"Fairy, spare me! Fairy, I beg you, spare me!"
A cluster of black mist swirled inside the Black Tower, endlessly pleading toward Yao Ranran.
Yao Ranran tilted her head curiously, then revealed a bright smile.
"Your immortal artifact is quite good. From now on, it belongs to me."
If An Mingqi still had a physical body, he would have vomited blood on the spot.
Why was he so foolish as to explain how to use the artifact to a complete stranger?
Regret gnawed at him. Worse yet, if his master learned of this, his soul would surely be cast into the deepest hell.
"You cannot take this Black Tower! It will bring you certain death!"
"Certain death?" Yao Ranran blinked at him.
He assumed she was frightened, so he hurried on. "Do you know who stands behind me?"
Yao Ranran shook her head slowly. It seemed she would not need to interrogate him after all. She would uncover the truth about what happened in Qingshui County simply by letting him boast.
Sure enough, seeing her shake her head, An Mingqi smirked with pride. "If I told you my master's name, you would be terrified!"
"Mm… then say it," she replied, practically impatient.
An Mingqi didn't notice her odd eagerness. He had seen plenty of cultivators act smug before hearing his master's identity.
All too often, confidence shattered into horror once the truth came out.
Because his master was no ordinary existence of this world—
But one from the higher realm, the Spirit Realm.
The Spirit Realm! He could already imagine the look of shock on her face once he spoke those words. It was the place all cultivators yearned to ascend to.
"Jie jie jie… jie jie jie!"
He was already savoring how he might torment this woman afterward to vent his frustrations.
"What are you laughing at?" Yao Ranran asked after waiting some time, only to hear his eerie chuckle inside the tower. She felt speechless.
Perhaps she should just kill him outright?
A glimmer of killing intent flickered in her eyes.
An Mingqi's soul shivered violently, as though a sharp blade hung over his head.
He quickly shouted, "My master is a being from the Spirit Realm! If you dare to harm me, he will sense the Black Tower's disappearance, and you will never leave here alive!"
"So this Black Tower is more important than you," Yao Ranran noted calmly.
That told her all she needed to know. This tower was clearly not his personal treasure, but something lent to him by that so-called master.
An Mingqi lifted his chin, fully expecting her to collapse in terror and beg for mercy. Instead, she pierced straight through his bluff.
"You… didn't you hear me? My master is from the Spirit Realm. I am not joking!"
Yao Ranran nodded approvingly. "Good. I like honest people like you."
An Mingqi: "…" This was not how it was supposed to go! Wasn't she meant to cry and beg for her life by now? Why did she look pleased instead?
"Why would someone from the Spirit Realm linger in Qingshui County?" Yao Ranran asked, her voice drifting into the tower.
An Mingqi's eyes flickered.
She still didn't believe him. She was only testing him.
Cunning woman!
But if he told the truth, surely she would understand the terror of the Spirit Realm. That thought steadied him.
"Hmph. What do you know? It's not easy for a Spirit Realm powerhouse to descend. Qingshui County is merely a temporary resting place for my master.
And not only here. As far as I know, other Spirit Realm beings have descended across Central Domain. Once the time comes, the entire land will belong to my master!"
"Jie jie jie, jie—ugh!"
The Black Tower suddenly shook, tossing him about until he vomited.
Yao Ranran shook it a few more times, then set it down when he quieted.
"If you have nothing better to do, stop laughing like that. It makes me want to hit you."
An Mingqi: "…ugh!" Hateful woman!
"So the Spirit Realm wishes to seize all of Zhongzhou?" Yao Ranran asked patiently.
An Mingqi snarled, "Seize? No, Central Domain's Wuxiang Gate is already worthless. They cannot rule this land. Even now, one of their great elders is walking into a trap, utterly unaware. On what basis should they claim to be Central Domain's overlords?"
"Which elder?" A cold, aloof face flickered through Yao Ranran's mind.
An Mingqi let out a habitual sinister chuckle, only to freeze at her cool gaze.
"…Don't shake it! I'll stop laughing!"
"Then speak."
"I'll say it, I'll say it…" An Mingqi's lips twisted into a grin. This revelation would finally terrify her. "The elder I speak of is… the most handsome Xiānjūn of Wuxiang Gate! The most gifted, the one with peerless swordsmanship, capable of battling above his realm—"
"You can stop talking." Yao Ranran infused her qi into the Black Tower.
An Mingqi's feeble soul was instantly dragged deeper inside.
His eyes widened with disbelief. Did she not fear, even after learning it was Shen Yuefu?
"All this time, you just wanted to say Shen Yuefu's name?"
Yao Ranran smiled faintly. "Are you people not curious why Shen Yuefu would come to such a nameless little county?"
Indeed… why had he come here?
An Mingqi's thoughts churned. He recalled tonight's events: the purple-robed woman's appearance, Shen Yuefu's arrival, the yellow-clad woman following along…
Hadn't his subordinates said Shen Yuefu seemed to be searching for something?
But perhaps it was not a thing. Perhaps it was a person. His gaze snapped to Yao Ranran, terror filling his eyes. His lips trembled. "Who are you?"
To make the aloof first Xiānjūn chase after her—she could not possibly be ordinary.
Yao Ranran only smiled softly without answering.
She sealed the Black Tower, leaving An Mingqi to sink into its corrosive mists.
"Once he stews in there a while, he will learn who his real master is."
Her lips curved faintly as she vanished into the night fog like a phantom.
…
"We are not to kill the woman?" Li Hao received word from his companions. He glanced at Pei Xianqiao, then his hawk-like eyes shifted toward Shen Yuefu at the front.
"Heh heh, so it is him."
Li Hao edged closer step by step. Pei Xianqiao caught sight of him from the corner of her eye but paid it little mind.
"Jianjun, let me assist you! I know how to subdue this ghost!" Li Hao shouted as he ran forward.
Shen Yuefu's brows furrowed. "Stay back!" he barked coldly.
A mortal with no cultivation could never subdue a ghost. This was nothing but throwing his life away.
But Li Hao acted as if he had not heard, grinning as he rushed ahead.
Shen Yuefu's expression hardened. He raised his sleeve, intending to push him aside.
Suddenly, a spray of blood mist filled the air, clouding his vision.
The pale blue robe before him blossomed with crimson specks.
Within the blood haze, Li Hao's lips curled into a grotesque, chilling smile.