Chapter 364: Senior Brother, Pulling Mobs
Whoosh—
The cold wind, laced with flying frost, rattled the oil paper windows on the second floor of the inn.
Inside, the oil lamp cast a dim yellow light. The wooden bed creaked under pressure, accompanied by faint, charming moans with an alluring fragrance.
“Mmm~ Mmm~~ So good…”
On the bedding, Gu Mingxin slowly opened her eyes. She felt a splitting headache and her body was weak. After a while, she forced herself to sit up and turned her head towards the source of the sound.
She saw the silhouette of Lu Meimei on the screen, rising and falling.
A hint of annoyance flickered across her face as she frowned slightly and coughed.
“Cough, cough—”
The next moment, Lu Meimei’s movements on the other side of the screen stopped abruptly. She turned her head towards Gu Mingxin’s direction, dismounted from the man, wrapped herself in a silk scarf, and walked around the screen.
“Gu sister, you’re awake?”
Gu Mingxin glanced at her coldly and asked, “How many days have I been asleep?”
“Three days. Gu sister, do you want to join us? Junior Brother Wu just brought back a rather handsome young man. You can enjoy yourself and replenish some True Essence at the same time.”
“A handsome young man?”
Upon hearing this, Gu Mingxin’s mind immediately conjured the face of “Liang Xiaoliu.” Disbelieving, she quickly got out of bed, circled the screen, and looked at the other bed.
On that bed lay a young man in his early twenties. He was now under Lu Meimei’s bewitching technique, his expression dazed, and he writhed his waist on the bed with a smile.
Seeing this, Gu Mingxin clicked her tongue in slight annoyance and hobbled back to her own bed to sit down.
Lu Meimei looked at her with some confusion and asked, “Gu sister, don’t you want to? Or do you dislike that I’ve used him? How about I find another handsome man for you to replenish your body?”
Gu Mingxin looked at her, and after a moment of silence, replied as politely as possible, “I don’t have that kind of hobby.”
“Oh?” Lu Meimei looked surprised and asked, “Could it be that Gu sister hasn’t tasted a man before? You’re already at the Core Formation stage. Doesn’t the Tian Mo Sect send men to you? Are they that stingy? Would you like…”
Gu Mingxin felt exhausted and quickly interrupted, “I want to be alone.”
“Oh… I’ll be next door. Call me if you need anything, Gu sister~”
Lu Meimei smiled and walked back around the screen. The sound of “creak creak” gradually rose, irritating Gu Mingxin, but she couldn’t say anything.
In the demonic sects of the Eastern Domain, ordinary female cultivators at the Core Formation stage almost invariably had four or five male companions. As a direct disciple of the Tian Mo Sect Master, she had lived for over twenty years while remaining a virgin, which was considered a rare species.
However, it wasn’t that she wasn’t interested. It was simply that her requirements for men were too high.
“Liang Xiaoliu… Heh heh… Heh heh heh…”
Gu Mingxin murmured the name, and a strange, charming smile appeared on her face.
“Heh heh hah… Hahahaha…”
Suddenly, two sets of footsteps from the door made Gu Mingxin vigilant. She turned and saw Wu Tianci pushing the door open. Only then did she slowly relax.
After entering the room, Wu Tianci removed his snow-covered bamboo hat. Seeing that Gu Mingxin had woken up, he quickly walked over.
“Senior Sister Gu, how are you feeling?”
“My True Essence is depleted, but my body is fine,” Gu Mingxin replied indifferently, looking up at him. “How is your side?”
“To be honest, it’s not good…”
Wu Tianci glanced back at the youth currently under Lu Meimei.
After Gu Mingxin had fainted that day, he had asked Lu Meimei to use her bewitching technique to interrogate the person he brought back. However, the man was quite stubborn. After saying only a few words, he severed his own meridians and died.
So, during the days Gu Mingxin was asleep, he had followed the clues and found a lot of information.
The young man Lu Meimei was currently “draining” was someone he had captured yesterday from a pill shop in the nearby Pixiu Town.
The young man’s name was Wang Er, an informant for a force in the Northern Region’s black market.
He had managed to extract quite a bit of intelligence from him.
Wu Tianci paused for a moment and replied as concisely as possible, “Senior Sister Gu, we’ve been placed under a high bounty.”
Gu Mingxin narrowed her eyes and asked, “We?”
“Yes… Among the demonic cultivators who came to the Northern Region, only I, you, and Senior Lu are under a high bounty.”
Wu Tianci frowned and nodded. “This is not good. I’ve learned that the Snow-clothed Guard in Hantian Kingdom have already begun secretly investigating the three of us. Once our identities as demonic cultivators are discovered…”
Gu Mingxin finished his sentence: “Then the Hantian Kingdom’s Empress will be able to guess all the actions of the Six Demonic Sects in the Northern Region. All the demonic cultivators who came to the Northern Region will be exposed…”
“Yes, all our efforts have been in vain.”
Wu Tianci nodded and continued, “Moreover, after this incident, we three will inevitably be investigated by the sect. After all, this matter was exposed because of us.”
“…We’re finished.”
The Six Demonic Sects had spent decades of effort and cost to send over thirty Core Formation stage demonic cultivators into the Northern Region without Hantian Kingdom’s knowledge.
And now, Liang Xiaoliu, with just a bounty, had turned decades of the demonic sects’ efforts to naught, and even caused her to bear the charge of “betraying the sect.”
When the elders of the demonic sects learned of this, they would undoubtedly question why they were targeted with a bounty. No matter how they explained, at best, they would be treated as troublemakers who deliberately exposed their whereabouts and ruined the grand scheme.
Gu Mingxin could already imagine her Master’s furious reaction upon her return to the Tian Mo Sect. It was even possible that she would be expelled from the sect.
Gu Mingxin clutched her forehead and let out a desolate laugh, “Hahaha… Liang Xiaoliu, I truly… Hahahaha…”
Wu Tianci was silent for a moment and continued, “According to what I’ve gathered, the high bounty on the three of us is backed by the Master of the Chi Long Mansion.”
“It wasn’t Liang Xiaoliu…” Gu Mingxin suddenly froze and asked, “It was the Master of the Chi Long Mansion?”
“Yes.”
A trace of anger appeared in Wu Tianci’s eyes. He suddenly remembered his father, who had died in the Chi Long Mansion.
If his father died in the Chi Long Mansion, then his Storage Bag might have fallen into the hands of the Master of the Chi Long Mansion. He wanted to continue investigating, preferably encountering that young lady surnamed Li.
However, that was just a thought…
Wu Tianci was silent for a moment and replied rationally, “Senior Sister Gu, many forces in the black market are watching us now. We definitely can’t send out the Jade Slip. It’s best for us to return to the Eastern Domain as soon as possible and report this matter.”
Gu Mingxin raised an eyebrow and retorted, “Why? To atone for our sins?”
“Yes, so that the elders can order all the demonic cultivators in the Northern Region to withdraw. Otherwise, if this continues, we will eventually be caught by the Hantian Kingdom’s Snow-clothed Guard and wiped out. Over thirty Core Formation stage demonic cultivators – that’s not a small price to pay.”
Gu Mingxin listened, and a glimmer of light appeared in her blood-red eyes.
She shook her head slightly and said, “As you said, it’s best for us to turn back to the Eastern Domain now, but…”
“…”
Gu Mingxin glared and said, “Wouldn’t that fulfill Liang Xiaoliu’s wish?”
“Senior Sister Gu…”
“He wants us to retreat in the face of difficulty. If we really retreat like this, won’t we seem like fleeing wild dogs in his eyes?!! No matter how many people he sends, I’ll kill them all… Even if the Hantian Kingdom’s Empress comes, I’ll knock out two of her teeth!!”
“…”
“Of course.” Gu Mingxin’s expression gradually softened. “If Junior Brother Wu is unwilling to follow, you can take Sister Lu back.”
Wu Tianci frowned slightly, paused, and cupped his hands in reply, “…No need. Since Senior Sister Gu has decided, I will naturally follow you.”
“Then don’t go back on your word,” Gu Mingxin stood up and patted his shoulder. “Tell me, the Master of the Chi Long Mansion placed the bounty in Linghe Immortal City, right?”
“…So we’re going directly to Linghe Immortal City next?”
“Mmm~”
Gu Mingxin nodded, walked to the bed, and forcefully pushed open the window. She gritted her teeth and looked at the white mountains under the snow clouds in the distance.
“Young Master Liang, I really want to see you again…”
… …
Feather-like snow fell for a thousand li.
A crescent moon hung high in the sky. On the mountainside of Yuxue Peak in the southwest of the Northern Region, a cave entrance flickered with the light of a campfire.
Inside the cave, six or seven Foundation Establishment stage demonic cultivators dressed in black sat around the campfire, trying to escape the cold wind of the night.
“The elders want us to search for some formation core in the Northern Region… We’ve been wandering in these mountains for several weeks, and we’ve only encountered a few snow tigers. Could it be that there’s no formation core on our side?”
“Who knows? Anyway, we’ll just search. If we find it, it’s a great achievement. If we don’t, it’s not our problem.”
“Senior Brother is right. By the way, I heard there’s a town not far from here. Why don’t we go catch some girls to replenish our bodies? This Northern Region is so cold… We have to constantly protect ourselves with spiritual energy, so we need to replenish it.”
… …
Ying—!!!
Suddenly, an eagle’s cry from the cave entrance broke up their conversation.
The six of them tensed up and turned towards the cave entrance. They saw a girl, with her eyes closed and wrapped up warmly, carrying a fire phoenix as she entered.
“Blind?”
Li Longling sighed slightly. “This is truly impolite.”
Then, facing the fire phoenix on her arm, she softly called out, “Afeng.”
Ying—!!
Afeng’s eyes instantly flashed with fire. Spreading its wings and opening its beak, it spat out a stream of scalding fire, striking the six people by the campfire.
The six reacted quickly, immediately jumping away to dodge the fire phoenix’s fire-elemental spell. They then turned and drew their swords, attacking Li Longling from all directions.
However, at this very moment, a black shadow darted in from outside the cave. The ice-blue Spirit Sword in his hand was like a brush, drawing five lines between the chests of the six men.
Swish—
After drawing the lines, Ye Anping came to Li Longling’s side and gently flicked the Snow Jade Myriad Spirit Sword in his hand to the side.
The six Foundation Establishment stage demonic cultivators fell like broken puppets, faces first on the ground, motionless.
“Whoosh…”
He glanced at the six men and probed their life and death with his Spiritual Sense, then said, “Longling, these demonic cultivators have conveniently set up a tent, which can shelter us from the wind and snow. Let’s rest here tonight.”
“As Young Master Ye says.”
Ye Anping nodded, then helped Li Longling up. They stepped over the bodies of the demonic cultivators and sat down by the campfire. He took out a marinated frozen chicken, bought from a town they passed by earlier, from his Storage Bag, stuck it on a branch, and placed it by the campfire that the demonic cultivators had set up.
Soon, the frozen roasted chicken melted by the flames, and the savory aroma of the meat filled the cave.
It was at this moment that one of the six Foundation Establishment demonic cultivators lying by the entrance opened his eyes, looked towards them, immediately got up, summoned a protective Magical Artifact, took out his Flying Sword, and fled out of the cave.
Li Longling, sitting by the campfire, noticed that one person had escaped and was slightly surprised. However, seeing Ye Anping, who was roasting the chicken, looking very calm through the Fire Phoenix’s eyes, she didn’t get up to pursue.
She hesitated for a moment and reminded, “Young Master Ye, one person escaped.”
“Yes, I deliberately let one person go,” Ye Anping nodded, took out five Talisman Scripts, and burned the remaining five corpses of the demonic cultivators into ashes. Then he said, “Longling, do you know what ‘pulling mobs’ is?”
“Pulling mobs…?”
“Yes, it’s letting one person attract the attention of a group, making them chase after oneself.”
Li Longling pondered for a moment, then nodded. “So, it’s like… ‘herding the dragon’?”
“Yes.” Ye Anping nodded. “I don’t know where my Junior Sister and Senior Sister Xiao are now. I need to first attract Gu Mingxin’s attention to me, so that she chases after me.”
“…”
“If she chases me, then I will definitely see my Junior Sister and the others before she does. With the Snow Jade Myriad Spirit Sword in my hand, if Junior Sister encounters Gu Mingxin before I do, then they will be in danger.”
Li Longling listened and pondered for a moment, then understood.
These past few days, they had been setting bounties and clearing out Foundation Establishment stage demonic cultivators, all to prevent Pei Lianxue, Xiao Yunluo, and Feng Yu Die from falling into danger.
“But with such a large bounty… does Young Master Ye think that demonic cultivator named Gu Mingxin can survive in the hands of the black market assassins?”
Ye Anping shook his head slightly and said, “If she could die at the hands of those assassins, that would be great. It would only cost a million Spirit Stones to deal with her, and it would be a hundred-to-one profit.”
“It sounds like Young Master Ye believes she won’t die?”
“It’s a feeling.” Ye Anping looked at the roasted chicken in front of him. “Probably not. Moreover, she won’t obediently return to the Eastern Domain after being frustrated. She will definitely find out through various means that it was you, Longling, who placed the bounty, and then track us down.”
Li Longling hugged her knees, shrunk her neck, and moved closer to Ye Anping. “So, Young Master Ye is using me as bait.”
Ye Anping was stunned and looked at her. “Longling, don’t worry, I will guarantee your safety.”
“I’m not complaining,” Li Longling pursed her lips and asked, “I’m just curious, why use me as bait?”
“I am Gu Mingxin’s bait, and you are the bait for that demonic cultivator named Wu Tianci.”
“Huh?”
“His father, together with your father, raised the Blood Lotus in the Chi Long Mansion and eventually died by my Eldest Brother’s hand. That person is extremely shrewd but prone to impulsiveness. You are his ‘impulse’.”
“…”
Li Longling silently nodded and moved closer to Ye Anping again, leaning her shoulder against his.
“Then where will we find Senior Sister Xiao?”
“Someone will come to tell us their location.”
“How long will it be until that person arrives?”
“I don’t know, but it should be soon.”
“…”
Does this mean my private time with Young Master Ye is about to end…
Li Longling sighed with some melancholy, hesitated for a moment, and then leaned her head on Ye Anping’s shoulder.
Ye Anping paused slightly and looked to the side. He saw a hint of loneliness on the face of the girl with her eyes closed, illuminated by the campfire.
Although she was blind and didn’t have as captivating eyes as his Junior Sister, Li Longling was still a charming and lovely girl.
Outside the cave, the cold wind and snow howled. Inside, the logs in the campfire crackled.
Ye Anping was silent for a moment and hesitantly said, “Speaking of which, I haven’t checked the talisman imprint I left in your meridians last time. Now that I have some free time, how about…”
“…Mm?”
Hearing this, Li Longling was stunned. She recalled the scene in the Chi Long Mansion when Ye Anping was treating her eyes, and her cheeks instantly flushed red.
“N-now?”
“If you don’t mind, Longling.”
“I don’t mind…”
Li Longling remembered that Ye Anping had touched her feet last time. She pursed her lips, untied the laces of her velvet boots, took out her snow-white feet from her shoes, turned her body, and placed them on Ye Anping’s lap.
Her toes wiggled slightly, grasping Ye Anping’s leg. Li Longling immediately hid her chin and nose inside her collar, looking very shy.
Ye Anping exhaled slowly, gently held her ankle, and his fingers traced her sole.
“Eeeeh…”
“Endure it.”
It was at this moment that a loud shout suddenly came from the cave entrance, reaching Ye Anping’s ears.
“Yaya! Anping!! What are you doing?!”
“…”
Ye Anping stopped his fingers, turned his head, and saw a small golden figure, carrying a bundle on its back, standing angrily at the cave entrance, looking in his direction.
—The person who was going to tell him his Junior Sister’s location had arrived.
Li Longling felt Ye Anping’s hand stop and asked with confusion, “Young Master Ye, what’s wrong?”
“…Next time.”
“Ah?”
Ye Anping sighed, picked up her shoes and helped her put them on, then picked up the roasted chicken, its skin golden and crispy, and handed it over. “Longling, do you want roasted chicken?”
“…No, thank you.”
“Does Afeng want it?”
?
The Fire Phoenix turned its head and glared at him: You’re feeding chicken meat to a chicken?
Ye Anping paused, then chuckled awkwardly, “Sorry, I got distracted.”
Then he began to gnaw on the roasted chicken himself.
Xiao Tian squinted its eyes and flew to his side. It glanced at Li Longling and asked, “Why did you bring her along?”
“…”
“Never mind. Yudie misses you a lot. I haven’t seen you in so long that I can’t even eat roasted chicken.”
Ye Anping rolled his eyes at him and signaled with his gaze to get to the point.
Xiao Tian sighed helplessly, smiled, and said, “Yudie is digging for spiritual herbs near Hanyue City in the Northern Region. Pei girl and Xiao girl seem to be looking for someone. They’ve been asking around all the way.”
Ye Anping knitted his brows. Honestly, he still didn’t understand why his Junior Sister and Xiao Yunluo had come. Even after hearing Xiao Tian say this, he still didn’t grasp it.
Looking for someone? Looking for whom?
Xiao Tian rested its chin on its hand and recalled for a moment, then raised an eyebrow. “It seems her name is Xiyue something? I’m not too sure. I heard Yudie say that Pei girl and Xiao girl ask around in every town they visit. ‘Where is Xiyue? Where is Xiyue?’ and so on…”
Ye Anping:?
… …
Leave of Absence Notice
Taking my mother to the hospital for a check-up. It’s really difficult to write here at the hospital.
One day leave, will make up for it tomorrow and the day after.
— June 3, 2023.
Also, here are the character designs.
————
Junior Sister Pei:
[img=700,494]https://rss.sf-soushu2021.com/web/novel/images/UploadPic/2023/06/d0e06f3b-6452-4f7d-b116-66cdb31535de.jpg[/img]
————
Er Shazi (Second Fool):
[img=700,434]https://rss.sf-soushu2021.com/web/novel/images/UploadPic/2023/06/e876d7f7-e2b0-41cf-a03f-1f99ec2538eb.jpg[/img]
————
Xiao Huangshu (Xiao Yellow Book):
[img=700,503]https://rss.sf-soushu2021.com/web/novel/images/UploadPic/2023/06/40c2ce58-effd-4000-99d3-5d76b0b62f4e.jpg[/img]
