Near Mount Taihe, in a cave on an unnamed hill.
"Big Sis, how long do we have to keep running?"
The young boy in the girl's arms looked up at her with wide eyes and asked.
"How long… do we have to keep running…"
Lan Xinyi repeated softly, a bitter smile surfacing on her delicate face.
She wished she had an answer too.
Her father had been killed by that vile woman. Now the entire Changcui Mountain was under her control, and even the remaining members of the Lan family had defected, becoming accomplices in the hunt for her and her brother.
They had no choice but to flee constantly, living each day in fear, their lives hanging by a thread.
Once a pampered young lady, dressed in silks and brocade, she had now fallen to such a pitiful state. It was a torment like no other.
And even in this sorry state, the relentless search was closing in. These vast mountains seemed no longer enough to hide the two of them.
Even the few viable routes out of the Chidi Mountains were now guarded. Escaping this region had become near impossible...
And even if they did escape, where in the wide world could they possibly go?
If she were alone, Lan Xinyi might have already lost the will to carry on. But she still had her little brother. She still bore the weight of avenging their father. So she clenched her teeth and endured.
Trying to smile, she gently reassured him, "Be good, Xiaoming. Once the search dies down a little, we'll have a chance to escape these mountains…"
Young Lan Ming furrowed his brow at her words, his expression suddenly becoming serious.
"Sis… if they catch up to us again, don't worry about me just run. I know you'd be able to get away if you were alone."
Lan Xinyi's heart tightened, tears streaming down her cheeks as she hugged him tightly and scolded,
"Don't say such nonsense! I'd never abandon you even if it cost me my life!"
"S-Stop… too tight, Sis…"
Little Lan Ming's face turned red as he squirmed and yelped.
Lan Xinyi chuckled through her tears and was just about to loosen her grip when
Suddenly, her expression changed drastically. A small sword and a talisman appeared in her hands as she stared warily toward the cave entrance.
Lan Ming quickly darted behind a rock to hide.
At that moment, a shadow flickered at the entrance. A tall man in a green robe, with an unremarkable face, stepped into the cave, scanning the interior.
When he saw the armed and ready Lan Xinyi, and the small pair of eyes peeking out from behind a boulder, he paused slightly and gave a polite bow.
"I didn't realize someone was here. My apologies for intruding…"
His words stunned Lan Xinyi, who had just been despairing upon sensing that the man possessed late-stage Qi Refining cultivation.
But then she breathed a massive sigh of relief.
With such a cultivation level, if he truly meant her harm, he wouldn't need to put on any act. His polite demeanor, despite her being a mere Qi Refining fourth-stage cultivator, suggested that he wasn't hostile.
She hurriedly returned the gesture, bowing slightly. "Senior, please take your time…"
The green-robed man made as if to leave. But just then, faint noises drifted in from outside the cave footsteps, voices, the rustling of leaves.
"Search carefully… the information says they're nearby. Don't leave any hiding spot unchecked…"
Hearing this, Lan Xinyi's face paled. Panic filled her heart as she hesitated between fleeing and hiding.
But then her eyes landed on the green-robed man and suddenly lit up.
"Fellow Daoist, are those people here for you?" she asked quickly.
Li Ye replied calmly, the aura he released making her stiffen slightly and regain her composure.
Right… He was a late-stage cultivator. Someone like her couldn't possibly manipulate him with some petty "enemy-of-my-enemy" trick.
Lan Xinyi hesitated for a moment. But as the voices grew nearer, she lowered her voice and said,
"This junior is Lan Xinyi… those people are indeed after me. My stepmother conspired with her lover to murder my father, and now she's using our clan to hunt me and my brother down to wipe us out completely…"
Her voice trembled as tears welled up in her eyes. Her pitiful appearance was enough to stir compassion in anyone.
But Li Ye simply gave a casual "Oh?" and began walking toward the exit.
"Oh… that's your family business. It has nothing to do with me. I'll take my leave now."
Lan Xinyi was dumbfounded. This man had a heart of stone! Wasn't her beauty even worth a second thought?
But if he walked out now, the entire cave would be exposed to those pursuers. And whether or not he'd cover for her remained a huge uncertainty.
Gritting her teeth, Lan Xinyi dropped to her knees with a thud.
"My father was the Lord of Changcui Mountain. He had a secret treasure stash only I know the location of. If Senior is willing to help us survive this ordeal, I'll offer that treasure to you!"
She had gone all in!
If she was going to die anyway, the treasure would just end up in someone else's hands. She might as well gamble maybe this was her shot at survival!
Li Ye paused mid-step, then turned back with mild interest.
"Are you serious?"
"Not a word of it is false!" Lan Xinyi swore immediately, even pulling her little brother out from behind the rock to kneel and kowtow before him.
"Hah! Who would've thought I'd strike such fortune the moment I arrived in the Chidi Mountains…"
Li Ye's face lit up with a smile. "Very well then leave those people outside to me."
Without sparing another glance at the siblings, he flicked his sleeves and strode confidently out of the cave.
...
Lan Luo stood on a flying vessel, hovering in midair, directing a group of clan members to conduct a blanket search of the surrounding area. His deeply wrinkled face was filled with smug satisfaction.
Back in Changcui Mountain, he had merely been an unremarkable member of the Lan clan lacking power, wealth, or even a spiritual field to call his own. After decades of bitter cultivation, he had only reached the fourth stage of Qi Refining in his sixties, with no hope of further progress.
But after the recent upheaval on the mountain, he had chosen to side with the victors in time. Now, he finally had people under his command!
It felt so good that he was even more eager to find the fugitive siblings and earn himself a bigger reward.
Just then, his eyes flickered as he caught sight of a tall man in green robes emerging from a concealed spot. Only then did he realize there was a cave hidden there.
He immediately barked out,
"Hey! This is the official business of Changcui Mountain, have you cough, cough!"
Halfway through his shout, he abruptly cut himself off, coughing in panic because the man before him suddenly released the aura of a late-stage Qi Refining cultivator, so intense it nearly knocked him off his flying vessel.
Even their former mountain lord and clan patriarch, Lan Chengye, had only reached the eighth stage of Qi Refining.
And that scoundrel Mo Lun Wang Shuangyan's lover, who now ruled Changcui Mountain was only at the seventh stage.
This man's cultivation was clearly on par with, if not stronger than, Mo Lun. How could someone like Lan Luo dare provoke him?
He was about to land and offer a respectful apology to this unfamiliar senior when
The green-robed man glanced over, noticing Lan Luo and the other approaching cultivators. A faint smile crept onto his face.
"So, you lot are the ones looking for Lan Xinyi and her brother?"
His tone was casual, but it instantly made the crowd of cultivators break out in cold sweat.
"Crap! Run!"
Someone screamed in panic.
The next moment, a black alms bowl appeared in Li Ye's hand.
With a flick of his wrist, the bowl expanded rapidly to the size of a water vat. A powerful suction force erupted, pulling in all the cultivators present none of whom had cultivation beyond the fifth stage of Qi Refining.
They were helplessly dragged back through the air.
Then, with a casual wave, Li Ye unleashed twenty to thirty tier-one talismans like a rainstorm. They transformed into spells of various elements, engulfing the entire group.
Peeking out from the cave behind him, Lan Xinyi and her younger brother stared in complete shock, their eyes wide and mouths agape.
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