He carried Li Fei and turned to walk out the door. Li Fei was in so much pain that her words came out in stutters: "You... even if you cut me into pieces, chop me up... you'll never find any fox demon!"
Zhen Yunzi acted as if he hadn't heard. The crescent moon hung like a hook in the sky, and the night breeze blew in gusts. Suddenly, he recalled a night like this a year ago, in this very place, when he had pursued the Nine-tailed Fox Demon for months, only to lose it at the last moment. And now, the girl hiding the Nine-tailed Fox Demon had finally fallen into his hands.
Infinite emotions welled up in his heart. The fox demon had said he was trapped in a dead end, and he knew it all too well. The Star Rectitude Hall Profound School specialized in the Celestial Sound Word Spirit and Word Spirit Nightmare Art, both of which were extremely advanced Immortal Techniques. To turn the most ordinary speech and writing into lethal weapons—what kind of perseverance and sacrifice did that require? Everyone in the Profound School severed emotions and desires. These four words were easy to say, but who could truly understand the taste of it?
A cultivator's determination burned ten thousand times fiercer than that of an ordinary person. It was precisely this indomitable resolve that could achieve the Great Dao. When he first entered the Star Rectitude Hall and joined the Profound School, his master had praised him, saying his heart burned like fire and he would surely attain the Great Dao. But when he encountered a bottleneck, this earth-shaking determination instead became a cage—the harder he sought progress, the more elusive it became.
Now, the only way to break this deadlock was through this Nine-tailed Fox Demon.
He covered Li Fei's mouth as she shouted and suddenly remembered there was still Lei Xiuyuan inside the house. In his agitated state, he had forgotten to silence the boy first.
Zhen Yunzi turned around and saw Lei Xiuyuan watching him calmly. The boy's body was bound by Immortal Techniques and couldn't move at all. He had expected the child to cry, curse, or make a scene after such a drastic turn of events, but the boy remained composed, steady as a rock. If not for his bottleneck, Zhen Yunzi, who usually valued talent, wouldn't have considered taking Lei Xiuyuan to the Star Rectitude Hall in the first place. Killing him was a pity, but fate had other plans.
Lei Xiuyuan suddenly spoke: "Master Zhen Yunzi, have you ever considered that even if you capture and kill Academy disciples without regard, the fox demon's Mystical Treasure might still fail to break your bottleneck?"
Zhen Yunzi gave a faint, cold smile. "A mere child like you thinks you can shake my resolve with words? Your courage is commendable, but futile."
"Whether what I say is true or not, you know best."
Zhen Yunzi studied him for a moment, then shook his head lightly. "A pity, truly. I originally wanted to take you as my disciple. You would have achieved great things... Had I taken you in back then, and had you entered the Profound School, you would have understood that today's me is tomorrow's you. You cannot comprehend the cruelty of 'advance or retreat.' I have no way back. You and Lu Shanhua must not blame me in the netherworld."
At the mention of Brother Lu's name, Lei Xiuyuan's expression finally flickered. Zhen Yunzi sighed deeply, his face filled with regret. Without warning, countless ice blades shot from his sleeve, shrieking as they flew toward Lei Xiuyuan, aiming to strike him dead on the spot. Yet the blades only pierced through his afterimage, embedding themselves into the wall.
Zhen Yunzi was momentarily stunned. Then he saw Lei Xiuyuan's slender figure dart lightly aside. A chill rose from the ground as massive golden lights erupted from below. Zhen Yunzi was genuinely surprised this time, transforming into a gust of wind to evade the Supreme Harmony Art. Unexpectedly, golden lights streaked chaotically above his head. He dodged again, but his sleeve was torn by the golden light, half of it falling to the ground.Lei Xiuyuan was about to step forward when suddenly a deep, unfamiliar male voice sounded from behind: "Don't move."
Startled, Lei Xiuyuan felt an icy wind howling up from behind him, whipping his loose long hair into wild disarray. Two frigid blue streaks shot past him like lightning toward Zhen Yunzi—so fast they were nearly invisible. Even Zhen Yunzi's expression changed abruptly. Seeing that he couldn't dodge the incoming attack, he abruptly lifted Li Fei to use as a shield.
The two streaks of cold light seemed sentient, abruptly veering around Li Fei's body, swirling midair before slashing toward Zhen Yunzi's arms. Such swift, ruthless movements were beyond human capability. Zhen Yunzi's heart sank, realizing he had encountered something formidable. He hastily threw Li Fei aside and transformed into a roaring gale, fleeing at breakneck speed.
The two streaks of light were several times faster, chasing after the whirlwind and striking it rapidly several times. A pained cry from Zhen Yunzi rang out as droplets of blood scattered from midair. The gale fled desperately, ultimately managing to escape into the distance.
This sudden turn of events left not only Li Fei but even Lei Xiuyuan utterly dumbfounded. The two children stared blankly as the two streaks of light flew back, hovering midair—revealing themselves to be a pair of dazzling twin swords. The swords floated upright before them, their tips dipping slightly as if in greeting, before immediately dissolving into green smoke and vanishing.
Li Fei remained frozen for a long moment before stiffly turning to look at Lei Xiuyuan. His face was as pale as paper, his expression equally stunned and horrified. She murmured, "Xiu Yuan... what was that just now..."
Before she could finish, there was a loud thud—Lei Xiuyuan suddenly collapsed to the ground, curling up and trembling violently.
Horrified, Li Fei ignored the searing pain in her shoulders and rushed to help him up, only to find his face deathly pale, contorted in agony. Beads of sweat the size of peas broke out all over his body, soaking his thin underwear in moments.
Her voice trembled with fear: "Where are you hurt?!"
Earlier, amidst Zhen Yunzi's countless ice blades in such a confined space and at such speed, it had been nothing short of a miracle that he had managed to evade them. Had he still been injured? She quickly checked him over but found no wounds. Yet he was clearly in excruciating pain, his fingers clawing at the ground so hard his nails split. His gaze was unfocused as he suddenly gasped, "It's nothing! I'm—"
Before he could finish, he passed out.
Li Fei wanted to carry him back inside, but her left arm hurt so badly she couldn't even lift it—likely either fractured or dislocated—and her right arm was barely functional. After struggling for what felt like an eternity, she finally managed to get him onto the stone sword. Channeling her spiritual energy, she guided the sword to gently carry him inside and onto the bed.
The cold, dim moonlight spilled across the window lattice. The night wasn't over yet, but so much had already happened.
Lei Xiuyuan lay unconscious, his breathing shallow. Li Fei leaned against the wall, her shoulders encased in a healing net that slightly dulled the pain. She examined Lei Xiuyuan's condition first—there were no external injuries, but he must have suffered severe internal damage to collapse so suddenly. She cast a healing net over him as well and channeled several streams of wood elemental spiritual energy into his body, though she wasn't sure if it would help.
Her gaze lingered on his pale face, lost in thought. The image of those elusive twin swords resurfaced in her mind once more.Ri Yan had spoken of the mantis stalking the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind—could he have already sensed the presence of those twin swords? No wonder he told her to just come back, that she wouldn’t die, and even said Zhen Yunzi would lose half his life here today. Those twin swords had actually managed to wound Zhen Yunzi so severely.
What exactly were those twin swords? Were they weapon spirits born from divine weapons, like the Black-veiled woman? Whose weapon spirits were they? Had they been hiding in the shadows, guarding them all along?
Setting aside the mystery of the swift and elusive twin swords for now, the most infuriating thing was that the talisman papers Hu Jiaping had given them when they left the Academy turned out to be completely useless. Just how reliable was this teacher? This was a matter of life and death!
She retrieved the talisman papers she had hidden inside her clothes. To prevent them from falling out, she had even made a small pouch for them. But when she opened the pouch, she found the talisman papers inside had turned to black ash! No wonder no matter how much spiritual energy she channeled, she couldn’t return to the Academy. Without them noticing, the talisman papers had been burned to ruin? How was the outer pouch completely unharmed?
On the bed, Lei Xiuyuan suddenly let out a soft groan and slowly opened his eyes. His face was drenched in sweat as he stared blankly at the ceiling, lost in thought. Li Fei leaned over anxiously and asked, “Are you okay? Does it still hurt somewhere?”
He shook his head, but the pain was still evident on his face, his lips pale. After gasping for a while, he finally asked in a low voice, “What about you?”
Li Fei sighed. “I’m fine. Worry about yourself first. Did Zhen Yunzi injure you? But I can’t find any wounds—is it internal? How were you suddenly able to move earlier? And why did you faint again?” She had nearly been scared to death, and the questions poured out of her in a rush.
A look of confusion and bewilderment crossed Lei Xiuyuan’s face. After a long pause, he murmured, “I… don’t know.”
It seemed he had acted on impulse too, completely unaware of the cause and effect.
Li Fei said softly, “Did you suddenly push the alchemical furnace to its limit? Master once said that in life-or-death situations, people often unleash unexpected potential, but afterward, their bodies can’t bear the burden and suffer severe damage. Just lie still and rest. If you still feel unwell tomorrow, I’ll take you back to the Academy to see Zuoqiu Xiansheng.”
At this, she recalled the earlier danger and broke out in another cold sweat. “Zhen Yunzi only wanted to take me away—he might not have killed me. But you! You reckless fool! You actually fought him!”
If not for the sudden appearance of the twin swords, he would have been dead by now.
Lei Xiuyuan closed his eyes wearily and, after a long while, finally said, “It’s fine. I’m okay now.”
Li Fei exhaled deeply. “Thank goodness you’re alright… Oh, look at these talisman papers.”
She poured out the black ash from the pouch. Lei Xiuyuan touched it with his fingers and gave a bitter smile. “It was Zhen Yunzi. He practices the Word Spirit Nightmare Art—talisman papers with incantations drawn on them can be easily destroyed by him. Celestial Sound Word Spirit and Word Spirit Nightmare Art are the secret techniques of the Star Rectitude Hall Profound School. If they weren’t so overpowering, the methods to master them wouldn’t be so strict.”
He gasped a few times, his breathing gradually steadying as he regained his usual composure. After a moment of thought, he suddenly added, “When those twin swords appeared, they told me not to move. Since they could speak, they must be weapon spirits. They’ve been following us in secret, intervening at the critical moment—someone must have ordered them to do so. That’s why they were so effective as a surprise attack. I’d guess that even if they aren’t Zuoqiu Xiansheng’s weapon spirits, they must belong to one of the Academy’s founders.”
With that, he fell into deep thought once more.The twin sword spirits had been following closely behind, though it was unclear whether they had overheard Zhen Yunzi's words. Given Zhen Yunzi's cautious nature, the Celestial Sound Word Spirit must have been shielding him at all times. His desire to monopolize the Nine-tailed Fox Demon meant he wouldn’t leak any information about Li Fei. However, there was always a chance of the unexpected. If word got out that a Nine-tailed Fox Demon might be hiding within Li Fei, it would spell nothing but trouble for her. Today, Zhen Yunzi had been driven to madness over the Fox Demon; tomorrow, other Celestials might pursue her relentlessly… This child’s future might be fraught with hardship.
As he pondered this, Lei Xiuyuan suddenly noticed Li Fei approaching him cautiously, clearly racking her brains for something to say. After a long pause, she finally murmured, “Um, Xiu Yuan… about that Fox Demon Zhen Yunzi mentioned… well, it’s just… a Fox Demon, right…?”
Lei Xiuyuan couldn’t help but find it amusing and cut off her stammering. “No need to explain. I don’t want to ask, and I’d rather not hear your clumsy excuses.”
Li Fei fell silent. Ri Yan was indeed one of the hardest things for her to talk about, and after everything that had just happened, she couldn’t come up with a perfect excuse anyway. In truth, how could someone as sharp as Lei Xiuyuan not have guessed most of it?
She tucked the blanket around him and smiled. “Never mind. Get some rest. Zhen Yunzi is injured, and with the weapon spirits around, he probably won’t come back.”
As she stood to leave, Lei Xiuyuan suddenly spoke in a low voice, “My chest hurts.”
…Was he asking her to stay? Li Fei sat back down in the chair, speechless. Couldn’t he just say “stay” plainly?
“Where else hurts?” she asked, studying his face.
He thought for a moment, as if finding it funny himself, then pulled the blanket over his head and curled up. “Everywhere.”
OpenNovel