Although Yu Zhenyan did not understand, Mu Jialing was a natural-born Fózǐ and the most powerful cultivator present. He was the only one she could trust.
So, she reached out, intending to pull Mu Jialing into her arms and fly away with him on her Fire Sun Fan.
But the man before her suddenly flickered, slipping aside with surprising agility despite his severe injuries.
Yu Zhenyan: "..." "Don't make me curse at you!"
Was she some ravenous beast or the wise Master of Yan Fortress? He claimed he was in a hurry, yet treated her like she was a plague to be avoided.
Mu Jialing seemed to read the suppressed frustration in her eyes. His voice was cool and clear, like a spring of sweet water. "Amitabha. Yu Daoyou, that is enough."
Enough what?
Yu Zhenyan froze for half a second before the meaning struck. She reached out again with determination.
This Fózǐ had finally reached such a perilous state that he had no choice but to bow his head and compromise. For him to let the eldest daughter of the Yu family carry him through the skies—if not considered a blessing, at least it saved him face.
Her lips curved in a proud smile as she caught him.
Moments later—
The wind howled as Yu Zhenyan controlled the Fire Sun Fan, sparing a glance backward. Through the heavy golden seal that cloaked Mu Jialing, she could vaguely make out that she was indeed carrying a person, not some strange monster.
"...Ruthless monk!"
Yu Zhenyan gritted her teeth and urged the fan faster.
Who could have imagined? Despite being battered nearly to death, Mu Jialing had still not let her so much as touch the corner of his robe. Any woman would feel stung by such rejection.
Even if he was a monk, bound by purity and discipline, Yu Zhenyan believed her beauty and her status were enough to stir him at least a little.
But there was not even the slightest flicker.
"Truly, he was just like Elder Shen Yuefu!"
Yu Zhenyan muttered curses in her heart, refusing to slow down. The Fire Sun Fan carried her swiftly to the roots of the divine tree Jianmu.
The golden seal around Mu Jialing dissolved. He moved even faster than Yu Zhenyan, landing lightly at the base of the massive tree.
Mu Jialing pressed his fingers together and traced a golden line across the void. It expanded in his sight, two streams of merciful light circling the thick roots.
"Do you need me to do anything?" Yu Zhenyan, faced with life and death, cast aside her petty grievances.
With her identity, she had no need to fuss over a monk's thoughts.
"No." The golden light vanished between Mu Jialing's fingers. He gave her no answer, only closed his eyes once more.
…
"Everyone suspects there is something strange about this divine tree, yet none could find its secret. That is because the true entrance is not beneath the tree at all—it is inside Fortress Master Yan's home!"
Yao Ranran unrolled an ancient scroll, long sealed in dust. She had scavenged it from Elder Yang.
The records were clear, filled with the hidden history of Yan Fortress.
It was like Yang's personal diary. He had meticulously noted every detail of his pill refinement, the support of his mysterious patron, and how cultivators from outside were drawn in one after another.
Now Yao Ranran was reading his very first impressions of entering the Jianmu passage. Her eyes scanned the complex characters, and recalling her own experience, she roughly interpreted his meaning.
"The passage is hidden in Yan Shanyi's household. I truly came here from inside the Yan family estate."
She nodded in agreement.
Meanwhile—
"Fortress Master Yan's house… Yu Daoyou, we must go to Fortress Master Yan's house!" Mu Jialing's eyes snapped open, one hand clutching his prayer beads. The heavy golden seal cocooned him once more.
Yu Zhenyan bit her lip at the sight of this human-shaped chrysalis, then summoned the Fire Sun Fan.
The flames flared, wrapping monk and lady together as they leapt onto its blazing surface.
…
They crashed into Yan Shanyi's courtyard.
Yu Zhenyan kicked the door open. Mu Jialing followed silently, eyes closed.
The ancient scroll stretched open across the floor. Yao Ranran lay sprawled on her stomach, chin propped in her hands, her feet swaying lazily as she read. "The strangest place in the Yan household… is the shrine that enshrines the True Buddha…"
"Yu Daoyou, the shrine! Find the shrine where Fortress Lord Yan worships the True Buddha!" Mu Jialing's eyes opened, scanning the courtyard.
Yu Zhenyan froze. The shrine… it was right behind her.
Her robes flared as she spun and rushed back. "Fózǐ, is the passage here?"
Mu Jialing leaned weakly against the doorway, lips pale. "Open it…"
"Most people believe the strangest places hide humanity's deepest secrets, but that is not always the truth."
In the alchemy chamber, Yao Ranran shook her head as she read on.
…
Yu Zhenyan raised the Fire Sun Fan. The shrine's clay Buddha flickered with golden light as the fiery wind, sharp as blades, surged toward it.
But Mu Jialing's voice suddenly thundered, louder than ever before. "Open it… do not open the shrine!"
The fiery blades were already upon the shrine when Yu Zhenyan whipped her head back.
From the Buddha's eyes shone golden light tainted with black mist. She saw it smiling at her with a sorrowful compassion.
The shrine shattered, yet the clay Buddha remained intact.
A beam of golden light, wrapped in dark fog, brushed past Yu Zhenyan's shoulder. Her breath faltered, and half her spiritual power collapsed in an instant.
Mu Jialing sat cross-legged without hesitation, clutching his prayer beads, chanting sutras.
Yu Zhenyan clutched her bleeding shoulder, grimacing as she swallowed a pill.
"Fózǐ… next time, say that earlier!"
She ground the words out between her teeth.
Had he not been the natural-born Fózǐ of Guan Fan Temple, she would have thought him possessed by some spirit, sent to torment her.
Mu Jialing: "…This little monk understands."
A heart demon's bewitchment… perhaps it had driven him to blurt the word "open."
Yu Zhenyan studied his face.
The Fózǐ's expression bore no deceit. A monk could feign holiness, but the divine, cold clarity in his eyes could not be faked by demons.
He was not the problem.
But her wounds…
Yu Zhenyan bit her lip until it bled.
She was the eldest daughter of the Yu family, the jewel of the Xing family. When had she ever been thrown into such chaos?
She had come here intending to give Yao Ranran a lesson. If the girl performed adequately, Yu Zhenyan could spare her life, preserving her father's dignity.
She had planned to keep Yao Ranran as little more than a servant in her household.
Yet she had not expected the endless strangeness of Yan Fortress. Yao Ranran had even secured the favor of the fortress master, unraveling Yu Zhenyan's schemes one by one.
The inferno earlier had been too powerful to be Yao Ranran's work.
Only that lowly slave Pei Xianqiao—talentless, without backing—could have unleashed such an unforeseen move!
Yu Zhenyan recalled the delicate face of Pei Xianqiao, and with it, the bitter memories of being defeated by her time and again.
Her eyes burned with fury. She would tear that wretched girl into pieces someday!
"Human nature inclines toward clarity, but the heart is easily disturbed. The human heart craves stillness, yet desire pulls it away… Yu Daoyou, just now you fell into a heart demon's snare. This Buddha statue carries a taint of evil qi. I am the one who brought calamity upon you…"
From Mu Jialing's lips, the Incantation of Clarity coalesced into glowing golden script.
The gray haze clouding Yu Zhenyan's eyes slowly dissipated, the killing intent within her scattering like smoke.
===
We've officially reached Chapter 100! ✧٩(ˊωˋ*)و✧
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