Her voice was cold, sharp, and loud, like a clap of thunder exploding next to her ears, startling Song Yao.
The faces of the young men and women in front of her changed slightly, and they quickly bowed deeply to Zhu Zhao with cupped hands. “Hall Master, we are disciples of Mount Taixu. Although our cultivation is only at the early to mid stage of the Golden Core, we also want to do our part.”
“We will stay outside the demon realm to provide backup and won't go inside. How does that sound?”
Since they weren't disciples of her own sect, Zhu Zhao had only meant to give them a warning and couldn't actually stop them.
She nodded slightly in acknowledgment, then turned to pull Song Yao aside. “Are you going back to Mingjing Peak yourself, or should I send you back?”
Song Yao protested twice, “I just came over to join the fun. I didn't actually plan on going.”
Zhu Zhao replied with utter coldness, “Now that you've finished watching the fun, you can go back.”
Song Yao said, “Fair enough.”
She had only come over to gather information anyway.
After chatting for a bit, she realized that for most of the cultivators from various sects gathered here, wanting to help save the people of Frost City was a lie; currying favor with Nine Saints Hall was their true motive.
After all, when Nine Saints Hall was in trouble before, many sects had not only refused to help, but had even shown a tendency to kick them while they were down.
Now that Nine Saints Hall reigned supreme, they naturally wanted to find an opportunity to latch onto them, lest they face retaliation.
Unfortunately, they had miscalculated.
A person like Zhu Zhao, who was righteous to a fault, would never retaliate against any sect, nor would she think highly of any sect just because they joined forces to suppress a demon realm.
But in this matter, actions spoke louder than intentions. Being able to stand here was already considered doing their part.
However, most of these people had mediocre cultivation. They probably had no idea what kind of existence a great demon that escaped from the Earth Realm truly was.
Given the current situation, she had nothing to advise them on.
For one, no one would listen. For another, there were probably quite a few who would head into the demon realm on their own.
She waved her hand and bid farewell to Zhu Zhao.
Zhu Zhao stared at her sluggish, retreating back for a few moments. Still feeling uneasy, she singled out two people from the Nine Saints Hall disciples. “Ning Zhou, Cheng Yue, is it? Since you are familiar with Lin Mu, go keep an eye on her and make sure she returns to the main peak. Do not let her take a single step out of Nine Saints Hall.”
The two respectfully cupped their hands. “Yes.”
...
A quarter of an hour later.
Above the clouds, three swords flew side by side toward Frost City, streaking through the sky like three beams of light.
Ning Zhou was full of worry. “Didn't the Hall Master tell us to keep an eye on you? Is it really okay for the three of us to sneak out together like this? When we go back, the Hall Master won't expel me from the sect, will she?”
Frost City was very cold. Song Yao was fully armed, wrapped tightly in an extremely thick cloak.
While tying the knots of her cloak, she replied, “She won't. We're going to save people. Zhu Zhao will be too happy to care.”
Ning Zhou asked, “...Will she really be too happy to care?”
Song Yao said, “Of course. Besides, isn't Ninth Elder still trapped in the demon realm? We'll just rescue Ninth Elder and leave.”
Cheng Yue looked at Song Yao, frowning slightly. “Why didn't the Hall Master want you to come out? Your cultivation is above ours, and your sword path is extraordinary. It shouldn't be like this.”
Having finished bundling herself up, Song Yao leaned back onto her sword with satisfaction. “If you were about to die like me, Zhu Zhao wouldn't let you out either.”
Ning Zhou spat, “Pah, pah, pah! There you go talking nonsense again. How are you about to die?!”
Song Yao smiled and remained silent this time, her gaze lingering on Cheng Yue for a brief moment.
The three traveled in silence for a while.
Song Yao felt drowsy. She put away her sword and sat down behind Cheng Yue. “I'm going to sleep for a bit.”
Cheng Yue was startled. She quickly stabilized her sword and expanded its blade significantly to make her sit more comfortably.
Before long, Song Yao was lying on her back with her legs crossed, fast asleep.
Ning Zhou clicked his tongue in amazement. “She can fall asleep even like this. Impressive, truly impressive.”
“It's probably because she lost a portion of her soul.”
Cheng Yue conjured a barrier around them to block out the whistling wind. “I wonder what she went through to actually damage her soul.”
“No idea.”
Ning Zhou replied casually, then suddenly remembered something and grinned. “But you know what? There's something even stranger about her.”
Cheng Yue asked, “What is it?”
Ning Zhou said, “Back when I was captured by those evil cultivators and locked in a room, that group of evil cultivators would often dig up corpses from graves to refine medicine. Lin Mu was dug up from a grave by them and thrown into our room.”
Cheng Yue repeated, “...Dug up from a grave?”
Ning Zhou said, “Yeah. Back then, little Lin Mu was much thinner and smaller than she is now. She was completely filthy and covered in dirt, so you couldn't even tell if she was a boy or a girl. She looked like she had been dead for quite some time, but then she suddenly woke up, scaring even those evil cultivators half to death.”
Cheng Yue pursed her lips and asked in a low voice, “Do you remember where she was dug up from?”
Ning Zhou was taken aback. “Why do you ask? Hmm... I don't actually know the exact spot she was dug up from, but it should be not far from the evil cultivators' lair where we were held, somewhere slightly above Qixiangang.”
Cheng Yue lowered her eyes and softly agreed, but suddenly, a hand reached around her waist.
She gasped in surprise, only to see that Song Yao had sat up at some point. Using Cheng Yue's belt for support, she stood up and leaned her drowsy head against Cheng Yue's back. “Are you that concerned about your Senior Sister, little Cheng Yue?”
As a faint, bitter medicinal scent drifted over, Cheng Yue stiffened slightly. Worried that Song Yao might lose her footing, she turned and held her instead, resting her palm against Song Yao's waist. “You should just sit down.”
“Okay.”
Song Yao replied, sliding back down into a sitting position. She narrowed her eyes as she looked ahead. “We're almost there.”
The sky ahead had suddenly turned dark, with thick, ink-like storm clouds rolling and stacking upon one another. Silver-white lightning occasionally sliced through the clouds, and muffled thunder rumbled faintly across the horizon, a clear sign of an impending torrential downpour.
As they drew closer, they saw churning, dark purple demonic mist blotting out the sky and completely swallowing the entire mountain range.
The mist was so thick it looked like undiluted ink, exuding a bone-chilling, sinister aura as it rolled.
Song Yao's brow furrowed slightly.
Having not seen it for some time, the boundary of this demon realm had actually expanded by more than double since she last saw it.
At the foot of the mountain, tents were faintly visible. Song Yao said, “Let's go down first to see what's going on.”
When the three of them landed, they saw that the cultivators outside the tents were all dressed in silver-patterned robes as thin as cicada wings. Their hair was adorned with delicate accessories made from mermen scales, which shimmered with a cool, pearlescent glow under the dim sky. Their features carried a natural, crisp watery essence.
They looked to be dressed in the attire of the mermen race.
This place was not far from the North Sea Gulf, so the demon realm indeed posed a threat to them. It was not surprising that they were here.
However, they all looked rather disheveled at the moment.
Hearing their arrival, Ning Zhou was the first to step forward. He cupped his hands in greeting and asked in astonishment, “Fellow Daoists, could the area ahead... could it all be the demon realm?!”
The leading mermen cultivator turned around upon hearing his voice and hurriedly returned the gesture. His gaze swept over the Nine Saints Hall robes behind them, and he said urgently, “Indeed, this entire area is the demon realm!... Are you all cultivators from Nine Saints Hall?”
“We are!”
Ning Zhou hastily asked, “What happened? How could the demon realm have expanded to such an extent?”
“We don't know the exact details either. We were searching for the entrance to the demon realm earlier but couldn't find our bearings. Suddenly, the demon realm expanded on its own. Our clan's young prince and two of our clansmen didn't manage to retreat in time, and now they're trapped inside...”
Rate on N.U.
