The scene changes again; it's a dilapidated little house in the mortal world.

Outside the remote and impoverished village, cultivators flew back and forth on their swords, searching for people.

The boy was in a sorry state, his crimson robes stained with many dirt, but he didn't bother to cast a dust-removing spell on himself.

Black Owl couldn't resist casting a dust-removing spell on him, restoring his clean and vibrant appearance.

The boy smiled brightly at him, not at all like someone fleeing a disaster: "Why waste spiritual energy on this? It'll just get dirty again soon anyway."

He didn't say anything.

The boy's smile faded slightly, but it was still bright and dazzling: "Are you here to capture me like them, or are you simply looking for me?"

"I'm looking for you," Black Owl heard himself say, his voice less cold than before: "Come back to the Cold Imperial Palace with me."

"Will I be your pet, just like the rest of the Yun family are treated by the world?" the boy asked with a smile, tears welling in his clear eyes.

"The people of Hanyu Palace are not considered as human cultivators when they become spirit pets," Black Owl said decisively.

The young man smiled, a smile both poignant and captivating: "Ling Qing, what if I did this willingly?"

"Stop talking nonsense, I would never do such an inhuman thing to you." For the first time, Black Owl heard himself in the illusion growl angrily, and his heart ached as if it were being stabbed by a knife and axe.

“Then you can’t protect me. You will only bring annihilation to Han Yu Palace.” The boy hugged the black owl in the illusion and said, “Thank you. You made me realize that there is still a pure land in this world that can treat me, but I cannot defile it.”

After saying that, the boy pushed open the door and left.

"Where are you going?" Black Owl chased after him to the door and asked, holding the door open.

The boy casually raised his right hand, the back of which was facing him, and his voice was as roguish and irreverent as ever: "If you can't take me in, then don't come with me; don't worry, I have my own place to go."

Black Owl watched the boy's scarlet figure recede into the distance, and saw the cultivators above the small mountain village swarming towards the direction the boy had gone, as if they had discovered some rare prey.

His heart swelled with guilt, and the pain felt like it was about to burst.

But in his illusion, he heard the boy's voice echoing in his ears: "If you can't keep me, then don't come along."

"I know there is still a pure land in this world that can be my home, and I cannot defile or pollute it."

"Clouds!"

The name seemed to have lingered in my mind for countless lifetimes before I finally uttered it!

The scene eventually returned to that blood-red world.

The scarlet-clad youth was as broken as a rag doll that had been disassembled countless times, covered in blood and on the verge of death. Only when you saw him did his smile bloom as brightly as ever.

“I knew you would come,” he said.

Black Owl knelt beside him, his hands trembling as he reached out to him, but dared not touch him.

He, who was as cold and aloof as ice, finally melted, and tears streamed down his face.

"I regret it," Black Owl murmured, weeping softly with his illusionary self. His fingertips touched his tattered, blood-stained crimson robes, trembling like a withered leaf destined to fall in the autumn wind, unable to save itself. "I regret it... Cloud Sky, come back with me, be with me, I will protect you, for all eternity, I will protect you..."

"Han Yugong, don't you want it anymore?" The young man smiled brightly, his phoenix eyes clear: "I am a member of the Yun family, and I will only ever be a member of the Yun family. The Yun family is the source of chaos. If you stay with me, you will bring endless trouble to Han Yugong."

"Even without me, the Cold Imperial Palace is fine," Black Owl said, touching the boy's blood-stained, bruised hand.