Ye Chang'an: “...”
What was that supposed to mean?
It wasn't enough for this girl to abuse him; she had to humiliate him like this too?
Song Yao had only made a passing remark.
She already felt that Ye Chang'an was not a good match for Chen Qingqiu. The man was wicked and hypocritical; he wasn't worthy of either marrying into her family or marrying her himself.
But after all, it was someone else's business, and in this life, she was just an ordinary little pill cultivator. It was better not to interfere.
She stretched her limbs, redirecting her attention to the Antong Shrine, and called out to Chen Qingqiu and Ming Ran, “The child is the source. Kill the child.”
Those in the thick of the fight couldn't see clearly, but as an onlooker, it was much more obvious to her.
The Child-Protecting Goddess was clearly being controlled by the child on her shoulder. That infant was the root of all evil.
Hearing this, Chen Qingqiu and Ming Ran's eyes narrowed. They immediately redirected their blades, aiming straight for the infant on her shoulder.
As if anticipating their move, the infant opened its mouth and let out a terrified cry.
Receiving the command, the Child-Protecting Goddess abruptly raised her arms, shielding the infant.
Chen Qingqiu had no intention of backing down. Her blade slashed down mercilessly, hacking straight into the Child-Protecting Goddess's wrists.
Her sword cut through the stone like butter, severing the wrists instantly.
Behind her, Ming Ran merged her four swords into a single strike, driving it clean into the top of the infant's head without any resistance.
The infant's mouth hung open, its pitch-black eyes wide with terror, reflecting the cold gleam of the blade.
Its body began to crack from the top of its head, the fissures spreading downward across its forehead, nose, lips, and chin, resembling a poorly fired piece of porcelain.
It then lost all strength and tumbled off the Child-Protecting Goddess's shoulder.
The Child-Protecting Goddess let out a shrill shriek. Ignoring the attacks of the disciples from all sides, she spun around and caught the infant with her remaining intact hand.
Then, she collapsed to her knees.
Her knees slammed into the rubble, gouging out a shallow pit.
Bowing her head, she stared at the infant in her arms with her hollow eye sockets. Bloody tears streamed down, dripping onto the child.
Crying?
The Child-Protecting Goddess was crying?
Chen Qingqiu raised her hand slightly. The disciples behind her stopped their attacks, watching the scene in the center with wariness.
A gust of wind blew past.
The remaining paint on the Child-Protecting Goddess flaked away, revealing the delicate, smooth white porcelain beneath.
Now, she no longer looked like a statue, but rather a young girl with lowered eyes, cradling an infant.
A girl's voice drifted from the white porcelain, soft and filled with confusion: “Whoever wants a child, I grant them a pregnancy.”
“Since men love children so much, why can't men get pregnant?”
“Children are the most important, so I made everyone protect them.”
“Isn't this what they wanted?”
“Why is it wrong?”
“...”
The wind grew stronger.
Fine cracks began to web across the white porcelain. Pieces flaked off and fell onto the ruins, making crisp, shattering sounds until they lay scattered all over the ground.
The sky brightened completely.
The sunlight poured down, illuminating the outskirts of the town.
At the same time, in the distance, the gray mist shrouding Wuzhou City dispersed.
The demon realm had been shattered.
Ye Chang'an, holding the umbrella, curled his lip. “This demon wasn't that hard to deal with. If I didn't have to hold this umbrella for you, I could have also—”
Before he could finish his sentence,
a pale, slender hand reached out from behind him, silently grasping the handle and pulling the umbrella from his grip.
Startled, Ye Chang'an shuddered. He whipped his head around, opening his mouth to curse, “Who the hell walks without making a sound—”
The words died in his throat the moment his eyes met Xie Zhou's.
He had no idea when Xie Zhou had arrived. Not a speck of dust clung to his robes, though his long hair was slightly disheveled by the wind, framing his handsome, cold face.
When Ye Chang'an looked at him, a faint trace of crimson still lingered in the depths of Xie Zhou's eyes, like a lingering intent to kill that he hadn't had time to erase. It looked exceptionally jarring on his usually indifferent face.
However, the crimson tint vanished in an instant, so quickly it felt like an illusion.
Even more terrified now, Ye Chang'an let go of the umbrella and stumbled backward. His heel caught on a piece of rubble, nearly sending him sprawling.
With great effort, he managed to steady himself. His expression shifted rapidly before he hurriedly bowed to Xie Zhou, stammering out awkwardly, “Ugh, S-Senior Brother Xie, what brings you here?”
Xie Zhou spared him a glance but said nothing. Retracting his gaze, he held the umbrella steadily, casting its shadow over the person sitting on the rock.
For a moment, Song Yao didn't realize anything was amiss either. She only gave Ye Chang'an a suspicious look.
How strange.
Why was he so afraid of Xie Zhou?
The two of them shouldn't have had much interaction.
The crowd in the distance rushed over. Seeing their usually aloof Fourth Senior Brother holding an umbrella to shade their Seventh Senior Sister, they were all stunned.
But now was clearly not the time to focus on that.
Ming Ran hurriedly bowed to Xie Zhou. “Fourth Senior Brother, is there any sign of my family members inside Wuzhou City?”
Ning Zhou added anxiously, “We haven't found Sixth Senior Brother, Senior Brother Chen, or those two medical cultivator senior brothers and sisters either.”
Xie Zhou replied, “They are not in Wuzhou City.”
His gaze drifted to the ruins. “They are there.”
Everyone followed his gaze, their brows instantly furrowing.
They had already searched the Antong Shrine earlier and found no one, which was why they had decided to destroy the statue.
Now, with the place reduced to scattered wood and piles of gray rubble, there was even less of a place for anyone to hide.
Could it be...
Song Yao clambered down from the rock, narrowing her eyes as she swept her divine sense over the area. “Start digging. They're underground.”
The advantage of having many people was that the digging went quickly.
The disciples from the various sects went to borrow shovels from the villagers who had already woken up. After clearing away the stones and timber, they worked hard to dig downward.
Rubble and dirt flew everywhere.
Using her status as a pill cultivator as an excuse, Song Yao sat lazily without moving a finger.
After watching for a while, she noticed that Ye Chang'an was also standing idly.
With his arms crossed and his chin slightly raised, he was bossing people around arrogantly, occasionally kicking someone to hurry them up.
Without a word, Song Yao hopped down from the rock, walked over to his side, and casually draped an arm over his shoulder.
Ye Chang'an turned around, his expression still carrying a trace of impatience. But once he saw who it was, his face stiffened, and he became highly defensive. “What... what do you want?”
“Didn't Young Master Ye say he was highly capable?”
Song Yao nodded her chin toward the pit. “Come, show your senior sister what you've got.”
Ye Chang'an's cheek twitched.
This girl was clearly lounging around just now!
Now that she had nothing to do, she came over specifically to torment him, didn't she?!
Double standards!
What blatant double standards!
Fuming silently but not daring to speak up, he fell silent for two seconds. Then, he walked over, snatched a shovel from a Taiqing Pavilion disciple's hand, and hopped into the pit to start digging, resigned to his fate.
Song Yao was indeed bored out of her mind. She trotted over a few steps and squatted at the edge of the pit to personally supervise the work.
At first, Ye Chang'an kept his head down and worked hard, but the more he dug, the more uncomfortable he felt. He sensed several gazes glued to him.
Sensing something, he raised his head and looked toward the source of those stares.
One came from Chen Qingqiu.
The other came from... Xie Zhou.
Chen Qingqiu was his fiancée, so her watching him was understandable.
But why the hell was Xie Zhou staring at him?!
Could he be planning to beat him up again?
Rate on N.U.
