The Forbidden Path to Immortality-Chapter 95

About half an hour passed before footsteps sounded behind him again. Li Xun had sensed them long before they got close. He turned with a relaxed smile. "Senior Sister Ying, back for more guidance?"

Ying Cai’er gave him a playful, searching look, her gaze sweeping over him a couple of times before she finally spoke. "You’re a strange one, you know that? But definitely interesting." She narrowed her eyes. "Now tell me, what’s with the sneaky summons? What are you really up to?"

There was a subtle undertone in her spoiled tone, one that gently nudged Li Xun’s thoughts in that direction.

But Li Xun knew better. If he actually fell for it, he wouldn’t be getting a warm embrace. More likely a sharp slap across the face....and a round of humiliating laughter, no doubt.

This woman definitely enjoyed toying with men, though compared to women like Yin Wanderer and Qin Wanru, she still had a long way to go.

Playing dumb about her sly innuendo, he simply smiled at her. "You wound me, Senior Sister Ying. Sneaky? Hardly. Just being cautious, that’s all. Actually, I think you already understand what I mean. I just want to know about Senior Sister Ye... are you being serious?"

"Of course!" Ying Cai’er replied without a moment’s hesitation. "Ye’er is the one I’m closest to in the sect. Naturally, I have to look out for her!"

"So you are serious, then—"

Cai’er suddenly interrupted with a long, drawn-out "Ooooh?" Her bright eyes sparkled with shifting, unreadable glints of light.

Leaning in slightly, she lowered her voice and smiled faintly. "Junior Brother Hundred Ghosts, from the way you’re acting... don’t tell me all that serious posturing earlier was just for show; just to mess with us?"

Li Xun’s lips curled into a slight smile. "In a sense... you’re not wrong."

A glint flickered in her bright eyes, and the smile on her face shifted, just slightly, but it was enough to change the atmosphere between them.

Li Xun acted like he didn’t notice, and continued in the same calm and unhurried tone: "Senior Sister Ying, you’ve been by Madam’s side for years. You should know this better than anyone, right? Senior Sister Ye has outstanding talent and a solid foundation. She’s clearly someone with great potential. By all logic, she’s the kind of disciple Madam would favor. So why is it that all these years... Madam has consistently overlooked her?"

Ying Cai’er pursed her lips. "There are so many disciples..."

"Do you take me for a fool, Senior Sister?" Li Xun’s smile grew ever gentler, but his words were already pressing hard.

"Madam’s eyes are like mirrors. She can tell a disciple’s cultivation base with a glance. Ye’er stands out; talent, looks, everything. She even has you as an ’inside connection.’ She has all the advantages, yet still ends up ignored....Senior Sister Ying, have you really never asked Madam what’s really going on here?"

"Who’d dare ask her that?" Ying Cai’er brushed off the question lightly. "I was too busy hiding it as it is. But you, from the look on your face... you already know, don’t you?"

Li Xun just shook his head with a smile and said nothing more. He turned and walked away.

She blinked. Since the day she was born, when had she ever encountered such a disrespectful man?

She stood there stunned. It wasn’t until Li Xun had walked more than ten paces that she snapped back to her senses.

"Hundred ghosts!" she shouted, fuming.

Li Xun turned back, half smiling, half not. "Senior Sister Ying," he said, "that attitude of yours is hardly proper. You won’t do what Madam dislikes, but you expect me to? How does that make any sense?"

Ying Cai’er paused for a moment, realizing she’d just misspoken. A brief flash of embarrassment crossed her face, but it disappeared almost immediately. She bounced back quickly.

"If it wasn’t difficult, why would I need your help?" she said, brimming with confident conviction.

"Well said!" Li Xun had come to understand her personality better and better, making it easier for him to handle her.

He clapped and laughed. "If Senior Sister needs my help, I’ve got no complaints. But after all this talk, you still haven’t told me what you actually want from me. If it’s just about ’Instruction Day’ or whatever, then honestly, save your breath."

His words made her pretty face pale with frustration. In her eyes, this Hundred Ghosts was utterly unpredictable. One moment acting like a friendly, easygoing guy, the next behaving wildly rebellious. His mind shifted so quickly, he was almost harder to deal with than those crafty, scheming elders!

Still, she was no ordinary woman. She quickly gathered herself. Her expression softened back into its usual playful look.

She curled her lips into a smirk. "You’re really clever, never willing to take any loss, huh? Fine, Junior Brother Hundred Ghosts, it’s Senior Sister’s fault this time!" She clasped her hands together like she was worshipping a ghost and waved them at Li Xun.

Her "apology" was anything but sincere.

But that was just her true nature, and honestly, it was far more believable than putting on some phony look of sincerity.

Li Xun knew when to stop, and gave a slight bow in return. "You’re too kind, Senior Sister. I’m just trying to understand a few things... Like, say, which immortal are you planning to poke with my spearhead, exactly?"

There was a hint of sarcasm in his words, but the grin on his face made it seem like he was just joking around. It played perfectly off Ying Cai’er’s attitude; the two of them were in perfect sync.

Ying Cai’er shot him a glare, clearly not convinced. "Be honest, how did you figure it out?"

"I guessed! And, well... you kind of told me just now too," Li Xun said, keeping things deliberately vague. His answer dodged the heart of the matter, and Ying Cai’er’s expression darkened again.

Before she could go off on him, he let a bit of truth slip: "Also, Senior Sister Ye carries herself with grace and composure. She knows when to advance and when to retreat. She’s clearly someone who’s seen the world.

"But there’s something off. Her will...it’s extremely fragile. That contradiction stood out to me. Later, I thought it over more carefully and realized that she is especially sensitive to our sect’s Soul-Shaking Divine Art."

He smiled and gave Cai’er a slight bow. "The rest, I don’t need to say out loud, do I?"

Ying Cai’er raised her brows. The way she did it, almost defiantly, should’ve looked rude, but on her, it came off as charming. She gave him another once-over and clapped lightly with a grin.

"You really are something, Junior Brother Hundred Ghosts! No wonder the Master thinks so highly of you! Fine then, you gave me face, so I’ll return the favor. You’re right, Ye’er’s gotten herself into a bit of trouble. I can’t step in directly... so I need you, our expert in Melting and Forging Void stage, to lend a hand, hm?"

Li Xun shrugged. "So let me get this straight. Someone big enough to make you stay out of it, and yet you want me, a new junior brother, to step in and offend him? Senior Sister, you’re really generous, Senior Sister!"

"Oh? You’re afraid of offending him, but not afraid of offending me?"

There wasn’t a trace of menace on her face. But somehow, that cheerful smile carried its own kind of pressure.

Too bad for her, Li Xun didn’t seem to care much at all. He smiled, a trace of lazy nonchalance in his expression.

"I wouldn’t say it’s about offending anyone or not. It’s just...well, I’m not stupid. If you’re bold enough to bring it up, chances are you’ve already made your move. Whether I stick my neck out or pull it back, the blade’s coming down either way, just waiting for the chop. The only thing I haven’t decided yet is who I’d rather get cut by."

Ying Cai’er rolled her eyes, grinning. "Wrong, wrong! Brother Hundred Ghosts, you still don’t quite get it! Some people are just born ungrateful. Even if you don’t cross them, they won’t necessarily appreciate you for it.

"So here’s how you should look at it: you can either earn the gratitude of me and Ye’er, or you get nothing at all. And on top of that, you end up on my bad side. That’s a pretty easy calculation, don’t you think?"

Li Xun broke out into a loud and genuine laugh, confident and completely at ease, giving off a totally different presence.

But then, out of nowhere, his tone shifted and got softer. That sudden change made it even tougher to figure out what his true intentions were.

"Alright then. if Senior Sister says it’s fine, then fine it is...but surely, you’ll at least tell me who the person is?"

Ying Cai’er squinted at him for a long moment before tilting her chin up slightly, her smile growing even sweeter.

....

The Tenghua Valley at night is by far the most eerie, ugly, and dangerous time of day.

Darkness is the perfect seasoning for the valley’s restrictive formations. If there are ten thousand variations of these formations during the day, by night their complexity multiplies at least threefold!

Disciples who can’t even recognize the most basic variations, at this time, have no choice but to stay behind closed doors; if they die caught in the formations, no one will shed a tear.

Those who can walk freely after nightfall, moving in and out at will, enjoy certain privileges, more or less, in the valley.

Gui Wuzang was one of them.

A personal disciple of Lord Bihai, one of the Twelve Elders of the Shadow-Devouring Soul Sect, and a recognized name not just within the sect but throughout the whole demonic path and the Tongxuan Realm.

And right now, his thoughts were circling around another name.

"Hundred Ghosts... That riffraff rogue cultivator, getting all high and mighty just because he clung to Madam Yan’s thigh... Pathetic. And that slut Ye Ru never learns. Just how many fools has she lured in by now?"

For the past two years, he’d been carrying out his master’s orders around Tenghua Valley. The task wasn’t done yet, but he’d already gathered six human cauldrons within the valley.

Of them, Ye Ru was by far the most exceptional.

Not only did she possess rich primordial qi and a solid foundation, she was stunning. Her looks were among the finest in the entire sect. And more importantly, she knew it. She knew how to use her beauty to her advantage.

That’s what had won his favor, and maintained her level of cultivation.

And that’s also what gave her the guts to seduce other fools out there to fight on her behalf.

In the past two years, how many fools who didn’t know their place had he taught a lesson?

Tonight, he’s adding one more to the list!

The thought made Gui Wuzang chuckle coldly.

Hundred Ghosts? That cocky little rogue might’ve made a name for himself recently for his Melting and Forging Void, but Gui Wuzang wasn’t impressed. Let his NetherYin Qi be as refined as it liked; against his own dual mastery of the Soul Control and Soul-Driving, Spirit-Refining, Mind-Binding Arts, now ascended to the realm of Mysterious Void Form Transformation, the brat didn’t stand a chance.

Right now, he was going to pay him a visit.

And show him, some people in this world were better left alone.

.....

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