The person who rushed in was Elder Hu!

Elder Hu was considered the most approachable elder in the Gujian Sect.

He was kind to people and protective of his own. If anyone spoke ill of his sect’s disciples, he could blow his beard, glare, argue fiercely, and even come to blows with them.

Su Zhuyi’s previous suspects had been him and Yi Lian.

Of course, the reason for suspecting Hu Yu was rather bizarre, purely because Su Zhuyi disliked this type of good person, subconsciously feeling that such good people were black-hearted. However, many truly good people had educated her, like the Sect Master, causing this notion to change. Now, unexpectedly, this traitor was Hu Yu.

Revealing her whereabouts to help others kill her was one thing, but he dared collude with Dong Fushang Sect and the Demonic Path to destroy the entire Gujian Sect? All for a Heart Sword Stone?

Seeing how much he valued the Heart Sword Stone, Su Zhuyi already understood what Hu Yu sought.

“Me?” Hu Yu was slightly stunned, then said, “Demonic cultivators have attacked. The Heart Sword Stone cannot fall into evil hands!” He directly used a grappling technique, wanting to seize the stone on the bed. But just as he was about to touch the Heart Sword Stone, Hu Yu said, “I almost forgot—only Luoxue Peak disciples can take the Heart Sword Stone.”

They could only comprehend sword intent at the sword tip, unable to touch the Heart Sword Stone at all. The Heart Sword Stone contained sword qi and sword intent—only Luoxue Peak inheritors wouldn’t be harmed by the sword qi.

Luoxue Peak’s sword cultivators had always been the strongest in the Gujian Sect.

The resources they possessed were also the most among all peaks.

All because they controlled the Heart Sword Stone. To Hu Yu, that Heart Sword Stone was a treasure that could bring one’s sword dao to great accomplishment. His sword dao had encountered bottlenecks for a hundred years. Though he had become a peak master, visiting Luoxue Peak still required reporting to the Sect Master, waiting for Luo Ying’s agreement before ascending. He could only comprehend sword intent at the sword tip, and only under his strong insistence had he seen the Heart Sword Stone once.

His heart was unwilling.

His heart held an obsession. His sword dao had never been able to break through, and his cultivation growth was extremely slow. So he schemed and plotted to obtain the Heart Sword Stone. He had been waiting for an opportunity, and now, finally, it had come.

Looking at that blood-red stone, his eyes were shining.

After speaking, he looked down at Su Zhuyi, pulling her up from the ground somewhat roughly. “This matter is crucial. Quickly take the Heart Sword Stone and put it in…” He had originally wanted to find a magical treasure to contain it, but then discovered the wooden box for storing the Heart Sword Stone beside the bed. His heart filled with great joy. “Put it in the wooden box.”

Seeing that Su Zhuyi hadn’t moved, he frowned and directly grabbed Su Zhuyi’s hand to take the Heart Sword Stone. Su Zhuyi clenched her hand into a fist. Hu Yu’s eyes flashed coldly, his brows rising like knife edges as he shouted, “At a time like this, what are you dawdling for?”

He applied force with his hand, as if wanting to crush her bones. But Su Zhuyi acted as if she felt no pain or pressure, not even humming once. Her fist remained tightly clenched, not picking up the Heart Sword Stone. She looked like she had been crying, moisture still in her eyes, but with bone-chilling coldness, as if water had frozen to ice.

“The Demonic Path has come knocking. Do you want the Heart Sword Stone to be stolen?”

Su Zhuyi’s body stiffened, then she grasped the Heart Sword Stone in her hand. The stone felt ice-cold to touch, but after holding it, she could feel warmth. She even had the illusion that it was a beating heart.

“Quickly, put the Heart Sword Stone in the box.” Seeing the stone picked up, Hu Yu released his grip, taking the box in hand and placing it right under Su Zhuyi’s nose. But Su Zhuyi didn’t throw the stone in. She forced herself to rally her spirits, loudly saying, “Elder Hu is right. This Heart Sword Stone is the foundation of the Gujian Sect. We absolutely cannot let outsiders steal it.”

“I am Luoxue Peak’s inheritor. Where I am, the stone is. If placed in a box, it’s more easily lost.” Not far away were many Gujian Sect cultivators. Yi Lian and several elders, including Peak Master Yun, were there, forming a sword formation to temporarily block those demonic cultivators outside. Su Zhuyi spoke these words for them to hear.

“Hu Yu, why aren’t you coming to help?” Yi Lian couldn’t spare attention to speak. The Golden Sparrow that normally perched on his shoulder flew into the air, shouting at Hu Yu, “Quick, we must hold on until rescue arrives!”

Hu Yu’s eyes revealed a fierce light. His soul pressure spread, and the hand gripping the wooden box showed bulging veins. He said through gritted teeth, word by word, “Su Zhuyi, put the Heart Sword Stone inside.”

The Golden Sparrow’s eyes turned, then cried sharply, “No wonder the Demonic Path would take advantage at this moment—so you’ve been leaking information! Hu Yu, you’ve gone mad!”

Su Zhuyi hadn’t expected Yi Lian to make so many connections, much less that he would expose it directly. She had originally wanted to draw attention, and Hu Yu seemed to show no signs of immediately revealing his true face. She had wondered if he might yield to pressure from others and temporarily join in fighting the enemy together. But unexpectedly, Elder Yi had called him out directly.

Hu Yu’s expression changed, and then he simply stopped pretending and swung his sword to strike. If you won’t release the stone you’re gripping tightly in your palm, then I’ll just cut off your arm!

The Golden Sparrow suddenly flapped its wings. Several feathers transformed into sharp swords, shooting toward Hu Yu. He didn’t even dodge, striking with one sword toward Su Zhuyi’s arm.

But just then, a voice called out, “Miss!”

Little Skull materialized. He was no longer a skeleton frame—his body had been wrapped with silk threads by Silkworm, making it seem like he had grown flesh. He wore clothes on the outside and even had a hat on now. The moment he appeared, Little Skull sensed outsiders around, so he immediately used spiritual energy to hide himself. When he saw the scene before him clearly, Little Skull was dumbfounded. “What happened?”

“Miss!” Spiritual energy instantly enveloped Su Zhuyi completely. That barrier spread out, directly blocking Elder Hu’s sword. When he thrust with his sword, he felt like he had struck a spiritual energy barrier. The sword tip seemed to shudder from the impact, but the spiritual energy barrier remained unmoved.

Seeing someone using a sword to stab Miss, and Miss covered in wounds, Little Skull was already very worried. He directly channeled spiritual energy into Su Zhuyi’s body, then turned his gaze to see the big yellow dog on the ground. Little Skull screamed out, his voice extremely mournful.

“Xiaoxiao!”

Xiaoxiao had been cut in half by a sword. Its head and body were not far from Miss’s feet, but its hind legs were a zhang away. A trail of blood between them showed that after being severed, it had still crawled to Miss’s side! He wrapped Xiaoxiao tightly with spiritual energy, pressing its separated body parts together.

Then he glared furiously at Hu Yu!

Little Skull had never been angry before.

He was timid, would be afraid—afraid of ghosts, afraid of the deathly silence in the Liuguang Mirror, afraid of becoming a lifeless monster himself.

He would worry—worry about Xiaoxiao, worry about Miss, worry about Little Uncle, worry about all the people and things he cared about.

He would be nervous, would blame himself, would feel wronged, but had never been angry. But now, he was beside himself with rage. The flames in his eye sockets seemed to burn beyond his body. That cluster of blue-green flames emerged from the top of his head. He knew no attack methods, and no one had taught him. He just charged at Hu Yu like a tolling bell, gritting his teeth!

Though Hu Yu was startled in his heart, he said, “This, this is a ghost creature! How dare you, people of Luoxue Peak—Qinghe, have entered demonic madness, and you’re raising a ghost creature. How can the Heart Sword Stone fall into your hands!”

Su Zhuyi felt much more comfortable, nourished by the spiritual energy. She caught her breath, her spirits improving slightly, and shouted at Hu Yu, “He’s cleaner than you, cleaner than anyone!”

With a thunderous crash, Little Skull struck Hu Yu like a meteor…

Hu Yu’s defensive barrier was directly shattered. His face showed complete disbelief—he never imagined this ghost creature’s collision would be so powerful…

His body seemed to catch fire. The fire was ghostly flame from graveyards, burning him with excruciating pain yet having no temperature, freezing his heart, and making his blood lose all warmth.

His body was like a fragile porcelain vase. With such a collision, as he flew backward, he saw his body shatter into pieces. That cooled, dirty blood splattered in all directions. He watched helplessly as his flesh and blood separated.

With a bang, Hu Yu turned to powder in mid-air, directly perishing. Blood splattered all over Little Skull’s head and face. He stood in place in a daze, his body trembling, appearing quite panicked and uneasy.

Wu’er was a ghost creature.

Ghost creatures were very prone to generating a murderous aura and malevolent qi.

He had just been very angry and couldn’t find a way to attack, so he had charged over like that. But he hadn’t expected that such a collision would directly turn someone into minced meat! Fresh blood splattered all over his body, covering his clothes everywhere. That thick, bloody stench enveloped him, making the green flame in his eye sockets take on a hint of crimson.

“Wu’er! There are many more bad people outside. They’ve killed many people. Go help quickly!” Seeing Little Skull seemed off, Su Zhuyi immediately called out, “Those bad people outside want to break in. The Sect Master is already dead. Do you see Elder Yi? They’re using a sword formation to resist those people. Go help quickly—we absolutely cannot let them break in!”

Su Zhuyi spoke rapidly.

“Go save people quickly.”

You’re not killing people.

You’re saving people.

Little Skull came to his senses, seeing the chaos outside and many familiar people injured. He had secretly observed Gujian Sect disciples before. These people didn’t know Little Skull, but Little Skull knew them.

Little Skull wiped the blood and flesh from his face and ran toward the Gujian Sect disciples. Those Gujian Sect disciples were joining forces to resist the enemy and hadn’t noticed the commotion here. But the Golden Sparrow had seen it all. So when Little Skull charged over, Yi Lian, who controlled the sword formation’s pivot, suddenly withdrew his sword and stepped aside.

With his movement, the sword formation immediately fell into chaos. The formation that had been blocking the demonic cultivators’ sword qi showed a gap. Two demonic experts used this gap as a breakthrough point, rushing in and planning to go on a killing spree…

“Yi Lian! What’s wrong with you!”

Yi Lian: “I, I was just making way for him.”