Naive

By now, the sky had turned completely dark, and the courtyard suddenly became quiet and lonely.

For some reason, Song Yao felt like a lonely old person left all by themselves after the bustling and noisy Spring Festival. She blinked her eyes and went back to sit on the rocking chair.

It was still strange.

How could the relationship between Fourth Junior Brother and Fifth Junior Sister be this bad?

Fifth Junior Sister's state was because her love threads had been gouged out, but what about Fourth Junior Brother?

This look of wanting to strangle each other and ensure the other had no place to be buried was simply terrifying.

Where did such a horrific and deep-seated hatred between the two of them come from?

Could it be that after her death, Fourth Junior Brother suddenly discovered that the true killer of his parents was actually Fifth Junior Sister?

It was possible.

But if that were truly the case, Fourth Junior Brother shouldn't have been searching everywhere for Fifth Junior Sister's whereabouts before.

Could it be...

They had some romantic grievance in the past?

No, that wasn't right.

Fifth Junior Sister already had a fiancé before this, so she shouldn't have changed her mind so quickly.

It couldn't be that Fourth Junior Brother had taken a liking to Ye Chang'an, right?

As soon as this thought popped up, Song Yao found it ridiculous and silently shook her head.

Not appropriate, definitely not appropriate.

She looked in the direction Fifth Junior Sister had left, then reached out to touch her sash.

Just now, when Fourth Junior Brother was straightening her peace jade pendant, he seemed to have stuffed something into her sash.

She pulled it out to take a look; it was a few talismans.

Oh?

Song Yao lowered her eyes and thought for a moment. She channeled her spiritual energy into the talismans, and a sudden burst of light flared. The red thread around her ankle unraveled and fell away.

She was surprised, and couldn't help but give Xie Zhou a thumbs-up in her mind.

Excellent.

Very thoughtful.

Just what she needed.

She tied the red thread to the rocking chair to keep it from being blown away by the wind, concealed her presence, and quietly slipped out of the main hall to see what was happening outside.

Following the noise to its source, she found a hilltop, lay flat, and looked down.

Below, several Taiqing Pavilion cultivators lay scattered on the clearing, their faces sallow and dark, their breathing weak.

Rows of expressionless puppets stood silently around them, presenting a terrifying sight in the dark of night.

Wen Tang stood in the center, her face completely devoid of any lifelike color. Her slender fingers casually toyed with a doll wrapped tightly in red strings.

With her eyelids half-drooped, she looked down on the people from the Taiqing Pavilion. When she spoke, her voice was cold and indifferent. “To think he could control me with something like this. Ye Chongguang has lived for so many years, yet how is he still so naive?”

The Taiqing Pavilion cultivators were unable to move, their bodies trembling uncontrollably. Their eyes were filled with bone-deep terror, and they didn't even dare to breathe too loudly.

The Seventh Elder, Ye Yu, propped himself up with his broken longsword and managed to crawl up from the ground. Dark blood dripped from the corner of his mouth, and his voice shook out of tune, yet he still forced himself to bluster, “Wen Tang! If—if you know what's good for you, hand over the Young Master immediately! Otherwise... otherwise, you will be making an enemy of the entire Tianshu Realm!”

Before he could finish, Wen Tang looked up.

Without any warning, a red thread as thin as a hair shot through the air. It was so fast it left only a blur, piercing directly between Ye Yu's brows with a sharp pfft.

Ye Yu's voice cut off instantly. His wide-open eyes trembled violently, as if he were struggling with all his might.

But after a brief moment, the light in his eyes faded. His face, twisted in anger, grew numb and rigid, as if his soul had been sucked out.

Wen Tang gently hooked her finger, causing the red thread to vibrate slightly. “Tell Ye Chongguang, if he wants his son, he must trade his own life for him.”

Ye Yu straightened his back and bowed deeply to her. “Yes, Master.”

With that, he turned and walked with stiff steps toward the outskirts of Black Cloud Mountain. His back was ramrod straight, no different from the string puppets standing nearby.

Wen Tang withdrew her gaze. Her hand suddenly clenched, and the doll wrapped in red thread looked as if it were about to be crushed. But as if remembering something, she loosened her grip, turned her head, and looked toward the rocky cliffside behind her, as if sensing something.

There was no one there.

A black bird was startled into flight.

Song Yao still felt that something was amiss.

Ye Chongguang's sudden and inexplicable move in Black Cloud Mountain was most likely targeted at the Nine Saints Hall.

Now that Wen Tang had completely lost control and his plan had failed, combined with Ye Chang'an being trapped, he would never let things slide. He would definitely look for another way out, and he wouldn't spare Wen Tang, let alone the Nine Saints Hall.

Since Fourth Junior Brother had seemed half-crazed just now, she wasn't sure if he would properly convey the message back to the sect. She could only ride her sword to a high cliff outside Black Cloud Mountain, form a Taoist spell seal from memory, and throw it into the empty air.

This spell was something she had secretly learned from Zhu Zhao, specifically used to summon the Black Bird.

But since so much time had passed, she wasn't sure if the spell was correct, nor did she know if the Black Bird would listen to her.

She waited for a while, but there was no movement.

Song Yao frowned slightly and prepared to try again. Just as she gathered her spiritual energy, a piercing shriek that could split clouds and shatter stones suddenly echoed from the horizon.

Huge black wings blotted out the sky and the moon, and a fierce wind carrying gravel and withered grass from the cliff's edge swept over her. Song Yao was blown back a couple of steps.

Forced to raise her hand to block the wind, she squinted and saw the Black Bird land steadily in front of her. As its massive wings folded, they kicked up a miniature whirlwind. Its round, black eyes curved into two narrow slits, clearly radiating a sense of smug triumph.

Song Yao was instantly exasperated. Crossing her arms, she spoke to it with a stern face to reason with it. “How can you be such a petty bird? I only pulled out a few of your feathers, and haven't they already grown back?”

The Black Bird let out a mischievous coo, clearly delighted that it had managed to turn the tables on Song Yao for once.

Song Yao was completely disarmed now. She reached out to stroke its head. “Fine, fine, I'm sorry. It really was my fault before. Don't hold a grudge against me, okay?”

Song Yao had always been quite a handful, and whenever the human and the bird met, they would always cause a massive ruckus, and most of the time, the bird was the one driven to the brink of a breakdown.

But now, she looked weak and fragile, as if a gust of wind could blow her over. Her downcast eyes looked somewhat pitiful, her voice was soft and gentle, and she had even proactively apologized...

The smug amusement in the Black Bird's eyes vanished. It tilted its massive head, suddenly feeling a bit lost and unsure of what to do.

Song Yao also tilted her head, looking a bit disappointed. “Is that a no? You won't make peace with me?”

Having been tormented by her daily in the past, the Black Bird naturally didn't want to make peace with her, yet its head uncontrollably and very proactively nuzzled against her palm.

Forget it.

As a thousand-year-old divine beast, there was no need for it to hold a grudge against a mere child.

Besides, its master liked her so much.

Furthermore, for someone who used to be so arrogant and wild to suddenly become so gentle and compliant, she must have gone through a lot of hardships.

It magnanimously decided to forgive her. But in the very next second, she grinned and said, “Since we've made peace, go down the mountain and snatch a transmission talisman for me. Make sure it's a high-grade one.”

Black Bird: “?”

Song Yao thought for a moment. “Since you're already going, snatch two flasks of wine, two bags of candy, and two flatbreads for me too.”

Black Bird: “?”

Wait, what?

Did she think it was a wishing well?

Its pity for her was entirely misplaced.

It let out a few highly righteous coos, indicating that it would absolutely not associate with a bandit like her.

Song Yao had no choice but to rummage through her spatial pouch. She fished out a pile of spirit stones and handed them over. “This should be enough. Go on, I'll wait for you here.”

Black Bird: “...”

Was she even human?

Why didn't she go herself?

Song Yao said with complete justification, “I don't even know where they sell them.”