Xi Guxing was a Nascent Soul cultivator, wielding his short sword with unparalleled skill, his sword intent chilling in the blink of an eye.
Mu Zhe only felt a flash of cold light before his eyes, followed by a bloodcurdling scream.
Before he could react, Shen Gurong unleashed another burst of spiritual power, tearing a wisp of black mist mixed with red threads straight from his body.
The black mist twisted and hissed in the air, desperately struggling to escape, but was firmly held captive by Shen Gurong's spiritual power.
Upon seeing the hideous ghost cultivator, Shen Gurong's pupils trembled violently, wishing he could tear off his ice silk and become truly blind.
He trembled imperceptibly, muttering, "Senior brother... senior brother..."
Xi Guxing impatiently said, "Shut up!"
Xi Guxing cleanly sheathed his longsword, tossed out a crystal-clear glass bottle, and collected the plague ghost in the air inside.
Still shaken, Mu Zhe was drenched in cold sweat. He slumped to the ground, staring blankly at Xi Guxing, his gaze finally settling on Shen Gurong.
Shen Gurong's face was deathly pale. His arms hung limply at his sides, his wide sleeves trailing on the ground. He swayed precariously, seemingly about to collapse at any moment—whether from fear or injury, it was unclear.
Xi Guxing sheathed the Plague Demon in his sleeve, glancing coldly at Mu Zhe.
The birthmark between Mu Zhe's brows had returned to its original appearance. Xi Guxing, observing coldly, finally understood why Shen Feng Xue had treated him so specially.
This person was clearly no ordinary individual.
Mu Zhe's body went limp. He staggered to his feet, stammering, "Sect Leader..."
Xi Guxing glanced at Mu Zhe out of the corner of his eye, raised an eyebrow, and said, "Go to Baishang Mountain and find your Martial Uncle Lou. Let him examine you and see what's possessing you."
Mu Zhe's face was pale as he looked at Shen Gurong.
Seeing that Shen Gurong was about to collapse, Xi Guxing simply flicked his sleeve, throwing Mu Zhe out of Fanjiang Residence.
As soon as Mu Zhe left, Shen Gurong could no longer hold back. He coughed up a mouthful of blood, staggered, and leaned against a small table before collapsing onto the bamboo couch.
His white hair fell loosely over his shoulders, landing on the couch.
With a loud thud, he nearly hit his head.
He gasped for breath, his mouth filled with the strong smell of blood, his eyes somewhat unfocused.
Shen Gurong came from a wealthy family and had never even suffered a serious scratch. He had never experienced such pain in his life. His eyes welled with tears, which welled up slightly, and his eyelashes fluttered, almost spilling over.
Xi Guxing looked down at him, took his hand, and channeled a stream of cool spiritual energy into Shen Gurong's spiritual meridians.
Spiritual meridians are a cultivator's lifeline; ordinary people never allow others to touch them lightly. Shen Gurong's hand stiffened abruptly when grasped, and he instinctively tried to pull back.
Xi Guxing said impatiently, "Don't move. Are you looking for death?"
Shen Gurong had no choice but to force himself to relax, allowing Xi Guxing to channel spiritual energy into him.
Shen Gurong stared at him blankly, his mind somewhat hazy. He was too weak to speak, his voice sounding like a soft, pleading whine.
"Would it kill you to help me up?"
Xi Guxing coldly replied, "You deserve to fall to your death—stop talking nonsense, I'm not your master, I don't fall for your sweet talk."
Shen Gurong: "..."
Get lost, you're the one who's being sweet.
Shen Gurong opened his mouth to curse him: "Sect..."
Xi Guxing interrupted, "Shen-shidi, if you call me Sect Leader again, I'll stop, you can wait to die from the pain."
Shen Gurong immediately changed his address: "Senior Brother."
Xi Guxing: "..."
Useless thing.
Xi Guxing's spiritual energy flowed like a bottomless pit into Shen Gurong's battered spiritual meridians, slowly healing his reopened wounds.
After an unknown amount of time, so long that Shen Gurong felt like he had taken a nap, Xi Guxing finally withdrew his hand.
Shen Gurong groaned in pain, his eyes filled with tears.
Xi Guxing glanced at him and said impatiently, "Close your eyes."
Shen Gurong mumbled a "Hmm?"
Xi Guxing: "Tsk."
He probably couldn't stand Shen Gurong's pitiful, affected appearance, so he simply picked up a robe and threw it at Shen Gurong's face.
Shen Gurong: "..."
Shen Feng Xue should have killed this damned Xi Guxing back then.
Xi Guxing snorted: "Your injuries are more serious than I thought. The medicine in Xianyun City isn't very effective. If you don't want to die, you'd better pick a time to go to Xianyun City yourself."
Shen Gurong was trying to pull the robe off his face, but his hands and feet were weak, and he couldn't tear the robe off after struggling for a long time. He simply continued to slump down, weakly replying.
"Your backlash is too severe. I warned you before not to recklessly use your spiritual power. Did you forget what I said?" Xi Guxing casually tossed a small bottle of spiritual medicine onto a nearby table, coldly asking him, "Just who is this little disciple of yours that you're willing to risk so much for him?"
Shen Gurong thought to himself, he's the protagonist, the chosen one, the man who will become the savior of the world.
Even with Xi Guxing channeling spiritual power to nourish his meridians, Shen Gurong was still in excruciating pain, almost writhing in agony. Not wanting to lose face in front of Xi Guxing, he directly dismissed him.
Xi Guxing, feeling Shen Gurong was temporarily unharmed, didn't linger, only saying, "I'll come see if you're dead tomorrow," before leaving.
As soon as Xi Guxing left, Shen Gurong curled up into a ball, unable to stop whimpering softly. Tears welled up from the pain hidden beneath his robes and streamed down his face uncontrollably.
The silk handkerchief was soaked with water; he casually brushed it aside, and it was lost among his clothes.
Shen Gurong was too lazy to search. He groped around and found the spiritual medicine Xi Guxing had left behind, stuffing half a bottle into his mouth.
After taking the medicine, the pain subsided considerably. Shen Gurong's groans lessened. He thought groggily, 'I've suffered so much just to go home.'
Father, Mother.
Brother.
"I want to go home so badly," Shen Gurong thought groggily. "As long as I can go home, I'm willing to be punished by my teacher to copy countless books."
Shen Gurong's mind became increasingly hazy with pain. In his delirium, he vaguely recalled the ending of Shen Feng Xue in the book.
Shen Feng Xue was severely injured after possessing Mu Zhe's ghost cultivator. Even after years of recuperation, he hadn't fully recovered. He was forcibly abducted by the demon-possessed Yu Xinghe and taken to the demon realm, where he was placed in a secret room, where his spiritual energy was forcibly drained from his core day and night.
The pain of having spiritual energy extracted was a hundred times worse than being slowly sliced to death, yet Shen Feng Xue, with an inexplicable willpower, struggled in that hellish torment for ten years before finally being brutally murdered by Yu Xinghe, who had been driven to desperation by Mu Zhe.
Mu Zhe couldn't save him even in his death.
Compared to Shen Feng Xue's fate, Shen Gurong suddenly felt that enduring this pain now was worthwhile.
As long as Mu Zhe hadn't been possessed, murdered his fellow disciples, and imprisoned in the Burial Mound, Yu Xinghe wouldn't have dared to trespass into the Burial Mound and be bewitched by the demonic cultivator, indirectly preventing Shen Gurong's tragic end.
And the culprit imprisoned in the Burial Mound, the demonic cultivator…
Shen Gurong wasn't sure whether Yu Xinghe had become possessed after encountering that demonic cultivator and demanding "that thing" from Mu Zhe, or whether Yu Xinghe was inherently evil.
Thinking about it without reaching a conclusion, he simply stopped thinking about it.
Shen Gurong, in a daze, thought that once his injuries healed, he would definitely make Xi Guxing kill the demonic cultivator to prevent future trouble.
As he thought this, whether from the pain or from exhaustion, he soon lost consciousness completely.
When he awoke again, the pain in his spiritual meridians had subsided considerably. He struggled to sit up and began groping for the ice silk on the bed with both hands.
He groped around blindly for a while when suddenly someone beside him said, "Feeling better?"
Shen Gurong looked up but only saw a vast expanse of white mist.
The person placed the ice silk in his hand. Shen Gurong was slightly startled, then raised his hand and bound the ice silk to his eyes. Only then did he realize that the person who had spoken was Xi Guxing.
Shen Gurong mumbled, "Much better."
Xi Guxing sat down without ceremony, mocking, "I was thinking about how I'd explain to Master if you died. I came up with a bunch of excuses, but none of them worked."
Shen Gurong was getting used to Xi Guxing's sharp tongue and didn't pay it any mind. He glanced outside.
It was already dawn.
"How's Mu Zhe?"
Xi Guxing scoffed, "You're half-dead yourself, and you still have the leisure to care about others? — He's alright. That ghost cultivator should be the one wreaking havoc in Youzhou."
Shen Gurong thought about the approximate location in the book: "Youzhou? Isn't it far from here?"
Xi Guxing took out the Azure Jade Essence, waved his hand, and a map of the world unfolded before him.
“Youzhou is at least a thousand miles away from Jingzhou, so it’s strange that the plague demon appeared here.” Xi Guxing pointed to Youzhou on the Kunyu Map. “I heard from Li Suo that when the plague demon arrived at Changying Mountain, it was too weak to maintain its human form. Even though we killed it, it still possessed Mu Zhe and its cultivation increased greatly. If you had acted even half a step later yesterday, the plague demon would definitely have possessed Mu Zhe.”
Shen Gurong raised an eyebrow: “What do you mean?”
“Don’t you think there’s something wrong with Mu Zhe?”
Shen Gurong thought to himself, naturally, it’s because he’s the chosen one.
Seeing him fall silent again, Xi Guxing suddenly said impatiently, "What are you hiding from me?"
Shen Gurong looked up at him. "What?"
"When you took Mu Zhe as your disciple, no one agreed. But you insisted, almost getting into a fight with your fellow disciples." Xi Guxing placed the glass bottle containing the plague demon on the small table and said, "Look at this plague demon."
Shen Gurong didn't want to say more, lest he expose himself in front of Xi Guxing, but the scene in the glass bottle was too strange. He leaned closer to look, and his brows suddenly furrowed.
The ghost cultivator's spirit had mostly dissipated, curled up in a corner of the glass bottle, trembling.
Xi Guxing slightly turned the glass bottle, and the almost completely destroyed plague demon actually struggled to move in a different direction.
After trying many times, the plague demon's direction remained north.
Xi Guxing pointed and said, "That's the direction of Changying Mountain—if I'm not mistaken, the reason it traveled thousands of miles from Youzhou is probably because of Mu Zhe."
Shen Gurong's finger trembled, and he looked at Xi Guxing in astonishment.
Xi Guxing's narrow eyes looked at him coldly, carrying a hint of domineering pressure: "Shen Feng Xue, tell me, who exactly is Mu Zhe?"
Shen Gurong: "..."
Shen Gurong was dumbfounded. I want to know too, but it's not written in the book!
The two stared coldly at each other. Just as Shen Gurong was about to give in and make up a story, a series of hurried footsteps suddenly came from outside.
Xi Guxing, seeing that Shen Gurong was about to be forced to answer but was interrupted, immediately became impatient.
He shouted sternly, "Who goes there? Don't you know the rules?!"
Outside, someone knelt down with a thud, screaming, "Sect Leader! Holy Lord! Junior Brother has gone mad!"
Xi Guxing and Shen Gurong were startled, then abruptly stood up.
Changying Mountain, Zhibai Hall was in complete chaos.
All the disciples had been driven out by Li Suo, and the vast Zhibai Hall was shrouded in a transparent barrier. Li Suo must have been afraid of spiritual energy ripples harming anyone, isolating this area.
Yu Xinghe was crying uncontrollably in the arms of a senior brother, utterly terrified.
Xi Guxing, holding Shen Gurong's hand, instantly transported them from Fanjiang Residence to Zhibai Hall.
As soon as they landed, Xi Guxing strode forward, not waiting for anyone to explain the situation, and swiftly tore open the barrier, entering Zhibai Hall.
Just now, Xi Guxing had channeled some spiritual energy into Shen Gurong, allowing him to barely stand. He walked slowly over, his hands tucked into his wide sleeves.
Yu Xinghe, upon seeing Shen Gurong, immediately rushed over, crying.
Before he could even wail, his master gently placed a hand to his lips, his robes falling to reveal a small section of his snow-white wrist, signaling him to be quiet.
"Don't be afraid."
Although everyone feared Shen Feng Xue, in this situation, all the disciples saw him as a savior, their eyes shining as they looked at him.
"Holy Lord!"
Shen Gurong had originally intended to stand by and watch Xi Guxing handle everything, but now, meeting dozens of pleading eyes, he immediately lost the face to wait and watch the show.
He patted Yu Xinghe's little head, and, still feigning weakness, strolled leisurely towards the Zhibai Hall.
Li Suo's cultivation was only at the Golden Core stage, so even though Shen Gurong was severely injured, he wouldn't be stopped by the barrier Li Suo had set up. He easily stepped into the barrier.
The tables and chairs in Zhibai Hall had been blasted into a pile of wood chips. Shen Gurong heard a scream from inside, and then a person flew straight out of the house, crashing heavily into the door frame.
Shen Gurong almost stepped on him and quickly pulled his foot back.
Taking a step back, he finally saw clearly that the person who had just flown out was Mu Zhe.
Shen Gurong: "..."
How dare you hit the minor protagonist, Xi Guxing, you're finished.
Mu Zhe was thin and frail, and due to his physical condition, he had been tormented by Shen Feng Xue for a year. Under normal circumstances, this attack would have definitely made him cough up blood and be on the verge of death.
However, perhaps because he was possessed by a ghost cultivator, he was still able to struggle to his feet after being attacked by Xi Guxing, who was at the Nascent Soul stage.
The birthmark on Mu Zhe's face had completely disappeared, leaving his once youthful face now filled with an eerie, sinister look. His bloodshot, dilated pupils stared into the Zhi Bai Hall like a crazed demonic cultivator, emanating a chilling aura that sent shivers down one's spine.
It was the aura of a plague demon.
Shen Gurong was stunned.
Inside the Zhi Bai Hall, Li Suo lay in Xi Guxing's arms, covered in blood, his life hanging in the balance.
The demonic cultivator, however, seemed to have no grudge against Li Suo. Ignoring even Shen Gurong beside him, he struggled to lunge at Li Suo, completely disregarding Xi Guxing, who could kill him with a single blow.
Shen Gurong's sharp eyes caught a flickering, illusory black line on Mu Zhe's little finger, seemingly always pointing in the same direction.
Xi Guxing's face was extremely grim. Seeing Mu Zhe charging towards him, he sneered.
He abruptly stood up, his wide sleeves fluttering violently as the short sword in his palm emitted a loud hum.
A faint red light flickered on the short sword that had slain countless demons. Xi Guxing, born with a natural sword spirit, possessed a killing intent far colder and more ruthless than Shen Gurong, a mere embroidered pillow built up with spiritual herbs to reach the Great Ascension stage.
The moment the chilling sword intent appeared, it forcibly suppressed Mu Zhe in place, rendering him completely immobile.
The most terrifying thing Shen Gurong had ever witnessed was when he was learning to ride a horse as a child. His reckless behavior had unintentionally startled the horse, causing it to gallop wildly outside the city for a quarter of an hour before being rescued by a passing private tutor.
Shen Gurong dismounted, utterly terrified.
The young master, who could develop a high fever for two days after just one horseback ride, had never witnessed anything like this.
Shen Gurong stood there stunned for a long time. When he came to his senses, he saw Xi Guxing stepping forward with his sword, seemingly ready to finish off Mu Zhe at any moment. He immediately rushed forward, crying, "Senior Brother, don't hurt him!"
The Liren Peak lineage was known for its fierce protection of its own. Xi Guxing, already enraged by Li Suo's injuries, was furious at this unreasonable request. He flung his sword away and roared, "Don't you despise ghost cultivators more than anything?! He's been possessed, and you're still protecting him?!"
Shen Gurong's lips trembled. After a long pause, he forced a calm expression and said, "He's only possessed, not completely taken over."
Xi Guxing, who despised ghost cultivators who possessed others, ignored Shen Gurong's words and charged forward with his sword.
"Shen-shidi, get out of here if you don't want to die!"
"But..."
Mu Zhe, whose cultivation was almost at the Nascent Soul stage, stared coldly at Xi Guxing with his crimson, dilated eyes.
Seeing the impending doom, Shen Gurong immediately tried to stop Xi Guxing, but then remembered that his current body couldn't recklessly use spiritual power. He could only quickly step forward, cowardly yet with his eyes tightly shut, to shield Mu Zhe.
"Senior Brother!"
Xi Guxing's sword intent had already reached Mu Zhe. Seeing Shen Gurong rush forward, his pupils contracted, and he instantly dissipated his sword intent.
A faint whistling sound followed, and the chilling sword intent...
Instantly, it transformed into a gentle breeze, softly brushing against Shen Gurong's face and lifting a strand of his white hair.
Shen Gurong, still shaken, had his long hair flutter slightly before finally settling down.
Xi Guxing strode forward, grabbed Shen Gurong's hand, and yanked it sharply, shouting, "Are you courting death?!"
Shen Gurong's legs went weak, and he nearly fell, managing to steady himself.
He maintained his cold expression and spoke calmly.
No, no, no…
"Don't hurt him."
Xi Guxing checked him over thoroughly, finding no injuries, before releasing him and coldly saying, "Then what do you plan to do, let him be possessed by the plague demon?"
Shen Gurong silently breathed a sigh of relief and handed the glass bottle containing the plague demon to Xi Guxing.
The plague demon inside was already frantically pounding against the glass bottle, as if trying to become one with Mu Zhe.
Xi Guxing glared at him fiercely, muttering under his breath, "If it weren't for your Master protecting you, I would have killed you with a single blow, you bastard!"
As he spoke, he reached out and took the glass bottle, coldly glancing at the still struggling Mu Zhe, before crushing the bottle in his hand.
The plague demon inside was instantly shattered by Xi Guxing's spiritual power, letting out a scream as ashes fell softly from between his fingers.
At the same time, Mu Zhe, who was in a frenzy of rage, seemed to have his soul suddenly ripped out; he staggered and collapsed heavily to the ground.
He lay still.
Although Shen Gurong appeared calm, his legs were actually trembling.
"A scholar! I'm just a scholar!" Shen Gurong nearly lost his balance, on the verge of collapse.
Having fought the ghost he feared most twice in one day, Shen Gurong, if his mental fortitude were weaker, would have collapsed face-first to the ground by now.
He took a few silent breaths before whispering, "How's Li Suo?"
Xi Guxing checked him and said coldly, "He won't die for now."
He picked up Li Suo, glanced at Mu Zhe lying on the ground, and knowing he was no longer a threat, coldly left a single sentence before quickly departing.
"Shen Feng Xue, you must give me an explanation."
Shen Gurong forced a calm expression and nodded.
"Okay, I'll start making things up right away."
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