Meeting an old friend (5)
Looking towards the source of the sound, one could see a young man with his hair tied up in a white outfit standing at the doorway, carrying a long sword on his back. The young man was tall and slender, with a spirited demeanor. When he saw Yun Yanqiu looking at him, he waved excitedly and greeted him, "Senior Yun!" He then strode over towards them.
Ye Yingying thought to herself, "Has the helper Yun Yanqiu mentioned before finally arrived?"
"You're late," Yun Yanqiu said bluntly.
"Oh dear, I was planning to come right away after I received your message, but I helped out at a family's place on the way, which made me a little late."
"Are you being asked to introduce your daughter to someone again?"
"...Senior, can we not talk about this?"
"I'll bring it up again next time you're late."
The boy awkwardly changed the subject: "Oh, let's not talk about that. This must be Miss Ying'er?" The boy's gaze fell on Ye Yingying, who was standing to the side, and he noticed that she was staring blankly ahead.
Ye Yingying smiled slightly in the direction of the young man, greeted him, and asked, "May I ask who you are?"
"This guy's name is Zhao Yuxiao. Have him take you upstairs to rest," Yun Yanqiu instructed.
"Indeed, indeed, I am Zhao Yuxiao of the Lingyun Alliance. It's a pleasure to meet you, young lady!"
Zhao Yuxiao—Ye Yingying had heard of this name before. The most prestigious sword-cultivating sect in the world today is the Lingyun Alliance of Ganzhou, and the alliance leader's only son is named Zhao Yuxiao. The Lingyun Alliance was one of the sects that contributed the most to the war against demonic cultivators, and its prestige was extremely high after the war. It has continued to this day as an organization maintaining order among cultivators across the continents. However, in her previous life, when she was active, she hadn't encountered the Lingyun Alliance. She only vaguely remembered passing through Ganzhou one year, and the alliance leader was hosting a grand banquet for guests from all directions to celebrate his son's one-month birthday. In that sense, Zhao Yuxiao could call Ye Yingying "aunt."
However, in Zhao Yuxiao's eyes at this moment, Ye Yingying was just a young girl of similar age to himself: "Miss Ying'er, please leave everything to me!"
Ye Yingying was speechless for a moment. She had only intended to use this to delay Yun Yanqiu, but unexpectedly, the young master of Lingyun Alliance appeared out of nowhere, which had backfired. However, it would seem strange to suddenly change her mind, so Ye Yingying still agreed: "Then I'll trouble you to help me, young hero."
"No trouble at all!" Zhao Yuxiao said, reaching out to help Ye Yingying to her feet and leading her upstairs to her room.
"After you drop her off, come over here and I'll protect you for a bit." Yun Yanqiu pointed in the direction of the room to Zhao Yuxiao and then turned back to the room where the formation was located.
To his astonishment, the demonic cultivator's corpse, which had been lying on the ground, vanished without a trace as soon as he entered. Yun Yanqiu was shocked. The person was definitely dead; it was impossible for him to have run away on his own. The bloodstains on the ground had long since dried. It could only mean that the demonic cultivator's corpse had been stolen. Someone had actually stolen a corpse right under his nose? Yun Yanqiu immediately recalled the figure he had seen at the clinic entrance during the day. Damn it! He was too eager to obtain the Azure Nether True Fire and had momentarily overlooked that this guy had an accomplice!
"Zhao Yuxiao, come with me!" Yun Yanqiu shouted and rushed towards the clinic.
"Ah? Senior!" Zhao Yuxiao was caught in a dilemma, his gaze shifting between Yun Yanqiu and Ye Yingying.
"Young hero, you don't need to worry about me. I can protect myself here on my own. You should go and help the senior." Ye Yingying was more eager for Zhao Yuxiao to leave.
"Then, Miss Ying'er, please be careful!" With that, Zhao Yuxiao drew his sword, leaped up, and chased after Yun Yanqiu.
As the sound faded into the distance, Ye Yingying hurriedly turned to look for the demonic cultivator's corpse. However, after searching the house for a long time, she couldn't find any trace of it and immediately understood why Yun Yanqiu had suddenly left. This was actually a good thing for her, though if the corpse had been taken away for some purpose, it would inevitably create hidden dangers. At this moment, Ye Yingying also remembered the woman she had met at the clinic. Her cultivation level was clearly lower than Yun Yanqiu's, so how had she managed to steal the corpse right under his nose?
Yun Yanqiu was also puzzled by this. He rushed to the clinic, and when he arrived, a raging fire was burning in the center of the courtyard. Upon closer inspection, the dark figure in the flames turned out to be the corpse of the demonic cultivator! Yun Yanqiu immediately tried to rush forward to snatch the body, but at that moment, Zhao Yuxiao, who had arrived a step later, grabbed his shoulders tightly and desperately pulled him back, shouting, "Senior! The clinic is on fire everywhere! We can't let the fire spread to other places!"
Yun Yanqiu suddenly looked up and surveyed his surroundings. At this moment, the entire clinic was engulfed in flames, the raging fire relentlessly licking at everything around it, causing thick smoke to billow from the building, making the entire clinic appear exceptionally bright in the darkness.
Yun Yanqiu gritted his teeth, taking one last, unwilling glance at the corpse in the courtyard. He flicked his sleeves, and several talismans flew out, forming a circular array above the clinic. Yun Yanqiu swiftly cast a rain-summoning spell; instantly, the array glowed with a pale blue light, and a dark cloud gathered above the clinic. The fire in the clinic burned ever brighter, its flames reaching towards the sky, illuminating the outline of the dark cloud. Thick smoke billowed into the cloud, seemingly defiantly provoking the impending disaster.
Meanwhile, the culprit outside the city stood on high ground, overlooking the city. The raging fire of the medical clinic, reflected in Gu Wusi's bright eyes, appeared as a dazzling, vibrant light. A faint smile played on her lips as she leisurely toyed with the flame in her hand. After a while, as if she had grown tired of it, she suddenly ignited a ball of blue-green flame in her palm, engulfing the small flame. The color of this flame was extremely similar to the Azure Nether True Fire, but upon closer inspection, it would be found that this flame was slightly murky and not as clear as the Azure Nether True Fire.
"Are you sure you haven't found it?" Gu Wusi asked.
"..." The person in the shadows did not answer, but Gu Wusi already knew the answer.
Gu Wusi waved his hand, dispelling the flames in his hand, and sighed slightly: "Never mind, the treasures we found from him are enough to take back and deal with."
She stretched lazily, then looked down. The rain was pouring down, and the city's fires had gradually dimmed, becoming barely visible, leaving only sparks and lingering smoke in the air, blurring the view below. Gu Wusi was satisfied with the scene before her, then turned and disappeared into the night with the person beside her.
Since discovering the body was missing, Ye Yingying hadn't returned to her room at the inn. Instead, she stood in the second-floor corridor waiting for the two to return. Her intuition told her that the demonic cultivator's body was most likely lost, but she wanted to wait for a definitive result to confirm her guess.
Ye Yingying waited and waited, feeling that time was passing so slowly. If she weren't blind and unable to see anything, she would definitely chase after them to confirm it herself. After a while, she heard the faint sound of rain in the distance. Gradually, the rain grew louder and louder, a cacophony that was irritating. Why did it suddenly start raining? Ye Yingying frowned, puzzled. Such heavy rain, yet without any thunder, filled Ye Yingying with unease and anxiety, making her feel helpless in the face of this uncontrollable situation.
After an unknown amount of time, Yun Yanqiu and Zhao Yuxiao finally returned. Zhao Yuxiao was the first to see Ye Yingying standing by the fence and greeted her, "Miss Ying'er."
Ye Yingying noticed that his voice was much less energetic than when they had met before, instead filled with exhaustion. She immediately asked with concern, "Has something serious happened? I just discovered that the body in the room has disappeared..."
Mentioning the corpse, Yun Yanqiu's already gloomy face darkened even more. Seeing this, Zhao Yuxiao quickly comforted him, "Senior, you must be tired. Go and rest early. We can talk about it tomorrow."
At this moment, Yun Yanqiu's aura was low and he didn't say anything. He went straight back to his room, leaving Zhao Yuxiao and Ye Yingying standing outside.
Seeing that Yun Yanqiu was in a bad mood, Ye Yingying had no choice but to ask Zhao Yuxiao, "Young Master Zhao, what's wrong with you, Senior?"
"Sigh, don't even mention it. Someone set fire to the clinic. My senior and I rushed to put out the fire, but when we went back in after it was extinguished, the corpses were burned to ashes, not even a trace remained." Zhao Yuxiao sighed helplessly. "And the streets were a mess, with people lying everywhere, all fast asleep, and we couldn't wake them up no matter what we did." Zhao Yuxiao seemed to already see the chaotic scene after the people woke up, and scratched his head with a headache.
Ye Yingying was in a good mood after receiving a satisfactory answer. She comforted Zhao Yuxiao, saying, "Young Master Zhao, I can tell you're tired too. Why don't you get some rest tonight? We can figure out a solution tomorrow."
"Me?" Zhao Yuxiao then remembered that he had originally planned to stay in Senior Yun's room for the night, but Senior Yun's mood was very low right now, so it was better for him to stay alone.
"If you don't mind, you can sleep in my room. You two have both worked hard all night, and I'm the only one who didn't help much. I can keep watch outside tonight." Ye Yingying offered her room.
"Hey, hey, that won't do." Zhao Yuxiao waved his hands repeatedly upon hearing this, "I'll just put together a few chairs downstairs and rest for a while."
Before Ye Yingying could say anything to stop him, Zhao Yuxiao turned and went downstairs. Ye Yingying had no choice but to give up and return to her room alone.
Dawn was just around the corner, and she was quite exhausted after a long day, but thankfully everything had gone smoothly. Not only had she resolved her initial concerns, but she had also effortlessly subdued the Azure Nether True Fire. To make matters worse, the demonic cultivator who knew her secrets had been completely burned to ashes. This trip had allowed her to avoid revealing her identity, achieve her initial goal, and even gain unexpected benefits—truly a win-win situation. Thinking of this, Ye Yingying's lips unconsciously curved into a smile: This way, she no longer needed to follow Yun Yanqiu and the others, avoiding any potential problems arising from prolonged contact.
Ye Yingying made up her mind that she would say goodbye and leave after things were settled tomorrow.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
