Red Snow

Chapter 23

"You know what?" she said, "How about I help you find her? Just in case the vixen pulls some nasty tricks out of her sleeves, you'll have back up, " 

Ye Hua rolled his eyes. As if Su Jin was powerful enough to fend off her attacks. She would only get in the way. However, he didn't want the heavenly lord to lecture him again. Ye Hua begrudgingly gave in.

"I warn you, " Ye Hua threatened, "Don't you dare try anything, " 

She nodded.

They searched the whole palace but found no sign of Bai Qian. Since the ghost realm was currently in lockdown, Yan Zhi had assured him that she couldn't have the cloud jumped away.

Ever the pessimist, Ye Hua reminded her that nobody knows how long everyone was unconscious. She could have escaped before the lockdown was in place. 

"I heard nine-tailed foxes have the ability to change their appearance, " Yan Zhi said. 

"It's only for a while, one or two days at most," Ye Hua explained. 

"Does it mean that Bai Qian could be in disguise right now? Hiding in plain sight?" She asked.

Ye Hua diminished the idea, "Last I check, Bai Qian isn't powerful enough to perform such spells, " 

There were times Da Ji took different forms to blend into the crowd. She was able to change her appearance to anybody she wanted: men, woman, child or something in between. She was difficult to spot with untrained eyes. 

Mo Yuan could, but Ye Hua hadn't reached his level yet. However, he had never seen Bai Qian use such illusions before. He always presumed that she couldn't. 

"She just took down a court full of immortals," Yan Zhi said as she walked past him. 

Compared to her aunt back then, Bai Qian's powers were weak and unimpressive. However, she has significantly improved since then. Da Ji could turn a dozen mortal men into her mindless minions, Bai Qian was able to bewitch an entire court of immortals to sleep.

Maybe the possibility wasn't that absurd. 

Behind him, Su Jin tripped over a tree root. She tried to grab Ye Hua for support, but she hit her arm against his stomach. A sharp pain exploded across his body, Ye Hua stumbled backwards. 

"Ow! " he cried out.

Su Jin panicked, "Oh, dear. Did I hurt you?" 

"No, " Ye Hua dismissed her, "it's just a bruise. I'm fine, " 

"Bruise?" Yan Zhi asked, "From where?"

Ye Hua explained what had happened with Bai Qian when everyone was unconscious. He expected Su Jin to say something needlessly rude or mean about her. She just bit her lip, "We should return to the nine heavens quickly to get you healed, " 

"No, it's just a bruise, there's none of it," Ye Hua claimed, "Finding her is much more important."

They continued on their journey with Yan Zhi in the lead, Ye Hua in the middle and Su Jin trailing behind them. They searched every nook and cranny they could spot. They cast out tracking spells to find her, nothing. 

"Why weren't you affected by her enchantment anyway?" The princess asked him.

"I had trained my mind to ward off such spells, " 

Yan Zhi mused, "Really? My sister in law told me enchantment spells are useless against the person the caster is in love with, " 

The presumption was preposterous.