Chapter 68

Chapter 68

Lu Yuanyin pressed her red lips together, quietly watching the tall male cultivator in front of her.

Behind her came the excited cheers of the villagers, accompanied by the cries of a baby in the forest, startling countless birds into flight as the lush leaves rustled in the breeze.

Without her noticing, the sky had gradually darkened, and the warm yellow sunlight bathed him, outlining a delicate, beautiful glow around his silhouette. The gentle evening light seemed to momentarily soften the coldness in his eyes.

Under Huo Wuyan’s intense gaze, she reached out her fingers and gently took the broken golden core from his palm.

It was cool to the touch, still reeking of blood. She could feel the lingering emotions on the core: regret, remorse, and resentment—belonging to Sect Master Chongyao and the others.

All kinds of emotions were entangled within this golden core, refusing to fade. They probably never imagined they would die in such a sudden and strange manner.

Because of her, someone they could have crushed like an ant at any moment.

She knew clearly that even with Huo Wuyan and the dragon clan behind her, those people still looked down on her. In their eyes, she remained the helpless orphan who anyone could bully as they pleased.

Lu Yuanyin pressed her fingertips harder, squeezing the golden core tightly. A faint cracking sound came from it, and the core instantly crumbled to powder. Through the dust, she seemed to hear a mournful scream. In an instant, those lingering emotions dissipated along with the black ash in the air. These mighty experts who had dominated the cultivation world for years left no trace of their existence in death.

She lifted her head and smiled sweetly at Huo Wuyan. “Let’s go home.”

At her words, Huo Wuyan froze. It had been a long time since anyone had mentioned the word home to him. She said, let’s go home.

Huo Wuyan’s thoughts wandered for a moment. He looked down at the little girl before him. Her brows were curved and her eyes full of laughter, as if dotted with starlight, stunningly beautiful. He felt as if a feather had gently brushed his palm, a ticklish feeling he couldn’t describe.

Huo Wuyan was silent for a moment. After a long pause, he replied softly, “Mm.”

Lu Yuanyin clutched the fragments of the golden core in her hand. The death of those people had lifted her spirits considerably. She looked at Huo Wuyan beside her and said softly, “Wait for me; I’ll give the spiritual pills to the villagers!”

With that, she quickly took out her storage pouch and pulled out all the spiritual pills she had refined last night. She looked up and saw the woman holding the child, standing in the corner looking frightened.

The woman had not yet recovered from the shock. She had never seen so many powerful figures in her life. Seeing Lu Yuanyin approaching with the pills, she snapped out of her daze and hurried forward a couple steps with the child, saying repeatedly, “Thank you for saving our lives, miss! Thank you, really, thank you so much...”

Lu Yuanyin shook her head. She glanced at the child in the woman’s arms and gave her the jade bottle, saying softly, “Later, see how many villagers have survived in this forest. I’ll bring more pills in a few days.”

The woman clutched the small jade bottle tightly. Remembering the villagers who had died miserably, tears welled up in her eyes. She repeated, “Thank you for saving us, miss. Your great kindness is beyond repayment. I would be willing to work for you as a servant for life to repay your life-saving grace!”

After speaking, thinking of her deceased husband, she could no longer hold back and broke down sobbing. Her voice was hoarse, every word filled with anguish.

Seeing their pitiful state, Qing Nong’s eyes showed a trace of pity. He said softly, “Come back with us. You can’t stay here forever.”

The woman gave a bitter smile. She soothed the baby in her arms and said softly, “Thank you for your kindness, sir. We’ll just stay here. Going to the city would only scare the city folk.”

“Besides, we don’t know when this illness will be cured. It would be terrible if we infected others. Having the pills and herbs is already a big blessing for us!”

What’s more, many villagers had died before last night—either from the disease or at the hands of those disciples.

Even now, sick villagers continued to flock to this forest every day. Going back wouldn’t help much. At least here in the forest, they could still get some pills. The woman looked gratefully at Lu Yuanyin and forced a smile. “Miss, you should go back first. Don’t worry about us.”

Lu Yuanyin’s heart ached at their miserable state. Her abilities were limited; she couldn’t save everyone. She could only do her best to save whoever she could. She sighed softly. “Take good care of yourselves.”

She followed Huo Wuyan slowly into the city. Unlike the chaos and destruction outside, the city was still bustling and lively. Walking through the crowds, Lu Yuanyin rubbed her face and looked at him gloomily. “Huo Wuyan, are you tired?”

Huo Wuyan said coldly, “No.”

Lu Yuanyin kicked at her skirt hem and sighed softly again.

Huo Wuyan glanced at her without expression, seeing her small face scrunched up in frustration. He frowned slightly, not understanding why she was still unhappy.

His fingers twitched as if lost in thought.

The white dragon following behind them watched their interaction, blinked, and a glint flashed in his eyes.

The cultivators within the city also sensed the anomaly in the forest. Their expressions changed, and they quickly flew on their swords toward the area to investigate. However, when they arrived outside the city, they saw the mountains collapsed, countless giant trees snapped in half, and the ground covered in dark, dried traces.

The air still carried a heavy smell of blood, nauseating to the point of discomfort.

Exchanging glances, they saw fear and unease in each other’s eyes. They had only felt a clash of spiritual energy and overflowing sword aura earlier, but now they could detect no trace left by those people. It was as if their existence had been wiped away. If not for the chaos on the ground, they might have thought the anomalies were just their imagination.

One female cultivator frowned as she carefully examined the surrounding forest. Looking at the dried bloodstains on the ground, she felt a chill. “Who was here just now? Did you find anything?”

The male cultivator beside her let out a sarcastic laugh and strode toward the forest. He said casually, “With so many villagers around, it’s impossible no one saw anything. I’ll grab a few to question.”

“Damn those people—I said we shouldn’t cause trouble recently...”

Just as everyone was puzzled, the middle-aged male cultivator following behind suddenly changed expression drastically. He stared at the jade token in his hand, eyes wide with disbelief. “It’s the sect leader—the sect has sent a message. It might be the sect leader...”

The cultivators were taken aback. They looked at the middle-aged male cultivator with confusion. “What sect leader?”

The middle-aged male cultivator stared blankly at his jade token, his voice dry. After a long pause, just as others were growing impatient, he muttered, “The sect just sent news—the soul tablets of Sect Master Chongyao and four elders suddenly shattered. They have fallen...”

As his words fell, everyone fell silent for a moment, staring at the bloodstains on the ground. A belated chill crept up their spines. The female cultivator instinctively stepped back several times, staring at the scene in disbelief. “How is that possible?!”

After all, Sect Master Chongyao was at the Nascent Soul stage, and those elders were also powerful. Even if they couldn’t defeat an opponent, they had ways to escape—how could anyone kill them all at once...

Their expressions turned grim. But what unsettled them even more was: if the sect leader was dead, what would happen to them? If the killer was still unsatisfied and came back for revenge, how would they survive? At the thought of such possibilities, the color drained from their faces.

The forest fell into dead silence.

Lu Yuanyin walked into the city with her head down, only to see several white-haired elders hurrying toward them. The elders had serious expressions, all looking grim.

The azure dragon at the front noticed the lingering traces of blood on their bodies and sneered coldly. “I see those bastards have grown bold enough to touch anyone!”

Hong Long scanned their surroundings and quickly asked in a low voice, “Are any of you injured? Quickly, call for a medical cultivator!”

“It’s getting cold—I think this ‘Chong’ or whatever sect is no longer necessary! Do they think our dragon clan has no one? That our ‘second aunt’ is so easy to bully?!”

Lu Yuanyin: “...”

Lu Yuanyin shook her head gently. Seeing all the elders looking at her with concern, she curved her brows and said softly, “I’m fine—none of this blood is mine!”

“That’s good! That bunch of scum—we haven’t even gone to settle accounts with them, yet they dare to deliver themselves to our doorstep!”

The hot-tempered Hong Long clenched his fists and roared, “I’ll skin them alive!”

Thinking of what the innkeeper had told them about Lu Yuanyin’s experiences over the years, he couldn’t help but reach out his big hand and gently pat her fluffy hair.

They had only known that Lu Yuanyin was an orphan, but they never imagined her situation was far worse than they thought. Putting himself in her shoes, if he had such a little daughter being bullied like that, he would have been heartbroken by now. “Second aunt, you’ve suffered so much all these years!”

Lu Yuanyin: “...”

Every time these white-haired elders addressed her seriously as “second aunt,” she felt a shiver. She touched her face and said softly, “Those people have already been killed by Huo Wuyan.”

Hong Long was still unsatisfied. He stomped his crutch heavily on the ground, his beard flying as he fumed, “Dying like that is too easy for them! Wait—when I get back, I’ll curse them! I curse them to have a miserable next life!”

Lu Yuanyin: “...”

Surrounded by the elders, she was ushered into the inn. The innkeeper was pacing anxiously in the lobby, having been waiting for a long time. Seeing them return, he sighed with relief. “Back! Everything okay? Come, have a seat...”

He quickly brought the hot tea to Lu Yuanyin and said softly, "Miss Lu, have some tea to calm down."

Lu Yuanyin thanked him, took the teacup, and took a slow sip. Then she saw Qinglong forced a stiff smile, "Second Aunt, do you have any favorite places?"

Lu Yuanyin was taken aback, not expecting him to suddenly ask that. She thought for a moment, "I like places with good weather, preferably with plenty of land where I can grow some spirit herbs."

Upon hearing this, Qinglong stroked his beard and asked softly, "Second Aunt, would you be willing to return to the dragon clan with us?"

Huo Wuyan paused at these words, lifting his eyelids, his crimson eyes fixed directly on Lu Yuanyin.

Lu Yuanyin was taken aback. She looked up to see the elders all quietly watching her. After a moment's hesitation, she nodded slightly.

Hong Long, seeing this, immediately patted his chest and said in an extravagant tone, "When you and the little one arrive, we'll prepare to find a new residence. Second Aunt, take a look at which mountain range you like, and I'll buy it for you!"

The sea area they lived in was too cold; even the thick-skinned Spirit Beasts could barely stand it, let alone a delicate girl like Lu Yuanyin. They had just been thinking about finding a new place suitable for human cultivators to live.

Lu Yuanyin fell silent for a moment, "..."

Can you just buy a mountain range on a whim? With so many rich people around, why can't I be one of them?

Lu Yuanyin saw two eggs lying quietly on the soft cushion on the table. She gently picked up the two eggs, sat in the chair, and listened to them talk about those spiritual mountains. She couldn't help but yawn.

Just as she was about to doze off, she saw Hei Long, who had been sitting quietly in the corner, suddenly stand up.

The usually solemn and steady Hei Long now had a flushed face and bright eyes. His fierce eyes were wide open, and his pitch-black pupils stared intently at Lu Yuanyin, "It moved!"

Lu Yuanyin, "?"

What moved? Startled, she looked at Hei Long in confusion. The elders looked just as puzzled.

But Hei Long stared at Lu Yuanyin, his eyes full of undisguised surprise, "The eggs!"

"The eggs moved!"

All the elder dragons: "??!?"

Author's note:

None.