Huan Zong didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. He sighed, and just as he was preparing to speak, he discovered Kong Hou’s face showed alarm, as if she had discovered something terrifying.

Following Kong Hou’s gaze, Huan Zong discovered that the malevolent energy that had originally been dispersed had not only made a comeback, but was even thicker than before, overwhelming and all-encompassing, shrouding the entire earth beneath blackness.

“How can this be?” Kong Hou looked around in confusion, watching the flowers, grass, and trees sway in the malevolent energy, their vitality being absorbed bit by bit. The smile on her face transformed into anxiety.

“Calm your spirit and still your energy. Don’t overthink.” Huan Zong used spiritual energy to tap Kong Hou’s crown, making her calm down. “Let’s first go to the array’s eye and have a look.”

“I told you long ago, this array has no method to break it.” The evil cultivator said urgently. “If you rush over there now, aside from getting stained by malevolent energy, what other use is there? This array was created in the mortal realm, and the malevolent energy was also drawn out from the hearts of mortal realm humans. Whether magical artifacts or divine artifacts, they’re fundamentally useless against it.”

If divine artifacts from the cultivation world were useful against this array formation, why would the array master of their evil cultivation world have needed to spend nearly a hundred years on this array?

Orthodox cultivators emphasized cultivating the body by first cultivating the heart. Malevolent energy most easily triggered inner demons. As long as orthodox cultivators were entangled by inner demons, they evil cultivators would be in an invincible position. Unfortunately, he was rather unlucky and would have to be buried along with this array.

Before coming to the mortal realm, his master had told him that orthodox cultivators were all hypocrites who most loved saving people from suffering. If he encountered orthodox cultivators in the mortal realm, he should deliberately pretend to be weak and foolish—both making them know an array existed and making them not want to go. These orthodox cultivators all had one problem: the more you told them not to go, the more they would definitely go.

Cultivators with profound cultivation who ultimately died in terror were the best catalyst for the Ten Thousand Bones Withered array.

“All things in the world mutually generate and restrain each other. Where there is existence, there must be a method of destruction.” After Kong Hou’s emotions stabilized, Huan Zong looked coldly at the evil cultivator, summoned his flying sword, brought Kong Hou onto the flying sword, and flew away like a meteor.

“Our Young Master doesn’t like evil cultivators, especially self-clever evil cultivators.” Lin Hu sighed. “Tell me, what should I do with you?”

The evil cultivator opened his mouth. His oral cavity was completely filled with the taste of blood. He would never have another chance to speak, because his throat had been pierced by a sword, and his spiritual platform had also been shattered by a strand of spiritual energy.

He fell from the clouds, dropping into the bottomless river. His body merged with the malevolent energy and sank into the pitch-black river water.

In that moment before death, what he thought of in his mind was actually that orthodox cultivators were all liars.

Huan Zong and Kong Hou rushed all the way toward the southeast direction. Above a massive city, Kong Hou saw malevolent energy like a tornado spurting outward. The city was filled with the smell of death. Outside the city, soldiers wearing armor pushed cart after cart of corpses, dumping them into pits.

Behind the city gate, there were common people roaring, common people weeping—resentful energy soaring to the heavens.

“Mother… Mother…” A barefoot child chased after a wooden cart, shouting. The clothes on his body were so dirty their original color couldn’t be seen. His tender ankles were covered in mud. He extended his hand, wanting to pull at the corpse on the wooden cart covered by a tattered mat.

The guard pushing the cart had a face full of exhaustion, his expression numb. Seeing the small child chase up, he was stunned for a moment before extending his hand to block him, saying in a hoarse voice: “Go back. Don’t make trouble.” Every day he saw too many partings of life and death—so many that he had lost the ability to pity others. Trapped in this city weren’t just these common people, but also guards like them. Half a month ago, ten thousand guards came here. Now only eight thousand remained. Those two thousand people had been cremated by the hands of their remaining brothers.

Death had never stopped. Perhaps only when everyone in this city had died would this pervasive smell of death be able to dissipate cleanly.

Hearing the child’s loud crying, the guard continued forward. From under the tattered grass mat, an arm hung down—swollen and black-blue, the arm was frighteningly ugly. But among those who saw this arm, there wasn’t a single person who showed half a measure of fright.

In this city, who hadn’t seen corpses that had died from contracting the epidemic?

Crying sounds, sighing sounds, cursing sounds, praying sounds.

This city was filled all day with these sounds, waiting for its death.

Kong Hou jumped down from the flying sword. Just as she steadied her footing, an old person not far from her fell down. She quickly stepped forward, wanting to help, but her sleeve was grabbed.

“Elder Sister, don’t go.” A child with a large head and small body opened his big eyes, staring straight at her. “He’s already dead.”

These eyes that should have been innocent, when speaking of death, contained not the slightest emotional fluctuation, as calm as saying he hadn’t eaten breakfast this morning.

Kong Hou’s voice trembled slightly: “What if… he’s still alive?”

“Then he’s still going to die.” The child said. “I saw that you can fly.”

Kong Hou’s throat felt somewhat blocked: “Mm.”

“Are you a martial arts master?” Finally there was some light in the child’s calm eyes. “You can leave here?”

Wind howled past, scraping Kong Hou’s face. She raised her head to look at this city trapped in black fog and didn’t speak. Something cold and hard was pressed into her palm. She lowered her head and once again met the child’s bright shining eyes.

“This jade is warm in winter and cool in summer—it’s a priceless treasure. This is the real thing, I’m not lying to you!” To prove this piece of jade was real, the child explained: “My maternal grandmother was a county lady of the former dynasty. Her ancestors were imperial bloodline.”

“What do you want me to do?” Clutching this thumb-sized piece of jade, Kong Hou asked softly.

“Wait a moment!” The child ran into a room behind him and quickly came out holding swaddling clothes. “Take her away. You can accept her as a slave or servant, anything is fine. As long as… as long as you raise her and give her a bite to eat, that’s enough.”

“My little sister doesn’t eat much. Father said little sister is like Mother. My mother eats very little at each meal, truly.” The child was afraid Kong Hou wouldn’t agree, and his eyes were already starting to turn red. “Please take her away. I promised Father I would take good care of her.”

A seven or eight-year-old child, thin as a bamboo pole, afraid until his voice was trembling, yet saying he would protect an infant only a few months old.

Kong Hou checked the child in the swaddling clothes. Breath faint, malevolent energy wrapped around her body, without even the strength to cry—if she continued to remain in this city, she probably wouldn’t survive twelve hours.

Seeing Kong Hou not speaking, the child knelt down and kowtowed to Kong Hou: “I beg you.”

“Get up.” Kong Hou heard the child’s forehead knock on the ground, making a dull sound. She hastily bent down to pull him up. “A good son kneels to heaven, earth, and parents—you cannot easily kneel to others.”

She had never held a child before, so she didn’t dare make her movements too large. Seeing the child’s eyes continuously rest on the swaddling clothes, Kong Hou turned her head to look behind her and saw Huan Zong walking over: “Huan Zong, quickly come help.”

Small children were too soft. She was afraid her strength was too great and would make this already weak child even weaker.

Huan Zong: “…”

Staring at the child in Kong Hou’s arms for a moment, Huan Zong extended his stiff arms and gathered the soft, round bundle into his embrace.

The swaddling clothes seemed to be sliding down?

The child was about to fall?

This posture—the small child probably wouldn’t be too comfortable?

When Lin Hu rushed over, he saw Young Master standing beside Miss Kong Hou like a statue, with a powerful strand of spiritual energy supporting something beneath his feet. He frowned. Could it be some kind of evil magical artifact that couldn’t be moved, and would explode with extreme power if moved?

He quickly stepped forward. Walking to Huan Zong’s side and glancing over, he then fell silent and backed up three steps in succession, hoping Young Master hadn’t just noticed him.

“Lin Hu.” Huan Zong turned his head expressionlessly to look at him, his profile still perfect without half a flaw to pick out.

Lin Hu: “Young Master, I’ll go look at the array’s eye.”

“You have demon clan bloodline in your body. It’s not suitable to approach an array eye heavy with malevolent energy.”

Lin Hu: “No, this bit of trace bloodline influence is not important.”

Huan Zong didn’t speak again, only stared at him with a pair of calm, rippleless eyes.

Kong Hou didn’t go to pay attention to what Huan Zong and Lin Hu said. She used her fingertip to rub the swelling on the boy’s forehead and returned the jade to him. “I’m giving this back to you. This is something your mother left you. I can’t take it.”

The boy shook his head repeatedly: “I didn’t lie to you. This jade is very valuable. Please accept it.”

“I will save your little sister.” Kong Hou cupped his face. If he kept shaking, this child’s head was going to fall off. “Not only will I save her, I’ll also save you. Everyone in this city—I will save them all.”

The boy was stunned: “Are you… a physician?”

“I’m not.” Kong Hou forced a smile. “I’m your maternal grandmother’s distant relative.”

The boy frowned: “But Mother told me that maternal great-grandfather was a prince, and maternal grandmother’s relatives are all former dynasty imperial clan. You…” Father rarely mentioned the former dynasty imperial clan in front of Mother, but when privately teaching him to read and write, he had told him that most of the former imperial clan members were extravagant and dissolute, absurd to the extreme. When the current emperor seized the imperial throne, the common people of the realm couldn’t help but applaud. Many villages even hired traveling opera troupes to perform for three days and nights.

The former dynasty’s reputation was so poor—this young lady looked so beautiful, so why would she voluntarily associate herself with the former dynasty? Wasn’t this asking for trouble?

The boy said quietly: “Elder Sister, you should leave quickly. Even the imperial physicians sent by His Majesty are helpless before the epidemic. Don’t stay here to be buried along with us.”

“At such a young age, how do you know what being buried along means?” Kong Hou straightened her body. Turning around to look, she discovered the swaddling clothes had already transferred from Huan Zong’s embrace to Senior Lin’s. She took out a bottle of spirit liquid and fed a drop into the baby girl’s mouth.

“Huan Zong, I’ll fly above the array’s eye to have a look.” Kong Hou took out from her storage ring the breath-concealing umbrella she had obtained from the secret realm, opened it, and held it above her head. “You and Senior Lin wait for me here.”

“I’ll accompany you.” He blocked her and said, “Don’t go alone.”

Kong Hou slowly shook her head: “Just watch me from below. Huan Zong, the debt the Ji family owes the common people of the realm—I want to repay it.”

“I’ll accompany you to repay it together.” Huan Zong took the umbrella from her hand, looking at her with gentle eyes. “You accompanied me to traverse thousands of rivers and mountains searching for medicine. I’ll accompany you to break through this array formation. Is that good?”

Kong Hou stared blankly at him, unable to speak.

Huan Zong suddenly leaned his head against her shoulder for a moment, then swiftly moved away.

Kong Hou was confused: “Huan Zong?”

Huan Zong pressed his lips together, his cheeks somewhat flushed: “I even thought up a new way to act spoiled.”

“You…”

In his beautiful eyes reflected Kong Hou’s confused appearance: “Will you agree? Please?”

## Chapter 91

“All right, all right then…” Kong Hou covered her face, her voice as faint as a mosquito’s buzz. “But… but you can’t run ahead alone.”

Huan Zong laughed softly and grasped her hand: “I’ll walk right beside you.”

“Follow behind me.” Kong Hou pulled her hand free and pointed to the space behind her, snatching back the breath-concealing umbrella from Huan Zong’s hand. “Follow closely.”

Huan Zong looked down at his empty palm, placed one hand behind his back, made a loose fist with his right hand, and brought it to his lips to lightly cough. “Then I must trouble Kong Hou Xianzi to lead the way ahead.”

Kong Hou: “…”

She hadn’t expected Huan Zong would also have such a glib tongue. Kong Hou turned to glare at him, touched her toes to the ground, and flew toward the array’s eye. Huan Zong unobtrusively followed, and with a flash of light in his hand, the Longyin Sword was already in hand.

The boy stared blankly as the beautiful elder sister and her friend flew away. His small body bore shock that didn’t belong to this age. Martial arts masters could fly higher than the tallest tower in the city?

He turned and walked to Lin Hu’s side, sometimes looking at Kong Hou flying into the sky, sometimes looking at Lin Hu holding his little sister.

“Worried about her?” Lin Hu asked.

“No.” The boy quickly shook his head. “I’m very relieved to entrust little sister to you all.”

Even if he wasn’t relieved, this was his only choice to let little sister live. He didn’t dare not be relieved.

“You hold her first.” Seeing this child’s mouth said “relieved” but his entire face and eyes were full of worry, Lin Hu stuffed the swaddling clothes back into his arms. “Take care of yourself. I might still need to go help in a moment.”

The boy carefully adjusted his posture for holding the child. Discovering little sister’s complexion was actually much rosier than before, his heart filled with great joy. Earlier when that beautiful elder sister fed little sister something, he had been afraid that if the other party became unhappy, she wouldn’t take little sister away, so he also didn’t dare ask too many questions. Now seeing little sister’s complexion was much better, he guessed that what the beautiful elder sister had just fed was probably medicine.

Could it be she truly had a way to save all the common people of the entire city?

Raising his head to look at the two people flying in the air who still hadn’t descended, an extremely absurd guess arose in the boy’s heart. Could the beautiful elder sister be Kong Hou Xianzi who had already become an immortal?

In the entire Ji imperial clan, those who still dared to claim outside they were people of the former dynasty imperial clan were extremely few.

Only Kong Hou Princess from seven years ago, who had already become an immortal and for whom His Majesty had personally ordered the construction of temples for worship, would dare to be so unguarded. Moreover, aside from immortals, who else could fly freely into the air like the wind?

Kong Hou Princess had come to save them?

The boy hugged his little sister tightly. Had she heard their pleas?

Kong Hou had just approached the array’s eye when she was nearly unable to breathe from the impact of powerful malevolent energy. Fortunately the breath-concealing umbrella could separate this malevolent energy, giving Kong Hou room to catch her breath. She repeatedly backed away, holding the umbrella above both her and Huan Zong’s heads, covering Huan Zong as well: “Huan Zong, is this array about to be completed?”

“Not yet.” Huan Zong’s face was somber as he looked at the malevolent energy dispersing from the array formation. “Not enough yet.”

“What’s not enough?” Kong Hou had a vaguely bad premonition in her heart.

“Human lives.” Huan Zong said. “This array uses people’s lifespans as sacrifices. Only when enough people have died will the array be completed.”

Kong Hou looked at the city beneath her feet, thinking of those innocent common people who had died, and said with gnashing hatred: “These animals.”

This city’s geographical location was extremely strange. Not only did four rivers pass through it, it was also surrounded by mountains on four sides, forming a plain that seemed to have an exit but was actually a dead end. Originally an excellent place that was easy to defend and difficult to attack, under evil cultivators’ manipulation, it had become the optimal choice for the array eye of the Ten Thousand Bones Withered array.

“Let’s leave this place first.” Huan Zong said. “Let’s see if we can start with the rivers and mountains to destroy the array’s foundation.”

“Mm.” Kong Hou nodded slightly, the severity on her face difficult to dispel. Just as she turned around, the array’s eye behind her suddenly transmitted a powerful attractive force, dragging her toward swallowing her into the array’s heart. In the blink of an eye, she was dragged out ten zhang.

“Kong Hou.” Huan Zong flew to grab her hand, used the Longyin Sword to sever the malevolent energy surrounding her, put his arm around her waist and said: “Let’s go.”

The array’s eye seemed to sense cultivators approaching. All the malevolent energy twisted together, and all nearby malevolent energy surged toward them, with an attitude of not stopping until it dragged them down.

“Go!” Huan Zong glanced at the Longyin Sword gripped tightly by malevolent energy. The sword body emitted a buzzing cry. Turning his head to look at Kong Hou’s deathly pale face, he released his grip on the sword, opened both arms to embrace Kong Hou, protecting her in his embrace as he flew outward.

“Master, what is a sword?”

“A sword is the life of us sword cultivators. When life exists, the sword exists. If the sword doesn’t exist, you will never again be qualified to be a sword cultivator for the rest of your life.”

“Is the sword the most important?”

“Perhaps it is, perhaps it isn’t.”

Huan Zong closed his eyes, recalling what his master had once told him when he had just entered Liuguang Sect as a child. Having already filled tens of thousands of people’s lives into the Ten Thousand Bones Withered array, he had no confidence he could bring Kong Hou out completely intact. The Longyin Sword was the best bait to attract malevolent energy.

“Huan Zong, your sword!” Kong Hou knew what a natal sword meant to a sword cultivator. Looking at the Longyin Sword almost submerged by malevolent energy, she said urgently: “This malevolent energy will damage the Longyin Sword.”

“It’s fine.” Huan Zong said indifferently. “Let’s leave first.”

Kong Hou stared blankly at Huan Zong’s profile. She bit her lower lip fiercely, biting until blood seeped from the corner of her lip. Gathering spiritual power in both hands, she struck Huan Zong with one palm, sending him out of the range where malevolent energy surrounded them.

Not expecting Kong Hou would do this, Huan Zong turned back in shock. He could only see pitch-black malevolent energy and could only hear the Longyin Sword’s faint trembling sound.

“Huan Zong, if you dare follow me, I’ll jump into the array’s eye holding your Longyin Sword!” From within the black fog, Kong Hou’s roar came from afar, but Huan Zong couldn’t see her figure.

Disregarding Kong Hou’s threat, Huan Zong turned to pursue but was blocked by Lin Hu who suddenly appeared.

“Get out of the way.” Huan Zong swept his sleeve wanting to sweep Lin Hu aside, not expecting that Lin Hu, who usually obeyed his orders, would actually raise his sword to block this strike.

“Young Master, your spiritual platform is already unstable. Now you’ve even lost your natal sword—do you not want your life?!” Lin Hu said in a low voice. “Moreover, as a cultivator of Lingyou Realm, being too involved in mortal realm affairs will taint you with karma.”

The cycles of natural law had long been determined. If the common people of the mortal realm encountered suffering and prayed to gods for blessings, this would lead to them only seeking immortals’ protection when encountering problems, losing their own fighting spirit to struggle and strive. In the long term, this wouldn’t be good for these common people.

Therefore, cultivators of Lingyou Realm could hide their identities to come play in the mortal realm, but couldn’t casually interfere in mortal realm affairs. He understood this principle, Young Master understood it, and other cultivators also understood it, which was why the mortal realm didn’t have so many “immortals manifesting their divine presence.”

Even Miss Kong Hou understood this.

“I know what I’m doing in my heart. You need not advise me.” Huan Zong’s expression became even colder. “Lin Hu, I don’t want to fight with you. Move aside.”

Lin Hu smiled bitterly: “Young Master, how could I be willing either?” If Young Master used his full strength, with his cultivation level he fundamentally couldn’t block him. “But don’t forget Miss Kong Hou’s personality. She said if you go in, she’ll jump into the array’s eye holding the Longyin Sword. Though these words can’t be believed entirely, you can at least believe half.”

The half that couldn’t be believed was that before Miss Kong Hou jumped down, she would definitely throw the Longyin Sword out first.

The breath-concealing umbrella already couldn’t block the insanely vicious evil array. Kong Hou simply put the breath-concealing umbrella away and made the phoenix head smaller to hold in her hand. Relying on the divine light from the phoenix head’s body, she slowly approached the Longyin Sword rolled in the middle by malevolent energy.

In the thick malevolent energy, the Longyin Sword was like a lamp that could emit sound. Kong Hou immediately discovered where it was.

Her fingers rapidly plucked the strings. Kong Hou flew to dodge the malevolent energy’s sneak attacks, getting closer and closer to the Longyin Sword. The Longyin Sword’s trembling sound became weaker and weaker. Kong Hou’s arm pierced through the malevolent energy wrapped around the sword body. The malevolent energy corroded her sleeve, turning it into tattered scraps.

The clothing on her body was a robe that could block three strikes from a Leaving Aperture stage expert. She hadn’t expected that in the array’s eye, it only persisted for a few breaths of time.

“Weng!”

The Longyin Sword had its own spiritual intelligence and was unwilling to let anyone other than its master touch it, so at the moment Kong Hou grasped the sword hilt, it emitted a powerful repulsive force. Kong Hou was almost made to spit blood by this force’s impact. She also didn’t linger in battle. Dragging the Longyin Sword, she ran. Running while throwing magical treasures, in just a few steps’ distance she threw out nearly ten types of magical treasures before the array’s eye didn’t roll her and the Longyin Sword down together.

Behind her the malevolent energy pursued like troops, ahead the Longyin Sword was uncooperative. Kong Hou became angry and fiercely slapped the Longyin Sword’s hilt: “Be honest! Your master is such a good person—how could he have such a dishonest sword like you?!”

The Longyin Sword shook twice. In Kong Hou’s hand, it actually trembled less fiercely than before. Kong Hou gasped several breaths and forced a smile, throwing two more magical treasures behind her: “That’s better. If you keep twisting, I’ll just throw you back.”

This time the Longyin Sword completely stopped moving.

At this moment, the spiritual power in Kong Hou’s body was almost exhausted. A distance of merely dozens of zhang, yet she seemed to be advancing while carrying a mountain, panting like an old ox plowing fields. The Longyin Sword in her hand was so heavy she could barely hold it.

“We’re done for. Could it be we’re really going to meet our end here?” Though her five fingers had already begun to tremble, Kong Hou gripped the Longyin Sword tightly and wouldn’t let go. Previously watching Huan Zong wield his sword, she had thought this sword only weighed a few jin. Who knew this sword’s appearance was ordinary, but its name was taken domineeringly, and its weight was even more domineering.

Sword cultivators truly had it too difficult. Carrying a several-hundred-jin sword to slash and chop, yet playing with the sword so beautifully—no wonder cultivators all didn’t dare provoke sword cultivators. Who could afford to provoke them?

Whoosh.

A subtle sound of wind arose. Kong Hou instinctively dodged left, pinched three evil-warding talismans with her left hand, and threw them out in one motion. After throwing three evil-warding talismans, Kong Hou threw talismans out in one go, sometimes not even knowing what she was throwing.

“We’re done for…” At the moment her ankle was wrapped by malevolent energy, many thoughts flashed through Kong Hou’s mind—the master, senior brothers, and those relatives and friends from the sect, Huan Zong leaning against her shoulder with an expressionless face acting spoiled, and also… the common people of the realm.

“First there was heaven and earth, water nourished all things, clear energy expelled turbidity. Heaven and earth gave birth to yin and yang, yin and yang converged into the Two Principles, the Two Principles gave birth to the Four Symbols. Life and death beget life, all things also live through death, without life there is also no death, without death how to comprehend life…”

The heart scripture secret technique she had memorized until it rotted in her heart in the secret realm appeared strangely in Kong Hou’s heart when her spiritual energy was exhausted. Kong Hou, holding the Longyin Sword, murmured in a low voice: “Water nourishes all things, clear energy expels turbidity…”

Lowering her head to look at the malevolent energy wrapped around her ankle, Kong Hou took out a bottle of spirit liquid and poured it down. The malevolent energy indeed reluctantly released her. Taking advantage of this opportunity, she stuffed a handful of energy-condensing pills into her mouth and mustered one breath of energy to rush outward.

She felt that in this lifetime, she had never been as fast as today.

Seeing the malevolent energy press close again, not knowing what she was thinking, she actually swung the Longyin Sword to hack at the malevolent energy. Just when she thought the Longyin Sword wouldn’t give her face, the Longyin Sword emitted a long howl. A golden illusory dragon shadow tangled together with the malevolent energy that had run out from the array’s eye.

Hearing the dragon’s roar, Lin Hu, who was fighting Huan Zong to a deadlock, couldn’t help but turn his head to glance. Seeing the golden dragon phantom tumbling in the black fog, he said in shock: “Young Master, your Longyin Sword…”

Huan Zong kicked him off the cloud head with one foot: “Lin Hu, when the Ten Thousand Bones Withered array is completed, not only will the common people of the mortal realm be used as sacrificial offerings, many cultivators in Lingyou Realm will also develop inner demons because of this malevolent energy. Don’t forget, the purpose of setting up this array formation was to target our Lingyou Realm. What I’m contaminated with isn’t mortal realm karma, but rather to block a great calamity that would plunge both the mortal realm and Lingyou Realm into chaos.”

Having spoken, he turned and flew into the malevolent energy.

“Did you grow up by swallowing spiritual energy?” Kong Hou had just been able to gasp for breath, but now dragging the Longyin Sword she couldn’t even catch her breath. Such a domineering sword wasn’t suitable for her. She still preferred the beautiful, useful, and spiritually efficient Shuishuang Sword.

Weng.

The Longyin Sword shook again.

“At a time like this, you’re still fussing about such things.” Kong Hou circulated her spiritual energy. As a Five Spiritual Root cultivator, she relied on her innate talent to mobilize the water spirits in the air, barely blocking the malevolent energy outside the water barrier.

“When I entered the sect back then, I fantasized I could cultivate to great accomplishment and ascend to become an immortal with fluttering robes. I never expected that not only would I fail to ascend, I might even be used as fertilizer by an evil array.” Kong Hou sighed and took out a transmission talisman from her bosom. In the mortal realm she couldn’t send transmission talismans to Lingyou Realm. She could only leave a letter for Huan Zong, and he could help deliver it when the time came.

However, before she had time to use the transmission talisman she was clutching, a man in white robes as pure as snow flew into the thick fog. Seeing her, without a word he threw out two god-grade magical treasures, embraced Kong Hou, and rushed out.

Malevolent energy invaded his body. The spiritual energy inside Huan Zong’s spiritual platform scattered in all directions. He glanced at the malevolent energy pursuing from behind, swept his hand back, and powerful pressure surged out. Kong Hou in his embrace couldn’t withstand this realm pressure and nearly stifled a mouthful of heart’s blood.

Could this be Huan Zong’s true strength?

Though Huan Zong appeared composed on the surface, his internal organs had long been churning non-stop. He repeatedly struck palm strikes backward, holding Kong Hou with one hand as he flew even faster. At the instant of leaving the array’s eye, he threw out eight magical artifacts in succession, arranging them according to eight directions to control the array’s eye and not let it continue to expand.

Taking out a cloak from his storage ring and wrapping it around Kong Hou whose clothing was in tatters, Huan Zong could no longer hold on. After spitting out two mouthfuls of blood, he fell from the sky together with Kong Hou.

In the moment before falling, he held Kong Hou tightly protected in his embrace.

Bang.

The two crashed heavily onto the ground.

Huan Zong lay on his back on the ground, completely without any semblance of dignity. In his entire life, he had almost never been as disheveled and disgraceful as today.

Lin Hu, who had been kicked to the ground, used his sword to support his body as he stood up and slowly walked toward the two people who had crashed together.

“Huan Zong.” Kong Hou lifted her head from Huan Zong’s body, raised the Longyin Sword in her hand, blood still wet at the corner of her mouth, eyes bright as the morning sun: “The Longyin Sword—I got it back!”

She casually used the back of her hand to wipe the corner of her mouth. The blood smeared onto her cheek, making her entire face look dirty and ugly.

Of course, Huan Zong wasn’t any better off either. Usually dressed in white robes pure as snow, his pure white clothing was now stained with blood and mud from the ground. Even his white jade hair crown had fallen off somewhere, his hair scattered on the dirty ground, though still very smooth.

He looked at the young woman with blood on her cheek, still grinning with a smile, extended his hand to press her into his embrace, and held her tightly, tightly.

At this moment, the warmth and reality in his embrace was eternity.

Smelling the faint medicinal fragrance on Huan Zong’s body, Kong Hou felt as if she could hear Huan Zong’s heartbeat. Clearly the clothing fabric was very smooth, yet Kong Hou felt her face was being rubbed hot and itchy by the clothes, making her want to raise her hand to cover it.

“Huan Zong, are you acting spoiled again?”

“Mm.”

Huan Zong’s chin rested on the top of her head. She couldn’t see his expression and could only hear Huan Zong say: “I just suffered internal injuries. It’s uncomfortable.”

Kong Hou didn’t dare move anymore. She obediently lay in Huan Zong’s embrace and asked doubtfully: “Am I pressing on you making it more uncomfortable?” Huan Zong’s methods of acting spoiled were too poor. This position was not only awkward but would also make him uncomfortable.

After a moment of silence, Huan Zong said in a muffled voice: “No.”

Kong Hou thought about it: “That’s true. I’m much lighter than the Longyin Sword.”

The Longyin Sword forgotten on the ground trembled slightly with a sound. Kong Hou, lying on Huan Zong’s chest, looked at the Longyin Sword covered in ash on the ground. Inexplicably finding this moment somewhat funny, she couldn’t help but laugh aloud.

Huan Zong released the arm around Kong Hou and lightly patted her back.

Lin Hu stopped walking. Watching the young woman lying on the man’s chest, giggling, while the man only lightly patted her back, saying nothing—clearly it was a dirty ground, yet they were lying on it as if it were a flowery meadow in full bloom.

“What are you laughing at?”

“I don’t know. I just find it funny.” As she spoke, she laughed, rolling over to imitate Huan Zong’s manner, lying on her back on the dirty ground, looking at the Ten Thousand Bones Withered array in the sky whose eye had been temporarily locked.

Perhaps she was happy to be able to retrieve the Longyin Sword, or perhaps it was that when she had lost her strength earlier, Huan Zong had broken through the darkness to come, and also there was…

Kong Hou turned her head to look at Huan Zong. Huan Zong happened to also look toward her. Their four eyes met, and both revealed smiles.

And also there was the fact she had never seen such a disheveled Huan Zong. Clearly she should say thank you or feel guilty, but she just found it funny. All dirty and grimy was funny, hair in disarray was also funny, hugging her acting spoiled… adorably funny.

Wind arose. Sand pelted both their faces.

Kong Hou took out two energy-condensing pills from her storage ring, gave herself and Huan Zong one each, and the spiritual energy in her body slowly recovered: “Huan Zong, earlier in the array’s eye, I saw a small array.”

An array within an array, using arrays to nurture arrays—this was an extremely sinister method. The array setter fundamentally hadn’t planned to let people who approached the array’s eye live. She had been able to come out alive entirely by throwing piles of magical treasures outward. If Huan Zong hadn’t helped later, she probably fundamentally couldn’t have walked out.

It was also fortunate she had been bold enough to approach the array’s eye earlier and discovered this matter. Otherwise, if they had used mountains, rivers, and streams to break the array, the outer array formation would have been broken, but the inner array might have been triggered by this, leading to consequences she didn’t dare imagine.

“What array was it?” Huan Zong asked.

“I don’t recognize it.” Kong Hou said. “But I remember the array formation’s general pattern. I’ll draw it for you to see later.”

“Good.” The two quietly watched, no longer speaking.

Lin Hu couldn’t bear it and walked to the two people’s side: “Have you lain on the ground long enough? The common people are all watching.”

Kong Hou sat up. Seeing there were indeed many common people standing not far away, but the expressions on these common people’s faces weren’t watching a spectacle but rather excitement, she clutched the edge of her cloak and stood up, hiding behind Huan Zong.

Her current ash-covered, dirty appearance wasn’t suitable for outsiders to see.

“Three immortals!” The magistrate with wrinkled clothes squeezed out from the crowd. He bowed to the boy holding swaddling clothes before bowing to Kong Hou and the other three: “Do the three immortals have a place to temporarily stay? If the three immortals don’t mind, you may temporarily reside at the magistrate’s residence for a few days.”

From when the epidemic first began to break out until now, he was already the third magistrate of this area. The previous two had both contracted the epidemic and lost their lives. He glanced at the boy holding swaddling clothes. This young lord was the child of the first magistrate. Half a month ago, the magistrate and his wife had passed away one after another. The young lord had brought his only-a-few-months-old child to live alone in a room. He had wanted to have the two children live with him, but the young lord would only speak through the door and wouldn’t show his face.

Guessing the young lord was probably afraid that contacting too many people from outside would cause the epidemic to infect him, he also didn’t press him anymore. He only delivered food to the siblings every two days.

“No need.” In front of people, Huan Zong was still that indifferent and taciturn sword cultivator. “After the epidemic is resolved, we will leave.”

The magistrate didn’t dare ask more, afraid of displeasing the immortals.

People in the crowd discussed among themselves. Some were happy, some laughed, and some wept. A woman holding a one or two-year-old child looked timidly at Kong Hou: “Xianzi, are you Kong Hou Princess?”

Had Kong Hou Xianzi heard their suffering and pleas, and so descended to the mortal realm to save them from calamity?

**Author’s Note:** Kong Hou: The spoiled Huan Zong—truly, I can’t do anything about him ┓(´∀`?)┏