“It shouldn’t be a real person, just a humanoid container made from unknown heavenly and earthly treasures.”
Luo Tangtang carefully observed the dried corpse and found no living energy within its body. It was merely the accumulation of spiritual energy and the blood energy of living people that kept the body from decaying.
Who was this prepared for, then? In an instant, various thoughts flooded her mind.
Yun Shayi slowly lowered her gaze, concealing the hostility in her eyes. Her fair, slender fingers gently clenched Luo Tangtang’s clothes.
Luo Tangtang was immersed in her own world, seemingly oblivious to Yun Shayi’s small action. After a long while, she pondered slightly, then took out a veil from her storage ring: “Senior Sister, it’s better to cover your face. I strongly suspect that the person behind this whole thing likes your type.”
“That’s it?” Yun Shayi’s furrowed brow suddenly relaxed.
“What, this?” Luo Tangtang looked a bit confused.
“You thought for a long time and that’s all you came up with?” Yun Shayi’s expression softened.
“Then… then what?” Luo Tangtang asked with an innocent look.
“Nothing.” Yun Shayi shook her head, picked up the veil, and put it on, but Luo Tangtang still caught sight of her slightly curved lips.
Good, she’s appeased. Luo Tangtang secretly breathed a sigh of relief. She had felt a chill down her back just now. She estimated that if she hadn’t said something satisfactory, Senior Sister might really have bound her with chains.
Although, it wasn’t like she would mind that much.
But freedom is still very happy.
“But how did Senior Sister become so powerful just now?” Luo Tangtang still had some doubts in her heart. What kind of cheat could allow Senior Sister to directly freeze a teleportation array?
The curve of Yun Shayi’s lips stiffened. Her gaze suddenly became complex, and the look she directed at Luo Tangtang also carried a hint of bitterness.
“Mm?” Someone seemed to be waking up; a gasping sound came through.
“Let’s leave here first,” Yun Shayi said.
Yun Shayi lightly waved her hand, and the crystal coffin disappeared from its spot. She pulled Luo Tangtang, and they quickly left.
The two of them walked in silence. Yun Shayi held Luo Tangtang’s hand with great force, so much so that Luo Tangtang could even see her own skin turning pale white.
“Sorry.” After a moment, Yun Shayi released her hand. Looking at the marks she had left on Luo Tangtang’s hand, her eyes darkened slightly.
“It’s fine, I’m hardy,” Luo Tangtang said, re-grasping Yun Shayi’s hand.
“Senior Sister’s hands are always so cold.”
She blinked playfully, placing both of Yun Shayi’s hands into her embrace to warm them.
“It’s also thanks to me being hardy and warm-blooded; I can help warm Senior Sister up. We’re simply a perfect match!”
“Mm,” Yun Shayi said softly.
“You want to ask about my eye?”
“Uh… Senior Sister, if you don’t want to talk about it, you don’t have to,” Luo Tangtang paused. Everyone had their own secrets, and she also had many things she hadn’t told Yun Shayi. However, she believed that neither of them would hurt the other.
“I was still young back then,” Yun Shayi spoke softly, covering her left eye.
“That day, Ya Po returned from the town, her expression panicked. She didn’t know what she had seen, but she took me to a place.”
As she spoke, a trace of a mocking smile slowly curved on Yun Shayi’s lips.
“It was a cave, a cave with no end. I remember Ya Po walking with me for a very, very long time, but we never reached the end.”
“When we reached a place where we couldn’t see a sliver of light from the outside, Ya Po took something out.”
“What?” Luo Tangtang’s eyelashes trembled.
“An eye, one eye.”
“An eye of a god.”
“A god’s?” Luo Tangtang was stunned.
“Yes,” Yun Shayi smiled, but there was no trace of joy. Her clear, cold voice suppressed deep sorrow.
“I replaced it with that eye.”
“Ya Po didn’t let me leave right away. I fainted from the pain. By the time I woke up and made my way back home, there was no one left alive in the small town.”
“No… no one alive?” Luo Tangtang could barely find her voice. She spoke with extreme difficulty.
“The streets were filled with corpses – old people, children, and women.”
“I saw Ya Po’s body in the temple.”
“A relic of a god, one eye. All for this eye.”
“Senior Sister.” Luo Tangtang opened her lips and looked at Yun Shayi. Her face was terribly calm, only her eyes faintly revealing some emotion, like a wild beast trapped in a cage, ready to break free at any moment.
“It’s okay, it has nothing to do with you. This isn’t your fault.” Luo Tangtang didn’t know how to comfort Yun Shayi at this moment. The other’s face was so calm, so calm that it gave Luo Tangtang the illusion that she didn’t need comfort at all. Any words seemed pale and powerless.
She could only hold Yun Shayi tightly, only tell her that she would always be there.
[Tsk tsk, how did the plot turn out like this?]
Suddenly, the System, which hadn’t spoken for a long time, spoke up.
[This Yun Shayi is quite something. I didn’t realize she had such wild ideas.]
[What?] Luo Tangtang frowned.
[What do you mean by that? What ‘wild ideas’?]
[…] The System suddenly fell silent again.
The doubt in her heart grew stronger and stronger. Luo Tangtang’s brows furrowed, and her expression became solemn.
After a few days, Supreme Immortal Sect’s cloud boat arrived at Soul Ruin Town. Naturally, there were also some “uninvited guests.”
Yun Shayi went to discuss matters with the elders. Luo Tangtang didn’t want to stay there, so she wandered around by herself.
When Luo Tangtang saw a familiar figure appear among the new group, her heart instinctively leaped.
Xu Huanchen? Why is he here?
“Tangtang!” Seeing Luo Tangtang, Xu Huanchen, who had originally been quite casual, his eyes lit up, and he appeared before Luo Tangtang in an instant.
“I didn’t expect you to be here too?” Xu Huanchen’s voice carried a hint of joy.
“I was still worried about you after the Extreme North Realm. I sent you messages via spirit crane, but you didn’t reply.”
“Uh… I’ve been too busy lately, so I forgot,” Luo Tangtang smiled awkwardly.
She had actually seen Xu Huanchen’s message, but she truly didn’t know how to face him, so she simply ignored it. She hadn’t expected to see him here – it was truly a miscalculation.
“Oh, really?” Xu Huanchen raised an eyebrow, his starry eyes fixed on Luo Tangtang. Suddenly, he chuckled.
“I thought you were busy being all loving with your Senior Sister and didn’t have time to bother with me.”
Luo Tangtang: “…” What the heck is this? He said he liked me, so why does he have such a gossipy expression?
A strange light flickered in Xu Huanchen’s eyes. “You don’t have to hide it from me. The way she looked at me just now… it was exactly like how my mother looked at my father’s concubines.”
This… Young man, you have sharp eyes! But this plot… it’s gone off the rails.
“Quick, tell me, how far has it progressed?”
Luo Tangtang’s ears suddenly turned hot. Is this even a topic you can ask about? I’d be crazy to tell you.
“I still have some things to do, I’m not talking to you anymore, I’m leaving first.” After saying that, Luo Tangtang quickly slipped away. This conversation is impossible.
Zhi Wang, standing nearby, watched and a hint of admiration flickered in his eyes. “Junior Niece, your future is limitless.”
“Venerable, you flatter me,” Yun Shayi said calmly.
She informed Zhi Wang about what had happened in Soul Ruin Town, naturally omitting the person in the crystal coffin.
After listening, a trace of surprise flashed in Zhi Wang’s eyes.
“Those black-robed figures escaped?”
“Mm,” Yun Shayi nodded.
“This matter needs to be thoroughly investigated. Be careful.”
“Alright,” Yun Shayi nodded again.
Luo Tangtang, who had silently observed the whole process: Senior Sister is actually still quite aloof.
“Tangtang.” Yun Shayi saw Luo Tangtang and waved at her.
“Venerable,” Luo Tangtang bowed respectfully.
Zhi Wang lightly nodded. “The recruitment matters are in your hands. This Venerable has other business.”
Having said that, he wasn’t at all wishy-washy and disappeared from his spot.
“A Venerable is indeed a Venerable; he leaves as soon as he says he will,” Luo Tangtang commented subconsciously.
Yun Shayi patted her head. “Let’s go prepare for the recruitment.”
“Oh, right. This year, it’s not just our Supreme Immortal Sect who came to Soul Ruin Town. I saw that Wanxi Sect also sent people.”
“Mm, Sect Leader Xu seems to have discussed something with Martial Uncle Qi. We don’t need to concern ourselves with it.”
“The recruitment, then?” Luo Tangtang’s eyes twitched.
What recruitment? This recruitment is clearly just an excuse; they’re here to cause trouble.
Luo Tangtang muttered ‘pei, pei, pei’ several times in her heart, secretly cursing herself for being nosy.
“Proceed according to the rules.”
There weren’t many children in Soul Ruin Town, only a few dozen in total. Originally, it would have been fine with just Supreme Immortal Sect, but this year, Wanxi Sect also came.
Dividing the children between the two sects, only a few stood here and there, fewer even than the disciples helping with the recruitment. The scene looked a bit bleak.
“Let the recruitment begin!” an inner disciple called out.
At this moment, another inner disciple immediately took out a testing sphere from the side.
A few children tentatively stepped forward, their eyes filled with curiosity and fear.
Seeing this, Luo Tangtang’s heart softened. She said gently, “Come, put your hand on this. Don’t be afraid.”
Even though Luo Tangtang softened her voice, the children still flinched slightly and tremblingly placed their hands on it.
The first one to step forward was a boy. He looked robust and honest. He placed his hand on the testing sphere, but it remained dim and lifeless, showing no reaction.
This meant he had no talent for cultivation.
Luo Tangtang patted his head and comforted him a few times. Sometimes, cultivating might not be a good thing. The cultivation world is full of dangers, and not everyone is lucky enough to achieve the Dao and survive to the end.
The recruitment continued.
For some reason, on Supreme Immortal Sect’s side, several consecutive children showed no talent.
The two sects were allies on the surface, but privately, neither deferred to the other. Seeing the other make a fool of themselves was naturally a cause for great pleasure.
Almost everyone from Wanxi Sect had a hint of schadenfreude in their eyes, even though they were only slightly better than Supreme Immortal Sect.
Yun Shayi’s expression, however, grew increasingly solemn.
Luo Tangtang looked at the group of children before her, her expression also a bit grim. Soul Ruin Town’s spiritual energy was rich, so logically, these children’s talent shouldn’t be this poor.
One or two would be understandable, but an entire group like this…