Chapter 375: Xiyue, did someone break into my room?!
In the blink of an eye, it was already the hour of the rat. In Baiyue Town, the lamp lights were extinguished one after another, and households closed their doors and windows, fleeing from the snow on the streets.
Only on the west side of town was there still light.
It was a small inn, with about thirty tables set for a wedding banquet. Most of the attendees were townsfolk from Baiyue Town, including the female shopkeeper of Youren Pavilion.
Atop the slightly taller tiled pavilion in the center of town, Ye Anping, wearing a bamboo hat and a white scarf, stood surveying the guests toasting and feasting in the courtyard.
He had previously sensed that a demonic cultivator resembling “Wu You” would appear at this wedding banquet to poison the townspeople.
However, after watching from the top of the pavilion for two hours, Ye Anping saw nothing amiss with the wedding guests.
He couldn’t help but murmur,
“Was I overthinking it? Or did I underestimate them? Is that Gu cultivator not as foolish as I thought?”
Ye Anping frowned and pondered for a moment, then tilted his head to look at the silver moon, half-hidden by dark clouds.
Seeing that it was late, and that his vigil here was unlikely to yield results, he turned and hurried back towards Youren Pavilion along the rooftops.
The main entrance of Youren Pavilion was now boarded up. The lights in the bedroom of Pei Lianxue and the other two on the second floor were out, implying they had already gone to rest.
Ye Anping landed lightly on the roof, then padded over to the area above Xu Xiyue’s room. After listening for a moment and hearing only the steady sound of breathing, he smirked, turned over, pushed open the window, and jumped in.
Xu Xiyue was already fast asleep, curled up in her bed.
Ye Anping scanned the room and noticed that Xu Xiyue had forgotten to put away her diary again. He padded over to the wooden table in the room and opened it:
“Hantian Calendar, the second day of the eighth month.”
“Today, three very beautiful Core Formation stage fairies visited Youren Pavilion. They are all Senior Ye’s wives. They told me that Senior Ye beats girls. Moreover, Senior Ye, knowing they were here, deliberately avoided them, which is very suspicious. I will definitely help my sister expose his true colors!”
“…”
The first part was… acceptable…
But what did she mean by helping her sister expose his true colors?
Ye Anping forced a stiff smile and looked back at the soundly sleeping Xu Xiyue, feeling a bit helpless. Had he been mistaken for a scoundrel trying to woo Xu Mulan?
“Hiss…”
He sighed softly and was about to close the diary when he turned his head and saw a face glowing with golden light looming in front of him, staring at him with the intensity for “Ye Tianchong.”
“…”
“Anping… you’re sneaking into a ten-year-old girl’s bedroom in the middle of the night to read her diary?”
“…I was just passing by.”
Xiao Tian narrowed its eyes, floated above Xu Xiyue, observed her, and then floated back.
“Anping, it’s one thing for the Xiao girl, the Li girl, and the Yun girl, they either have backgrounds or aptitude. But why are you interested in this ordinary girl with dual spiritual roots?”
Ye Anping glanced at the sleeping Xu Xiyue and replied truthfully,
“It’s a lingering thought from my childhood. Didn’t you and Senior Sister Feng ask me before why I always knew what was going to happen in advance?”
“Huh?”
He gestured with his eyes towards Xu Xiyue on the bed and said,
“She told me.”
After all, she was the看板娘 (poster girl) of “Heaven Sword Wonder Tale,” the one who witnessed the lives of Feng Yu Die and the players in the game, and also the compiler of the book “Heaven Sword Wonder Tale.”
Of course, Ye Anping didn’t voice the latter part.
Xiao Tian didn’t understand what he meant by “this girl told him” and looked around Xu Xiyue with confusion. No matter how it looked, Xu Xiyue was just an ordinary girl with dual spiritual roots and good looks.
At this moment, two sets of footsteps were heard outside the door, immediately putting Ye Anping on high alert.
He narrowed his eyes slightly, quickly closed the diary, and then flipped out the window, hanging upside down on the roof, peering into the room through the gap in the window.
Bang bang—
“…”
Bang bang bang—
“…”
Suddenly, there was a knock on the door, causing the soundly sleeping Xu Xiyue to blink her eyes, groggily get out of bed, and slip her feet into her boots.
“Who is it? So late… Ha—”
Xu Xiyue yawned, her gaze fell on the diary on the table, and she tilted her head slightly.
She vaguely remembered putting the diary in the center of the table before going to sleep last night. Why was it askew?
Did someone sneak in?
So suspicious…
“Stare—”
Bang bang—
Then came two more knocks.
Xu Xiyue snapped back to attention, hurried to the door, opened it, and peered outside.
The female shopkeeper was now wearing a red dress, standing at her door, smelling of alcohol and soy sauce, clearly having just returned from the wedding banquet in the east of town.
The female shopkeeper had previously told her that she would be attending the wedding banquet and asked her to help look after Youren Pavilion.
“Shopkeeper, didn’t you say you’d be drinking until morning? Why are you back so soon? Is something wrong?”
“Senior Ye is waiting for you in the woods behind.”
Ye Anping, hanging upside down like a bat outside the window on the eaves, heard this and his brow furrowed. He immediately realized that the shopkeeper was likely under the influence of a Gu.
Xiao Tian, hovering beside Xu Xiyue, squinted at the female shopkeeper outside the door, its eyes widened in alarm, and it darted back to Ye Anping.
“Anping!! The shopkeeper has been poisoned by a Gu!”
“…Mhm.”
Ye Anping was somewhat speechless. He nodded at her and pondered. He decided not to act for now.
Acting now would undoubtedly alert the enemy. He only needed to protect Xu Xiyue.
Xu Xiyue, looking at the shopkeeper at the door, twitched her eyebrows, seeming a little displeased. She nodded and said,
“Okay! I understand, I’ll go over after I get dressed.”
“Mm…”
Ye Anping had no intention of peeking at Xu Xiyue changing. He exerted force with his legs and flipped onto the roof, saying,
“Xiao Tian, go call Feng Shaoji.”
?
Ignoring Xiao Tian’s confused expression, Ye Anping turned and jumped to Youzi Residence across the street, entering through the window.
“Longling…”
Li Longling seemed to have been waiting for a long time, sitting at a table in the room, gently stroking the tail feathers of a Fire Phoenix.
“How is it?”
“Follow me. Hide in the woods later and watch from the sky with the Fire Phoenix. The Gu cultivator has too many escape methods, and we might not be able to catch them.”
“Okay… Carry me to fly on the sword?”
“…”
Didn’t you fly on the sword so naturally during the day?
Ye Anping sighed softly, walked over, picked up Li Longling from her seat, and leaped out the window with her, landing back on the roof of Youren Pavilion, waiting for them to come out.
…
After a while, Xu Xiyue, wrapped in a thick cotton coat, came out of the room. Seeing the shopkeeper waiting for her at the door, she was still a bit puzzled.
“Shopkeeper, I can go by myself. You should go rest.”
However, as soon as she finished speaking, the shopkeeper gently took her hand and pulled her down the inn’s stairs to the lobby, then headed towards the backyard.
“Shopkeeper?”
“Senior Ye is waiting for you in the woods behind.”
“I know, I can go by myself.”
“Mm…”
Although the shopkeeper nodded, she still didn’t let go of Xu Xiyue’s hand.
Xu Xiyue narrowed her eyes again. “Shopkeeper?”
“Senior Ye is waiting for you in the woods behind.”
“…”
When the shopkeeper repeated this for the third time, Xu Xiyue finally realized. Yesterday morning, when her sister came to find Senior Ye to discuss a case, Senior Ye had mentioned the Gu cultivator.
Although she hadn’t said anything at the time, she had listened carefully.
Senior Ye deduced that the Gu cultivator would poison the relatives of a girl and command them to hand over the girl to them.
Xu Xiyue’s eyes widened. She tugged hard on her hand but found it held tightly. She quickly turned and shouted towards the inn,
“Qian—”
She wanted to call Pei Lianxue and the other two, but as soon as she spoke the first word, the shopkeeper covered her mouth, picked her up, and ran quickly into the snow pine forest.
Tap tap tap—
A Foundation Establishment stage cultivator’s speed was not low. In just a moment of distraction, Xu Xiyue was already deep in the snow forest.
“Wuwuwu…”
After being led by the shopkeeper for a short while, her footsteps suddenly stopped, and she was thrown onto the accumulated snow on the ground.
Plop—
Xu Xiyue gasped and suddenly saw a man completely covered in a cloak standing beside her.
Besides the man, there were two Qi Refining stage cultivators of about her age, also led by their mothers, seemingly sharing the same fate.
One of the young girls, upon seeing Xu Xiyue, waved energetically with surprise.
“Elder Sister Xu, you’re here too?”
“…”
Seeing that the other two girls hadn’t reacted to what was happening, Xu Xiyue bit her lip slightly and her gaze shifted back to the long pipe hanging at the shopkeeper’s waist.
She had heard the shopkeeper mention before that it was a magical artifact that could charm people.
If she didn’t do something, she and the other two girls would likely be taken away by this man.
Xu Xiyue fell silent for a moment, gently picked up some snow from the ground with her small hands, and prepared herself.
The hooded man glanced at her, took something from his sleeve that made a “hissing” sound, and walked towards the girl who had just greeted Xu Xiyue.
Seeing that his attention was not on her, Xu Xiyue immediately stood up, threw the snowball in her hand at the shopkeeper’s nose.
Puff—
Then, seizing the opportunity, she took the long pipe from her waist, put it in her mouth, and took a breath, blowing it towards the man.
The pale pink spiritual mist instantly spread, like a signal flare, forming a very obvious beacon in the snow forest.
Xu Xiyue held her breath, relying on the positions of the other two girls she had noted, and rushed forward, holding one in each hand, and shouted,
“Follow me and run!”
Then, she led the two of them towards the depths of the snow forest.
Although the two girls had only inhaled a bit of spiritual mist, their cultivation was too low, and they were immediately charmed by Xu Xiyue.
Upon hearing her command, they instinctively followed her.
However, in the next moment, the pale pink spiritual mist that had spread through the forest swirled and rapidly contracted towards the center.
The hooded man inhaled all the spiritual mist into his mouth. Looking in the direction of Xu Xiyue’s escape, a playful smile appeared under his hood.
“Oh? What an amusing girl. Much cuter than those who cry incessantly.”
With that, the man’s figure turned into an afterimage and he chased after Xu Xiyue and the others.
Xu Xiyue, running fast through the forest, knew they couldn’t outrun him.
Although she couldn’t tell his cultivation level earlier, she could feel that it was far superior to hers.
All she could do now was pray that Senior Ye or Senior Ye’s three wives would notice her absence and come to their rescue.
Xu Xiyue had only heard that one of Senior Ye’s wives was the Young Master Xiao of Xuan Xing Sect. She didn’t know the names of the other two, so she could only shout loudly,
“Senior Xiao!!! Young Master Xiao of Xuan Xing Sect!!! We are here!!”
“Senior Xiao!!!”
However, as she shouted the second time, Xu Xiyue suddenly felt a cold wind behind her. She turned to look and saw that the hooded man had already appeared behind them.
A palm with a scorpion tattoo lunged at her.
Xu Xiyue’s eyes widened, and she gritted her teeth, shouting,
“Xiao… Wu wu—”
However, before she could finish the last word, the hands seemed to be a mask, covering her face.
Only now did a hint of fear flash in Xu Xiyue’s eyes.
“Where are you running to, little girl…”
At this moment, Xu Xiyue suddenly heard a clear voice in her mind.
“—Hit him with the pipe.”
Senior Ye’s voice…
Xu Xiyue didn’t hesitate at all. She immediately raised the pipe in her right hand and smashed it towards the hooded man’s head.
Whoosh—
The hooded man glanced at it and said with a smile,
“Little girl, this isn’t a sword…”
Swish—
An ice-blue sword qi the size of a palm grazed Xu Xiyue’s ear and landed directly on the hooded man’s shoulder.
Blood spilled onto the ground, forming a red line seven Chi long.
The hooded man’s right hand, which was grabbing Xu Xiyue’s face, was severed from his body.
Xu Xiyue didn’t freeze. She grabbed the man’s hand, pulled it off her face, then pulled the other two girls beside her and continued to run towards the inn.
“Run!”
However, somehow, one of the two girls who had been charmed twisted her ankle and fell to the ground.
“Ah?”
Xu Xiyue paused, ordered the other girl to run ahead, and then quickly ran back a few steps, picking up the fallen girl with all her might.
At this time, the hooded man finally reacted. There was someone else hiding in the forest, and he became vigilant, scanning his surroundings.
However, after searching with his spiritual sense, he found no aura other than himself and the three of them.
After a moment of silence, a pair of fly-like eyes under his hood glared at Xu Xiyue, who had her back to him. As if enraged, he waved his hand and released a centipede covered in blades from his sleeve.
Hearing the disgusting “creaking” sound behind her getting closer, Xu Xiyue didn’t dare to look back, closing her eyes and burying her head as she pulled the girl beside her and charged forward.
And in the next moment.
Puff—
She felt herself collide into someone’s embrace.
Pei Lianxue held her shoulders, flicked her right hand like a sword finger, and a silver spirit sword shot out from her storage bag.
“It’s okay now.”
Pei Lianxue comforted her without any emotion, then gripped her spirit sword and looked at the knife-bodied centipede lunging at her. Her figure flickered.
Swish—
A silver thread radiating spiritual light instantly swept across the centipede’s face to its tail.
The knife-bodied centipede disintegrated into countless pieces in mid-air. Purple, poisonous blood was blown by the sword qi, landing on the surrounding snow pines, instantly corroding small holes in the tree trunks.
Seeing this, the hooded man’s eyes widened. Then, he heard a teasing voice in his ear:
“Where are you looking? Hey!”
“Hiss—”
Swish—
The hooded man quickly dodged to the side, but a golden light flashed, and his remaining left arm and half of his chest flew off his body.
Feng Yu Die originally wanted to pursue and chop off his legs as well.
But unexpectedly, a giant ant head suddenly emerged from the hooded man’s severed left chest and lunged at her with its mouth open.
“Hiss—”
Feng Yu Die had never seen a bug emerge from a body before, but while flustered, her hands didn’t falter. She raised her spirit sword and cleaved the ant’s head in two.
Fearing poison, she quickly jumped back to dodge the ant’s brains after splitting it.
This gave the hooded man a moment to breathe. He sank to his knees and seemed to be preparing to use a遁术 (escape technique).
However, the moment his knees touched the ground.
Rumble—
Waves of white light flashed in the sky, and then a bolt of heavenly lightning descended, engulfing him.
Xiao Yunluo, hiding in another direction in the forest, still clad only in an outer robe without her inner garment, wrapped one hand around her clothes and, with the other hand, formed a sword finger in front of her, drawing a talisman with her spiritual power.
“Bind!”
As the command was uttered, the talisman instantly transformed into a golden chain and flew into the lightning.
The sound of rattling chains echoed, but Xiao Yunluo frowned and then waved her sword finger, causing the heavenly lightning that had swallowed the person to disappear instantly.
And along with the heavenly lightning, the hooded man’s body also vanished.
“Huh?” Feng Yu Die looked stunned for a moment and then frowned, shouting towards Xiao Yunluo, “Senior Sister Xiao, did you blast him into smithereens? Didn’t Junior Sister Pei say to capture him alive if possible?”
“…”
Xiao Yunluo walked out of the forest barefoot and looked at the pit in the snow on the ground, saying,
“He didn’t turn to dust, he escaped.”
“Ah? How did he escape?”
“How would I know! The soul-binding technique didn’t catch him…”
Pei Lianxue also walked over, leading Xu Xiyue and the other two. She squatted down, touched the bloodstains on the ground, and licked them on her tongue.
“It’s not human blood…”
“…” “…”
Hearing this, Feng Yu Die and Xiao Yunluo were stunned, seemingly asking if Junior Sister Pei could even taste that.
“Mm, Senior Brother taught me.”
“Then what do we do now…”
“We can’t find him anymore.” Pei Lianxue shook her head slightly. “I’ll take them back to the inn. You two go and move the shopkeeper and the others from the forest… Don’t hurt them, and leave the Gu worms. I need them…”
“Mm…”
…
