Escape
"Frost!" Qi Yuan reacted instantly, her sword flying to their side.
Qi Yuan and Mu Qinghuai stepped onto the sword, and she shouted, "Hold on tight!"
In an instant, Shuang rushed out, with only the howling wind and the shouts of her disciple chasing after her on a sword in her ears.
Duan Yu roared with all his might, "The Sparrow Flower is in the hands of Qi Yuan of the Silver Bamboo Sect!"
The cultivators who couldn't fly on swords and those who could suddenly reached some kind of tacit agreement, each riding a sword like a vicious wolf, chasing after Qi Yuan.
One of them was responsible for flying, while the other attacked Qi Yuan. Facing the streams of spiritual energy, Qi Yuan gritted her teeth and swayed left and right as she flew, managing to dodge the attacks.
The journey is so long, and there's no doubt that someone will come straight to the Silver Bamboo Sect to ambush her!
Mu Qinghuai hugged her tightly from behind and said, "There's a market down ahead. Pretend to rush down, and I'll throw a smoke bomb so you can fly to the woods next to the market!"
"Okay! Get ready." Qi Yuan tensed up and began the countdown.
"three!"
"two!"
" one!"
White smoke enveloped the sky, and the cultivators could not see anything in the vast white fog.
Dongfang Yilin used magic to dispel the smoke, and Qi Yuan had disappeared from everyone's sight.
Cheng Jin gritted his teeth and shouted at Duan Yu, "You go to the Silver Bamboo Sect and block her, we'll look for her here!"
There was a market right below them, bustling with people, and Qi Yuan could very well have blended into the crowd!
The cultivators, not wanting to harm mortals, stopped their swords and landed on the ground, running through the market searching for Qi Yuan.
*
"Thank you. But how did you get here?" Qi Yuan and the others had already hidden in a grove of trees, and the others hadn't found them yet.
Mu Qinghuai paused visibly for a moment, then laughed and said, "I came to Quanzhou because I heard Ouyang said he came to see the flowers, and just then I saw you fall down."
Qi Yuan looked back at the empty woods and relaxed after confirming that no one was around: "They should still be looking for me at the market. I'm sorry to have troubled you."
“How could that be? Let’s change our appearance and blend into the crowd. We’ll be spotted quickly if we’re the only ones in the woods.” He looked at Qi Yuan earnestly.
"Okay! You know the art of disguise?"
"I've studied a little bit."
Mu Qinghuai mustered his courage and transformed back into his original form.
Qi Yuan's mind went blank as she looked at him.
He hurriedly explained, "Since you've met Ouyang, you must have met Mu Huai too. How about I impersonate him?"
“Very, very good,” Qi Yuan said blankly.
It's a little embarrassing to say, but Mu Huai really is exactly what she looks like.
Disguise is a high-level magic technique. It took her half a year to learn it, and few people knew that Qi Yuan knew this skill.
After thinking for a moment, she transformed herself into the likeness of Zhu Rongfei.
Mu Qinghuai didn't react at first, but burst out laughing when he saw who Qi Yuan had transformed into.
Qi Yuan muttered to herself, "It's disgusting to look like this scumbag."
Since she doesn't want to be recognized, she might as well transform into a man!
They found an exit, slipped through a small crack, and entered the market, blending into the crowd.
Qi Yuan and Sima Chu brushed past each other, but the other man didn't even glance at her, still searching for that figure.
The two bumped into Cheng Jin, and just as they were about to miss each other, Cheng Jin suddenly called out to them.
"Is there something you need?" Qi Yuan turned around and asked in a male voice.
Cheng Jin didn't look at her, but instead stared hesitantly at Mu Qinghuai: "You're in cahoots with Qi Yuan! Where's the money?"
Mu Qinghuai said lazily, "I'm not interested in those lousy flowers. Didn't you see my brother and I came to buy something?"
As he spoke, he put his arm around Qi Yuan, his own cheeks flushing slightly.
"You... never mind!" Cheng Jin squinted at the two of them, then left, seething with anger.
He immediately released his hand and whispered, "Excuse me."
"……fine."
They pretended to be queuing at a stall selling candied hawthorns, and from time to time they could hear the monks complaining, their names being mentioned.
Qi Yuan: ...
She asked hesitantly, "I can't go back to the Silver Bamboo Sect. I'll stay at an inn for the next few days. Are you still going to look for Young Master Ouyang?"
Mu Qinghuai remained expressionless: "He's already gone back. I happen to be free lately, so this is quite exciting. I'll go with you, Qi Yuan."
“If it weren’t for you, my flower would have been stolen by now. I’ll give you two petals,” she whispered.
Two-petaled sparrow flower, a life-giving root.
Mu Qinghuai's expression froze for a moment upon hearing this, then he suddenly came to his senses and said, "No. I have no use for spiritual roots."
“I’ve examined your spiritual root, and I feel there’s something wrong with it. Once you have the spiritual root nurtured by the sparrow flower, you won’t need to learn mystical arts.” Her eyes were incredibly serious.
"...Let's find an inn." He avoided the question.
*
Ye Ting found Ye Hanyun by the waterfall at the foot of the mountain. The latter was resting with her eyes half-closed.
“Night! Contains! Rhyme!” he said, enunciating each word clearly.
Upon hearing the familiar voice, Ye Hanyun stopped reflexively, and upon seeing the person in front of her, her chest felt as heavy as if it were being pressed down by a heavy object.
He looked away from the ground and did not respond.
"What exactly are you running away from?" Ye Ting grabbed his collar and forced him to look him in the eye.
“I…” Ye Hanyun’s pupils trembled, unable to speak.
He hadn't spoken to Ye Ting for three years.
At first, Ye Ting frequently tried to contact him, but he either pretended to be dead or remained silent.
I remember years ago, their relationship was unbreakable. How did it turn out like this?
The Ye family was once a wealthy merchant family in the cultivation world. The patriarch and his wife were loving and affectionate, and their two sons were both gentle and obedient, with great talent for cultivation.
When Ye Ting and Ye Hanyun were thirteen years old, the Ye family went bankrupt and fell into a quagmire overnight.
Fortunately, they both entered the Silver Bamboo Sect in the same year. Ye Hanyun became a personal disciple, while Ye Ting became an inner disciple.
Their relationship did not change because of the family's downfall. Two years later, the entire family was slaughtered except for the two who were cultivating in the sect. They had no parents.
Since that day, Ye Hanyun and Ye Ting's relationship deteriorated, and the Water Spirit Sect and Earth Spirit Sect of the Silver Bamboo Sect were separated. Ye Ting became the senior disciple of the Water Spirit Sect based on his strength, and at this time he was already stronger than Ye Hanyun.
From then until now, when they are both 18, this is the first time they have spent time alone together.
Ye Ting pinned him against a tree and roared, "You're my only family! Is there anything you can't tell me?!"
"..." Ye Hanyun closed her eyes.
He thought Ye Ting would punch him, but instead he only felt a dampness on his shoulder.
Ye Hanyun opened her eyes in surprise and saw Ye Ting shedding tears.
"Senior brother, don't cry..." He hurriedly wiped away Ye Ting's tears.
"What did you call me?" Ye Ting's throat was dry.
"...You are my senior brother, is there a problem with calling me that?" Ye Hanyun lowered her eyes.
Ye Ting loosened his collar, sat down on the ground alone, and muttered to himself, "What exactly happened that night?"
He looked at his younger brother and said softly, "You weren't at the sect that night."
Ye Hanyun fell silent, feeling only coldness in her hands and feet, and a chaotic state of mind.
So he knew.
"Brother!!" Ye Hanyun knelt on the ground.
His broken sobs escaped his throat, and his hysterical cries made my chest ache.
Ye Ting hugged his back tenderly.
Ye Hanyun covered her face with her hands, her head almost buried in the ground, tears mixed with hoarse cries: "I killed my parents!! I really didn't mean to, I really didn't!"
Ye Ting paused for a moment, but continued to listen to him.
“I, I was just being playful. That afternoon I secretly slipped out of the sect… I saw someone being killed in an alley!! The murderer, he, he saw my face! I was so scared that I ran to Lingguang Pavilion to find my junior sister…” His voice choked with sobs.
"My parents and everyone in our family were killed last night! It's all because of me!!" Ye Hanyun's grip on Ye Ting's fingers tightened suddenly.
Ye Ting remained silent, and only Ye Hanyun's sobs could be heard.
"It's not your fault. Blame the murderer." Ye Ting was stunned for a long time, his fingers stroking his younger brother's hair, his heart aching so badly it felt like it was about to spasm.
“Brother…” He felt like he was suffocating, and he cried until he vomited.
Ye Hanyun's voice was hoarse, and tears streamed down her face: "It's all my fault! If I hadn't sneaked out of the sect that day, our family wouldn't have suffered such a bloody disaster! If I had told you and our parents that day, the tragedy wouldn't have happened."
"But you are my only family now." Ye Ting smiled bitterly, his eyes filling with tears as he smiled.
How could he not hate her? But he also loved Ye Hanyun.
Ye Hanyun buried her head in his chest: "Brother. For the past three years, I've distanced myself from you because I was afraid you'd find out the truth, afraid you'd abandon me as your brother. I'm so sorry, so sorry, so sorry!!"
"As long as you're still willing to call me 'brother,' I'll always be your brother." A bittersweet smile played on Ye Ting's lips.
He gazed at the mountaintop, lost in thought for a long time: "Our parents are gone. We should be focusing on cultivating and rebuilding our family. What kind of behavior is this, crying like this..."
Ye Ting tilted his head back and closed his eyes, tears silently streaming down his face and soaking his disciple's robes.
"I'm sorry, Hanyun," he said softly.
*
After entering the inn, Qi Yuan reverted to her original form, and Mu Qinghuai had no choice but to transform back into Zhu Fu.
They booked two rooms and went up to the second floor.
Qi Yuan took the flower bud out of her storage bag; it had now fully bloomed into a flower.
It turns out that this year's cultivators were just too eager, rushing in before the flowers had even finished blooming.
If you look closely at this flower, it actually looks quite ordinary, with small petals, and you can't tell at all that it is a precious century-old bird flower.
She discovered it quickly; the flower hadn't been touched by anyone else, so all five petals were intact.
"These two petals are for you." Qi Yuan pointed to the two petals on the right.
Mu Qinghuai answered decisively, "Keep it for yourself, Qi Yuan. You need this flower more than I do."
"What's meant to be yours will be yours." Qi Yuan grabbed his wrist, pinched off two petals and placed them in her palm, while putting the remaining three petals into her storage bag.
Many people say that eating five-petaled flowers will grant ascension to heaven. But even if she could truly ascend, she would rather stay on earth.
She still has very important things to do.
These petals cannot be eaten directly; they must undergo a transformation during cultivation. Although Qi Yuan desperately wanted to swallow them whole to prevent them from being taken away, she currently had no opportunity to refine them.
"Senior Sister Qi Yuan, are you there?" Pei Yin's smiling voice came from outside the door.
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