“Master?” Xiang Tianqing called softly, seeing him in a daze.

Yin Changli snapped back to reality, withdrew his hand, and sat cross-legged: “Thank you again, but this humble monk needs rest now. Please feel free to go about your business.”

Xiang Tianqing was about to speak, but he had already closed his eyes.

Yin Changli had no time for conversation. Having just taken control of this body, he needed to suppress Dao Chen’s consciousness.

Dao Chen’s natal sword continued to protect him, preventing Yin Changli from devouring his soul completely, leaving him only able to forcibly suppress it.

With the slightest lapse in concentration, he risked being controlled by Dao Chen instead.

Xiang Tianqing, feeling somewhat dejected, went to sit alone in a corner.

Meanwhile, Xiang Haikui was exhausted from wielding the Tian Kuang sword. Her stab at Dao Chen had consumed ninety percent of her strength and left her injured.

Across from her, Wu Mian was at the sixth rank with full stamina.

The dozen or so guards were also formidable opponents.

The tribal chief and his people used ancient forbidden techniques that were overwhelming to counter.

Fortunately, Bai Xingxian was an excellent support.

The Tian Bao twin swords were like thunder chisels—when the short sword struck the long sword, they produced dazzling flashes of light that blinded anyone who looked.

Moreover, Bai Xingxian generously unleashed his great mystical powers, causing all magical treasures and weapons on the field, except for the Tian Kuang sword, to temporarily malfunction.

Though the malfunction was temporary, it was enough for Xiang Haikui to knock them down.

In the end, only Wu Mian remained standing. He threw punches powered by his spiritual energy, unaffected by the Tian Bao swords: “You do have some skill. No wonder you could deceive my master!”

Seeing him raise both fists—one swirling with wind, one blazing with fire—Xiang Haikui knew he intended to kill.

In truth, she didn’t want to fight Wu Mian to the death. Though impulsive, hot-tempered, and not the brightest, he genuinely cared for her father.

After all, he had been raised by her father and was like a half-brother to her: “Are you blind? If I’m this capable in combat, don’t I resemble my father rather than some seductress? And it wasn’t me trying to summon the Shen Yao—it was Dao Chen…”

The tribal chief, lying on the ground, sat up suddenly as if jolted awake on his deathbed: “D-don’t slander the Master!”

His trembling voice and desperate cry made Xiang Haikui’s head throb.

Explanations were indeed useless, just as Dao Chen had said. The foundation he had meticulously built here couldn’t be shaken by a second young lady who had just parachuted in.

Unless her father emerged from seclusion.

No matter how beloved Dao Chen was, he couldn’t compare to her father, the great City Lord guarding the border.

Wu Mian gathered his strength and shouted: “Enough nonsense! Today, this young master will bury you all in the sand sea!”

Lu Xiqiao had already taken advantage of the chaos to retrieve his family’s formation disk. Holding the snake jar, he said: “I only know that the loudest barking dogs are the most useless.”

Like himself, for instance.

Conversely, someone like Xiang Haikui—with her cute bun hairstyle adorned with colorful feathers at her temples, looking like a little parrot—who would have known she’d fight like a wild wolf?

It was too deceptive.

“I’ll kill you first!” Wu Mian swung his fists fiercely. Damn, he’d disliked this bastard for a long time!

His wind and fire fists struck out together, the wind carrying the flames toward Lu Xiqiao.

Xiang Haikui slashed down with her sword, the force colliding with the wind and fire, forcing them to change direction.

“Let’s see how many more strikes you can make.” Wu Mian, a battle-hardened veteran, could tell Xiang Haikui was reaching her limit.

Just as he was about to strike again, he heard some noises and suddenly stopped.

Xiang Haikui heard it too. The sound was familiar, like the strange noise from beneath the sand layer when Lu Xiqiao’s feet were stuck and she had thrust her sword down.

That monster had returned!

It had first eaten Lu Xiqiao’s camel beast, then trapped Lu Xiqiao—probably waiting to digest before eating him.

Was it hunting again now?

Or seeking revenge against her?

If it was revenge, its eyesight wasn’t great—it had mistaken its target.

The sand beneath Wu Mian’s feet suddenly collapsed, and a powerful suction force pulled him into the sand pit!

Lu Xiqiao’s eyes widened: “That’s exactly how my camel beast disappeared!”

“What is this thing?” Wu Mian struggled fiercely. Though he had grown up in the desert, he had never encountered such a creature.

The people lying scattered on the ground also looked terrified.

Xiang Haikui was equally surprised. Her Tian Kuang sword trembled in her hand, becoming excited.

Earlier, Tian Kuang hadn’t considered this creature worth its attention, but now it had suddenly changed its attitude—had it evolved?

As Tian Kuang grew excited, its wild energy surged.

With renewed energy, Xiang Haikui also became excited, employing the same technique as before, pushing past her limits for another berserker transformation.

Without overthinking, she leaped directly into the sand pit, caught Wu Mian with Tian Kuang, gritted her teeth, let out a muffled shout, and flung him out of the pit.

Wu Mian crashed onto the sand, still in shock.

Had he just been saved by that vixen?

A vixen indeed—a real fox!

Glancing at her, he saw her eyes had become elongated and slightly upturned, with purple irises and thick, curled black lashes—bewitchingly captivating!

Yet her brow carried a certain heroic quality, resembling his master.

Wu Mian’s heart pounded, and his mind was in chaos as Xiang Haikui emerged from the sand pit.

The monster, seemingly unwilling to confront Tian Kuang and unable to capture Wu Mian, immediately slithered away.

Now, the group stood awkwardly in place.

Would they continue fighting?

Wu Mian rose from the ground, telling himself not to be bewitched by her, and clenched his fists again.

Just as he was about to regain his momentum, they heard a distant “Amitabha Buddha.”

Everyone, including Xiang Haikui, was startled.

Looking into the distance, they saw Master Dao Chen returning on foot, with a camel beast following behind carrying Xiang Tianqing.

Xiang Haikui remained vigilant and told Lu Xiqiao: “Guard that jar carefully.”

Lu Xiqiao quickly took out a strange bag from his storage bracelet, put the jar inside, made a hand sign, and sealed the opening: “Rest assured, as long as I’m alive, no one can open this bag.”

Xiang Haikui: “But it seems too easy to kill you.”

Lu Xiqiao: …

“What’s going on here?” Seeing people “lying dead” all around and Wu Mian and Xiang Haikui in a standoff, Xiang Tianqing quickly dismounted and ran over.

Xiang Haikui complained: “Sister, Third Senior Brother insists I’m a seductress trying to bewitch Father, and wants to kill me.”

Knowing the truth, Xiang Tianqing was stunned for a moment, then scolded Wu Mian: “You don’t listen to Father but believe rumors instead?”

“I…” Facing Xiang Tianqing, Wu Mian had no temper at all.

Now he was somewhat hesitant.

But Second Senior Brother had confirmed she wasn’t Master’s biological daughter and was here to harm Master.

When he had previously asked Xiang Tianqing why the two didn’t look like sisters, she had reacted as if they weren’t sisters at all.

“Regardless, she attacked Master Dao Chen and, together with the Lu family, tried to unseal an ancient Shen Yao!” Wu Mian looked toward Dao Chen.

The tribal chief struggled to stand up, also looking concernedly at Dao Chen: “Master, your body…”

Yin Changli had followed a vague memory to arrive here. After hearing a few exchanges, he had a rough understanding of the situation.

Imitating a monk’s gesture with palms together: “Actually, this was all just a misunderstanding.”

Everyone was puzzled: “A misunderstanding?”

Xiang Haikui was also confused by the situation. This scoundrel appeared to have recovered and only needed to return and condemn her, so why had he suddenly changed his stance?

“What misunderstanding?” Wu Mian asked directly.

“In any case, it was a misunderstanding.” Saying more would risk errors. Yin Changli looked at Xiang Haikui, the corners of his lips slightly upturned. “Isn’t that right, Miss Xiang?”

Good heavens, when he smiled, Xiang Haikui felt as if numerous pits had exploded around her.

If she moved a step, she’d fall into one of them.

This bone-chilling sensation had only occurred before in her boss’s presence.

Bai Xingxian also withdrew his Tian Bao swords, scratching the back of his head and giving him a few extra glances.

“Yes, yes, yes, it was a misunderstanding,” Lu Xiqiao was the first to react.

“Mm, it’s all resolved now.” Yin Changli chanted a Buddhist invocation, turned away with a smile.

He intended to return to the Buddhist cave outside Yin Sha City, where Dao Chen usually stayed, hoping he might extract some memories from there.

“Master.” Xiang Tianqing led her camel beast to him. “Please ride mine. I can share one with my senior brother.”

“Thank you very much.” Yin Changli indeed didn’t want to walk.

…

The farce had ended.

The group rode their camel beasts back to Yin Sha City.

Seeing how dangerous the desert was, Lu Xiqiao no longer insisted on conquering the Shen Yao.

He rode with Xiang Haikui, chattering incessantly: “Sister Kui, when I first saw you draw your sword on the flying boat, I knew you were no ordinary person.”

Xiang Haikui scoffed, not believing his nonsense: “Really? I remember after I kicked you, you sent your attendant searching for me all over the ship, cursing ‘damn it’?”

“You misheard. I said ‘my mother’s…’ I had my attendant find you to thank you!” Lu Xiqiao declared earnestly, switching hands to hold the jar and displaying his storage bracelet. “Plus, this time for saving me, Sister Kui, choose whatever you like!”

Nearby, Bai Xingxian urged his camel beast to walk faster: “Young Master Lu, do you have many treasures?”

Lu Xiqiao was quite proud: “Of course! My Lu family lacks nothing except virtue.”

Bai Xingxian’s eyes sparkled: “Can I take a look? Are there any treasures Tian Bao hasn’t consumed? I can trade with other treasures—I have many too.”

“No problem, brother.”

Lu Xiqiao handed the snake jar to Xiang Haikui and went to ride with Bai Xingxian.

Xiang Haikui’s ears finally had peace. Amidst the jolting ride, she touched the jar and turned to look at the “Master” leisurely following behind.

After stitching the little black snake’s severed parts with the Buddhist needle and her hair, it had self-frozen—could there be a connection?

There probably wasn’t. She had just asked Bai Xingxian about it.

Bai Xingxian’s explanation matched her guess—hair from the top of the head indeed contained yang energy and vitality.

Dao Chen likely didn’t want the little black snake to die too quickly, preferring to save it first, then kill it later.

She stopped her camel beast.

When Yin Changli drew alongside her, she transmitted: “Dao Chen, I know I can’t shake your position in Yin Sha, but as long as you don’t leave Yin Sha, I’ll keep my eye on you every day.”

She would find an excuse to stay at his Buddhist cave.

“Don’t think about causing more trouble,” Xiang Haikui warned, narrowing her eyes.

“Alright,” he responded indifferently.

His gaze passed over Xiang Haikui’s blue gauze scarf, first landing on the feathers at her temples, his pupils slightly contracting.

Then he stared at her somewhat disheveled bun hairstyle from the fighting.

The hair quality was extremely poor.

That look—was it disdain? Xiang Haikui noticed him looking ahead at several women in the tribal procession, specifically at their long hair.

Xiang Haikui found it amusing: “Do you envy others’ hair because you had to shave your head to appear compassionate?”

Yin Changli smiled without speaking.

Though he had forgotten many things, he knew he had once been at death’s door.

The feeling in that moment before death was like sinking into an icy, cold ocean—body stiff, panic-stricken, plummeting downward.

But suddenly, a dense, vibrant mass of seaweed, like a fluffy cotton quilt sunning in early spring sunlight, had caught his endlessly falling body.

Carefully, tenderly, it had slowly lifted him to shore.

He thought that mass of seaweed must have been a woman’s hair.

That woman with seaweed-like beautiful hair was probably his…

Mother, perhaps.