The invisible blade sliced silently through the air, heading straight for the puppet's mind.
Although the puppet had gained intelligence after being possessed, it was still far more fragile than a true Foundation Establishment cultivator because it lacked a sea of consciousness to anchor and defend its soul.
The Soul-Slaying Gourd, specialized in targeting the soul, was its greatest nemesis.
Sword energy swept through the surroundings, striking fiercely at the puppet's body, leaving only a hideous scar, but the soul-slaying blade utterly annihilated its spirit.
As the puppet's body collapsed with a heavy thud, both men exhaled deeply. The battle had been brief, but filled with peril. One misstep could have cost them everything.
Had the Soul-Slaying Gourd failed, Song Changsheng was prepared to use his last Slaughter God's Flying Dagger. Thankfully, the gourd hadn't let him down.
"Fate is strange indeed. We were all set to leave, yet got trapped here, and through a twist of fate, we encountered it. This was destined for us," Song said with a touch of sentiment, collecting the puppet's remains.
"Indeed. With this, we've practically completed one and a half of the three bounties from the City Lord's estate," Xu Yunhe said, his face pale from exhaustion but unable to hide his excitement.
That final attack had drained nearly all of his spiritual energy, but the rewards were worth it.
"Right, we'd better check on that 'half'... I mean, see how Lady Xia is doing," Song Changsheng suddenly remembered the injured woman nearby.
She was still part of the mission, after all, they couldn't let her just die…
....
Elsewhere, deep beneath an unmarked hill in the Ten Thousand Mountains, a pair of pale, corpse-like hands pierced through the soil.
Moments later, the surrounding spiritual energy surged into the ground, as if being devoured.
Once the area was drained, the earth began to bulge, and then, a head slowly emerged. At first, his eyes were hollow, but soon they gleamed with intelligence.
He pressed his hands to the ground and stood up slowly. Clumps of dirt slid off his thin, gaunt body, revealing a tattered and filthy figure.
He stretched out his stiff limbs and performed several odd movements as if adapting to a new body. A moment later, he seemed satisfied with the results.
After orienting himself, he began walking toward the outskirts of the Ten Thousand Mountains.
A gentle breeze swept over the hills, rustling the sea of green leaves. It also fluttered his ruined robes, revealing a gaping hole in his chest.
Where his heart should have been was nothing but a hollow cavity writhing with pale white maggots.
Had Song Changsheng and Xu Yunhe been present, they would've cried out in shock because the man crawling out of the ground was none other than Wu Luochuan, long presumed dead…
...
Xia Wanyun had no idea how long she'd been unconscious. Her mind drifted in a hazy fog, where only vague sounds reached her ears, muffled and unclear.
Eventually, a soft light appeared before her eyes. As she opened them, the first thing she saw was a chiseled face.
The man had a look of maturity that didn't match his age, and his eyes were piercingly clear. At that moment, he was holding her wrist, channeling spiritual energy into her, filling her entire body with comforting warmth.
Xu Yunhe noticed her gaze. Their eyes met, and he froze.
Xia Wanyun looked completely different now. Gone was the seductive allure, the captivating charm that once clouded her gaze. Her expression no longer flirted; it was calm, almost innocent.
She was no less beautiful. If anything, she looked purer without the air of worldly flirtation. Her slightly furrowed brows evoked a powerful sense of… protection.
Even Xu Yunhe found himself unconsciously affected.
When Song Changsheng returned, having just severed the earth vein and broken the natural formation, he was greeted by an unexpected sight:
Xu Yunhe was gripping Xia Wanyun's pale wrist, staring intently into her eyes. He wasn't channeling spiritual energy or letting go.
He stood there frozen, like a sculpture.
"…What in the world?" Song Changsheng blinked in surprise. "I was only gone for a bit, and they're already locking eyes like that?"
Sensing the situation, he wisely chose not to interrupt and stood at a distance.
But strangely enough, neither of them seemed to notice him at all.
He was less than five meters away. No way they hadn't sensed him; these were two Foundation Establishment cultivators, not ordinary mortals.
"What are they even staring at? You guys gonna do something or just keep gazing into each other's souls?" Song grumbled inwardly.
After waiting a full fifteen minutes with no change, he finally cleared his throat and said:
"Lady Xia, you're awake. How are you feeling?"
The two snapped out of their daze as if waking from a dream, instinctively looking away from each other. Xia Wanyun even gave a slight tug, and only then did Xu Yunhe realize he was still holding her hand. Embarrassed, he quickly let go.
A faint blush spread across Xia Wanyun's cheeks as she lowered her head slightly.
Seeing this scene, Song Changsheng couldn't help but sigh inwardly. "Damn, the pace of things these days is insane. I was gone for an hour? And these two already have a thing going on?"
Xu Yunhe, trying to smooth things over, quickly stepped away from Xia Wanyun and said, a little awkwardly, "Brother Song, you're back. Do you need help breaking the formation?"
"It's already done, we're free to leave now," Song replied, raising a hand to his forehead. How could they not have noticed the commotion I made breaking that formation?
"Oh… I see. Then let's head back," Xu Yunhe replied, his expression awkward. He still wasn't sure what had come over him to act that way.
Glancing guiltily at Song Changsheng, he thought, "Hopefully, Brother Song didn't see anything…"
But Xu Yunhe's expression was so telling that Song didn't need to guess. He just smiled and said, "If Lady Xia is feeling well enough, we should prepare to return to Luoxia City."
Xia Wanyun gave a faint nod and whispered, "I'm much better now. I'll be fine."
Song raised an eyebrow in surprise. Is she… shy?
Her demeanor had always been bold, whether it was her clothing, her posture, or her speech. When had she ever acted like a demure young maiden?
"Well, well… What on earth happened between these two?" he thought, intensely curious.
Unfortunately, neither Xu Yunhe nor Xia Wanyun could have answered him because they didn't fully understand what had just occurred.
For Xu Yunhe, the moment their eyes met, time seemed to freeze, and in those eyes, he saw something he'd never noticed before.
Xia Wanyun felt the same.
Yet, when asked what exactly they saw, neither could say. It all felt like a dream.
"I'll take the lead. You take care of Lady Xia," Song said, giving them space despite his suspicions that Xu Yunhe might've made a questionable choice. Still, it was up to them how things played out.
Xia Wanyun had been unconscious for nearly a full day. By now, three days had passed since the auction house incident.
The Ten Thousand Mountains had grown more chaotic than ever. Under the command of high-ranking beasts, hordes of monsters began attacking any human cultivators in their territory. Many couldn't withstand the pressure and fled.
As a result, Song Changsheng and his group encountered no other human cultivators along the way, only two waves of beasts, which Song easily dealt with.
Their journey was surprisingly smooth, and before long, the towering walls of Luoxia City came into view. To avoid being ambushed by the Lieyang Sect, they took a roundabout route and entered the city from a different direction.
It was immediately clear that the city had changed. After the recent turmoil, the streets were quieter, many people had fled, and even more had shut themselves indoors.
"I wonder if Dong Tianxie or the Blood Demon were ever caught."
They'd been cut off from the outside world for some time, so Song stopped a tall cultivator and politely asked, "Fellow Daoist, do you happen to know how many of the City Lord's three bounties have been completed?"
The tall cultivator was initially annoyed at being grabbed, but when he saw Song was a Foundation Establishment cultivator, his tone did a complete 180. "Reporting to senior: the heretic cultivator did come under pursuit, but still managed to escape into the deeper parts of the Ten Thousand Mountains.
"As for the soul puppet, no news has surfaced. Some say it may have been killed by monsters, others think it fled deeper into the mountains.
"But the Blood Demon was slain yesterday by a mysterious Purple Mansion-level cultivator."
Song, initially disappointed to hear that Dong Tianxie had escaped, perked up at the last part. "Mysterious? How so?"
"They said the cultivator called himself 'Hun Wugui', Soul Without Return. In just a few moves, he obliterated the Blood Demon. But strangely enough, he didn't return to Luoxia City to claim the bounty. That reward is still unclaimed."
To kill such a powerful foe and then not even collect the bounty? That was odd, especially since "Hun Wugui" was a name no one had heard before.
In the vast world of Qi cultivation, Purple Mansion cultivators were few and far between. Each one was a household name. Yet this person had appeared from nowhere.
"Strange fellow. Maybe he's an outsider?"
"That I don't know," the tall cultivator said with an apologetic smile.
Song figured there was no more to learn from this man, so he handed him ten spirit stones and sent him on his way.
The group didn't dwell on it much longer. Song looked at Xu Yunhe and said, "Let's escort Lady Xia back to the auction house first."
Xu Yunhe paused for a moment, said nothing, and silently nodded.
Xia Wanyun remained equally silent.
This puzzled Song Changsheng. The entire journey back, Xu Yunhe had been supporting Xia Wanyun, and they'd been much closer than before. Yet, the atmosphere between them felt strangely distant; neither of them had spoken a word the whole way.
"What's going on with these two?" he thought, genuinely confused.
After a moment's thought, he sent a voice transmission to Xu Yunhe:
"Brother Yunhe, we'll be parting ways soon. Are you going to tell Lady Xia your real name?"
Xu Yunhe was silent for a while before replying:
"That's not part of the plan."
"You'd better think carefully. Once she returns to the Luoxia Auction House, you won't get another chance."
"No need to say more, Brother Song. Let's stick to what we agreed on."
Song Changsheng gave him a deep look but didn't press the issue further. The three of them continued in silence toward the auction house.
Although Song had guessed Xia Wanyun held a significant position within the Luoxia Auction House, he realized he'd still underestimated it. Before they even reached the entrance, a middle-aged cultivator with a kind face came out to greet them.
Song had never met this man, but he could immediately sense the devastating power contained within him. This was a powerful Purple Mansion cultivator, no weaker than Dong Tianxie.
But it wasn't the same Purple Mansion cultivator who had chased Dong Tianxie earlier, which gave Song a much clearer sense of just how deep the auction house's backing was.
He and Xu Yunhe were about to bow when the cultivator smiled and waved them off politely.
"I'm Yin Wenqing. You've worked hard, fellow Daoists. Please, come inside so we can talk."
Being called "fellow Daoists" by a Purple Mansion cultivator was an honor neither of them had ever experienced before. They were both a little flustered and quickly replied that they didn't dare accept such praise.
Yin Wenqing led them to the main hall and had them seated, while Xia Wanyun was immediately surrounded by a group of maids and led away. Though it looked like they were concerned about her injuries, Song couldn't shake a strange feeling about the whole scene.
That feeling intensified when he caught a glimpse of Xia Wanyun's expression. She didn't look relieved or happy to be back; instead, her face was cold and detached. And Yin Wenqing hadn't exchanged even a single word with her.
With suspicion mounting, the two men sat down in the guest area. Yin Wenqing was warm and respectful, showing no hint of arrogance despite their lower cultivation level.
"I don't know which families you come from, but the two of you are truly outstanding young cultivators," he said with a smile, motioning for tea to be served.
Xu Yunhe, ever since stepping through the auction house gates, had been out of sorts. He looked completely lost, as if he hadn't even heard Yin Wenqing's question, which was extremely rude behavior. Song quickly stepped in to answer for both of them:
"I'm Song Qingxing, and this is Zhu Yiqun. We're rogue cultivators with no sect or affiliation."
Yin Wenqing's eyes briefly flashed with surprise. "Your surname is Song? And with the 'Qing' character in your name, you're not from the Lingzhou Song Clan?"
Now it was Song Changsheng's turn to be surprised. Though the Song Clan had some regional fame, they had long since fallen into decline, barely worth noticing by a powerhouse like this. Yet not only did Yin Wenqing know of them, he seemed well-informed.
Song quickly responded with modesty:
"I'm from a wandering line of cultivators. It's said my ancestors may have had some ties to that clan, but whether that's true or not, I couldn't say."
"I see," Yin Wenqing nodded, not pressing the matter.
He continued chatting with them warmly, never mentioning anything about the promised reward.
Just as Song began to suspect they might try to back out of the deal, a stern-faced woman came over and whispered something in Yin Wenqing's ear.
Though he couldn't hear what she said, Song saw a shift in Yin Wenqing's attitude; his gaze toward them grew even warmer.
After waving the woman away, Yin Wenqing spoke with a slightly apologetic tone:
"Ah, look at me getting old and chatty, forgetting important matters. You two have done our auction house a great service. Of course, you deserve to be rewarded.
"Tell me what you'd like. Whatever it is, as long as it's within our power, we'll do our best to fulfill it."
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