I was so scared. I felt terrified, wanted to cry, wanted to scream. But I couldn't! If I did, you would hate me, and I was so afraid you would hate me.

When you came to find me, all I felt was gratitude that you had come back to me.

I like you, you know that?

The Cave Immortal Guide was stained with Yang Yuan's blood, and a thick, pungent stench filled the air. But the blood flowed rhythmically into the emerald phoenix's body, being absorbed continuously until it suddenly emitted a blinding light.

The woman in black robes had no time to dodge the music and was struck directly in the abdomen, thrown several feet away. The man in Taoist robes caught her, and the two flew away.

Blood energy permeated the body of the Dongxian Yin zither, radiating a red glow. It was like a newborn child, crying uncontrollably.

Yang Yuan held Xue Hua in her arms, her face contorted in pain, her teeth clenched tightly around her pale lips, and tears, like the wounds on her hands, flowed like a rushing stream into a river, growing ever longer.

"Xue Hua... Xue Hua!... Ah!!!!!!!!!"

Ye Min, lying in a pool of blood, regained some consciousness. He vaguely heard the crying gradually growing louder. He slowly opened his eyes and saw only corpses all over the ground and Xue Hua, who was already dead in Yang Yuan's arms.

He fell to the ground, one hand covering his face, tears streaming down his face, soaking his hair and the sand. Ye Min bit her lip to keep her sobs from being heard.

Ah Lu clutched his stomach wound, unable to support himself, and knelt on the ground. His body was covered in wounds, a shocking sight. But he didn't care about any of that. The only little girl in his eyes was crying so bitterly. He knew that the wounds in her heart would never heal.