Hearing Yuan Yang’s words, Mu Yunle was momentarily stunned, as if catching a whiff of a deeply moving story. Blinking her eyes, she casually asked, “Who is he? Is he your beloved, Yuan heroine?”
Yuan Yang hailed from a southern tribal region, where speech was typically bold and direct. Mu Yunle had met her several times in her youth and naturally understood what words to use at this moment.
“Beloved?” Yuan Yang’s eyes sparkled, then dimmed as she smiled bitterly. “To him, I might just be a little girl like you, someone he might casually give a few pointers to, but otherwise wouldn’t spare a thought for.”
Mu Yunle was quite surprised and blurted out, “Yuan heroine, why are you still looking for him?”
Staring into the girl’s pitch-black eyes, Yuan Yang suddenly realized that the once tearful yet cheerful child had now grown more beautiful than herself—a beauty that was undeniable. With a sigh, she reached out and ruffled Mu Yunle’s hair before the girl could react, just as she used to do when they were younger, half-smiling and half-musing:
“You’re still half a child at heart. When you truly grow up and meet someone like that, you won’t ask why I’m still looking for him.”
How wonderful it is to be young, with a youthful heart full of vigor and vitality, like the rising sun.
Pouting, Mu Yunle smoothed her disheveled hair. Yun Nüxia was so annoying! She had already passed her twentieth year and was known as a martial artist in the Jianghu, yet Yuan still treated her like a child.
Just as she was about to speak, she saw Yuan Yang shake her head and slowly walk into the crowd, leaving only a back view.
“What does it feel like to meet someone like that? There are many descriptions in plays, poems, and stories, which often bring heart-wrenching feelings, but they always seem vague and unable to truly depict Yuan heroine’s feelings,” Mu Yunle mused with a half-smile.
Beside her, Wang Tong was entranced. If one day Yunle were to disappear and many thought she had died, would he go to great lengths to find her?
Once this thought arose, it was hard to calm down. The Wang family of Zhou Jun was renowned for benevolence, righteousness, propriety, and music, with strict rules that probably wouldn’t allow such actions by their young men.
Such distractions were typical of youth, who had yet to taste the bitterness of sorrow.
After hearing Yuan Yang’s words, Mu Yunle suddenly lost interest in sightseeing and entertainment, returning to her composed self as the “Shuyu Sword” who traveled alone for thousands of miles. She turned to Wang Tong and said, “Let’s go find Senior Liang and see if there’s anything else we can help with.”
Her strength was certainly not as strong as Liang Jiuzhou, who had already recovered half of his power, but he might not have enough manpower.
Wang Tong was lost in self-pity and imagination when he was startled back to reality and hastily replied, “Okay!”
The two walked together through the streets toward the Huamei Villa’s base in the city. As they were about to arrive, Wang Tong suddenly spotted an old friend, a childhood playmate he hadn’t seen in years.
“Didn’t he go traveling with He Mu, the great hero?” The figure vanished in an instant, and Wang Tong looked around in vain.
“Master Wang?” Mu Yunle noticed his unusual behavior and asked.
Wang Tong took a deep breath and explained, “Miss Yunle, you go find Senior Liang first. I’ll catch up after meeting an old friend.”
“Okay,” Mu Yunle replied cheerfully.
After parting ways, Mu Yunle picked up her sword and gracefully walked toward the courtyard where the Huamei Villa was located.
Guided by the gatekeeper, she arrived outside a parlor, the large door tightly closed, with normal energy inside.
Knock, knock, knock. Mu Yunle curled her fingers and knocked on the hall door.
With a creak, the door swung open on its own, unveiling the scene inside. Liang Jiuzhou and the local leader of Huamei Villa were both lying on the ground, breathing steadily as if asleep. Seated in the main position was a woman draped in gauze, her sweet smile radiating charm. Her beauty was peerless, utterly mesmerizing. Even as a woman herself, Mu Yunle felt her mouth go dry and her heart race, unable to meet the woman’s gaze directly.
The gatekeeper couldn’t even tear his eyes away, his whole body trembling. With one breath, he died of sexual excitement and fell to the ground.
Bang! The sound of his fall startled Mu Yunle. Flashes of memories flooded her mind, recalling her master’s teachings. Half recognizing and half guessing, she knew the woman’s identity!
The current He Xi Bodhisattva!
Ranked eighth on the Earth List and second on the Black List, a Grandmaster!
She had come to silence them?
Mu Yunle wanted to draw her sword, but for some reason, her whole body felt weak. She watched He Xi Bodhisattva slowly stand up, swaying toward her, and heard her say:
“Natural beauty, innocent heart, abundant yin energy, naturally charming, and skilled in swordsmanship and combat. You’re much better than that little girl, Yingning. If I had met you earlier, the successor to He Xi Bodhisattva wouldn’t have been her. But it’s not too late now.”
A faint fragrance filled her nose, and Mu Yunle’s head spun, the scene before her seeming dreamlike. Feeling wronged and wanting to cry, she tried to draw her sword but felt powerless.
“This trip was worth it. I met such a promising girl. Hmm, and it’s also a bit of a boost,” she heard He Xi Bodhisattva say.
Wang Tong failed to catch up with his friend and returned in disappointment. As he approached the courtyard where Huamei Villa was located, he suddenly noticed something was wrong.
The gatekeeper was missing!
His heart sank, thinking of Mu Yunle, but then he comforted himself, reasoning that with Senior Liang present, nothing serious could happen. Drawing his sword, he cautiously entered and saw the parlor door open, the gatekeeper dead outside, and no one inside!
No one!
No Liang Jiuzhou, no one from Huamei Villa, and no Mu Yunle!
Wang Tong was stunned.
…
Yingning and Shao Changge returned to the edge of the grasslands, waiting behind a hill for something.
They were both dressed in white, but one was charmingly innocent, and the other had the elegance of an orchid in a secluded valley, two completely different beauties and charms.
“Even the severely injured Liang Jiuzhou couldn’t catch up with us. We might be punished when we return,” Shao Changge paced back and forth, her white dress exuding elegance, yet lacking the composed demeanor of someone fully in control.
Yingning smiled like a fox but said nothing, just watching Shao Changge worry.
Shao Changge wasn’t stupid either. After a brief moment of anxiety, she sensed something was off and turned to look at Yingning: “Weren’t you also upset about Liang Jiuzhou’s matter before?”
“Since it’s all in the past, why let it bother your mood?” Yingning smiled sweetly.
Shao Changge narrowed her eyes: “You have other plans?”
Yingning stopped teasing and smiled: “It’s just that my master happened to be free and personally came to intercept at the city ahead.”
“He Xi Bodhisattva…” Shao Changge murmured, half in awe of the Left Path’s mighty figure and half in resentment. If her lady hadn’t died, the current top two spots on the Black List would definitely not be “Demon Emperor” Qi Zhengyan and the current He Xi Bodhisattva!
“Calculating the time, my master should be returning now.” Yingning looked toward the horizon, ready to welcome her master.
Just then, a black mist rose, and a figure appeared, wearing a black robe, with a stern face, but faintly showing the mischievousness of his youth.
Shao Changge’s heart stirred, knowing the person she was truly waiting for had arrived—the one in charge of this pursuit operation, the “Hundred Flaws Demon King” Duan Rui, who had risen in the past decade from the Heaven-Extinguishing Sect.
Ten years ago, he was unknown, but now he was among the Eight Great Demon Kings, a fearsome figure that both her and Yingning dared not look at directly!
Duan Rui coldly looked at them, unafraid of the forces behind them: “You failed?”
The chill penetrated their bodies, and Yingning couldn’t help but shiver, forcing a smile: “My master personally intervened.”
This “Hundred Flaws Demon King” had no interest in women, but was otherwise like a true demon incarnate, making many practitioners of the Left Path shudder at the mention of his name.
“He Xi Bodhisattva intervened?” Duan Rui stood with his hands behind his back, saying nothing more, patiently waiting.
Time passed, and Duan Rui gradually became impatient: “Why hasn’t He Xi Bodhisattva returned yet?”
Yingning was also puzzled. Normally, her master should have arrived here at least a quarter of an hour ago. Could something have happened?
With her strength, unless several Earth Immortals appeared, she could escape even from a Law Body cultivator!
“Perhaps my master found something else valuable,” Yingning thought of an excuse.
…
Dum, dum, dum, the sound of the wooden fish echoed through the desolate mountains and lonely ridges of the ruined temple.
A monk in gray robes sat sideways to the Buddha statue, facing the lotus, eyes tightly closed, gently tapping the wooden fish.
Inside the dilapidated hall, the beautiful He Xi Bodhisattva stood in the center, a nine-petaled lotus beneath her feet.
Without He Xi Bodhisattva’s influence, Mu Yunle regained her senses, looking around in confusion, wondering how she had returned to Master Zhen Ding’s temple.
Dum, dum, dum. He Xi Bodhisattva’s expression was serious. Suddenly, she moved, the lotus blooming, and she flew out of the hall.
As soon as the light of her escape began, her vision brightened, and the Buddha statue looked sorrowfully at her, while the monk in gray robes continued tapping the wooden fish just as before, showing no change.
He Xi Bodhisattva’s expression became even more solemn. She stopped her escape light, the yin and yang swirling, trying to instantly appear hundreds of miles away.
As her figure flickered, she saw the Buddha statue again, blooming with sorrow, while the monk in gray robes didn’t even look at her, still tapping the wooden fish.
Dum, dum, dum. The hall was quiet and lonely, the pond inside blooming with lotuses, their fragrance intoxicating.
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