“You’ve gone to great lengths,” Xiang Haikui felt dejected. Selecting the ugliest one from three thousand “Tibetan foxes”—how idle could he be?
Of course, she merely wanted to see the legendary, devastatingly beautiful fox spirits, with no intention of discriminating against the “Tibetan foxes” for their low appearance rating. “But with your looks, Senior, are you really afraid of being outshone by a Nine-Tailed Fox?”
Yin Changli smiled gently: “Yes, I am.”
Xiang Haikui glared at him: “Since when did you become so insecure?”
Yin Changli looked back at her: “Recently, I’ve indeed lost much of my confidence.”
Without Jing Ran, all men in her heart had become zeros, and only he and Han Qi were in the negative—how could he have any confidence left?
Xiang Haikui paused slightly, trying to discern if he was joking.
Yin Changli allowed her to scrutinize him, continuing to gaze at her with a smile.
Even though her injuries had mostly healed, her cheeks remained pale and bloodless.
She had also grown thinner, making her oval face more pronounced. With slightly sunken eye sockets, her previously always-smiling peach blossom eyes had gained a certain depth.
Yin Changli recalled that when he first brought her over, her appearance had seemed rather plain, leaving few impressions in his mind.
Now she looked like a different person—every frown and smile particularly captivating.
Yet in reality, she had probably just lost weight…
The fox clan man had arrived before them and bowed to Yin Changli: “Muxi pays respect to the Great Clan Leader. I apologize for my tardiness and beg for your forgiveness.”
Yin Changli gave a faint “hmm” and continued transmitting to Xiang Haikui: “You don’t know, not only have I lost some confidence, but I’ve also gained some anxiety.”
Xiang Haikui frowned slightly. His voice remained calm, his exterior still elegant, but for a moment, she seemed to perceive genuine unease deep within his black, lustrous eyes.
To be fair, Xiang Haikui gently pressed her hand on his shoulder: “Senior Yin, be confident. Your advantage is quite obvious.”
Yin Changli was slightly taken aback.
Xiang Haikui’s expression turned somewhat amusing: “Think of it from another angle. Other men might continue to lose points in my eyes, but you won’t. You’ve already reached rock bottom—it can’t get any worse.”
Now it was Yin Changli’s turn to twitch his mouth almost imperceptibly.
“I’m not mocking you,” Xiang Haikui gave him a “this is sincere” look.
Many relationships begin from a lack of understanding and end with too much understanding.
So other men still had room to drop, but Yin Changli didn’t. As the man currently closest to her, she had seen his many faces.
Kind, gentle, disheveled, despicable, malicious. She might be the woman in this world who has seen the most sides of him.
When you understand someone too well, no filters remain, so there’s no fear of those filters shattering.
Yin Changli cooperated with a smile, but the bitterness was hard to conceal.
This “advantage” of not being able to get worse was something he didn’t want. Initially, he truly had advantages—he was their father-daughter duo’s lifesaving benefactor, and her eyes always held a trace of admiration when looking at him.
To use Xiang Haikui’s common phrase, he had played a good hand of cards terribly.
Fortunately, Di Jun’s card skills were even worse, otherwise, he would have had nothing left but to admit defeat in tears.
“Achoo!” Bai Xingxian sneezed behind them.
Yin Changli’s eyelashes trembled slightly as he returned to his senses and looked at the rock fox named Muxi, asking: “What delayed you on the way?”
“In response to the Great Clan Leader, before leaving the mountain, I was interrogated by several elders, which caused the delay…” Muxi showed embarrassment but explained stiffly, “The elders asked me to convey a message, requesting you to return to the clan immediately…”
Yin Changli laughed coldly: “I should indeed go back and see whose mouth is so unnecessarily loose.”
Earlier, to control the crazed Xiang Haikui, he had been wounded by her. After this news reached the clan, he was bound to be lectured by the elders—he was mentally prepared for this.
“Then will you…?”
“Going back doesn’t mean going back right now.”
Even though Yin Changli couldn’t enter the mountain, he had to stand guard outside.
First for Xiang Haikui, second for Bai Xingxian—with the most precious people in his life here, he couldn’t leave even if the sky fell.
Muxi’s face was twisted with worry: “But Clan Leader…”
Yin Changli stopped him from continuing with a glance, merely commanding: “Take good care of them. Swear on your life.”
Muxi immediately straightened his expression: “Yes!”
“Thank you for your trouble, Senior,” Xiang Haikui cupped her fists toward him.
“I don’t deserve such courtesy,” Muxi politely returned the gesture.
Xiang Haikui could sense that he wasn’t particularly friendly toward her, but at least he didn’t deliberately hide this unfriendliness. Yin Changli could surely sense it too, yet still considered him trustworthy, so there shouldn’t be any problems—she needn’t be on guard.
Yin Changli took out several talismans, initially intending to give them to Xiang Haikui, then remembered that he had previously given her a higher-level summoning talisman, making these unnecessary.
He turned and handed them to Bai Xingxian: “Xiao Bai, contact me immediately if anything happens.”
“Yes, Uncle.” Bai Xingxian, who was huddled with Lu Xiqiao for warmth, struggled to extract an arm from his sleeve to accept the talismans.
“Go now.” Yin Changli had meticulously explained everything that needed explaining and pointed to a mountain path, signaling Muxi to lead the way.
“We’ll be off then.” Xiang Haikui wrapped her cloak tightly, stomped her numbing feet, and led Xiao Bai and Lu Xiqiao as they turned to follow.
Watching her gradually receding figure, Yin Changli also wrapped his cloak tighter.
Unable to withstand the cold, a layer of white frost had already formed on his eyebrows, yet he wouldn’t return to the traveling palace.
The palace’s inherent barrier would block his divine consciousness from observing the surroundings.
“Who’s there?!” Suddenly, Xiang Haikui stopped her ascent, and a sword energy flew out from her sword case toward a particular direction.
Not a blade of grass grew anywhere on Ice Spring Mountain, and the area swept by the sword energy was empty.
Even after the sword energy dissipated, there was no unusual movement.
“What’s wrong?” Bai Xingxian followed the sword energy’s path, but couldn’t sense anything.
“Sister Kui, are you being too cautious?” Lu Xiqiao couldn’t sense anything either. “If you can detect something, Senior Yin surely wouldn’t miss it.”
“Tian Kuang gave a warning.” Xiang Haikui turned to look at Yin Changli, patting the sword case on her back to indicate it wasn’t her being paranoid.
The other person’s cultivation level far exceeded hers, making detection very difficult, but they had been scrutinizing her too forcefully, seemingly wanting to know if those two energy masses remained in her dantian.
Yin Changli nodded, signaling that there was no harm.
The area locked onto by the Tian Kuang Sword was precisely at the edge of his divine consciousness’s range.
He already knew who it was—someone who had followed Muxi.
Muxi had guessed it too, cold sweat instantly appearing on his forehead as he cupped his fists toward Yin Changli: “Clan Leader, I did not know of this!”
Yin Changli ignored him, his eyes darkening as his finger quickly wrote the character “chaos” in the air, stirring the piercing cold wind around them.
In an instant, countless wind blades howled forth, grinding once more along the path taken by the Tian Kuang Sword’s energy.
With a “crack,” the air shattered like an eggshell.
Xiang Haikui heard a faint laugh, then saw a long, straight leg emerge from nowhere, followed by the entire person appearing before everyone’s eyes.
It was a woman with sharp features and cold, white skin.
Some women, regardless of age, personality, or cultivation, simply look unapproachable based on appearance alone—she was one of those.
“Aunt Rong?” Bai Xingxian, who had been nervously sweating, relaxed upon seeing a familiar face.
“Xiao Bai.” The woman smiled and waved at him, her gaze carrying a hint of affection.
“Third Elder!” Muxi greeted her with distress.
The Mountain Sea Clan’s Third Elder, Zhu Rongrong, was of the same generation as Yin Changli and came from the Nine-Tailed Clan.
As the smartest branch of the Mountain Sea Clan, the Nine-Tailed Clan had attempted independence numerous times even before the Mountain Sea Clan’s downfall. Though they never ultimately succeeded, they had practically achieved a semi-independent state, with the entire clan living in a secluded paradise, having virtually no entanglements with other branches of the Mountain Sea Clan in ordinary times.
Therefore, they were hardly affected during the war with the Heavenly Race.
They didn’t even provide any assistance when their fellow clan members were fleeing, using the opportunity to declare complete independence.
But their independence didn’t last long. After Yin Changli became the Great Clan Leader of the Mountain Sea Clan, he single-handedly invaded their “Peach Blossom Spring,” defeating Zhu Rongrong, then the Nine-Tailed Clan Leader, in both literary and martial contests.
The reason the Nine-Tailed Clan agitated for separation from the Mountain Sea Clan was that they felt that, intellectually, they and the Mountain Sea Clan were two different species. But after their intelligence was thoroughly trounced by a candle dragon, as long as Yin Changli didn’t leave the Mountain Sea Clan, they wouldn’t dare flaunt their intelligence again.
In recent years, Yin Changli had been drawing fire externally and rarely returned to the clan. Mostly, Third Elder Zhu Rongrong had been managing clan affairs, essentially serving as the Mountain Sea Clan’s second-in-command.
“What are you doing here?” Yin Changli asked, already knowing the answer.
“Coming to substitute for the Clan Leader.” Zhu Rongrong glanced in Xiang Haikui’s direction, smiling politely in greeting.
Although Tian Kuang was giving warnings, one doesn’t slap a smiling face. Xiang Haikui cupped her hands and returned the greeting.
Zhu Rongrong continued to Yin Changli: “I know you’re worried about them, so I came specifically to watch over them in your place. This location isn’t far from our clan territory. You should go back and explain first; otherwise, the other elders will think ‘this matter is of great importance.’ I’m afraid I can’t keep them under control, Changli.”
Zhu Rongrong made no effort to lower her voice, as if ensuring Xiang Haikui could hear.
Yin Changli shooed them away: “This doesn’t concern you. Enter the mountain.”
Xiang Haikui obediently turned and left, not staying to get involved.
If it were just her alone, she might have advised Yin Changli, as suppressing the Tian Kuang sword energy wasn’t such a critical matter.
But with Xiao Bai present, the integration process of his “spiritual sense” was too important. Yin Changli was doing something significant and righteous. Making him return to the clan now to face questioning would be a real waste of time.
Yin Changli smiled amusedly: “I wonder how the elders view Lord Qi’s disregard for the bigger picture by extracting his soul?”
Zhu Rongrong pursed her lips: “That’s exactly what I’ve been saying. You’re too capable—you’ve never made a single mistake. When you finally err once, they think the situation is overly serious…”
“Error? I simply did what I believed needed to be done,” Yin Changli interrupted her.
“I understand, of course. You’ve always had good judgment.” While speaking to him, Zhu Rongrong also transmitted to Xiang Haikui, “Young lady, your affairs with Di Jun and Changli have become common knowledge…”
Xiang Haikui remained silent.
“I wonder if you’ve continued to integrate with that child?”
Xiang Haikui knew this would be the issue: “No, those two energy masses have been nearly completely absorbed by me. They won’t affect Senior Yin, rest assured.”
Zhu Rongrong neither confirmed belief nor disbelief: “Young lady, I hope you can persuade him to return with you. Otherwise, your trio’s seclusion for heart cultivation will certainly be disturbed. The Great Elder will send people to seize you… He must confirm that the child in your belly hasn’t successfully formed…”
Xiang Haikui frowned but didn’t stop walking. Yin Changli should be able to handle this.
She bantered: “In your minds, is your clan leader someone with such poor judgment?”
Zhu Rongrong sighed: “There’s no choice. With his father’s cautionary tale, the Great Elder says he’s too similar to his father and could easily repeat the same mistakes.”
Xiang Haikui recalled Yin Chairman’s wife, who bore twelve children consecutively, causing Chairman Yin to lose half his life before even reaching the battlefield.
“That’s different, isn’t it?” She had almost reached the mountain top. “Back then, no one knew that all-out war with the Heavenly Race would break out in the future.”
One loved children, one cherished his wife—whether to have children was a private matter between husband and wife.
Besides, even if vital energy was depleted, it could be restored.
Though his cultivation advancement might slow, Chairman Yin’s abilities were already sufficient for him to command wind and rain.
“We didn’t know there would be war, but his mother’s plot to send his father to his death was premeditated.” Zhu Rongrong coldly dropped this statement. “Changli knows nothing of this. So do you want him to quarrel with the Great Elder over you and be told this truth that he might not be able to bear?”
Xiang Haikui was stunned for a moment, finally stopping in her tracks: “What did you say?”