The night was not over yet as heavy snow flew across the snow-capped mountains.
A cavern in the mountains flickered with a faint firelight.
In the cave, a group of three people gathered around the campfire, using the most primitive method to relieve the nightmare brought to them by the cold air of this Northern Region .
"Liang Xiaoliu, Liang Xiaoliu... uh... cough cough cough---"
Lying on a simple straw mat, Gu Mingxin, who was now covered in wounds, kept calling out the name of the person she "loved" even when she was unconscious.
Hearing this, Wu Tianci, who was poking the wood in the bonfire with a branch, frowned, and there was a hint of awkwardness in his eyes.
Ever since they met the three Core Formation cultivators in Snow Dragon Town , they had been following Liang Xiaoliu's trail. Starting from Frozen River City , they had traveled nearly fifteen hundred miles northeast.
On the way, they met countless fellow demonic cultivators who were killed by "Liang Xiaoliu" and the Lady of the Dragon House , and also met countless "swordsmen" from the Northern Region who wanted to take their heads in exchange for bounties.
Although he had promised Gu Mingxin that he would accompany her to find Liang Xiaoliu and kill him, but...
Wu Tianci opened his collar and looked at the horrible wound on his chest caused by a Nascent Soul stage cultivator he met a few days ago.
They were now running out of ammunition and food.
Lu Meimei was slightly injured. Her injuries were not serious, but they were not light either. However, Gu Mingxin was practically teetering on the edge of life and death.
He had to admit that Gu Mingxin was indeed worthy of being the direct disciple of their sect Patriarch.
Any other ordinary mid-stage Core Formation cultivator would probably not survive those three people in Snow Dragon Town .
Although the two Dharma cultivators with their mysterious treasure and the sword master of the Seven Mysteries Sect died in Gu Mingxin's hands, they were definitely among the best Core Formation cultivators in the four regions.
"Sister Gu, isn't that enough?"
"Cough..." Gu Mingxin opened her eyes weakly and glared at him. "Brother Wu, cough...are you scared?"
"It's not that I'm scared, but..." Wu Tianci let out a soft sigh. "That Liang Xiaoliu is deliberately slipping away. Every time they killed a Foundation Building cultivator from the demonic sects, they would always leave one to report the news. Sister, you can clearly see that he does it on purpose..."
Gu Mingxin glared. "So what?"
"A head-on confrontation will only result in both sides being hurt. I just think it's unnecessary... Sister, our mission was to come to the Northern Region to find the main knot of the Heavenly Cold Formation , not to hunt down Liang Xiaoliu. You..."
Before he finished speaking, Gu Mingxin suddenly stood up, stepped in front of him, and grabbed his collar, staring at him with bloodshot eyes. "Liang Xiaoliu must die! The demonic cultivators will be destroyed by him sooner or later!"
"..."
Lu Meimei, who was roasting human flesh, looked at the two and quickly acted as a mediator. "Oh~ Stop quarreling... We are all sisters and brothers and should get along. Here, eat some meat~"
Gu Mingxin tilted her head to look at Lu Meimei, then loosened Wu Tianci's collar and lay back on the straw mat. "Thanks, Sister Lu, but I don't eat people."
Wu Tianci took a skewer, and bit into it, then looked at Gu Mingxin. "Sister Gu, are you sure you want to continue? It looks like a dead end... This Liang Xiaoliu might lead us into a trap."
Gu Mingxin evaded the question. "...Brother Wu, don't you mind about your father's matter? The Dragon House leader is with Liang Xiaoliu. Don't you want to confront her?"
Just as Gu Mingxin said this, a collective voice transmission suddenly sounded in their minds.
"Grandmaster of the Magical Poison Sect, Jiang Mojiao, asks for help to destroy an Immortal!!"
The voice transmission from about thirty miles northeast caused the three people to freeze in their tracks.
Wu Tianci frowned. "Demonic Summoning Order?"
Gu Mingxin frowned too. After all, she was the personal disciple of the Heavenly Demon Sect Patriarch, and most of the Nascent Soul stage cultivators in the six demonic sects were well-known.
However, when she heard the name 'Jiang Mojiao', she thought for a while but couldn't remember it, so she asked, "I've never heard of this name before. What about you guys?"
Wu Tianci shook his head to indicate that he hadn't heard of it either.
Lu Meimei was even more confused. She touched her bloody lips and tilted her head. "When did he form his Nascent Soul ? Magical Poison Sect has a total of twelve Grand Masters, all of whom are quite powerful. Jiang Mojiao... I've never heard of him."
Wu Tianci looked down in silence before shaking his head. "The Demonic Summoning Order is not an ordinary thing. It is a token personally bestowed by the leader of the six demonic sects. Since he has it, he should be quite an important character."
After saying that, he looked at Gu Mingxin's injuries. "Sister Gu, we don't know when we will run into those bounty hunters again, so why not take this opportunity to go to Jiang Mojiao's cave? You also need a place where you can rest and recuperate..."
"Heh, resting in a poisonous insect cultivator's cave? Are you serious? Cough..."
"No matter what, it's better than this wilderness. After all, he's a Magical Poison Sect Grand Master who received the Demonic Summoning Order."
Gu Mingxin clicked her tongue slightly. She really did not like the Magical Poison Sect cultivators who raised those parasites, but looking at her injured body, she finally nodded reluctantly.
"Fine..."
"Then, let's go now. Sister Lu, please carry Sister Gu on your back."
Wu Tianci extinguished the bonfire with a wave of his sleeve, then stood up and summoned his flying sword before stepping on it.
Across the cold snowy sky, the three of them drew two streaks of light among the dark clouds.
Very soon, Wu Tianci brought the two to the top of a snowy mountain. Following the location of the Demonic Summoning Order, they searched in the snow for a while before arriving at a hidden cave abode.
" Heavenly Demon Sect's inner disciples Wu Tianci and Gu Mingxin and Hedonistic Sect's inner disciple Lu Meimei are here in response to the summoning order. Senior Jiang, open the cave."
After that, a seven-eyed spider poked its head out of the ground and sized up the three of them. Swaying its fat butt, it led them to the cave hidden by a spell.
Inside the cave, the lights were extremely dim, and countless insects were clicking and chittering.
As soon as she entered the cave, Gu Mingxin, lying on Lu Meimei's back, got goosebumps from the sounds.
Xue'e also came out of her mind at this moment and looked around the cave with almost physical discomfort, then said with disgust, "Mingxin, this place is so filthy..."
Gu Mingxin did not comment. The caves of ordinary Nascent Soul cultivators would not be so full of stench even if they were simple. She now felt more and more sure that Jiang Mojiao was not a normal Nascent Soul cultivator.
The three crossed several blood pools and insects' nests, following the seven-eyed spider to the deepest part of the cave.
Jiang Mojiao sat cross-legged on top of a pile of corpses. Hearing footsteps behind him, he stood up and looked at the three people with a smile on his face.
Apart from the compound eyes, he looked quite hospitable at first glance.
However, when he saw Gu Mingxin and the other two's injured appearance, the smile on his face instantly collapsed.
He grabbed his face and scratched his forehead with his fingers, leaving blood marks. "No, no, no!! You guys!!! I don't need trash!!!"
Wu Tianci frowned slightly when she saw this. However, it was the Grand Master of the Magical Poison Sect after all, and he had the Demonic Summoning Order, so he hurriedly cupped his hands and said, "Senior, we came here in response to the Demonic Summoning Order, but we suffered some injuries on the way a few days ago..."
Jiang Mojiao flew into a rage, his fly-like eyes bulging out.
"Get out!!! Scram!! Trash!! You are trash!! I need someone to help me kill those people from Heavenly Wind City , and look at you..."
"Senior... Although we were injured, still..."
"Get lost!!!"
Wu Tianci gritted his teeth, but Gu Mingxin, who was on Lu Meimei's back, could not sit still anymore. She jumped down and summoned her sword, arriving before Jiang Mojiao in one step.
Swish---
The seven-foot-long sword was placed directly at Jiang Mojiao's neck.
"Who's the trash?!"
Jiang Mojiao glared at Gu Mingxin. His upper and lower incisors clicked fast, and a centipede suddenly fell from the ceiling, smashing straight at the back of Gu Mingxin's head.
Wu Tianci wanted to step forward immediately, but before he moved, a black python's head appeared out of thin air and bit the centipede to pieces.
Ji Yi Yi Yi---!!
Seeing the black python, Jiang Mojiao was so frightened that he lost his balance and fell on his butt on the ground.
"Ah?! You, you, you..."
"Heh..." Gu Mingxin slowly put her sword back into the storage bag and glanced at him. "A cultivator who relies on toxic parasites to activate his Nascent Soul dares to be so arrogant. Master Ancestor really made a mistake, actually giving the Summoning Order to a scum like you, humph!"
"..."
"If it weren't for my respect for him, I would have killed your fake Nascent Soul and helped the Master Ancestor clean up the house."
After saying this, Gu Mingxin limped back to Lu Meimei and held onto her.
Seeing that nothing happened, Wu Tianci breathed a sigh of relief.
Although he was a fake Nascent Soul , things were not that simple. If they really fought, he would not be easy to deal with...
He looked at Gu Mingxin and cupped his hands to Jiang Mojiao, who was sitting on the ground. "Senior Jiang, can you lend us a room?"
After saying that, he ignored Jiang Mojiao and turned around, taking Lu Meimei and Gu Mingxin to a place nearby that looked like a Gathering Array.
After the three of them walked into the stone room and closed the door, Jiang Mojiao stood up and pointed at them as he cursed. "I'm not trash! You guys are! I'm not I'm not I'm not! Master! I'm not a scum! Wooo... I'm not! You are!"
...
Hoo hoo...
The cold wind whistled outside, and on the wooden table by the window on the second floor of the Wanderer's House Inn , there was a pot of warm wine.
Ye Anping had changed into a velvet robe and sat at the table, sometimes looking through the window at the Traveler's Pavilion across the street, sometimes frowning at the names written on the paper in front of him while thinking.
Right now, he asked Xiao Tian to spy on his sister's situation. As a result, he found out that she used the method he had taught her before, to poison herself, and then, through the spiritual connection between the parasite and its owner, she located the owner.
This method was difficult for the parasite owner to discover and it was also very direct.
However, an ordinary person using this method would most likely have their consciousness taken over by the parasite the moment they ate it, turning into a walking corpse.
It seemed that little sister had completely assimilated brother's knowledge.
Ye Anping was pleased about this, but he also needed to prepare a backup plan for his sister.
Jiang Mojiao alone could be easily handled by the girls and Xu Mulan.
But if Gu Mingxin and Jiang Mojiao got together...
A fake Nascent Soul , plus the Heavenly Demonic Scroll owner, an outstanding Core Formation stage Physical cultivator, and an average cultivator of the Hedonistic Sect...
With these people gathered together, the Snow Guards led by Xu Mulan did not have enough power to fight back.
As for their side...
Feng Yu Die, Pei Lianxue, Xiao Yunluo, Xu Mulan, and him, a total of five people.
Five against four, in a group battle, the chance of winning was only fifty percent. After all, no matter how fake the Nascent Soul was, it was not to be underestimated.
Moreover, he reckoned that Jiang Mojiao would definitely use the Demonic Summoning Order left by his master to summon other demonic cultivators.
If that were the case, Xu Mulan and the Snow Guard would have to deal with the other demonic cultivators.
"Hmm... a group fight is not advisable."
Ye Anping drew a cross on the paper, and then thought again-- what if they were approached individually?
However, to defeat Jiang Mojiao alone, they needed at least two people, so they didn't have enough manpower.
Unless Li Longling was also included...
However, Li Longling was only in the middle stage of the Foundation Building , and she was blind. It would be difficult for her to deal with anyone...
Just as Ye Anping was thinking about this, two small hands reached out from behind and covered his eyes like a blanket.
"Anping, what's wrong? Why do you frown so hard?"
"Huh?"
Ye Anping turned around and noticed that Li Longling had entered his room at some point. Drops of water glistened on her hair, which was draped behind her head. Furthermore, she did not bring the Fire Phoenix with her.
"Aren't you sleepy? It's almost dawn."
"I felt that you were thinking about me in your heart, so I came here."
Li Longling smiled as she touched Ye Anping's face, and then rubbed his brow with her index finger.
"You are so tense. That demonic cultivator must be difficult to deal with... After all, he is a Nascent Soul cultivator. If it really doesn't work, maybe you should take a step back?"
Ye Anping shrugged and replied, "It's just a fake Nascent Soul ."
Li Longling touched the table, then sat on the side of the bench and tilted her head. "Fake Nascent Soul ?"
"It's a Nascent Soul that's been stimulated by some particular techniques. Its foundation can't compare to a Nascent Soul cultivator like your father."
Ye Anping fell silent, thinking about the Nascent Soul cultivators he had encountered in the past six years.
Li Longling's father, Li Feng.
Elder Qin and Mr. Qi of the Black Star Sect.
Elder Tianyun and Elder Hu Tianyue of the Moon Shadow Sword Sect.
These were all serious cultivators who had built their own foundation to form their Nascent Soul . Each of them had at least one specialized cultivation technique, and they had also left a rich mark in the history of the four regions.
"Jiang Mojiao is useless except for his higher cultivation level."
"If you are not worried about him, then you are worried about that Gu Mingxin you mentioned before? Do you think they will collude?"
"It's very likely, so I have to make a backup plan for my sister and the others."
Li Longling lowered her eyes, and after a while, she said, "So, Anping, the reason why you were thinking of me earlier was because I can't help you with this matter? Is it because I'm only at the Foundation Building stage?"
Hearing this, Ye Anping frowned. How did she know that he was thinking about this just now...
"Longling, how did you know I was thinking about you?"
"A father knows his son best, and a wife knows her husband best..." Li Longling smiled and gently placed her hand on Ye Anping's chest. "Although I am blind, my heart is not. And what I get in return for my blindness is that my mind can see more clearly than many ordinary people. Anping, I can guess what you are thinking."
"Blind eyes can see the heart, is that it?"
"I guess so, hehe~~" Li Longling reached out and touched the paper on Ye Anping's desk. Her fingers swept across the names on it. "Didn't you rely on your Foundation Building cultivation to kill the Core Formation demonic cultivator, back in the day?"
Ye Anping frowned, understanding what she meant. He shook his head and said, "Longling, this is too dangerous for you. I said I won't let you..."
"Anping." Li Longling touched his lips. "Didn't you say before that Sister Xiao and the others would not grow up standing by your side? Sister Xiao and I, although not as powerful as Sister Feng and Sister Pei, are definitely not just for decoration."
"..."
"Where in the world is there a foolproof plan? Whoever is the weakest within these people, hand him over to me."
Ye Anping felt a little helpless when he heard this. He lowered his head and looked at the list again. "Gu Mingxin and the other two must have expended a lot of primeval essence along the way. Their strength is not at their peak... Are you confident in dealing with this Lu Meimei?"
Li Longling tapped her lips and thought for a while. "It's a little difficult."
"Then, I can still... woo."
Mwah~~~
"It's no longer difficult now."
Ye Anping licked his lips. It was a little sweet...
Then, he sighed. "Longling..."
"I was joking, it's not difficult."
"I'm serious."
Li Longling also became serious as she straightened up and frowned. "Anping, trust me, okay?"
"I think you're setting up a flag."
"Flag?"
Ye Anping smiled and shook his head, then looked down at the list on the table. It would be best if Li Longling could deal with Lu Meimei, but if not...
"Well... alright. I'll leave it to you. Go and have a rest first. I'll tell you what you need to pay attention to tomorrow."