Chapter 64

Chapter 64

Sparse stars and pale moonlight, scattered clouds drifting gently.

The city was silent, a few lanterns swaying gently in the night breeze. Between the flickering light and shadow, faint moonlight quietly fell upon Huo Wuyan's sharp brows. His slender fingers unconsciously tapped the table, his brow slightly furrowed.

Qing Nong raised an eyebrow, looking curiously at Huo Wuyan before him. He suddenly realized that compared to the cold and unfeeling dragon of before, Huo Wuyan now seemed to have quietly changed in many ways.

Even if Huo Wuyan refused to admit it.

But the former Huo Wuyan would never have considered such matters. To him, anyone who could be dealt with in one strike was no trouble. He had always been arrogant and looked down on everyone, always expecting others to flatter and coax him. Even if someone threw a tantrum or acted cold toward him—even his own father would have to bow his head. His world simply had no such thing as appeasing others.

In Qing Nong's impression, Huo Wuyan was like a hollow statue—powerful, yet devoid of the emotions or feelings that living beings should have.

But now, from that expressionless face, Qing Nong caught a glimpse of something resembling confusion. He placed the jade slip on the table and feigned surprise. "Why do you need to appease her? Did the two of you have a falling out?"

Huo Wuyan's brow furrowed even tighter. He casually picked up the jade slip from the table and said coldly, "Enough nonsense."

Qing Nong scratched his chin, carefully weighing his words. "Lu Yuanyin has such a good temper. What happened between you two?"

Huo Wuyan was silent for a rare moment. Then, he looked at Qing Nong with an impatient, icy glare.

Qing Nong laughed awkwardly. "I don't know how to coax people either..."

He had rarely interacted with women in his life. The only one he had ever coaxed was this difficult, troublesome dragon. Besides, when it came to that—he was coaxing at the risk of his own life!

When a person could literally lose his head at any moment, he would quickly learn the skill of flattery and knowing when to shut up.

Huo Wuyan stared silently at the closed door across the way. A lamp had been lit in her room, the candlelight flickering conspicuously in the thick night.

He lowered his eyes slightly. On the back of his hand, a faint, whitish scratch mark still remained.

His gaze stilled, a dark flicker crossed his crimson eyes.

Lu Yuanyin sat wearily in the basin of warm water, the gentle currents soothing her aching waist. She couldn't help but frown. Misty steam rose around her. After a moment, she slowly opened her eyes and gazed blankly at the flower-protecting bell hanging outside the room.

She lightly poked the rippling water, a complicated feeling stirring in her heart. She suddenly recalled that hateful dream from before—now she understood what it meant to be harmed by over-cultivation.

After two consecutive rounds of dual cultivation... she felt like she had been completely drained dry.

She sighed softly, put on her clothes, and slowly crawled into the soft quilt, leaving only the top of her dark, fluffy hair visible.

After a long while, she popped her head out again. Perhaps it was because of that surging, potent spiritual energy inside her, or because she was still irritated by Huo Wuyan earlier. Even though she was exhausted, she had no trace of sleepiness.

She even felt like she could get up and sprint ten laps around the Chongyao Sect!

Staring at the bright moon outside the window, Lu Yuanyin thought of the villagers she had encountered outside the city the night before. She took out her alchemy furnace and began to refine pills. From what the woman had said, those villagers had probably drunk river water tainted with corpse poison. The toxins had built up in their bodies, turning them into what they had become.

If she could flush out those toxins, they could still be saved.

But what she couldn't understand was that the Chongyao Sect had always valued its reputation. Now that cultivators from other sects had flocked to the city, given the Chongyao Sect Master's personality, he would spare no expense, even emptying his whole treasure vault, to handle this matter flawlessly...

Lu Yuanyin's gaze flickered. Her brow tightened. Unless... the situation in the city had already spiraled out of their control, forcing them to drive the villagers out of the city.

At the thought, Lu Yuanyin's heart sank, and her expression darkened. If that were the case, she couldn't begin to imagine what the city would look like in a few months. She also wondered if the bodies in the river had been properly dealt with.

She sighed softly. She skillfully tossed the spiritual herbs into the alchemy furnace. If the situation were truly that dire, even her fastest alchemy wouldn't allow her to save so many people alone.

Besides, she didn't have enough medicinal herbs on hand.

She propped her cheek on her hand, gazing thoughtfully out the window. Then, the leaves at the window silently trembled. A patch of white suddenly vanished among the branches. Lu Yuanyin stood up instinctively, blinking, almost thinking she had imagined it.

She looked at the quivering branch, raised an eyebrow, but said nothing. She took out the refined spiritual pill from the furnace and silently tossed another batch of herbs inside.

A sleepless night passed.

The next day, just as the sky was beginning to lighten, the crisp chirping of birds came from the courtyard.

Lu Yuanyin slowly sat up, looking at the still dim sky outside the window. Her face was flushed red from the furnace's heat, and a thin layer of sweat dotted her forehead. The table and floor were covered with small jade bottles.

She stood up, gently massaging her sore arms, and packed the jade bottles into her storage pouch one by one. Then, her gaze paused.

Cultivators had excellent eyesight—even from afar, they could see distant scenes clearly. Standing by the window, Lu Yuanyin looked across the layers of streets and alleys. She saw several white-haired, imposing elders walking slowly from the corner of the street. Horns grew from their foreheads—clearly not ordinary beings.

The foremost elder held a jade box in his hands, and a large pearl hung from his waist. The morning breeze gently lifted their white hair and robes, making them look as if they were about to ride the wind away—an otherworldly, immortal bearing.

He was speaking softly to a companion beside him.

Wherever these elders passed, the surroundings fell quiet. Cultivators on the street couldn't help turning back to steal glances at them, a flicker of surprise in their eyes. Their expressions varied.

Lu Yuanyin sprang to her feet. She leaned over the window, peeking at the elders. Behind them followed several younger cultivators with differently colored hair, all sporting horns. She immediately recognized them—these were the dragon clan seniors who had come to rescue her before!

Lu Yuanyin's eyes widened. In the cultivation world, almost everyone had heard of the dragon clan's fearsome reputation—she was no exception.

That day, before she could even pay her respects to these dragon seniors, Huo Wuyan had taken her away. Now, watching those imposing white-haired elders from afar,

A belated nervousness crept into her heart. She quickly sat up, straightened her hair in front of the mirror, and, seeing her rumpled dress, hurriedly pulled a clean one from the wardrobe. After a quick change, she rushed out of the room.

But the door next door was closed, and his aura was absent. Huo Wuyan had left without a trace. She thumped down the stairs, her palms slightly damp.

Qing Nong was entering the inn carrying several large and small packages. Seeing Lu Yuanyin rushing down, he raised an eyebrow in surprise. "Up so early today? It's still early. Why didn't you sleep a bit more?"

He set his things aside and said casually, "See if you like these. I noticed you always fiddle with those herbs, so I bought you a new furnace."

Lu Yuanyin stood tensely at the door, watching the distant street. "Qing Nong, I saw that the dragon clan seniors have returned. I haven't prepared anything..."

She had heard that powerful spirit beast clans often held prejudices against human cultivators. The dragon clan, in particular, was notoriously arrogant and looked down on everyone. She wondered if these seniors would make things difficult for her. Though not afraid of trouble, she didn't want to invite more.

Besides, these seniors had saved her just a few days ago, and she hadn't had a chance to thank them. Now, looking at the misty morning, an inexplicable tension arose in her heart.

Qing Nong chuckled lazily. He leaned against the table casually. "What's there to worry about! Come, try this baked cake I bought for you. It's delicious!"

His words had barely fallen when several immortal-like, imposing elders stepped through the morning mist, walking slowly from afar.

Lu Yuanyin instinctively stood up again and smoothed her dress, as if trying to flatten every wrinkle.

Canglong and the others held jade boxes in their arms, walking lightly into the city. The previous night, they had taken the precious egg to the mountain to absorb the spiritual energy of heaven and earth. They could sense the faint yet vigorous life force coming from within the eggshell—like a sprouting seedling!

Having stayed in the lifeless clan for so long, they hadn't seen such vibrant vitality in ages. The old dragons were filled with emotion.

Just as they were about to take the egg to announce to the world that their clan finally had a child of its own, they received word from the innkeeper that Huo Wuyan and the human girl had returned the previous night.

Immediately, Canglong and the other elders forgot about showing off the egg to those old turtles. They rushed back to the inn with the egg overnight.

Canglong looked at the familiar inn. He instinctively smoothed his slightly disheveled beard, took a deep breath, and turned around—only to find the other old fellows also tidying themselves up discreetly.

He pursed his lips and said seriously, "Everyone, keep quiet later."

The elders nodded in response, following Qinglong silently into the inn.

As soon as they entered the inn, they saw a young girl with rosy lips, pearly white teeth, and as beautiful as a ruby standing quietly by the door. The elders stopped in their tracks, squinting as they fixed their gaze on Lu Yuanyin.

A moment of silence fell over the inn.

Lu Yuanyin pinched her fingertips. Lifting her head, she met dozens of vertical pupils of varying colors. Her heart clenched. She was about to step forward when she saw that the elders had already hurried over, faster than she could.

Then, to the shock of everyone present, the white-haired elders bowed deeply to her. "We, your juniors, pay our respects to Second Aunt!"

Lu Yuanyin: "...?"

Author's note:

Here I come~

I suddenly realized I've been updating daily for thirty days straight! Ahhh, I'll send out some small red envelopes tonight to celebrate—just leave a comment to participate!