"Yu Daoyou, from what I know, you have once again broken the rules of Yan Family Fortress," Yao Ranran said, pouting in defiance.
"You are talking nonsense…"
Yu Zhenyan opened her mouth to curse, but her throat suddenly felt blocked, as if something had lodged in her throat, preventing her from making a sound.
Her eyes widened in terror as she stared at Yao Ranran, her expression as if she had seen a demon. Both hands flailed in the air before instinctively clutching her own throat. Her face turned blue from the effort.
"...Ugh…"
"Yu Daoyou, what are you doing?"
From Mu Jialing's perspective, he could only see Yu Zhenyan glaring at Yao Ranran's profile. He could not comprehend her strange actions of clutching her own neck.
"Ugh… ugh…" Yu Zhenyan struggled with all her strength to pull her hands away from her throat, but they remained clamped tightly, tightening more and more…
Her face shifted from blue to purple, fear surging like a tidal wave. In that moment, she seemed to foresee her own death.
"Yu Daoyou, doesn't it hurt to choke yourself like that?" Yao Ranran asked in surprise.
What a werewolf!
Her face was purple and she still would not let go. Was she trying to fake an injury?
Yao Ranran tightened her storage pouch. This eldest daughter of the Yu family, when enraged, would not even spare the poor!
"Ugh… help, help! Buddha Son, save me! Save me!"
Yu Zhenyan's body went ice cold, consciousness fading. Her wide eyes rolled back as her body pitched backward toward the ground.
Mu Jialing moved with lightning speed. "Yu Daoyou is not right!"
He formed a hand seal, golden runes flickering as he struck her hands, simultaneously sliding a pill into her mouth. He circulated golden light to dissolve the pill's effect, and gradually, Yu Zhenyan's breathing returned.
Mu Jialing called softly, "Yu Daoyou, Yu Daoyou?"
"Cough, cough, cough!" Yu Zhenyan shot upright, coughing and patting her chest.
"Yu Daoyou, what were you doing just now?" Yao Ranran asked, puzzled.
Upon hearing her voice, Yu Zhenyan suddenly scrambled backward, tumbling as she tried to escape.
"Buddha Son, Buddha Son, it was her! She was trying to harm me!"
Yu Zhenyan curled into a ball, overwhelmed by fear, forgetting even the skills of a cultivator.
Yao Ranran pointed at herself, confused. "You mean me?"
"That's right, that's right! Buddha, you must take her down! She is not human! She must be a spy from Yan Family Fortress. The real Yao Ranran has long been dead!" Yu Zhenyan shook her head, her mind chaotic.
Mu Jialing remained calm. "Yu Daoyou, stop causing trouble. Yesterday it was Fairy Ranran who saved us. How could she possibly be from Yan Family Fortress?"
"Buddha Son, you must believe me! Just now it was Yao Ranran secretly harming me, which is why my body went out of control and I almost choked myself! You must kill her, she cannot be Yao Ranran!" Yu Zhenyan swayed to her feet, hiding behind Mu Jialing, staring at Yao Ranran in terror.
Yao Ranran blinked.
"Is she trying to sow discord? Choke herself to frame me? Such a stupid trick…"
Mu Jialing's expression became solemn, his gaze firm. "Yu Daoyou, I saw Fairy Ranran enter with my own eyes. I know her aura very well. There are no signs of possession by evil spirits."
"She only…" Mu Jialing looked at Yao Ranran's clear, pure gaze and chose his words carefully. "She is only close with the Yan family members. She is not truly one of them."
"These are all her lies! Buddha Son, do not be deceived! She is a compulsive liar. She tricked Shen Yuefu and now she wants to deceive us. She wants to kill me because my mother saw through her lies. That is why she was punished to go to the Eastern Wilderness!" Yu Zhenyan's emotions were extremely agitated.
The atmosphere fell silent for a moment.
"I trust her," Mu Jialing said without changing his expression, turning to Yu Zhenyan. "Yu Daoyou, this situation arose because you violated the rules of Yan Family Fortress."
"Buddha Son, I have been with you the whole time. How could I have broken Yan Family Fortress's rules?" Yu Zhenyan shouted.
Mu Jialing turned his gaze to Yao Ranran. "Yu Daoyou has committed the sin of insulting a woman surnamed Yao."
"What?" Yu Zhenyan was incredulous.
Yao Ranran also stood there blankly.
So the nonsense she made up to scare Yu Zhenyan, Mu Jialing actually believed it?
Yu Zhenyan, still shaken, exclaimed, "Buddha Son, would you betray the entire sect to protect this woman?! There is only one person with the surname Yao in all of Yan Family Fortress. How could such a strange rule exist?"
"Yu Daoyou, as soon as you entered Yan Family Fortress, Fairy Ranran stated this rule. Think back, did the Yan fortress master refute her?"
Yu Zhenyan froze.
"No!" Yao Ranran hurriedly answered, a small smile tugging at her lips.
"Who cares if the analysis is correct or not? As long as it works in my favor, it's fine!"
Yu Zhenyan's expression was incredulous. "Just because of this, I cannot curse her?"
She glared at Yao Ranran with resentment.
Yao Ranran bared her teeth in a smile. "I do not like that look either. Shall we set a new rule while we are at it?"
Yu Zhenyan's pupils shrank, her heartbeat racing. She quickly looked away.
"Although strange, it shows the importance of earning the Yan fortress master's favor. Fairy Ranran was fortunate to have attracted his attention by chance."
Mu Jialing's gaze lingered on Yao Ranran's flawless face, then he lowered his eyes. It must be said, when Fairy Ranran is quiet, she truly seems like a celestial goddess descended from the Ninth Heaven.
Deceptive to the extreme…
And with a sweet, honeyed mouth, praising the beauty of this place every day to the Yan fortress master, anyone would be fooled…
Yu Zhenyan seemed to understand. "Buddha Son means joining Yan Family Fortress is the way to advance?"
"Correct. I suspect the Yan fortress master controls everyone here, including you and me," Mu Jialing said with hidden concern.
The strangeness of Yan Family Fortress was far more difficult than he had imagined.
Yu Zhenyan had no words. She dared not approach Yao Ranran and dared not curse her.
"Then tomorrow we will go to find the Yan fortress master!" Yao Ranran said cheerfully.
Mu Jialing listened to her clear voice and asked curiously, "Fairy, why set the time for tomorrow?"
Yao Ranran pointed at the sky. "It is time to rest!"
Mu Jialing and Yu Zhenyan both followed her gesture to the sky, expecting some meaningful statement, yet…
Yu Zhenyan quickly turned her head away, teeth gritted in hatred, resentful that this foolish girl had won Yan Shanyi's favor!
"Yu Daoyou, are you cursing me?" Yao Ranran winked at her.
Yu Zhenyan felt a chill down her back, palms sweating. "No, no! You must not misunderstand!"
She would not curse anymore. She would never dare curse again!