Under the night sky, light snow drifted.
On the streets of Yulu Town , travelers came and went with waxed paper umbrellas in their hands.
A travel-worn silver-haired woman was sitting alone in a tea stall on the street, fighting with a steaming roasted chicken.
The chicken leg entered her mouth. She bit it, pulled it, and then burped. "Burp~~~"
The plate looked as if a locust swarm had crossed it, with only a complete chicken skeleton left.
Seeing this scene, the owner of the tea stall suddenly realized the truth of the saying, "You can't judge a book by its cover".
This silver-haired girl, with bright eyes and white teeth, looked like a fairy, but she ate like a pig that had been starving for three days, which ruined her white fairy hair and stunning face.
But the boss only dared to comment in his heart. After watching for a while, he retracted his gaze and continued to make tea.
Feng Yu Die licked her lips, looked left and right, then beckoned the tea stall owner to come over. "Boss, is there a girl named Xiyue in Yulu Town ?"
The tea stall owner paused before saying, "Uh... Not that I know of."
"Forget it then."
Feng Yu Die pouted in disappointment and stopped asking. She asked the boss to pack another roasted chicken for her, then poured a cup of tea, held it in her palm, looking in boredom at the people walking down the street.
Just as she was waiting for the boss to pack the roasted chicken, a golden light suddenly crossed the sky and flew straight toward her.
Seeing this figure, Feng Yu Die's eyes lit up immediately.
---There is news from Young Master Ye!
Xiao Tian had come once before and told her that Ye Anping had completed his Core Formation . When he heard that they had come to the Northern Region , he also followed after them and sent another letter.
Feng Yu Die's eyes were full of anticipation. The roasted chicken sold on the street seemed to lack some seasoning. She had eaten hundreds of roasted chickens in the Northern Region , but none of them tasted better than the one sent by Ye Anping.
Xiao Tian circled in the sky and saw Feng Yu Die sitting in the tea stall, so she floated down, put her small bag on the table, and sat down with her legs stretched out.
"Oh! I'm so tired..."
Feng Yu Die blinked, looked around, and asked in a low voice, "Where is Master Ye's roasted chicken?"
"..."
Xiao Tian froze for a moment, and only then remembered.
Since Ye Anping and Feng Yu Die entered the Core Formation stage, her strength also increased a lot. She could lift some small things and also be used as a portable storage bag.
So, after delivering the letter to Feng Yu Die, Feng Yu Die asked her to reply and by the way, bring a roasted chicken made by Ye Anping.
But the journey was quite long, and she was so tired that she forgot.
"Yu Die, you see..." Xiao Tian looked embarrassed as she knocked her head and stuck out her tongue. "I forgot, heh~"
"..."
The smile on Feng Yu Die's face instantly collapsed, and she raised her hand to pinch her face. "I've been looking forward to it for so long!!"
"Ah..." Xiao Tian shook her head and comforted her. "He's very close. When you see him, ask him for it yourself. Anping has prepared a lot of roasted chicken for you, just waiting for you to eat it."
"Really?"
"... Yeah!" Xiao Tian nodded. "Anping has some news for you. He wants you to be wary of the demonic cultivators on the road. The Eastern Region demonic sects have sent many people to the Northern Region ."
"Demonic cultivators again? How come there are demonic cultivators everywhere I go..."
Xiao Tian shrugged. "Then, he asked you to tell Miss Pei that Xiyue is near Heavenly Wind City . He has already gone there, so you guys should hurry over to meet him."
" Heavenly Wind City ?"
"From here, it's about a hundred miles to the south. "
"Only a hundred miles? Then, I must hurry up... I'll go tell Sister Pei."
With this, Feng Yu Die stood up and ran out of the tea stall, heading toward the inn in town.
As soon as she said that she had found Xiyue's location, Sister Pei would definitely reward her!
"Hehehe..."
---"Hey, Miss... didn't you order another roasted chicken?"
Seeing her leaving, the shopkeeper of the tea stall hurriedly chased out, waving his hand and shouting.
However, Feng Yu Die turned and said no with a smile before throwing out a few spirit stones, then ran away without looking back, leaving the shopkeeper confused.
Alas, it was also at the time she turned around and threw the spirit stones.
Plop---
"Oops!"
Feng Yu Die was stunned for a moment. Turning around, she saw that she bumped into a girl in her teens, who was only at the fourth or fifth level of Qi Refining . She quickly stepped forward to help her up, patted the snow off her robe, and apologized with a smile. "Sorry, are you okay?"
"Yeah, I'm okay."
The girl nodded weakly and was a little absent-minded as she looked at Feng Yu Die's face, as if she was curious about her silver hair.
But before she could say the next sentence, a calloused hand suddenly stretched out from the side and pulled her away from Feng Yu Die.
Feng Yu Die turned her head and saw a female cultivator who looked to be in her thirties. She quickly cupped her hands and said, "You are her mother, right? It was an accident just now..."
"..."
However, before Feng Yu Die finished speaking, the female cultivator turned around, took the little girl's hand, and continued to walk along the road toward the outskirts of the town.
Feng Yu Die was stunned. For a moment, she felt that the person was very cold; she didn't even say a word to her. After all, she was still a Core Formation cultivator...
She watched the two walk away, and the girl looked back at her, waved, and then looked up at her mother. "Mom, where are we going?"
"We're going to eat something delicious. Don't ask questions."
"But we are leaving town. Didn't you say it's dangerous outside the town at night?"
"Let's go eat something delicious. Don't ask questions."
...
The girl said something to her mother, but because the street was noisy, by the fifth sentence the two had already walked away, and Feng Yu Die didn't hear it anymore.
Although she thought those two were quite strange, she didn't think much about it and turned around to continue walking toward the inn.
But after walking a few steps...
"Oh shit! Fine! Let's follow them and take a look!"
Looking a little annoyed, Feng Yu Die stomped her feet and turned one hundred and eighty degrees, quickly chasing after them.
Xiao Tian floated by her side while helplessly shaking her head. "Yu Die, you really like to meddle in other people's business."
"I have a nagging feeling about that person... It doesn't hurt to take a look."
Feng Yu Die formed a hand seal and used a technique to conceal her aura, maintaining a distance of about ten feet while following behind the mother and daughter pair.
Facts proved that her feelings were not wrong.
After walking for about a quarter of an hour, they arrived at the barrier set up at the edge of the town.
Because there were too many demonic beasts in the mountains and forests of the Northern Region , at the edge of every village or town, restrictions were set to prevent those beasts from coming in.
However, Feng Yu Die watched as the two of them walked out of the restrictive barrier in the night, braving the wind and snow, and headed into a bamboo forest outside the town, following a small path.
"Where are you going..."
Feng Yu Die frowned, wondering whether to bring Sister Pei and Sister Xiao over, but seeing that the two figures had disappeared in the forest, it was probably too late to fetch them now.
"Xiao Tian, watch out. Is there anything strange in the bamboo forest?"
"I can't see. The cold air in the Northern Region is too strong, so my spiritual sense can't get through. But something is definitely wrong. Young Master Ye said that there are many demonic cultivators in the Northern Region lately. You might just run into them, so don't be stubborn. If you meet a powerful one, just get away..."
"Hmm..."
...
In the night, the winding path of the pine forest led to a secluded area. With the fine snow falling from the branches, the lights in Yulu Town were getting fainter and fainter.
The girl, held by her mother, finally sensed that something was wrong.
"Mom! Where are we going?"
"Let's go eat something delicious. Don't ask questions."
"..."
From the moment she left home, her mother had only said this one sentence.
Seeing that she had been taken deep into the forest by her mother, she pursed her lips and pulled her mother's hand back. "Mom! I don't want to eat. Let's go home, okay?"
"Let's go eat something delicious. Don't ask questions."
"Mom..."
The little girl's face gradually turned pale, and she wanted to let go of her mother's hand. However, she realized that her mother's usually gentle hand was now like a vice, tightly clamping her little hand.
Suddenly, a man's voice came from ahead. "Stop."
At this command, the girl's mother stopped in her tracks.
The girl was startled, and when she turned her head to look, she saw a tall man clad in a hood hiding his face, walking toward her.
The back of his hand, exposed from his long sleeves, had a scorpion tattoo, and in his palm was a bug looking like a centipede.
"Who are you?!"
The girl asked the question in horror.
Suddenly, the centipede in the man's hand sprang up from his palm straight toward the little girl's face.
Her eyes instantly widened, and she subconsciously tried to turn around and run away, only to find that her mother clasped her hand so tightly that she couldn't dodge at all.
However...
Swish---
A white shadow jumped from the tree behind her and cut the centipede flying in the air into two with a sword.
Feng Yu Die wanted to observe for a while, but seeing the situation, she couldn't wait any longer. After cutting off the poisonous insect, she didn't hesitate to lean over and appear directly in front of the hooded man.
Golden light flashed on the emerald sword in her right hand as she slashed toward the hooded man's collar.
A golden trail passed directly along the collar of the hooded man, but Feng Yu Die didn't feel like she was cutting flesh. Instead, it felt like she was cutting a piece of rag, light and fluttering.
Feng Yu Die was a little surprised. When she was up there just now, she had asked Xiao Tian to go and take a look, and she said it was just a masked Foundation Building cultivator.
Therefore, Feng Yu Die was very confident. If he were really a cultivator in the Foundation Building stage, he would never notice her peeking at him, nor would he be able to dodge her sword so quickly.
Whoosh---
His hood split in two from the middle.
However, there was no blood splashing.
The entire cloak and hood landed on the ground lightly as if they had lost their support.
Feng Yu Die did not stop moving, and she quickly retreated toward the mother and daughter. With the sword in her right hand, she protected the two behind her, alert to the surroundings. She whispered. "Xiao Tian..."
Xiao Tian's golden eyes glanced around, then she shook her head slightly. "Yu Die, there is no trace of any cultivators around... That person just disappeared after you struck him with your sword. He didn't look like a human; he might be an animated puppet or something."
Xiao Tian had just finished saying this when...
With a plop, the mother collapsed to the ground as if she had lost her soul.
"Hey?!"
Feng Yu Die looked startled at the woman who fell beside her and then at the girl who was staring at her blankly. She frowned deeply.
...
Yulu Town , in a room on the second floor of an inn.
A dim oil lamp was placed on the table. Pei Lianxue and Xiao Yunluo stood on both sides of the table, frowning at the map of the Northern Region spread on it.
"Yunluo... you didn't find her?"
"No, I asked from door to door. Maybe the second idiot has found something."
"Woo..."
Pei Lianxue pouted in dissatisfaction. They had searched more than thirty towns, four cities, and fifty-seven villages, but there was still no news about Xiyue.
"Sigh... Lianxue, didn't Ye Anping tell you some details? We only know the name 'Xiyue', but we don't even know if it's her real name. The Northern Region is vast and sparsely populated; how can we find her..."
"He only said her name is Xiyue, and she's in Cold Country ..."
Pei Lianxue let out a long sigh in a somewhat depressed mood. According to the calendar, her brother must have come out of retreat.
If they didn't go back, brother would be suspicious, and in case he found out that she came to the Northern Region to look for Xiyue, he would definitely get angry...
Pei Lianxue was at a loss of what to do when suddenly, there was a sound of footsteps outside the room.
Tap tap tap---
Then, with a 'bang', the door was opened, and Pei Lianxue and Xiao Yunluo turned to watch in surprise.
"Sister Pei! Come and have a look!"
Feng Yu Die rushed into the house carrying the mother-and-daughter pair she had encountered earlier, causing the two girls inside to be confused.
Xiao Yunluo frowned. "Second idiot, where have you been? What..."
"I've come across something strange. Look at these two people... They seem to have been poisoned by a toxic parasite."
"Toxic parasite?"
Hearing this word, Pei Lianxue frowned. She asked Feng Yu Die to put the two fainted people on the bed in the room before coming over and taking their pulses.
"Well, the older one got infected with the Heart-Consuming parasite... The little one just fainted from shock."
"Can you do something?"
Pei Lianxue nodded. She helped the woman sit up, mobilized her spiritual power into her palm, and pushed hard on her back.
With a thump, the Qi Refining stage woman spurted out a mouthful of black blood and a centipede in front of her.
Hiss---
After the centipede saw the light, it started to wriggle around in the black blood.
"Ah!!"
"Hey! Yunluo... wait!"
Before Pei Lianxue could stop her, Xiao Yunluo raised her foot and stomped it into mincemeat.
"Ah?"
"..."
Pei Lianxue looked at Xiao Yunluo and slowly exhaled. "When we were in Wuxi Town , my brother and I were also infected with this parasite... Brother taught me that I could infect myself, and then use my spiritual sense to trace the parasite to the location of its master."
All of a sudden, she turned her head to look at Feng Yu Die.
"Hmm?"
Then, without saying anything, she took out the sword from her storage bag and stabbed it toward Feng Yu Die's belt in one motion.
?!
Feng Yu Die didn't have any reaction. With a swish, her belt was cut open by Pei Lianxue's sword and fell to the ground.
Besides the belt, a white flesh worm, looking quite plump, fell from her waist.
"What the hell?"
"Brother said that if you come into contact with a toxic parasite cultivator or someone who has been poisoned, you will basically be poisoned too. Second idiot, this parasite has been hiding in your belt, waiting for an opportunity."
"..."
Feng Yu Die was stunned for a moment and glanced at Xiao Tian flying beside her, squinting her eyes as if saying: Xiao Tian! You useless thing, how could you not see it...
Xiao Tian felt a little helpless. The spiritual sense could detect spiritual energy, but simple creatures without an aura could not be detected.
"Yu Die, it's not my fault... Before the parasite starts to cast the spell, the spiritual sense cannot detect it... and I don't know what kind of poison it has..."
Xiao Yunluo's face turned blue seeing the white worm on the ground, and she hastily retreated several steps.
However, Pei Lianxue squatted down and picked up the white worm directly with her hands. Walking to the table, she poured a cup of tea, put the worm into the teacup, and washed it.
Just as the two in the room were wondering what she was going to do, they saw her throw the cleaned insect into her mouth.
"Smack smack... Gulp---"
Pei Lianxue tasted it and frowned solemnly. "When I was little, my brother gave me to eat this stuff. Three parts sour, two parts fishy, one part sweet, four parts spicy... This is the Body-Soul parasite, which is equivalent to a clone without cultivation. And, the demonic cultivator probably heard what we just said."
"..."
"..."
"..."
Feng Yu Die, Xiao Yunluo, and Xiao Tian all looked at Pei Lianxue blankly, causing her to tilt her head slightly. "Huh? What's wrong?"
After a long time, Xiao Yunluo finally reacted and quickly took out several bottles of pills from the storage bag. "Lianxue, how can you eat it like this?!"
"It's okay... I used to eat a lot of these when I was a kid." Pei Lianxue shook her head and refused the pills. "This type of parasite is considered to be one of the tastiest."
"..."
Pei Lianxue poured a cup of tea and rinsed her mouth, then looked at the mother and daughter lying on the bed. Seeing that they were fine, she asked, "Second idiot, do you have any news about Xiyue?"
"Oh... right!" Feng Yu Die came to her senses, blinking. With a look of expectation, she said, "I heard that there is a girl named Xiyue near Heavenly Wind City ."
"Really?!"
"It's true!"
Pei Lianxue smiled and patted her head. "Well done."
"... Um, hehe... hehehe..." Feng Yu Die blushed, lowering her head.
Xiao Tian, however, smacked her lips and shook her head. "Tsk... Sigh..."
Then, Pei Lianxue's smile suddenly disappeared.
She walked back to the table, propped her hands on the map, and scanned the Northern Region area.
"Well... about one hundred fifty miles to the south."
Xiao Yunluo looked at the second idiot who was blushing there alone, and ignored her. Then, she looked at the mother and daughter on the bed and said, "Lianxue, since we are going to Heavenly Wind City , we can tell the Snow Guards over there about the demonic cultivators and let them continue to investigate. This matter is not ordinary."
"Hmm, toxic parasites cultivators..." Pei Lianxue murmured before turning to look at the two people lying on the bed. "Since brother is not here, I need to make a plan... a plan... yes, a plan..."