Chapter 32
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Chapter 32: Title
“What? Sister Ye was taken by Yin Huai?!”
Mu Huaiyun had no sooner returned to the cave than he delivered such grim tidings. Instantly, the food lost all taste for Qiao Zhu. Her emotions spilled out, her eyes brimming with tears of desperation.
"It’s my fault. I failed to protect her," Mu Huaiyun coughed weakly, his face deathly pale.
He retrieved a bell-shaped artifact from his storage pouch and handed it to Qiao Zhu. "This treasure reinforces barriers. Should I not return, use it to safeguard our disciples."
"Young master, are you going to rescue Sister Ye?"
Qiao Zhu blocked his path. "Young master, you’re gravely injured in this state. How could you possibly save her? Young master, you—"
Before she finished, Mu Huaiyun’s brow furrowed violently. The next heartbeat, he collapsed.
"Young master!"
Qiao Zhu barely caught him. His wrist felt icy beneath her touch. "Breath ragged, heart pulse erratic… these are signs of cultivation deviation. How did this happen…?"
"Doesn’t the Medicine Hall have that miraculous healing drug? Rumored to work wonders—surely it can stabilize his energy?" The speaker was Senior Brother Yin, who’d previously defeated Qiao Ren at the training ground.
The drug Senior Brother Yin mentioned was indeed potent, crafted with half a South Ridge Ghost Orchid. Yet…
Qiao Zhu hesitated. "The young master’s core was inherently fragile. That medicine is too fierce—he might not endure it. Even if it stabilized his breath, its potency would cause him excruciating pain. Should he fail to withstand it…"
"Then what alternatives remain?" pressed Senior Brother Yin.
"I…" There was one—suppressing the turmoil through vastly superior spiritual power via high-level arts. But no one present surpassed Mu Huaiyun’s cultivation, let alone mastered such spells.
If only Sister Ye were here.
Qiao Zhu lowered her head. So be it. She could only pray the medicine would sustain him.
While Mu Huaiyun’s fate hung in balance, Ye Qingshang, isolated from all, fared no better.
She clutched her head, struggling to lean back as searing agony pierced her lungs, forcing her to curl inward.
Each shallow breath felt like madness.
She’d known pushing Mu Huaiyun beyond three meters would sever her spiritual power. Yet she’d recklessly thrust him aside, gambling with her life.
Now, powerless as a lamb before tigers, she cursed her second chance at life. Had it addled her mind? She rubbed the livid bruise on her forehead, frustration simmering.
And Yin Huai—captor without compassion! Hauling her through nauseating flights, then carelessly dumping her against unyielding stone. Every joint ached.
"Awake?" A voice echoed, ethereal in the vastness.
This voice… "Yin Huai?" Ye Qingshang rasped.
"Yes." A tall man stepped into view, robes elegant, a half-masked fan swaying in his hand. Star-like eyes gleamed above refined features. Lowering the fan revealed a visage transcendent as celestials.
Ye Qingshang stared, momentarily stunned.
Yin Huai savored her reaction, tilting her chin with his fan. "Fear not. I’ve no present urge to kill. Nor would I mistreat such beauty."
Ye Qingshang jerked away. "Man or woman?"
Though gender seemed trivial for an ancient beast, Yin Huai indulged her. "Man."
Watching her recoil further, he chuckled. "Yet all I told you holds truth. Consider Quan Village—those villagers deserved no salvation."
"The scholar abandoned his faithful wife for a princess. The villagers then murdered that wife to bury the truth. But the killer wasn’t me—it was the princess herself."
"Pity the Third Princess—a life of virtue, abandoned in crisis. The villagers, saving their own skins, carved her flesh blade by blade. A woman heavy with child, slain by selfishness… even death couldn’t close her eyes. How profoundly tragic."
"And the villagers, to cover up their crimes, blamed the princess’s death on natural disasters. Ha… it was absurd. If even one person had stood up back then, she wouldn’t have died. Sadly, I just mentioned it casually, and it terrified them all."
"Are you saying the villagers killed the princess under your threat to save themselves?"
Ye Qingshang’s eyes showed no curiosity; her cold gaze fixed directly on him. Yin Huai suddenly remembered that rainy night when the third princess was tied to a tree with her hands bound, wearing the same look.
She didn’t care about living or dying; since her beloved was gone, surviving felt pointless. She only felt deep sorrow. As the villagers stabbed her repeatedly to save themselves, she never made a sound until her blood mixed with the rain, staining the whole mountainside a shocking red.
She died with her eyes open.
Those eyes were too similar… Yin Huai hid his expression and lost interest. "So what? They’re selfish and deserve punishment."
"Oh, I forgot to tell you—the young master of Yunshan Sect has probably returned to his hiding place by now. But his luck is bad, and the path ahead is risky. He might even run into monsters he can’t handle."
Yin Huai tapped the air, creating a water mirror. It showed a forest with a figure fleeing in panic, looking exhausted and clumsy with spells.
Chasing them in the distance were Mu Shezhi and his group, struggling due to spell disruptions and falling behind.
Just as the figure seemed about to escape, the view shifted to a cave entrance.
Ye Qingshang recognized the cave instantly—it was the Yunshan Sect disciples’ hiding spot!
"Speaking of which, I must thank you. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have found their hideout so fast."
Yin Huai saw Ye Qingshang’s surprise clearly as he brought the mirror closer. The figure finally shook off Mu Shezhi and the others, leaping to the cave entrance.
The figure coughed and collapsed slowly, her pale face hanging down. In that instant, Ye Qingshang saw who it was. "Why… why is she there? What did you do?!"
"Let me introduce her; that was my clone. As for why she went there…" Yin Huai chuckled softly. "It’s all because of Yunshan Sect—she’s just running for her life."
"I wonder how the young master of Yunshan Sect will choose to act, faced with such a perfect chance to destroy them."
