Chen Qingqiu's phoenix crown was crooked, and her red wedding dress was in disarray. Her face was as pale as paper, and bright red blood kept seeping from the corners of her mouth.
Her eyes were unfocused, clearly on the verge of losing consciousness. Propping up her weak body, she looked toward them, her voice trembling and faint. “Junior Sister Lin...”
Song Yao's heart sank. This was bad.
They had agreed to meet only after the sword dance ended. Why had she come early?
She wanted to step forward and support her, but Zhu Zhao clamped down on her wrist with a death grip, pinning her firmly back against the cold stone wall. She couldn't budge an inch.
Zhu Zhao looked down at her, coldness swirling in her eyes. Her voice fell heavily. “You're helping her escape her wedding?!”
In the darkness, an indescribable bitterness flickered in her eyes, her words muffled by the night wind. “Do you have any idea how much trouble this will bring you? Don't you know what kind of situation you're in right now?”
“Why must you always play the hero?”
“Just how many people do you want pining after you?”
Song Yao froze, momentarily left speechless by her words.
But hearing the meaning behind her words, it seemed she had no intention of fighting. Wanting to avoid a conflict, Song Yao explained as patiently as possible, “Chen Qingqiu paid me.”
Zhu Zhao: “...”
She let out a dry, exasperated laugh, the grip on Song Yao's wrist tightening even further. “Are you short on money? The treasury was never off-limits to you before. Whose wealth on the main peak wasn't yours to spend as you pleased?”
Song Yao retorted, “Well, I don't have access to it now, and I can't even leave if I want to.”
Zhu Zhao suppressed a surge of frustration. “You still want to leave?”
Song Yao: “...”
Of course she wanted to leave. Her wrist was about to be snapped in half.
Had Zhu Zhao lost her mind?
What on earth was she rambling about? The conversation was getting stranger by the second.
As she was fretting over how to escape, chaotic footsteps and shouting drew closer from the other side of the high wall. Flickers of firelight began to scale the top of the wall.
A sharp shout suddenly rang out from above: “Over here!”
Zhu Zhao's grip on her wrist loosened slightly. Seizing the opportunity, Song Yao immediately broke free. She dashed to the side of the collapsing Chen Qingqiu, raising her hand to summon the Bishui Sword, which steadily caught her.
Then, using the forest terrain to her advantage, she fled.
Having flown quite a distance, she didn't forget to throw a bone to Zhu Zhao, shouting back, “We'll settle our score another day! Once this is done, I'll split the money with you fifty-fifty!”
Her words drifted away in the night wind, and in the blink of an eye, the two of them and the sword vanished into the deep, dark forest.
Zhu Zhao froze.
The score between them.
So they actually still had a score to settle.
She glanced in that direction, weighed her options for a brief moment, and ultimately chose not to pursue them.
If she left now, the Nine Saints Hall would be the prime suspect.
Lowering her gaze to hide the bitterness in her eyes, she set up a restriction that would temporarily delay the pursuers before casting a spell to return to the Beiyao Sect.
...
Speeding all the way from the back mountain out of Jiangshui City, the spiritual aura tailing them like a shadow showed no signs of being shaken off.
Sitting sideways on the sword, Chen Qingqiu leaned against Song Yao's chest. Suddenly spitting up a mouthful of blood, she grabbed Song Yao's arm and gasped weakly, “It's Ye Chang'an. He caught me when I was removing the parasite. He tried to stop me, and he's the one who ratted me out...”
With most of Chen Qingqiu's weight pressed against her, Song Yao found it a bit difficult as she had to split her attention between controlling the sword and holding her up.
Hearing this, she focused her senses to carefully examine the presence behind them, her brow furrowing slightly.
It did indeed seem to be Ye Chang'an.
However, his spiritual energy was incredibly dense and solid, and his pressure was far greater than before.
How had his cultivation progressed so much out of thin air in such a short amount of time?
Song Yao hesitated, wondering if she should fight back, but after a moment's consideration, she decided against it.
She had masked her aura earlier, so Ye Chang'an likely didn't know she was the one who had taken Chen Qingqiu.
If they clashed head-on, her identity would be exposed.
Furthermore, there were likely more pursuers behind him. If they arrived to back him up, she would be completely done for.
If she had known, she should have asked Chen Qingqiu beforehand where they were fleeing to and where they would settle down.
With no other options right now, she had to get out of the Beiyao Sect's territory first.
She abruptly accelerated her sword, cutting sharply through the wind.
She managed to put some distance between herself and Ye Chang'an's aura. But just as the border came into view, a sudden disturbance erupted ahead, and two completely different sources of pressure came rushing straight at them.
Oh, no.
They were surrounded.
Leaning against her to regulate her breathing for a moment, Chen Qingqiu managed to muster up a bit of strength. She struggled to sit up straight and said, “The parasite inside me must have still had a breath of life left, allowing Master to track my direction...”
Letting out a soft sigh, she said, “There are ambushes both ahead and behind us. I cannot drag you into this danger. They are after me. Since you have already brought me out of the Beiyao Sect, I will walk the rest of the way myself. Leave carefully, and do not let them see your face.”
Standing up behind her, Song Yao actually managed to let out a chuckle despite the situation. “What are you doing? Trying to ruin my professional reputation? Abandoning a client is something I would never do.”
Chen Qingqiu froze, a sense of foreboding washing over her. “W-What are you planning? Don't be reckless.”
The whistling sound of pursuers from three directions approached from above, and the sharp edges of spiritual energy threatened to strike.
Decisively, Song Yao retracted her sword and pulled the caught-off-guard Chen Qingqiu down into a freefall.
A sudden, intense sensation of weightlessness hit them, causing Chen Qingqiu to shriek. Right next to her ear, the youth's playful, carefree laugh rang out: “Since we can't escape, we'll just have to die for love together!”
A moment later, Ye Chang'an, dressed in his matching red wedding robes, arrived in the air above with the other two groups of pursuers. Looking down at the bottomless ravine shrouded in a thick, white mountain mist, his brow furrowed deeply.
His fury almost burned through his reason as Ye Chang'an gritted his teeth and roared, “Has Chen Qingqiu lost her mind?! What right does she have to run away from our wedding?! Just who is this nobody who dared to take her away?! Did she... did she elope with someone?!”
“She always seemed like a block of wood, unable to say a word, yet she actually did something so shameless!!”
His chest was filled with pent-up resentment and frustration.
Three consecutive marriage contracts ruined, three consecutive girls playing him for a fool and torturing him.
And this time, she had actually run away on the very day of their wedding!
He could already picture how outsiders would gossip about him. The entire Tianshu Realm would likely use him as a laughingstock over tea and meals.
An elderly man opposite him quickly stepped forward to soothe him. “Young Master, do not be anxious. Below is the intersection of the borders of the three sects—the Mist Realm. It is shrouded in thick fog year-round, and the paths are completely jumbled. Those who fall in can never find a way out. They cannot escape.”
Ye Chang'an's anger flared even hotter. “If they can't get out, how are we supposed to catch them?! Get out of my way! I'm going to make sure they learn the consequences of offending me!”
The elder hurriedly held him back. “The Mist Realm is Black Cloud Mountain's territory. The Pavilion Master has already ordered the people of Black Cloud Mountain to search for them. We will surely have their whereabouts in a few days.”
Ye Chang'an froze, his eyes filled with astonishment and confusion. “What did you say? My father ordered the people of Black Cloud Mountain to look for them? Black Cloud Mountain is full of evil cultivators who do as they please and commit endless atrocities. Why would they take orders from him?”
The elder cleared his throat and lowered his voice. “Black Cloud Mountain has now aligned itself with our Taiqing Pavilion. Naturally, they obey the Pavilion Master's orders.”
Ye Chang'an muttered, “Black... Black Cloud Mountain is aligned with us...?”
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