Are they accomplices or intruders?
At the moment, Yun Qian's energy was simply insufficient to support her in pondering those intricate matters.
Her injuries were far from healed, but now that the Immortal Sect Competition had ended, she absolutely could not stay on Tianyan Mountain. Sili was a treacherous and ruthless man; no one could predict what he would do next. Every moment she stayed increased the danger.
Therefore, on the day the competition ended, Yun Qian and the other two packed their belongings and left Tianyan Mountain.
Although they had only been away from Cangmin Mountain for half a year, all three of them missed it.
They were a little homesick.
Although Cangmin Mountain is snowy all year round and doesn't have the same splendor as the outside world, they still really want to go back.
The carriage swayed and rattled along the official road, its wheels making a rhythmic sound as they rolled over the surface.
Qin Wu and Bai Chuan sat on either side of the front of the carriage, while Yun Qian leaned against the inner wall, resting with her eyes closed. Her face was so pale it was almost transparent; the damage from enduring the heavenly tribulation was far more severe than it appeared on the surface.
A hundred years ago, her master Bai Yan had strictly ordered that she not to leave the mountain before her Nascent Soul stage cultivation was stable. At that time, she didn't understand much and simply obeyed her master's words. Although she had secretly left the mountain for Bai Chuan and Bai Ji, she was brought back to Cangmin Mountain by Bai Yan when danger occurred. Therefore, Yun Qian only now fully understands that the protective spirit array of Cangmin Mountain can actually reduce the power of the Heavenly Tribulation.
In the past, Yun Qian had experienced many heavenly tribulations within Cangmin Mountain, but none had ever been as dangerous and terrifying as this one. She knew that each heavenly lightning bolt was stronger than the last, but from the moment she blocked the second heavenly lightning bolt for Qin Wu, its power had already surpassed the fifth one she had endured within Cangmin Mountain! The excruciating pain, as if it were tearing her soul apart, almost caused her to collapse after just one bolt, and she was only able to persevere entirely through an unyielding will.
Just as her thoughts were swirling, she felt a weight on her lap. Zhihua gently nudged her with its soft paws, then its fluffy body nimbly nestled into her arms, adjusting itself into a comfortable position, and soon began to purr softly.
The kitten really loves to sleep.
Yun Qian lowered her head, her fingertips gently brushing against Zhihua's furry body, her eyes revealing a tenderness that even she herself was unaware of.
In the past two days, Bai Chuan has been feeding her all sorts of miraculous medicines like a flowing water. Yun Qian's external injuries seem to be improving, but her inner energy is still depleted, and her spiritual power is exhausted. Those medicines are just a drop in the ocean right now. However, she dares not say this out loud, for fear of needlessly worrying Bai Chuan.
The carriage traveled slowly toward Cangmin Mountain. For several days in a row, Yun Qian felt increasingly weak, and fatigue washed over her like waves.
It wasn't until Bai Chuan keenly noticed that her breathing was becoming increasingly weak and her complexion was worse than before that he decided to rest for two days in a village not far ahead before continuing his journey.
The carriage came to a stop, and Yun Qian stepped down. She looked up and her gaze fell on the magnificent inn in front of her, and her brows furrowed slightly.
This inn... stands in stark contrast to the simple, even somewhat dilapidated, village surrounding it. An inn of this size should, in principle, be located in at least the capital of a country.
Bai Chuan and Qin Wu clearly noticed the anomaly. Bai Chuan silently put the carriage into his Qiankun bag. Qin Wu remained expressionless, stating calmly, "There's only this one inn in the entire village."
If Yun Qian's complexion hadn't been so terrible, and Qin Wu hadn't been worried that her body wouldn't be able to hold on, he wouldn't have chosen to stay here. He would have preferred to travel for another two days to rest in the next town.
Bai Chuan clenched his fist and coughed twice to suppress his anger before saying, "Let's stay here first and investigate. Aren't you here?"
Qin Wu is a powerful sword cultivator who has just broken through to the Nascent Soul stage. Even if there is danger at this moment, with Qin Wu around, there shouldn't be any major problems.
Qin Wu was slightly taken aback by his senior brother's sudden trust. A hint of unease flashed across his face, but he quickly composed himself, stood protectively beside Yun Qian, and stepped into the strange-looking inn.
"Oh, a guest has arrived?" A languid and charming voice came from the inner room, and a slender figure in red gracefully walked out. The woman had an excellent figure, a stunningly beautiful face, and a natural allure in her eyes and brows.
Her eyes swept over Yun Qian and the other two, finally settling on Yun Qian's face. A playful smile curved her red lips. "She's quite the beauty."
Yun Qian ignored her flirtatious teasing and simply said, "I need three rooms."
The woman in red moved gracefully closer, bringing with her a fragrant breeze. "Alright," she readily agreed, her gaze still fixed on Yun Qian. "Gentlemen, how many days do you plan to stay?"
Qin Wu stepped forward, subtly shielding Yun Qian even more firmly behind him, blocking her from the uncomfortable scrutiny. "Two days."
"Two days..." the woman in red drawled, raising her slender finger to point in a direction on the second floor, "Over there, any empty room is available. I'm in a good mood today, so as for the room fee... you can decide what to pay."
"Thank you." Bai Chuan coughed a few more times, took out some silver from his Qiankun bag, and placed it on the counter.
The woman in red glanced at them casually, her expression unchanged, and her tone still roundabout: "The waiter isn't here today, and the kitchen fire is out, so there's no food to serve you. The three of you will have to figure out how to make do with yourselves."
"Mm." Bai Chuan responded, exchanged a glance with Yun Qian and Qin Wu, and the three of them went upstairs together.
They entered the same guest room with perfect understanding. As soon as the door closed, Bai Chuan flicked his sleeve, and a seemingly ordinary folding fan floated in the air. He made a hand seal, and an invisible barrier of spiritual light instantly opened, enveloping the entire room and isolating it from all sounds.
Yun Qian gently placed Zhihua, the kitten in her arms, on the table. It didn't run around; it simply sat on the table, its heterochromatic cat eyes warily scanning its surroundings.
Yun Qian tapped her fingertips lightly on the table, her voice low and certain: "It's a demon."
Bai Chuan sighed, his tone tinged with helplessness: "With the luck of the three of us... the bodies of that waiter and the cook in the kitchen are probably still warm."
Yun Qian's gaze slowly swept over every corner of the bedroom, from the bed curtains to the tables and chairs, from the walls to the floor. "That woman in red is strange, and this inn... is even stranger."
This inn, from its location to its interior layout, exudes an indescribable eeriness. Even an ordinary cultivator, let alone Yun Qian, would likely immediately sense the anomaly upon entering. Every detail seems to subtly align with some sinister purpose, emanating an extremely ominous aura that attracts malevolent energy. In other words, the entire inn itself is a meticulously crafted, massive array designed to summon negative energy.
“This inn is a massive Yin-attracting formation,” Yun Qian said in a deep voice, her brows furrowing more and more. “And the core of this formation is not fixed to a certain object; it is… alive.”
The formation is formed by the mind; the formation arises from the mind, and the formation begins with the intention. If this is indeed the case, then the person who set up this formation must be in this inn right now.
Yun Qian couldn't understand why this person would set up such a sinister formation in this seemingly ordinary village. What was his intention?
And that red-clad female demon, did she know about the strangeness of this inn? Was she an accomplice of the one who set up the formation, or... an unsuspecting intruder?
Upon hearing Yun Qian's deduction, Bai Chuan and Qin Wu's expressions instantly turned serious.
Using the heart as an array… Bai Chuan had personally witnessed Bai Ji attempt to use his body as an array, but that was only within a small area the size of an arm, and it was only after Bai Ji had devoted himself to studying it for a long time that he succeeded. He had heard Bai Ji mention many times that using the heart as an array was the highest realm of array formation, but at that time Bai Ji's cultivation was still shallow and he could not reach it at all. Now, this array that covers the entire inn, such a huge and intricate array, must require extremely powerful spiritual energy to operate, or the caster must have unfathomable cultivation to support it.
It seems that this time, the trouble the three of them are facing is probably no less than what they encountered at Tianyan Mountain.
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