The old man also treated Jun Luoying, whom he had watched grow up since childhood, with the same love and care he would give to his own daughter.

Therefore, aside from feeling sorry for Jun Luoying, he didn't think she had done anything wrong.

On their return journey, they brushed past Black Owl again, but this time Jun Luoying was too preoccupied with her sorrow to even glance at him.

Black Owl watched them with great interest until they were far away, a cold smile playing on his lips.

Jinluan poked her little head out from his arms, puzzled, and asked, "Master, that pretty sister looks really sad, but you seem happy instead. Do you have a grudge against her?"

“Yes, there is hatred, hatred that kills the heart and kills the love.” Black Owl transmitted his thoughts and taught Jin Luan: “Jin Luan, you must remember, never judge a book by its cover in the cultivation world. Perhaps the more righteous those people are, the more cruel and dark they are behind the scenes.”

"Heartbreak and murder? She killed my mistress?" Jin Luan asked, bewildered.

"Did you learn that word from Ghost Face?" Black Owl chuckled lightly, patting Golden Phoenix's little head to let it hide away again.

"Mianmian looks down on Qingluan and me because we're too young, he won't play with us," Jinluan complained, snuggling back into Heixiao's arms.

"That's his loss. He won't have the chance to play with you for a while now," Black Owl said, chatting idly with Golden Luan out of sheer boredom. His longing for her was like wild grass growing uncontrollably in the wilderness.

Jun Luoying returned to her residence in Nianzi City, dismissed her attendants, and went straight into the secret room of her own room.

The secret chamber was carved from a single piece of ice that was about two meters high and three meters wide and had been frozen for hundreds of thousands of years.

The four corners of the secret room were piled high with ice crystals that had been formed over thousands of years.

The entire secret chamber was icy cold; if an ordinary person were to approach it, their blood would freeze into ice crystals.

In the center of the secret chamber was an ice couch carved from black ice that had been there for hundreds of thousands of years, and a man was lying on it.

The man wore a snow-white robe and had a tall, slender figure.

His features were as beautiful as a peach blossom, yet his eyes possessed a cool, frosty quality; his long eyes were gently closed, and his thin lips were like ice.

He was none other than Ling Qing, the sect leader of the Han Yu Sect.

Jun Luoying rushed to Ling Qing's body in a panic, like a wronged little princess. She threw herself onto Ling Qing's cold body and choked with sobs, "Ling Qing, Ling Qing, I met someone who looks just like you, but I lost him. Is he your reincarnation? Tell me, is he your reincarnation?"

Ling Qing, being merely a corpse, could neither hear her cries nor offer her any response.

Jun Luoying, however, treated him as if he were still alive, and carefully cupped his face.

Holding this face, a face that only he could touch after he fell into eternal sleep.

"Ling Qing, it's been almost a thousand years. You should have felt my heart for you, and you should have understood that no one in this world loves you more or treats you more sincerely than I do. But when will you respond to me? When will you come back to my side?"

"Please open your eyes and look at me, just once, just once..."

"Ling Qing, rest assured, I will always protect your body; as long as I get your soul, I will help your soul leave your body and return to your old body; at that time, you will still be you, you will not change, and I will not change, and we will be together forever."

In a secluded room unknown to anyone, Jun Luoying nestled beside Ling Qing's body, murmuring incessantly in a self-hypnotic manner.

Black Owl, who was rushing to Danzong without stopping, suddenly felt a chill run down his spine.