Two Rabbits Running Side by Side, Part 1

Yun Yao had intended to conceal her tracks.
But as she entered the main hall, her eyes met a frail young woman, her neck gripped by Mu Hanyuan’s single hand, dangling like a dying chick, toes barely scraping the floor in a desperate struggle.

A life hung in the balance. In her haste, Yun Yao had no time to mask her presence, sending a sword wind slicing out instinctively.

As expected, the wind struck Mu Hanyuan’s dangling sleeve, halting his attempt to crush the delicate maid in the hall.

Relief washed over her, only to be replaced by rising anger.
Mindful of her disguised identity, she swallowed her reprimands, adopting a clear, youthful male voice. “Such might from White Tiger City’s lord. What reason drives you to stoop so low as to kill a powerless maid, heedless of your status?”

“…”

Mu Hanyuan’s gaze fixed on the dim shadows behind the hall’s curtains.

The intruder had cast a concealment spell, obscuring their form. His first instinct screamed it was Yun Yao, but every probe—figure, voice, aura—confirmed a stranger, a young man, without error.
Had he mistaken her? Was she not here tonight?

The thought frosted his eyes with cold malice, his slender fingers tightening on Xiao Ling’s neck.

“Save… save me…”
Xiao Ling struggled desperately, her arms flailing, reaching toward the darkness for help.

“—”
Yun Yao’s grip tightened on her sword.

To avoid recognition, she’d swapped Naihe for a standard Vermilion Bird Guard blade. But such an ordinary weapon, without full force, couldn’t even graze Mu Hanyuan now.

As she hesitated, Mu Hanyuan yanked Xiao Ling closer, still in his grasp—

He turned toward the shadows, forcing the hidden figure to witness his fingers slowly crushing the trembling girl’s pale neck.
The bronze mask tilted, a cold, thin laugh escaping.

“I kill her because she deserves death,” Mu Hanyuan said, his grip unwavering, eyes locked on the curtains. “And who are you, stranger, to save her?”

Not even knowing the girl’s name, Yun Yao’s heart skipped, but her glib tongue took over. “Can’t I help when I see injustice?”
She paused, leaning into her youthful disguise, adding flippantly, “Besides, such a beauty—how pitiful if she perishes in your hands, City Lord.”

“—”

Beneath the bronze mask, the white-robed zitherist’s eyes narrowed.

“You like her?”

His jade-like fingers tightened further.
He laughed lowly, his gaze chilling. “Then I definitely can’t let her live.”

“Guh…” Xiao Ling’s struggles intensified.

“You!”
Yun Yao stepped forward, nearly crossing the curtains, then stopped herself.

Though Feng Qinglian’s test confirmed Mu Jiutian’s disguise pill masked her voice and aura perfectly, Mu Hanyuan’s gaze gave her the unshakable feeling of being cornered, trapped with nowhere to flee—let alone step into the open.

Seeing this, Mu Hanyuan’s hoarse laugh grew, his eyes gleaming darker. “If we’re strangers, why so afraid to show yourself? …Or do we know each other? Perhaps I know you all too well?”

“…A lord so ruthless to a frail girl—how could I dare show my face?”
Yun Yao’s heart raced, but she held firm.
“I’m just a wandering swordsman, no connection to a great lord like you. I’ve seen this maid in your manor and… took a liking to her. Since you don’t want her, why not give her to me?”

“Give her to you?” Mu Hanyuan’s laugh was almost gleeful.

“…”
Across the half-lit hall, Yun Yao watched him, waiting for a moment of laxity to save the girl—
But even as he laughed, his fingers stayed firm on Xiao Ling’s throat. Yun Yao knew one wrong move, and the maid would die instantly, beyond even immortal salvation.

Her teeth ground in frustration.

Since when had Mu Hanyuan built such an ironclad mental defense?

“If you truly want her, it’s not impossible.” Mu Hanyuan’s laughter faded, his hoarse voice softening as he loosened his grip slightly.

Gasping for air, Xiao Ling clung to his arm, panting like a fish pulled from drowning.
She turned to him, pleading, “My lord… please spare me… I won’t dare again…”

Mu Hanyuan’s lashes flicked, coldness seeping into his gaze.

Noticing his shift, Yun Yao stepped forward. “Hey!”

Mu Hanyuan glanced up faintly. “What?”

“You said you’d give her to me. I’m agreeing.”

The killing intent in his eyes faded, replaced by a slow smile. “So you accept my conditions?”

Yun Yao stepped closer, her Vermilion Bird armor peeking past the curtains.
“Name your terms, City Lord.”

Mu Hanyuan stared at the glimpse of black armor, his gaze dark and piercing, his voice soft as a predator’s lure. “Very well. First condition: step forward… let me see you.”

“…”

Xiao Ling, momentarily freed but still in his grasp, froze. She glanced back at the masked zitherist, then at the shadowy figure with the youthful voice.

Yun Yao’s heart skipped uneasily.
For reasons she couldn’t place, tonight’s Mu Hanyuan felt vastly different from the one she knew in 仙域.

Could her sword at the Absolute Peak have truly broken his heart?

The thought melted most of her anger. She gripped her sword, then released it, stepping forward casually.
The handsome youth’s face was revealed in the flickering candlelight.

“—”

Mu Hanyuan’s eyes sharpened like needles.
He didn’t believe Yun Yao’s disguise could fool him, yet this was clearly someone else.

“I’m here,” Yun Yao said, leaning on centuries of acting before her master and brother, adopting a fearless youth’s stance, sword in hand, arms crossed. “Now, City Lord, will you give me the maid?”

…No flaws.
Beneath the mask, Mu Hanyuan’s brow furrowed, then relaxed. “That was only the first condition. There’s a second.”

“What’s the second?”
His gaze sent shivers through her, as if he’d stripped her armor bare. She snorted, turning away. “Why look at me like that, City Lord? Let’s be clear—I’ve no interest in men. My line’s been single for eighty-eight generations; I can’t break it here.”

Mu Hanyuan showed no anger, his odd gaze lingering. “You just remind me of an old friend.”

Yun Yao: “…”
Nonsense.
Wasn’t she certain this face bore no resemblance to her own?

But her expression remained impeccable. She gave a cool smirk. “Is that so? I haven’t time to reminisce with you, City Lord. Name your second condition. If I can meet it, you’ll give her to me, yes?”

“Fine.”
Mu Hanyuan didn’t glance at Xiao Ling, saying lightly, “She’s my only maid, by my side for a long time, day and night, closer than anyone.”

Yun Yao: “…”
That’s not what you said when you were about to strangle her.

Though she tried to ignore it, “day and night” stirred an inexplicable ripple in her heart.

Mu Hanyuan softened his tone. “If you want her, trade yourself.”

“—?”
Yun Yao forgot her irritation, snapping her gaze up. “What?”

He looked down at her. “Be my personal guard.”

“Redeem her by selling myself?” Yun Yao’s smile was all teeth. “Do I look like a fool?”

“I’ll set a time limit,” Mu Hanyuan said, unwavering, “you decide.”

Yun Yao blinked slowly.
She glanced at Xiao Ling, trembling and pleading with her eyes.

Their gazes locked for a moment.

Then, from beneath the bronze mask, a chilling voice. “Look at her again,” Mu Hanyuan leaned close to Xiao Ling’s ear, his tone almost intimate, “and I’ll gouge out your eyes.”

“!”
Xiao Ling shuddered, tears welling, but fearing his words, she froze, veins bulging on her neck. @Infinite Good Reads, Only at Jinjiang Literature City

Yun Yao couldn’t bear it. She turned away. “Three months.” @Infinite Good Reads, Only at Jinjiang Literature City

“Hm?” Mu Hanyuan’s gaze snapped to her.

“I’ll take her,” Yun Yao said, suppressing her emotions, meeting his eyes coldly. “Then I’ll return to serve as your guard for three months. Deal?”

Mu Hanyuan’s eyes darkened.
After a long stare at the handsome youth, he smiled faintly. “Good, but if you take her and don’t return, what then?”

“Then you’ll just have to trust me, City Lord,” Yun Yao flashed forward, stopping a zhang from him. Her eyes glinted with cold red, whether from anger or vexation, forcing a youthful smirk. “Bet on whether I’ll come back.”

“…Fine.”
Mu Hanyuan slowly released Xiao Ling, pushing her forward.
As Yun Yao caught her, his piercing gaze seemed to stab through Xiao Ling’s frail form.

But the malice and ferocity stayed buried beneath the mask, in the depths of his cold eyes.
He looked at Yun Yao. “I’ll bet.”

“…”

Only after leading Xiao Ling far from the temporary lord’s manor, slipping unnoticed outside Two仪 City, did Yun Yao exhale her held breath.
A night breeze brushed her, revealing the sweat on her back.

“Thank you, thank you, benefactor! For saving my life! I have no way to repay… except—”

*Thud.*
Yun Yao, out of patience for her prattle, knocked her out with a hand chop.
Lifting her, Yun Yao glanced at the raging demonic flames of Skyfall Abyss to the west, then withdrew her gaze, vanishing into the city’s outer darkness.

—

Perhaps Yun Yao’s chop was too heavy—Xiao Ling didn’t stir until noon the next day.

“Where am I…”
Xiao Ling propped herself on the bed, trying to rise, when a flash of light and a cold touch pressed against her neck.
She looked down, gasping, “…Ah!”

“Shh.”

Yun Yao raised her wrist, signaling silence with the sword’s edge.

Xiao Ling nodded shakily, looking up. “Benefactor, what… what do you mean by this?”

“I’m no soft-hearted saint for saving you, and I’ve no patience for nonsense, so this is your reminder,” Yun Yao hefted the unfamiliar sword. “I ask, you answer, no lies, or I’ll send you back to Two仪 City. Understood?”

“Understood, understood!” Xiao Ling nodded like a pecking chick, tears reddening her eyes. “I’ll speak only truth, fully! Please don’t send me back!”

“First, why did… White Tiger City’s lord want to kill you?”

The question made Xiao Ling tremble. After surviving countless near-death moments in a day and night, she had no strength to hide. Half-kneeling on the bed, she wept, “Black Tortoise City’s spies found me, ordered me to assassinate the City Lord.”

Yun Yao raised a brow. “You did it?”

“I… I didn’t dare refuse, or it’d be worse than death!” Xiao Ling sobbed, head bowed. “I served the City Lord tea laced with poison from their spies…”

“Poison a Tribulation Realm cultivator?” Yun Yao laughed, incredulous. “Are Black Tortoise City’s people brain-dead?”

Xiao Ling looked up, teary. “It’s different—it’s the ‘Seven-Day Spring,’ a legendary Demon Realm poison!”

“Seven-Day Spring?”
Yun Yao frowned, turning to the screen. “Heard of it?”

Xiao Ling started, not expecting another presence, following Yun Yao’s gaze.

A faint shadow was visible through the screen.
After a pause, a scoff came. “You’re laughably ignorant. Seven-Day Spring is the most sinister poison of the鸩 Demon Clan—colorless, tasteless, indistinguishable in water. Even Tribulation Realm cultivators can’t detect it. Within seven days, it severs all meridians, fatal. It’s called ‘Immortal’s Tomb.’ But it’s been lost in the Demon Realm for ages.”

Yun Yao turned to Xiao Ling.

Xiao Ling nodded frantically. “Yes, yes, that’s right, as this lord says.”

“Thought you saved a mouse, but it’s a venomous snake,” Feng Qinglian sneered from behind the screen. “If I were you, I’d send her back now, voiding that foolish deal you made last night.”

“B-Benefactor—I didn’t, I wouldn’t kill! I just followed orders to serve the tea! I knew the City Lord wouldn’t drink it!”
Xiao Ling, trembling, clutched Yun Yao’s sleeve. “He saved me once; I wouldn’t harm him… He never touches food or drink handled by others—I knew that, so I served the tea…”

“Enough.”

Yun Yao’s head ached from her crying.
She pushed Xiao Ling’s hand away, sheathing her sword. “The Seven-Day Spring—do you still have it?”

“Y-Yes, one drop.” Xiao Ling shakily produced a tiny glass vial from her waist, offering it to Yun Yao with both hands.

Yun Yao held it up, inspecting the drop that seemed identical to clear water, heart jolting.
“Such a scourge should be eradicated.”
She pocketed it.

Xiao Ling hesitated, then warned softly, “Benefactor, if you plan to… use it on the City Lord, it’s best not to.”

“…” Yun Yao paused, half-amused, half-curious. “Why not?”

“He never touches others’ tea or food. And last night, before I could do anything, he already sensed the poison.”

Yun Yao was about to speak.

“She says that, and now I’m curious,” Feng Qinglian sneered from behind the screen. “Why not try it, see if you can fool the City Lord?”

“…”
Yun Yao resisted rolling her eyes.
She turned to Xiao Ling, who looked terrified, eyes wide. “Ignore his nonsense.”

Xiao Ling nodded timidly.

After more trivial questions, Yun Yao asked her deepest concern. “Vermilion Bird Guards are at the gates, Black Tortoise Guards arrive soon, Skyfall Abyss’s flames to the west, Azure Dragon Guards in Longyi Mountains to the east—your City Lord’s trapped. Has he made no preparations?”

“No, none,” Xiao Ling shook her pale face. “Except the team that attacked Vermilion Bird City, the rest of the White Tiger Guards hold their city… The City Lord seems… completely unconcerned.”

Yun Yao’s brow furrowed.

“Oh, one more thing,” Xiao Ling’s face paled further, recalling something. “The City Lord wants to reopen the Demon Sovereign Hall!”

Yun Yao froze.
Before she could ask, Feng Qinglian shot up, nearly toppling the furniture. “He wants to reopen the Demon Sovereign Hall?”

“Y-Yes… he said so himself.”

Yun Yao glanced at the screen. “What’s with the Demon Sovereign Hall? Why the reaction?”

After a dead silence, Feng Qinglian said coldly, “Ask her.”
“?”
Yun Yao turned to Xiao Ling.

Xiao Ling hesitated, voice trembling. “After the old Demon Sovereign Hall fell, Skyfall Abyss appeared. Two仪 City rumors say reopening the Hall requires a blood sacrifice to the Abyss—ten thousand soul-fire lives.”

“…”

Yun Yao’s eyes shook.

She hadn’t known.
In her past life, had Mu Hanyuan unified the Demon Realm’s four cities so swiftly, reviving the Demon Sovereign Hall and shaking both realms, by sacrificing ten thousand lives to the bottomless Skyfall Abyss?
Before their confrontation at the Immortal Alliance’s palace, had he already wrought such carnage, beyond redemption?

Her heart churned, unable to calm.

With no mood for more questions, Yun Yao glanced at Xiao Ling. “You stay here until this is over.”

“Yes, I’ll obey you, benefactor!”
“…”

Yun Yao set a sealing array, grabbed her sword, and left.

Standing alone in the courtyard, she took a long time to quell her stormy emotions.
Turning to leave, she saw Feng Qinglian waiting under a corridor.

Their eyes met.
After a moment, Feng Qinglian sneered, looking away. “You’re still going—stubborn as ever.”

Yun Yao sighed. “How am I stubborn?”

“Back in 仙域, he was your disciple, innocent of crimes, and you risked everything to save him—I called it deep master-disciple bond, righteous. But now?”
Feng Qinglian’s voice sparked with anger.
“Your bond is severed. He’s White Tiger City’s lord, stirring chaos across the Demon Realm with a single move. And you still want to help him?”

“You know I’m not helping him.”

“But you can’t bear to see him die!” Feng Qinglian’s voice rose sharply.

Yun Yao stiffened, slowly gripping her sword, the mortal iron groaning in her palm. “Of course I can’t…”
She glared at Feng Qinglian. “I saved him from the execution platform, pulled him from a sea of blood, brought him back from the Demon Realm! Back then, everyone thought Mu Jiutian died at Two Realms Mountain, my sect’s eight members all slain but me—and he was all I had left!”

Feng Qinglian’s face paled. “I was breaking through my eighth stage…”

“I don’t care about others! But Mu Hanyuan’s different!” Yun Yao cut in fiercely. “Even if he’s no longer my disciple, he’s still the most important person to me in this world. His punishment pains me, his peril demands I save him, his wrongs are mine to correct—so yes, I can’t bear to see him die. So what?! What’s wrong with that?!”

“…”

In Feng Qinglian’s trembling gaze, Yun Yao loosened her grip on the sword, exhaling, and turned to leave.

“If you don’t trust him or me, don’t wait here. Go back to your Phoenix Immortal Mountain. I’ll retrieve the Phoenix Gall and Chen Jianxue when I find Yu Yan.”

Feng Qinglian stepped forward instinctively. “You’re really going? Even if Mu Hanyuan’s no longer the disciple you saved, even if this is all his trap?”

“…Whatever it is, I’ll go.”
Yun Yao didn’t look back.
“This life, I’ll trust him to the end. If he truly means to harm the world, I’ll end it myself.”

—

A tea’s time later.
Two仪 City, City Lord’s Manor.

Having slipped in the previous night, Yun Yao navigated the manor with ease by day.

Like yesterday, the manor lacked the heavy defenses expected with enemies at the gates.
Unlike yesterday… @Infinite Good Reads, Only at Jinjiang Literature City
She couldn’t find him.

Yun Yao stopped in the empty bedchamber, touching the bed—still warm with a trace of body heat.

Her cautious divine sense, limited outside the city, had clearly placed Mu Hanyuan here.
So why was he gone?

As she debated a deeper probe—

“You’re finally here.”

From behind the bedchamber’s screens and curtains, his cold, lazy voice came, tinged with a bewitching hoarseness, as if softened by mist.

Yun Yao darted past the screen.
Glancing at the bronze mirror to confirm her “youthful” disguise was flawless, she boldly parted the layered curtains, stepping into…
A haze of mist.

Seeing the steamy fog and the youth in the bath, his snow-white hair trailing uncovered across the water’s surface, Yun Yao froze before the curtains.

Snapping back, she turned to leave. “I didn’t know you were bathing, City Lord… I’ll come back—”

“No need. Come here.”
Mu Hanyuan leaned lazily against the azure stone, his sleek back muscles tensing like a predator poised to strike.
Even his eyes glinted with cruel delight.

“We’re both men—what’s there to fear?”