Chapter 40 The Mohist School of Central Plains (4) Soul Imprint
"Are we really leaving like this?" Shi Yubai followed behind Fu Yunyao, watching her walk closer and closer to the city gate, somewhat incredulous.
"You didn't really come all this way just to find your jade hairpin, did you?"
"Otherwise what?" Fu Yunyao retorted.
Shi Yubai was greatly shocked. "Didn't you say that demons had appeared in Zhongzhou and that you were coming to investigate?"
Xuan Kui, who was lazily wrapped around his wrist, also symbolically shook its tail tip in agreement. He was being watched by the two of them and couldn't do anything, which made him quite depressed.
"Ah." Fu Yunyao responded softly, "The elders of the Yaotai Realm asked me to come, so I'm here."
Shi Yubai: ...So this is how you came to be?
His handsome eyes narrowed slightly. "Fu Yunyao, something's not right with you."
"Is that so?" Fu Yunyao asked back, "Your steps haven't stopped."
"Are we really going back like this? Aren't you curious whether those who escaped from the Demon-Slaying Bureau were human or demon? Aren't you the most chivalrous, kind, and gentle person? Aren't you going to help them?"
Shi Yubai asked several questions in a row.
Fu Yunyao finally stopped and answered his questions one by one.
"You've known me for so long, you should know, even if you don't understand me completely, that I've never been a warm-hearted person. Besides, they are capable of handling this themselves and don't need our help."
She paused for a moment, looked at the bustling alleyway, and spoke again.
"As for whether you can really go back, I think even if you wanted to go back now, you couldn't."
"Da, da, da."
A well-organized city guard appeared at the city gate, and another group of demon hunters surrounded the alley entrance.
"The Mo family leader has ordered that a fugitive has escaped from prison. In order to ensure the safety of the people in the city and to capture the fugitive, these people are requested to stay in their rooms and not go out."
Shi Yubai blinked, looking at Fu Yunyao with a strange expression. He pointed to himself, then to her, "Can't we leave either?"
"Gentlemen." A demon hunter appeared before Fu Yunyao and Shi Yubai, speaking very respectfully, "Our patriarch invites you."
Shi Yubai blinked slowly, looking at Fu Yunyao. Xuan Kui, wrapped around his wrist, swept his skin lightly with its dragon tail.
The demon hunter gestured to the two people in front of him, saying, "Please."
As they walked toward the Mo family, Shi Yubai lowered his voice and spoke to Fu Yunyao, "You guessed it all along?"
"No," Fu Yunyao replied casually.
With a question mark above his white hair, Shi Yu asked, "Then what are you going to do?"
Fu Yunyao raised her eyebrows slightly, mimicking his lowered voice in a very gentle tone, "Don't you think it's quite fun?"
...What's fun about that? Are we waiting for the Mohists to be in a real bind and come asking us for help?
This was the first time Shi Yubai had felt that playful, childlike nature in her since they met again after a ten-year separation.
Perhaps it was because his complex expression was too fascinating that Fu Yunyao couldn't help but laugh.
She began to explain, "I met someone quite interesting in the dungeon of the Demon Suppression Bureau."
Shi Yubai: "So you're still leaving?"
Xuan Kui on his wrist patted him in agreement, almost depriving him of an amusing incident.
He didn't hold back, and Shi Yubai's wrist turned red. He narrowed his eyes slightly and reached out to threatenly pinch the tip of Xuan Kui's tail.
Xuan Kui paused for a moment, then drooped its tail again, looking dejected.
The demon hunter led them to a tightly closed door and stood at the doorway, saying, "Please come in, gentlemen."
The door was opened, and the interior was completely exposed to them.
In the empty room, a person was bound by chains and knelt in the center. The wide sleeves of his clothes had slipped down to his wrists, revealing pale skin.
Upon noticing the newcomer, he slowly raised his head. His face was covered by a mask, revealing only a pair of dark red eyes. He met Fu Yunyao's gaze at the doorway with a blank expression, devoid of joy or sorrow.
As he moved, the chains wrapped around his neck tightened instantly, making a clanging sound.
Mo Tingchuan stood to one side, and when he saw Fu Yunyao and Shi Yubai enter, his eyes flickered with some unease.
"Young Master."
She spoke softly, calling out gently.
Fu Yunyao did not respond; she took a few steps closer to the person trapped in the center.
The man tilted his head slightly, his eyes quietly gazing at her, even appearing somewhat docile.
Shi Yubai looked at the man and felt that he was somewhat familiar. However, the Xuan Kui on his wrist was no longer lazy. He stared intently at the man and his body was straight.
Fu Yunyao had already walked up to the man. She reached out, her fingertips landing on his mask. The man blinked, then bowed slightly, yielding to her touch, allowing her to remove his mask.
The mask fell off, revealing a beautiful face. The young man's slightly upturned eyebrows and eyes were full of youthful vigor, and a smile played on his lips, making him appear exceptionally arrogant.
Soft, wispy hairs fell across his forehead, obscuring his dark red eyes.
Shi Yu's eyes were filled with disbelief, "Let Sword Master Chen!"
Fu Yunyao brushed her fingertips through his stray hairs, her fingers lightly brushing against his face.
Indeed, he looks a lot like him.
The man tilted his head slightly and gently rubbed her palm. Despite his extremely flamboyant appearance, he seemed exceptionally obedient when looking at her.
Fu Yunyao withdrew her hand and took a step back.
His gaze was fixed on her fingertips, and he even tried to touch them again, but the chains binding him held him firmly in place.
Inside the room, the chains clanged and rattled, and his already dark red eyes were filled with a bloodthirsty aura.
Shi Yubai watched his movements and the chains that seemed about to break, and asked uncertainly, "Is he really alright doing this?"
Fu Yunyao glanced at him and said, "No."
The gentle voice seemed to possess a great magic, causing the person who was still struggling to stop moving and quietly look at her, seemingly somewhat aggrieved.
Wronged?
Shi Yubai was stunned by his own thought. This was the exact same face as the Sword Master of the Dust Sword! How could he possibly see a wronged expression on this face?!
He shook his head, a sudden movement that drew Fu Yunyao's attention.
Noticing the confusion in her eyes, Shi Yubai coughed lightly, suppressing those unrealistic thoughts, "Um, what is this?"
He pointed to the person still trapped in chains inside the house. Even if he was unreliable, he wouldn't really consider this person to be the Sword Master of the Dust Sword Sect.
Mo Tingchuan sighed softly, "Young Master can look at his left wrist."
Following her words, Fu Yunyao looked at the boy's wrist. She reached out and gently pulled down the boy's wide sleeve, revealing a striking bright red mark on his pale skin.
She paused slightly and spoke slowly, "Soul Imprint?"
Shi Yubai was stunned, and even the Xuan Kui bracelet on his wrist was filled with disbelief.
"Soul Seal?"
Soul imprints require the cultivator's essence and blood as a medium, causing immense harm to the cultivator. If the other party who implanted the soul imprint dies, the cultivator will also suffer a backlash.
This was practically gambling with half of his own cultivation!
and……
“If the owner of the Soul Seal dies, then the Soul Seal will also disappear.” Shi Yubai looked up at Fu Yunyao. He thought of that ever-unrestrained and flamboyant red-clad figure, and then of the weak and sickly person from the Endless Sect who wore a white fox mask.
If the Sword Master of Dust really didn't die, would it be him?
Xuan Kui could no longer hold back and transformed into human form, landing on the ground. "So who is this person? His dark red pupils are like a demon's, but I can't sense any demonic energy from him, not even a trace of his aura."
Although Mo Tingchuan was somewhat surprised that there was suddenly another person in the room, she wasn't too shocked when she thought about Fu Yunyao and Shi Yubai's identities.
She looked at the person who was still staring intently at Fu Yunyao and began to explain.
"This was formed from a drop of the essence blood of the Sword Master. Originally, the Sword Master only left a drop of essence blood here for us to research and create mechanical weapons that could resist demons."
However, a year ago, this essence blood suddenly transformed into a human form, with an appearance and figure exactly like that of the Sword Master Rangchen. If we hadn't noticed his emotionless eyes, we would have doubted whether he was truly the Sword Master Rangchen.
Shi Yubai realized something was wrong. "Did he only notice it because he had no emotions? But shouldn't his dark red pupils be more recognizable?"
Mo Tingchuan's fingertips trembled slightly. "That's why we're trapping him. Three months ago, his pupils suddenly changed to their current appearance. If that were all, it wouldn't be so bad."
However, his appearance attracted numerous demons, all of whom attempted to devour him to increase their own cultivation. Left with no other choice, we imprisoned him in the Demon-Slaying Bureau's dungeon, the only place where no other demon dared to easily set foot.
Fu Yunyao frowned. "Are you worried that someone has escaped from the dungeon, whose identity is unknown, and might pose a threat to him?"
“That’s one thing, but more importantly…” Mo Tingchuan paused, his expression hesitant.
Fu Yunyao looked at her strangely. The next moment, she felt her sleeve sink, as if it had been grabbed by something.
She blinked slowly and turned her head to look.
The sword that hung at her waist like an accessory instantly materialized and was drawn from its sheath.
Amidst the frost-covered room, the cold blade pressed against the hand gripping her sleeve, dripping crimson blood that vanished in mid-air.
The boy holding her sleeve tilted his head and looked at her, his eyes devoid of any emotion, yet seemingly revealing a hint of innocence.
The chains binding his wrists had fallen to the ground, and his freed hand was now clutching the corner of her sleeve.
Fu Yunyao remained silent for a moment. The sword that had been hovering in mid-air paused for a moment, as if to confirm that Fu Yunyao was not in danger, before transforming back into an ornament and falling back to her waist.
Shi Yubai looked at this scene with a strange expression and reached out to wipe his face.
"Ahem." Mo Tingchuan coughed lightly. "Ever since he saw the young master in the dungeon that day, he has refused to be trapped there. He has broken all the chains binding him in the dungeon, so we have no choice but to keep him here for now."
To appease him, we had no choice but to invite the young master here.
“Ha.” Xuan Kui laughed out loud, “As expected of his essence blood, just like him.”
They demons are very vengeful. He still remembers that day in Qiushui Town when he tried to test Fu Yunyao but was stopped and even intimidated by Fu Yusheng.
Fu Yunyao shifted her gaze from the fingertips gripping her sleeve to the boy's face once more. His neck was still bound by chains. When he noticed her gaze, he raised his head slightly, a smile playing on his lips.
She sighed softly to herself and said to Mo Tingchuan beside her, "Unlock the chains."
Finding that she wasn't angry, Mo Tingchuan breathed a sigh of relief and obeyed her instructions to unlock the chains. She asked...
"Young Master, do you have a way to take him away and turn him back into essence blood? Our Mo family elders have already found something that can replace essence blood to resist demons. If he stays here, I'm afraid we don't have enough power to protect him."
"Since you no longer need him, why are you still protecting him?" Fu Yunyao withdrew her gaze, her tone filled with confusion.
Mo Tingchuan was stunned when he heard her question.
"But how important is a cultivator's essence blood? How can we let it fall into the hands of demons so easily just for our own convenience?"
Is it worth expending so much energy, even putting yourself in danger, for a single drop of essence blood?
Mo Tingchuan raised his eyebrows and smiled.
She said.
"That's not how it should be calculated. The Sword Master left behind his essence blood to help us resist demons, so how could we abandon this drop of essence blood?"
Wishful thinking.
Fu Yunyao internally assessed that, based on her understanding of Fu Yusheng, since he left behind this drop of essence blood, he didn't care at all where it went. Whether it fell into the hands of demons or transformed into its current human form, he wouldn't react in the slightest.
"Young Master, you will take him away, won't you?"
Mo Tingchuan asked the question earnestly.
"I thought you had summoned me here to ask me to help you deal with the troubles in Zhongzhou."
Mo Tingchuan shook his head, "The affairs of Zhongzhou should naturally be resolved by ourselves."
The copper bell on Fu Yunyao's wrist swayed gently as she asked.
"Even if this matter can be easily resolved for us, it may come at a price for you."
“Yes,” Mo Tingchuan replied, her eyes bright and resolute.
"Even if it comes at a price, we will protect our homeland in our own way."
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