Creak.
Jiang Shengxiang stepped out, holding a burning candle, still groggy. He looked at the dark figure in the snow and blinked. "Physician Ye, why haven't you gone to rest yet?"
Pu Yehai's figure stiffened slightly as he turned his head, lips dusted with a few flakes of white snow.
"Village Chief Jiang, did no one come to Longyin Village today?"
Jiang Shengxiang scratched his messy beard. "Physician Ye, why ask this? Longyin Village always has visitors every day. Today was no exception."
Pu Yehai glanced at the quiet scene under the starlit night.
No sign of life, no bloodshed, no corpses. Only insects chirping and birds calling.
The people from Mingxia Sect… they had not come at all!
Kuang Lei, this guy, could actually be so unpunctual!
"Village Chief Jiang, I'll return to rest. Tonight's night scene is rather enchanting." He smiled faintly, and a few pieces of cold snow melted into water on his lips. It was time to urge Kuang Lei.
Tonight, this peaceful village would become an eternal graveyard.
Jiang Shengxiang watched his frail figure pass by and nodded. "The night is indeed nice tonight.
But still, it cannot compare to half an hour ago, the Golden Core fireworks in the sky, and the magnificent sight of hundreds of demon cultivators fleeing like startled birds!"
Pu Yehai continued walking, a faint smile lingering on his lips, gradually fading…
"Village Chief Jiang, what Golden Core fireworks? Hundreds of demon cultivators?"
He suddenly turned his head, voice sharp with shock.
Jiang Shengxiang was startled and twitched his eyelids. "Physician Ye, you still do not know? Half an hour ago, Kuang Lei of Mingxia Sect brought hundreds of disciples and tried to attack Longyin Village. I sensed danger and immediately invited Fairy Ranran to assist.
And then…
Kuang Lei scattered into fireworks in the sky. All his disciples fled, and Fairy Ranran returned to rest!" Jiang Shengxiang stroked his beard with pride. It was the most magnificent fireworks he had ever seen.
Pu Yehai struggled to regain his voice.
"You're saying Kuang Lei of Mingxia Sect came here with hundreds of disciples?"
Jiang Shengxiang nodded, smiling.
Pu Yehai stared blankly at the calm scene outside. "And they left… nothing?"
"Yes. Except for a grand display of fireworks!" Jiang Shengxiang laughed until he could barely close his mouth.
Pu Yehai's lips were nearly frozen.
Half an hour ago…
That had been the exact time he and Kuang Lei had agreed upon.
So Kuang Lei had indeed come with Mingxia Sect disciples. He had not broken his promise, and there was no need to return with a transmission talisman to urge him. Because, as Jiang Shengxiang said, he had turned into a fireworks display, beautiful for an instant, then vanished…
In short, Kuang Lei had already perished!
Pu Yehai could hardly believe what he heard.
After all their planning, he had not even seen Kuang Lei in person, and now he was dead?Had all the Mingxia Sect disciples fled too?
"Oy, it's snowing harder again. Physician Ye, your health isn't good. You should return inside to rest. I'm going back too!"
Jiang Shengxiang glanced at the falling snow and hurried back inside.
Pu Yehai nodded numbly. Listening to the wooden door close behind him, he still could not believe it.
"Half an hour… half an hour and he perished?"
He stared at the footprints hidden in the snow.
"Maybe it didn't even take half an hour…"
If Kuang Lei had resisted at all before dying, there would have been some trace of spiritual energy here. Either Kuang Lei had already died, or he had died from a single strike. Though he did not wish to believe it, the peaceful village silently confirmed it.
Kuang Lei, a Golden Core elder, had perished before a tenth-stage Qi Refining woman, without a single chance to retaliate!
"Hu…" Jiang Shengxiang removed his coat, about to blow out the candle, but the shadow reflected on the window still remained.
He quietly pushed open a small gap to look outside. The wind howled, carrying a flurry of snow into the room.
Jiang Shengxiang squinted against the wind, then widened his eyes. "Physician Ye, what is going on? Even turned into a snowman, yet admiring the scenery… has he been dumped by a woman?"
"Yao Ranran… what else are you hiding?!"
Pu Yehai shook the snow from his body and shot out through the array.
Jiang Shengxiang hurried after him, but he was already gone.
"This… what is happening with Ye Hai?"
Gu Ling Mountain
Yao Ranran and Xiao Rong split up, using a flying boat and a teleportation staff to reach Yunwen Inn.
She intended to see if this route would lead her to Zhou Lili and Nie Rong, but suddenly a rainbow-like light appeared again.
"Yao Ranran, Nie Rong and Zhou Lili are in my hands. If you don't want them dead, come to Yunwen Inn immediately!"
Hearing this familiar threat, Yao Ranran paid it no mind. Just as she thought the transmission talisman's message had ended, another voice continued.
"Beiming Holy Palace is the strongest force in Beiming. Its foundation is deep, its wealth rivals that of Wuxiang Sect, and its Holy Maiden can access all cultivation resources of the Palace!"
Hmm, Beiming Holy Palace was very wealthy.
Yao Ranran's thoughts drifted. The Palace in Beiming held a position similar to Wuxiang Sect in Zhongzhou—both were rulers of their regions.
But Beiming did not have Central Continent's vast lands or abundant resources, so the Palace's strength did not match Wuxiang Sect. Still, she believed the Palace's accumulated wealth might not be less than Wuxiang Sect's, given its long-standing legacy.
The transmission talisman had not finished. Wan Huaiyuan continued.
"Therefore, if you are willing to become the Holy Maiden of the Palace, all resources of the Palace will be yours—spirit stones, spirit materials, immortal pills, supreme cultivation methods, all yours!"
Plop.
The talisman fell to the ground with a crisp sound, dispersing into smoke.
Yao Ranran blinked. "They went through all this trouble just to give me endless wealth?"
Becoming the Palace's Holy Maiden meant having access to everything?
They captured Nie Rong and Zhou Lili alive just to give her money?
Yao Ranran rubbed her forehead. "If you just wanted to give me money, why not say so from the start!"
She would have agreed immediately!
But now, it was impossible.
She had never seen anyone offering gifts while threatening her.
A free lunch from the sky always came with a scheme behind it.
After thinking for a moment, she left a transmission talisman at Yunwen Inn.
Then she departed.
"Hmm, this table… was it moved?"
Returning to her room, Yao Ranran stared at the prints by the table legs, slightly stunned.
She could swear she had never moved this table.
So how did this extra footprint appear?
"Was it Xiao Rong or Xiang Yin?"
She did not think too much, instinctively assuming they had entered her room.
"No matter, proper cultivation is the real priority!"