Chapter 334: Agu, Desperate Encounter with Junior Sister
Remaining clouds obscured the moon, and the bright moonlight cast a pale white glow over the Huasha Gobi Desert, where a desolate cold wind howled unceasingly.
Gu Mingxin rode her flying sword, her black robes billowing in the wind. Beneath her messy bangs, her scarlet eyes reflected the boundless, desolate yellow sands ahead, warily observing every rustle of grass and movement within a hundred-mile radius.
She wasn’t flying too fast, mainly waiting for Xue E.
Gu Mingxin hadn’t personally witnessed Fu Yuanhua die under the Demon Emperor’s fangs. Therefore, after leaving the Gobi Desert where Feng Yu Die was located with He Ji Ming, she had sent Xue E to check.
Even though she knew deep down that Elder Fu’s chances of survival were slim…
But what if?!
What if the Demon Emperor didn’t want to provoke Demonic cultivators and therefore didn’t deliver a fatal blow to Elder Fu?
Or perhaps, Elder Fu had some hidden trump card or divine ability that allowed him to survive the Demon Emperor’s fangs?
What if…
Gu Mingxin still harbored a sliver of hope, anticipating that Xue E would bring back good news. As long as Fu Yuanhua was alive, her Master wouldn’t do anything to her once she returned to the Tian Mo Sect.
Gu Mingxin had always believed that Venerable Yu Yan genuinely treated her like his own daughter.
A single major mistake by a Tian Mo Sect cultivator would result in them being thrown into the Blood Pool and turned into Blood Pills to help more useful disciples increase their cultivation and strength.
She had already made two major mistakes, yet Venerable Yu Yan still gave her chances.
Gu Mingxin still remembered the scene of her first meeting with Venerable Yu Yan.
On that day, the Eastern Domain experienced a rain of blood. She, only five years old, was curled up in the corner of a dilapidated thatched hut piled with rotting corpses. Having not found fresh food for three days, she was on the verge of fainting. Xue E had been chattering in her ear, reminding her not to sleep and that food would come if she held on a little longer…
Then, a man wearing a mask entered the hut, found her huddled in the corner, carried her back to the Tian Mo Sect, and gave her endless good food.
It was Venerable Yu Yan who ensured she no longer had to brave the elements under the blood-red rain of the Eastern Domain, worrying about food and water…
It was also Venerable Yu Yan who taught her sword arts and cultivation techniques, used the Blood Pills refined from other Tian Mo Sect disciples to help her cultivate, and gave her the identity of the Young Master of the Tian Mo Sect…
Gu Mingxin had always deeply admired Venerable Yu Yan. To avoid disappointing him, she practiced her sword arts desperately day and night, always ranking first in the Tian Mo Sect’s sword trials.
During her Foundation Establishment Stage, she had defeated countless Core Formation Stage disciples of the Tian Mo Sect and had also helped the Tian Mo Sect eliminate disciples from Immortal Families sent to the Eastern Domain to gather information.
Gu Mingxin wanted to return to the Tian Mo Sect and continue to serve her Master.
However, it was as if heaven itself was preventing her from staying in the Tian Mo Sect.
In the initial incident in the Central Domain, someone had leaked information about her to Ye Anping, resulting in her being ambushed and attacked by Ye Anping as soon as she entered Tian’an City…
In the Northern Region, someone had again leaked her information to Ye Anping, leading to her and Wu Tianci being chased by a group of swordsmen from the Hantian Kingdom’s Black Market. And at the last moment, although Blood Python had already defeated Feng Yu Die’s Golden Dragon, even with Ye Anping joining forces with Feng Yu Die, they absolutely could not have defeated her, but Jiang Mojiao, that useless fellow, had run over…
Now, with the Eastern Huang incident, Ye Anping had known from the beginning that she was also here. Back then, in the Immortal City, he had even orchestrated a scheme of alienation, almost making Fu Yuanhua doubt her…
Gu Mingxin closed her eyes and let out a sigh, finally understanding what was going on.
She didn’t believe any of this was caused by heaven.
All the problems stemmed from Ye Anping—how could Ye Anping know her whereabouts and the Demonic cultivators’ plans at all times?
Gu Mingxin admitted that Ye Anping was indeed formidable. With Feng Yu Die by his side, it was like adding wings to a tiger.
However, if Ye Anping hadn’t received advance information, he wouldn’t have been able to scheme to this extent.
The “luring the enemy into a trap” by the Xing Tian Division in the Central Domain, the Black Market pursuit in the Northern Region’s Hantian Kingdom, and even the Demon Emperor’s intervention this time, seemed too coincidental to her.
The Heavenly Scroll of the Dao?
Impossible!
The Heavenly Scroll of the Dao could never tell him so much. That Golden Foolish artifact spirit was even sillier than her Xue E…
The only possibility was that after her Master’s previous purge of the Tian Mo Sect, someone was still informing him.
Furthermore, this person’s identity must be absolutely high…
Thinking this, Gu Mingxin had an answer in her heart.
Not many people knew that she and Fu Yuanhua had come to Eastern Huang this time. And Fu Yuanhua had previously told her that Elder He Buqun of the Tian Mo Sect disliked her intensely.
—Because he wanted his son to replace her position and become Venerable Yu Yan’s personal disciple.
Gu Mingxin had met He Buqun’s eldest son a few times. He had the same Heavenly Spiritual Root as her and possessed strange divine abilities. He was far superior to He Jiming, his third son.
She understood; after all, she was just a girl picked up by Venerable Yu Yan, and in the eyes of that old man He Buqun, she was not “legitimate.”
This also explained why her Master hadn’t found anything during the Tian Mo Sect’s last purge…
Thinking this way, everything made sense.
Why did Ye Anping always know in advance what she was going to do and then set traps for her based on that…
Why did someone like the useless Jiang Mojiao or the “outsider” like the Demon Emperor always appear just as she was about to get revenge…
—He Buqun was tipping off Ye Anping.
Only this could explain all these coincidences.
Swish, swish—
Under the night sky, the desert wind was bone-chilling, biting at Gu Mingxin’s face and adding a touch of piercing killing intent to her scarlet eyes.
Gu Mingxin, carrying the bewildered He Ji Ming behind her, flew east on her sword through the wind. Soon, a black arc of light chased after them from behind and landed on Gu Mingxin’s shoulder.
Xue E, with a sorrowful face, reported:
“Mingxin… Elder Fu is gone. It looks like he was swallowed by the Demon Emperor in one gulp, leaving no trace. I only detected a wisp of his Nascent Soul’s residual spiritual energy in that area…”
“… …”
The remaining hope in Gu Mingxin’s heart was instantly extinguished by Xue E’s words.
She nodded calmly, acknowledging the information.
Then, she glanced at He Ji Ming, who was following her on his sword with his head lowered, and called out:
“He…”
“…Ah?” He Ji Ming raised his head in a daze. “Wh-What…”
“After we return to the Tian Mo Sect, I will take you to see Venerable Yu Yan. You will tell him everything we experienced in Eastern Huang, word for word, without reservation.”
“… …”
Seeing his dazed expression, Gu Mingxin’s scarlet eyes widened, and she sternly threatened:
“Don’t forget, you owe me your life! If it weren’t for me, you would have turned to ashes when Elder Fu’s spiritual treasure exploded!”
Only He Ji Ming could now absolve her of the crime of “accessing the immortal realm.” Gu Mingxin firmly believed that her Master was not someone who could be easily blinded. After hearing He Ji Ming’s account, her Master would surely understand that it was He Buqun who was causing trouble.
He Ji Ming was silent for a moment, then nodded slightly:
“Okay… okay…”
“Repeat that, what will you do after returning to the Tian Mo Sect?”
“I will tell Venerable Yu Yan everything about this trip, word for word, without reservation…”
Xue E, perched on Gu Mingxin’s shoulder, asked:
“Mingxin, do you think it’s He Buqun who…”
Gu Mingxin nodded: “Mhm.”
Xue E wasn’t entirely sure about “Yu Yan’s” intentions. If “Yu Yan” truly treated her Mingxin as his own daughter, with He Ji Ming’s testimony, there shouldn’t be any problems.
“Yu Yan” was indeed very good to Gu Mingxin usually.
It could be said that if “Yu Yan” hadn’t found Gu Mingxin back then, her Mingxin would have starved to death somewhere unknown in the Eastern Domain.
However, one should always be vigilant.
Especially with an old man like “Yu Yan” who had lived for thousands of years.
Although, at present, “Yu Yan” hadn’t done anything excessive to Gu Mingxin, she had always warned Gu Mingxin to be wary of “Yu Yan” and not to tell him about the Heavenly Scroll of the Dao, which was also because of this…
“Mingxin, why don’t you listen to me? Go find Ye Anping. Compared to that old man Yu Yan, I feel going to Ye Anping is more reliable…”
Gu Mingxin lowered her eyes and pondered for a while. Her thoughts were the opposite of Xue E’s; she still felt that finding her Master was better than finding Ye Anping…
After all, “Yu Yan” was the one who raised her…
“Let’s go back first. If it doesn’t work, then we’ll go…”
“Then don’t be foolish and go back directly. You should let He Ji Ming go back first, and you wait outside the Tian Mo Sect. I’ll follow He Ji Ming to Yu Yan. If Yu Yan’s reaction is not right, we’ll escape… Otherwise, if Yu Yan doesn’t believe you, you won’t be able to leave…”
Gu Mingxin rolled her eyes at Xue E, indicating that she wasn’t stupid. She gave He Ji Ming behind her a look and then accelerated towards the Donghuang Great Wall with him.
However…
About two hundred li east of where the two were flying, a crane’s cry suddenly entered their ears from above.
Hoo—!
Amidst the remaining clouds under the moon, a red-crowned crane, emitting a faint white light all over its body, spread its wings and soared towards them from behind, leaving a trail of white light in the night sky…
Gu Mingxin vaguely remembered that only those foolish nouveau riche from the Immortal Families would ride such expensive yet useless mounts. She narrowed her eyes and looked at the two people on the crane’s back, wondering why anyone would be riding a crane in the sky over the Gobi Desert.
However, upon seeing the girl with black hair clinging to the crane’s back, looking around behind an old cultivator, her heart suddenly tightened.
—Isn’t that the one who followed Ye Anping? What was her name… seemed like his Junior Sister…
Could it be that Ye Anping sent her to chase me?
Is this their intention to pursue me to the death…
Gu Mingxin found it slightly strange, slowly stopped her flying sword, and waved to stop He Ji Ming behind her, preparing to avoid the red-crowned crane.
But just then, the brown-black long-haired girl on the back of the red-crowned crane seemed to have seen them. Her eyes fixed on them and didn’t move. Then, she jumped directly off the crane’s back and approached them rapidly on her flying sword.
Gu Mingxin gritted her teeth and quickly reminded:
“He! Stay aside and protect yourself.”
… …
—
Amidst the remaining clouds, Ye Ao was piloting the red-crowned crane under him, searching along the route of Feng Yu Die and the others on the map. They didn’t know where Feng Yu Die had encountered an accident, so they had to find a random spot and search along the route on the map.
“Pei girl, we’ve been searching for two thousand li and haven’t seen a single person. Are you sure they took this road?”
“Mm… probably.”
Pei Lianxue, sitting behind Ye Ao, nodded faintly, looking around, her clear eyes catching every rustle of grass and movement in the yellow sand.
Ye Ao stroked the fake beard on his chin and asked:
“Speaking of which, Pei girl, when are you and Ping’er going to hold your Dual Cultivation ceremony? Do you want to make it big? Invite all the sects around the Hundred Lotus Sect, or just have a banquet within the Hundred Lotus Sect? Any thoughts?”
“Mm… I’ll listen to Senior Brother.”
“Why listen to him? These are things for you girls to decide. Back then, my wife and I had a grand Dual Cultivation ceremony…”
“Sect Master Ye! Wait a moment!”
“Huh?”
Pei Lianxue behind him suddenly interrupted, causing Ye Ao to look puzzled. He turned his head to look at her and asked:
“What’s wrong?”
Pei Lianxue pointed towards two flying swords about ten li away, which appeared as mere dots in her eyes, and said:
“That’s Gu Mingxin, whom Senior Brother mentioned before. I don’t recognize the person next to her.”
“Huh? Gu… Gu Mingxin?”
Ye Ao hadn’t heard Ye Anping mention her. He squinted in the direction she was pointing and then used his distant vision technique. Seeing two Demonic cultivators at the Core Formation Stage, he couldn’t help but take a deep breath.
He hadn’t fought in hundreds of years, and the opponents were two Demonic cultivators of the same realm. Ye Ao was slightly nervous, but the more than ten high-priced magical artifacts in his storage bag gave him some confidence.
“Wow… two Core Formation Stage Demonic cultivators, Pei girl, should we go over or… huh?”
Ye Ao originally wanted to display his dignity as a Sect Master in front of Pei Lianxue, but halfway through his sentence, he saw Pei Lianxue, who had been sitting behind him, jump down. Then, she summoned her flying sword and flew directly towards the two black dots.
“Hiss—Hey! Pei girl, wait…”
Seeing that Pei Lianxue couldn’t be stopped, Ye Ao was helpless. He quickly stood up, summoned his flying sword, and looked at the red-crowned crane, saying:
“Wait here, don’t come over. You cost eight hundred and eighty thousand spirit stones…”
Feeling objectified, the red-crowned crane was obviously displeased. It immediately defecated as a protest and flew off in another direction. Ye Ao also summoned his flying sword and quickly chased after Pei Lianxue’s flying sword…
“Pei girl! Slow down… why the rush? Core Formation Stage cultivators fighting… forget it.”
Seeing Pei Lianxue getting further and further away from him, Ye Ao sighed slightly, waved his sleeve, and immediately took out seven or eight magical artifacts and over ten talismans from his storage bag. He chanted the incantation and formed hand seals, buffing himself…
… …
