Glimpse into the myriad aspects (7)
Everything happened so suddenly that the group rolled several times on the ground before regaining their balance. Yun Yanqiu stood up, leaning on his sword. His clothes, torn by the pebbles, were covered in dust, and his face was covered in fine bloodstains.
He looked at Zhao Huai-ren, who was in an even more disheveled state. In protecting the coachman, Zhao Huai-ren had suffered considerable damage to both arms, and his heavy sword had fallen off the cliff along with the carriage due to the lack of timely rescue.
Yun Yanqiu looked at him, and out of the corner of her eye she suddenly caught sight of Lu Yin slowly getting up. She immediately dragged herself toward Zhao Huai Ren and walked quickly. Then she turned around and protected Zhao Huai Ren and the coachman behind her.
Ye Yingying also flapped her wings vigorously and flew around Yunyan Hill, occasionally letting out warning cries at Lu Yin.
"That's really going too far. I'm a victim too..." Lu Yin curled his lips into a sinister smile.
She raised her chin, brushed aside the stray hairs on her forehead, revealing a bright red scratch on her temple.
Yun Yanqiu wavered for a moment, but when he remembered his master's wife's teachings, he immediately turned cold and said, "Whether you did it or not, you are not allowed to come near me."
Zhao Huai-ren, who was behind him, recovered from the pain. He first glanced at the unconscious coachman beside him, then looked up and saw Yun Yanqiu's somewhat thin back. He tried to get up, but the sharp pain in his elbow made him break out in a cold sweat, and he could only groan in pain.
Yun Yanqiu noticed his movement, turned her head slightly, and glanced at him out of the corner of her eye: "Don't move."
Zhao Huai Ren was stunned for a moment, then, without anyone noticing, obeyed and obediently lay back down on the ground. Just as he was searching for the woman who had been with him, he heard the woman's sinister laughter coming from his vision, which was blocked by Yun Yanqiu: "You really have seen me before, haven't you?"
Zhao Huai Ren didn't understand what she meant. He looked at Yun Yanqiu, who remained silent, yet exuded a strong chill. That chill wasn't directed at him, but at the woman.
What exactly is going on? Zhao Huai-ren was still confused when he suddenly heard Yun Yanqiu speak: "Enough nonsense! What are your intentions as a demonic cultivator hiding among us?"
A demonic cultivator?! Zhao Huai-ren's heart tightened, and he couldn't help but swallow hard. Was that woman a demonic cultivator? How did this guy figure it out? He had heard of demonic cultivators before, but he never expected to encounter one under these circumstances.
Zhao Huai-ren suddenly felt a pang of regret; he had actually thrown away his heavy sword at such a crucial moment. But to save the mortal coachman, it was something he had no choice but to do. It seemed the demonic cultivator before him had anticipated this, using it to weaken their power.
This brother was protecting him and the coachman, two injured people, as they fought against the demonic cultivators. They were indeed at a disadvantage. Thinking of this, Zhao Huai Ren became even more anxious.
What should he do? He looked up and suddenly caught sight of the blue-white sparrow circling in the air. He couldn't help but try to convince himself: Brother, you can't just leave this spirit pet here to look at, can you? Don't let its ball-like size fool you, it might be a formidable fighter. Zhao Huai Ren blinked, trying to imagine what it would be like for this blue fleshy ball to fight against the demonic cultivator, but no matter how he thought about it, it just felt awkward.
Well, cheering from the sidelines is a skill in itself. Zhao Huai Ren gave up his fantasies, withdrew his gaze, and then heard the demonic cultivator say leisurely, "I came to the Northern Continent only to cultivate. But I don't know which righteous person killed my precious ferocious eagle, causing me to fail at the last moment."
Yun Yanqiu was shocked to hear this: "That ferocious eagle injured you first, and you still called them your treasures?"
"Where did you hurt me?" Lu Yin exclaimed in surprise. "I was the one feeding them my blood, but those kids didn't know their limits and bit a big gash in my stomach."
"What the hell..." Zhao Huai-ren felt a chill run down his spine. Was this even human language? What did he mean by "not knowing any boundaries and biting a hole in his stomach"?
Yun Yanqiu was clearly stunned by her words and for a moment forgot to refute them. Lu Yin crossed her arms, stood with one leg apart, and her gaze became increasingly sinister: "What is your relationship with the person who killed my treasures?"
"I don't know what you're talking about. I'm the one who killed those demonic beasts." Yun Yanqiu flicked his wrist, and the blade of his sword flashed with a blinding cold light.
“It couldn’t be you.” Lu Yin narrowed his eyes and calmly examined him. “The corpses of those ferocious eagles were covered in whip marks, and only one of them had been decapitated.”
At this point, she suddenly paused, as if remembering something: "Oh, so that means the eyes of that eagle whose head was severed were clearly pecked out..."
As the demonic cultivator spoke, he slowly raised his eyes and looked at Ye Yingying, who was hovering above Yunyan Hill.
"It seems you are both murderers." Her voice was incredibly cold, yet it was as if an avalanche was brewing beneath the calm surface.
Alarm bells rang in Yun Yanqiu's mind. He raised his sword and charged towards Lu Yin preemptively. Ye Yingying also flapped her wings and swooped down towards the demonic cultivator at almost the same moment.
The woman calmly raised her hand, picked up two fingers, put them in her mouth, and blew a loud finger whistle. With this crisp sound, four ferocious gray wolves instantly sprang out of the jungle, their eyes gleaming, and rushed towards Yunyan Hill.
Yun Yanqiu reacted swiftly, braking abruptly and dodging in the opposite direction. Ye Yingying was also forced to turn sharply upwards to avoid falling into the wolf's jaws. Seeing this, the demonic cultivator proudly raised his head, admiring their disheveled state, while forcefully slashing a wound in his palm. A thick, pungent smell of blood instantly filled the air. The already frenzied wolf, upon smelling the scent, turned bloodshot, opened its jaws wide, and revealed its sharp teeth.
The group suddenly realized—she was practicing beast taming techniques.
Ye Yingying hovered nervously high up, but couldn't find a chance to land. This demonic cultivator was unusually cautious in dealing with them. Although there were four wolves, he only let two entangle Yun Yanqiu, while the other two protected him.
Seeing Yun Yanqiu gradually losing ground, Ye Yingying grew increasingly anxious. She could no longer afford to think twice; she could only flap her wings with all her might, attacking the demonic cultivator with lightning speed, trying to create an opening.
The demonic cultivator was prepared; she nimbly retreated, using the two gray wolves as shields. Although Ye Yingying was agile, she was forced to switch from offense to defense under such cover. She had no choice but to fly to a higher position, only to find the two wolves' gazes fixed on her, their mouths agape, drooling.
Oh no! Ye Yingying's heart skipped a beat. She couldn't afford to die in the jaws of wolves.
The scene reached a stalemate. The demonic cultivator watched the drama she had orchestrated with an expressionless face, but his fingers kept tapping, as if he was plotting something.
Zhao Huai-ren, standing not far away, stared at her fingers. The tapping rhythm was initially slow, then gradually became more rapid. A sudden idea flashed in Zhao Huai-ren's mind, and he roared, "Hold her off! She can't hold out too long!"
Upon hearing this, Yun Yanqiu instantly understood. He changed his strategy, playing a roundabout game with the gray wolf. Ye Yingying also understood, circling above the demonic cultivator's head, occasionally swooping down and then immediately rising again, putting invisible pressure on Lu Yin.
Lu Yin was somewhat surprised. She remained calm on the surface, but her heart was in turmoil. She knew that although she could use the smell of blood to drive demonic beasts mad for a short time, once the smell of blood exceeded a certain limit, it would cause the demonic beasts to completely lose control. She had been injured by the ferocious eagle earlier precisely because she hadn't controlled the degree of the smell of blood properly.
She thought that these two greenhorns wouldn't be able to tell, but to her surprise, the one with the sharpest eyes was the injured loudmouth.
Fortunately, she was familiar with the gray wolves' speed, so even if they saw through this, it wouldn't prevent her from escaping before reaching the critical point.
Lu Yin tapped her fingers, calculating the timing of her retreat. If these people died before the opportunity arrived, she could gain a few more inner cores. Even if they survived by the time the opportunity arrived, it would only be a race against time to escape. But it didn't matter; she, who knew where the opportunity lay, clearly had a better chance of winning.
Thinking of this, Lu Yin regained her composure. But what she hadn't expected was that the seemingly harmless blue-and-white sparrow became a variable. The plump little bird suddenly turned and swooped straight at Lu Yin's face.
Lu Yin abruptly waved his sleeve, and two gray wolves bared their gleaming white fangs and pounced forward. Unexpectedly, the blue-and-white sparrow neither dodged nor evaded; instead, it folded its wings and shot down like an arrow, heading straight for the wolves' jaws. Lu Yin's pupils constricted, and in his haste, he only managed to raise his arm.
With this block, the sharp beak pierced into flesh and blood, creating a cloud of blood mist.
The stench of blood suddenly exploded in the cold wind, and Lu Yin's expression changed drastically. He shook off Ye Yingying and turned to flee.
But it was too late. The four gray wolves' pupils turned crimson, saliva mixed with blood dripping from between their teeth, as they pounced on the demonic cultivator like madmen. At the critical moment, Lu Yin suddenly pulled a plain white folding fan from his robes. With a clear "clang," a transparent wall of air condensed the moment the fan unfolded. The gray wolves crashed into the invisible barrier one after another, falling to the ground with muffled thuds.
Everyone was stunned by this scene, even the demonic cultivator himself was stunned for a few seconds, then burst into maniacal laughter: "Great, so it can be used like this! What a wonderful treasure!"
She immediately regained her arrogance and raised her fan again to face Yun Yanqiu, who was attacking with a sword. The sword clashed with the fan ribs, but the expected barrier did not deploy again.
Yun Yanqiu spun around, and the sword pierced through his throat. Blood splattered everywhere, blooming into bright red plum blossoms on the ground, but the folding fan remained spotless.
After dealing with the remaining gray wolves, Yun Yanqiu picked up the folding fan and examined it closely. The silk fan surface was painted with layered mountain peaks in ink, with misty waters nearby, and the inscription still carried a faint fragrance of orchids.
He stroked the sandalwood fan ribs, his brows furrowing unconsciously. He looked at it over and over again, but apart from knowing that it was a magical artifact, he couldn't discern anything else about it, so he had no choice but to put it away and tuck it into his waistband.
He turned and walked towards Zhao Huai Ren.
Ye Yingying, however, stood frozen in place, pondering the fan's unique features—especially the landscape painting on it, which looked exactly like the one on Qi Shuojun's fan!
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