Eastern Region , the outskirts of the Heavenly Demon Sect, on an unnamed mountain.
A fierce cold wind blew over the gloomy mountains. The demonic aura and the winter made the forests that were originally green all year round even more creepy at this moment. Even the white snow that covered the sky turned into small dots like black charcoal as it fell to the ground.
Inside a ruined mountain temple, a black crow stared blankly at the courtyard, as if looking for today's lunch.
Swoosh-- Swoosh--
Suddenly, a series of hurried footsteps broke the silence of the temple.
At the sound, the black crow spread its wings and fled in panic.
Two demonic cultivators wrapped in cloaks and wearing bamboo hats walked through the broken gate and entered the main temple that had a big hole in the ceiling. Under the headless Taoist statue in the temple, they lit a bonfire to dispel the cold of the snowstorm.
Gu Mingxin took off the bamboo hat on her head with one hand, shook her heavy black hair that had been suppressed for a long time, and then looked at He Jiming who was standing aside in a daze. "Sit down. Remember what I told you on the way."
"Ah... yes."
He Jiming came out of his stupor and bowed to Gu Mingxin in a completely different manner from before. He then sat down quietly and replied in a low voice, "After returning to the Heavenly Demon Sect, I'll go directly to see the Patriarch and tell him everything about what happened at the Eastern Great Wall."
"Right."
Gu Mingxin replied softly before ignoring him. She lowered her head and looked at her bandaged right arm.
In this freezing snowy Eastern Region , she could feel the chill in the air all over her body, except for her right hand.
Blowing on her right hand was a wind that was actually warm and moist, and even though she only had a sense of touch, she could imagine Ye Anping with her hand hanging from his waist, flying on his sword in the clear sky above the lush forest.
Gu Mingxin tried to grasp her right hand, and sure enough, she was able to grasp something that felt like Ye Anping's thigh, and then she felt the back of her hand being pinched hard.
"Hiss--"
Although it hurt a little, somehow it allowed her to ease the tension in her heart.
Almost a month had passed since Ye Anping's sister cut off her right hand. She and He Jiming traveled day and night before finally arriving here, less than seven hundred miles away from the Heavenly Demon Sect.
No matter what Xue'e said, Gu Mingxin still believed that after Patriarch Yu Yan heard He Jiming's explanation, he would understand that He Buqun was behind everything that happened and that she was innocent.
After He Jiming returned to the Heavenly Demon Sect to report, she could finally return to her cave to rest and prepare for the next fight with Feng Yu Die and Ye Anping.
Feng Yu Die aside, Ye Anping's younger sister was simply a monster.
But the more of a monster she was, the more exciting it was.
Fighting with Ye Anping's sister was much more interesting than fighting with Heavenly Demon Sect disciples in the martial arts arena.
As long as her master believed in her, she had no worries. Also, she would no longer be dragged down by He Jiming like it was the case this time, making her unable to use her full power.
She wanted to prove to Ye Anping that only she was worthy to accompany him...
She wanted to let him know that he shouldn't side with that white-haired fool and would be better to come with her to the Heavenly Demon Sect...
Patriarch Yu Yan would definitely hold Ye Anping in high esteem and treat him as his personal disciple...
As long as He Jiming reported to her master honestly, she didn't need to listen to Xue'e and go beg Ye Anping to save her life, thus admitting defeat.
The strong were respected. This was the lesson she had heard since she was young.
As long as she defeated Feng Yu Die and Ye Anping's sister, she would be able to snatch Ye Anping away.
Ye Anping, Ye Anping, Ye Anping...
A strange smile gradually appeared on Gu Mingxin's face, and she could not help but move her right hand, thousands of miles away, to grab it again. Then, she felt her right hand hit by Ye Anping with a bamboo stick and shrank her neck in pain.
"Hiss--"
It was just a touch, why are you so stingy...
Gu Mingxin gently rubbed her right arm, trying to relieve the stinging sensation.
Seeing her staring at her right arm without a hand, He Jiming was stunned for a moment. He took out a pot of blood wine from his storage bag, held it with both hands, and said weakly, "Miss Gu, this wine is from my collection. It has a pain-relieving effect. Do you want to drink some? I'll pour you a glass..."
Seeing He Jiming so attentive, Gu Mingxin waved her hand coldly and sneered. "What is the meaning of this?"
"Well..." He Jiming was a little embarrassed. He hesitated for a moment before apologetically saying, "Young Miss Gu, I was wrong before. I was jealous of you in the past, so I have always been at odds with you. I even slandered you as an immortal cultivator's spy or something. After seeing you fight with that immortal cultivator girl, I finally understood..."
"What?"
"I understand now that when I fought you in the martial arts arena, you didn't even use your full strength to defeat me. If it weren't for my father's request, my head would have been chopped off by you long ago."
Gu Mingxin saw that He Jiming seemed to have really put down his airs as the third young master of the He family at this moment, but inexplicably, she felt disgusted.
Although it was a good thing that He Jiming was able to admit his mistakes to her, compared to this cowardly He Jiming, she rather preferred his former foul-mouthed and sarcastic version.
In the end, she did not respond.
"..."
Seeing this, He Jiming hurriedly added. "When I return to the Heavenly Demon Sect, I will definitely help you clear your name of the accusation of fornicating with an immortal cultivator. If it weren't for you, I would not have been able to return..."
"Cowardly and incompetent." Gu Mingxin narrowed her eyes slightly and said sarcastically, "To think that you survived in the Heavenly Demon Sect until now! If I were your father, I would have refined you into a blood pill and fed it to your big brother."
He Jiming truly knew how much he was worth this time, so he nodded noncommittally and replied, "Ah... yes..."
"Heh..."
Gu Mingxin felt that he was very boring, but hearing that he was willing to help her clear up the stigma, she felt a little more hopeful.
No matter what, she still wanted to stay in the Heavenly Demon Sect, by her master's side.
Gu Mingxin took the wine glass held by He Jiming, shook it twice, and sniffed it. However, the smell was quite bad, so she simply returned it to him, and then got up and walked out into the temple courtyard.
"Ah... Young Miss Gu, where are you going?"
"To get some air. I can't stand being in the same place with a scum like you."
"Ah... yes..."
He Jiming nodded humbly and did not say anything more. He stretched his hands to the bonfire and rested for a while. As Gu Mingxin had said before, he would return to the Heavenly Demon Sect to help her clear the charge of colluding with the immortals.
Dark clouds pressed down on the sky, and snow fell like a waterfall.
Gu Mingxin walked out the door alone and stood under the eaves, gazing at the purple spiritual light called the 'Hell's Eye' above the Heavenly Demon Palace in the distance.
After watching for a while, she glanced behind her, and seeing that He Jiming had no intention of following her, she whispered. "Xue'e..."
"I'm here."
Xue'e immediately appeared from her brow. Because He Jiming had been following her all this time, it was a little troublesome to send a voice transmission, so it was not easy for her to talk to Xue'e.
Taking advantage of the wind and snow, she wanted to talk to Xue'e about what was going to happen next.
"Did you hear what He Jiming said just now?"
"Yes."
Xue'e nodded slightly and glanced at He Jiming who was warming his hands by the bonfire in the temple.
"I heard it, but Mingxin, whether what he said is effective or not is another matter. Anyway, you will hide here for a while while I will follow him back to the sect. If something goes wrong, I will come back to tell you, and we will go find Ye Anping."
"I trust my father."
"Say, I asked you to leave a hand for Ye Anping's sister before. Did Ye Anping receive it?"
Gu Mingxin nodded hesitantly. "...He received it, why?"
"Did he say anything to you through that hand? Like, someone to talk to? If we are going to theWestern Regionlater, we have to have someone to pick us up, otherwise we will not be able to pass through the southwest boundary, and we will be discovered by the immortal cultivators. It will be bad if we are caught."
Gu Mingxin was slightly dissatisfied and asked, "You don't trust my master that much?"
Xue'e floated in front of her. She hesitated for a while, then finally said, "Mingxin, I have always been by your side and I've seen it. Old man Yu Yan has indeed not done anything bad to you, and he was the one who raised you, but it is always a good idea to be prepared. Mingxin, just tell me if Ye Anping said anything to you, and I will think about it later. I am not stupid like that golden idiot..."
"Mo Chi Ling."
"A name?"
"I think so."
Xue'e nodded and quickly took out the Heavenly Demonic Scroll from under her skirt. She licked her fingers and flipped through it. Her dark eyes quickly swept left and right, but her eyebrows gradually furrowed.
"Anything else?"
"No."
"The Heavenly Demonic Scroll says that Mo Chi Ling was a disciple of Patriarch Yu Yan one thousand and seven hundred years ago, but died six hundred years ago," Xue'e said as she flipped through the book. "However, this was only what the previous owner of the Heavenly Demonic Scroll heard. The description of this person only has two points: her natural talent and that she was a female. It doesn't specify the reason for her death."
"So?"
"Well, after all, she was once the Young Miss of theHeavenly DemonSect. The Heavenly Demonic Scroll has written in great detail how many famous immortal cultivators she killed, but the reason for her death is rather vague, which might mean that she is still alive. If Ye Anping told you this name, it means he wants you to find her..."
"Is that person... my senior sister?"
"Well, I'll flip through the book for a while longer. Regardless of whether He Jiming's testimony works or not, I think we should still find that person. I didn't notice before, but after Ye Anping said it, I realized that something was wrong..."
"..."
Gu Mingxin frowned faintly, but she didn't think much of it. She just felt that Xue'e was useless. If that 'Mo Chi Ling' was so important, why did she not see it after reading the Heavenly Demonic Scroll for more than twenty years? But in the end, only when Ye Anping mentioned it, she felt that something was wrong?!
Only in hindsight!
But this also showed that Ye Anping's insight was really strong. He should have seen this name in the Heavenly Dao Scroll , right?
Gu Mingxin felt the gentle breeze on her right hand, coming from a distant land, and once again looked at the dazzling 'Hell's Eye' above the Heavenly Demon Palace in the distance.
The cold wind blew across her face, ruffling her bangs and causing the fire in front of the headless Taoist statue inside the temple to quiver.
Hoo-- hoo--
However, the next moment.
Whoosh---
?
Gu Mingxin suddenly felt a deathly aura, and her eyes widened in shock. She immediately summoned her spiritual sword from her soul realm. Holding it in her left hand, she turned around and rushed back toward He Jiming.
Xue'e seemed to have noticed it too, and she hurriedly shouted. "Mingxin!! Be careful..."
Before she finished speaking, Gu Mingxin reached out to He Jiming and shouted. "He!!"
He Jiming, who was facing away from Gu Mingxin, warming his hands at the fire, turned his head with a puzzled look on his face when he heard the shout. He looked at Gu Mingxin rushing toward him with her sword and was confused.
"Huh?"
Until--
He saw his confused face reflected in Gu Mingxin's wide-open red eyes, as well as a pitch-black dagger in front of his neck.
Swish--!
Ding--!
Sparks exploded before He Jiming's eyes.
Gnashing her teeth, Gu Mingxin crossed five steps to He Jiming's side in almost an instant, and with a single stroke of her sword, she blocked the dagger in front of his neck.
The one holding the dagger was a cultivator with a black mask and a black hat, whose face could not be seen at all. He seemed to be carrying some kind of artifact that concealed his aura, and Gu Mingxin could not detect his cultivation level at first glance.
However, Xue'e used her spiritual sense to penetrate the restrictive layer of spiritual energy that was blocking the exploration and warned her. "Mingxin, it's a toxic parasite cultivator in the middle stage of the Nascent Soul, be careful!!"
"...Hyaaaaaaa---!"
Swish---
The blood-colored light sword drew a curved arc on the side of He Jiming's cheek, and along with a splash of black blood, a finger flew out from within the cloaked cultivator's long sleeve.
After Gu Mingxin swept her sword across the man's fingers, she glared, and the blood-colored sword that was in the middle of swinging suddenly stopped in the air before swinging backward, toward the masked man's neck.
However, that person didn't seem to have any intention to engage in a fight. He simply jumped back a step, then turned into a cloud of pitch-black mist and dissipated.
Whoosh---
Gu Mingxin immediately stopped the sword movement and retreated to He Jiming's side. She released her spiritual sense, alert to the surroundings.
"He Jiming, use your energy to protect your body! That person is coming for you..."
Gu Mingxin turned to glance at He Jiming, but she found that there was a blood-colored energy around He Jiming's neck.
"Miss Gu..."
Even in this situation, he didn't seem to be able to react right, and his expression was slightly dull.
In the next moment, his tall body suddenly began to swell like a balloon.
Bang--!
With a loud bang, He Jiming's deformed upper body exploded.
Blood and flesh splattered all over Gu Mingxin.
A fat pupa emerged from the remaining lower body of He Jiming and twisted in front of Gu Mingxin.
"..."
"..."
"..."
Then, it spat out its snake-like tongue as if to mock her.
Gu Mingxin froze on the spot, her ears filled with a buzzing sound. As she looked at this toxic parasite pupa, her left hand that was holding the sword loosened a little.
She had spent so much effort to safely bring He Jiming back to the Heavenly Demon Sect from the Central Region , hoping that he would help her regain the trust of her master and clear her name of the betrayal stain.
But now...
"Mingxin!!!"
Xue'e's roar brought her back to her senses, and Gu Mingxin finally understood what Elder Fu meant by "abandoned child" in the Central Region .
The so-called abandoned child had already been abandoned.
Not about to be abandoned, but already was!
"Ahhhhhhhh...! He Buqun!!! He Buqun, He Buqun! You old fool!!! You're dead--!!"
In an instant, Gu Mingxin swung her left hand and released countless sword lights, chopping the pupa that occupied the lower half of He Jiming's body into minced meat.
"Arghhhh--!!"
"Come out! Show yourself!!!"
Even though the pupa had already turned into minced meat, the spirit sword in her hand still did not stop. It passed by the temple wall, flashed past the headless Taoist statue, and broke open the already crumbling temple roof.
Tearing and cracking sounds resounded throughout the entire mountain, causing the wild beasts patrolling the mountain to flee.
Xue'e kept calling her name, trying to calm her down, but Gu Mingxin couldn't hear at all, and she even almost chopped her off.
"Ah? Mingxin!! Calm down... Calm down!! Mingxin..."
Suddenly, a sharp pain came from the back of Gu Mingxin's right hand from thousands of miles away, finally stopping the sword in her left hand.
She could feel that Ye Anping was squeezing her hand tightly at this moment.
Then, he slowly spread out her stiff right hand fingers and wrote five words on her palm.
---Go find Mo Chi Ling.
"..."
"Mingxin..."
Xue'e saw that she suddenly froze and quickly rushed over to gently caress her head and comfort her.
"It's okay, it's okay... I'm here with you, just like when you were little. Every time you got angry, I touched your head like this."
"..."
"Don't think too much. He Jiming was useless to He Buqun. If you go crazy because of this, wouldn't that be exactly what He Buqun wants? He originally wanted to drive you out of theHeavenly DemonSect. This... Mingxin, don't think about it. Look at me. I'll tell you a story, okay? Once upon a time..."
"Shut up!"
Gu Mingxin closed her eyes and gritted her teeth. She took a deep breath and threw her sword to the side, then raised her left hand to wipe away He Jiming's flesh and blood on her face. She picked up the storage bag at He Jiming's waist and put the blood-colored spirit sword back into her soul realm.
"Hiss-hoo... Xue'e, let's go find Mo Chi Ling."
"Uhm... Mingxin, put your hat on, it's snowing heavily outside..."
Gu Mingxin slowly walked to the bonfire and extinguished it with her energy. She picked up her bamboo hat and put it on. Blood still trickled on her forehead as she walked out of the temple into the wind and snow.
"He Buqun, I'm going to kill you... I'm going to wipe out your entire clan!!!"