Lei Xiuyuan stepped forward and patted her head. Noticing the bedding spread on the floor and cups scattered about, he paused in surprise: “Were you already asleep?”
Li Fei poured him a cup of tea: “No, just enjoying the view. I’ve been here before with my master. We conned quite a bit of money back then.”
Lei Xiuyuan joined her at the window, gazing at the town shrouded in darkness. A half-moon hung in the sky, and the entire city was dotted with flickering lanterns. The night was still young, and the streets were bustling with people, creating a lively atmosphere. Li Fei glanced towards the inn’s entrance; Princess Lan Ya and Ji Tongzhou were no longer there, likely having found another place to catch up.
As she considered whether to tell him about her earlier encounter with Ji Tongzhou and Lan Ya, Lei Xiuyuan suddenly asked, “Do you remember what your master looked like?”
Of course, she remembered! How could she ever forget?
“He was a dirty old man, his clothes always stained and patched,” Li Fei leaned on his shoulder, smiling as she recalled. “Do you remember what I looked like when you first saw me? I was cut from the same cloth as my master back then, but he was older and much scruffier, carrying a wine gourd, with hair as messy as straw.”
Lei Xiuyuan played with a strand of her long hair, saying softly, “That must have been quite an unflattering sight.”
Li Fei suddenly turned to glare at him. Lei Xiuyuan held back a laugh: “When I was first told it was a girl, I went to Lu Gong Town and saw what looked like a boy. I thought Zhen Yun Zi had made a mistake.”
Li Fei punched his shoulder hard: “And yet you still praised me as dashing and valiant! You’ve been a smooth talker since childhood!”
“I wouldn’t dare, Big Sister Xiao Bang Chui,” he said, using her childhood nickname.
Li Fei nearly fell over laughing at hearing her old nickname. She playfully scratched his face: “Not just a smooth talker, but a lecher too. Getting all clingy when you see someone pretty, you scoundrel.”
Lei Xiuyuan held her hand and shook his head: “That’s not it.”
Li Fei had just been joking, but seeing him suddenly turn serious, she asked with a smile, “What’s not it?”
“It’s not because of your looks.”
Li Fei smiled softly: “I know.”
She rested her head on his shoulder again, and they spoke in low voices about many things, saying whatever came to mind, uninhibited. She had completely forgotten about encountering Ji Tongzhou and Princess Lan Ya. When they learned that True Person Qingle had returned, Lei Xiuyuan bid farewell and left.
True Person Qingle noticed her flushed face and slightly embarrassed expression and said with a gentle smile: “You two can become Dao companions now. Moving forward together, spending your days together, wouldn’t that be wonderful?”
Li Fei felt a bit shy: “Well… True Person Qingle, how does one become a Dao companions?”
Her innocent question made True Person Qingle chuckle: “Ordinary people have marriage ceremonies. We cultivators don’t reject such customs. If you two are in love, just stay together. Inform your respective masters, and they will teach you dual cultivation techniques. As you spend your days together, others will know you are Dao companions.”
Li Fei hesitated for a while but couldn’t help asking: “Um… what is dual cultivation?”
True Person Qingle laughed even more heartily, patting her head: “Silly child, let Lei Xiuyuan worry about that for you. He’s a clever one.”
Li Fei was too embarrassed to ask further. She could only lie down and cover her head with the blanket. Last time, Senior Sister Zhao Min had also blushed when mentioning dual cultivation, and now True Person Qingle avoided the topic too. She pondered for a long time, and suddenly it dawned on her. She wanted to cry out in realization, curling up into a ball under the blanket. She finally understood!
The candle had been extinguished, plunging the room into darkness. The pale moonlight wasn’t bright enough, casting an ambiguous, hazy glow. Li Fei tossed and turned for a while before finally drifting off to sleep. In the middle of the night, she suddenly heard the wind outside the window, sometimes shrill, sometimes gentle. She groggily opened her eyes to see True Person Qingle standing by the window, frowning as she gazed at the night sky. The pale moonlight seemed to be obscured by dark clouds, and everything was pitch black. Only the sound of the wind, rising and falling, could be heard.
Seeing Li Fei rise, True Person, Qingle shook her head, signaling her to stay quiet. Li Fei tiptoed to the window and looked up, nearly crying out in shock. She quickly covered her mouth, staring in horror at the endless stream of demons and fierce beasts in the night sky. They surged from all directions like a tide, blocking out the entire firmament as they flew swiftly toward the center of the Middle Kingdom.
True Person Qingle’s face showed a hint of worry. Seeing Li Fei’s confused and shocked expression, she closed the window and said softly: “These are demons and fierce beasts from near the Four Seas. As disaster approaches, they sense it more keenly than we do. They’re all flying towards the center of the Middle Kingdom, trying to escape the calamity. This is just the beginning… Alas…”
Li Fei was silent for a moment before asking quietly, “… Is it the Sea Calamity?”
True Person Qingle replied: “Did True Person Chongyi tell you about this? There’s no need for young disciples like you to know about such matters. The more you know, the more likely you are to become distracted and hinder your cultivation. The demons and fierce beasts in the center of the Middle Kingdom are increasing. Although it’s a good opportunity to select demons for refining magical treasures, I don’t agree with bringing you two here. With so many demons, even if the elders want to protect you, it’s still difficult to avoid mishaps. Every young disciple is the most precious resource of the sect. How can we treat them so carelessly?”
Li Fei thought for a moment and said softly: “But doesn’t the Sea Calamity occur once every five hundred years? If you’re afraid of our hearts becoming restless and don’t tell us anything when we become immortal elders in five hundred years, won’t we still be clueless about everything?”
True Person Qingle sighed: “Human hearts are not as simple and composed as you imagine. When disaster strikes, all the ugliness hidden deep inside emerges. You haven’t experienced those turbulent, crazy years. The immortal elders of various sects are troublesome enough. If we add the disciples, how can we manage if chaos breaks out? How can the sects of the Middle Kingdom continue?”
She was about to say more when suddenly, they heard a commotion in the distance. True Person Qingle immediately opened the window again to see flames rising to the sky in the northern part of the town. Cries and screams echoed endlessly. The surging demons in the sky all suddenly stopped flapping their wings, as if awakening from a dream, realizing this was a town full of plump, living humans to satisfy their hunger.
Everyone in the town was awakened by the noise. Suddenly, there was clamor from all directions. Lanterns on the streets were lit one by one, and people came out to see what was happening. When they saw the grotesque and ferocious demons filling the sky, they were all struck dumb with fear.
True Person Qingle pushed Li Fei back into the room, closed the window, and reinforced it with a layer of immortal magic. Just then, the door was urgently knocked. True Person Dongyang’s voice, rarely so urgent, called out: “Qingle!”
True Person Qingle had already dressed and quickly opened the door. The hallway outside was crowded with guests, all bewildered and not quite understanding what was happening. Pure fear gripped these mortals, making them unusually quiet and docile.
“A demon fell onto the northern residences, alarming the mortals. The demons are in chaos now. We can’t let them massacre the town!” True Person Dongyang said, then looked at Li Fei. “Your cultivation isn’t high enough. Stay obediently in the room and don’t step out for any reason!”
The door was quickly shut again. Li Fei ran over and tugged at it, but it didn’t budge at all. Were they locking her in the room? How could she stay calm when such a big event had suddenly occurred? There were so many demons and fierce beasts outside. Everything had been fine just moments ago, so why had they suddenly gone berserk? What if the demons massacred the town?!
Li Fei paced back and forth in the room like an ant on a hot pan. How could she possibly stay still? Why had they locked her in the room alone? Where was Lei Xiuyuan?
Was he also anxiously confined to a room like hers? And what about Ri Yan? With such chaos in the town, where had he gone?
Unexpectedly, it was quiet outside the window. There were no screams or cries. The mortals, suddenly confronted with countless demons, hadn’t had time to react. Only the mournful wind could be heard, sometimes urgent, sometimes slow. Soon, the sound of immortal magic being released began to come in waves. As if on cue, the roars of demons and the screams of people suddenly erupted, coming in an endless stream. The raging flames in the distance gradually approached. Li Fei wanted to see what was happening, but the window had also been reinforced with immortal magic, and she couldn’t even touch the window frame.
Crying also began to shake the inn, as it seemed people had finally realized what was happening. With no one to comfort their frightened emotions, they could only keep crying.
Li Fei circled the guest room like a headless fly for a long time, helpless and with nothing to do. She could only sit on the bedding and stare blankly, listening to the various noises outside, her heart pounding.
Suddenly, a piercing wail sounded outside the window, followed by a loud “bang,” as if something had forcefully hit the window. The entire room shook from the impact, dust flying everywhere.
Li Fei quickly retreated several steps. Then another “bang” came as something heavy slammed against the wall. The floor trembled, and the entire room seemed about to be smashed apart. With such force, even the immortal magic on the window might not hold.
She could no longer heed the elder’s warning and was about to erect an earthen wall when another tremendous crash came. The window, reinforced with immortal magic, shattered instantly, along with an entire wall. A huge creature violently crashed into the guest room, hurtling towards Li Fei.
An earthen wall couldn’t stop something like this! Li Fei rolled and scrambled to avoid it. She saw all the furniture in the room smashed and scattered, and even the walls connecting to other guest rooms were broken through in several places. Suddenly, the cries and wails in the inn increased several-fold—would the inn be completely demolished?!
Li Fei suddenly felt an intense heat at her side. Two fire snakes coiled and flew swiftly, entangling and killing the huge creature before dragging it outside. Only then did she see clearly that this thing was an enormous fierce beast—a Tiangou. Its ashen-gray fur was covered in black blood and wounds. When entangled by the fire snakes, it let out continuous miserable howls.
A white figure flashed into the shattered guest room like lightning. The person held a blue fire blade about ten feet long. As the fire snakes tightly bound the Tiangou, he raised his hand mercilessly and, with one clean stroke, beheaded the Tiangou. Black blood splattered, staining his white robe hem.
Ji Tongzhou…
He seemed to sense someone in the room and looked back. Seeing only a dumbfounded village girl, he coldly said, “Don’t stay here.”
He sheathed his sword, and that extremely long fire blade was somehow contained within an ordinary scabbard. The blue flames gradually faded, making it look like just a common sword.
Ji Tongzhou turned, threw out his treasure sword, leaped onto it, and flew away.