He dragged Li Fei along, turning to leave the room. Li Fei, in so much pain that he stuttered, said, “You… even if you cut me into pieces, grind me to dust… you’ll never find any fox demon!”
Zhen Yunzi seemed not to hear him. The crescent moon hung like a hook in the sky, and the night wind blew gently. He suddenly recalled a night just like this one a year ago, right here, when he had been hunting the nine-tailed fox demon for months, only to let it slip through his fingers. But now, the girl hiding the nine-tailed fox demon was finally in his grasp.
His heart was filled with countless emotions. The fox demon had said he was trapped in a deadlock, and he knew it well. The Xingzheng Pavilion’s Xuan Sect specialized in the celestial arts of Tianyin Yanling and Ziling Yanshu, both extremely advanced immortal techniques. Turning the most ordinary words and writings into weapons required immense perseverance and sacrifice. In the Xuan Sect, everyone was taught to be emotionless and desireless. These four words were easy to say, but who could truly understand the taste of it?
The determination of a cultivator was a thousand times more intense than that of an ordinary person. It was precisely this unbreakable determination that allowed one to achieve the Great Dao. When he first joined the Xingzheng Pavilion under the Xuan Sect, his master praised him for having a heart like a blazing fire, destined to achieve the Great Dao. But when he encountered a bottleneck, this determination, which could shake the heavens, became a cage, the more he sought progress, the more he was denied.
Now, only this nine-tailed fox demon could break the deadlock.
He covered Li Fei’s mouth to stop his shouting and suddenly remembered that Lei Xiuyuan was still inside the room. In his excitement, he had forgotten to kill the child to silence him first.
Zhen Yunzi turned around and saw Lei Xiuyuan quietly watching him. His body was bound by celestial arts, unable to move at all. Originally, he thought this little boy, having experienced such a drastic change, would cry and curse endlessly. But the child remained calm, as steady as a rock. If not for the bottleneck, he would have cherished such talent as an elder, otherwise, he wouldn’t have thought of bringing Lei Xiuyuan into the Xingzheng Pavilion. Killing him was a pity, but fate was cruel.
Lei Xiuyuan suddenly spoke, “Mr. Zhen Yunzi, have you not considered that even if you kill and abduct the academy’s disciples, the fox demon’s artifact might not help you break through your bottleneck?”
Zhen Yunzi sneered slightly, “You, a mere child, think you can shake my resolve with words? Courage is commendable but useless.”
“Whether what I say is true, you know it yourself.”
Zhen Yunzi looked at him for a moment, gently shook his head, and said calmly, “What a pity, you. I originally wanted to take you as my disciple. You would have achieved great things… If I had taken you as my disciple, you would understand that today’s me is tomorrow’s you. You cannot comprehend the cruelty of stagnation. I have no way back. You and Lu Shanhua, do not blame me in the afterlife.”
When he suddenly mentioned Brother Lu’s name, Lei Xiuyuan’s expression finally changed slightly. Zhen Yunzi sighed deeply, showing a look of regret. Without warning, countless ice blades shot from his sleeve, whistling sharply, about to kill Lei Xiuyuan on the spot. But the ice blades passed through the shadow of his body, all embedding into the wall.
Zhen Yunzi was slightly taken aback, then saw Lei Xiuyuan’s slender figure flicker lightly. A chill spread beneath his feet and countless beams of golden light shot up from the ground. Zhen Yunzi was finally a bit surprised, transforming into a gust of wind to avoid his Tai’a Technique. Unexpectedly, more golden light surged from above, and though he dodged again, his clothes were still pierced by the light, leaving half a sleeve on the ground.
Lei Xiuyuan was about to advance when a deep, unfamiliar male voice suddenly sounded from behind, “Don’t move.”
Lei Xiuyuan was startled, feeling a cold wind rise behind him. His long hair was blown into a wild dance. Two icy blue lights suddenly shot toward Zhen Yunzi from behind, so fast they were almost invisible. Zhen Yunzi’s expression changed drastically. Seeing that he couldn’t dodge the cold lights, he lifted Li Fei to block in front of him.
The two cold lights seemed to have a mind of their own, suddenly circling Li Fei’s body, spinning in mid-air, and slashing toward Zhen Yunzi’s arm. Such swift and cold movements were beyond human capability. Zhen Yunzi’s heart sank, knowing he had encountered a formidable opponent. He hurriedly threw Li Fei aside, transforming into a gust of wind to escape.
The two cold lights were several times faster, chasing after him, striking the whirlwind several times. Zhen Yunzi cried out in pain, blood dripping from the air. The whirlwind fled desperately, eventually escaping far away.
This sudden change left not only Li Fei but also Lei Xiuyuan stunned. The two children stared blankly at the two cold lights flying back, hovering in mid-air. They were a pair of dazzling twin swords. The twin swords floated upright before them, the tips nodding slightly as if greeting them, then immediately turned into green smoke and disappeared.
Li Fei was dazed for a long time, stiffly turning to look at Lei Xiuyuan. His face was as pale as paper, full of bewilderment and shock. She murmured, “Xiuyuan… just now, that was…”
Before she could finish, there was a “thud,” and Lei Xiuyuan suddenly collapsed to the ground, curling up and trembling violently.
Li Fei was shocked, ignoring the severe pain in her shoulders, and rushed to support him. But his face was deathly pale, full of pain, beads of sweat as large as beans oozing from his body, soaking his thin inner clothes in no time.
Her voice changed with fear, “Where are you hurt?!”
Earlier, Zhen Yunzi’s countless ice blades, in such a small space and at such speed, he managed to dodge them. Now it seemed like a miracle. Could he still be injured? She quickly checked, but there were no wounds on Lei Xiuyuan’s body. Yet he was clearly in extreme pain, his fingers clawing at the ground, nails cracking. His eyes were unfocused, and he suddenly said in a trembling voice, “I’m fine! I’m…”
Before he could finish, he fainted.
Li Fei wanted to carry him back to the room, but her left arm hurt so much she couldn’t lift it. It was either broken or dislocated, and her right arm was also weak. After struggling for a while, she managed to get him onto the stone sword, channeling her spiritual energy to gently lift him onto the bed inside.
The cold, dim moonlight spilled over the window lattice. The night was not yet over, but so much had already happened.
Li Fei leaned against the wall, her shoulders wrapped in a healing net, the pain slightly reduced. She first checked Lei Xiuyuan’s condition. He had no external injuries but likely suffered severe internal injuries, otherwise, he wouldn’t have fainted suddenly. She also placed a healing net over him and infused some wood-element spiritual energy into his body, unsure if it would help.
She stared at his pale face in a daze, the image of the mysterious twin swords reappearing in her mind.
Ri Yan had said that while the mantis stalks the cicada, the oriole lurks behind. Could he have already sensed the presence of these twin swords? No wonder he told her to just come back, that she wouldn’t die, and said Zhen Yunzi would lose half his life here today. These twin swords could indeed injure Zhen Yunzi.
What exactly were these twin swords? Were they spirit weapons like the black-veiled woman’s divine weapon? Whose spirit weapon? Had it been secretly protecting them all along?
Putting aside the matter of the swift twin swords, the most infuriating thing was that the talisman paper Hu Jiaping gave them when they left the academy was utterly useless. Was this teacher reliable or not? This was a matter of life and death!
She took out the talisman paper hidden in her chest. To prevent it from falling out, she had specially made a small pouch for it. But when she opened the pouch, she found the talisman paper had turned to black ash! No wonder she couldn’t channel spiritual energy to return to the academy. The talisman paper had been burned to ashes without them noticing. How did the pouch remain unharmed?
On the bed, Lei Xiuyuan suddenly groaned softly, slowly opening his eyes. His face was covered in sweat, staring blankly at the ceiling, lost in thought. Li Fei leaned over anxiously, “Are you okay? Does it still hurt anywhere?”
He shook his head, but his face still showed pain, his lips pale. After a long time, he asked her in a low voice, “What about you?”
Li Fei sighed, “I’m fine. You should worry about yourself first. Did Zhen Yunzi hurt you? I couldn’t find any wounds. Is it internal injuries? How did you suddenly move earlier? And then faint again?” She almost lost half her life from fright, unable to stop herself from asking a string of questions.
Lei Xiuyuan’s face showed a layer of confusion and bewilderment. After a while, he said softly, “I… don’t know.”
It seemed he acted on impulse, completely unaware of the cause and effect.
Li Fei said softly, “Did you suddenly push your limits? Master said that in life-and-death situations, people often unleash unexpected potential, but afterward, the body can’t bear the burden and suffers severe damage. Just lie still. If you’re still uncomfortable tomorrow, I’ll take you back to the academy to see Mr. Zuo Qiu.”
Saying this, she recalled the earlier danger and broke out in a cold sweat again, “Zhen Yunzi only wanted to take me away, not necessarily kill me. But you! Were you trying to get yourself killed by fighting him?”
If not for the sudden appearance of the twin swords, he would surely be dead by now.
Lei Xiuyuan closed his eyes wearily, finally saying, “Alright, I’m fine now.”
Li Fei sighed, “Good thing you’re okay… By the way, look at this talisman paper.”
She poured the black ash from the pouch, and Lei Xiuyuan touched it, smiling bitterly, “It’s Zhen Yunzi. He practices Ziling Yanshu. He can easily destroy talisman paper with written spells. Tianyin Yanling and Ziling Yanshu are the Xingzheng Pavilion’s Xuan Sect’s ultimate techniques. If not for their dominance, the cultivation methods wouldn’t be so harsh.”
He took a few breaths, his breathing gradually calming, finally regaining his usual spirit. After thinking for a moment, he suddenly said, “When the twin swords appeared, they told me not to move. If they can speak, they must be spirit weapons. Following us in secret, helping at a critical moment, someone must have ordered them to do so, catching us off guard as a trump card. I guess, even if they’re not Mr. Zuo Qiu’s spirit weapons, they must belong to one of the academy’s founders.”
Saying this, he fell into thought again.
The twin sword spirit weapons had been following them. Did they hear Zhen Yunzi’s words? Given Zhen Yunzi’s caution, Tianyin Yanling must always protect him. He wanted to monopolize the nine-tailed fox demon, so he wouldn’t reveal Li Fei’s situation. But there’s always a chance. If the matter of the nine-tailed fox demon possibly hiding in Li Fei’s body was to spread, it would be no good for her. Today, Zhen Yunzi was mad at the fox demon, and tomorrow, other immortals might pursue her relentlessly… This child’s future might be fraught with challenges.
While pondering, he suddenly saw Li Fei leaning over, looking at him cautiously, racking her brains, unsure of what to think. After a long time, she finally said softly, “Um, Xiuyuan… about the fox demon Zhen Yunzi mentioned… well, it’s… the fox demon, right…”
Lei Xiuyuan suddenly found it amusing, directly interrupting her stammering, “No need to say it. I don’t want to ask, nor do I care to hear your clumsy excuses.”
Li Fei was rendered speechless. Ri Yan was indeed one of the most difficult things for her to talk about, and after everything that happened, she really couldn’t come up with any perfect excuse. Lei Xiuyuan was so smart, how could he not guess these things?
She tucked him in, smiling, “Forget it, go to sleep. Zhen Yunzi is injured, and with the spirit weapon around, he shouldn’t come back.”
As she got up to leave, Lei Xiuyuan suddenly said in a low voice, “My chest hurts.”
… Did he mean for her not to leave? Li Fei sat back down silently. Couldn’t he just say “don’t go” more straightforwardly?
“Where else does it hurt?” Li Fei asked, staring at his face.
He thought for a moment, finding it amusing himself, and simply covered his head with the blanket, curling up, “Everywhere hurts.”