That place still had a slight bulge.
It felt somewhat strange. The three exchanged glances. Nanzhi carried his sword forward and walked with uneven steps. Suddenly, with a crack, his body dropped sharply.
Yu Qing and Mu Aotie were startled, both drawing their swords in alert.
“It is fine.” Nanzhi turned back and waved his hand, then climbed up and continued forward. It turned out he was simply too heavy, and one foot had collapsed a piece.
The two junior brothers were speechless.
Nanzhi walked to the place emitting evil qi. With a slap, he smashed the bulge with his sword.
Bang! A not loud explosion. A mass of evil qi burst out.
The noise made the three raise their swords in alert again. It seemed to be merely a ball of trapped evil qi. Once released, it was fine.
With no further movement, Nanzhi stuck his head into the smashed bulge to look. He suddenly let out an “eh”, tilting his head to look left and right inside the bulge.
The two junior brothers were curious and immediately walked over. Drawing close and peering, they discovered a dark red pearl mixed in with a pile of debris, only the size of a quail egg, covered with strange black cloud-like patterns.
“Di di di.”
Big Head, which had already landed on Yu Qing’s shoulder, suddenly let out a clanging chirp.
The three swiftly observed their surroundings but found nothing unusual.
After a brief vigil, Nanzhi reached into the bulge to pick it up. The moment he lifted it, his whole body shuddered, and he subconsciously let go. The pearl fell back.
“What is it?” Yu Qing asked. Mu Aotie also looked at him.
Nanzhi’s expression was grave. “So cold. It froze me into shivering.”
Cold? What kind of temperature could make a cultivator react so strongly? The two junior brothers did not understand. They felt the temperature in the air. There was nothing unusual. They found it strange. If it was truly as cold as the seventh brother said, how was the nearby temperature unaffected?
Nanzhi reached in again. This time he was mentally prepared and carefully pinched the pearl. Yet he let out another “eh”.
The two junior brothers watched his reaction.
Nanzhi easily picked up the pearl this time. He sheathed his sword, then fiddled with the pearl in his palm to observe. “Strange. Just now it froze me into shivering. Was it my imagination?”
Hearing this, Yu Qing reached out, wanting to take a look. The moment his finger touched the pearl, his hand also shuddered and withdrew.
This time it was Nanzhi and Mu Aotie’s turn to look at him.
“It does seem quite icy.” Yu Qing confirmed. Then he reached out again. After touching it this time, he also let out an “eh”. He simply took the pearl into his own hand, gripping it repeatedly in his palm. Finally he understood what Nanzhi meant. Was that freezing sensation just now truly an illusion?
Mu Aotie could not resist either. He reached out to try touching it, his fingertip cautiously making contact. Yet he felt nothing at all. He took the pearl into his own hand and turned it over. Still no sensation. He could not help but look at the two with a face full of suspicion, somewhat wondering if the two were teasing him.
Nanzhi asked in puzzlement, “Old Ninth, you felt nothing?”
Mu Aotie, “I felt nothing wrong with this pearl.”
Nanzhi and Yu Qing looked at each other. Only those who had experienced that sensation understood what each other’s reaction had been about.
Mu Aotie held the pearl in his palm and felt it for a while, then asked again, “You both felt the cold?”
Yu Qing recalled and pondered, then said, “Thinking back now, it did not seem to be entirely a cold sensation. After touching it, I suddenly felt my heart chill as well, as if a yin coldness had touched my soul.”
Nanzhi nodded. “Yes, yes, yes. That is the feeling. The feeling that your soul was trembling, as if your soul shuddered from the cold. When I raised my spirit and carefully touched it again, it seemed I could not feel it anymore…”
Yu Qing suddenly raised his hand to stop. This sentence reminded him. He responded, “Correct. I also could not feel it after I raised my spirit and was careful.”
The two of them suddenly looked at Mu Aotie together, casting inquiring gazes.
Mu Aotie was speechless. With these two, whose cultivation was higher than his, both frozen into shivering, how could he not take it seriously? Naturally he had raised his spirit and carefully probed.
The three exchanged gazes, communicating silently. Then their eyes focused together on that dark red pearl the size of a quail egg. They roughly understood. If touched carelessly, there was a sensation that touched one’s soul. But as long as one was guarded and prepared in mind, there would be no sensation.
Whether this was truly the case remained to be tested later.
There was one thing they wanted to know now. Nanzhi asked suspiciously, “What is this pearl? It does not look like a demon core or such. Something hidden inside Yun Xi’s body, could it be some treasure?” His eyes gleamed somewhat.
This question was not easy to answer. Yu Qing surveyed the surroundings after the giant creature’s collapse. “That sensation just now did not seem like something good. I worry it might be some evil object!”
That yin cold sensation touching the soul just now left a deep impression on him…
In the air, Xiang Lanxuan and Meng Po were still pursuing Tian Yu relentlessly, one before and one after.
Especially Meng Po, his face dark. The feeling of having one’s results stolen was unpleasant.
Yun Xi, who had been forcibly torn from her main body, was faring no better. A large wound on her back was still dripping dark green fluid, like a wounded person dripping blood. Her complexion was awful, her expression weak. Her shoulder was still gripped in Tian Yu’s hand, bitterly lacking any power to resist.
Suddenly, whether she sensed something or not, her body shivered. A miserable smile appeared on her face. She laughed loudly toward the sky, “Ha ha,” without end.
Tian Yu lowered his head to look at her, not knowing what madness had seized her. He looked back again at the two still chasing relentlessly behind him, not knowing when he could shake them off. If not for carrying a person, he was confident few could match his flying speed.
After the laughter stopped, Yun Xi raised one hand and gripped the wrist holding her shoulder. “You have no qualification to interrogate me. Kill me!”
She had clearly anticipated her own fate. It was not hard to guess. These people would certainly try every means to pry open her mouth and dig out all secrets.
Wanting to seek death? Tian Yu lowered his head to glance at her and snorted. This attitude was his response. How could he possibly let her die easily?
Yun Xi’s face gradually showed surprise as she gripped his wrist. She suddenly asked, “You are injured?”
Tian Yu lowered his head to look at her again, not knowing what nonsense she was speaking.
The surprise on Yun Xi’s face was hard to dispel. “You have an old injury not healed?”
Tian Yu slightly frowned.
Yun Xi’s eyes gradually gained spirit. “You were wounded by Feng Yang?”
A flicker of emotion seemed to pass through Tian Yu’s brows. He finally spoke, “What nonsense are you speaking?”
Yun Xi smiled. “Yes. When I lay on the golden coffin, before death, I saw you. In the golden coffin was my husband, Guan Fengyang. You must have opened the coffin and seen my husband, then been wounded by my husband, yes?”
Tian Yu’s eye corners twitched. He narrowed his eyes slightly and said in a deep voice, “You are Yun Xi! Did you not die?”
Yun Xi smiled even more happily. “After being wounded, did you feel the evil qi in your body could never be completely purged, causing the wound to never fully heal?”
Tian Yu’s cheeks gradually tensed. A certain scene flashed through his mind.
In the golden coffin, a zombie wearing armour, completely lifeless, made one lower their guard. Yet it suddenly opened its eyes. A pair of eyeballs, bright red, gave a feeling of pooled blood. Those eyes could give one nightmares, awe-inspiring with evil qi. Then the zombie’s sharp claws struck down and inserted into his chest. The erupting evil qi attacked like wind and clouds swirling…
Tian Yu forcefully suppressed this scene emerging in his mind. He suddenly lifted Yun Xi up, embracing her waist where there was a large wound, face to face, and said in a deep voice, “Speak. What else do you know?”
Yun Xi shook her head. “You ants are nothing in my eyes. Had I not been unable to leave, had I not been moved by mortal heart, had I not been refining a living person, causing me to expend most of my strength, my main body could shrink and change into human form at any time, could be big or small, could fly to heaven and burrow to earth, could change endlessly. How could you be my match? Even if that so-called Great Sage of yours came, he would have to obediently roll out! A swarm of ants, not qualified to interrogate me, even less qualified to humiliate me!”
Just as Tian Yu was about to grow angry, Yun Xi slowly drew her face close to his face, whispering a few words by his ear.
Tian Yu’s angry expression dispersed. His lips gradually tightened. He looked back at the two still pursuing relentlessly behind him.
Yun Xi was already neither startled nor fearful, neither joyful nor sad. Her beautiful head pillowed on his shoulder, her whole face gentle. Her mouth lightly, softly, hummed something, like a village ballad, like a children’s song. As she softly sang, the corners of her eyes streamed crystal teardrops.
Her silk-like long hair occasionally drifted past Tian Yu’s face with the wind.
Tian Yu, who seemed to be embracing her, suddenly raised his head. His gaze left the path ahead and looked at the cloud masses in the sky. He suddenly changed flying direction. His body suddenly traced an arc, embracing Yun Xi and soaring straight up, charging toward the clouds.
The instant they rushed into the mist, wind and clouds passed before their eyes. Yun Xi raised her head. Those affectionate eyes, carrying teardrops, met Tian Yu’s gaze. She seemed to realise something and smiled. “Yun Xi, Yun Xi, following the clouds, buried in the cloud peak. Rather nice.”
Tian Yu finally gave her a parting sentence. “Actually, previously I did not quite understand why we demon cultivators all wished to cultivate into human form.”
The implication was, today I finally understood.
Yun Xi smiled.
Swish! The two of them simultaneously burst through the thick cloud layer. What greeted them was ten thousand zhang of golden light.
“Ah…” Yun Xi suddenly threw back her head and let out a mournful scream. She only managed one cry before forcibly holding it back. Her body, bathed in sunlight, trembled violently without end, sizzling and smoking, rapidly turning to flying ash. Amid painful groans, she said, “Feng Yang, I am coming.”
Swish, swish. Two more people burst through the cloud layer. Apart from Xiang Lanxuan and Meng Po, there was no one else.
Seeing the scene in the air, Xiang Lanxuan cast a spell and shouted in alarm, “Tian Yu, she cannot see sunlight!”
Tian Yu released both hands. Yun Xi tumbled down in the ten thousand zhang of golden light, becoming fragmented as she tumbled.
The two who charged over together anxiously reached out to catch her. Yet the fragmented person who landed in their hands had no weight at all, and instantly collapsed and scattered, completely turning to flying ash, going with the wind, drifting down toward the cloud peaks below.
The two who had lunged at empty air were stunned. They also stopped flying, standing suspended in the air, watching the flying ash go with the wind, somewhat dazed.