You are angry

His eyes were a whirlpool of suppressed coldness—a deep, unfathomable vortex where a single lapse in caution would see one dragged into the abyss.

Staring into those eyes, Chang Wan felt an indescribable shiver run down her spine.

However, as her gaze fell upon the fresh wounds covering his body, that trepidation was quietly pushed aside, replaced by a suffocating sense of frustration in her heart.

Chu Changqing’s brow twitched slightly.

“You are angry?” he suddenly asked.

Chang Wan instinctively averted her eyes.

“I am not. I’m going to look at the birdcage over there.”

Watching the young girl stand up in a hurried, flustered manner, Chu Changqing reached out and seized her wrist.

His voice dropped an octave.

“You are angry.”

This time, it was a statement of fact.

Chang Wan closed her eyes and pulled her hand back with forced firmness, repeating, “I am not.”

Yet, just as she turned to head toward the cage, her body was suddenly pulled into an embrace.

Despite his injuries, the youth’s arms were incredibly strong as he held her.

He carried a faint scent of blood, and his body—initially chilled from blood loss—seemed to catch her warmth, growing hot, and within moments, almost scalding.

He held her from behind, his voice low and raspy.

“Why?”

Chang Wan’s body went rigid the moment he held her.

He carried the aura of someone poised between youth and manhood—an assertive posture, yet one that strove to be gentle.

Chang Wan’s voice was just as stiff.

“I really… am not.”

For a moment, her mind went blank, unable to comprehend what was happening.

Just as she hadn’t understood why he had reached out to catch her hand the moment they fell.

That shock had made her forget to even say the words: ‘Release me.’

Chu Changqing lowered his eyelashes slightly.

The girl in his arms was as soft and warm as jade, yet her soul was like the wind—ethereal and impossible to pin down.

He could only glimpse traces of her thoughts in her eyes.

But he could never truly grasp them.

This feeling was, truly, wretched.

“I do not believe you.”

Chang Wan regained her senses and broke free from his embrace.

A flush of crimson stained her fair cheeks, though it was blurred by the shimmering light of the blue crystals beneath them.

“I really… I’m going to see the birdcage over there,” she stammered, fleeing the scene.

Her heart was racing, though she didn’t know why.

The space in his arms was suddenly empty.

Chu Changqing looked up slightly.

Atop the dense clusters of blue Beast Soul Crystals, a massive black birdcage flickered with a cold, metallic glint.

The girl stood upon her flying sword, her white dress pristine as she gazed up at the giant cage.

In that moment, through his hazy vision, the iron wires of the cage seemed to envelop her.

A beautiful cage; a trapped bird with nowhere to run…

His heart throbbed violently.

‘A bird in a cage…’

‘A beautiful bird, singing only for him…’

His bloodline shuddered.

Chu Changqing closed his eyes and picked up a Beast Soul Crystal from the ground.

His elegant, pale fingers contrasted with the translucent blue stone.

Chang Wan didn’t know what these crystals were, but he knew perfectly well.

These were Beast Soul Crystals—items capable of attracting the spiritual energy of heaven and earth to cleanse the bloodlines of spiritual beasts.

Chu Changqing’s brow was tinged with gloom.

A hoard of this magnitude must have been placed here for the spiritual beasts in the mountain.

He recalled the “Beast Soul Chaos” from thirty years ago.

Though he hadn’t been born during that era of turmoil, he had read the ancient records and understood the situation.

While no one knew why the ancient beast souls had eventually retreated, he understood that one day, they would return.

It was a sharp, clear intuition.

An impenetrable Beast Soul Barrier, spiritual beasts raised within it, and Beast Soul Crystals buried deep within the mountain…

The crystal flickered between his fingers, its power swiftly drained until it crumbled into drifting ash.

The blue light reflected in the youth’s eyes, giving him a haunting, demonic appearance.

---

Chang Wan was unaware of Chu Changqing’s burgeoning dark impulses.

She approached the birdcage, only to find it covered in a layer of enchantment.

She reached out to touch it; the barrier was soft, yet it obscured everything inside.

Chang Wan frowned, thinking of that mysterious side mission.

Her intuition told her the key to the quest lay here.

She flew halfway around the cage on her sword and finally found the entrance.

It was a door forged of mithril, hanging from an open lock.

Hesitating for a moment, she thought of the mission, took off the small silver lock, and opened the door.

In the next instant, a violent glare of light burst forth!

It was followed by an aura of extreme danger!

Chu Changqing snapped his head up, the Beast Soul Crystals in his hand shattering instantly.

The next moment, he flashed to the girl’s side.

Countless illusory white birds, carrying a frenzied malice, poured out of the cage like a torrential storm, lunging toward her.

Under the youth’s powerful aura, they were reduced to ash and vanished.

Before Chang Wan could react, her eyes were suddenly covered.

A slightly cold hand, a familiar scent—the overwhelming sense of crisis vanished the moment the person behind her appeared.

Yet, the person behind her continued to hold her in his arms, tightly.

Chang Wan hesitated. “Chu…”

“Don’t move,” Chu Changqing whispered.

Aside from the youth’s shallow breathing, she seemed to hear the piercing cries of many birds, but the sound was kept at a distance by something, sounding far away and muffled.

After an unknown amount of time, he slowly pulled his hand away from her eyes.

Chu Changqing swallowed the blood welling in his throat.

The birdcage’s self-defense enchantment was formidable. Almost…

Chang Wan felt the grip on her eyes tighten momentarily.

She whispered, “Is it… is it okay now?”

Her usual arrogance was gone, replaced by a timid, small voice.

Suppressing his emotions, Chu Changqing slowly released her. His voice was hoarse.

“Yes.”

The moment she regained her sight, Chang Wan was stunned.

The blinding white light had vanished, revealing the interior of the cage.

Inside lay a luxurious crimson carpet, a beautiful bed, and exquisite bells—it was like a grand bedchamber.

However, the master was nowhere to be found.

Chang Wan hesitated and glanced at Chu Changqing. “I’m going in to take a look.”

She was certain the side mission [Cage of the Trapped Beast] was tied to this. Since she was already here, she had no reason to quit halfway.

She stepped inside.

Chu Changqing did not follow.

He stood quietly outside the cage, not stopping her, merely watching.

The girl in the white dress stood on the crimson carpet, searching for something, her expression filled with slight confusion.

Dark desires were being suppressed with all his might, yet they continued to spread uncontrollably.

He might have been poisoned.

The bloodline within him seemed to be boiling, scorching his sanity piece by piece.

Slowly, his eyes began to take on a bloody hue…

---

By the bedside, Chang Wan discovered a rolled-up ancient scroll.

She unfurled half of it: atop a green mountain peak stood a woman in white; by a splashing stream below, a massive white bird with beautiful white flames flickering at the tips of its wings stood quietly, its head tilted up as it gazed at the woman.

The painting was lifelike. Though the woman’s face was blurred, her clothing was detailed and beautiful, and the obsession in the white bird’s eyes was captured with haunting accuracy.

The legendary Immortal Bird, possessing the purest of souls and immense power, had wings of pristine, snowy white.

Chang Wan thought of the legends she’d heard from Li Su and felt a spark of realization.

However, before she could deduce anything interesting, the System suddenly gave a dry notification.

[Male Lead’s Blackening Value +10%]

The abrupt alert left Chang Wan stunned.

She whipped her head around to look at the youth outside the cage.

His black hair draped softly behind him. He was looking at her, his dark eyes now veiled with a faint, bloody mist.

His gaze seemed quiet, devoid of anything strange, yet for some reason, a profound sense of dread rose from the depths of Chang Wan’s heart.

…Something was wrong.

Ever since they entered this Blessed Land, he seemed… a little strange.

Because her hand trembled involuntarily, the scroll she was holding suddenly unrolled completely.

With a rustling sound, the rest of the painting fell onto the crimson carpet.

The long scroll was split in the middle, depicting two entirely different scenes.

If the top half was a warm, artistic piece, the bottom half was a grim, realistic war.

A sea of crimson fire mirrored the carpet below.

The goddess in the white dress looked up at the sky from within the flames.

Above the sky, which was dyed red by the fire, the once-beautiful eyes of the white bird had turned blood-red, staring down at her.

Even the white flames on its wingtips had turned into a frantic scarlet.

The artist must have understood the bird’s heart.

Otherwise, they could never have depicted the madness of its obsession.

Below the painting were two words in wild, cursive script.

[TRAPPED BEAST]

In the next moment, the light and shadows blurred, as if someone were whispering low in her ear.

[…The Immortal Bird must never fall in love with anyone.]

Who was speaking?

Chang Wan couldn’t care about that now.

Her knuckles were pale as she gripped the scroll’s rollers, staring at Chu Changqing outside the cage.

The youth’s fair fingers were already resting on the bars of the cage.

His blood-tinged eyes watched her quietly, almost tenderly.

[To desire and not obtain… is to persist until death.]

The voice in her ear was distant and ethereal, as if it had traveled from ancient times.

But Chang Wan could no longer pay attention to that eerie voice.

“Chu…” Chang Wan’s voice was dry as she called his name, “Changqing…”

Why did the Blackening Value suddenly…

His gaze was as still as dead water, yet somehow, it overlapped eerily with the eyes of the bird in the painting.

---

A bone-chilling, scorching desire, and a thirst that pierced to the marrow.

It made him want to do something to the girl inside the cage.

His pale fingers sank deep into the hard iron wires, yet because of his inner craving, he felt no pain at all.

He must be ill.

The two locked eyes, stuck in a rigid standoff.

Chang Wan didn’t think she would be at a disadvantage if a fight truly broke out, but the problem was that she was inside the cage while he was outside.

If he wanted to deal with her, he didn’t need to do much—he just had to close the door, and she would be like a trapped beast, unable to escape.

When she entered, she had instinctively felt that someone who could catch her when she fell wouldn’t do anything too extreme.

It was a primal sort of trust.

But now, meeting his eyes…

Chang Wan was suddenly afraid.

Just as the fear in her heart began to spread, the youth’s fingertips left cold marks on the iron wires.

He suddenly asked softly, “Are you still angry?”

Chang Wan was stunned.

Those blood-tinged, beast-like peach-blossom eyes were staring at her intently.

He was in pain.

The instincts of the Immortal Bird bloodline were egging him on, his blood roiling and roaring, demanding he lock the person he wanted into a deep cage.

To make her a caged bird that sang only for him.

He desperately wanted to do it.

But…

He had never seen her look at him like this.

In her light brown eyes, there was usually a feigned, pretentious coldness.

This was the first time he had seen eyes filled with such terror.

Her hands were shaking, her body was trembling, yet she was trying her best to look at him with a fragile sort of strength that made one want to destroy it.

—He had truly frightened her.

Chang Wan’s brain was gripped by fear; it took a long time for her to register what he was saying.

He was asking her… if she was still angry.

Because he had grabbed her without regard for himself, causing his wounds to reopen.

Though she was moved, she was also angry that he didn’t cherish his own body.

She watched as his hand slowly, very slowly, retracted from the cage.

The hard, cold black iron wires had left bloody marks on his hand that nearly reached the bone, yet he didn’t seem to care.

In that instant, Chang Wan suddenly felt much more at ease.

He looked at her and repeated, “Are you still angry?”

Chang Wan’s grip on the scroll tightened and loosened, then tightened again.

After a long silence, she slowly said, “A little.”

“But… it has nothing to do with you.”

She hesitated, then looking into his persistent eyes, she added, “I’m just a little angry at myself.”

Chu Changqing wouldn’t let her off. “Why are you angry at yourself?”

His voice was pleasant, yet one couldn’t ignore the suppression behind it.

Chang Wan looked at him for a while, then suddenly changed the subject. “Will you let me out?”

Chu Changqing was relentless: “Why?”

Chang Wan knew that if she didn’t answer this question, she wouldn’t be getting out.

But she wasn’t very afraid anymore.

The words ‘Because you got hurt for me’ were things she felt she couldn’t say.

She hesitated for a long while. “Perhaps… I feel that I am still very weak.”

Chu Changqing felt as though he were possessed.

He, who always prioritized profit, could have used this opportunity to ask many other questions—about her true purpose, or what lay behind her incomprehensible behavior.

But in the end, he only wanted to ask her why she was unhappy that he had caught her.

“Very weak?” Chu Changqing looked at her.

Chang Wan carefully hid her thoughts. “Yes. I just feel… it’s useless of me to step into thin air and fall like that.”

Chu Changqing watched her for a long time before finally saying:

“It is indeed quite useless.”

Chang Wan: “…”

---

The moment she picked up the scroll, the System notified her that the [Cage of the Trapped Beast] mission was complete.

Though she didn’t quite understand why the mission was so bizarre, she couldn’t stop brooding over the words that had appeared.

The bloodline of the Immortal Bird…

Although she had read the original work, the System might have altered her memories to force her to buy plot details.

Her memory of certain key points had become blurry, making it difficult to proceed without spending points.

But she could vaguely guess that the mysterious bloodline of the male lead—the one she couldn’t quite remember—should be the Immortal Bird.

Though Chu Changqing’s reaction here seemed a bit strange, she had intended to take him away, but he insisted on staying there to cultivate.

She couldn’t win the argument, so she let him be.

After all, the spiritual energy of the Beast Soul Mountain was very dense, and she couldn’t find another place as safe and suitable for him to recover for the time being.

The other thing she found odd was that the increased Blackening Value didn’t seem to affect the male lead.

When she asked the System, it remained as silent as a mute, offering nothing but a meaningful silence.

Unable to find a clue, Chang Wan simply let it go.

Having sent Chu Changqing away from the Qingfeng Sect, she had just caught her breath.

But before she could rest for long after returning to the sect, a mess of troubles came pouring in.

First, with Li Su and Shen Cong as precedents, even more people wanted her guidance.

For a time, the gates of her Elder’s Hall were crowded with thirsty scholars who couldn’t be driven away, all believing that Elder Chang was a kind-hearted soul behind a cold exterior.

This wasn’t a big deal.

Chang Wan simply had someone make N-copies of the content on her jade slip regarding “Inner Demons and Tribulation Transcendence,” selling each for thirty high-grade spirit stones.

The sales were booming, and she made a killing.

It was a vivid demonstration that even a great philanthropist needs to eat.

While the first matter was easily resolved, the second was not so simple.

Elder Xia proposed to the Sect Leader to expand the Qingfeng Sect’s territory by breaking the Beast Soul Barrier of the nearest mountain to turn it into a new cultivation site.

Chang Wan, who had just moved Chu Changqing there, never expected that Elder Xia—who usually stayed quiet—would suddenly pull such a move.

She had wondered why he hadn’t reacted after stalking her; it turned out he was saving up this big move for her!

But hadn’t they said a few days ago that the Sect Leader and Xia Du were going south? Why hadn’t they left yet?

Chang Wan pondered. Both Xia Du and herself were in the Spirit Solitude stage.

If it were just Xia Du alone, he certainly wouldn’t be able to destroy the Spiritual Mountain protected by the Beast Soul Barrier… they would surely have to involve the Sect Leader.

Chang Wan looked at her hand.

She was currently under suspicion, so she definitely couldn’t go see the Sect Leader directly. So…

Chang Wan thought of someone.

---

Spiritual Mountain.

The crystals that should have been emitting a shimmering blue light had all turned to ash.

The birdcage swayed. All the wounds on the youth’s body had healed.

His pure black eyes were stained with a vivid red, appearing somewhat demonic.

The Immortal Bird bloodline began to tremble as endless burning desire and thirst erupted.

The Double Fish Jade Pendant on his chest grew scalding. He gripped it lightly, and in an instant, a flood of fragmented memories began to resurface.

Chu Changqing’s pupils shrank.

The next moment, his figure blurred, and he appeared outside the Spiritual Mountain.

Under the intense pressure, the spiritual beasts howled timidly.

As his massive aura radiated outward, the spiritual beasts within the barrier began to wail in agony.

Their flesh and bone emitted a strong spiritual light, and the weather between heaven and earth shifted violently.

The spiritual beasts were actually beginning to transform into the forms of ancient divine beasts!

They roared and wailed, dragging their evolving bodies as they slowly knelt in submission to a single person.

---

The wind was gentle.

Chang Wan went directly to the Talisman Ignition Peak.

This was the peak of the mute Elder Qiu.

When she went to pay her respects, the disciple at the gate refused her with a troubled expression.

“Elder Qiu is unwell and cannot receive guests… Elder Chang should please head back.”

Chang Wan frowned. She couldn’t just head back; she was counting on Elder Qiu to say a few words to the Sect Leader.

Just as she was about to say more, the disciple seemed to receive a message.

He hesitated, then said to Chang Wan, “Elder Qiu asked me to tell Elder Chang that the cherry blossoms at Yujun Mountain have bloomed. He is unwell and truly cannot receive guests…”

Chang Wan was somewhat baffled as she was sent back down the mountain.

He wouldn’t see guests because the cherry blossoms bloomed?

And this really wasn’t the season for cherry blossoms to bloom, was it?

Besides, Yujun Mountain… wasn’t Yujun Mountain Elder Xia’s territory?

Chang Wan’s footsteps suddenly faltered.

She suddenly remembered… back in the Sage Hall… that mute person seemed to have said something similar.

[A face like cherry blossoms in August.]

Cherry blossoms… did they have some special meaning?

So, as expected, that mute was Elder Qiu.

Chang Wan remembered the Yellow Talisman Paper Elder Qiu had given her, which the System called a mission item.

She took it out to look.

Her recent studies of arrays and strange arts had allowed her to figure out a few tricks, and she vaguely understood some techniques.

She hadn’t thought of this talisman while studying, but looking at it now, this mission item was certainly not simple.

Chang Wan smeared her spiritual energy onto it.

As expected, the writing on the talisman faded, replaced by scarlet characters.

[August 5th, Hour of the Ox, Yujun Mountain, Night Cherry Blossoms.]

Chang Wan stared at the paper, dumbfounded.

So the other person had sent her a little note long ago, but she had been too stupid to realize.

No wonder the mute had said such strange things in the Sage Hall.

Holding the note, Chang Wan couldn’t make up her mind.

So the situation was that Elder Qiu wanted a private rendezvous with her under the night cherry blossoms…?

They say “when the moon reaches the willow tops, people meet after dusk,” but meeting at the Hour of the Ox was really a bit too late, wasn’t it?

Holding the note, she thought that even though she needed something from Elder Qiu, in the middle of the night…

Just as she was wavering, the System suddenly chimed.

[Ding! Commencing Side Mission: Night Cherry Blossoms of Yujun.]

Chang Wan’s brow twitched.

Fine, no need to hesitate now.

‘Just great.jpg’

---

“Elder Chang’s behavior at the Beast Soul Mountain a few days ago was suspicious,” Xia Du said gloomily.

“She must have found a way to hide that little brat inside the mountain.”

Qi Bing was painting.

He was painting oleanders.

The sap was highly poisonous, yet the flowers were beautiful.

The brush, soaked in thick ink, depicted the details of the leaves and branches with lifelike precision.

Qi Bing’s voice was gentle.

He wore green robes, his features handsome and tender. “And?”

Elder Xia’s voice was dark. “Sect Leader…”

“There is no need to make a fuss about this.”

Qi Bing set down his brush. “As for the Beast Soul Mountain, I have my own plans.”

“Is that so?”

Elder Xia was a bit anxious. “Elder Chang must have ulterior motives…”

Qi Bing let out a light chuckle and glanced sideways at Xia Du.

“Elder Xia, just do what you are supposed to do.”

Meeting Qi Bing’s gaze, Xia Du’s voice faltered. Finally, he went quiet and withdrew.

Qi Bing looked at the completed painting of oleanders, his gaze unreadable.

Finally, he gave an ambiguous smile.

He picked up a pen, wrote a letter, tied it to the leg of a spirit pigeon, and let it fly into the horizon.

Ah Wan intended to “hide a beauty in a golden house” in a secret place like the Beast Soul Mountain.

If he were to intervene directly, wouldn’t he just cause the lady distress?

Qi Bing watched the distant spirit pigeon, a layer of frost appearing in his eyes that were usually as warm as a spring breeze.

---

“August 4th.”

Chang Wan tore a page from the calendar and pursed her lips.

The appointed date was tonight; she had to find a way to make the meeting.

The original owner didn’t have a calendar in her room—the days of cultivators were always long—but Chang Wan couldn’t keep track of the dates, so she had bought one during a shopping trip.

The rumors about conquering a Beast Soul Mountain to use as a Blessed Land were spreading more and more fiercely, obviously coming from Elder Xia’s peak.

However, the Sect Leader hadn’t made any moves, so she couldn’t gauge his attitude.

If they really were to attack that mountain, the Sect Leader would surely consult with the three Great Elders.

As long as Elder Qiu stood on her side, then the chances…

Chang Wan gripped the white paper in her hand.

Just as she was thinking about how to persuade the other party, Qiu Hu knocked on the door.

“Elder Chang, the Sect Leader summons you.”

Chang Wan’s heart skipped a beat, but she quickly steadied herself. “I’m coming.”

This time, Sect Leader Qi did not call her to the meeting hall, but to a small courtyard.

This courtyard was built against the mountain in the Qingfeng Sect, surrounded by dense bamboo forests and a slow-flowing stream—very atmospheric.

The young man stood with his hands behind his back in front of a small pavilion, looking at the mist-shrouded distant mountains.

Chang Wan stood still. “Sect Leader Qi.”

Qi Bing turned to look at her and gave a faint smile. “You’ve come?”

“Yes.”

Chang Wan didn’t know what to say, so she just responded and fell silent.

Qi Bing didn’t find it awkward, casually starting a conversation.

The two of them talked about everything from the landscape of Qingzhou to its culture.

Though Chang Wan knew nothing about it, she managed to hold her own under the System’s “cheating,” and nothing went wrong.

Except for one thing… Chang Wan felt that Qi Bing was… testing her.

“They say the persimmon cakes in Qingzhou are quite good.”

Qi Bing set down his teacup. Only then did Chang Wan notice a plate of persimmon cakes on the table.

“You’ve taken a liking to visiting mortal towns to buy snacks lately. I thought it was interesting, so I brought some back when I went out a few days ago.”

Chang Wan’s heart went cold, but her expression remained unchanged.

“…Mortal things carry impurities; it’s best to eat them sparingly.”

He knew where she went… was he monitoring her in secret?

“I thought so too, but I found it quite interesting to try them once in a while.”

Qi Bing’s eyes were full of smiles, then he mentioned seemingly at random:

“Ha, let’s not talk about food. Elder Xia recently mentioned that Spiritual Mountain shrouded by the Beast Soul Barrier to the south. He feels his own peak is too small and wants to claim that one for himself…”

Chang Wan couldn’t help but complain in her heart.

Elder Xia’s Yujun Mountain stretched for dozens of miles.

His disciples couldn’t even fill all the dog holes in that ten-mile radius, yet he claimed his peak was small? He certainly had a thick skin.

“What do you think?” Qi Bing paused and sized up Chang Wan.

Chang Wan remained expressionless. “I want it too. Reporting to the Sect Leader, I also feel my peak is quite small.”

He had expected that, being under suspicion by Elder Xia, she would be somewhat evasive.

He hadn’t expected her to be so blunt, which surprised him.

Chang Wan kept her face neutral as she let him observe her.

Under her white dress, the girl’s figure was graceful, her features somewhat cold.

Qi Bing watched her for a moment, then suddenly smiled. “Good.”

Chang Wan was stunned by the response.

Qi Bing picked up his teacup, gently brushing away the tea foam.

His long eyelashes cast a fine shadow under the sunlight.

“This is the first time Ah Wan has asked me for something.”

“Even if it were the stars, I would give them to you.”

---

When Chang Wan went down the mountain, she could only find four words to describe her state:

‘Forcing calm, fleeing in panic.’

She hurried down the mountain and unexpectedly bumped into someone.

The youth fell to the ground, the oranges and fruits in his hands scattered everywhere.

He wasn’t angry, though; he just stared blankly up at her.

Chang Wan was startled. Without even looking at who it was, she quickly knelt to help him pick up the fruit.

“Sorry, I was in a hurry…”

Halfway through, a shadow suddenly leaned in.

Feeling something was wrong, she looked up, only to feel a cool sensation on her cheek.

The texture through the bandages was a bit coarse.

Chang Wan finally saw who it was.

The youth’s dark eyes were pure and clean, and his clothes were a bit dirty, but the butterfly-knotted bandages on his hands were spotless.

He touched her face as if lost in thought.

Chang Wan’s voice caught in her throat. After a long while, she whispered, “…Shen Cong?”

The youth didn’t respond. He withdrew his hand, lowered his eyes, and picked up the fruit.

Chang Wan was at a loss. “You… why are you suddenly here?”

This wasn’t the Back Mountain; this was a peak near the Sect Leader’s Wind Spirit Mountain, not close to the back at all.

The youth didn’t answer. He picked up his fruit and turned to leave.

“Hey, where are you going?” Chang Wan couldn’t help but ask.

Shen Cong didn’t answer, disappearing in a few flashes.

As Chang Wan was wondering about this, the Sect Leader’s voice came from behind her.

“What are you doing there?”

—When did the Sect Leader get behind her?

Chang Wan was instantly uncomfortable. She tried to make her voice sound cold.

“Nothing, just a spiritual beast dropped some fruit.”

Qi Bing looked at the crushed fruit on the ground, his gaze carrying a hint of inquiry, though his voice remained gentle.

“Is that so?”

Chang Wan felt uneasy about how easily Qi Bing had granted her the Spiritual Mountain.

She paused and tested the waters: “I just didn’t want Elder Xia to get something for nothing. Since you’re so kind, Sect Leader, I actually don’t lack a peak like the Spiritual Mountain for now. I suppose there’s no need for you to expend the effort to break the barrier.”

Qi Bing smiled and agreed.

The Sect Leader actually agreed?

That easily?

Chang Wan couldn’t help but look over.

The young man’s features were plain, but a gentle smile hung on his lips, as if he trusted her completely without any suspicion.

---

When Chang Wan returned to her room, she was restless.

She didn’t understand why Qi Bing had so easily allocated the Spiritual Mountain to her.

If he really didn’t suspect her of harboring a fugitive… let alone her, even a ghost wouldn’t believe it.

And… he didn’t want to break the barrier at all?

Why?

No matter how she thought about it, she couldn’t find a clue.

The Beast Soul Barrier was indestructible.

Unless several Nascent Soul masters attacked it together, it was impossible to break.

Although Qingzhou was one of the Nine Provinces, it was a small place after all.

Those in the Spirit Solitude stage were already in high positions, and Nascent Soul masters could be counted on one hand.

If Qi Bing wanted to attack the Beast Soul Barrier, he would surely have to ask two Nascent Soul friends for help… but there hadn’t been any rumors at all.

So what exactly was Qi Bing planning…?

---

Spiritual Mountain.

A group of suspicious-looking people were breaking an array outside the Spiritual Mountain.

The Nine Provinces were vast; everyone had their own way of following the Dao, and there were naturally many eccentrics.

While breaking the Beast Soul Barrier by force required several Nascent Soul masters or higher, there were also experts knowledgeable in “devious paths” who could get inside by cracking the barrier.

However, where there were advantages, there were also drawbacks.

This devious path treated the symptoms but not the cause; it could only break the barrier for at most three days.

After three days, it would condense again.

Therefore, if one wanted to use the Spiritual Mountain as a peak, they still needed a Nascent Soul master to break it by force.

“Success!”

A square-faced Taoist with a goatee finished drawing the array.

The next moment, the shimmering blue Beast Soul Barrier appeared.

A look of joy appeared on his face. With a push and a swipe of his hand, a hole suddenly appeared in the blue barrier!

“It’s broken!”

The next moment, a round-faced man in green on the other side said coldly, “Go and search. Once you find the person, kill them on the spot.”

Countless men in black then swarmed through the opening!

The man stroked his goatee and squinted his eyes slightly.

“I can only help you this much, Brother Qi…”

---

Chang Wan tossed and turned, unable to sleep.

Though she hadn’t intended to sleep anyway, for some reason, there was always a part of her heart that was unsettled.

It was just as well that she couldn’t sleep; she had to go to Yujun Mountain in a bit anyway.

She simply got up and asked the System, “What time is it?”

System: [Hour of the Pig.]

Chang Wan suppressed the inexplicable unease in her heart and tried to convince herself to relax.

She got up to change her clothes and head to Yujun Mountain.

Originally, she was going to see Elder Qiu because of the Spiritual Mountain matter, but that had been strangely resolved… or had it?

But since it was a Side Mission from the System, she thought she might as well go and take a look.

Elder Xia’s territory stretched for over ten miles, and Yujun Mountain was one of the peaks.

Though she couldn’t understand why Elder Qiu would choose this place, she had carefully asked around about where the cherry blossoms were.

As it turned out, there were indeed cherry blossoms.

They bloomed in August, on a high cliff on Yujun Mountain.

Chang Wan arrived early and couldn’t help but marvel.

The night cherry blossoms were flourishing and beautiful, set against the stars and the crescent moon.

Even the petals seemed to glow with a delicate pink light.

When the night wind blew, the drifting petals would fly down the ten-thousand-foot cliff, vanishing without a trace.

Chang Wan retracted her flying sword and landed on the high cliff.

She had expected to meet the mute youth with eyes like crescent moons, but that was not the case.

Under the ethereal cherry blossoms, there was a wooden wheelchair facing away from her.

Cherry blossoms drifted down onto the person in the wheelchair, lending a touch of inexplicable tenderness.

For a moment, Chang Wan was lost. She tentatively called out, “Elder Qiu?”

She saw the wheelchair slowly turn around.

A young girl in a pink dress, her features exquisite yet fragile, looked over at her with eyes as transparent as glass beads.

Her pale face reflected the moon’s light, looking as if she were a cherry blossom herself, liable to wither away at any moment.

Chang Wan was momentarily stunned.

What stunned her was not just the sudden appearance of the girl, but the fact that she realized at once—this person was not a cultivator, but a mortal.

Yet, the moment she saw this person, a warm emotion surged in her heart.

She instinctively felt… this person was close to her.

Who… was this?

She couldn’t quite figure it out, so she stood still and didn’t speak.

The girl, however, sized her up bit by bit, carefully, as if she wanted to imprint her features into her heart and carve them into her soul.

After a long while, she said, “Sister, you’ve grown much thinner since the last time.”

Sister?!

A flash of realization hit Chang Wan—this was this body’s younger sister!

But why would the original body’s sister be here…?

Elder Xia. Right, this was Elder Xia’s territory.

No wonder Elder Xia had used her sister to threaten her.

“Has there been a lot of trouble in the sect lately that’s made things difficult for you?”

The girl coughed twice, her face turning even paler. “Sister, don’t overwork yourself.”

The more she said, the more likely she was to make a mistake, so Chang Wan simply remained silent, watching her quietly.

The girl didn’t seem to mind her silence, softly advising her not to overwork herself with sect matters, to take good care of her health, and not to worry about her.

Finally, those glass-like eyes looked at her and whispered, “A-Li hopes that Sister can become a kind and upright person…”

Chang Wan was startled.

The young girl’s body was weak, yet her eyes contained a soft starlight.

“Don’t live in hatred.”