A person worth protecting with your life?
He Liansheng asked, “Why should there be one?”
Hua Yiling stared at him for a long time before laughing. “You’re quite different from the Lingshan people I’ve met before.”
Xing Shuishui could roughly guess what kind of Lingshan people he had met before – those who constantly preached about protecting mortals and saving all living beings, appearing self-righteous.
He Liansheng wasn’t surprised. He sneered, “Oh, they all say that. Including my master. But none of that matters. Your daughter raising demon flowers is a serious crime. What else is there to say?”
“Nothing more to say. I only ask that you plead for Xiaoyue before the Mountain Lord. That child suffered too much when she was young, which led her astray.”
Xing Shuishui asked puzzled, “Why tell us all this directly?”
As a father, shouldn’t he want to protect his child above all else?
Though she didn’t fully understand Lingshan’s rules, once this matter reached Lingshan, it would certainly cause an uproar. Shangguan Houyue would not only be punished, but she would also definitely lose her position as family head.
Hua Yiling said, “Before Yao died, she told me she hoped Xiaoyue would grow up to be an upright, kind female cultivator. Even if she couldn’t become a celestial master, as long as she could protect herself and stay away from evil paths. I… I failed Yao.”
“When she first took the spirit pill, I thought Xiaoyue would stop… that she wouldn’t touch Luoyu flowers again… but reality is always…”
He smiled bitterly. The tea had gone cold long ago.
“I thought I could pretend to be blind forever, but I couldn’t do it. I once protected a city and saved its people. Taking medicine pills made from human flesh and blood went against my conscience. But only this way would Xiaoyue remember she had a pitiful father here! Only then would she come visit me once a month, drink tea and chat with me!”
He Liansheng’s assessment this time was: “Utterly foolish.”
Hua Yiling said, “You don’t understand. Because you’re too young right now. You don’t understand what it feels like when love and hatred intertwine. If you had someone you desperately wanted to protect, would you be any better than me? Could you remain unmoved knowing many people outside want them dead?”
“No! You would be even more extreme than me. Also because you’re too young.”
He Liansheng stood up from his seat, his face cold, the Peach Spring Sword gleaming with a cold arc. Xing Shuishui held him back, saying, “He Liansheng, killing him is useless, we need to catch Shangguan Houyue!”
Hua Yiling looked at the two of them with interest, also noticing the red string connecting their wrists.
“The Heart-Linking Spell?”
Xing Shuishui said, “Old sir, your daughter cast this on us. Otherwise we wouldn’t have found our way here.”
Hua Yiling murmured, “Come to think of it, I was the one who taught her this spell…”
Xing Shuishui’s eyes lit up: “Then you must know how to break it?”
Hua Yiling replied without thinking: “Dual cultivation.”
Can’t this bizarre spell just be lost to history!
He Liansheng coldly threatened: “Do you want me to put my sword to your neck before you’ll tell the truth?”
Hua Yiling: “Who said there aren’t other ways to break it? The Heart-Linking Spell doesn’t necessarily require the caster to break it, a spell master with blood ties to her can also break it. However, the conditions for the Heart-Linking Spell to take effect are extremely strict, yet you two were actually affected.”
Xing Shuishui asked: “What conditions?”
Hua Yiling fell silent.
After a long while, he finally said: “Put down the sword, and I’ll break it for you. I hope you’ll keep your end of the bargain.”
“What bargain did we make with you?”
Under He Liansheng’s intense stare, the old man raised his hand, chanted a long string of obscure incantations, then touched the red string between the two people. The red string broke just like that.
The Heart-Linking Spell that had troubled them for many days was finally broken, and Xing Shuishui was overjoyed.
She didn’t bother to wonder what conditions could make the Heart-Linking Spell work, let He Liansheng call her when it was time to leave, then pushed open the door and ran outside to play. The pocket dimension was temporarily safe.
Inside the room. The two sat facing each other.
The fire stove, hot tea, steam rising from the teapot.
The young man’s face showed no extra expression as he asked: “What conditions?”
The other’s lips opened and closed, deep wrinkles etched into his pale lips. After speaking, the old man looked at him, his bright eyes seeming to hide several dark flames.
He Liansheng heard clearly. His previously lowered eyelids suddenly lifted.
He looked at Xing Shuishui outside the window in disbelief.
Xing Shuishui was running through the moonflower sea, holding up her skirt. The young woman’s hair flew up, her sleeves rolled up to reveal two thin white arms.
The wind blew, scattering flower petals everywhere.
Some petals fell on Xing Shuishui’s head. She patted her hair, still completely unaware that He Liansheng was watching her.
The Luoyu flower lead had been cleared up. But saving people hadn’t made any progress.
She was really troubled – surely they couldn’t actually go to Lingshan with these people?
Before she could think much further, a shadow fell over her. Xing Shuishui looked up to see He Liansheng standing before her, his expression very strange. She studied him for a moment – just looking at his eyes, it seemed like he wanted to kill her right now.
Wait. Had she been exposed?
Xing Shuishui carefully recalled, but she hadn’t done anything unusual just now. She had only played in the moonflower sea for a while. Could it be… that running too fast didn’t seem human?
She tentatively asked: “Are we going to sleep now?”
It was daytime in the pocket dimension now, but outside it might already be the middle of the night. They had learned what they needed to know. The rest depended on what the Lingshan people planned to do. Whether they would catch people tonight or wait for Li Guanyu and the others.
He Liansheng lifted her up from the ground and mocked: “Sleep what?”
What was he plotting now?
The young man curved his lips in a mischievous smile: “Didn’t Huayu Tower have thieves break in tonight? Perfect. Let’s destroy all forty-nine formations of the Qimen Dunjia arrays while we’re at it.”
Xing Shuishui: “?”
She pointed at the house, meaning: Are you planning how to blow up someone’s arrangements right in front of them?
But Hua Yiling nodded at them. Permitting it.
Xing Shuishui was somewhat surprised. After all, these seven thousand Qimen Dunjia arrays were his life’s work, yet Hua Yiling would allow He Liansheng to destroy them. If it were her, if someone destroyed the protective arrays outside Sister’s room, she would cut off their head that very night.
He Liansheng seemed to see through her thoughts and said coldly: “Is this so hard to understand?”
“He set up these Qimen Dunjia arrays to protect Shangguan Zhuyao, but Shangguan Zhuyao was killed by Jing Wushuang, so their existence became meaningless. Now Shangguan Houyue plans to use the arrays here against cultivators coming from Qing Province.”
“So — if they’re torn down, they’re torn down. After all, it took quite some effort to force him to reveal their weaknesses.”
She could already imagine He Liansheng threatening the old man alone.
Xing Shuishui suddenly understood. But it was truly rare – what had gotten into this spirit-hunter? He actually had the patience to explain to her. She thought he would just drag her along without a word again.
She looked up: “I understand. But…”
He Liansheng impatiently: “But what?”
Xing Shuishui pointed at his headband, then at his clothes, continuing: “This outfit is too eye-catching, they’ll know it’s you right away.”
Then she pointed at herself, saying softly: “Mine too.”
He Liansheng stared at her for a moment, then made a hand seal. In the blink of an eye, they were both wearing night-walking clothes.
Xing Shuishui examined this outfit with curiosity for a while, belatedly realizing it was just a common illusion spell. She looked up to see He Liansheng’s mocking gaze.
She hated him.
They left the pocket dimension and returned to Huayu Tower.
Huayu Tower was brightly lit and heavily guarded – they still hadn’t given up searching for the “thieves.” Xing Shuishui thought of Shangguan Houyue whom they’d met in the pocket dimension – impossible to see during the day, running around everywhere at night. These two “thieves” were quite impressive, able to anger someone who claimed to have a cold into suddenly recovering.
Hahaha.
He Liansheng put away the Peach Spring Sword, catching sight of the smile at the corners of Xing Shuishui’s mouth from the corner of his eye. He turned back like a lingering ghost. Xing Shuishui froze for a moment, quickly hiding her smile and putting on a very forced expression.
“Don’t leave my side by more than three steps later.” The young man’s tone was a bit fierce.
Seeing Xing Shuishui standing there dumbly, He Liansheng directly pulled her to his side – now there was only half a step between them.
Perhaps it was her imagination, but Xing Shuishui felt this force was much gentler than the previous times. After walking a few steps, she looked left and right and lowered her voice: “I think we’ve been discovered.”
They had indeed been discovered. He Liansheng narrowed his eyes.
Everything around suddenly became very bright, blood-red lanterns hung high, sword light reflecting off the reddish-brown pillars. The two of them were standing right next to a pillar. In front, female attendants holding sharp swords surrounded them. Looking up, there was an unreachable dome, and countless fine silver threads to the side.
He Liansheng unhurriedly took out a metal ball.
Xing Shuishui recognized it as a hidden weapon and moved away from the metal ball, afraid of being accidentally hurt, but He Liansheng pulled her back.
“…”
Now she didn’t dare get distracted at all.
A woman in white walked forward, the white gauze hanging from her veiled hat floating.
It was Shangguan Houyue from earlier.
“What are you doing breaking into my Huayu Tower in the middle of the night? Quite bold. And who exactly are you?”
Before her words finished, dozens of fine needles flew at them. But before they could get close to He Liansheng, they turned to ash. The woman in white’s eyes grew cold.
Now both of them wore face coverings and night-walking clothes, concealing their qi – it was impossible to tell if they were human or spirit.
He Liansheng chuckled lowly: “Thank you for the compliment, I’ve always been bold. Your timing is perfect too – let me give you a grand gift.”
Shangguan Houyue said coldly: “Do you have a death wish?”
“You’re the one with a death wish.”
The metal ball flew from He Liansheng’s hand toward a certain direction. Shangguan Houyue’s expression changed – that was the core of the Qimen Dunjia arrays!
Crack — the metal ball transformed into a golden Buddhist lotus in the air. The lotus spun rapidly, golden and sharp petals flying out, targeting several silver threads. At the same time, He Liansheng pulled Xing Shuishui to dodge a sword strike.
After several exchanges, He Liansheng had forced Shangguan Houyue to use several Lingshan spells. Although she tried hard to control herself, the shadow of the Shangguan family could still be seen. Xing Shuishui suddenly understood – He Liansheng hadn’t fully believed Hua Yiling’s words. He didn’t trust anyone’s words; he wanted to verify if this was really someone from the Shangguan family. After all, no one expected that investigating the Luoyu flower matter would lead back to Lingshan itself.
The golden lotus cut through several silver threads, which fell like needle rain. Most of the Qimen Dunjia arrays were destroyed.
Shangguan Houyue commanded: “Don’t tangle with them. Activate the arrays directly.”
The old man they had seen during the day acknowledged the order, preparing to activate all the Qimen Dunjia arrays against them.
But before he could move a few steps.
He Liansheng threw out several talismans, bang bang bang — the arrays were destroyed before they could be activated, making Huayu Tower shake violently. People in the tower who were affected coughed up fresh blood, but before they could stand up they were kicked away by the tower master.
Xing Shuishui turned her head, and their eyes met. Shangguan Houyue’s eyes looked at them like they were dead people.
Xing Shuishui, who had been watching the battle, shuddered, having a bad feeling. No, if you want trouble, go find He Liansheng! She was just a mascot.
It wasn’t that she couldn’t fight.
She really didn’t want to create extra trouble, unconsciously grabbing the hilt of Qitong.
The old man flew toward He Liansheng, swinging a whip. Because he couldn’t use the Peach Spring Sword, He Liansheng could only raise his hand to catch it – and he actually caught it. Shock flashed in the old man’s eyes as he raised his hand to try to remove He Liansheng’s face covering.
At this moment, Shangguan Houyue made her move. The palm strike aimed at He Liansheng suddenly shifted toward Xing Shuishui – an unexpected move.
The fierce wind came with the force of toppling mountains and overturning seas!
Shui: “??!”
She lost her balance and was immediately knocked out of Huayu Tower, falling downward.
“Save… me…”
The wind in her ears was quite loud. Xing Shuishui glanced down – fortunately, there was a river below, so she wouldn’t die from the fall, but the concealment talisman would fail if it got wet! What to do, what to do.
Shangguan Houyue smiled coldly: “Do you know what the river below is called?”
She answered her own question: “The Soul-Devouring River. The water is very special.”
“Every year people accidentally fall in and have their consciousness devoured by the Soul-Devouring River’s water. Even if rescued, they become idiots. I often use this to punish disobedient subordinates.”
She said to He Liansheng: “This is what you brought upon yourselves.”
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