Black Bellied Belle: Demon Lord, Bite the Bait Please

Ch. 131-140

Chapter 131: Are You Trying to Seduce Me?

Just as anger was rising up inside her heart, she then heard the man's low voice sound out beside her ear. "Don't move, it's still up there."

Qing Yu was taken aback. [It?]

A black shadow suddenly floated past over the lake's surface, kicking up a series of waves on the water.

Qing Yu then came to understand why he was not letting her go up and she did not make any more rash moves but asked in a soft voice: "What is that?"

Lou Jun Yao gave a helpless sigh. "When I came here earlier, I had clearly not detected the presence of any other living creature like that. But when I used my consciousness to probe the bottom of the pond, it suddenly came out to attack me. Judging from that fella's body and the way it looks, I would say that it is a Three Legged Devilwing."

The Three Legged Devilwing was a beast that could fly and walk, which looked a little like an eagle, with a malevolent face. It was said that its enormous wings when spread wide would be able to block out the sun and the sky, bring darkness wherever it passes.

Although the highest level such spirit beasts could reach was only level ten, but it had a trait that was feared and it really gave people a headache. It bore grudges and was very vindictive!

Even among the spirit beasts, few dared to offend the Three Legged Devilwing. If there was anyone audacious enough to kill a Three Legged Devilwing, then congratulations to you! From then onwards, that person would be relentlessly pursued and persecuted by the entire Three Legged Devilwing species. Even if that person were to alter his looks completely, the unique scent that would remain on the person who killed the Three Legged would still allow all of them to detect him.

Hence when one encountered this kind of a spirit beast, it would be best that they keep a distance away from them.

One would have been puzzled why someone like Lou Jun Yao with his level of cultivation would need to hide himself underwater from a spirit beast of such a low level. So it was actually due to the unforgiving and persistent inborn trait of the Three-Legged Devilwing.

Qing Yu was just thinking about that when she suddenly could not hold herself back and burst out in laughter. One would not need to think much to know just how depressing it would be for that man at that moment.

Lou Jun Yao saw her laugh and was a little puzzled for a moment, but he quickly caught on to what she was laughing about. That frustrated him and he pinched the tender flesh at the young lady's waist as he asked: "You dare to laugh? If I had not saved you earlier, you would already have been swallowed up by that thing in one big gulp!"

But that one pinch caused the two people to freeze in their spots.

Lou Jun Yao seemed to be surprised that the little fox's body was so soft, and her waist was even more slender than before?

Qing Yu was just startled by his actions. [How could this man pinch her so blatantly!? Putting aside the fact that he had embraced her as the circumstances were dire, but here he is getting more and more overboard!]

[In both her lives, no man has ever dared to do that to her before!]

The young lady's beautiful eyes looked like they were burning with two balls of flame, as she stared vehemently at him.

"What?" Lou Jun Yao saw her eyes and arched up an eyebrow to ask.

Qing Yu gritted her teeth silently and then said pausing between every single syllable: "Men and women should keep an appropriate distance between themselves. Can you please release your hand?"

Chapter 131.2: Are You Seducing Me?

The man's eyebrow raised up higher, and lowered his eyes to look. His hand was still clasped around the young lady's waist at that moment, holding her tightly against him. Their bodies were so close there wasn't even a gap between them and he could even feel her heartbeat.

It was probably because she had been pulled into the water so suddenly and she had struggled a bit just now that the young lady's clothes were now in slight disarray. Her tightly bound and closed colour had somehow loosened, opening up slightly, which exposed a patch of fair white skin and a beautiful set of collarbone, causing the man's deep violet eyes to suddenly dim.

He could still recall the time when she had been injured while undoing the curse he had been afflicted with. Her clothes had been stained with blood and he had wanted to help her change the clothes. But when he saw her beautifully slender neck had no sign of an adam's apple, that was when he realized that she was really a girl.

Her disguise had been so real, deceiving him for such a long time without being discovered, that the handsome, proud and unyielding youth was actually a beautiful and alluring girl. She had not shown the slightest sign of being a prissy young lady back then, but when dressed in women's clothing, every single one of her gestures and mannerisms was just so enchanting and seductive.

Even with her staring at him so furiously now, it was probably because that tiny face was just too exquisitely mesmerizing, her elongated phoenix like eyes so alluring, that was just so seductive whichever way he looked at her.

Lou Jun Yao then laughed softly, his hand with well defined lines suddenly covering her eyes. "You must not look at me like that all the time."

Everything before her suddenly gone dark, Qing Yu was taken aback and she clenched her jaws tightly as she said: "What are you really intending to do?"

"Hasn't anyone told you that your eyes are just too mesmerizing?" The man's low magnetic and sexy voice that was tinged with mirth rolled inside his chest, that felt as if a tiny soft brush passed gently grazed past her heart, a tingly little feeling.

Qing Yu went speechless for a moment, her eyes that were covered blinked a couple of times, her long lashes lightly tickling the man's palm. After a good while, she then said in an emotionless tone: "Do you always tease young ladies like that? You've really opened my eyes to a whole new world."

Lou Jun Yao sensed that her tone of voice sounded a little cold and he immediately released his grip, his eyes serious as he looked at her, looking like he minded the fact that she had misunderstood him. "Tease? I have never ever teased any ladies before."

[What a joke! He was the top man in the Dark Regions, would he need to lower himself so much to go tease anyone at all?]

Because that woman in the Bright Moon Temple had come to indicate her admiration for him, it caused a rumour to spread like mad throughout the entire Cloud Heaven that he was involved with that woman for a period. That made all the other women who had always thrown him coy looks of admiration or harboured secret wishes towards him either openly or secretly to completely give up on any ideas they might have towards him.

For no other reason than the fact that any man who caught the sight of the Bright Moon Temple's Temple Lord, as Cloud Heaven's greatest beauty of all, how could they possibly hope to compete? They might as well just give up.

Because of that incident, Lou Jun Yao came to feel nothing but utter disgust for women from then on, and any woman who even cast their eyes his way a second time would infuriate him so much he had wanted to have their eyes dug out.

Chapter 131.3: Are You Seducing Me?

So, something like him teasing young ladies could not possibly exist.

Qing Yu was stumped for words when she saw the stern and serious expression on his face. It was a while before she managed to find her own voice. "If you haven't done it, then it's all good. Why are you getting so worked up....."

"This is a serious problem." Lou Jun Yao continued to say very seriously. "In order to avoid having you misunderstand, I have to let you know that the Lord you will come to pledge your loyalty to is a man of upright integrity and strict with himself, who will never ever cause you to be ashamed, so you should really seriously consider it."

Qing Yu then queried: "Lord?"

[Was she misunderstanding something here? Why can't she understand what he is talking about??]

Lou Jun Yao nodded. "A little crafty fox like you, who is hiding so many secrets inside, and also possess skills in Medicine that everyone covets, it is inevitable that you will attract the eye of people with dubious intentions. Only if you come with me to Cloud Heaven and remain by my side will I then be able to protect you."

Qing Yu found herself at a loss for words. "....."

[Where was this man getting all his confidence from? What does he mean by saying only he can protect her?]

Qing Yu almost burst out laughing from anger as she looked at him out of the corner of her eye. "I come at a very high price and I fear that you will not be able to afford it."

Hearing that, the corners of Lou Jun Yao's mouth curled up into an incredibly puzzling smile. "I have not much of anything else but just too much of those things in gold and silver. If you like them, it doesn't matter even if I am to give them all to you."

Both he and Bai Zhi Yan had really given it a lot of thought, seeking to coax her into going to Cloud Heaven with them.

Qing Yu just smiled and hold his words to heart. She lifted her eyes to look up and saw that the moon had shown itself above. Thinking that the Three Legged Devilwing must be gone, she moved her body thinking to swim up to the surface.

Behind her, the man stared at her back and suddenly parted his lips. "Aren't you curious what is really at the bottom of this lake?"

Qing Yu paused. Without even turning her head, she replied: "That is your own business, and has nothing to do with me."

"What if it does have something to do with you?" Lou Jun Yao then asked.

He was thinking that his guess was highly possibly correct. If it was true, then even if it was merely to make her request to go up into Cloud Heaven of her own accord, she should be made aware of it.

As expected, Qing Yu turned herself around when she heard those words, the look in her eyes complicated. "What are you trying to say?"

Lou Jun Yao's lips arced up slightly and he held her with an arm, bringing her down deeper into the water. Because they were encased in water isolation barriers, they were no obstructed in any way underwater.

"Your mother is someone from Cloud Heaven, and you have probably already guessed that." Lou Jun Yao suddenly said softly.

Qing Yu acknowledged softly.

"Do you wish to see her?" Lou Jun Yao then asked.

Qing Yu was stunned. "She..... is still alive?"

[As she thought, what Yan Su told her was not the entire truth. Or at least, the part where she died from complications during birth was something she did not believe at all.]

Chapter 131.4: Are You Seducing Me?

Lou Jun Yao saw how careful she was in getting her own hopes up and he sighed lightly. "She has died, but you also can't really say she is completely dead."

"What do you mean?" Qing Yu asked with her brows furrowed up, not really understanding what he was saying.

"Her flesh body is still completely intact but her spirit soul isn't whole, fragmented and scattered across the various realms. If her spirit soul is fully gathered together, she can then be revived." Lou Jun Yao explained.

After hearing him explain, Qing Yu's fingers unconsciously tightened together. "Why was her spirit soul broken up?"

"It is a long story and it encompasses reasons that even I do not know about as well." The tone of Lou Jun Yao's voice sounded a little helpless and he then turned to look at her. Pausing for a moment, he then told her: "It seemed like it was because of a man."

Several chaotic scenes suddenly flashed in Qing Yu's mind.

One was Asura's Hell with the sky turned a blood red shade, a red clothed woman and a black robed man tightly locked in an embrace. The dagger in her hand was plunged in the man's chest, the smile on those lips one of despair, sorrowfully beautiful.

Another one was of a man and woman ribbing each other in playful banter, their fingers interlocked with each other's, their heads together, a joyful scene of happy bliss.

These images flashed quickly through her mind, so fast that Qing Yu thought that she had been mistaken and had just imagined it. But deep down inside, she just knew that all of that had really happened in the past, as she had seen this several times in her dreams.

[Because of a man?]

Qing Yu did not want to think any deeper into it but she has just come to realize something. That man was killed by that woman's own hands, but she had smiled so sorrowfully after that and said: "We can finally be together at last."

So after the man died, she had then chosen the most painful way to die. She destroyed all her cultivation, her spirit soul torn viciously apart, to suffer every bit of that brutal and tragic torment.

But Qing Yu had clearly been able to feel just how much in love they had been, so why had they come to such a sorry end?

She did not know how much time had passed, but her feet finally had something to stand on. They had reached the bottom of the lake.

Before them, a gigantic clam shell sat half open, letting out a faint glow of light. A faint translucent figure of a person could be seen lying quietly inside, all curled up and not moving at all.

Qing Yu froze, like her feet had rooted themselves into the ground, unable to muster up the courage to walk forward to see.

"It's really here." Lou Jun Yao's gaze sharpened. After so many years, he had finally found a sliver of Aunt Lan's aura.

It had been so close to where he was, and he had never once thought that the first fragment of the spirit soul he would find would be in a place like this.

It was probably because she was unable to leave her very own flesh and blood behind.

Chapter 132: Indiscernible Palpitations

He turned around to look at the young lady beside him and saw that the expression on her face a rather grim, and the hands at her sides were unconsciously tightly clenched up as she stood there in hesitation, not daring to go forward at all, seeming very nervous.

Lou Jun Yao could not help but laugh and then patted her softly on the shoulder as he said in a gentle voice: "That is just a sliver of a spirit soul and it does not have its own consciousness, so it would not be able to speak. There is no need for you to be so nervous."

Hearing that, Qing Yu then lifted her eyes up to look at him. When she received an affirming look from that pair of violet eyes, she then went walking slowly forward.

She crouched down lightly, watching that ephemeral sliver of spirit soul carefully. What she saw was really just a human shaped figure, and its facial features could not be seen, so she was not able to ascertain anything from it. But for some unknown reason, an indescribable feeling came to rise up inside her.

The was a sudden feeling of closeness and love, an amazing telepathic touch on the soul. She was suddenly at a loss, not knowing what to do as she had never lost her composure like this before.

Her parents from her past life had already left her before she was even able to see them at all.

She had grown up under the care of her very strict grandfather, Grandfather had never showed her any concern with soft and gentle words, but just asked her to work hard on her cultivation, admonishing her harshly with a fierce face when she committed a wrong, and nothing else.

Hence, her personality turned to become cold. She did not know what kinship was like. Maybe when she was young, before she came to realize the kind of romantic love Qing Tian Lin had towards her, she had foolishly thought that was the kind of care and concern from a kin.

At that moment, she remained there in a crouch, staring unblinkingly at the weak glow of the spirit soul. Her gaze was filled with longing, and her eyes were misted over. It was a most natural emotion that arose from deep within, one that she was unable to resist at all.

She reached her hand out slowly wanting to go touch, and a miracle happened right at that moment.

Even Lou Jun Yao's irises had enlarged in incredulity for an instant.

The figure whose facial features could not be seen, the spirit soul that did not possess the slightest inkling of consciousness then suddenly seemed to be drawn to some unseen force, where a part of its hand suddenly moved, slowing rising up, before it slowly moved to come touch the young lady's outstretched hand.

It was clear to see that it should have been impossible to touch, the ephemeral spirit soul would surely pass right through. But in that instant, she seemed to have felt the deeply entrenched feelings that poured out from that spirit soul.

"Lou Jun Yao....." She heard her own voice trembling slightly. "How do we bring her away from here?"

Lou Jun Yao looked at her through narrowed eyes and then spread his palm open. A water spirit pearl about the size of a baby's fist suddenly appeared, and the spirit soul inside the clam shell then delved itself inside on its own.

"This is a Soul Nourishing Orb. Her spirit soul is too weak and needs to recuperate in there." Lou Jun Yao said, and the orb then gradually disappeared from his hand.

The two people then swam up to the water's surface and sat under the Lake Central Pavilion. Qing Yu's eyes were lowered as she stared into the still water, its calm restored. After a long while, her voice softly sounded. "Did you know my mother?"

Chapter 132.2: Indiscernible Palpitations

"She is an elder I greatly respect." Lou Jun Yao's lips arced up. "I have known her for a good hundred years."

Hearing that, Qing Yu's expression was a little complicated as she looked at him. "You're already a few hundred years old?"

Although she knew that the lifespan of people in Cloud Heaven was extraordinarily long, but the man before her looked to be only about twenty years old at most. No matter how you look at him, he did not look like a person who had lived for more than a hundred years.

Lou Jun Yao's face expressed surprise and he then said: "Cloud Heaven is different from the lower level realms and the age its people live up to will naturally be much higher. If I remember it correctly, your mother is already more than three hundred years old and you....."

Speaking up till that point, he then paused, his voice a little grim as he continued. "She must have used some special secret technique to prevent you from growing up, otherwise, you should be at least fifty or sixty years old by now."

Qing Yu's eyes grew deep in thought. "Fifty or sixty years old? But my mother..... was still around just over a decade ago."

According to what Yan Su said, her mother had died from difficulties that occurred during childbirth and she was now only fourteen years old..... That didn't really make sense so what had really happened?

"That's merely a trick to deceive peoples' eyes." Lou Jun Yao said as he shook his head lightly. "She has disappeared from Cloud Heaven for almost a hundred years already, so how could it only be just over a decade since it happened?"

In that instant, it was as if a particular taut string suddenly snapped in her mind, feeling like she had forgotten something very important.

Under a blood coloured sky, a beautiful red clothed woman was kneeling on the ground, a pair of children with exquisite looks carried in her arms. Her face could not be seen clearly but her lips that were tinged with a faint smile as she planted a gentle kiss on the foreheads of the two children.

"I offer a hundred years of my cultivation and flesh body up as sacrifice, to seal my children's memories in dust, to halt their growth, for them to reincarnate and change their lives, reborn into a different world, living their lives in peace and joy, free from worry."

"Mother's children, forgive Mother for being so cruel, who hope that you will both grow up safely, and will never ever remember all these painful matters."

"I'm sorry. If there is a next life, Mother will come to you to atone for my sins, but in this life, I cannot leave him to be alone on his own."

"Mother loves the both of you....."

Qing Yu felt a splitting headache in that instant as the images played out in her mind. The scene was clearly one she had never seen before but it felt so real like she had experienced it personally before.

Seeing her brows furrow up so tightly and cold sweat had formed on her forehead, Lou Jun Yao pressed one hand against her back and a gentle power slowly flowed into her body, that gradually dissipated the pain.

"Feeling better?" Lou Jun Yao asked with great concern.

Qing Yu nodded her head, indicating she was fine.

Chapter 132.3: Indiscernible Palpitations

Lou Jun Yao looked at her and his eyes softened. "Leave Aunt Lan's matter to me. Rest assured that you will meet with her one day."

It was then that Qing Yu came to realize that he had been addressing her mother as Aunt Lan. She could not help but ask him: "What..... is her name?"

"Your mother's surname is the same as yours. She is surnamed Qing, Qing Lan Fei."

[Qing Lan Fei.....]

[So it turns out that her name from before is not real. She has indeed been reincarnated and living a different life with many things that have changed.]

Qing Yu 's gaze glinted and she then said softly. "Thank you."

Lou Jun Yao was taken aback. "Thanks for what?"

This seemed to the be first time he can remember the little fox ever saying these two words to him. Between them, besides the instance where she had saved his life right in the beginning and she then got drawn into trouble that almost got her killed while saving him which evened things out between them, they had made use of each other after that in turns who never called for them to have to use the words "thank you" at all.

This time, it was perhaps only because of Aunt Lan that she had come to soften her stance towards him.

Hearing that, Qing Yu looked at him seriously and said: "Thank you for being so concerned about my mother. With my current ability, I am not able to resurrect her but you can, so I am thanking you from the bottom of my heart."

"I am really not used to seeing you being so courteous." Lou Jun Yao said with a laugh.

This time, Qing Yu did not rebutt him but went on to say: "No matter what, I still have to thank you. If you need any help in future, as long as it is within my capabilities, I will definitely do everything I can."

He had not thought that things would turn out getting such a promise out from her. What an unexpected pleasant surprise.

But having come to know that she was indeed Aunt Lan's daughter, the great opinion he had had of her all this time now became even more favourable, even though this little fox was temperamental and blows hot and cold as and when she liked.

But it might perhaps be because he had seen too many people who bowed their heads and bent their back before him, trying to win his favour, so this felt rather refreshing to him instead. Of course he had not really given it much thought as anyone else who dared to be so disrespectful to him would have already died by a thousand cuts several hundred times by now.

The night grew deeper and the deep autumn's weather was exceptionally chilly, the cold seeping into one bones. The young lady was dressed in just a suit of thin white clothes and her figure was so slender and frail. Moreover, the expression on her face was a little sad at that moment so she looked just so pitifully helpless.

Before he even realized anything was happening, his body was already reacting before anything else.

His hand reached up to undo his purple outer robe and he draped it over the young lady's shoulders. When his eyes came to meet her surprised gaze, he just said with a flinch: "It's cold. Go back and get some rest."

Chapter 132.4: Indiscernible Palpitations

Where had Qing Yu ever experienced such caring actions from others before? She immediately felt rather awkward and she reached her hand up to tug at the piece of clothing on her shoulders, about to pull it off and return it to him.

"I'm not cold....."

"Your hands are cold as ice and you're saying that you're not cold?" Lou Jun Yao said as he held the back of her hand, his brows creased together, the expression on his face saying "You're just lying through your teeth."

Qing Yu was stumped for words. [How was she supposed to explain that it was because she had been practising the Burial Soul Arts since young and that was why her body was innately cold? Even on a hot and scorching summer's day, her body would still remain cold and chilly like this.]

She merely sighed. "Alright then. Thank you. I'll return the clothes to you another day."

Upon saying that, she then pulled the robe tighter around her and turned to walk out of the pavilion, crossing over the wooden bridge as she left.

Behind her, Lou Jun Yao curled up his lips and suddenly called out: "Little fox."

"Hm?" Qing Yu halted her steps, and turned her head to look at him.

Being being resistant towards this nickname in the beginning, she had slowly grown numb to it and became used to hearing him call her that. Although she felt that she was completely nothing like a wolf at all, it was like they were such sly and crafty creatures afterall, so how could she possibly be anything like them?

She really didn't know what this strange and eccentric man could be thinking.

The moon's rays were clear and brilliant, almost seemingly bright as day, and everything surrounding them could be seen clearly.

The young lady's pair of long alluring eyes had one corner lifted up slightly as they peered at him, so mesmerizing that they could bring ruin upon cities and countries. One would probably not be able to find another pair of eyes as magically enchanting as hers, where just a brief glance at them would make people willing to offer up everything they had.

It was said that the pair of demonic violet eyes belonging to the Lord of the Dark Regions was the most terrifying weapon, and no one dared to meet his gaze.

But this young lady's alluring eyes that had a clear limpidness in them were however more than that, able to unconsciously put one under an intricate and inescapable spell without anyone knowing a thing.

She then just looked at him silently, patiently waiting for him to speak, and in that pair of beautiful looking eyes, it seemed like they were looking at nothing else but him, that flawless and exquisite face under the silvery glow of moonlight dreamily enchanting, tugging at one's heart unconsciously.

Lou Jun Yao cursed under his breath. [This little fox is really as skilled in the art of seduction just like a fox, doing nothing else but just standing there, but making it impossible to ignore that mesmerizing charm she exuded.]

[She is already like this when she is still so young, when she fully blossoms after a few more years, it would be impossible for any man to resist her charms. No. Maybe not just the men. He still has not forgotten how many girl's hearts the little fox had stolen when she dressed herself up as a man.

Qing Yu stared puzzledly at the man's changing and unreadable expressions on his face. "What do you want to say?"

[Is it that hard to say it?]

Finally, Lou Jun Yao took a deep breath and looked a little helpless as he said: "It's nothing. I just wanted to say that if you encounter any problems in future, do not hesitate to come find me."

Chapter 133: Such Displays Of Affection

It seemed as though he had always spared no effort in delivering himself up to her for use, despite the fact that there were times she did not reciprocate his efforts.

Thinking about that, he thought it was probably due to Aunt Lan and that was why he was exceptionally caring about her.

Qing Yu's lips curled up, never thinking that he had called out to her just to tell her this. The frown upon her brows immediately eased which lent a stunning radiance to that already beautiful face. She then replied: "Sure."

The tone of her voice was filled with a kind of gentleness he had never heard before.

Lou Jun Yao was stunned into a daze for a split moment. For such a cold and indifferent young lady to turn back and reveal such a sincere smile, that one instant felt so gently warm like he had never felt before, a moment he would never forget.

On the one eventful night, it seemed a change was silently occurring.

The next day, Qing Bei was about to knock on his sister's room door when he discovered that the door was loosely pulled shut, and its occupant seemed to have gone out.

He was a little puzzled as he pushed the door to go inside, and he saw that the room was empty just like he had thought.

Oh right, except for the sorrowful looking ball of coal sitting up upon the soft lounge chair a short distance away, staring into a particular direction diagonally to one side.

The large and expressive blue limpid eyes were so sad that it made one's heart wince. Even Qing Bei who was not one that would quickly succumb to tiny adorable creatures could not bear to just walk away at that moment but strode forward to ask in concern: "What's wrong Meatball?"

[Has she been scolded? That isn't really possible. Sis pampers the little thing so much all the time, so how could she bear to scold her?]

Meatball heaved out in a long sigh and then looked into the worried looking youth's eyes before it asked: "Mother..... might not love me anymore."

Qing Bei was befuddled. "What do you mean?"

Meatball closed its eyes in deep sorrow as it stretched a little paw out to point in a particular direction. "I fell asleep last night and when I woke up, I discovered that Mother was not around, so I thought I should go out to look for her. But Mother came back after a while and she brought this back!"

Qing Bei was still feeling rather puzzled as he turned his head to look in the direction the paw was pointed into. That one look then made him freeze in his spot.

On the sideboard over there, was a neatly folded purple coloured robe, its material exceptionally exquisite and luxurious, and it could be seen from just one look that it was highly expensive, not something that any ordinary person would be able to afford to wear.

But that was not the most important point. What's important was that it was men's clothing.

Meatball saw him freeze in his spot and it seemed to find itself at that moment as it went on to complain: "Do you think that Mother has another man outside and that is why she sneaked herself out in the middle of the night to secretly meet with him? I saw that she was in such a good mood when she came back!!"

Meatball's mouth immediately shriveled up and it looked like it was going to cry. "Meatball only wants Mother and does not want a father. He will snatch Mother away from me."

Qing Bei did not know what to say. "....."

[It's just a piece of clothing and the little beast was able to dream up such a ludicrous thing.]

Chapter 133.2: Such Displays Of Affection

[But that piece of clothing did look rather familiar though.]

Here he was trying to comfort the overly imaginative and exasperating little thing when Qing Yu's voice sounded at the door outside. "What are the two of you up to?"

She was carrying an exquisite looking lunchbox and it looked like it was filled with all kinds of delicious food from the Wholesome Meal House inside.

"Where did you go Sis?" Qing Bei asked as he looked at the beast who was tugging at his sleeve persistently as it wiped at the non existent tears on its face. He then gave a helpless laugh and continued to say: "I saw this little fella looking so pitifully sad and sorrowful when I came here and I thought that you scolded her!"

"Hm?" Qing Yu raised up an eyebrow and then turned to look at that tiny highly aggrieved little beast. Didn't you say that you smelled something that moved your heart the last time? It's the Wholesome Meal House's latest product, guaranteed to make one fall in love with it at first bite, their Swallow Prawn Cake. I went out to buy it for you before daybreak and here you are feeling so aggrieved."

Upon hearing that there was delicious food for it to eat, the little beast's eyes brightened but still looked a little depressed.

Qing Yu was then slightly distressed. "What happened to her?"

[She would have immediately pounced upon hearing there was food but she was holding back and not moving at all today?]

Qing Bei's lips stiffened and he pointed with his chin as he said: "She saw that piece of clothing over there and has been depressed till now, saying that you have a man outside and does not love her anymore."

Qing Yu then glanced in speechlessness at the brocade robe she had not had time to keep away. "....."

It was quite helplessly tiring to have such a drama queen as a beloved pet at times.

Qing Yu then looked at the aggrieved looking little beast with an unreadable smile and said: "I will count to three, and if you do not come over to eat, I will then throw it all to the dogs in the backyard. One...... Two....."

She had just counted to two when the little beast then leapt over in a flying pounce to snatch the lunchbox away, its face wary as it stared straight at her with its large eyes. "This is Meatball's, it is not for the dogs."

Qing Yu was so tickled by the little beast's antics that she almost broke the facade she had put up to burst out in laughter, but she managed to maintain the cool and indifferent look. "Take it outside and eat. Mother has something I need to discuss with your uncle."

"Orh." The little ball of coal answered and then went toddling outside as it turned its head to look back every few steps it took.

Qing Bei could not help it but burst out laughing. After laughing it all out, he had not forgotten to ask about the more important stuff. "Does the robe belong to that man in the Gathered Cloud Loft?"

From what he could remember, there was only that man who had usually worn purple and was on slightly closer terms to her.

"It does." Qing Yu nodded, and then considered the matter for a while before she decided to tell him about last night's events. Afterall, the two of them were twins and there wasn't anything much that she would be able to hide from him for long.

After she told him everything that happened, just as she had expected, Qing Bei fell into a daze for a long while. Perhaps he was not able to digest the news that had come so suddenly.

Qing Yu was in no hurry and she waited patiently for him to be able to react.

Chapter 133.3: Such Displays Of Affection

After a long while, the youth's slightly hoarse sounding voice then came out from his mouth. "Is our Mother..... really still alive?"

Qing Yu nodded and said softly to him: "She is still alive, but the journey towards having her come awake might be a long and arduous one."

"That does not matter at all! As long as she is still alive, anything is still possible!" Qing Bei exclaimed with his fists clenched, his voice resolute and determined. "At least she has not really abandoned us right?"

The youth's gaze was a little fervent as he looked at her, like he was very eager to hear her answer.

All this while, he had always pined for kinship with an almost mad fervour. Even when he knew that Yan Su was not his biological father all this time, he had wished so hard to gain any little bit of his attention, making himself so petty and small though he was such a proud person deep inside his bones, but he just did not want to accept defeat.

Qing Yu gave a long sigh and she brushed her fingers gently over his face as she said gently: "Of course it doesn't. Our Mother is the best, and no matter what the reason was that she had to leave us, there is one thing we must not forget. She has always missed us."

Those words somehow comforted Qing Bei's heart that was filled with frustration and much unease and his handsome face showed a joyful smile. "I believe it. I have always believed that."

To have unexpectedly gained news about their mother just before they were going to join the Faint Mist Sect, it was undoubtedly something to be happy about for them.

But, with their mother's spirit soul split and scattered over different places, how hard would it be to gather her soul together and have her resurrected?

But all those worries was something she did not share with Qing Bei.

A month's time was not that long nor was it all that short as well, but time was still passing a day at a time.

The leaves on the trees turned yellow and gradually fell, except for those plants that did not fear the bitter cold and continued to bloom throughout the four seasons in a year, greenery grew less and less, turning the place to look desolate and lonely.

It was not so bad in places where it was warmer, for the kingdom on the water Water's Edge that was surrounded by the sea on all four sides, it was pure ice and snow. Icy snow could be seen piled up everywhere, unmelting throughout the year. Everytime winter came, the congealed snow on the mountains would only melt in the subsequent year's summer, so it could be seen just how bitterly cold and unforgiving the weather in the Water's Edge Kingdom was.

With such chilly and frozen weather, the Water's Edge people really wished they could just snuggle up inside their blankets till the season has passed.

A lone desolate figure was standing quietly outside the Limitless Sect's doors, tall and well built. When everyone else were wrapped up in thick and heavy winter clothes, he was dressed only in one single layer, an ink coloured brocade robe, alone and solemn.

Snowflakes floated down in thick flurries, falling onto his silver hair, and the figure quickly disappeared from sight in a blink. The ink coloured robe was gradually covered by the flurries of snow, and it was soon impossible to even see its colour. That person did not move at all, and it was not known how long he had been standing in the snow, his entire body almost blending in completely together with the snow.

Chapter 133.4: Such Displays Of Affection

When Ah Jin came out from the palace, what met his eyes was that very scene.

Dawn was just breaking over the horizon at that moment as daybreak came late in winter, but he still woke up as early as before, not expecting to see that. It was not known when that man had already woken up, and judging from the thick layer of snow on his clothes, it would at least have been four hours ago.

Although who practiced cultivation possessed spirit energy to protect their bodies and were not afraid of the cold, but the weather in Water's Edge was not just ordinarily cold, its temperature many tens of times lower than the winters of most other regions. He was afterall a mortal born with a flesh body, so how could he possibly be able to withstand nature's calamity like this?

Ah Jin heaved a long sigh and went to fetch an umbrella from inside. He opened it up and then went walking outside. Shielding him from the flurrying snow, Ah Jin then said: "My Lord, it's cold out here. You should go inside."

This man had always showed scant care for his own body like this all the time. Especially when he was in a bad mood, he would always like to do something highly extreme like this to cool himself down and to clear his mind.

However, Ah Jin would very much rather he be like what people outside said he was. A brutal and bloodthirsty murderer who killed without batting an eye. As when he was like that, he would at least be able to vent out everything he held suppressed inside, and not let it pile up inside his heart day after day, where he would then grow to become more depressed and grim.

Qing Ye Li felt his thoughts being dragged back from a faraway distant place and his dark green eyes were half narrowed. His eyelashes that were longer and lusher than a woman's were covered in a layer of frost because they had not moved for a long period of time and when he blinked, tiny specks of snowy glitter fell from his eyes.

He raised his eyes up to gaze far into the horizon, like he was seeing a certain place, or a particular person there.

"Winter's come so soon." The cold and clear magnetic voice sounded out softly.

Ah Jin was taken aback and he then said with a laugh. "My Lord, you are in the Water's Edge Kingdom and this is already your fourteenth year here. Haven't you gotten used to the early winters that come to the Water's Edge?"

Under the cover of the mask, his expression could not be seen, but just his voice could be heard. "So fourteen years have passed....."

So he had muddled through so many years in what felt to be just a blink of an eye.

He had once thought to live through this dull and insipid life just like that till the day he dies, never having once thought that the Heavens would actually still care about him.

Qing Ye Li's gaze suddenly softened. He then said: "Ah Jin, tidy up everything there is to deal with here in this place quickly. I want to return to her side as soon as I can."

Ah Jin naturally knew who Qing Ye Li was talking about.

The portrait that had been carefully kept for so many years, one that other people were not allowed to even take a single glance at, the one person whom the man kept right at the tip of his heart.

He could still remember just before they left, when the man had held the young lady in his arms, his eyes had quietly turned red at the rims.

The man who had always been cold and heartless, one who did not care about anything before his eyes, had seemed to give all his warmth and feelings onto just this one person. It was a look no one had never seen before, a highly moving scene.

Chapter 134: It Likes The Roasted Rabbit I Make

In a blink, the day of the recruitment trials for the Three Great Sects was nearing.

The moment one stepped out through the doors, they would be able to see clear changes on the streets, where people of the pugilist world from all kinds of sects and clans could be seen. The usually peaceful Imperial Capital was also bustling with activity.

Business at the teahouse in front of the Gathered Cloud Loft had always been dismal, but as the weather turned cold, it was now bursting with customers everyday in the recent period as all the pugilist warriors who had been on the roads and come in from long journeys needed a place to rest their feet and enjoy a hot cup of tea to warm their bodies and to catch up on the recent major events that happened in the world.

In one of the rooms, several people were seated around a table and one of them said in a mysterious tone: "Did you guys hear? Something big happened in the Faint Mist Sect."

"What big thing happened?" The others asked curiously.

The man gazed around him and then said in a whisper: "I have a cousin who was a disciple of the Faint Mist Sect before."

The several other people then went "tsk" in chorus as they rolled their eyes in contempt. "You call that something big? What's so astounding about that?"

"At least let me finish first. My cousin was one of the inner circle disciples among the top hundred holding the fiftieth rank!" The man continued to say in exasperation. "But do you all know? He was considered to be rather respected in the sect and had not returned for three whole years already. But just a few days ago, he suddenly came back and he said....."

"What did he say!? Tell us quick!" Just as he got to the most important part, the man suddenly stopped. He was really asking for a beating keeping them all on tenterhooks.

The man turned his eyes to gaze at everyone and then said: "He said that he has been thrown out by the sect."

Hearing that, the several people there were greatly shocked. For a person to be ranked among the top fifty should rightfully possess significant powers. So why would they be driven out? Could the Faint Mist Sect have something big up their sleeves!?

"And I heard from my cousin that the total number of disciples in the Faint Mist Sect added up together now, including the ones who have not returned from their journeys, comes up to less than three hundred people."

The several people became even more shocked. "Why have their numbers decreased by so much in such a short period of time? I remember that the Faint Mist Sect has the greatest numbers among the Three Great Sects and they should at least have six or seven hundred people. They've decreased their numbers by more than half in one single stroke?"

What could the Faint Mist Sect have up their sleeves?

"I heard that most of them who were driven out were disciples who did not meet the mark and the top five ranking experts had returned to the Faint Mist Sect to hold the fort. I think that the admission trials for this year's recruitment will definitely be very hard!"

"Even your cousin who was in the top fifty ranks is deemed inadequate, much less any of us here. I think we'll not be able to even make it past the first round!" A man said mournfully.

"Isn't that so true? Who doesn't know how ridiculously powerful the Faint Mist Sect's top five are. I heard that they want to recruit fifty people this time round but I think they would be lucky to even get twenty."

"If the Faint Mist Sect's recruitment trials are going to be so difficult, I think we had better go to the Limitless Sect or the Carefree Valley instead. We'll stand a better chance."

—— ——

Chapter 134.2: It Likes The Roasted Rabbit I Make

"You do not seem to be surprised in the slightest." Bai Zhi Yan said with interest as he looked at the young lady before him.

Qing Yu held a teacup in her hand as she listened intently to the conversation of the people downstairs, her face highly unimpressed.

Having heard Bai Zhi Yan, she then turned her gaze onto him and replied. "There's nothing surprising about that. Winners stay and losers leave, perfectly normal."

Bai Zhi Yan raised an eyebrow and then leaned in a little closer. "Are you really going to the Faint Mist Sect? Do you have a particular motive?"

He would obviously not think that the lass was going there purely out of boredom and was just seeking fun. Moreover with the powers she possessed, she would not be able to learn anything in there. That just left one reason. There was something in there that she was interested in.

Qing Yu looked at the handsome looking face leaning in that was filled with curiosity. She just curved up the corner of lips and said indifferently to that face filled with anticipation. "Heaven's secrets must not be revealed."

Bai Zhi Yan gave her a pleading look. "We'll already on such familiar terms, what reason is there to hide? How disappointing."

Especially after he got to know from Lou Jun Yao that she was Aunt Lan's child, their relationship had been drawn closer together and the lass' attitude towards them had improved tremendously, but just this trait of liking to keep people in suspense that wasn't all that adorable.

"I heard that the Faint Mist Sect is very strict. Once you go in there, I don't know how many years it will be before we'll be able to meet again." Bai Zhi Yan said sadly, and there was even a tinge of reluctance in his voice.

Hearing that, a corner of Qing Yu's mouth twitched and she looked at him speechlessly.

[It wasn't as if she would not be able to come out at all and here he was saying it like they would soon be parted in death. He is really just as dramatic as that little ball of fur she had back home.]

Qing Yu then pushed the cup in her hand towards him, interrupting his sorrowful and depressing thoughts. "Pour tea."

"Are you ordering me around like a waiter now?" Bai Zhi Yan said with a laugh despite himself. [Really don't know from who she had picked up this personality trait from, like she was born with a silver spoon waiting to be served. Really cast from the exact same mold as that fella Lou Jun Yao.]

But having come to know her identity, Bai Zhi Yan was a little more willing to indulge her, the way a senior would care for a junior.

"Tsk. Little lass, don't you know well enough to wear a little more when the weather turns cold? Your hands are like ice cubes." Bai Zhi Yan had accidentally brushed her fingers when he took the cup from her and he was surprised by the biting chill he had felt.

He immediately raised an eyebrow and started to admonish sternly. "You might still be a young little lady but do not just care about looking good all the time. You are dressed so thinly and if you come to spoil your body's constitution from the cold, you will surely regret it in the future."

Qing Yu was at a loss for words. "....."

[He's acting so much like a benevolent father showing concern for his daughter.]

With that thought in mind, she just blurted out: "Bai Zhi Yan, you will surely make a great father in future."

"Har? Great father??" Bai Zhi Yan was befuddled, his mind suddenly blank, unable to react to her words.

Chapter 134.3: It Likes The Roasted Rabbit I Make

Qing Yu pressed her lips together and smiled. She was just about to say something when someone came up from behind and stuffed something round into her arms. It was warm to the touch but not scalding, its temperature just right.

Her eyes blinked in surprise as she raised her head to look up. What met her eyes was a perfectly chiseled jaw, its skin clear and flawless. Seeing her raise her head, his lips curved up slightly to reveal a faint smile.

"Knowing that she's cold, if you have time to be gabbing so much nonsense, didn't you think to grab a warmer instead?" Lou Jun Yao said without any expression on his face as he sat down on the other side of the table.

"??!"

Bai Zhi Yan just stared at him, unable to speak. [Did he just imagine seeing that man smile faintly and acting so gentle? Why has his face immediately turned so cold and heartless the very next instant?!]

"Although the weather is getting colder, winter isn't here yet. Who would use a warmer now....." Bai Zhi Yan sputtered to say, his face crying tearlessly.

The man just looked at him expressionlessly, the mesmerizing violet eyes tinged with a glint of displeasure, which quickly shut him up in terror.

[Alright alright alright, you're the great lord, so anything you say has to be right. Next time I'll definitely keep a sharp lookout for that alright? Sheesh. You were already so protective in the past, and now you've gone from bad to worse that you're shielding her so unreasonably.]

Qing Yu lowered her eyes to look at the small and intricate little warmer in her arms, not knowing what was inside. But there was a faint fragrance, a highly comforting scent. The corners of her mouth unconsciously lifted and she said a soft word of thanks to him.

"The Faint Mist Sect's recruitment trials is three day away?" Lou Jun Yao asked.

Qing Yu nodded. "Yes. As the journey there is rather long, I will be setting off tomorrow."

Lou Jun Yao acknowledged with a nod and then turned to Bai Zhi Yan to say: "Transform the Lightning Blaze Unicorn back tomorrow."

Hearing that, Bai Zhi Yan was startled a moment, and it was a good while before he was able to react.

From the moment they came back from Hades' Canyon, the unfortunate beast was shrunk back into its original basic form by Lou Jun Yao. From its magnificent and valiant massive size, it was shrunk to become as big as a kitten, its looks ambiguous and of undeterminable species, a laughable sight.

It had lived among the common cats and dogs for the past few months but as it was too ugly looking, it was ostracised by all the other animals, with none of them willing to play with it, greatly despising its repulsive looks. This caused the great and resplendent twelfth level high grade spirit beast to be greatly humiliated, but was helpless as its spirit powers were sealed up when it was shrunk. It was damningly unable to overpower even a useless stray, living a pitiful beastly life.

To think that the pathetic beast that had been dumped in some unknown corner waiting for mushrooms to grow had actually not been entirely forgotten by its owner.

Chapter 134.4: It Likes The Roasted Rabbit I Make

Bai Zhi Yan felt that the fella was really unlucky and his face was sympathetic as he shook his head sadly. "Transform it back and then?"

Lou Jun Yao's gaze did not waver and his tone was calm as he said: "Let the Lightning Blaze Unicorn pull the horse carriage and send little fox to the Faint Mist Sect tomorrow."

Bai Zhi Yan had not yet swallowed his mouthful of tea and he immediately choked when he heard that, coughing till his handsome looking face was red. It was a good while later before he was able to recover and say: "Why do you want to make the Lightning Blaze Unicorn pull the carriage? That fella is so haughty it will never be willing to."

Lou Jun Yao raised an eyebrow slightly and his alluring pair of violet eyes glinted beautifully with a light. "You just go tell it there death is not the most terrifying thing in this world. It will be more terrifying when a level twelve high grade spirit beast comes to finds itself being eaten up by a lowly stray cat."

Bai Zhi Yan could only silently light a candle in his heart for a particular beast for its beastly pitiful life. This is one truly venomous man.....

But at the same time he came to really see just how much Lou Jun Yao valued Qing Yu. The Lightning Blaze Unicorn had merely accidentally injured her back then and it was made to suffer such a cruel punishment.

[The man must really respect this elder of his a lot, and that is why he is so concerned for her child.]

But he would probably also do the same as well. Who asked the lass to possess such extraordinary skills in both medicine and martial arts? Even the little tantrums she threw occasionally was so adorable. She was just so marvelous.

[And just looking at that exquisitely beautiful face, who could really get angry at her!?]

Looking at Bai Zhi Yan's face that was at such a loss, Qing Yu then opened her mouth to say: "No need to trouble yourself. I'll just take the regular horse carriage. The Lightning Blaze Unicorn is a high grade spirit beast and has its own mind and consciousness. Such types of beasts are hard to tame as they have extremely proud hearts. Doing this to it will be just too humiliating."

Lou Jun Yao laughed softly. "You do not need to worry it will feel humiliated. If it was anyone else, that creature will surely throw a fit. But if it's you, it will be most happy to do it."

Qing Yu was taken aback by surprise. "Why?"

"That time back in Hade's Valley, when it lost control of itself and went out on a mindless massacre, it still did not strike you directly. Even when you fell off the cliff at the end, it had even wanted to leap down to go save you." Lou Jun Yao himself found it rather incredulous when he spoke about that and he shook his head with a smile. "Although I do not know the real reason, but it really likes you."

Hence even when he punished the spirit beast severely when they came back, and the beast had felt angry and highly aggrieved, it still knew that it had done something wrong, so it merely endured it all silently.

Qing Yu was silent as she heard him finish. She thought about it very seriously for a while and then lifted her eyes to say. "Maybe..... it just likes the roast rabbits I make."

Lou Jun Yao was speechless. "....."

Chapter 135: Narcissism. Needs to be Treated

The next day, outside the Duke of Eternal Peace Manor, the two royal concubines were holding their daughters hands, reluctantly bidding them goodbye. They even secretly stuffed quite a significant amount of money from their own secret stashes, afraid that they would be bullied by others in the Faint Mist Sect where there was no one to look after them.

On the other side, Yan Su merely reminded the twins, Qing Yu and Qing Bei to give it their all, and to help each other out together with Yan Ning Luo after they get in, for them to become closer to each other. He told them that Yan Ning Luo had been inside for quite a number of years already anyway and would have established relations, so she would be able to take care of them a little as well.

Qing Yu merely smiled without saying a word, while Qing Bei went on to acknowledge, to make it a little less awkward for Yan Su.

Because there were four of them altogether, Yan Su had specially arranged for the widest and most comfortable horse carriage in the manor for them, to bring to the Faint Mist Sect.

But just as he was about to get someone to drive the carriage out, she suddenly heard the sound going "clippety clop" coming in from a distance away. Everyone could not help themselves but crane their necks out to look. What they saw immediately caused their eyes to bulge.

They saw a horse carriage being slowly driven round a bend, the body of the entire black carriage car incredibly sleek, simple and luxurious. Tassels embroidered with threads of gold trimmed the sides of the roof, which was a really nice touch. But what was most surprising was that the horse right at the front looked really special. Although its body was no different from any other horse, but they just could not help but feel that something seemed a little off.

The horse carriage came to a stop slowly in front of them. The driver was a handsome and rather good natured looking man. Qing Yu then came to recall that it was the man who had been standing at the doors and was sleeping with his eyes wide open when she went to the Gathered Cloud Loft on one occasion.

Seeing that, Yan Su took a couple of steps forward and opened his mouth to ask: "And this gentleman is.....?"

The man smiled but his gaze was looking at the young lady behind Yan Su. "By the orders of my Lord, I came here to escort Miss Qing Yu to the Faint Mist Sect."

The moment those words came out, several pairs of eyes immediately turned to fix upon Qing Yu, to looking at her measuringly.

Standing at the side, Qing Yu lifted an eyebrow and her eyes were fixed upon the strange looking full jet black horse with a bright sleek coat. It was trampling its hooves impatiently in spot, snorting loudly through its nostrils, like it had nowhere to vent its frustrations and was feeling highly aggrieved.

[That guy Lou Jun Yao..... really has turned it into a horse to pull the carriage!]

"I wonder who might be your Lord?" Yan Su was still a little worried. Although he did not know what kind of an acquaintance Qing Yu might have come to make outside, but just by looking at the man driving the carriage and the subtly muted luxury of the highly expensive carriage that seemed to be more than what it looked like on the surface, he knew that the person must possess an extraordinary background.

Though the lass did indeed possess some great capabilities, but she was afterall still very young, and would fall for the deceit of people with impure intentions.

The coachman was just able to say something when Qing Yu interrupted by voicing out: "It's a friend of mine and Father does not have to worry about it. This friend of mine is someone trustworthy and moreover....."

Chapter 135.2: Narcissism. Needs to be Treated

Her gaze fixed upon the strange horse, she contemplated for a while on the approach to take before she slowly opened her mouth to say: "The steed is actually a spirit beast and its legs takes it over long distances very quickly, several times the speed of ordinary horses. It is also vert steady and I think my two elder sisters will not be able to tolerate a bumpy ride filled with too many jolts, so let us just take this carriage instead."

The moment they heard that the carriage would not jolt, Yan Xi Wu was already subconsciously nodding her head in agreement. "That's right Father. We'll just take this carriage. Since it's a friend Qing Yu's, our dear little sister, everything will be fine."

Beside her, Yan Xi Rou also quipped softly in agreement.

Hearing that, what else could he possibly say? He could only look at Qing Yu thoughtfully as he weighed the situation and then reminded them of a few things before he let them leave.

The few of them climbed up into the carriage but Qing Yu did not move, standing right in front of the horse carriage as she looked at the unfortunate beast looking extremely grumpy. She then reached her hand out suddenly and stroked the beast's head as she said in a gentle voice: "This must be so hard on you."

The eyes of the man driving the coach almost popped out of his head as he stared. [This little young miss is such a bold one! She dares to go touch a Lightning Blaze Unicorn!?]

It must be known that the horn on its head was the strongest weapon throughout the beast's body so their heads must never ever be touched. That spot was an absolute taboo for anyone except for its owner and whoever else touches it would definitely be killed.

The man broke out in a bout of cold sweat from fright and he was already thinking in his mind whether he should go back to fetch help as he would not be able to control an enraged Lightning Blaze Unicorn like this with his own power alone. Moreover, he had heard that this young miss was highly valued by the Lord, so if she should come to meet with any harm, wouldn't his head be made to shift house?

But who would have thought. That fella was unexpectedly calm and did not make a single sound, but just stared with its beastly eyes flared wide and its face in shock at the young lady before it.

Qing Yu laughed and stretched her hand out to stroke its head once more. "Although I tried my best to refuse, but your Lord's mind was set and he was just too stubborn. So, in order to make it up to you, why not I roast a rabbit for you next time? Erm..... and I'll throw in a chicken as well?"

Almost the same moment that she had just finished her words, the pair of beastly eyes then blinked happily, and then blinked at her again, before it obediently nudged its head against the young lady's palm, docile and tame.

The man driving the coach was nearly blinded by that sight.

[Goodness, was the person he saw just earlier who accidentally touched the Lightning Blaze Unicorn's body and then died a violent death when the beast drove its horn right through the man's body just an hallucination?]

After having appeased the Lightning Blaze Unicorn, Qing Yu then climbed herself up into the carriage.

She had just pulled the curtain aside to step inside when she froze in her spot.

Chapter 135.3: Narcissism. Needs to be Treated

She saw that the insides of the carriage had a thick layer of snowy white covering spread over the floor, seeming to be the fur of some kind of spirit beast, so even if one were to fall, it would not hurt. Placed right in the middle, was an ornate little low table, with tea and several dishes of snacks. In a corner at the foot of the table, there was also a small intricate little warmer.

Qing Yu's eyes glinted sharply and the voice of the man driving the coach suddenly came in: "Miss Qing Yu, my Lord said that you should keep the warmer by your side and when it isn't warm anymore, you just have to add some Fire Spirit Grass for it to work. There's a small box under the table and you'll find some of that inside."

Hearing that, she then saw that there was indeed a small square box under the table.

Actually, there was some warmth in the carriage itself and it was not cold at all, but it was just that Qing Yu's body was always cold and at such a low temperature.

Hence, even if it was warm in there, she did not feel it at all, as she had become so used to it, not feeling cold at all.

But, it was afterall all done with good intentions. Qing Yu carried the warmer in her hands and then said softly: "Can I trouble you to convey my thanks to your Lord when you go back?"

The man outside the carriage said in a bright voice with a smile: "The young miss need not be so courteous. My Lord owes you for having saved his life and all these does not require much effort at all. So it's nothing worth mentioning."

And Qing Yu did not respond any further to that.

But Yan Xi Wu who was seated right beside her shuffled over to her and asked in very softly: "Is this from that man from the Gathered Cloud Loft?"

Although she wasn't really sure, but she just had a feeling it was him in her heart. Back at the Hades' Valley, she had seen just how attentive that man had been towards Qing Yu. Although she had initially been highly jealous, she was now just filled with envy.

Qing Yu raised an eyebrow, but wasn't surprised that she was able to guess it correctly, but just replied to her with a simple: "Yes"

Yan Xi Wu's expression showed a triumphant "Just as I thought." but her heart felt a sense of sourness that came out of nowhere.

Her mind was filled with thoughts of the man whose looks were so good looking that he might be immortal and was too deep and profound to decipher, who viewed the entire world to be beneath him. How could he not even give her a single glance but was so friendly and amicable to Qing Yu, showing her the utmost care and concern?

She purse up her lips and then turned to Qing Yu to ask: "Have you come to like that man?"

Qing Yu's gaze sharpened and the expression on her face was baffled. "What?"

Yan Xi Wu assumed that she just wasn't ready to admit it. "Even if you have not, that man definitely likes you."

Qing Yu did not say a word, but just looked at her silently.

Yan Xi Wu then became even more depressed as her slim fingers caressed her own face. "I am clearly also so beautiful as well, but he did not even glance at me once. And then looking at you here....."

Yan Xi Wu was just about to pick on any shortcomings but when she saw that absolutely flawless and perfect looking face, she fell silent, finding herself at a loss for words. After a while, she then said: "Besides just that face, your temperament is not as soft and enchanting as mine, and you know nothing about needlework, music and chess, skills a respectable fair lady must possess. So why had he come to have taken a liking to you?"

Chapter 135.4: Narcissism. Needs to be Treated

Qing Yu was speechless. "....." [Narcissism is an illness. Needs to be treated.]

The horse carriage drawn by a high grade spirit beast was just amazing. Not only did they feel the least bit of queasiness, even when they were travelling over bumpy and uneven mountain roads, it felt as if they were on flat ground, the entire journey peaceful and uneventful.

The journey to the Faint Mist Sect was far and distant, and it required at least a day's time even by fast horses. But although it was clear to see that the Lightning Blaze Unicorn clearly had not travelled at a very fast speed, they had somehow come to reach the foot of the mountain to go into the Faint Mist Sect in less than a day.

Quite a good amount of people have come to gather at the place in succession as an appointed disciple from the Faint Mist Sect would come to lead the way when the time came, to settle them into an inn at the foot of the mountain for the time being. They would wait till it was time for the trials before they would be allowed inside the sect. Hence, even if these people have arrived an entire day earlier, they would not be able to enter yet.

There was a rather large inn at the foot of the mountain, and it had no problems accomodating a few hundred people.

The only thing that was not good about it was that the condition of the inn wasn't exactly in good shape being located in the wilderness. The furniture and beds looked extremely simple and crude, and the food served was bland and tasteless. The young youths who were so used to splendid clothes and luxurious food were naturally unable to put up with such poor and dilapidated conditions, immediately breaking out in complaint.

"Tsk, are all you brats here to sightsee in leisure? There is only this one single inn of mine within a hundred mile radius of the Faint Mist Sect. You can jolly well choose not to stay. Just leave and I will not be seeing you off." From the back of the main hall, a woman about thirty years of age dressed in plain and simple clothes said, her face clean and free from any rouge or powder. She seemed to be a gentle and harmless woman, but just for a pair of sharp and intelligent eyes.

She cast her gaze out of the corner of her eyes scathingly as she looked upon the crowd outside the inn, and then curled up a corner of her mouth in a meaning smile before she said: "Don't complain that I did not remind you. There is nothing else here at night but just a good number of hungry wolves and ferocious large cats. You can still make it if you leave now, otherwise when it turns dark, who knows what will happen?"

She said that with an evil smile on her lips and did not speak another word after that.

The next second, all the youths who had been complaining with utter contempt and disdain suddenly all surged themselves forward in a rush, fighting to be ahead of the others as they hollered: "Proprietor! I'll be staying. Give me your best room!"

They were afterall mostly still inexperienced young teens who had not seen much of the world, hence they were still fearful of such unknown dangers. Of course there were also those stubborn ones who still did not come in and even said with derisive scorn: "Making up such tall tales. There are really no lack of black hearted people who thrive on earning money through such evil means everywhere."

Those words were not said in a soft voice and the woman had naturally heard him. She merely laughed it off casually and did not offer a rebuttal to that.

Qing Yu watched the scene quietly from the side and then arched up an eyebrow before making her way inside. A slender hand was suddenly placed onto the counter right before the woman, leaving a small green crystal stone the size of a bird's egg.

"Give me the quietest room you have for four people."

Chapter 136: Frankly Expressed Goodwill

The voice was clear and pronounced, tinged with an innate aloofness and noble.

The woman was taken aback a moment and she then raised her eyes up, to see an exquisite and flawlessly beautiful young lady with the edges of her mouth slightly curved up. Her long upswept phoenix like eyes had a hint of a smile in them, neither too passionate nor cold. In that chilly weather, she was dressed only in thin white clothes, extremely eye catching among the crowd, especially her highly outstanding looks.

The woman then looked at the clear bright coloured crystal on the countertop and her eyes narrowed. If she was not mistaken, that was the crystal core of a level six spirit beast at the very least, which would fetch a high price of some tens of millions in the black market, enough to buy several inns that was bigger than this one she had.

She thought that maybe the young lady did not know the value of the gem and had ignorantly just taken out such a precious treasure.

Although she loved money quite a lot, but she would never want to cheat ignorant young ladies like this. She went on to push the crystal gem back with a stern expression, although feeling a little reluctant, but she held on to her principals. "Little missy, this is worth too much and I do not have any crystal gems of sufficient value to give back as change, and neither do I have enough cash on hand."

Qing Yu was a little surprised. She had thought that the money loving proprietress would have accepted it, never expecting that she would take the moral stand, and the smile on her face immediately deepened slightly. "The proprietress must accept it. It is affinity that we've come to meet and let's just take it as a token of our newfound friendship."

The woman was startled for a moment. The young lady looked like she was a pampered and sheltered young miss from a rich family and she had not thought that the young lady would know how to deal with people so well, and had such a generous hand.

She had always liked people like this.

With that thought in her mind, the woman then smiled and said: "In that case, I will accept it. I have never been a wishy washy person. Besides me, there are four other waiters in this inn. My name is Qiao Wei and you can call me Sister Wei."

Qing Yu nodded with a smile and then called her Sister Wei.

Qiao Wei's eyes curved into two crescents and her lips turned up into a smile. Although she did not possess an exactly stunning or particularly unforgettable countenance, she was still highly good looking when she smiled, a look that cheered people's hearts to see.

"Money Leopard, bring this young lady here to our best room and make sure to serve them well."

As Qiao Wei's voice fell, a tall thin man came walking over. His long thin face was all smiles as he said eagerly: "Will the young missy please follow me?"

Qing Yu nodded slightly. Seeing that, Qing Bei, Yan Xi Wu and Yan Xi Rou beside her immediately turned to follow them upstairs.

It was not till the few of them have disappeared from sight that the other people in the inn snapped back to their senses, one of them shouting out in rage: "Innkeeper! I was clearly the first to ask for your best room! Why did you give it to someone else? Don't you know what is first come first served?!"

The ear deafening roar was tinged with a slight measure of oppressive spirit power and quite a number of them felt woozy from the reverberating voice.

Chapter 136.2: Frankly Expressed Goodwill

The weak and frail looking woman seated at the back of the hall dug at her ear lazily, her eyes gazing indifferently at the tall and burly youth with a fiery temperament.

It was just a casual and indifferent glance and the youth who had been in such a rage suddenly went quiet, his body subconsciously retreating back a step.

[The woman's eyes..... are just too terrifying.]

Qiao Wei smiled without mirth as she curled up the edges of her lips and said: "This woman calls the shots here in this place and this woman can jolly well decide who she wants to let the rooms out to. Didn't you see how courteous that little young lady was? This woman finds her highly pleasing to the eye. As for the rest of you here, this woman is now unhappy with all of you and you can all now either choose to leave or to pay twice the price to stay here. You are free to do as you please."

"You..... You are just too much! This is supposed to be accommodation the Faint Mist Sect has arranged for us and not only are you chasing us out here, you are asking for two times the price as payment. Aren't you afraid that the Faint Mist Sect will come down hard on you?" Someone shouted loudly in indignance.

Qiao Wei blinked her eyes innocently like she had just heard a joke. "Come down hard on me? We'll see who in the Faint Mist Sect will dare to?"

Those taunting words thrown out in challenge immediately rendered all the youths speechless but there was nothing they could do about it. They really wanted to lash out to teach this audacious woman a good lesson but not to mention the fact that the woman's cultivation was too profound to be read, the man standing beside her was tall and muscular looking like an immovable tower. Just by standing there without moving, he was intimidating enough to make all of them not dare to take a single step forward, looking every inch a person not to be trifled with.

If they were not careful, they might very well stumble into a steel wall and stand to lose more than there was to gain. They could not afford to stir up trouble here or they can forget about taking part in the Faint Mist Sect's recruitment trials. There was nothing they could do but to bear the pain of paying twice the amount of money to stay at the inn.

Qing Yu watched the entire farce with amusement and then returned back to her room.

Although it was said that the conditions in the inn was crude, but it was not really entirely unbearable. The beds were hardwood boards and Yan Xi Wu and Yan Xi Rou who were so used to sleeping on soft mattresses and fluffy blankets could not help but to find it a little hard to get used to.

But fortunately for them, after the experience they had in Hell's Canyon and the recent months' of training they underwent, they were able to bear up better under the hardship. They were only going to stay in here for two nights and it would be over before they knew it.

"Qing Yu, regarding the proprietress....." After a little bit of packing in the room, Yan Xi Rou sat by the bed and suddenly asked. She had always been a little more meticulous in thought and she had naturally noticed that Qing Yu had intentionally befriended that woman.

Although she could not say that she understood Qing Yu very well, but she knew that the young lady was warm only on the surface and was cold inside, an aloof person deep in her bones and also haughty and arrogant. Hence, there must be a reason for her actions.

Yan Xi Wu on the other hand was carefree and happy go lucky, so she had not given it any thought at all.

The fact that the inn was situated in such a desolate and remote place just made one wonder how the place was able to survive. Moreover, besides the lady innkeeper herself, there were only four other waiters, so if they were to encounter any robbers, it could be said that they were completely defenceless, much less mention how they could possibly continue to run a business to earn money here.

Chapter 136.3: Frankly Expressed Goodwill

Among those few people, not a single one of them was as simple as they looked.

Hearing that, Qing Yu only laughed at looked at the others to say: "Anyway, it is almost nightfall and all of you better keep an eye out at night. Do not sleep too deeply."

Her words were a little baffling but they have all grown used to trusting her and they did not probe any further. They just quietly kept an eye open when they slept, not even removing their outer robes.

Night was approaching and the weather in that deep autumn was extremely cold, especially in that inn nestled among the mountains. It was so cold no one was able to sleep soundly and it did not help even when they hid themselves under the thick cover of their blankets. It only warmed up slightly when they summoned up a bit of their spirit powers and with the moonlight streaming in from outside the window, they could see that a thin layer of frost had formed.

Yan Xi Wu did not eat that night as dinner was just a couple of coarse plain buns and several unappetizing dishes. She had lost her appetite just by looking at them and had buried her head under the blanket to go to sleep.

But now, she had been awakened by a shiver from the cold and felt her tummy drumming up a symphony of emptiness, feeling so hungry she was no able to sleep at all. She was regretting it now and thought that she should have at least eaten something at least for dinner. But even if she wanted a plain bun now, they would be too hard to even bite into.

Qing Yu was not sleeping as she sat cross legged in bed. Hearing the soft groans and sighs raised in complaint from Yan Xi Wu, she opened her eyes and said softly: "What's wrong?"

Yan Xi Wu had not thought that Qing Yu would suddenly speak and she was jolted by a shock. She then said in a rather embarrassed voice: "I, I'm a little hungry."

Qing Yu tossed her a ripe red apple. "Eat this."

Yan Xi Rou caught it reflexively and then asked in a puzzled voice: "Where did you get this?"

"The proprietress gave it to me. If you are hungry, there's more here."

Yan Xi Wu looked over to her and saw a plate of apples placed on the table. They were all big and red and there was also a plate of snacks beside them.

She was rather surprised. "The lady boss looks like she loves money as much as life. To think that she is willing to prepare this for all the rooms. It must have cost her quite a tidy sum!"

Qing Yu arched up an eyebrow. "Only our room has it."

Yan Xi Wu became even more surprised. "You are well acquainted with the lady boss?"

Qing Yu shook her head. "Money makes the world go round. She accepted the core crystal of a level six spirit beast from me, hence she would naturally take extra good care of us."

Yan Xi Wu bit into the apple with a crunch and said as she chewed: "You're (chomp chomp) quite clever."

Qing Yu smiled and did not give any further response. After hearing Yan Xi Wu chomp down a good half of an apple, Yan Xi Wu suddenly paused in her actions and called her name. "Qing Yu."

Qing Yu then lifted her eyes to look at her. "Hm?"

Yan Xi Wu took another bite out of the apple and chewed noisily before swallowing as she contemplated how she was going to phrase her words. A good while passed before she then said: "In the past, I might not have been all that friendly to you. You know the kind of character I am, wilful and unreasonable, but I am actually not a bad person at heart."

Chapter 136.4: Frankly Expressed Goodwill

Qing Yu had not expected her to say such words all of a sudden and she merely curved the ends of her lips up to respond with a simple: "Mm."

"I bullied you and Little Bei in the past because Yan Ning Luo was always bullying me and second sis, using her position as the eldest daughter and her status as a princess. Although she did not outright abuse us physically or verbally, but she was always intentionally and unintentionally trying to humiliate and shame us, in order to portray her superiority and noble status." Yan Xi Wu then bit viciously into her apple, to vent out the rage she was feeling inside.

"I was feeling unbalanced and that was why I went to bully you guys. I know that what I did was wrong but my character was just like that, at times rather irritating and not exactly smart as in the brain as well."

Yan Xi Wu paused for a while and her eyes were shining slightly. "Although they all say that Yan Ning Luo is the Green Wave's most prodigious lady, I feel that you are so much more talented than her. Moreover, you are also more beautiful than she is although you are very bad at times as well, making fun of me and scaring me, but you have never really done anything against me. You are so intelligent and if you had really want to do something to me, I think I would have died more times than I can count. You are not a vicious and scheming woman like Yan Ning Luo, who puts herself up above everyone, so that people would not realize how deeply she schemes against others."

"I have come to think that you are rather nice at times. At least when I'm hungry, you will give me something to eat. Mm. I've decided that I will listen to you from now on, and will not oppose you anymore."

After saying that, she went on to lower her head shyly, afraid that Qing Yu would laugh at her.

But after a good while has passed, there was still no response. Her brows creased up and she was just about to say something when Qing Yu suddenly said in a soft voice that was tinged with slight mirth.

"Aren't you being rather smart now? I had thought that you were completely heartless and did not realize it at all."

Yan Xi Wu raised her head up in surprise. "You.... You do not hold anything against me for all the things I have done to you in the past?"

Qing Yu then replied with a laugh. "Just like you said. If I really want to settle the scores with you, you would have died an uncountable number of times by now."

Yan Xi Wu blushed slightly but she was greatly moved by what Qing Yu had said. She hesitated coyly for a while before she slowly came to ask: "Then..... Why did you not do anything against me before? Is it because..... you felt that I really wasn't that mean at heart?"

Qing Yu lifted an eyebrow with an indiscernible smile on her face. "Actually, I am someone who bears grudges at times."

"Then why....."

Her long slanted phoenix like eyes looked highly amused. "I did not really hold it against you because I felt that competing with someone with an immature mind would make it seem like I am bullying a little child."

"....."

As she thought, all the good feelings she had felt coming from the young lady were all highly misconceived.

Chapter 137: Someone Died

She had probably been ravenous with hunger as Yan Xi Wu felt full only after having eaten two whole apples and went to sleep satisfied.

Things were peaceful and uneventful here on this side but for all the others staying at the same inn who had come to take part in the recruitment trials, it was not known whether they were hallucinating, but they were feeling that the temperature seemed to become colder and colder as they lay in their beds.

At first, they were all sleeping by themselves on their own beds, and then it became two or three of them squeezing themselves together, the blankets piled thickly together over them, but they were still trembling with cold. It did not help even when they gathered their spirit energies in their bodies, their faces turning pale as they froze.

"Yi Yi..... Why do I feel so..... so cold....." A young girl's teeth chattered as she asked the other young girl sticking close just beside her.

The girl named Yi Yi was also trembling severely as she lifted her eyes to looked out the window. "Has it started to snow....."

As she spoke, she crawled out from under the blanket with much difficulty, thinking to open the window to see outside. In the end, she accidentally knocked over the teapot on the table while walking over there and the little half of the tea inside the pot spilled onto the floor.

In that instant, the tea quickly froze at a speed visible to the naked eye, as a frosty mist emanated from it.

The two girls immediately stared with their eyes widened, gasping in shock.

The girl on the bed suddenly broke into tears crying softly, sad and afraid. "Boo hoo hoo..... What kind of a scary place are we in here..... We'll surely die here...... Boo hoo..... I wanna go home....."

"Stop that. Stop crying." Yi Yi admonished softly, and then waved her hand to light the candle in the room, which brightened up a portion of the room. But the light from the fluttering flame made the room alternate between light and and darkness, the flame extremely weak, like it would go out at any moment.

The girl stopped her sobbing weakly, tears welled up in her eyes as she looked at the other girl. "Then what should we do now?"

Yi Yi knitted up her brows and was just about to say something when she heard a shrill scream rang out next door. A flurry of footsteps immediately followed that was accompanied by a girl's terrified scream: "Eeek! Someone died!"

With such a big commotion, everyone was alerted. They had all not been able to sleep because it was too cold and now that someone has been killed, they all broke out in cold sweat from shock.

Yan Xi Wu woke up still feeling groggy and saw that Qing Yu and the others have already woken up. She rubbed her eyes and sat up. "What happened out there? Why is it so noisy?"

"Seems like someone died."

Yan Xi Rou sighed inwardly, thinking that this fella here was really taking things so easy. It was thought that she was the only one who could fall asleep.

"What?" Yan Xi Wu's eyes widened in surprise. She had originally still been feeling rather sleepy but she was now fully awake. She immediately flipped off her blanket and climbed out of bed. "How could someone die so suddenly? Should we go take a look?"

"Mm. We were just about to wake you." Qing Yu said as she looked at her indifferent glance.

Chapter 137.2: Someone Died

Seeing that, Yan Xi Wu rubbed her nose, slightly embarrassed.

The commotion had come from the innermost room on the second floor, and everyone was gathered there at that moment, the place jammed packed with people as sounds of angry argument rang out from inside.

"How did such a thing happen? He was fine when we spoke earlier and he is now suddenly dead!"

"How would I now? I was feeling cold and was going to brew a hot pot of tea. I had just lit the candle when I saw this fella staring at me from his bed, the blood spilled over the entire bed."

"Why are you looking at me like this? You couldn't possibly be suspecting that I killed him do you? There are no grudges between us, so why would I want to kill him!?"

"The two of you were arguing earlier just today and if not for the fact that everyone pulled the two of you back, you guys would have gone at each other's throats!"

"You must be joking! This fella has such a bad temper and Heaven knows how many people he has offended on his way here. Why are you suspecting me now? He even went on to quarrel with the lady boss of this inn in front of everyone so why don't you say that the lady boss bore a grudge and secretly came to kill him in the middle of the night?!"

Upon hearing the loud argument, everyone then realized that the person who died was the tall and brawny hotheaded youth they had all seen earlier that afternoon.

The crowd parted slightly at that moment and the scene inside the room could be seen. The youth's eyes were open in a wide stare, and he had a large hole opened in his abdomen. Bright red blood stained the entire bed and had also spilled onto the floor, a highly grisly sight.

Someone within the surrounding crowd whispered softly: "Such a pitiful sight. Just how great was the grievance....."

"Sigh, it's little wonder. The kid always had such a fiery temper and he doesn't hold back on his words at all. Maybe he crossed somebody before and did not know it. Now, retribution caught up with him."

"But that is just too brutal! The wound on his stomach is really not small at all and he died with his eyes open. He must have been in great agony when he died."

"Disaster really does stem from one's mouth!"

Hearing these people debate, it seemed like everyone has already decided that the culprit was really the youth who was still arguing vehemently.

Qing Yu stood at the back of the crowd, her gaze looking at the youth who died with unresolved grievance. Her eyes darkened when she noticed something strange about the wound, where the edges looked highly uneven, seemingly caused by a sharp weapon.

It looked like..... something had torn his stomach out, biting through his body.

"You..... You all cannot just make such wild accusations!"

The eyes of the youth whom everyone thought was the killer had turned red. With so many fingers being pointed right at him, even though he was a little scared, he still stubbornly gritted his teeth, unwilling to lower his head.

"Lan Yu, what happened?" A gentle female voice rang out suddenly. With a white fox fur coat draped over her back, a slim figured young girl suddenly came walking over.

The young girl was very pretty, her tiny face almost the size of a palm enchanting, looking so very weak and frail.

Chapter 137.3: Someone Died

The youth looked as if he had just seen his saviour and his voice was immediately rather choked up. "Yi Yi, I did not kill anyone."

"I believe that you did not kill anyone." Yi Yi said reassuringly, and her eyes then turned to gaze indifferently upon the overbearing man who had been accusing Lan Yu. "What proof do you have that Lan Yu killed the man?"

"He almost got into a fight with Cheng Hui earlier in the day and many people witnessed it. Isn't that enough proof that he did it?" The youth said with a scornful snort.

"If you did not see it with your own eyes, do not slander others as you please." The expression on Yi Yi's face was still a little cold. For such a frail and gentle looking girl, she actually looked a little commanding when her face turned stern.

The youth was infuriated when he heard that and he then said in a demeaning tone. "What kind of a relationship do you have with this kid? A little girl like you had better not come stick your nose into men's affairs. You might invite unwanted trouble upon yourself."

"Lan Yu is my friend, and I know him very well. Although he might be rather rash at times, but he has a kind heart, and would never go kill anyone just because of a few heated words. But this young master here on the other hand, you seem to be highly insistent on forcing Lan Yu to admit to the crime, and is misleading everyone here, trying make everyone think that Lan Yu is the one who killed him."

"This woman is being just too unreasonable. Why would I want to do that?" The man retorted angrily.

Yi Yi curved up the ends of her lips in a smile and said: "Then, what does it have to do with Lan Yu?" Her gaze then swung around measuring up the surrounding crowd. "Everyone must not forget that we have to stay her in this inn for one day and one night. If anyone is to stir up any trouble within this period, the person will be disqualified from taking part in the Faint Mist Sect's recruitment trials. I will naturally not mind having one less opponent during the trials."

After saying that, she turned to the youth whose face was still a little pale and said directly to him: "Lan Yu, come with me. We have an empty bed in our room and you can sleep there for the time being."

Having come out from home, they couldn't afford to be too strict and unbending. It was common for men and women to stay under the same roof and it was no longer a strange thing to see.

But someone has died here. Are they really going to treat it as if nothing has happened?

"You fellas hold it right there!" The man shouted in a fit. "Aren't you going to give everyone an explanation for this incident?"

Yi Yi halted in her steps and then slowly turned her eyes around. That glance, was completely emotionless. "Lan Yu did not kill him, and there is nothing he needs to explain for. Moreover the person who died is not your parents or sibling, so nobody owes you an explanation as well."

Everyone was stumped, unable to find anything to say. Things were really like what she said, and there was nothing they could pick on.

The man had seemed like he still wanted to argue about something but Yi Yi suddenly turned shot a dim eyed glance at him. "Although one's status or position matters naught after we get into the Faint Mist Sect, but..... the Ming Family of the Soul Cultivators Tribe are not people that all of you here can wilfully offend."

Chapter 137.4: Someone Died

Once those words came out, everyone was overcome with shock.

No wonder such a weak and frail looking young lady like this could possess such an absorbing air about her, one that made it impossible to people to overlook. So it was because she was a person from the mysterious soul cultivator tribe.

Because people from the soul cultivator tribe practices mainly soul techniques, they possessed extremely strong mind powers. It was because of this that their people fell into two extremes. The strong their soul powers were, the weaker their bodies were. But there were exceptions to that, a small number of them did not suffer from frail bodies even though they possessed mighty mind powers.

But it was clear to see that this young lady did not look like she was in the best of health, and the pallor on her face was rather sickly pale.

Until they have walked a good distance away, the people then started to discuss heatedly. As for the youth who died, no one really cared about the reason he had been killed any longer, as he wasn't really that important a person anyway but had mindlessly gone on to offend others, so his death was no great loss to anyone. A good number of people die in these lands on a daily basis and incompetent people like this just deserves it.

Qing Yu turned to look with interest in the direction the young lady had disappeared in. The Soul Cultivator Tribe. To think that she was able to meet them, and she was really feeling quite curious.

It was not known if it was all just psychological, but after returning back to their rooms, it did not feel quite as cold anymore. Hiding back under their blankets, warmth returned to their bodies and it felt rather toasty. That had made the bunch of young people who had not been able to sleep well throughout the night to become grateful that they would not be freezing to death that night.

And when they came back to their room, Qing Yu was trailing a step behind the others when she heard voices and came to discover that the young lady earlier was staying in the room right across theirs. The sound of their conversation came drifting out from inside.

"Yi Yi, I really am so thankful you were there. If not for you, I might be branded as a murderer now." This was Lan Yu's voice.

"No need to thank me. Just remember this lesson well and do not be so hot headed anymore. Otherwise, if you come to be made use of by others again, I will not help you again." Yi Yi's voice sounded a little helpless.

Lan Yu laughed a little foolishly. "Who asked you to be so clever that I do not even have to use my brains when I'm with you? But Yi Yi, you're really very good. Here you are a girl younger than I am but you have such a commanding presence, which must have intimidated all those people back there."

"People from the Soul Cultivator Tribe must not be bullied by outsiders. You must remember this well." Yi Yi's voice was determined and she then broke out into a bout of suppressed coughing, and the sounds of frantic heaving breathing could be heard right after, which lasted a good while before it stopped.

"Yi Yi, are you alright? Are you feeling very uncomfortable? Qian Yun, go fetch the medicine quickly....."

"Cough cough..... It..... It's no use. I will be fine after a while." Just as she said, after a few moments, the coughing and the sound of heaving breaths stopped.

Chapter 138: Worming In Closer

"Yi Yi, your body is so weak and it is so freezing cold here at night. Your body will not be able to withstand it" That was a girl's worried voice, and it must be Qian Yun whom Lan Yu had just called out to earlier.

"I'm fine. The two of you should go get some rest. Day will be breaking in just a little while." Yi Yi said softly, and did not say anything else after that.

After Qing Yu listened in to their conversation, the corners of her lips raised up slightly. Just as she was about to go into her room, a tall and slim figure came walking slowly up from downstairs who then noticed her standing there and smiled at her." Young lady, not sleeping so late at night and came out for a stroll?"

Hearing that, the curve at the ends of Qing Yu's lips deepened. With such a big commotion earlier when someone died, she seemed to be completely unaware of it.

"Big Sister Wei, someone died just some moments ago." Qing Yu said softly, watching the woman's expression. "It's that youth who argued with you earlier in the day."

Upon hearing what she said, Qiao Wei lifted an eyebrow very calmly. "Oh I see. I'll someone to clean it up. A person died, an absolutely normal occurrence."

Qing Yu leaned against the railing with an indiscernible smile. "It is indeed nothing all that strange, but I am rather curious why there was such a large wound on the person's body, like his abdomen had been completely cut open. Could he have been sleepwalking and cut himself up that led to his death? But it was such a large wound, so what kind of a weapon could have caused it?"

Listening to her words, Qiao Wei looked at her smilingly and said: "Throughout the years in here, strange incidents happens on and off. It's fine once you get used to it. Be good and go get some sleep. No need to worry about it so much."

Seeing that she was not going to get anything out of Qiao Wei, Qing Yu gave a shrug of her shoulders and turned around to go into her room.

"Sis Wei, the little lass seems to have realized something." The towering man who was never seen away from her said in a deep gruff voice.

Qiao Wei gave a light laugh and replied: "The lass is the smartest one among them all. We will not be able to hide it from her for long."

The man was silent for a while before he went on to say: "Did we act too soon? With this incident tonight, they would all surely be on their guards now."

"You are overestimating them. No matter how prepared they are, with this batch, less than half of them will make it till the admission trials." Qiao Wei said with a contemptuous smile, and then raised her eyes to gaze into the cold moonlight shining down outside. Her lips curved up meaningfully and she said to the man: "There is still another day and night!"

The next day, everyone woke up early. Seeing the sun risen up high in the sky, it brought a sliver of sunny warmth into the still chilly morning.

It felt like everything had been a dream, unable to even imagine all that had happened last night, with that unbelievably freezing temperature, and the strange circumstances that a person had died under.

Chapter 138.2: Worming In Closer

Breakfast was very simple. A bowl of steaming hot plain porridge, a plain bun the size of one's palm, and also a dish of crunchy vegetables. It was probably due to the torment they experienced yesterday, that not a single person complained, with everyone slurping it all down greedily.

Seeing that scene, the ends of Qiao Wei's mouth lifted slightly. [These brats have learned to behave.]

"Lady boss, can we go to the Faint Mist Sect early?" A pretty and demure young woman suddenly asked.

Qiao Wei was clicking on the abacus behind the counter and she did not even raise her head up when she replied: "The rules say that the entrance will not open before the appointed time."

The young woman pouted her lips, looking a little aggrieved. "But.... it is really to cold here at night and there isn't any warmer around. What if we freeze to death here?"

Qiao Wei curled up her lips in a sneer and glanced at her. "If all of you are not able to withstand this little bit of cold, then there isn't really much meaning in you continuing to live at all."

"How can you speak like that to me?" The young woman almost burst into tears in anger, suddenly regretting coming here with her companions.

Someone beside her pulled the aggrieved young woman aside and shot her a warning glance before saying to her: "Have you forgotten what happened to that guy last night? Wasn't he being disrespectful to the Lady Boss yesterday and he was found dead that very night?"

The young woman's eyes widened in fear and she immediately clamped up.

But how could that hushed whisper ever hope to escape Qiao Wei's ears?

She could not help but smile quietly to herself. [Did they think that she had killed that person with her own hands? What a joke. If she had really struck, would these brats even come to discover anything was amiss? What a bunch of foolish kids.]

"All of you are free to move around nearby today, to get yourself familiar with the terrain here. But remember to not roam too far or if you come to encounter any danger, I cannot guarantee I will be able to get there in time. So you will have to be responsible for the consequences yourselves." Qiao Wei said that with a smile, and then got up lazily to go get some sleep in the back.

"....." [What a cold hearted woman.]

Lan Yu was taking bites out of the plain bun in his hand as he looked at the young woman seated across from him and said: "Yi Yi, should we send a homing pigeon to the Young Lord asking him to come get us? Otherwise I fear....."

Before he had even finished his words, his intention was already clear to see.

This inn that exuded a strange and mysterious air was not a place they should remain in any longer. They were worried that they might very well end up dead for no reason in this place before the day for the admission trials came.

The Young Lord of the Soul Cultivators Tribe was the most outstanding disciple of the Soul Mastery Department and was a leading entity in the Faint Mist Sect. He possessed powerful cultivation, was highly valued, and also Yi Yi's elder brother.

He had always doted in this younger sister of his and if he knew that they were facing such difficulties here, he would definitely lend a hand in assistance.

Chapter 138.3: Worming In Closer

Yi Yi still had the fox fur cape wrapped around her and her face was a little pale as she leaned back in the chair to rest. Hearing those words, her eyes filled up with displeasure as she stared at Lan Yu and said in a low voice. "My Elder Brother already has a lot on his plate to deal with everyday. How can I make him worry about a small matter like this? It will be time in less than a day more and it'll quickly pass once we grit our teeth and endure it."

Having been lectured, Lan Yu did not say anything else but lowered his head to eat silently.

Qing Yu then turned her eyes back to the table. But the moment she turned back around, she was immediately met with several other pairs of eyes looking at her thoughtfully.

"What?" Qing Yu raised an eyebrow "A flower bloomed on my face?"

Qing Bei shook his head and glanced at the few people at the table behind. "Why do I feel that you seem to hold quite an interest in them?"

Qing Yu smiled and then leaned in closer to say softly to him: "You remember me telling you that you have strong soul powers?"

"I remember that." Qing Bei nodded his head. [But what does that have to do with what she's doing here?]

"Those few fellas are from the main family of the Soul Cultivators Tribe. And if my memory serves me correctly, the Soul Cultivators Tribe's Ming Family bloodline has produced two very rare prodigies with extremely powerful soul powers. One of them is the Soul Cultivators Tribe's Young Lord Ming Jing, the other one is their most beloved Little Princess of the Soul Cultivators Tribe, Ming Yi Yi." Qing Yu said slowly, as her lips curved up at the corners.

And Qing Bei had a smart and quick mind, dazed for just a moment before he quickly came to react. "And that young lady there is the Soul Cultivators Tribe's Little Princess..... Ming Yi Yi?"

"That's right." Qing Yu said with a disarming smile. "She seems to be a little sickly in health and I am contemplating how I should worm my way in closer."

Qing Bei was speechless. "....."

The way she looked now was exactly like a crafty scheming fox.

She was always putting up an aloof front, her demeanor cold and keeping people at arm's length, but whenever she started scheming against someone, this sly and black bellied look she gave made her look like a completely different person.

Once out of the inn, overlapping mountain ranges stretched to the horizon as far as the eye could see, cloudy mist swirling around them. No one knew which one of those mountains was actually hiding the entrance into the Faint Mist Sect.

The terrain was complicated and treacherous, the mountain roads winding and countless in number, so one could easily get lost. So everyone kept Qiao Wei's words in mind and did not roam too far away, moving mostly together in groups so that they could at least look out for one another.

Very coincidentally, Qing Yu and her group walked together with Ming Yi Yi and her companions when the met each other outside the inn, which led them to walk together.

Ming Yi Yi was naturally able to recognize Qing Yu. When they were here on the very first day, this young lady had stood out so strongly. Regardless whether it was in demeanor or looks, the young lady was just too unforgettable. But as Yi Yi was born with a more introverted personality, unused to taking the initiative to go strike up a conversation, she just nodded politely at the young lady, and then went on walking on her own in front.

Chapter 138.4: Worming In Closer

Though Yan Xi Wu was usually quite dense and insensitive, but she seemed to have noticed something as well this time. She tugged at Qing Yu's sleeve discreetly. "Hey, are you secretly tailing that girl?"

Qing Yu glanced at her sharply. "Is that how you use the term tailing?"

Yan Xi Wu was stumped for words and it was a while before she found her voice. "Anyway I just seem to feel that you are purposely following them."

"Hm, you aren't stupid afterall." Qing Yu then responded.

"....."

The seasonal climate in the Green Wave Kingdom was the most gentle. By this time, other places had already started to snow but it was just a little chilly there, and people were just wearing winter clothing of regular thickness.

But in front of them, the thin figured young lady was wrapped up especially thickly. The fox fur she had clad around her was high grade clothing that kept out the chill extremely well and it would seemingly be still too early to use that now in this climate, but even though the young lady had that wrapped around her, her tiny face had turned pale from the cold, with no color in her lips.

She clutched her cape tightly around her body, her steps under her feet quick.

Quan Yun in green clothes quickly caught up from behind. "Yi Yi, where are you going? we cannot walk too far from here otherwise what are we going to do if we cannot find our way back?"

Ming Yi Yi's lips were pressed tightly together and her voice was a little hoarse. "Help me find the Crimson Sand Viper....."

The footsteps of Quan Yun and Lan Yu immediately stopped in their spots. "What are you thinking of doing?"

"I cannot withstand it much longer." The young lady was so pale her face was completely white and her lips were stained red from her biting down on them. "The blood of the Crimson Sand Viper can help alleviate my condition."

"Yi Yi, have you lost your mind? The Crimson Sand Viper has highly lethal poison!" Qian Yun's eyes had become red rimmed and she suddenly said in a low shout. "You cannot do that. I am going to send word to the Young Lord. We cannot stay another moment here in this hellish place. If anything happens to you here today, then we'll not be able to answer for it even with our very lives!"

As she spoke, she pulled out something from within her robes and was just about to crush it when Ming Yi Yi suddenly turned around, her eyes tinged with an iciness. "You dare to defy my orders."

"But you're....."

"I said that I'm fine. Do not go worry my elder brother with every little thing!" Ming Yi Yi said through tightly clenched teeth, spitting out each word one at a time.

Qian Yun closed her eyes and her arms slumped down in defeat. The expression on her face was sorrowful, like it was rather painful for her and she was finding it hard to bear.

Finally, a quick fleeting flash of red zoomed past and Lan Yu very nimbly caught it in his hand, his hand clutched around the seven inch spot below its head as he brought it up before Ming Yi Yi.

Although he was well aware of the fact that the Crimson Sand Viper was born with fiery Fire Poison, but this was the only way to counter the ice that sealed her heart. If not for the fact that they were left with no other choice, how could they possibly be willing to do something so savage as to devour the raw blood of beasts and fowl?

But..... she wanted to live on.

She gripped her hands around the snake's body and was just about to sever its main artery and drink its blood when a pebble suddenly struck the back of her hand. Shocked by the hit, she released her grip and the Crimson Sand Viper slithered speedily away in a blink.

Ming Yi Yi's eyes darkened and they became chillingly bloodthirsty.

Chapter 139: Trials Quietly Held

Qian Yun had actually not been all that willing to see Yi Yi drink the snake's blood so when she saw the snake slither away, she heaved an inward sigh of relief but then grew rather fearful because she knew that Yi Yi hated people who came to interfere with anything that she wanted to do the most.

Although she usually looked rather frail and weak most of the time, but as the next most powerful Soul Master after the Soul Cultivators Tribe, she was never someone soft that did other's bidding.

On the contrary, her temper wasn't all that good, especially when her illness stuck, she could be said to be brutal and ruthless.

The methods that Soul Masters employed to kill a person, was a lot more terrifying than most other martial arts practitioners.

Qian Yun could not help but silently pitied the person who had moved to stop Ming Yi Yi.

Right in that instant, Ming Yi Yi's sinisterly cold eyes were staring unwaveringly at the person who had suddenly appeared and she said in a chilling voice: "You, have been tailing me."

That person, was Qing Yu, dressed in full white, looking especially harmless and innocent.

Towards the sinisterly cold haze the young lady was staring at her with, Qing Yu did not seem to be bothered in the least as she laughed softly and said: "Not true. I'm merely saving your life."

"Save my life?" Ming Yi Yi's expression was becoming more and more dangerous, like she was right on the verge of exploding into rage.

Qing Yu shook her head and sighed aloud, her tone of voice seemingly filled with pity and regret. "I just don't want you to bring ruin upon yourself. You're actually an exceptionally outstanding Soul Master. Don't you know that if you drink this snake's blood here today, you'll not be able to break the addiction that would consume you henceforth and turn into a monster that could not live without more of its blood?"

"That's none of your business." Ming Yi Yi said coldly, like she already knew that the consequences would be such.

Qing Yu curved up the ends of her mouth. "It is indeed not really my business but I was thinking what if that brother of yours who loves his younger sister so fiercely were to find out that the precious little sister he holds so protectively dear in the palm of his hand had been forced out of the Soul Cultivators Tribe and driven to have no choice but to drink the blood of the Crimson Sand Viper to suppress the Ice Poison inside her, turned into a person who is neither man nor ghost. I am afraid that he might just lose his mind in a fit of rage and embark on a rampage of unstoppable massacre!"

Ming Yi Yi's eyes constricted. "How do you know....."

"I will of course know all that because I can save you from this fate." Qing Yu said with a disarming smile as she slowly walked in closer to Ming Yi Yi, her full white clothes lending an air seemingly like that of a deity onto her, adding to that exceptionally alluring face of beauty that was impossible to overlook.

Qian Yun stood in front of Ming Yi Yi protectively as she stared warily at the young lady coming closer to them a step at a time. Behind her, Ming Yi Yi struggled to lift her hand up to push Qian Yun away before she said: "What is your real motive here?"

She was naturally not so naive to think that this young lady was just being kind. Although she did not know the young lady, she could tell with just one glance that the young lady was the same as her, an extremely cold and unfeeling nature that ran deep inside their bones, a person who would not want to save her for no good reason.

Chapter 139.2: Trials Quietly Held

Ming Yi Yi petite small face had already turned green from the chill but she was still forcefully bracing herself from collapsing. If this young lady was really able to save her life, then she would be willing to pay any price, no matter what it cost her.

[She must not die..... yet.]

Qing Yu's eyes flashed with momentary surprise. [This girl..... has a very strong will, a will that yearned to live so unbelievably strongly.]

Her pair of x-ray eyes that were meant to save people's life could at that moment clearly see inside the young lady's body that was fully riddled with countless old ailments, that young heart that should be beating energetically was extraordinarily weak, a layer of icy frost encrusted around it. If not for that fiercely strong will that longed to live so much to brace her, she feared that the young lady would have already turned into a frozen icicle by now.

Qing Yu had been here in this other world for quite a number of years already, but she had never seen such a strange and peculiar affliction.

To be able to live when her heart was encased in ice, it was such an absolute miracle.

She grabbed the young lady's thin and frail looking hand and poured her golden red elixir fire into the young lady's icy cold body, dispersing the chill inside in an instant. The icy frost around her heart was melting at a visible rate, and it began to beat strongly.

Qian Yun and Lan Yu stood there with their eyes wide and their mouths agape. For so many years, it was the first time that they were seeing the always pale and sickly Ming Yi Yi showing a hint of rosiness in her cheeks.

"Yi Yi, how do you feel?" Qian Yun asked excitedly as she held Ming Yi Yi's hand. With that touch, her expression became even more surprised. "Yi Yi..... Your hands..... Your hands are warm to the touch!"

Hearing that, Lan Yu came over and placed his hand on the back of the young lady's hand. He felt a warm under his fingers. The youth's eyes immediately turned red around the rims. "Yi Yi, have you really recovered? You will not have to suffer anymore relapses of the illness again right?"

Qing Yu stood on the side with her arms folded across her chest and she clicked her tongue before she said: "That is of course not possible. She has been afflicted with Ice Poison for so many years. How could she possibly recover so quickly?"

Ming Yi Yi was in a daze as she stared at her own hands. Under the sun's bright rays, she was able to clearly see her veins under her fair white skin.

Her hands had been covered with a thin layer of icy before, but now, it was completely clear and they were warm and dry.

Her elder brother had brought in many Elixir Cultivators but all those people were not able to save her. They had even told her that if her condition continued on like this, it was highly possible she would not live past eighteen years.

After this year, she would just be only sixteen, just when she was just blossoming into beauty. But all of that to her, was going to be too short lived and fleeting.

So what if she was the Soul Cultivators Tribe's female prodigy. If she could choose, she would rather be useless trash who did not possess any gift in cultivation at all, if she could just live..... as long as she can always see her elder brother.

Chapter 139.3: Trials Quietly Held

As she had thought, all those people were quack physicians. It was clear to see that she could be cured right?

Ming Yi Yi then stood up from the ground, her eyes clear as autumn waters filled with resolve and traces of a plea. "If you are able to cure me of my condition, then I will agree to whatever condition you might ask."

She might still be hesitant and undecided before, but now that she was feeling the kind of warmth any normal human should have for the first time in her life and did not fear the winter's chill anymore, it gave her the best proof she could ever get.

"You don't have to be so serious. We'll be fellow sect disciples in future and it is only natural that we look out for each other." The ends of Qing Yu's lips lifted with a smile. Having said that, she then paused for a moment before she turned to look at the young lady before her. "But, there really might be something that will require help from the Soul Cultivators Tribe."

Ming Yi Yi nodded her head gently. "You will just have to say it, and I will get it done for you."

"Then we've happily come to an agreement here." Qing Yu said with her eyes turned into smiling arcs, almost looking a little sly.

Qing Bei and Yan Xi Wu stood watching from a far distance, as they were afraid that they might be easily noticed if they had gone forward together as a group, so Qing Yu had gone over by herself. Upon seeing Ming Yi Yi turning misty eyed and her face looking highly moved and grateful, Yan Xi Wu raised her hand to rub her chin, before suddenly poking Qing Bei in his arm.

"What was that for?" Qing Bei asked with his brows creased up.

There was a rather complicated expression on Yan Xi Wu's face as she asked in a low voice: "Say, Qing Yu is clearly doing a good deed here by saving someone's life. So why do I seem to feel that she is trying to scheme against someone instead?"

"Tsk." Qing Bei clicked his tongue and then gave an indiscernible smile. "There is no need to guess. She is indeed scheming against someone."

Although he did not know what Qing Yu's intentions were in getting close to those fellas from the Soul Cultivators Tribe.

Yan Xi Rou had not really shown much interest towards the matter but she suddenly lifted her head to look up.

[Has she been mistaken? The sky seems to have suddenly darkened quite a bit.]

After that, Ming Yi Yi and her group came to walk together with Qing Yu and her companions. The few of them were chatting when it was not known who brought up the topic, and they were soon discussing about the youth who had mysteriously died the night before.

"I was in great shock at that time. That person definitely did not die at the moment when I discovered him. Because the temperature was really just too cold, the blood that had flowed onto the floor had already froze, so it must have been an hour at least. Moreover his eyes were wide open and everyone said that was caused by extreme terror, but what I saw in his eyes was unbearable agony instead. When he died, it must have been inconceivably torturous, so I just cannot understand how come nobody noticed anything at that time?"

When Lan Yu related to them about last night's events, he had looked rather puzzled.

People from the Soul Cultivators Tribe were able to deduce the sequence of events just before a person's death by reading the expression of the victim's face. But as the other person staying in the same room as him had immediately wrongfully accuse Lan Yu to be the killer, rage had filled his head at that time as he fiercely defended himself, only concerned with explaining himself, and had not taken a close look at the victim. Now that he thought about the matter, he just could not help but feel that something wasn't really right.

Chapter 139.4: Trials Quietly Held

The topic was a little heavy and the atmosphere became rather heavy.

Seeing that, Qing Yu raised an eyebrow and laughed softly. "Of course no one would notice anything. Moreover, I fear that even the victim himself did not know how he died."

When her voice fell, everyone uniformly turned their eyes to look at her curiously.

But Qing Yu took a long moment to keep them in suspense before she said in a unhurried tone: "Although it is said that we are up on a mountain, but the unbelievable steep drop in temperature at night is a little too ridiculous. Haven't any of you ever wondered why that is the case?"

"Why?"

Qing Yu shook her head a little helplessly before turning to look at Qing Bei. The youth's eyes were calm and he was neither flustered nor nervous, seemingly not curious about what Qing Yu had to say. Because of the unique gift he possessed, anything that he wanted to know about could not be hidden from him.

Catching the look his sister gave him, Qing Bei was merely surprised for an instant before he realized that Qing Yu wanted him to explain it, as he would be able to explain it more clearly afterall.

Hence he opened his mouth and said slowly: "Actually, from the moment we came to set foot into the inn, the Faint Mist Sect's admission trials had already begun."

The moment his words registered, except for Qing Yu who already knew that fact, even the ever calm and composed Ming Yi Yi had a glint of surprise show in her eyes.

[What did that really mean?]

"After the great purge the Faint Mist Sect underwent, they came to set this as the first test for the trials after discussion that was carried out with utmost secrecy, so no one knew about it at all. So what we are going through now is actually just a small test for all the several hundred people taking part in the recruitment trials."

Qing Bei paused for a moment as he spoke, and then continued on to say: "The person who died last night, had actually lost the right to be accepted into the sect when he kicked up such a big fuss about the room allocation and had even wanted to strike at the proprietress. As for the reason why he died, it might be because..... While he was on his way here, he had cruelly killed his own companion over a highly insignificant matter and all of this had not escaped the Faint Mist Sect's eyes. But of course the real reason that ultimately came to lead to his death was because he had been secretly plotting to exact revenge upon the proprietress who had been so disrespectful to him."

"The proprietress many seem like a weak and defenseless woman, but have you noticed the four waiters she has under her command? Maybe you might not have noticed it much, but if I am to tell you their nicknames, I'm sure all of you would have at least heard of them before."

"Their nicknames are Great Whale Shark, Money Leopard, Arctic Snow Fox, Devil Devouring Eagle."

Such well known names. How could they possibly not heard of them before? It was said since the founding of the Faint Mist Sect for the past hundred years, these were the four Great Divine Beasts that guarded the sect.

But it was clear to see that they were four humans, so why were they given names of different beast species, and were known to be divine beasts? Without delving deeper into that reason for now, just by hearing these names that were known far and wide, one would already know exactly how strong they were.

How had these peerlessly powerful pugilists of legendary stature suddenly become waiters in an inn?

Chapter 140: A Thread between Life and Death

"It becomes so cold at night due to the hand of the Arctic Snow Wolf and he's the one that killed the youth."

It could be seen with just one look that those four were highly respectful of the proprietress. So anyone who dared to show her such discourtesy would just be seeking their own death, as those four people were not entirely good people themselves.

After hearing Qing Bei explain all that, their eyes became incredibly fevered when they came to realize that the youth could actually know so much about these well hidden secrets. The youth was really quite an extraordinary person.

But Ming Yi Yi was looking at him with a look of surprise. "I really wonder..... how did you come to know about all these matters and even understand them in so much detail?"

The youth lifted the ends of his lips to smile candidly. "I do not know why, but anything that I want to know about, it will just appear in my mind. Qing Yu said that it is because I possess strong soul powers, a gift that I was born with."

Ming Yi Yi's eyes brightened and thought that it was rather incredulous. "You are born to be a Soul Cultivator. Except for my brother, I have never seen a person as talented as you."

Qing Bei rubbed his nose shyly. "That's too kind."

Compared to Qing Yu, he was still thousand of miles behind. Although Qing Yu had always said he was very highly skilled, it was still far from enough.

Ming Yi Yi smiled lightly and said: "You're just too modest. Once we get into the Faint Mist Sect, I will tell my elder brother about you."

Unknowingly, though she had just come to know them for a short period of time, Ming Yi Yi had come to like them very much. The highly introverted girl had almost never taken the initiative to become friendly with people and only had Qian Yuna and Lan Yu whom she was close to. This was the first time that she was opening her heart so easily to people she had just come to meet and was treating them with so much sincerity.

It was a different kind of feeling with Qian Yun and Lan Yu whom she had grown up together with, as this could be considered the first couple of friends she had come to know.

Though it was said that they had come to familiarize themselves with the terrain, but they did not walk all that far out. To a person like Qing Yu who had a photographic memory, she had come out merely to see if she could exchange a few words with Ming Yi Yi, getting to know the area and what not was secondary.

Moreover, it was not known what else was going to happen that very night.

With the weather starting to turn cold, daylight grew shorter and time seemed to fly. Before any of them had really noticed it, the sky had already started to gradually turn dark.

And in the night, at almost two times it was in the day, time felt like it passed laboriously slowly and was more oppressive.

But at the same time under the oppressive air, they also felt like they were able to heave a sigh of relief, as after tonight, they would be able to leave this strange inn, to go take part in the Faint Mist Sect's recruitment trials.

The night felt as if some terrifying wild beast lay crouching in wait, as fear blanketed over everything.

Within the cold chill air of the silent mountain, the faint light of candles could be seen flickering weakly inside.

Chapter 140.2: A Thread between Life and Death

The darkness of the night deepened, and it was not known from when lazy snowflakes began to fall down through the air outside the windows, covering the high mountains in a layer of silvery white. The bare and desolate mountain only had that single lonely inn sitting within, looking highly obtrusive.

The candlelight in the main hall wavered incessantly under the billowing winter's wind, before it finally gave a final flicker, and went out.

"Sheeesh..... I, I can't stand it anymore. It's so..... so cold."

"Although it is said that the temperature gets lower in the mountains..... But this..... this is just too cold."

"Or..... Or rather, should we go ask..... ask for a fire or something from the Lady Boss?"

Someone in the room suggested and then went shivering as he tottered over towards the door. His hand had just touched the door when he froze there, not moving an inch for a long time.

"Oy, what are you still dawdling there? Hurry up and go borrow a light or something already!" Someone shouted impatiently as he huddled within his blanket, shivering.

But the person at the door did not seem to have heard him. Not to mention any form of response, but his did not even move his body a single inch.

"What are you really up to over there?" The person on the bed got angry and climbed off from his bed despite the biting and chilly cold, like he was going to give the person standing at the door like a wooden block a good tongue lashing.

Just as he came closer, a chill ran up his entire spine.

In that quiet and soundless room, so silent you can even hear a pin drop, which made the soft and faint patter of something dripping sound clear and crisp, which drummed on their hearts, causing the hair on the back of their necks to stand.

There were a total of three people in that room, and the third person had been so cold he could not be bothered to even speak a word. But upon hearing the sound, he was a little puzzled and unconsciously holding his breath, he asked: "What is that sound?"

At that moment, the man who had gone over to the door to go borrow a light was still frozen in place with his hand on the door, but the stance of his body seemed a little too stiff and it seemed like something was wrong, his back facing the other two people, where they were not able to see what had happened to him.

But when the person who had climbed off his bed in impatience went to push that man's body with a nudge, a series of events happened. It was as if the sluice gates in that man's stiffened body had opened, suddenly spurting out a warm and sticky liquid that splattered all over the other person.

Immediately after, that tall body crashed to the floor, laying face there face down, as a large amount of blood spilled in a widening pool.

He was dead, soundlessly and without any warning.

The blood spilled across almost half the room, the thick metallic stench shooting straight up their noses, the air turned heavy and stifling. The two people were so shocked by the entire scene that they even forgot to scream, their eyes staring widely with their faces white as a sheet.

With the youth that had died last night, this was already the second person to die under such mysterious circumstances.

They still did not know how the first youth had died. But this person had been staying in the same room together with them and it was in just a few breaths' time that he was killed right under their very noses.

Chapter 140.3: A Thread between Life and Death

In this inn..... Was there really a murderous devilish demon up to its tricks and going around to kill people without anyone noticing!?

Fear gripped at their hearts and they all were in such panic that they wanted to open their doors to go run outside crying for help. But it seemed like the doors had been locked from outside and they were not able to open it no matter how hard they tried.

The blizzard outside was blowing stronger and stronger and the tightly shut window that was suddenly blown open allowed the flurries of snow to fly in, striking them right in their faces, cutting painfully like blades.

The temperature in the room immediately plummeted and the man who died froze up together with his spilt blood into ice, with countless thin and sharp icicles forming all over the walls, covering the entire room, trapping the two of them inside.

The space they could still move within was growing tighter and tighter, until finally, those icicles that numbered in thousands pierced right through their bodies, sticking out through their bodies like they had been turned into porcupines. But not a single drop of blood bled from their bodies, because it had been just too cold, and all their blood had freezed up. Even up till the point of death, they had not even cried out at all, because before they could even react, they were already dead.

Downstairs, Qiao Wei had a hot cup of tea in her hand. Sipping from it, she then curled up the ends of her lips before she said with a sigh: "All these brats here are still too young. To think that they even dare to come wanting to join the Faint Mist Sect so casually. Do they really think that it is so easy to be accepted/"

Behind her, the burly man who was tall as a tower hesitated a moment before he said in incomprehension. "For those few fellas....."

"Ah, just a bunch of reprehensible fugitives on the run who have committed all kinds of heinous deeds. Did they really think that they would be able to muddle their way into the Faint Mist Sect just by changing their faces? Aren't they being too naive?" Qiao Wei burst out into laughter and seemed to recall something in her mind as her eyes flashed. "Let the Devil Devouring Eagle add a couple of his touches. I would really like to see how many among all these brats are talents with sufficient aptitude."

The man paused a moment and then answered with a curt yes.

He really didn't know whether all these little fellas would be able to withstand it at all.

That night was really very long, like they would not be able to see the sun again tomorrow.

The blizzard outside had piled up snow that was several meters deep. Anybody who walked outside would find half their bodies sinking into it. The weather was strange, as it was clearly not yet time for snow to fall, but the blizzard outside seemed determined to bury all life outside.

"Something's not right."

Ming Yi Yi stood by the window, the thick fox fur wrapped around her. Qing Yu had suppressed the Ice Poison in her earlier that day and she was feeling a whole lot better. Even though the weather was bitterly cold now, she did not feel all that tormented anymore.

"Yi Yi, what is it?" Qian Yun heard her words and she came over to ask.

Ming Yi Yi's brows were knitted up. "Look over there at that mountain."

The direction the window in this room faced was great, and they could see a far distance standing here.

Chapter 140.4: A Thread between Life and Death

And Ming Yi Yi had just seen, with the inn as the central point, that it was snowing heavily a hundred miles around it, covering everything in a white snowy blanket. But gazing further away at the faraway mountain, it was calm and tranquil, without the slightest sign of a snow at all. The peak was bare and barren, a lonesome sight, where only a forest of empty trees shed of all their leaves could be seen.

Qian Yun stared with his eyes widened in shock. "That is....."

"Looks like Qing Bei was right. This is definitely the work of the Arctic Snow Wolf." Ming Yi Yi then went on to say.

"If this snow continues on like this, the inn might really get buried under all this snow. What are they trying to do here?" Lan Yu clenched his fists and said angrily. "Is the Faint Mist Sect testing us or are they out to get us?"

Ming Yi Yi's eyes dimmed and a sharp pain suddenly shot into her mind, her vision bursting into a flash of blood red. "We all..... might not be able to make it through tonight."

"Yi Yi, what did you see?" Qian Yun asked a little worriedly.

People of the Soul Cultivators Tribe possess a certain ability. They were able to see things that others could not, and were also able to see things that were able to happen.

But before she could even reply, a man's low raspy voice sounded, that was tinged with bits of spellbinding enchantment. "I see that there are still some good sprouts from the Soul Cultivators Tribe. What a pity."

Lan Yu's body tensed up warily as he shouted coldly: "Who is that? Show yourself!"

That person's voice, had sounded like it had spoke just beside his ear. But since when had there been another person's presence inside their room? And they had not noticed a thing!?

It was probably due to the fact that people from the Soul Cultivators Tribe had a naturally strong sense in foreseeing danger and hence Ming Yi Yi and her companions had not rested at all that night, fearing that something unexpected was going to happen.

And just as they predicted, what must come, had now come.

The candlelight in the room was wavering and the man hidden in the shadows stirred up a gust of cold wind from under his voluminous cape, which almost blew the weak flickering candle out completely.

It was a man of incredibly towering height, completely wrapped up in a wide cape that covered him entirely. He wore a wide brimmed bamboo hat on his head and only his strong and hard chin could be seen. It was probably because it was not exposed to the sun much, as the skin on that chin was pale and white.

"Who are you?" Sweat had spilled into the palms of Ming Yi Yi's tightly clenched fists, but her face still maintained a composed facade as she asked in a calm tone.

The man laughed lightly. Although his face could not be seen, but his voice was highly pleasing to the ears. "You do not have to worry about that, as tonight..... All of you might not be able to survive through this snowstorm, unable to escape the beautiful dreams that I have carefully weaved up for everyone here."

Ming Yi Yi's eyes widened. [What does he mean by those words?]

But very soon, she would know.