Shen Gurong stood frozen like a stone pillar at the city gate.
His mother had once told him that when he was young, he loved to climb and fell off a table, hitting his head. After that, he had a terrible sense of direction; at his worst, he could get lost even within his own house for half a day, needing a servant to guide him back to his room.
At first, Shen Gurong thought this was just a tall tale. His poor sense of direction was innate; how could it be something he developed from a fall?
But now, he was riding the wind, flying straight in one direction, yet he was still veering off course.
Shen Gurong utterly resigned himself to his fate.
Shen Gurong thought expressionlessly: Why didn't I become mentally impaired from that fall?
In the city of Yuzhou, just a wall away, Mu Zhe suddenly stopped, frowning as he looked back around.
Yu Xinghe, chewing on a candied hawthorn, casually asked, "What's wrong?"
Mu Zhe said, "I think I heard Master's voice."
Yu Xinghe quickly spat out the hawthorn seeds, looking left and right curiously, "Master? Where? Where? Where?!"
The sky was darkening, the evening market in Yuzhou City was open, and the main street was packed with people. Mu Zhe and Yu Xinghe searched high and low but couldn't find their Master anywhere.
Mu Zhe seemed thoughtful: "I must have misheard."
Yu Xinghe was somewhat disappointed: "Alright."
The two continued walking. Yu Xinghe quickly perked up again, chattering incessantly: "My elder sister won several battles the other day! She's the bravest general!"
Mu Zhe, listening to him talk about his sister all the way, frowned impatiently and asked, "Why did your elder sister go to the battlefield?"
Upon hearing this, Yu Xinghe immediately retorted angrily, "Isn't it because those bastards from the enemy country have ill intentions? They've been trying to annex Yuzhou City for ten years! Back then, I was young, and my father was seriously ill. Only my older sister went to war."
Yuzhou City and the enemy state Anyu Dao were both considered mortal realms. Although they bore the name of a prefecture, they were indeed real mortal cities. Wars between the two countries still relied on real swords and spears, resulting in countless deaths and injuries every year. Yuzhou City had nearly fallen several times, and it was only thanks to Yu Xinghe's older sister's heroic efforts that temporary peace was restored.
After Yu Xinghe finished speaking, he added with some grievance, "I... wanted to come back to help my older sister before, and then she beat me up."
Mu Zhe: "..."
So your previous injuries were caused by your older sister beating you up?
“She’s definitely going to be angry again now that I’ve sneaked back,” Yu Xinghe said worriedly to Mu Zhe. “Junior Brother, you have to save me!”
Mu Zhe glanced at him and said indifferently, “Cultivators cannot use their spiritual power casually in the mortal world.”
Yu Xinghe quickly said, “With outsiders around, my sister won’t beat me. You can just come with me.”
Mu Zhe said, “I have things to do.”
“Ah?” Yu Xinghe said pitifully, “Is there anything more important than your poor junior brother?”
Mu Zhe: “…”
Mu Zhe’s feelings for Yu Xinghe were complicated. He deeply resented him because of his past life memories, but every time he saw Yu Xinghe’s foolish behavior, his hatred softened.
“Everything is more important than you,” Mu Zhe said disdainfully. “You go home and get your beating. I have things to do, I’ll come find you when I’m done.”
Yu Xinghe wailed, “Junior Brother, how cruel you are! Don’t do this!”
Mu Zhe ignored his cries and turned to leave.
Yu Xinghe had no choice but to go back and suffer the beating.
Mu Zhe walked to a dark alley, and taking advantage of the absence of others, cast an invisibility spell, leaping to the top of the tallest pavilion in the entire Yuzhou City.
As night fell, he stood high above, dressed in a blue robe, his robes fluttering in the wind. A lantern's light slanted across his feet, highlighting his even more handsome face, now free of the birthmark, making him appear exceptionally cold and stern.
Mu Zhe’s face was ashen. Silently, he spread his divine sense throughout the entire Yuzhou City, searching inch by inch for what he sought.
Jiu Xi transformed into a young boy, sitting on the wide eaves of the pavilion, swinging his legs with a grin. He said, "Great, there's food!"
Mu Zhe suddenly opened his eyes and said, "Let's go."
With that, he leaped down from the pavilion, and Jiu Xi laughed and jumped after him.
Mu Zhe's figure moved like a ghost, swiftly darting across the long street. A moment later, he stopped in a narrow alley. Rain poured down from the wide eaves, soaking his shoulders.
Jiu Xi sat on the wall, propping his chin up, urging, "Hurry up."
Mu Zhe remained unmoved, standing against the wall like a pillar, his handsome face devoid of any emotion.
After an unknown amount of time, a series of hurried footsteps suddenly echoed from the alleyway across the wall.
Just as the footsteps drew nearer to Mu Zhe, he suddenly and without changing his expression, reached out and smashed through the wall. His fingers moved with lightning speed, grabbing a man in the next alley and slamming him against the hard wall by the neck.
A gasp came from the other side.
Mu Zhe didn't even blink. His long, strong fingers gripping the sword tightened, and with a final, powerful pull, the man screamed, then fell silent.
Only when the struggle was over did Mu Zhe release his grip, casually restoring the wall with a hole to its original state. He then slipped into the next alley.
The man he had captured was unconscious, and Jiu Xi was squatting in front of him, drooling.
Mu Zhe glanced down at him, then flicked his fingers, as if he felt his hands were dirty.
"It's a plague demon! How rare! Can I eat it?" Jiu Xi exclaimed.
Mu Zhe looked at him suspiciously and asked, "Don't you only eat Daoist Yuan Pills?"
"Ghost cultivators don't have physical bodies; their entire bodies are Yuan Pills." Jiu Xi licked his lips, his youthful face appearing extremely harmless. He tilted his head and said with a smile, "So, can I eat it?"
Mu Zhe gave him a disdainful look: "Eat it."
Jiu Xi was overjoyed and immediately transformed into a cloud of black mist, completely enveloping the person.
A quarter of an hour later, Jiu Xi returned to human form; the person on the ground had long since vanished.
Jiu Xi tilted his head and said, "I'm not full."
Mu Zhe, leaning against the wall with his arms crossed, opened his eyes slightly upon hearing this and said, "There are thirteen plague demons in Yuzhou City, enough for you to eat for a long time."
Jiu Xi was taken aback for a moment before saying strangely, "Thirteen plague demons?"
Seeing his strange expression, Mu Zhe asked, "How so?"
"This is a very bad omen," Jiuxi said. "Plague demons are inherently evil and malevolent creatures, let alone thirteen."
Mu Zhe frowned.
Seeing that he knew nothing, Jiu Xi quickly put on an air of worldly wisdom, snorted, and said, "Beg me, beg me and I'll tell you why it's such a bad omen?"
Mu Zhe glanced at him, using an unconventional method to "beg" him.
Jiu Xi, clutching his sore head, squatted on the ground, saying aggrievedly, "Fine, fine, I'll tell you."
He paused for a moment, then said, "Have you ever heard of raising plague ghosts?"
Mu Zhe: "No."
Jiu Xi said, "It's about putting thirteen plague ghosts into a sealed city, sealing it with a barrier. After thirteen days, everyone in the city will be infected with the plague, eventually killing each other. The only plague ghost that survives will have its cultivation level skyrocket."
Mu Zhe's brows furrowed deeply. Such a vicious method of raising millions of people—would anyone actually use it?
Perhaps guessing what Mu Zhe was thinking, Jiu Xi said, "Anyway, no one has succeeded in all these years. A hundred years ago, a demonic cultivator tried to imitate it, but ultimately failed—tsk, it seems Yuzhou City has offended someone, otherwise, who would be so vicious as to use such a method to slaughter an entire city?"
Mu Zhe remained silent.
In his memories of his past life, that person seemed to have succeeded.
Thirteen plague demons infiltrated Yuzhou City. The mastermind behind them opened the sealed barrier, and the demons transformed into a plague that spread throughout the city.
Yuzhou City was indeed gone.
Yu Xinghe was now homeless.
Mu Zhe took a deep breath and said, "Let's continue."
Upon hearing there was food, Jiu Xi immediately nodded vigorously, happily following Mu Zhe as he picked up and ate the plague demons.
The thirteen plague demons he initially sensed had little cultivation; they only knew how to disguise themselves and run around the city. Mu Zhe spent an entire night, finally dealing with all thirteen plague demons at dawn.
Jiu Xi was already burping from the meal. He squinted contentedly, mimicking the tone he had picked up on the street, and said coquettishly, "You rascal, this is the first time I've had a full meal since I started following you."
Mu Zhe: "..."
The rascal had given him a beating, and Jiu Xi remained silent, feeling wronged.
Even after dealing with the plague demon, Mu Zhe's brow remained furrowed. He sensed an extremely discordant aura still lingering in Yuzhou City.
That aura was different from the previous plague demons; it felt more like that of a demon.
Mu Zhe tried using his divine sense to guide him, and before dawn, he finally located the aura near the main street of Yuzhou City.
On a rooftop, a person lay motionless on the eaves, seemingly asleep.
Mu Zhe suddenly felt that this person looked familiar. Just as he was about to take a step forward, the person abruptly leaped up, its five fingers forming claws as it attacked him with unstoppable force.
Mu Zhe retaliated with a swift counterattack, exchanging two quick blows with the person. The cool sunlight illuminated the person's fox ears, which fluttered in the wind.
Mu Zhe frowned: "Qingyu?"
Qingyu, still half asleep, paused for a moment before realizing what was happening. He stopped what he was doing and asked in surprise, "Huh, what are you doing here?"
"I was about to ask you the same question," Mu Zhe said. "Weren't you protecting Master in Xianyun City? What are you doing here?"
Qingyu looked completely innocent: "I'm protecting the Holy Lord right now."
Mu Zhe was taken aback, his heart suddenly skipping a beat.
"Master, he... is here now?"
"Yes." Qingyu, oblivious to his surprise, pointed to the window opposite, "He's right there, with Physician Lin."
Mu Zhe: "Why is Master here?"
"I don't know." Qingyu was equally bewildered. "I just fought with a woman for a while, and then the Holy Lord disappeared from the clinic. I searched and searched, and eventually found my way to Yuzhou City."
Mu Zhe rubbed his temples: "Xianyun City should be about twenty li from Yuzhou City."
His Master, is he lost again? "Or did you encounter danger?"
Qingyu nodded, his fox ears twitching slightly. "I came by smell. As soon as I arrived in Yuzhou City, I saw the Holy Lord with a veil, bringing a physician into this inn."
"A physician?" Mu Zhe's heart skipped a beat. "Is Master injured?"
Qingyu: "No, it seems it's Physician Lin who's injured."
Mu Zhe breathed a sigh of relief and said, "I'll go check on him."
Qingyu nodded, his fox ears twitching again.
Mu Zhe gave him a disdainful look: "Can't you cover your fox ears?"
They're annoying.
Qingyu knew Mu Zhe wasn't trying to humiliate him further, but simply didn't want him to show his fox ears so the Holy Lord wouldn't praise him. He wasn't angry, and said with a smile, "Don't you like them? Don't you like them?"
Mu Zhe coldly replied, "They're hideous. Nobody likes them."
With that, he leaped off the roof and headed towards the inn Qingyu had mentioned.
Well, someone's about to swallow their words and give Qingyu a good laugh.
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