Seeing that the arrival was Huang Yan, everyone who had been on guard immediately relaxed.

Taoist Feng Xuan stepped forward, looking at Huang Yan, who was slowly walking toward them, and teased, “You left two days before us, yet somehow we still arrived before you?”

As Taoist Feng Xuan spoke, the others pressed their lips together in light laughter.

Huang Yan approached step by step, his face tense and completely expressionless. His black eyes were empty, devoid of any spirit. The entire person moved woodenly toward Mu Yunjin and the others, lacking his usual playful demeanor.

Nearby, Chu Li and Mu Yunjin observed Huang Yan and instinctively frowned, feeling that something wasn’t quite right.

“Your Highness, Princess.” After approaching, Huang Yan bowed slightly to Chu Li and Mu Yunjin.

Chu Li nodded slightly, examining Huang Yan carefully.

After a pause, Huang Yan also nodded to Taoist Feng Xuan, Qiqi, and Huaying in greeting.

When his gaze passed over Huaying, he barely paused on her face, as if she were just an ordinary stranger.

…

…

Huaying felt a tightness in her chest, inexplicably hurt.

Mu Yunjin and Chu Li exchanged another glance, both with deep thoughts and doubts in their eyes.

Taoist Feng Xuan, seeing that Huang Yan wasn’t bantering with him today, assumed he was tired from the journey and stopped teasing him.

The group walked in the southeast direction.

After walking for about the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, they stopped before a high slope, and the sound of flowing water reached their ears.

Looking at the ice and snow-covered slope before them, Mu Yunjin frowned and said softly, “The sound of flowing water is coming from inside this slope. I fear the temperature inside must be much higher than outside, causing the ice and snow inside to melt, which creates the sound of water.”

“My lady, how do you know the temperature inside is higher than outside?” Qiqi asked in confusion, turning to look at Mu Yunjin.

Mu Yunjin hooked the corner of her mouth. “I’m just guessing. Otherwise, according to natural growth patterns, this place shouldn’t have the sound of flowing water.”

“The brat speaks as if she knows what she’s talking about. I’ll check if what you say is true.” Taoist Feng Xuan glanced at Mu Yunjin, then stepped forward.

Then, with a flick of his wrist, a powerful surge of true energy shot from his sleeve, striking hard at the slope before them.

“Bang…”

Snow splattered everywhere.

The slope, originally covered in ice and snow, was forcefully blasted open by Taoist Feng Xuan’s true energy, creating a huge hole with dust and smoke rolling toward them.

“Let’s take a look.” After creating the opening, Taoist Feng Xuan walked in.

Mu Yunjin immediately pulled Chu Li to follow.

Indeed, as soon as Taoist Feng Xuan’s body entered the hole, he felt a stream of warmth coming from inside.

It wasn’t that the cave was truly warm, but compared to the icy world outside, this cave did feel as if it were emitting heat.

“It is much warmer in here. Those sounds of flowing water are coming from above,” Qiqi said after entering the cave, pointing to the water flowing down from the ceiling.

Seeing this, Huaying’s eyes showed a hint of disappointment.

So it wasn’t the Blue Moon Spring.

Thinking of the Blue Moon Spring, she instinctively looked at Huang Yan, only to see him standing to the side, staring unblinkingly ahead.

After exploring the cave, Qiqi looked at Huaying. “We’ve found the water source. Do you have any plans?”

Huaying paused briefly, pressed her lips together, and shook her head.

“Then let’s go down the mountain. Apart from that wild grass earlier, there doesn’t seem to be anything worth exploring here.” Taoist Feng Xuan folded his arms, now beginning to feel cold after finishing their business on the snowy mountain.

With these words, they headed down the mountain path.

……

On the way down, no one spoke much, creating a strangely depressing atmosphere.

Halfway down the mountain, the temperature gradually warmed, but with the desolate surroundings and unfamiliar terrain, the group momentarily had nowhere to go.

“Huaying.” Huang Yan, who had barely spoken, suddenly called Huaying’s name.

Huaying was startled and looked toward Huang Yan.

“There are some things I’d like to discuss with you privately.” Huang Yan looked at Huaying, his expression somewhat solemn.

Huaying hesitated.

Everyone here knew about Huang Yan’s feelings for Huaying, especially Qiqi, who would bring up Huang Yan whenever she lost in verbal spars with Huaying at Phoenix Feather Pavilion.

Now, seeing Huang Yan wanting to speak privately with Huaying, Qiqi immediately nudged Huaying’s arm. “Go on! You two talk first, we’ll explore the area.”

With that, she pushed Huaying toward Huang Yan, then winked at Mu Yunjin before bouncing down the mountain.

Taoist Feng Xuan chuckled, putting his hands behind his back. “Ah, to be young…”

Huaying’s face inexplicably turned slightly red. With lowered eyes, she followed Huang Yan to another part of the mountainside.

Mu Yunjin and Chu Li watched the two figures walking away, and Mu Yunjin muttered, “Maybe I’m overthinking…”

Hearing her words, Chu Li’s eyes remained stern. He called out softly, “Ink Qilin…”

The Ink Qilin appeared from the shadows.

“Follow them, and make sure you aren’t discovered,” Chu Li instructed.

The Ink Qilin understood, nodded, and rushed in the direction Huang Yan and Huaying had gone, its form once again becoming invisible.

“Tiansheng Continent is different from Canghua Continent. It’s better to be cautious in all matters,” Chu Li said to Mu Yunjin, then put his arm around her as they descended the mountain.

……

At the bottom of the mountain, Taoist Feng Xuan and Qiqi had already found a flat area and sat down.

“Come sit for a while and dry your clothes in the sun,” Taoist Feng Xuan patted the space beside him.

Mu Yunjin nodded and walked over to sit down.

Earlier on the snowy mountain, their clothes and shoes had gotten wet, and having come here so suddenly, they hadn’t brought any spare clothes or shoes…

“Last time when we accidentally entered from Wind Moon Cliff, we landed in that direction, right?” Qiqi asked, pointing to a place in the south.

Mu Yunjin made an affirmative sound, looking at that place with complex thoughts.

Last time, it was also in that place that they met Cold Yuan.

In this life, Cold Yuan couldn’t set foot on Canghua Continent and could only survive in Tiansheng Continent. Did that mean she might encounter Cold Yuan at any moment?

Thinking of this possibility, Mu Yunjin suddenly felt a chill down her spine, as if there was a time bomb buried nearby that could explode at any moment.

“By the way, a few days ago, when I was in South Court, I arranged to meet Kong Shi at Wind Moon Cliff in early July. Now that we’ve come early, I hope he doesn’t foolishly wait outside without coming in,” Taoist Feng Xuan remembered and frowned.

“That’s uncertain. Perhaps Elder Kong Shi thinks we’ve all fled at the last moment,” Qiqi said with a smile.

Taoist Feng Xuan glanced at Qiqi. “You cat-girl, don’t talk nonsense. With Kong Shi, we have one more chance of victory.”

After sitting at the foot of the mountain for half an hour, their clothes had mostly dried, and they prepared to set off elsewhere.

“Hey, why haven’t Huang Yan and Huaying come down the mountain yet? What could they be talking about for so long?” Qiqi looked up toward the mountainside.

“Perhaps they’re doing more than just talking!” Taoist Feng Xuan raised his eyebrows.

Qiqi pouted. “Huaying isn’t that kind of casual person…”

“Should we go somewhere else first?” Mu Yunjin suggested, thinking that with the Ink Qilin there, there shouldn’t be any problems.

But just as she finished speaking, several sounds suddenly came from halfway up the mountain—

“Ah—”

“Aoowoo—”

Accompanied by a woman’s scream and the Ink Qilin’s roar, the group at the mountain’s foot shuddered. As they were about to rush up the mountain, they saw the Ink Qilin already carrying Huaying down.

After the Ink Qilin landed, everyone immediately ran over. Seeing the scene before them, they all showed expressions of horror.

Huaying’s face was deathly pale. She held her neck with her hand, with bright red blood continuously dripping through her fingers…

“What happened?” Qiqi frowned tightly, pointing at the blood marks on Huaying’s neck.

Huaying pressed her lips together tightly and was about to speak when a figure rapidly rushed down from the mountainside.

Huang Yan stared at Huaying with cold, sharp eyes, holding a soft sword in his hand, its tip continuously dripping with blood.

“Huang Yan, did you do this?” Qiqi’s eyes widened in disbelief.

Mu Yunjin clenched her fists, at this moment confirming all her earlier suspicions.

There was indeed something wrong with Huang Yan.

As Qiqi was about to rush up and punch Huang Yan, Huaying grabbed her arm. “Qiqi, don’t be impulsive.”

“Huaying, you…” Qiqi was surprised by Huaying’s reaction.

“He’s not right. It’s as if someone is controlling his mind,” Huaying said weakly.

Hearing this, Huang Yan’s expressionless face revealed a mocking smile.

Chu Li looked sideways at Huang Yan. With a point of his finger, a flash of fierce light surrounded Huang Yan with true energy, preventing him from moving for the time being.

After hearing Huaying’s words, Mu Yunjin suddenly seemed to remember something and frowned as she spoke, “I recall that when we went to Rong Min’s mansion to find Huang Yan last time, I overheard Black Robe and Shen Wanning’s conversation. They said Huang Yan’s body contained dark spirit energy.”

“They said that dark spirit energy could be matched with their witchcraft to control his soul.”

“Do you think Huang Yan might have encountered those people on his way here, which is why he’s now…” Mu Yunjin didn’t continue.

“No wonder this kid has been so strange today!” Taoist Feng Xuan finally realized.

He silently thought that he truly was getting old, failing to notice such an obvious problem.

“So what do we do now? If Huang Yan has dark spirit energy in his body, how do we remove it? We can’t harm him, but we also can’t let him be controlled to harm us.” Qiqi was both angry and anxious. Huaying had been severely wounded and was bleeding continuously, while Huang Yan was being controlled by villains…

They had just arrived in Tiansheng Continent and had already encountered problems. What should they do next?

“Brat, try using your Fire Element internal energy to force out the dark spirit energy from his body,” Taoist Feng Xuan thought of a potentially workable method.

“No.” Chu Li flatly refused.

“If Yunjin uses Fire Element true energy now, it will consume a significant amount of her vital energy. At this critical juncture, Yunjin cannot take this risk. She must maintain her ability to protect herself at all times!” Chu Li said.

Seeing that Chu Li was protective of his wife, Taoist Feng Xuan couldn’t say much more.

Mu Yunjin’s eyes darted around as she thought of someone. “Elder Murong is proficient in witchcraft. Might she have a way to remove it?”