Chapter 191: As Scheduled
When Mu Sanniang opened her eyes again, everything was pitch black.
The darkness was so thick that even as a cultivator, she had to adapt for quite some time before she could vaguely make out her surroundings.
Her vision was met with a rough rock wall, emitting a faint cold light.
She extended a hand, unable to see her fingers.
Beneath her feet, she felt a soft, muddy, and somewhat squishy texture.
Following that, streams of an aura several times colder than the outside world seeped into her body from below.
Mu Sanniang instinctively shivered.
She furrowed her brow and began circulating the Yuan Soul Devouring cultivation technique.
At the same time, the mysterious black saber sensed its master’s call and materialized out of thin air, slowly taking shape.
The young girl extended her hand and grasped the hilt.
The cold, rigid feel of the saber provided Mu Sanniang with a sliver of security.
Within her sea of consciousness, a familiar aged voice echoed.
The old woman’s tone was tinged with excitement.
“I feel it, I feel it!”
“So many souls, everywhere, waiting for us to harvest…”
She mumbled to herself, her voice sounding somewhat deranged.
Mu Sanniang’s brow remained tightly furrowed, her spirit on high alert; she did not respond.
She carefully moved her feet, beginning to explore deeper into the darkness.
Above the girl, a faint crimson vertical pupil slowly opened its eye.
The next moment, a piercing shriek split the air, accompanied by the cold light glinting off sharp claws.
The girl’s eyes narrowed. With no time to dodge, she relied on her combat instincts, unconsciously swinging her saber.
The black saber swept upwards from below, drawing a graceful arc and emitting a clang of metal on metal in the darkness.
After a brief clash, Mu Sanniang leaped lightly, rapidly retreating a few steps.
Where the battle had just occurred, there was now utter silence, so quiet it was unsettling.
Within the cave, a deathly stillness had once again descended.
Drip, drip.
A long, narrow gash was slashed across the girl’s fair wrist by the claws.
Crimson fresh blood slowly dripped down her wrist.
And then, those light blue eyes began to be gradually stained crimson.
…
…
The next day, Tianxuan Peak.
“Perhaps, you should wake up.”
Seated on a meditation cushion, recalling the system’s words from the previous night, Chen An remained silent for a moment.
He felt inexplicably restless, so he ended his cultivation and stood up.
Stepping out of his cave mansion, the sunlight warmed him, causing Chen An to squint his eyes.
In this life, he had no grand ambitions, and his cultivation was mostly a matter of going with the flow.
He hadn’t deliberately sought out peers within the sect, emphasizing his casual nature.
His free time was mostly spent visiting his older sister.
Now that Mu Sanniang was gone, and he didn’t want to cultivate alone, he genuinely didn’t know what to do with himself.
“You look like you’re in a pretty bad mood?”
From a nearby tree, a familiar charming female voice drifted down.
Chen An looked up and saw Jiang Qiuchi sitting with a smile on an outstretched branch.
Her crimson dress draped down, concealing a large expanse of her snowy white skin.
Only her bare feet beneath the skirt dangled casually by her calves, catching the eye in the sunlight.
Chen An also noticed that on the girl’s ankle, there was now a gleaming golden bracelet, though he had no idea when she put it on.
He wasn’t in the mood and perfunctorily waved his hand in response.
Then, the young man walked over and lay down beneath the tree.
With his hands behind his head, his gaze drifted aimlessly.
A gentle breeze blew, carrying away the slight heat of the summer season.
The young man was lost in thought, staring blankly.
On the branch, Jiang Qiuchi’s expression faltered upon seeing Chen An’s reaction.
In her memory, she rarely saw him looking so dejected.
Her swinging legs stilled, she tapped her chin with a jade finger, tilted her head, and a hint of curiosity flickered in her eyes.
She smiled, “Hey, hey, hey, if there’s anything bothering you, tell older sister about it.”
Hearing this, Chen An slightly lifted his gaze.
He replied weakly, “What, are you going to be a sympathetic older sister and guide me?”
To his surprise, the girl chuckled behind her hand, then replied, “Who wants to guide a blockhead like you? Of course, I want you to tell me your unhappiness so I can be happy.”
After speaking, the girl seemed to relish her small prank, laughing heartily.
Chen An’s face twitched.
“Boring.”
He muttered casually.
However, Jiang Qiuchi’s interruption did alleviate some of his gloom.
He mused that although this vixen often claimed to be a girl of sixty years, in reality, he hadn’t found her particularly mature or steady.
She always played silly, trivial tricks, making it easy for Chen An to overlook her age.
Of course, it was also very possible that she was deliberately feigning it.
As Chen An was lost in thought, he heard a voice from above urging him.
“Hey, blockhead, spit it out.”
Chen An rested his head back and thought for a moment before asking, “Do you believe in destiny?”
Jiang Qiuchi was taken aback by his question and instinctively repeated it.
“Destiny?”
Chen An nodded, “Yes, destiny.”
The girl in the red dress’s eyes twitched slightly, and she countered, “What is destiny?”
This question stumped Chen An a bit.
He squinted his eyes, “Perhaps it refers to whether a person’s entire life is already predetermined.”
As soon as the young man finished speaking, he shook his head and gave a self-deprecating laugh.
“No, that’s too one-sided. Never mind, there’s no point thinking about this now.”
His vacant pupils refocused, and then, as if suddenly seeing something, his gaze sharpened.
Jiang Qiuchi was looking down at him. Seeing his reaction, she asked, “What’s wrong?”
The young man’s tone held surprise, “I thought it would be red too, but it turned out to be white?”
His words jumped too quickly, and Jiang Qiuchi couldn’t keep up, only asking blankly.
“What white?”
However, soon, with her extensive reading, she immediately understood. A rare blush spread across her fair cheeks.
She softly chided him, and her bare feet beneath the red dress curled slightly.
The next moment, a speckled leaf drifted down from above. Driven by the spiritual energy attached to it, it precisely covered the young man’s eyes.
When Chen An slowly removed the leaf, he saw that the tree remained, but the figure in the crimson dress was nowhere to be seen.
The corners of the young man’s lips curled upwards.
He thought that perhaps it was due to prolonged companionship, but he was beginning to find this vixen somewhat tolerable.
…
…
Seven days later.
Shang Xuan Peak, Nether Prison. Chen An arrived as scheduled.
He had arrived very early, standing silently at the spot where he had last parted ways with his sister.
He stood there until it was close to evening. As the evening breeze swirled the yellow sand on the ground, the young man finally showed a smile.
Because at the entrance of the cave ahead, the girl’s slender figure slowly materialized.
She had arrived as scheduled.
(End of this chapter)
