He was still continuing to cultivate with the death resentment energy.
Having realized this, Er’er’s expression grew noticeably grim. With her eyelids half-lowered, she kicked a stone at her feet and walked past him toward the outside.
“Where are you going?” Li Ye turned his head.
Her neck stiffened slightly as she replied in a muffled voice: “Where else could I go? Naturally, I must continue pursuing the Death-Life Door. If it escapes elsewhere, disaster will surely follow. If I move quickly, I might still save a few more lives.”
Her usually clear voice carried a hint of thin anger, which Li Ye found extremely displeasing.
He knew why she was upset, but couldn’t speak directly about it. After a moment of silence, he too felt a blockage in his heart, and his voice suddenly turned cold: “If I don’t go with you, what can you accomplish alone?”
“…” Er’er turned her head to look at him.
Her clear black and white eyes first showed a moment of blankness, then filled with humiliation and disappointment. Her long eyelashes drooped, and her face stiffened as she turned away again.
She knew she was useless, like a vine that could only ascend to immortality by clinging to him, only able to move freely about with his backing, but to have it said so bluntly to her face was too humiliating.
…
…
As her temper flared, Er’er stiffened her neck and answered: “I still need to try for myself.”
After speaking, she didn’t wait for his response but broke away and rushed in the direction where the Death-Life Door had disappeared.
The surrounding barrier gradually dissolved and fell to the ground. The noise of the mortal world surged back into their ears. Li Ye coldly watched the direction she had run off in, pinching his sleeve without a word.
Zhu Yan silently appeared at his side.
“Supreme Immortal,” he glanced into the distance, then looked back at him and cupped his hands in salute, “Everything has been arranged below. If you wish to follow Immortal Er’er a bit further, there’s still time—”
“No need.” Raising his hand to interrupt, Li Ye withdrew his gaze. “Let her go if she wants to.”
He wasn’t a mortal like Chu Xiao; would he throw everything aside for a woman? There were more important matters to attend to. When she went off on her own and discovered she couldn’t accomplish anything, she would return.
Zhu Yan secretly observed his expression, seemingly hesitant to speak. Li Ye felt even more irritated and picked up the Phoenix-Slaying Blade, walking in the opposite direction.
With so many dead and injured, numerous netherworld spirits were floating in the street, feeding on fresh souls. He walked along, his steps generating wind, but suddenly stopped at the corner of the street.
Zhu Yan wasn’t paying attention and almost bumped into him. Hurriedly stepping back, he looked up to discover the Supreme Immortal was watching a living soul standing at the street corner.
It was the soul of an old man, who appeared to be waiting for someone. His fine clothes were filthy, and he looked extremely unwell. At his feet was a wisp of netherworld energy, currently consuming his arm, but the old man seemed completely unaware, still gazing toward the street entrance.
This was a common sight in the mortal realm. Zhu Yan paid no attention and looked away, but then saw Li Ye suddenly lift his hand slightly.
It was a natural movement, as if he were just loosening his shoulder, but light fell from between his fingers, floating lightly into the old man’s brow.
Zhu Yan’s eyes widened.
“Supreme Immortal,” he said urgently, “how can a mortal withstand such grace from you?”
Immortal energy protecting a soul, shielding it from all suffering, might even allow rebirth.
“You saw wrong,” Li Ye continued walking forward, his tone extremely unpleasant. “I am cold and heartless, viewing all beings as worthless straw dogs. How could I bestow any grace?”
These words carried great anger, leaving Zhu Yan completely bewildered.
What had happened? Who was he angry with now?
The two left the town and headed toward the netherworld realm. Along the way, Zhu Yan took the initiative to ask: “Would you like this humble immortal to send someone to find Immortal Er’er?”
“Find her for what?” Li Ye sneered. “She’s quite formidable, giving me attitude at the slightest disagreement.”
Zhu Yan: “…”
Although he and others had discussed that keeping Er’er by the Supreme Immortal’s side wasn’t a good thing, lately the Supreme Immortal’s mood had been far too unpredictable.
Scratching his head, he decided to change the subject: “The soul of that young immortal kept in the Upper Bing Palace has been taken away.”
Meng Wan? Li Ye snorted coldly: “He recovered quite quickly.”
“Indeed, this humble immortal observed that he is also a prodigy in cultivation,” Zhu Yan said. “It’s a pity his heart isn’t with the Li Clan. After taking back his soul, he hastily descended to the mortal realm.”
“What does that have to do with me?” Li Ye waved his sleeve dismissively. “If not for her insisting on saving her senior brother, he wouldn’t have been able to get anywhere near the gates of the Li Clan Immortal Sect.”
Thinking of this, he suddenly felt irritated.
Could that little one have learned that her senior brother had recovered and specifically gone to find him?
Er’er naturally didn’t know that Meng Wan had recovered. She had been forming hand seals and following the Death-Life Door’s traces westward for three hundred li until the traces completely disappeared. Only then did she stop to look around.
Although she had trained in many diverse immortal techniques, she was truly not skilled at tracking. Standing bewildered on the small mountain path, she kicked a few stones and suddenly felt very disheartened.
Li Ye wasn’t wrong; without him, she truly couldn’t accomplish much.
But she wasn’t willing to accept it, not the contempt in his words, nor his attitude. If she had swallowed her pride, then he would never have respected her again. In his heart, she might forever remain just a pitiful creature who needed to rely on him to survive.
She didn’t want to be pitied; she wanted to be loved.
As this thought emerged from her mind, Er’er herself was startled, and her face grew warm.
All this talk of love—she had read too many mortal novels. As a minor immortal like herself, how could she have any right to speak of such things?
Shaking her head vigorously, Er’er focused her mind and continued to search for resentful energy within a one-li radius.
Wind blew through the bamboo forest, creating a rustling sound.
Someone was riding the wind, quickly approaching.
Her ears twitched, and Er’er deployed a defensive barrier, frowning as she looked toward the newcomer: “Who goes there?”
The wind stopped, and the leaves grew still. A pair of snow-white embroidered boots stepped onto the ground covered with withered branches.
“Er’er,” he sighed.
The defensive barrier gradually fell away. Er’er stared at the newcomer, then suddenly let out a cheer, opening her arms and rushing toward him.
“Senior Brother!”
Meng Wan extended his arms and caught her in a full embrace, tapping her head with slight annoyance: “Didn’t I tell you to wait patiently for me? Why are you running around? The yin energy is extremely heavy in this area; it’s not a peaceful place.”
After examining him from left to right to confirm that his soul was intact, Er’er smiled and said: “The Death-Life Door has been lost in the mortal realm. I couldn’t just idle away in the heavens, bringing shame to our sect.”
“But the Death-Life Door is not something you can easily find,” Meng Wan shook his head repeatedly. “With your level of cultivation, one careless moment and you could be devoured by it.”
“But I almost caught it,” she insisted stubbornly, puffing out her chest. “If someone hadn’t deliberately let it escape, I would have already taken it back to the Nine Heavens by now.”
Meng Wan looked at her with a complex expression but said nothing.
Her puffed-up chest gradually deflated as Er’er understood his gaze, turning her head away in dejection: “I know it was thanks to someone else’s power, not my ability. Senior Brother, you don’t need to point that out to me again.”