Yue Liangze was already surprised that he had come to Mu Xujing, and he was even more surprised that Ling Luo had also come.

After the shock, his first words to the man and the fox were: “The petition to the Sacred Sword Sect wasn’t my idea.”

This was truly unexpected.

The white fox’s waving paw paused.

He had previously felt that someone with Mu Xujing’s temperament wouldn’t actively petition the Sacred Sword Sect, and now it seems that was true.

Yue Liangze raised his eyebrow slightly and asked, “Was that person killed by you?”

Mu Xujing remained silent.

He turned his face away. His already pale face now appeared completely bloodless, and his familiar melancholy eyes were even tinged with a hint of murderous intent.

Judging from appearances alone, Mu Xujing didn’t look as bad as Jiang Jun had described—as if he had barely escaped with his life.

But both the man and the fox could smell the thick scent of blood in the air.

Mu Xujing’s silence didn’t last long. With downcast eyes, he said, “Yes.”

This answer would be enough to send the newly arrived Sacred Sword Sect disciples straight back.

Yue Liangze, with an unchanged expression, said, “Think carefully before you answer.”

Mu Xujing replied in a hoarse voice, “I’m already tired of living as a cultivator.”

In his nearly twenty years of life, he had only spent two years as a cultivator, but the experiences and hardships within those years were more complex than anyone else’s.

For his first dozen or so years, Mu Xujing, known as an orphan, grew up in the mountains, living freely. Even though villagers occasionally beat and cursed him, thinking he was a mountain bandit or thief, there were still kind-hearted elders willing to protect him.

The young man had never dreamed of great wealth or power, nor did he yearn to be superior to others, let alone save the world or fight evil.

He had simply lived a quiet and comfortable daily life.

The white fox jumped from Yue Liangze’s arms, climbed along the iron chain to Mu Xujing’s shoulder, and swung a paw at his face.

Yue Liangze asked, “Why did you kill him?”

Mu Xujing said, “I killed him. Whatever punishment you decide is fine with me.”

Ling Luo: “You know about the Immortal Chief’s Decree, right?”

“I know,” Mu Xujing’s lips curled slightly, “I don’t need this spiritual power anyway.”

“It’s not as simple as just having your spiritual power removed,” Yue Liangze said. “You’ve seen Left Bai’s condition. Without spiritual power, the body becomes weaker than an ordinary person’s. She can’t even walk a few extra steps without panting, which is why she can’t protect herself.”

“Being removed from the Immortal Chief’s Decree is a mark that cannot be washed away even through reincarnation.”

The white fox poked Mu Xujing’s face with its paw: “You talk big, but when the Immortal Chief’s Decree scrapes your bones and removes your spiritual meridians, you’ll be howling in pain. The Immortal Chief’s Decree won’t let you die, but Qishan will make you wish you were dead. You think confessing to the killing means you can simply die and be done with it?”

The paw was fluffy and soft, and the white fox was so small that its slaps were neither painful nor itchy—in fact, they were quite comfortable.

Yue Liangze calmly picked the white fox back up.

He said, “Even if you killed him, you need to give me a reason.”

Mu Xujing tilted his head away without looking at him and remained silent, clearly unwilling to provide any reason.

Yue Liangze hadn’t expected this situation. Mu Xujing appeared fearless and indifferent to life or death, and it seemed no amount of persuasion would work. This state made him inexplicably irritated.

With Mu Xujing refusing to answer, Yue Liangze had no options. After a moment of stalemate, he silently left.

Just as he exited the prison room, he didn’t see Jiang Jun or Wu Xu.

When Yue Liangze reached the path entrance, the white fox in his arms jumped down to chase after a gray mouse, disappearing in the blink of an eye. He had no time to stop it, only noticing that the path had changed.

On the way in, Wu Xu had mentioned that the Thousand Silk Path was ever-changing, and the interior terrain was full of irregularities. The tunnel was covered with pure white snow, and the footprints left by the white fox had instantly vanished.

Either the tracks disappeared too quickly, or the path itself had changed.

Only people of the Moon Palace, or those in this Red Snow Gate, could control the Thousand Silk Path.

Yue Liangze walked out of the path entrance. Regardless of what the Moon Palace people intended to do, he needed to find his little fox.

Ling Luo had chased that gray mouse because she sensed it eavesdropping, so she followed it to see who it was.

If someone reported that Mu Xujing had confessed to the killing, it would cause trouble.

The gray mouse ran very fast, and the white fox wasn’t far behind, in hot pursuit. The former was very familiar with the terrain, moving nimbly through various holes, but still couldn’t shake off the white fox.

The gray mouse realized it couldn’t outrun its pursuer, so during one dash into a hole, it suddenly stopped, turned around, and spat out fierce flames. However, the white fox, wrapped in blue spiritual energy, wasn’t afraid at all and charged through the fire barrier, quickly and accurately biting the gray mouse’s nape.

The gray mouse squeaked and struggled while the white fox, holding it in its mouth, looked back to find the path behind empty—the man who should have been following her had disappeared.

Ling Luo had followed the gray mouse through countless holes and had long forgotten which way to go back.

Looking around, all she saw was endless snow with no trace of a path.

The gray mouse continued struggling desperately. Ling Luo trapped its consciousness in a skin puppet spirit, preventing it from returning to its original form unless the skin puppet spirit dispersed. But the white fox didn’t want to kill it, and with its consciousness trapped, it couldn’t release itself, making it frustrated and at the fox’s mercy.

Ling Luo started walking back, trying to find Yue Liangze.

The Moon Palace’s Thousand Silk Path was indeed troublesome, with many powerful curse formations inside that would be problematic if accidentally triggered.

After struggling fruitlessly, the gray mouse finally spoke: “Whose side are you on?!”

The voice sounded familiar.

Ling Luo lowered her head, pressing it into the snow with her paw, her ice-blue fox eyes staring intently.

The gray mouse gritted its teeth at her, its black shiny eyes full of anger. In a low, annoyed voice, it said, “You’d better remove your fox paw, or you’ll never leave this Thousand Silk Path!”

The way it emphasized “Thousand Silk Path” reminded Ling Luo—wasn’t this Wu Xu who had guided them earlier?

Caught eavesdropping and unable to escape, he was now furious with embarrassment.

Recognizing the skin puppet spirit’s identity, Ling Luo scratched it again with her paw, pinning the gray mouse down so it couldn’t move.

Weren’t you so arrogant before?!

The white fox held the gray mouse in the snow, toying with it—letting it try to escape only to hook it back with her claws. The gray mouse was covered in bloody scratches.

Wu Xu angrily said, “Jiang Miao is too cowardly to come herself, so she sent useless pawns like you?!”

The white fox increased her pressure, smearing the mouse’s face with cold snow. After listening to the gray mouse’s whimpering, she finally spoke leisurely, “I’ve heard that the Moon Palace’s curse formations are unparalleled in the world, but how is it that you, a Moon Palace disciple, only learned how to transform into a mouse to become someone’s meal?”

The crisp, sweet female voice startled Wu Xu slightly. Realizing that the one who had caught him and trapped his consciousness in the skin puppet spirit was a woman, Wu Xu became even more annoyed.

“If you want to compare curse formations, then remove your paw!”

Having identified this person as Wu Xu, the white fox looked disgusted, not even wanting to bite him anymore.

She pondered for a moment, then carefully drew a formation with her paw, very seriously creating spell marks that trapped the gray mouse inside with no way out.

The white fox then walked away with an elegant posture.

Wu Xu: “Come back! Undo this formation!”

The gray mouse raged impotently within the formation, furious.

Since when did Jiang Miao have such powerful allies?!

Not only could she trap his consciousness in a skin puppet spirit, but she could also create such a powerful and solid formation while still in skin puppet form!

This woman had better pray he never found her!

Capturing Wu Xu and taking him back wouldn’t serve much purpose, so Ling Luo turned to search for Yue Liangze instead.

In the Moon Palace’s Listening Tower.

Bai Cang was surrounded by people from Qishan and the Moon Palace. Both sides were adamant in their positions, and all had fiery tempers. Since he had sat down, the noisy arguments hadn’t stopped.

He had been sitting and listening with apparent good nature all night. When the two sides started fighting, while trying to break up the fight, he asked, “Why hasn’t my junior brother arrived yet?”

The Moon Palace people responded, “Danshui True Lord went to Red Snow Gate to see the Young Palace Master first.”

Bai Cang sighed, “Then where is your Palace Master?”

Mu Jingyi, sitting nearby, said in a deep voice, “Someone has been sent to invite him and he’s on his way.”

Bai Cang glanced at the Mu Family’s Lord, who remained calm, his eyes naturally imposing without anger. In his view, Lord Mu was similar to people like Feng Yunhong and Mu Hengtian.

Calculating, scheming, deep-minded, and ruthless enough.

Compared to Mu Jingyi’s composure, the young Cui Huowu opposite him, with red eyes and a body full of murderous intent, was inadequate. All his emotions were written on his face as he shouted in rage, smashing cups and kicking tables: “Your Northern Court Moon Palace is determined to shield that lowborn bastard!”

Mu Jingyi looked at him without emotion.

The Moon Palace Grand Elder angrily said, “He is our Moon Palace’s Young Palace Master, how dare you insult him like this!”

Qishan’s Elder also shouted angrily, “Isn’t he your Moon Palace’s Young Palace Master? He committed such a grave error yet still hopes to escape unscathed! Today, with the Sacred Sword Sect’s Immortal Chief’s Decree here, we must be explained!”