Chapter 323 The Villain Has Been Marked!
Stars dotted the sky curtain, and silvery moonlight sprinkled onto the mountain forest.
The constables of the Xing Tian Division, clad in golden Daoist robes, conducted a thorough search of the mountain forest outside the eastern part of the city. Their flying swords, viewed from afar, resembled fireflies in the mountains, circling and meandering.
“Sir, we found nothing on the east side.”
“We’ve been searching for three hours, and if we still can’t find him, he must have fled far away. He likely possesses some escape technique or spiritual treasure. Relay the order to retreat, and double the patrols at the eastern gate’s night watch. Keep a sharp eye out these few days.”
“Yes…”
… …
The cultivator’s voice was close by. Leaning against an unknown tree, Gu Mingxin, holding her breath and concentrating her senses, finally breathed a slight sigh of relief upon hearing this.
The Xue E, hovering above her head and vigilantly scanning the surroundings with its spiritual sense, descended only after seeing that the nearby Xing Tian Division disciples had withdrawn.
“Mingxin, they’re gone.”
“Mmm.”
Gu Mingxin nodded faintly, gritted her teeth, and raised her hand to tear open her collar.
The silvery moonlight fell upon her chest, as pale as a corpse. It resembled two soft, fuller full moons, and above these two full moons was a crisscrossing sword wound that was still bleeding.
Her mind recalled the two individuals who had fought her earlier.
The silver-haired girl was indeed formidable, but perhaps due to having high expectations, she wasn’t surprised.
After all, she was of Saint Emperor bloodline and the wielder of the Heavenly Scroll of the Dao. If she were easily dealt with, that would truly be strange.
However, the other person who had coordinated with her at the time…
That girl with dark brown hair and orange eyes…
After some contemplation, Gu Mingxin spoke a number:
“Seventy percent.”
Although it was only a single word, the Xue E immediately understood what she meant.
Gu Mingxin was referring to her win rate in a one-on-one fight against the woman with orange eyes, without relying on the Xue E.
The Xue E felt a little helpless and offered comfort:
“Mingxin, you have me, but that girl doesn’t. If you encounter her again, I’ll have Ah Mang swallow her whole. You don’t need to overthink it.”
“… …”
Gu Mingxin bit her lip slightly, a hint of unwillingness on her face. Her mind flashed with the image of “Liang Xiaoliu,” and her body gradually relaxed.
If judging solely by strength, “Liang Xiaoliu” was definitely not her match, but…
“So powerful.”
“Who? That handsome youth?”
“Yes, every step I took was foreseen by him, as if no matter how I struggled, I couldn’t escape his grasp.” Gu Mingxin’s eyes slowly narrowed, and she clutched her shoulder, lowering her head. “Just like Master… I can never escape, this feeling… it’s so strange.”
The Xue E revealed a pair of beady white eyes and sighed, saying:
“Mingxin, I think his Sword Art, and that of the orange-eyed girl, bear a strong resemblance to the Moon Shadow Sword Sect’s techniques. And the Spirit Sword they wield is likely of extraordinary origin as well.”
“Moon Shadow Sword Sect?”
“Yes, and they seem to be allied with the girl who has the Heavenly Scroll of the Dao. That silver-haired girl is your sworn enemy, and now she has such a powerful helper by her side, this situation is quite dire.”
Speaking of which, a trace of gentleness appeared in the Xue E’s eyes:
“Mingxin, you’ve always been a loner since childhood. After you return to the Eastern Domain, make some close friends.”
Hearing the words “return to the Eastern Domain,” Gu Mingxin pursed her lips slightly. She then remembered that she had messed up the task her Master had given her.
And she had messed it up thoroughly, even before it had truly begun.
The “Demonic Heart Gu” her Master had prepared for her was gone, and she herself was seriously injured. She would likely be unable to wield a sword for several months to come.
“I’ll probably get scolded when I go back, but then again…”
At this point, Gu Mingxin’s gaze sharpened, and the Xue E immediately understood her thoughts, crossing its arms and nodding:
“Mmm, there’s definitely a spy within the Tian Mo Sect. You and Xu Mo didn’t do anything conspicuous on the road, yet as soon as you arrived in Tianan City, you were ambushed, and it was an ambush specifically targeting you. It would be more problematic if the Tian Mo Sect *didn’t* have a spy from an Immortal Family.”
“Hoo— Well, at least it wasn’t a complete waste. I’ll let Master sort out the Tian Mo Sect properly when I get back.”
Gu Mingxin let out a sigh of relief, picked up her Spirit Sword, and used it as a walking stick to stand up, preparing to find a safer place to recuperate under the cover of night.
However, it was at this moment that two caws suddenly came from behind them:
“Utter failure! Utter failure!!”
?!
Gu Mingxin trembled with fright at the sound. She thought the Xing Tian Division disciples had found her and immediately turned her head vigilantly toward the source of the sound. She saw that the source was a golden parrot.
“This is…”
“It seems to be a Golden Feather Parrot, likely a spirit beast raised by some cultivator.”
“So, there’s someone nearby?”
“No, my spiritual sense has been scanning the area. There are definitely no cultivators within a ten-mile radius…”
Jingle bells—
A crisp bell sound rang out, abruptly cutting off the Xue E’s speech.
Both the Xue E and Gu Mingxin turned their heads simultaneously towards the direction of the bell. They saw a young girl with Yin-yang heteromorphic eyes peeking out from behind a tree not far away, her head tilted curiously as she looked at them.
The strange, heteromorphic eyes sent a feeling of unease through the Xue E.
It distinctly hadn’t sensed anyone nearby. Where did this girl come from?
And these peculiar eyes…
“Mingxin… this person evaded my spiritual sense.”
—Dark moon and high wind, deep mountains and old forests. A young girl peeking from behind a tree, staring at herself, not speaking, not blinking…
A chill ran down Gu Mingxin’s spine. She had encountered many strange things in the Eastern Domain. She had heard that some souls, unable to rest after death, would linger in the mortal world and appear under the moonlight, wandering everywhere.
“A ghost?”
Jingle bells—
Mid-sentence, Gu Mingxin blinked involuntarily.
However, in the mere instant she blinked, the young girl who had been about twenty paces away had suddenly appeared right in front of her, her face almost touching Gu Mingxin’s.
Those enormous Yin-yang heteromorphic eyes seemed to draw her in, causing her to let out an uncontrollable scream and drop to the ground with a thud.
“Ah!!!”
However, when she looked up again at the young girl, she had already vanished.
“Mingxin, your hand…”
“Huh?”
Gu Mingxin paused, then looked down at her left hand. She discovered that a jade bell, engraved with the pattern of “Nine Dragons Paying Homage to the Phoenix,” had inexplicably appeared on her left hand.
“A bell? Did that girl give it to me just now?”
“…”
The Xue E looked at the bell in her hand, then waved its appendage and pulled out a thick book, larger than itself, from behind its rear. It flipped through it rapidly, but after a long search, it still couldn’t identify the bell.
“Soul-summoning Bell… Returning Star Bell… I can’t tell what kind of bell it is, Mingxin. I suggest you throw it away.”
Gu Mingxin silently scanned her surroundings, noticing that the parrot from earlier had also disappeared. Finally, her gaze shifted back to the bell in her left hand.
Truth be told, she really wanted to throw it away. But her intuition told her that if she threw it away now, it would likely lead to trouble.
“I’ll throw it away when I get back to the Eastern Domain. I have a feeling that if I throw it away now, I might encounter some disaster. That girl just now was too bizarre. Perhaps there’s some ‘strange thing’ buried here.”
“Mmm…”
Gu Mingxin took a deep breath, used her Spirit Sword as a walking stick, and limped deeper into the forest. Her figure soon disappeared amongst the shadows of the trees, vanishing from sight.
She did not know, and neither did the Xue E.
Directly above their heads, in the direction of the full moon, the bizarre young girl who had just given them the bell was now suspended upside down in the air, her Immortal Robe billowing gently in the wind.
Si Xuanji watched Gu Mingxin walk into the deep forest, then looked up at the moon in the sky.
The full moon was reflected in her Yin-yang heteromorphic eyes, but it was dyed by the color of her pupils. Her left eye reflected a silver moon, while her right eye reflected a black moon.
“Strange thing!! Strange thing!!”
Ah Ying, perched on Si Xuanji’s shoulder, looked at Si Xuanji and said this.
Si Xuanji’s gaze slowly shifted towards it, her eyes chilling slightly:
“Mmm?”
Ah Ying blinked and quickly turned its head in the direction Gu Mingxin had left, clicking its tongue:
“She said it! She said it!”
“…Never mind.” Si Xuanji shook her head, then looked back towards Tianan City and asked, “Ah Ying. Do you think that silly girl will live up to expectations or not?”
“Will!! Will!!”
Upon hearing this, Si Xuanji sighed:
“I thought so too. Alas—”
… …
