wanted
Qi Yuan suddenly grabbed Ouyang Lanyue's clothes and pulled hard, but her body involuntarily knelt down: "Ouyang Lanyue!!"
Ouyang Lanyue did not move, but watched her quietly, as if waiting for her to speak.
She paused, her voice weary: "Who...who are you...?"
“Me? I have quite a lot.” Ouyang Lanyue smiled and took out that familiar fan again. “You just need to know that I won’t harm you.”
"What about Zhu Fu?! Where did he go?" Qi Yuan asked excitedly.
"What? You don't believe him?"
Qi Yuan was taken aback, let go of her hand, and calmed down: "...No."
"He was taken to the Xuanhuang Domain by Ruan Yiyun. But Ah Huai will come back," he added, his smile unfathomable.
"Can I ask you a few questions?" Qi Yuan suddenly said.
“Sure,” Ouyang Lanyue answered readily.
"What do you want? Why did you help me in the first place? And why, why him and me?"
"If I had to say... I'm not just interested in the two of you, I've been following you for a long time."
"...What does 'container' mean?"
Ouyang Lanyue thought for a while before speaking: "A container... of course it's used to contain a Heavenly Spiritual Root. With your talent, even though you don't have an extremely Yin constitution, it's already good that your physical endurance is higher than that of ordinary people."
“Extreme Yin constitution…” Her expression changed. “Junior Sister Wu, that is an extreme Yin constitution.”
Qi Yuan accepted this fact faster than he had imagined, and finally asked, "The art of rebirth? What's going on?"
"...Well, I'm afraid I can't tell you everything. Your junior brother, in his past life, stole my rebirth technique." He was stunned at first, then laughed.
The voice was soft, yet it struck Qi Yuan's heart like a heavy blow. So, Yun Qing and Ouyang Lanyue were both reborn.
Qi Yuan kept her head down, so her expression was unreadable. She got up on her own and turned to walk away slowly.
Where are you going?
"Wait for him. And also, take revenge."
Her voice returned to its usual indifference, as if nothing had happened, yet everything had.
The Xuanhuang Domain… that was a forbidden land that everyone feared. Yet she also felt that Mu Qinghuai couldn't possibly have died there.
“Demon Pill,” Ouyang Lanyue said calmly, her smile vanishing, her face expressionless. Qi Yuan paused, then continued walking forward, giving a soft “hmm.”
Qi Yuan moved from Honglin Peak to the main peak, but then changed the name of the main peak to Honglin Peak, leaving many disciples puzzled, yet they dared not do anything to this new sect leader.
The Ghost Realm, the Silver Bamboo Sect, and the Heavenly Heart Tower.
Her life was divided into three parts: handling official business in the Ghost Realm, managing disciples in the Bank Sect, and... inquiring about Mu Qinghuai's whereabouts at Tianxin Tower.
Although she said she believed he wouldn't die, it was impossible for her not to worry.
Now, rumors are circulating in the Demon Realm that "Demon Lord Mu Qinghuai has disappeared," and the Ghost Lord—also known as Ruan Yiyun—is also nowhere to be found. The Demon Realm, which had been well-managed in recent years, is in chaos again.
"Lord Ghost King, I've heard the rumors. Is the Demon Lord... alright? Please don't be too sad, my lord," Yan Gui asked cautiously.
"Hmm. Where did you see me sad?!" For some reason, Qi Yuan suddenly felt inexplicably irritable.
"But your eyes are red."
She paused, then said coldly, "My private affairs are none of your business. Go and deal with the affairs of the Ghost Realm obediently, and stop loitering in front of me."
"yes."
Two months.
She waited for two months, but still received no news. Qi Yuan pursed her lips, finally unable to sit still any longer. She made no preparations, taking only a sword, and headed towards the Xuanhuang Domain.
The Xuanhuang Domain is in the north, and the Silver Bamboo Sect is in the south; the journey between them is treacherous and long. It took her three days to reach the vicinity of the Xuanhuang Domain.
In this desolate wilderness, the ground was covered with a layer of grayish-yellow dust. There was only a small, dilapidated inn not far away, two stories high, looking like it was about to collapse.
Qi Yuan took out a bag of spirit stones and placed it in front of the counter, saying, "I want to stay for one night."
The innkeeper was an old woman, kind and gentle. She said slowly, "Young lady, go back. It's very dangerous here. In the past, those who stayed here all said they wanted to go to the Xuanhuang Realm for training, but in the end, they all died! Do you want me to return your spirit stones?"
"Thank you. I won't back out." Unmoved, she followed the old woman up to the second floor.
The place was really rudimentary; the wooden planks creaked and groaned, and the roof had several small holes. Luckily, it didn't rain.
Qi Yuan didn't feel unwell, and since it was late, she went straight to sleep.
September was a bit cool. She tossed and turned, unable to fall asleep, until she finally drifted off in the middle of the night.
She had barely fallen asleep when a strong stench of blood assaulted her nostrils, accompanied by heavy breathing. Cold sweat beaded on Qi Yuan's forehead. She immediately sprang to her feet, pressing her sword against the intruder's neck: "Who!"
Under the moonlight, she finally saw the person's face clearly.
Along with it came a familiar scent. Qi Yuan cried out, lowering her sword: "Zhu... Zhu Fu?"
Mu Qinghuai's robes were not light in color, and now the dried blood stained them even more deeply. His arms, back... many places were covered with wounds. Sword wounds and knife wounds overlapped one after another, and in some places the blood was still wet, which was simply a terrible sight.
Qi Yuan frowned subconsciously and quickly reached out to support him: "You..." She hesitated, her throat tight with emotion.
What exactly happened to him in the past two months?
But he was dodged. Mu Qinghuai lowered his brows and remained silent, his voice hoarse: "Don't look, it's ugly."
"It's not ugly," Qi Yuan said patiently. She carefully examined Mu Qinghuai's injuries, her expression growing increasingly grim: "What happened to you? How did you even get out?"
"It's nothing. Just a minor injury, I won't die." He spoke softly.
You know, if it were someone else, these injuries would have killed them hundreds of times over.
To ease the tension, Mu Qinghuai pointed to the broken window with a half-smile: "I came in through the window." He then rubbed his palms together. "If you ask me how I found you, it's naturally... through that jade pendant. I climbed in through the window."
Qi Yuan then remembered and hurriedly took out the jade pendant: "This?"
“Yes. There’s…my demonic energy on it,” he said.
Mu Qinghuai didn't say that he had spent two months trying to escape the Xuanhuang Domain. He only sensed that Qi Yuan was nearby for one night, so he escaped to find her.
"I'll take you... back for treatment." Her voice choked with emotion, and she turned her head away from him.
"The Demon Realm doesn't welcome me now, and neither does the Silver Bamboo Sect. I'll just wait for my wounds to heal on their own." Mu Qinghuai hugged her.
"No! I'm taking you back to the Ghost Realm. Anyone who tries to stop me, I'll kill them."
"My current level is... about the same as yours. Early stage of Mahayana."
It turned out that after Qi Yuan refined the evil energy of the Chaos Pearl, she had already broken through to the mid-stage of the Mahayana realm, and Mu Qinghuai sensed this difference as soon as he arrived.
Did you go to Lingguang Pavilion?
“The people are gone, everything is gone.” Qi Yuan’s expression was unreadable as she loosened her clenched fist. “There’s something I have to say. I had a very strange dream. It was a black seal with a hidden shackle on the outside, and the seal was broken. The dream felt very real and very unpleasant. I feel like… it’s more than just a dream.”
"...What are the characteristics of the seal?" Mu Qinghuai asked nervously, holding his breath. Qi Yuan tried hard to recall, but the scene in her dream still seemed blurry.
Just then, the ground shook violently, and the wooden planks cracked. A dark shadow tore through the gradually brightening sky, and a demonic bird resembling a crow cried out in a hoarse voice: "The Demon Lord of the Demon Realm, Mu Qinghuai, has defected! The Demon Lord of the Demon Realm, Mu Qinghuai, has defected! We urge the Three Realms to capture him and bring him to justice! A great reward will be given for his capture alive!!"
"..." The demonic bird continued repeating itself, as if it wanted to say it over every piece of land. However, Qi Yuan and the other person had no interest in the bird anymore, as a demon had already broken into the inn.
It couldn't really be called an intrusion. It was the inn's owner—that old woman. She was a demon. When she heard the demon bird's report, she sensed the Demon Lord's aura and went upstairs to find them, carrying a large cleaver.
The old woman wore a bloodthirsty smile and licked her lips, revealing her sharp teeth.
Without hesitation, Qi Yuan pierced the old woman's throat with her sword. The old woman stared wide-eyed as she fell backward, dying with her eyes wide open.
"Not good..." Mu Qinghuai saw the communication talisman that had fallen to the ground. "Run!"
The two broke through the window and escaped, but the demons were too fast; seven or eight armed demons approached them. The leader, a demon carrying a spear, pointed at Qi Yuan: "Little lady, who are you?"
"Get out." Qi Yuan said coldly, then whispered, "Frost Leaf!" In the next instant, the demon who had just spoken was dead, lying straight on the ground, instantly killed.
The remaining demons were intimidated, taking a step back tremblingly, staring intently at the two, yet daring not to move.
Qi Yuan didn't even glance at them. She pulled Mu Qinghuai onto her sword and used it to cut back at lightning speed. The wind whistled past their ears, and the rustling of the leaves was particularly noisy.
"Zhu Fu".
“I’ve always been here.”
"I will protect you."
Batch after batch of demons received the news and rushed to the vicinity of the Xuanhuang Domain. They fought back against each batch that came, while Mu Qinghuai was seriously injured and unable to use demonic energy.
"So many demons... Don't worry about me, just go." Mu Qinghuai's dry lips moved slightly before she finally said.
Qi Yuan kept her sword moving at high speed, and the spiritual energy bursting from her hands never stopped: "No." Although it was only two short words, her determination and resolve could be felt. Mu Qinghuai hugged her tighter and stopped talking.
"Watch out!" She suddenly rushed uncontrollably into the woods below, the sword wobbling violently and refusing to obey her commands.
Passing through the woods, there was a secluded corner where a house was hidden. The house was unremarkable, neither luxurious nor simple; if there was anything different about it, it was the demonic aura surrounding it.
An exceptionally heavy demonic aura.
The two landed safely and stood in front of the hut, both frowning as they looked around, unharmed.
"What drew me here?" Qi Yuan looked at his injuries again and asked anxiously, "Your injuries..."
"It's alright," Mu Qinghuai said with a reassuring smile.
"It was me who sent you."
"Ouyang?! It's you again? Tell me! What exactly do you want!"
"You really have no impression of this place at all? But in your past lives, you two came here many times..." Ouyang Lanyue said meaningfully.
"...I don't understand what you're saying. I don't want to know, and what you're doing is none of our business!" Qi Yuan stood in front of Mu Qinghuai.
"Isn't this a last resort?" He smiled. "I've changed my mind. Now I'd really like to tell you about my past life."
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