Chapter 57 Night Escape "Sorry, I didn't see anything."...
Jiang Yuhuo was running away with her head in her hands, completely unaware of the inner monologue Lin Wuwang was putting on at her doorstep.
There was no time to turn back, nor could she turn back; the two behind her were still relentlessly pursuing her. She couldn't ride a bird, nor could she fly on a sword, otherwise she would have simply delivered her own name to the master and disciple.
Jiang Yuhuo channeled her spiritual power and fled under the cover of night as if her life depended on it. A sword aura attacked from behind, and she leaped from the rooftop and rolled to the ground, barely missing the sword aura.
These two were determined to kill her.
As soon as she landed, Jiang Yuhuo immediately scaled several more walls, weaving and hiding in other people's courtyards. But the people behind her still wouldn't let her go. Not only did the master and apprentice not let her go, but even the culprit flew after her.
Jiang Yuhu landed behind the eaves of a house and chased away the crow that was following her closely, "Go away, go away, what are you doing getting involved? Go, help me distract them."
This time, the crow understood her words and cleverly flew away. It landed on a tall tree not far away, cawed a few times in a hoarse voice, and all the birds in the tree scattered in a flurry, as if startled.
The pursuers immediately noticed the commotion in the tree and, assuming the eavesdropper had climbed it, the master and apprentice quickly gave chase. Upon reaching the tree, however, they found no one there.
But this interruption allowed Jiang Yuhuo to escape their pursuit.
Undeterred, the two began searching back again.
Jiang Yuhuo moved silently on the eaves, trying to slowly move herself out of their sight.
As if sensing something, the Peak Master of Chongyuan suddenly turned around, but there was no one in the sky above the building behind him.
Ning Yu also looked around intently, but the night was quiet and there was no sound. She frowned and said angrily, "Damn it, that thief got away."
Qinglin's face was also gloomy. "You go and guard the inn's exit, and I'll guard the top floor. I don't believe that person won't come back." Her eyes turned cold. "If they don't come back, we'll set off first thing tomorrow morning to see who's not there, and then we'll know who that person is."
Jiang Yuhuo clung to a protruding pillar in the wall with her bare hands. The moment the Peak Master Chongyuan glanced over, he almost saw her. In a moment of panic, she jumped off the eaves. Fortunately, there was a protrusion in the wall for her to grab onto, so she didn't fall to the ground and make a sound. No one knew that she was silently hanging on the back of the wall.
After hanging there for a while without hearing any movement from those chasing her, Jiang Yuhuo relaxed and was looking for a place to rest when she saw a window on the wall beside her. The window was wide open, and it was pitch black inside, seemingly an empty room. Without thinking twice, she slipped through the window.
Almost the instant she landed, two pairs of eyes shot towards her from inside the room.
In the darkness, one stood and one sat. The standing man was whispering something in the ear of the seated person, whose back was to the window. The person sitting was not visible in the darkness, only a head of long, loose hair could be seen, and the outline seemed to be that of a woman.
How did she end up witnessing this again?
"Who goes there?" The man rushed past the woman and was about to reach her.
Jiang Yuhuo caught a glimpse of the clothes on the clothes rack by the window out of the corner of her eye, and immediately grabbed them and covered herself with them. "Sorry, I didn't see anything."
With that, he leaped out again, donned the black cloak he had been given, and disappeared into the night, trying to clear himself of suspicion.
But the two people inside the house obviously didn't think so. Jiang Yuhuo quickly turned around and looked back, and two more figures followed behind her.
Unlike the Peak Master of Chongyuan Peak and Ning Yu, who were afraid of making a commotion, the two did not seek a hidden route. They flew straight towards Jiang Yuhuo, and ordinary obstacles could not stop them. Their momentum was fierce.
Both are having affairs, so why are these two able to do it so openly?
Not knowing the whereabouts of the master and disciple, Jiang Yuhuo dared not use Kunlun's flying sword. She simply wrapped her black cloak tightly around herself, trying to become invisible in the darkness. However, the two seemed to have eyes that could see through anything, and no matter where she hid, she was always quickly discovered. Thus, she could only begin another round of escape, like a mouse being watched by a cat.
Jiang Yuhuo felt utterly exhausted as she fled. Choosing to go out tonight was a huge mistake; she should have listened to that white-robed cultivator and stayed in her room.
After running for an unknown amount of time, Jiang Yuhuo climbed over a tall building, jumped off the high wall, and landed on the soft lawn.
The two men not far away paused in their pursuit after seeing her climb over the wall.
"Young Master, she escaped into that place. Should we still pursue her?" the man asked respectfully to the person beside him.
The man with long, flowing hair glared at him. "Why are you still chasing after her? Are you afraid those people won't recognize you?" Looking at the high wall in front of him, the man with long hair smiled meaningfully. "Hmph, she took my clothes. She can't escape now."
Jiang Yuhuo had no idea what the people outside were thinking, nor did she know where she had wandered into. She was still gripped by the fear of being caught by a cat and moved stealthily along the dark base of the wall.
She moved to the end of the wall; it was time to turn.
With a turn of her head, she saw a young girl kneeling in the main hall behind the wall, staring straight at her.
Jiang Yuhuo's stealthy movements froze instantly.
In her panic, she wandered into the temple of Falling Moon City.
Several candles burned deep within the main hall, illuminating the faces of several statues of gods. A girl in white robes knelt beneath a huge statue. The girl looked at her without malice, instead raising a finger to shush her, and then pointing to the void above, as if afraid she would disturb someone.
But the person upstairs, who had been concentrating with their eyes closed, still heard it and instructed the messenger beside them, "Go and see what's going on downstairs?"
The kneeling white-robed envoy responded and then got up to go and check.
The girl in the hall pointed vaguely in the direction of Jiang Yuhuo, and the streetlights carved from the stones on the ground gradually lit up, revealing a path paved with stone slabs.
As soon as the candle was lit, the rats that had been scurrying about in the dark were completely exposed to the light.
The girl in the hall beckoned to Jiang Yuhuo, her smile conveying a sense of friendliness. The two people behind her did not follow, and Jiang Yuhuo had no other choice but to walk along the stone path she had illuminated towards the temple.
The people upstairs had gotten up at some point and were taking in the whole scene below.
The disheveled outsider, draped in a black cloak, walked step by step toward the temple of light, as if summoned by the gods. Perhaps before long, this outsider would devote himself to the temple, offering everything he had to the gods.
He had seen too many devout believers like this, and his eyes remained unmoved. A short while later, the messenger brought a reply.
A lost bird came in to rest.
He remained silent, closed his blue eyes, and the world returned to darkness.
The white-robed girl kneeling in the hall took out a brand-new cushion and gave it to Jiang Yuhuo, indicating that she could kneel under the statue like herself.
Jiang Yuhuo didn't like kneeling, so she sat down cross-legged. The girl wasn't angry, but lowered her voice and said to her, "Tonight, Lord Jiayue is protecting the gods. You need to be quiet here, as he doesn't like being disturbed."
"Lord Gayue?"
"You don't know Lady Jia Yue?"
Jiang Yuhu shook his head.
The girl in white robes looked enlightened. "Then you must be a traveler who just arrived from outside. He is the patriarch of Tianque, the future heir of the sect." She smiled. "It's rare that he's on duty at our temple tonight."
Seeing that Jiang Yuhuo didn't react, the girl smiled mysteriously and whispered in her ear, "I'll let you in on a secret, we all think he's the most handsome man in Luoyue City."
Jiang Yuhuo didn't care about that. What puzzled her was the girl in front of her, who asked her to stay without even asking why she had come. "Aren't you going to send me away?"
The girl in white robes gave a gentle smile. Although she was younger than her, her gaze was full of kindness. She crossed her arms in front of her chest and nodded slightly under the statue. "Since the gods have guided you here, the temple will accept you. You may stay if you wish."
As she spoke, the girl pointed again, and all the streetlights that had just been lit went out, leaving only a few candles burning in the main hall within the high walls.
"Are you also a cultivator?" Jiang Yuhuo asked.
The girl smiled and shook her head.
"Then how can you do that?" Jiang Yuhu tried to channel her spiritual energy, imagining herself lighting the candle instantly like she did, but when she sent out her spiritual power, only one of the two rows of streetlights lit up shakily.
The girl clasped her hands together and smiled mysteriously, "It is all a gift from the gods."
Jiang Yuhuo looked at the tall statues of gods around him. The four stone statues were lifelike, but in the end they were just a pile of lifeless stones, receiving offerings day after day for hundreds of years. What could they give to mortals?
Jiang Yuhu frowned, seemingly skeptical. The white-robed girl's attack was clearly made with spiritual energy. If it wasn't cultivated, how could she acquire and control spiritual energy? Could there be another way to cultivate in Tianque? Jiang Yuhu wondered, realizing that Tianque's cultivation methods were indeed different from Kunlun's.
She knew she would encounter disciples of the Heavenly Palace in this competition, so she wanted to probe the true strength of the Heavenly Palace disciples from this girl's words, "Are all the disciples of the Heavenly Palace as powerful as you?"
The girl shook her head. "I am not a disciple of Tianque yet. I am just a temple attendant of the Luoyue City Temple." Her eyes suddenly lit up with hope. "But every year, Tianque selects one temple attendant from all the temples in Luoyue City to become a disciple. I will have the opportunity to become a disciple of Tianque in the future."
Jiang Yuhuo keenly sensed something unusual in her words, "How many temples are there in Luoyue City?"
"Thirteen seats."
"How many people are in front of each palace?"
"The fewest are seventy or eighty, and the most are over a hundred."
"..."
This level of competition is far too intense. No wonder there are so few people in the Heavenly Palace. But even the outer sect's palace guards have such powerful spiritual energy. Jiang Yuhuo dares not imagine what it's like for the disciples of a sect that are chosen from thousands.
This competition is unlikely to be easy.
Seeing that Jiang Yuhuo was very interested in entering the Heavenly Palace Sect, the young girl warmly invited her to stay and join the Temple. Entering Heavenly Palace through the Temple was already a relatively simple route.
Jiang Yuhuo pondered for a moment and said, "Thank you, I'll think about it."
She had no intention of betraying Kunlun for the time being, but she also did not want to reject the girl's good intentions outright.
Night had fallen, and she knew she couldn't return to the inn tonight, not only because of the curfew but also because she didn't want to be caught by the master and disciple. So she prepared to take a nap against the base of the statue. Luckily, she had the cloak she had taken. Although it wasn't as soft as a bed, it wasn't too uncomfortable against the stone base, and she was able to sleep soundly for a while when drowsiness came over her.
Whether it was the tranquility of the temple that calmed her mind or some other reason, she felt a long-lost coolness all over her body, and the heat in her body subsided. She was able to sleep peacefully for a while, just like an ordinary person.
When he awoke again, the girl in white robes was still kneeling beneath the statue, her hands clasped in front of her chest; she must have been awake all night. Seeing that dawn was breaking, Jiang Yuhuo didn't disturb her any longer, thanked the girl, and left.
Stepping out of the temple, Jiang Yuhu tapped her head. She hadn't slept long, but it was very peaceful. However, in her dream, she seemed to feel someone constantly whispering something in her ear. The words were very clear in her dream; she even repeated them in her sleep. But upon waking, she couldn't remember anything.
Or maybe it's just a dream?
Jiang Yuhuo didn't have time to think too much. Her top priority was to blend in with the Kunlun disciples right under the noses of that master and disciple and enter Tianque Mountain to participate in the competition.
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